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Join us for an amazing online class on Positive Psychology & Judaism on Wednesday, February 16th at 7:00PM EST. We’ll be streaming a class on the fundamentals of making life more fulfilling through Positive Psychology and its connection to the ancient wisdom of the Torah and the Jewish people. Afterwards, Patrick and Michael will be hosting a live discussion.
Join us in our virtual classroom: http://oneshul.org/taste-of-jou/
If you’re a person who believes that there is nothing outside the material world: no G-d, no spiritual forces, no power beyond what the senses can experience, then you might be inclined to say that love, for lack of a better word, is non-sense.
Love may, in fact, be an evolutionary development. Knowing that human beings survive better in groups than alone, evolution may have driven our attachment to others. We know that hormones in our brain create the passionate emotions which give us amorous feelings, and our specific desires in our romantic partners come from a process of trial-and-error; our brains learning to attach value to those who have the qualities that make us happy, creating “love maps” which guide us to the right partners.
If love is simply a result of thousands of years of natural selection, then it’s trivial to have a holiday like Valentines Day. After all, we do not have a holiday that celebrates other biological phenomena. This urge to make love the central theme of celebration points me in the direction toward believing that love is in some way “real” beyond physiology.
Ask anyone who does not believe in spirituality if love is real, and you’ll generally get a “yes” reply. That’s because there is something within people that takes the emotion called love, and removes it from this material, biological, personal experience. We can objectively see love as a pleasure button in the brain, but we don’t. We treat love as though it is a condition outside of human experience, like an ideal to strive for, to celebrate, and to insist on from the whole of the human race. Love is both personified, and transcendental. Love is so close that we feel our skin tingle, but so far away that we yearn for it.
Does this remind you of anything?
In the same way that we feel about love, we can feel about G-d. G-d is a condition outside of human experience, an ideal state to achieve, to celebrate. If you believe in the idea of human redemption, then G-d, like love, is something that the whole world should be drawn toward. We feel G-d close to us, and yet, so far away. G-d, like love, seems to hurt us sometimes, and heal us sometimes. And we know from science that our brains may be wired to experience religious ecstasy in the same way that our bodies create the chemicals of love and attachment to those around us.
Science proves what religious has said for thousands of years, that G-d and G-d’s love, are inside us.
It makes perfect sense to celebrate Valentines Day and to feel its Jewishness, because our covenant to cling to G-d, to create a just world, act in compassion for our neighbor, are all rooted in a sense of love that is beyond the material world. So remember this Valentine’s Day, whether it’s romantic love, the love of a friend, familial love, or the love of a child, remember that love, and G-d, are within us, always
And as a side note, there is a Jewish Valentines Day called Tu B’Av.
Tzitzit, used by Creative Commons permission. Photo by 'AngerBoy'
You’ve probably read Patrick’s Jewcy blog post called, “You Might Be PunkTorah If…”. If not, here’s a link.
Read it.
It’s good.
It’s funny and it’s true.
It’s funny because it’s true.
It also made me think about why I helped co-found with PunkTorah. I think it stems from a sense of outsider-ness.
My wife and I go to Tot Shabbat services. We have a two year old. We stand around talking to other parents and we realize:
WE ARE NOT THESE PEOPLE
They seem like they are so much older, but they’re not.
They talk about their mortgages.
We stand there nodding our heads, trying to interject and talk about the concert we went to the night before, the religious ecstasy of watching another human being bare their soul in front of other people.
They wear khakis and polo shirts.
I wear my tzizits, a t-shirt and jeans.
They like pastels.
I have tattoos.
They’ve got paintings on the walls of their homes.
We have a giant pirate flag on ours.
They watch “Grey’s Anatomy”.
We watch South Park and our friends bands.
They read Tom Clancy and John Grisham.
We read Neil Gaiman and Michael Chabon.
This is not to look down on responsible adults. This is only to ask:
Where do they come from? What happened to the promise of grown-up suburbia? Did my wife and I miss an exit somewhere?
I mean, we are responsible. We pay our bills. We take great care of our daughter. We go to work and pay our taxes. I guess it’s just that we don’t fit in the Dockers and loafers lifestyle.
