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White is Right (in this context anyway)

August 30, 2010 By punktorah

What do we as Jews do that makes us so deserving of G-d’s praise and warm light? What have we done in order to wear white on Yom Kippur and not deem ourselves hypocrites within the halls of our shuls and the streets of our communities? White is such an unflattering color! Yet, this white symbolizes purity and stands as the visual indicator for a new chapter in the book of life. It becomes more interesting when you see people wearing white clothing and leather kippot. As if they are fooling Hash-m or a moderately educated child who emerged from basic Sunday school class.

We wear white in hopes to be inscribed in the book of life. How do we get there? How do we get to that point where we get another year? If we die, does that mean we did not follow Halakah so closely that we are doomed? Elderly people hang in the balance less that someone who defaces a Torah or commits an act of haste? Then every bully on the school yard would drop dead after hanging the poor wimpy kid upside down to take his milk money. The jails would be empty because Hash-m realizes tax money should go to innocent and hungry, so He would “take them out”. It does not seem to work this way.

So there they are… all the Jews in Los Angeles, the mid west, New York, Israel, South Africa and all the scattered Diasporas around the world. What are they wearing? White! On Kol Nidre, we present our case, or our attempt to correct what wrong doings we have made in the past year, to the “court”. The whole congregation stands before Hash-m. Again, this is ironic, seeing that your avyerot are individually done, but as a community Jews stand together.  This is another visual. It stands as a reminder that we are a unit, not just an individual. That what one Jew does, can and very much will, affect another. Many of the times, when we commit our acts of injustice,  we as Jews forget that in many daily situations we are the only Jews someone from an outside community may know.

Our children, what good does it do for them to wear white and see the rest of the community doing so? As Jewish people, we have brilliantly found ways in which to say a ton without speaking. This is like when your mother only says “Oy!” after you have brought someone home to meet her and she is displeased. Or, it’s when you pass the kuggel interrupting a bit of Leshon Horrah that’s happening at the table. It’s nonverbal! Your kids hear you enough all year. Sometimes as parents or adults, we take pleasure hearing our own voices. In shul, every adult wearing white is standing in solidarity. It says for many, “Today is important. Today I came prepared. Today I acknowledge G-d.” Rarely do Jews agree, so to speak together sets a precedence.

For those of you who haven’t prepared for the Holy Holidays, it’s okay, you have time! However, let you be encouraged to stand before your G-d in white. It does not promise you inscription nor does it promise you praise and blessings, but it does mandate the community to pick up the visual testament of the Jewish faith. Without white attire, Yom Kippur could look like any other day. It is only correct to offer it the purest contribution your heart can provide.

Be true to the streets

Yentapunker

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Rants, Shabbat & Holidays Tagged With: clothes, Counterculture, High Holidays, holiday, Holidays, Jewish, Judaism, kittel, orthodox, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Rosh Hashana, synagogue, Torah, White, Yom Kippur

To Shema or Not to Shema?

August 16, 2010 By punktorah

Originally published on 3xDaily

Are you there Hashem? It’s me, Gefiltepunker.

Recently I attended a film screening of USHPIZIN. It’s the story of a Hasidic ‘Baal Teshuva’ (returning to Judaism), couple who lives in the Breslov community in Jerusalem. They are questioning and exploring their faith in G-D as they deal with infertility, financial hardship and are tested and pushed to the limits by an unruly, ex- convict, pair of guests from the protagonist’s past, who show up for Sukkot. In the end, G-D has delivered, but prayer is what has inextricably carried them through to their happy ending.

And this is what got me thinking and questioning. How important is prayer in your life? For the couple in this movie prayer was essential in their daily routine, it was a very direct request, reaching out to G-D to explain and show mercy so that they could further their worship of G-D. How do you put your prayer into practice? What do you expect as a result of your prayers? Can we expect miracles/ G-D to always answer our prayers? Or do we pray for G-D just to guide us, but in a way for us to help ourselves?

How we do it, the frequency and effort that we put into it and what we expect in return will vary from Jew to Jew. My friend who attended the screening with me also raised the question, “What’s your daily prayer?” She herself was trying to find a prayer that spoke to her sensibilities, felt warm and inviting and to carry her through her own day. At which point I immediately suggested the Shema, which is my personal go-to prayer. I recalled always reciting the Shema carefully in Hebrew school. I often found myself speed reading through other morning prayers just to get through it and on to the next, but not with Shema. Even though I don’t remember all the words by heart, I think of it and I recite it to myself in my own personal times of need.

My friend had a very different reaction to the prayer. She found it cold, uninviting, just not as meaningful to her as I found it. We had very different pre-existing relationships and attitudes toward this prayer. Any suggestions out there from folks of how to find the prayer that’s right for you?

