ShefaNetwork: The Conservative/Masorti Movement Dreaming from Within

United Synagogue February eNews

2012-02-09T08:28:00.001-08:00


uscj.org/eNews	February 2012

Welcome

Welcome to Beth Sholom Congregation of Frederick, Maryland, the newest affiliate in our kehilla of kehillot.

What's New for You

Register Now to Go to Israel! - If, that is, you are between 22 and 26, or know someone who is eligible. This is for a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip with the Conservative movement. Registration opens February 15 and stays open for a short time, so if you want to see Israel through a Conservative movement (and free) lens, register now. Refer someone eligible and you can win an iPad2, an iPHone 4s, or a Macbook Air. Go on the trip, and you get to see Israel.

Ma'a lot Israel Education and Advocacy Grants - United Synagogue's Israel Commission and Nefesh b'Nefesh join to offer grants to kehillot for Israel education and advocacy. The intent to apply deadline is February 20. Email Kathy Elias for more information.

Sulam for Current Leaders

The Delegation Plan - The next in the series of Sulam webinars, the Delegation Plan, helps you, as a leader of your kehilla, to define the roles of the executive committee, board, and committees, reduce role confusion, explore how decisions are made, create the vision of an effective board, and organize your board to be more efficient. It's set for Wednesday, February 29, at noon and again at 8 pm., both eastern standard time. Register and we'll email you call-in details by midday on Febrary 28.
The Change Management Plan - The second webinar in Sulam for Current Leaders, the Change Management Plan, is online. This webinar was designed to help leaders cultivate change and navigate innovation in their kehillot.
Earlier Webinars - Earlier Sulam for Current Leaders webinars are posted; they are the Leadership Plan and an Introdution to Sulam.

Find A High Holiday Cantor (Wait. What?) - It's not too early to look for a cantor for the high holy days, or for cantors to find a kehilla that requires their services. We can get you started; we also can help with placement for other Jewish professionals.

CJ's Almost in the Mail - The latest issue of CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism looks at rabbis without borders, kehillot (temporarily) without buildings, people (again temporarily) without jobs, synagogue buildings without Jews, and a Renaissance siddur with a surprisingly modern twist. And because, although it's not clear how this happened, Passover is just two months away, some recipes and a seder checklist. Expect CJ by the end of the month. And if you are among the leaders of your kehilla, and you do not get CJ, we can fix that! Please send us your mailing lists. Email Bonnie Ras for more information.

Letter to President Obama - Our CEO, Rabbi Steven Wernick, joined a list of more than 20 other heads of major U.S. religious group in signing a letter thanking President Obama and the Health and Human Services department in affirming that contraceptive services must be covered by most insurance policies without deductibles or co-pays, and that only purely sectarian organizations are exempt from this requirement.

Calendar

Koach Kallah – It's not too late to register for the Koach Kallah, set for February 23-26 at Boston University. And it's not unaffordable! Thanks to a generous grant from Women's League for Conservative Judaism, registration is only $100, and a travel equity fund will help offset travel costs over $200. If you or your favorite college student needs more of a push, look at this.

Learn with the Conservative Yeshiva - Two scholars from our Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center's Conservative Yeshiva plan to teach and visit here in the next few months. From March 16 to March 25 Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein will teach in the Washington, DC, area, and Rabbi Shmuel Lewis will do the same in metropolitan New York. In early June, Shoshana Cohen will teach in New Jersey and Philadelphia. Local KRMs have details, so email Jo-Ann Tucker-Zemlak for information about Rabbi Silverstein's visit, Nadine Kochavi for details about Rabbi Lewis's trip, and Michelle Rich to learn about Ms. Cohen's.

New Directors Institute - Our education department offers the New Directors Institute, a three-day institute and yearlong coaching program for new educational directors, from June 19 to June 21 at the Pearlstone Retreat and Conference Center. For $500, brand new or sort-of-new directors can gain a toolbox of useful strategies and a network full or other professionals. For more information or to register, email educational consultant Susan Wyner.

