"On Revelation and Authority in Judaism", Benjamin Sommer
31 de março de 2016
30 de março de 2016
29 de março de 2016
28 de março de 2016
Truly man has a term of service on earth;
His days are like those of a hireling -
Like a slave who longs for [evening's] shadows,
Like a hireling who waits for his wage.
So have I been allotted months of futility;
Nights of misery have been apportioned to me.
When I lie down, I think,
"When shall I rise?"
Night drags on,
And I am sated with tossings till morning twilight.
My flesh is covered with maggots and clods of earth;
My skin is broken and festering.
My days fly faster than a weaver's shuttle,
And come to their end without hope.
Consider that my life is but wind;
I shall never see happiness again.
The eye that gazes on me will not see me;
Your eye will seek me, but I shall be gone.
As a cloud fades away,
So whoever goes down to Sheol does not come up;
He returns no more to his home;
His place does not know him.
On my part, I will not speak with restraint;
I will give voice to the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I the sea or the Dragon,
That You have set a watch over me?
When I think, "My bed will comfort me,
My couch will share my sorrow,"
You frighten me with dreams,
And terrify me with visions,
Till I prefer strangulation,
Death, to my wasted frame.
I am sick of it.
I shall not live forever;
Let me be, for my days are a breath.
What is man, that You make much of him,
That You fix your attention upon him?
You inspect him every morning,
Examine him every minute.
Will You not look away from me for a while,
Let me be, till I swallow my spittle?
If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of men?
Why make of me Your target,
And a burden to myself?
Why do You not pardon my transgression
And forgive my iniquity?
For soon shall I lie down in the dust;
When You seek me, I shall be gone.
Job 7
(JPS)
27 de março de 2016
24 de março de 2016
21 de março de 2016
20 de março de 2016
Why I’m becoming a Jew and why you should, too
It
took me 40 years to become a Jew. When I was a child, I wasn’t a Jew
and not only because I never went to a synagogue. My father’s family had
abandoned their religion so he wasn’t Jewish. More to the point, my
mother and my grandmother weren’t Jewish either, so according to
orthodox Judaism’s principles of matrilineal descent, it was impossible
for me to be a Jew. All I had was the “Cohen” name. I once asked my parents why they had
not changed it. After saying, quite rightly, that you should never seek
to appease racists, they confessed to thinking that antisemitism was
over by the 1960s. After Hitler, humanity would surely see where the
world’s most insane hatred led and resolve to put it to one side. Bertolt Brecht said: “Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For
though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that
bore him is in heat again.”
My parents did not believe Brecht, at least not in the 1960s. Nor did
I for a while. I was and remain an atheist who knows that communalist
and identity politics crush individuality. I had no wish to join a
tribe, let alone a religious one. Still there was no escaping the “Cohen”. When I first responded to
the antisemitism that has spread so far from the extreme left into the
mainstream that it now threatens to poison the Labour party, I am ashamed to say I considered two disgraceful replies.
I might, I thought, not stop at opposing the Israeli occupation of
the West Bank, and pledging support to leftwing Israelis and
Palestinians who wanted a just and peaceful settlement for both peoples,
but go on to behave like a grotesque from a Howard Jacobson satire. I
would reassure fanatics that their “anti-Zionism” (that is, their call
for the total destruction of the world’s only Jewish state) was not
remotely racist.
Fortunately for my self-respect, I never sank that low. Whenever I
hear Jews announce their hatred of Israel’s very existence, I suspect
that underneath their loud bombast lies a quiet plea to the Islamists
and neo-Nazis who might harm them: “I’m not like the others. Don’t pick
on me.” Unfortunately, I assured anyone who asked (and some who did not)
that, despite appearances to the contrary, I wasn’t Jewish. And that was
as dishonourable. I sounded like a black man trying to pass as white or
a German arguing with the Gestapo that there was a mistake in the
paperwork. I
stopped and accepted that racism changes your perception of the world
and yourself. You become what your enemies say you are. And unless I
wanted to shame myself, I had to become a Jew. A rather odd Jew, no
doubt: a militant atheist who had to phone a friend to ask what on earth
“mazel tov” meant. But a Jew nonetheless.
As one of the finest liberal ambitions is to find the sympathy to
imagine the lives of others, you should become a Jew too. Declare that
you have converted to Judaism
or rediscovered your Jewish “heritage” and see the reaction. It’s not
just that, if you are middle class and fortunate, you might experience
racism for the first time, which in itself would be a “learning
experience” worth having. You might also learn the essential lesson that
antisemitism is not about Jews. Like rape, it’s about power.
Whether the antisemitic conspiracy theory is deployed by German Nazis
or Arab dictators, French anti-Dreyfusards or Saudi clerics, the
argument is always the same. Democracy, an independent judiciary, equal
human rights, freedom of speech and publication – all these “supposed”
freedoms – are nothing but swindles that hide the machinations of the
secret Jewish rulers of the world.