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, holiday, Holidays, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, shema, Torah, ushpizin

D’var For The 4th

July 2, 2010 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT-khZjqPGw

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos, Shabbat & Holidays Tagged With: Counterculture, d'var, holiday, Holidays, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, Religion, Torah

Cheese! It’s Shavuot

May 19, 2010 By newkosher

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBiyZIH01W8

Filed Under: NewKosher (Recipes), Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: cheese, Holidays, shavuot

Shavuos Thoughts

May 19, 2010 By punktorah

(O

By Heshy Fried

One of my status updates on facebook yesterday was that I was wondering what to write about for Shavuos. One of the people responded that I should write about how wonderful it was to come to shul to see everyone learning and that I should write something good about Jews once in a while. I do write good things but in all honesty, I am a cynic and a humorist who likes to poke fun at things. These are usually negative things because let’s face it – there is nothing inspiring or interesting about walking into a room full of people yapping about how late they are going to stay up and how their wives make the best cheesecake in town.

Milchigs:

I am especially excited for Shavuos this year because of milchigs. Last year I went to some real frummies for Shavuos and if you’re a real frummy you don’t have milchigs. Sure there are many frum folks that rock the milk meals on Shavuos but, based on my vast experience, you can pretty much spot a meat eating Shavuos type in a second. I think the whole reasoning behind eating meat on Shavuos is because it’s just a minhag based on that chick who brought that dude cheese and we don’t want to give the ladies too much credit. What many frummies like to do is to eat cheesecake for Kiddush and than have a meat meal and that really blows.

I love milchigs and being that closest real milchig restaurant is 350 miles away. I miss it dearly. Last year it wasn’t such a big deal: I spent it on my friends farm and we had lamb, beef and chicken but I was living in New York at the time and milchigs were close by. Nowadays the only time I get to eat milchigs is when I show up at some folks house where they happen to be more progressive and willing to eat milchigs on Shabbos. In the frum community this rarely happens.

Receiving the Torah:

I wonder if many Jews secretly wish the Torah was never received. It seems to have caused a lot of trouble and practically everyone complains about this and that — so do we love the Torah or not? Maybe it’s a love/hate relationship, like water challah or prepackaged underwear: it has its good points and bad points but in the end we have grown to love it.

Are you ready to receive it? I’m ready for some flower covered bimahs, I’ll tell you that much! Unless flowers have become too untznius to be put on the bimah.

Ruth:

Why feminist Jews love Ruth so much? I don’t even think we read it in yeshiva but go to your average modern orthodox shul or event and they are ranting and raving about Ruth. I understand why the converts like it — it’s like their national symbol, the mother of moshiach was Ruth – does that mean Ruth was Chabad?

So why do the feminists love Ruth? Does it have to do with bribing the old guy to marry her by lying down next to him? That doesn’t sound to feminist to me. Does it just have to do with the fact that since it’s a minhag, orthodox folks don’t really care if women get together and have megillah readings? I even know of some right wing modern orthodox shuls that allow the ladies to do a megillah reading of Ruth. It’s a shame they just don’t tell them the truth about the minhag and it not being a chiyuv and all.

All night learning:

Originally I was going to hit up Berkeley for Shavuos. I had heard that the entire community gets together for an all night learning session at the JCC. That sounded a little extreme to me. Berkeley has a bunch of Chabad guys, a modern shul, some weird renewal space age stuff and a smattering of all your generic hippie conservative and reform stuff. I think it only works because the folks who run Chabad of Berkeley are ex-hippies. Still, that sounds like some major achdus to me and I wanted to be a part of it.

Of course, I then admitted to myself that what I really needed on Shavuos was some good yeshivish style learning. I needed some right wing mussarniks rebuking me and I needed some good wine to go with my cheese, so I decided to go to San Jose instead. I have visited all of the Jewish communities in the Bay Area, other than random Chabad houses and I am still drawn back to San Jose for the people, the rabbi and the food. It is also the friendliest community in the area and has the most characters of any shul.

I used to love Shavuos in yeshiva because the rabbis would never wake you up for minyan the next day. The only thing that sucked was the meal. No one ever knows what time to have a meal on the first day of Shavuos. I also used to love the all night learning because instead of hanging out in yeshiva we would go to the modern orthodox shul to look at girls and eat donuts from the donut shop that the yeshiva said was treife. The modern shul also had cool shiurim and classes. I don’t remember ever learning much on Shavuos and I think most folks tend to use the time to catch up with friends and mainly just socialize.

Cheesecake:

One of the best things about living in the Bay Area is that a lot of stuff has to be homemade. I assume the cheesecake will not be that store bought crustless, New York style cheesecake that everyone favors. I am super pumped — since it’s strawberry season I may get my fantasy cheesecake too.

I also hope people have good cheese in general. California has definitely rubbed off on me in that way. I have grown to love good cheese and good wine, kind of weird for someone as redneck as myself.

Have a wonderful shavuos or shavuot, I will see you on the other side.

Filed Under: Shabbat & Holidays Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, festival, food, frumsatire, holiday, Holidays, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, ten commandments, Torah

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