What We've Been Doing for You

Scholar-in-Resident Program in California - Rabbi Gail Diamond, associate director of the Conservative Yeshiva at United Synagogue's Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, was scholar-in-residence in our Northern Pacific region in late January. Here, more than 40 people crammed into the living room of Rabbi Daniel Pressman's house in Saratoga, California, to learn with her.

Honoring Merrill Alpert - Merrill Alpert, Pacific Southwest's director of informal education and youth activity for Far West USY, was honored with the Or Zarua award from the Jewish Educators Assembly for her lifetime of service to the Jewish community. At the same time, 20 emerging leaders in their 20s were honored with the JEA's 20/20 award; 11 of them were alumni of Far West USY.

Abayudaya Youth Association - The Abayudaya Youth Association of Uganda, a chapter of Far West USY, held its annual convention in January. The group is underwritten in part by United Synagogue's Pacific Southwest region, and as in other years some members of Far West went to Uganda for the convention and helped with leadership training and programming skills.

Meeting of Presidents - In December, our international president, Richard Skolnik, and the president of the Rabbinical Association, Rabbi Gilah Dror, went to a holiday party at the White House. Here, they are flanked by Michelle and President Barack Obama.

USY

Summer 2012 – It's Closer Than You Think - If your teenager wants to join us in one of our life-altering summer programs - you can go to the glaciers in Alaska or to sun-soaked Israel, to the depths of the Grand Canyon or the heights of Masada - please register now. Don't be closed out!

Nativ Opens a New Track - Nativ, USY's gap-year leadership program in Israel, now offers a track in Kfar Hassidim Youth Village. You can get regular updates about Nativ 31's year in Israel on Twitter by following @nativisrael. Nativ is accepting applications for the 2012-2013 school year.

Heschel Honor Society Kinnus - Members of USY's Heschel Honor Society are invited to a weekend of spirited tefillah, thought-provoking Jewish study, social action, and ruach from March 9 to 11 at Tifereth Israel CongregatIon in Washington, DC for the Heschel Honor Society Kinnus.

Koach

A Taste of Nativ - Koach, for college students, invites Nativ alumi to bring a taste of that Israel-based gap-year program to their campuses. Thanks to United Synagogue's Israel Commission and Rabbi Paul Freedman, two $250 grants are available for a student-run, Nativ-style oneg Shabbat or seudah shlishit. Email Koach with proposals or questions.

Koach On The Road - This semester, Koach, for college students, offers a weekly class at Boston University on Strange Stories in the Mishah, works with Hillels of New York to build a presence at Pace University; vists Nativ in Israel, Yale, Queens College, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, and other schools, and presents an area-wide workshop on making Jewish college courses at Congregation Beth El in Vorhees, New Jersey. For a little more Koach, wherever you happen to be, email Koach's director, Rabbi Elyse Winick.

From the Conservative Yeshiva

Conservative Yeshiva Online Learning - The Conservative Yeshiva's four-week online course about midrashim on the Exodus begins on March 4. Register now!

Volunteer in Israel This Summer - The Conservative Yeshiva's Volunteer and Study summer program gives you the chance to learn with a diverse group of students and meet Israelis by volunteering with an Israeli nonprofit. Come to Israel for a summer to live your Jewish values!

United Synagogue's Kallah 2011

United Synagogue's biennial convention, transformed into a kallah centering around Shabbat, met in La Jolla, California, from December 1 through December 4.

We have wonderful vendors, and we would like to thank them. Here's a list. We hope that synagogue leaders will consider this list as they shop for goods or services.

Israel Commission

Jewish National Fund - More than 80 kehillot have signed up for the partnership between United Synagogue and the Jewish National Fund that gives each kehilla a 20 percent rebate when its members buy products, including trees planted in Israel, through a special link on JNF's website.

Send Us Your Names - Many of our kehillot have changed administrations in the last few months, or are about to do so. If you have a new Israel Affairs chair, please send Rabbi Paul Freedman his or her name and email address, along with the name of your kehilla, its city and state or province, and the name of the recently retired chair.