So we temple shop. We go to services everywhere we can. We stand around with the other “adults” and wait for the opportunity to name drop some underground bands. We mention Matthue Roth or Y-Love, G_dcast, the religious orientation of Benjamin Grimm*, looking for a glimmer of recognition, a slight nod from another weirdo like us, hoping against hope that someone will hear us, someone will recognize the passwords to this secret club that we didn’t even know we belong to and show us the clubhouse we didn’t even know existed.
Well, if you’re looking for it, relax.
We’re here.
And you are welcome.
*If you said “Thing!” and “Jewish”, you are awesome.
The Jews of Uganda (Abayudaya) are an authentic Jewish community. The community was formed by the founder of modern Uganda, Semei Kakungulu (1869-1928). Kakungulu considered many religious communities, before deciding from his own research, to embrace Judaism and the mitzvot of the Torah. He was circumcised, as were his children and those who followed him; a fact which caused them to be greatly harassed by some of their neighbors.
Kakungulu did not have the option of going to his local shul and taking a course to make gerut, nor to petition an Orthodox rabbi three times to prove his sincerity. He found Judaism in the Torah itself, and he followed the Torah to walk the path of Judaism immediately, once convinced of its truth. While this is not the normal route into Yahadut, this is a Talmudically recognized method, which was well-known and accepted by both the Rambam and Rabbi Yosef Karo.
The Talmud refers to gerim g’rurim (גרים גרורים) as effectively “self-made proselytes.” (`Avodah Zarah 23a-24b). One type of gerut is undertaken before a Beyt Din, composed of three Dayanim of any Jews knowledgeable in matters of gerut. According to the Talmud, the onlytime that gerim g’rurim will not be accepted is when Mashiach comes and the battles against Gog and Magog are underway. In that future scenario, Ha’Shem will “have the last laugh” as those who seek to self-convert then will walk away from Judaism on their own, once faced with persecution.
The Abayudaya, however, have been subjected to some of the most horrendous persecutions for their Jewishness; attempts at forced conversion and extermination by Idi Amin. There is no question as to this community’s sincerity. According to the Rambam, the Jewishness ofgerim g’rurim, and those who had no option but to convert themselves, cannot be denied once their qabalat ha’mitzvot has been established, as is the case with the Jewish community of Uganda.
[The following laws apply with regard to] a female convert who we see conduct herself according to the ways of Israel at all times, for example, she immerses herself after niddah, she separatesterūmah from dough, or the like, and to a male ger who follows the paths of Israel, for example, he immerses himself after seminal emission, and performs all the mitzvōt: These are considered as righteous converts (gereī tzadīq/gerīm tzaddīqīm), even though there are no witnesses to testify before whom they converted. Nevertheless, if they come to marry among the Jewish people, we do not allow them unless they bring witnesses or they immerse themselves in our presence [so that we can make sure they are circumcised]. The rationale is that their identity was originally established as gentiles [so there is reason to suspect they might not have taken the step of mīlah]. (Rambam Hilchōt Issurei Bīah Chapter 13.9)
Beyond this, the Abayudaya have taken the additional step of educating themselves at every opportunity in all aspects of normative Judaism. Their adherence to the mitzvot, to the best of their regional ability, is not in question by anyone who has even a cursory knowledge of their community. To remove any doubts regarding their status as Jews, they underwent mass-giyurim early in the 21st century under Masorti rites.
While the Abayudaya Jewish Community is committed to the mitzvot, the do not have many sets of Tefillin, nor many Tallitot for prayer. In light of this community’s dedication to the Torah and Rabbinic Judaism,we have created “Tefillin for Ugandan Jews”; a sponsorship program which purchases and refurbishes tefillin for the Abuyudaya Jewish community of Uganda.
Currently, we can get the cost of each set of tefillin down to as low as $108 per set for a sponsored Ugandan Jew. We hope to get each set even lower, and we are trying to make arrangements right now to purchase a lot of them at a bulk rate. Additionally, we are working with a Jewish artist trained in applying the newer matte and gloss finishes to older tefillin.
If you are interested in sponsoring a set of tefillin for a Ugandan Jew:
Send $20 to Mikhah@gmail.com to donate a Tallit Gadol to the Jews of Uganda!