Describe the fantasy the Tsarist and Nazi empires developed that
bluntly and it is impossible to understand how the Labour party is in
danger of becoming as tainted as Ukip by the racists it attracts.
But consider how many leftwing activists, institutions or academics would agree with a politer version. Western governments are the main source of the ills of the world. The
“Israel lobby” controls western foreign policy. Israel itself is the
“root cause” of all the terrors of the Middle East, from the Iraq war to
Islamic State. Polite racism turns the Jews, once again, into demons
with the supernatural power to manipulate and destroy nations. Or as the
Swedish foreign minister, Margot Wallström, who sees herself as a
feminist rather than a racial conspiracist, explained recently, Islamist attacks in Paris were the fault of Israeli occupiers in the West Bank.
Or
consider the otherwise bizarre indulgence of ultra-right religious
extremists by people who otherwise describe themselves as liberals and
leftists. The belief that Jews fuel radical Islam allows them to
overlook superstition and the tyrannical denial of equal rights. They’re
against Israel and that’s all that matters.
I could describe at vitriolic length how disgusted
leftwing Jewish friends are that Labour members chose Jeremy Corbyn,
despite his support for an Anglican cleric who linked to extremist sites
that blamed Jews for 9/11, and his defence of an Islamist who recycled the libel that Jews dined on the blood of Christian children from the bottom of a medieval dung heap.
But even if a chastened Labour expels this or that antisemite or disciplines the Jew-baiters at the Oxford University Labour club,
I do not see how its leaders can challenge the conspiratorial
world-view they shared for decades. They would be renouncing everything
they once believed in.
As someone who warned in the 00s about the growing darkness on the
left, I am pessimistic about the chances of change. If you keep shouting
“fire” and the fire brigade never comes, you tend to assume the house
will burn to the ground. But perhaps familiarity breeds contempt and I
am not the best judge.
If Labour MPs and members want the party to break with a past that
has led to leftists allying with religious reactionaries who deny
universal human rights and hate every value the centre-left professes to
hold, they will have to learn to treat all racisms equally.
They will need to make a brief acquaintance with European history and
understand that the left has no guaranteed immunity from fascistic
ideology. They will have to see antisemitism for what it is and
understand why it always leads to despotism and despair. Like me, in
short, and if only briefly, they will have to become Jews themselves.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/19/why-i-am-becoming-a-jew-and-you-should-too
19 de março de 2016
17 de março de 2016
Purim, the festival of laughter
March 17, 2016
Purim is different. Jewish festivals are certainly a time of rejoicing,
yet they all contain an element of seriousness. Surely, there is a
commandment to rejoice on Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, sometimes even
to extremes, but this joy has its definitions and boundaries; overall,
it is a serious kind of joy.
On Purim, however, even when the festival is strictly observed according to all the rules and regulations — Megillah reading, Purim gifts, donations to the poor and Purim banquet — there is an overriding mischievous atmosphere, sometimes even a riotous one. Of course, its expressions differ from place to place and from one group to another, but Purim always involves an element of jest.
On Purim, however, even when the festival is strictly observed according to all the rules and regulations — Megillah reading, Purim gifts, donations to the poor and Purim banquet — there is an overriding mischievous atmosphere, sometimes even a riotous one. Of course, its expressions differ from place to place and from one group to another, but Purim always involves an element of jest.
Come to think of it, this light-headedness is
somewhat odd. Although Purim is a day of joy, it was preceded by an
extremely difficult and threatening period. The Jewish people have
always faced threats, troubles and battles with those who wanted to
defeat them or conquer their land. Most of these wars, however, were not
so different from the kinds of clashes that every nation experiences.
The event that preceded Purim was far more
serious: it was not a war but a genocide plan, with the aim of wiping
the Jewish people off the face of this earth. It was the very first
manifestation of a phenomenon, which today we call anti-Semitism,
extreme anti-Semitism.
In this specific case, Haman was overcome and
hanged on the tree, and all his assistants were defeated. Yet history
proves that he left behind numerous descendants and disciples.
Anti-Semitism may have started with Haman, but by no means did it end
with him. The descendants of Amalek are still in this world, and they
are sprouting, growing anew in many times, and places. It does not seem
that they have disappeared yet, not even in our enlightened,
cosmopolitan era.
* * *
Anti-Semitism has often been explained and
even justified over the course of time: the reasons given have been
religious, racial, and cultural. But even if there is an element of
truth in these excuses, the very proliferation of explanations points to
a more basic problem, one that is not always articulated: the
continuous existence of the Jewish people through thousands of years of
suffering and distress is miraculous, a mystery which defies logic.
Moreover, the same is true of anti-Semitism. This hatred is as
mysterious as it is real, and all the explanations for it are external,
and often also temporal and haphazard.