From Our Book and Media Center

Are You Ready for Adar? - Purim begins on the evening of March 7, and do we have a megillah for you! The offerings in our Book and Media Center range from JT Waldman's graphic version of Megillat Esther to the JPS Bible Commentary – Esther to the more traditional Book of Esther.

And if you need some new ideas or new perspectives, Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Winter Holidays and The Tapestry of Jewish Time are great sources.

Around the Jewish World

Centennial in Kentucky - Ohavay Zion Synagogue in Lexington, Kentucky, is celebrating its first hundred years. It's planning a party the weekend of April 27-29, and welcomes all former members, as well as anyone interested in its rich history. For more information, write to Sue Ezrine and you'll be added to the mailing list.

Around the Jewish World

Jewish Disability Awareness Month - February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month. Learn more or take a look at JDAM's program guide.

Human Rights Campaign/Jewish Organization Equality Index - The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nonprofit educational division of the United States' biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organization, is working with Jewish philanthropists and nonprofits on the Jewish Organization Equality Index. Conservative movement institutions are urged to complete a survey and be included in this groundbreaking effort. To join this survey, a kehilla representative should fill out this form; within three days the HRC Foundation will send login information for the next step.

Web Hosting

Take advantage of free Internet hosting services to affiliated synagogues, USY chapters, and afternoon/day schools. We now also can provide your synagogue with a free template CMS website.

Two Minute Torah

Got two minutes? Get some Torah! Enjoy our weekly podcast and sign up for email alerts. www.koach.org

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Rapaport House · 820 Second Avenue, New York NY 10017
212.533.7800 · info@uscj.org

JTS Launches New Continuing Education Initiative for Rabbis at the 2012 RA Convention

2012-02-08T23:49:00.001-08:00

JTS Launches New Continuing Education Initiative for Rabbis
at the 2012 RA Convention

"Making Torah Relevant to Gen Next: You're the App for That!"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Eve Glasberg
Office: (212) 678-8089
Email: evglasberg@jtsa.edu

February 8, 2012, New York, NY

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) will offer a bold new continuing education initiative for rabbis, in partnership with the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), as part of the 2012 Rabbinical Assembly Convention. JTS will present a special convention track titled Making Torah Relevant to Gen Next: You're the App for That! This program will feature a multidisciplinary approach whose goal is to connect Generation Xers and Millennials with synagogues. Rabbis will learn how to take the JTS signature approach to teaching Torah, one that bridges the gap between contemporary scholarship and the quest for personal meaning, and combine it with adult learning strategies and the use of social media.

This new initiative is the inaugural event for JTS Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen's vision of strengthening and expanding JTS's role as a provider of premier continuing education programs for alumni and Jewish communal professionals. A prominent JTS alumnus, Rabbi Hayim Herring, president and CEO of the Herring Consulting Network, was engaged by Chancellor Eisen to design this unique program.

Participants in the JTS convention track will study with Chancellor Eisen, one of the world's foremost experts on American Judaism; other distinguished JTS faculty; and adjunct experts in adult learning theory and social media. Through this pilot program, JTS will help rabbis of the Conservative Movement inspire new generations with their teaching and strengthen Jewish learning as a shared communal enterprise.

The retreat will be conducted over the course of the RA Convention, May 6 to 9, 2012, at the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be open to approximately 40 convention attendees on a first-come, first-served basis.

Registration for the retreat begins now, and the registration deadline is Monday, March 5, or as soon as all spots are filled. Space is limited; so to guarantee a spot, please click here to register.

For more information, contact Rabbi Ashira Konigsburg at (212) 280-6066 or akonigsburg@rabbinicalassembly.org; or Hayim Herring at (612) 859-1650 or hayim@herringconsultingnetwork.com.

Visit JTS at www.jtsa.edu.