Send $96 + $15 shipping to Mikhah@gmail.com to donate a restored set of TEFILLIN for this CHEAP price to the same Jews of Uganda!
For those interested in donating used tefillin to be refurbished for the Ugandan Jewish community, send to the following address:
The Hashlamah Project
3195 Dayton-Xenia Rd. Ste 900 #228
Dayton, OH 45434
USA
You can also send a money order payable to “Hashlamah” to the same address to send the next set of tefillin to Uganda! Many thanks and blessings to all who help. Our Jewish brothers and sisters in Uganda need all the help we can give them!
In the 28 years that I have lived on this planet, I have not seen anything as ridiculous as grown men and women wearing footie pajamas. Even worse are the alluring footie pajamas that are supposed to take the reminder of one’s childhood and put it into a romantic context. See the photo below:
Really, though, I can forgive the footie PJs phenomenon. I remember fondly a time when adults didn’t wear cute pajamas, until a certain Ally McBeal came along and stole the heart of the nation with her assorted adult bedroom wear. The American people never recovered.
What I cannot get past, however, is this scum bag scam-of-a-fashion-trend called the Snuggie.
I know, for sure, that there is evil in this world because people actually buy the Snuggie without thinking, “gee, I can accomplish this with a terry cloth robe, worn backwards!”
Parshat Tetzaveh is about fashion, specifically the fashion of the priests. They say that the clothes don’t make the man, but if that man is wearing Daffy Duck jammies and curling up on the couch with anything described as “comfy”, then there is serious cause for concern.
The priests had an interesting outfit: a tunic, a sash, a robe, a breastplate and a Swedish-chef looking hat:
A few cool things about this outfit…
First, the costume has the same materials as the Mishkan. In a way, the priests were like drag queens…only instead of having men dressing like women, you have men dressing like buildings. This is a neat idea, though: the priest had to dress like the Tent of Meeting because he was a part of the tent. He wasn’t just the agent for sacrifices, but a piece of a much larger puzzle. This goes back to last week’s portion, Terumah, where all the individual pieces that made up the tent all became one, echad, as G-d is echad.
And what about individuality? Well…the brightly colored yarn of the cloth and the breastplate stones and all the gold that made up the uniform came from those of a wise heart. They were contributions from the ancient Hebrews, like a clothing drive for G-d’s sake. You could imagine someone staring at Aaron and thinking, “Wow, he’s wearing my golden bells that I gave!” The idea is that all people who have a wise, willing heart give to G-d and G-d uses it in the way that best supports the Jewish people.
This outfit is not some cheap piece of junk from China. It’s a community effort. What a great message there: if you are going to do something that’s important, it needs to be something that everyone can take part in. I think that’s the true lesson of Parshat Tetzaveh: community working together, Snuggie and Footed PJs be damned!
Images courtesy of Snuggie.com, Pajamacity.com and TempleInstitute.org
Shalom y’all! This week Michael and Patrick talk more about being an “outsider” in a mainstream Jewish world. What does that even mean? You gotta listen to find out!
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Most people basically believe there are only three major movements in the U.S. today: Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. The truth is there are many established and fledgling movements growing all around the world. The differences between Jewish movements today is not so much a matter of theology, rather more a matter of how literally the scriptures are viewed, how much each group thinks biblical requirements can be changed, and whether such requirements are mandatory. Who knows what the NEXT breed of movements will be?
Here is a little on five lesser known Jewish movements:
Reconstructionist Judaism follows substantial theological diversity within the movement. Though in general the movement emphasizes positive views toward modernism. Halakha is not considered binding, but is treated as a valuable. It is a cultural remnant that should be upheld unless there is reason for the contrary. This movement approaches Jewish custom form the view which aims toward communal decision making. The intent is to achieve this “through a process of education and distillation of values from traditional Jewish sources”. For more info visit The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation.
Wilderness Torah explains Earth Based Judaism well in stating the basics. They seek to revitalize Jewish life by reconnecting Jewish traditions to the cycles of nature. Their goal is to facilitate an individual’s spiritual growth, strengthen multi-generational community, and connect them to nature. They strive for this through land-based festivals, rites of passage, and sustainable life skills education. They create programs to cultivate understanding of Judaism’s earth-based roots, inspire appreciation for Creation, and offer skills that empower participants to engage in Tikkun Olam by living sustainably in the modern world.