It is possible to defend ourselves against
enemies who have a reason for hating us; that defense may sometimes
resolve issues and even bring about mutual reconciliation. Against
anti-Semitism — because of its illogical nature — there may be means of
defense, but there is no way that we know of to uproot it. Over the past
several centuries, Jews have tried different methods to resolve this
issue: from total assimilation on the one hand, to the establishment of
an independent state on the other. None of these attempts has solved the
problem. They have changed or shifted the riddle; yet anti-Semitism
still remains.
Therefore, we have only two possible responses
left. The first is to do the best we can – as we did in the days of
Esther and in other generations – to defend ourselves from evil and
fight it. This should be done in any case, in order to gain some respite
from the outbursts of hatred.
The second option is to laugh. We laugh not
only about the downfall of anti-Semitic individuals or groups, but also
about anti-Semitism’s absurdity, ridiculousness and inner
contradictions. These cannot be confronted with or defeated by
counter-arguments, but only with laughter: laughter about them and about
us.
This laughter is the reflection of our
intrinsic reactions. When faced with such an insoluble impasse, we can
despair, disappear and abase ourselves — or we can laugh.
* * *
Laughter does not mean that there is a
solution, for there is none. Instead, our laughter says – “I am not a
part of this.” If we manage to laugh, it is because we have succeeded in
extricating ourselves from its mess.
Through laughter, we pull ourselves out of
history and we become immune to the guilt, the blame game and the
anxiety. Through laughter, we declare that we are free even of our
irrational bond with Haman’s hatred. We laugh at Haman, Ahasuerus and
all their successors because we are the ones who will endure. Our
enemies will survive only as the punch line of jokes.
The day after Purim, we begin thirty days of
preparation for Passover. As Judaism teaches us, elation must find
expression in action. Our joy that “He has not assigned our portion as
the others, nor made our destiny the same as multitudes,” is expressed
both in good spirits and in the serious activities that follow the
laughter.
* * *
Thus, we prepare for Passover. We clean the
Chametz, which also purges whatever is external to us. We scour and
scrub our innermost essence – our destiny assigned by the One who has
“chosen us from among all the nations.”
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
16 de março de 2016
15 de março de 2016
14 de março de 2016
Vida
A wounded Egyptian fruit bat hangs on a teddy bear in Nora Lifschitz’’s apartment in Tel Aviv.
Lifschitz used her home to open Israel’s first shelter for fruit bats.
12 de março de 2016
10 de março de 2016
9 de março de 2016
Israel
A seal bearing the inscription: 'to Elihana bat Gael' (7th Century BCE)
“Finding seals that bear names from the time
of the First Temple is hardly a commonplace occurrence, and finding a
seal that belonged to a woman is an even rarer phenomenon,” the IAA (Israel Antiquities Authority) said
in a statement. The “owner of the seal was exceptional
compared to other women of the First Temple period: she had legal status
which allowed her to conduct business and possess property,” it said. ("The Times of Israel", Here)
8 de março de 2016
Vida
“A dog’s sense of smell is far more developed than we humans can even
imagine,” said Coppolillo. “Scientists talk about olfactory receptors,
and concentrations, and parts per billion, but to put all that in
perspective, think about it this way: a dog can detect a teaspoon of
sugar dissolved in a million gallons of water – that’s two Olympic
swimming pools.”
Moses Mendelssohn
"No fanatic is easily capable of making my cool blood boil!":
The Secularizing Enlightenment of Moses Mendelssohn, Shmuel Feiner
7 de março de 2016
3 de março de 2016
Yizkor
Lord, what is man that You care for him, a mortal that You notice him?
Man is like a fleeting breath, his days like a passing shadow.
In the morning he flourishes and grows;
in the evening he withers and dries up.
Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Mark the blameless, note the upright, for the end of such a person is peace.
God will redeem my soul from the grave, for He will receive me, Selah.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
The dust returns to the earth as it was,
but the spirit returns to God who gave it.
(Beginning)
Koren
2 de março de 2016
Síria
Elfrange synagogue in Damascus
Once home to a thriving and ancient Jewish community, Syria now has
but a handful of Jews, who have fared poorly during the ongoing civil
war. Nonetheless, the Elfrange synagogue in Damascus refuses to close
its doors. Elfrange is the only one of Damascus’
seventeen synagogues that has not been shut down and robbed. It serves a
membership of sixteen men, ages sixty to ninety. Since the 1990s only a few dozen Jews have remained in Syria, according
to Avraham Hamra, who in 1993 left Damascus, where he served as chief
rabbi, and now lives in Holon, near Tel Aviv. As many as 4,000 Jews were
still living in Damascus, Aleppo, and al-Qamishli until then-President
Hafez al-Assad, on the eve of Passover 1992, permitted Syria’s Jews to
emigrate, as long as they didn’t go to Israel.
1 de março de 2016
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