###

Yizhar Hess, CEO of the Masorti Movement (in ynet): "Israel’s Orthodox monopoly has changed from unpleasant annoyance to strategic threat"

2012-02-07T17:36:00.001-08:00

America's Jews are worried

Op-ed: Israel's Orthodox monopoly has changed from unpleasant annoyance to strategic threat

Yizhar Hess, CEO of the Masorti Movement

Published: 

 02.08.12, 00:08 / Israel Opinion

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4186798,00.html

Last week, a contingent of leaders from the North American Conservative movement returned to the US. All the members of this mission, rabbis, congregation leaders and philanthropists, had already been to Israel dozens of times. They are major activists in Jewish Federations, AIPAC, Hadassah, you name it. They didn't come as tourists; they came to ask what has happened, but mainly, what will be?

The Jewish population of North America is worried. In recent years Israel, the Jewish state, has put on a large mask with blinders; a mask adorned with a long thick beard, showing the face of creeping fundamentalism. These North American leaders continue to receive emotional requests from organizations in Israel seeking to enlist their political support, or their capital, but they, too, cannot help but ask: where is the money going?

Jewish State

 The challenge of haredim /Donniel Hartman
 
Op-ed: Source of haredi power and influence lies in failure of mainstream Israeli society
Full Story 

How can it be that a soldier receives NIS 360-700 a month, while a yeshiva student gets NIS 900? How can a country whose civil bodies are constantly raising funds for the education system allow regular state school classrooms to have an average of 28 students (if only my daughter Mika's class of 39 students would be reduced to this average, but an average is an average); whereas an ultra-Orthodox pupil has an average of 20 children in his class?

And in general, why did funding for the ultra-Orthodox education system rise so sharply, by almost 50%, in a three-year period (2006-2009), way-way more than their natural growth in the population?

These Jewish community leaders are also asking, with ever-increasing determination, what the State of Israel thinks about them, the Jews of North America.

They met with ministers, Knesset members, mayors, with the outgoing head of the Mossad, and with the US Ambassador to Israel. One of the heads of this mission, the former chairperson of a Conservative congregation of 1,400 families, spoke of the way she teaches her children to love Israel, about the prayer for the welfare of the state of Israel recited every Shabbat in her synagogue, about the Israeli songs, and the Hebrew slang that they use whenever they can.

2nd class Jews?

She also talked about her deep fear that her son, who will shortly be coming for an entire year on one of the programs for Jewish youth, will fall in love with an Israeli. She knows that they will not be able to marry here. "I'm a Jew By Choice; I was converted in a Conservative conversion many years ago," she said her eyes wet with tears. "The practices and policies of the Jewish state turn me and my children into second class Jews."

Some of the people they met admitted unequivocally – although they did not want to be quoted – that the Orthodox monopoly in Israel has long since changed from an unpleasant annoyance to a strategic threat to the strength of the State of Israel, both because of its growing impact on relations between the Jews of the Diaspora and Israel, and because of the alienation of hundreds of thousands of Israelis, including many who are not halakhically Jewish, and for whom the Orthodox establishment, in all of its variations, has managed to make Judaism odious.

Those who hold Israel dear to their hearts, who check the news several times a day on the leading English language sites, and who anxiously follow the changes taking place in Israeli society, are extremely disturbed by the Jewish fundamentalism, chauvinism, and legislation that exudes an anti-democratic spirit, unprecedented in any previous Knesset.

"The Jews of America must courageously rethink the way in which they invest in Israel," one of the heads of this mission concluded.

A Conservative rabbi, one of the most influential in North America today, said "we must create a new kashrut certificate, a kashrut certification for social projects. Projects that do not reinforce democracy in Israel should be crossed off our list. Those programs that contribute to democracy should remain. They will receive a "kashrut" certificate. The projects and programs that directly encourage democratic values, and emphasize Jewish pluralism, will be placed at the head of our list. They will receive a mehadrin kashrut certificate. Israel is too precious for us to remain indifferent."