Drawn from ALEPH one can ascertain some basics of The Jewish Renewal Movement. It is a worldwide, trans-denominational movement. Following in Judaism’s prophetic and mystical traditions, Jewish renewal carries forward Judaism’s perpetual process of renewal. They seek to bring creativity, relevance, joy, and an all embracing spiritual practice to life. It is looked on as a path to healing one’s heart and finding balance and wholeness, thus called tikkun halev. They work to act to fully include all Jews and to respect all peoples. In this ideology this movement seeks to help to heal the world by “promoting justice, freedom, responsibility, caring for all life and the earth that sustains all life” and thus tikkun olam.
According to The Society of Humanistic Judaism this movement embraces a human-centered philosophy. They strive to combine the celebration of Jewish culture with an identity of adherence to humanistic values and ideas. The objective is for Humanistic Judaism to offer a non-theistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. It was established by Rabbi Wine in 1963 in Detroit, Michigan. His idea was to provide a home for humanistic, secular, and cultural Jews. Humanistic Judaism has become a worldwide movement. Humanistic Jewish communities celebrate Jewish holidays and life cycle events (such as weddings and bar and bat mitzvah) with inspirational ceremonies that draw upon but go beyond traditional literature.
The karaite-korner.org explains well the basics of Karaite Judaism’s principles through The Karaite Declaration of Faith, called Tuv Ta’am. It has been recited in the Karaite Synagogue on High Holidays since at least the 13th Century. An abridged version is now being recited twice daily. It consists of statements read aloud by the Hazan (cantor). The congregation responds by shouting Emet! “Truth!” They belive in the uniqueness, oneness of YHWH as G-d and Creator. For this movement the truth of the Torah given to Moses is central and singular amongst reference works. They hold the concept of an ultimate reward for those who keep the Torah. They also belive in a truth and holiness of the Biblical Holidays and Feasts. They follow that the eternal nature of G-d rules the universe and that there is a “Messianic” Era.
Rivka
Crazy Randy is at it again. First, he taught us about Rosh Hashanah. Then he told us to quit worrying about intermarriage (and in the process, tricked the nice people at the Jewish Futures Conference into inviting us to speak at the General Assembly). Now, he wants you to buy PunkTorah’s shwag at ModernTribe. Check it out…
by Chana
Yoko Ono had a famous performance artwork called ‘Cut Piece’. Sitting on a bare stage, she placed a pair of scissors before her audience and instructed them that they were to come forward and cut at her clothes.
Some were gentle and tentative, but others took the scissors to Ono’s garments in ways that were starkly violent. And through it all she sat, maintaining her invitation to an arena in which social manners and conventions were themselves cut away, revealing the currents of light and darkness beneath.
The genius of ‘Cut Piece’ is that it provoked a suspension of normal social relations, allowing the audience to step outside of themselves. The results were disturbing – disorienting. They hinted at darkness and horror.
But I want to suggest that Ono’s social-suspension technique shared much with another, different set of techniques, designed to produce a far more positive and joyous insight – the demands and prohibitions of halacha.
Performance art and religious ritual are birds of a feather. They share a concern with rendering the familiar unfamiliar, stimulating a more careful consideration of how and why we do what we do.
Both create space – both physical and psychological. Both poke holes in everyday life and allow something ineffable to shine through. They are disruptions, that take you outside of yourself, emphasise connection through disconnection, and force a discomfort that hints at transcendence.
At the heart of halacha is the notion of separation. The division between what is allowed and disallowed, sanctity and profanity. The separation of food, of individuals, of time.
Shabbat is a work of performance art. It comes with instructions – strict rules that create a disruption in quotidian reality, bringing holiness and reflection and respite.
To put on tefillin is to clear a mental space through physical distinction. To observe kashrut is to force difference and consideration – of origins, of causality.
Through following Ono’s guidelines, the audience created a space through which currents of communication could run, guided by her intentions, channeling unpredictable, unarticulated forces through a relationship that revealed to them something beyond anything they could expect.
How much more must this be so, with rules of a far more sacred kind?