Yizhar Hess is the Executive Director & CEO of the Masorti Movement in Israel

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || menachemcreditor.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within" on itunes!

Chancellor Eisen on Huffpost: "Moses, Pharaoh and the Candidates"

2012-02-03T16:48:00.001-08:00

Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen: "Moses, Pharaoh and the Candidates"
The Jewish Theological Seminary
Posted: 02/ 2/2012 2:02 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arnold-m-eisen/moses-pharaoh-and-the-presidential-candidates_b_1246898.html

Two very different leadership contests have competed for the attention of religiously observant American Jews in recent weeks. One of them played out among Republican candidates seeking the right to challenge Barack Obama for leadership of the most powerful nation on earth. The other played out in the Torah portions describing the fateful battle in the name of the Lord that Moses conducted against Pharaoh, in his day the most powerful ruler on earth. I couldn't help looking at each contest in the light of the other, despite real reluctance to sully the Exodus narrative -- one of the most profound and sacred stories in the biblical canon -- by comparing it to a political campaign that has lately been the opposite of noble. The juxtaposition proved too illuminating to ignore.

Note first what the Bible has to say to the questions on many American minds as the mudslinging and counterpunching take their toll week by week on candidates and electorate alike: Why would anyone in their right mind want to go through this? Why would any sane person seek the presidency? Moses, notably, did not seek his prophetic office; indeed, he begged God to send someone else to stand before the Israelites and Pharaoh. Unlike candidates who proclaim that they alone are worthy of our vote, Moses repeatedly and quite sincerely professed his lack of suitability for the task of leading the Israelites. He is the first in a line of prophets who established a rule that holds good for many biblical leaders: if you want the job, you're not right for it. God does not choose individuals who approach with confidence the difficulties that await them (not least the difficulty of standing before God and doing God's bidding). One wishes that candidates for modern elected office had similar humility -- and that the public were wise enough to reward that virtue rather than scorning it.

Pharaoh, for his part, is not equipped to do anything but say no. He is schooled for power and only for power and, as a result, is ill-equipped to imagine any options beyond a narrow repertoire of intimidation, manipulation and control. It is difficult to blame the king for not knowing the new god in whose name Moses demands liberation of the Israelites. One is not surprised that Pharaoh's first reaction to the plagues God rains on Egypt is to ignore them, his second is to try to use the new god rather than obey him, and his third is to negotiate. Offer your sacrifices here in Egypt, Pharaoh tells Moses at one point: The men can go, perhaps, but not the women or children. By the ninth plague of the 10, however, it seems that Pharaoh has been trapped by the limits of his own political imagination. "Remove this death from me," he begs in a moment of honest weakness, only to stand fast again and refuse to think about reengineering his economy to do without slave labor. "Go -- but leave your flocks," he proposes as Egypt sinks into darkness. Only the 10th plague changes his mind, and that change too proves temporary. He will not let the slave-people go. He would rather die.

The lesson for world leaders battling historical forces of similar magnitude seems clear, even if -- this being the Bible -- that lesson is neither simple nor easily put into practice. Moses succeeds as the leader of the Israelites not only because he has God on his side, but because he reaches deep into every pocket of his experience, tests every ounce of his resilience, and stretches the horizon of his mind past anything he or anyone else has previously encountered. He will soon learn that standing for God and before God often requires him to stand up to God in defense of the people. The Israelites disappoint him, infuriate him, mock his leadership and -- once out of Egypt -- display little faith that the God who got them across the sea will bring them to the Promised Land. Yet Moses refuses to give up on them, and will not let God give up on them either. Moses exhibits a sort of integrity -- personal and national -- that is rarely found in any leader, ancient or contemporary. He is one with himself and one with his people, loving them despite their failures and refusing to accede to those failures, because he knows his people can do better.

The comparison between Moses and present-day leaders or candidates breaks down a bit (though not entirely) in at least two respects. Readers of the Bible of course know that Moses had God behind him (though it is worth remembering that Moses's contemporaries, including members of his own Levitic clan, were sometimes not so sure). What is more, Moses is a wartime, rather than a peacetime, leader. His job is to take charge of a violent uprising that leaves no Egyptian household untouched by death. The rebellion succeeds, launching a prolonged phase of wilderness wandering, only after Pharaoh's army drowns in the sea.

I think Moses realizes early on that his upbringing at court conferred the indispensable ability to take on the Pharaoh, but it was his murder of the Egyptian taskmaster (Exodus 2:12) that qualified him to stand alongside God as the leader of a revolution. His own resort to violence made Moses complicit in the violence that God, with his assistance, will wreak on Egypt. For the same reason, I suspect, God's announcement to Moses that every firstborn male in Egypt will die is followed without pause in the text by the mysterious passage in which God appears to attack Moses's own firstborn son, who is saved only when the boy's mother suddenly circumcises him with a piece of flint (Exodus 4:25). Moses needs to learn the terror of violence, and its impact on victim as well as perpetrator, before he makes violence his instrument and, by doing so, becomes its instrument.

Every American president in our time has borne this burden too. The weighty responsibility for war seems utterly out of keeping with the tenor of campaign rhetoric, unless one believes that dishing out insults and withstanding them in turn is a kind of proxy -- like football -- for battering the enemy and shouldering the burden of American casualties.

I am struck by one final relevant juxtaposition as I write this essay on the eve of the Florida primary. Moses learns near the very beginning of his career as a leader that he cannot lead the Israelites to freedom without sacrificing popularity. This is, of course, the difference between divine election and democracy, and it causes one to wonder how and whether a future (or current) leader can tell people what they need to hear -- the very definition of true leadership -- rather than succumbing to the apparent political necessity of telling them what they want to hear.

Moses's life seems to grow harder rather than easier with every achievement he records, every challenge he meets, every step he takes with his people on the circuitous journey toward the Promised Land. Allies -- even his own brother -- prove unreliable. God, by the end, has become his best friend, perhaps his only friend.

Why take on such a task? Because you know you are called; know that with help you can do it; and know that, when the task seems impossible, God, your spouse, your friends and perhaps history will lend a hand.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || menachemcreditor.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within" on itunes!

Magen Tzedek Certification Program is Officially “Open for Business”

2012-02-02T16:16:00.001-08:00

Magen Tzedek Certification Program is Officially "Open for Business"

February 2, 2012 -- http://www.magentzedek.org/2012/02/magen-tzedek-certification-program-is-officially-open-for-business/

The much anticipated Magen Tzedek Certification program is now officially "open for business". For kosher food manufacturers and processors interested in becoming certified, the program assures that their products are manufactured consistent with the Jewish tradition of justice and ethics. The complete Magen Tzedek Standard, initially posted on this website in 2009 for public comment, has been finalized and details the criteria for earning certification to the Magen Tzedek seal.

An ever increasing number of both mainstream food producers, as well as specialty producers are adding socially responsible practices to help differentiate their brands in the marketplace with measurable results. See how your products can join this trend through Magen Tzedek Certification.

The following information is available for interested food manufacturers and audit firms:

Magen Tzedek Standard - The complete and final standard governing compliance with the Magen Tzedek Seal of Justice.

Magen Tzedek Certification Application

Self Study Form allows applicants the opportunity to gauge their degree of compliance with the requirements of the Magen Tzedek Certification Standard, prior to a formal application.
Pre-Screen Application Form identifies and collects relevant company information and practices for the formal audit process. This document must be completed and submitted to the Magen Tzedek Commission as the first step in the application process.

Certification Process Manual – Prescribes the procedures, criteria and methodologies that an audit firm must follow in carrying out the assessment of an entity that applies for Magen Tzedek Certification. This document also provides insight to kosher food manufacturers and processors on how the audit process will proceed.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || menachemcreditor.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within" on itunes!

Masorti Foundation: History Made at the Knesset

2012-01-31T14:33:00.001-08:00

News from Masorti UK! New Jewish Primary School Finchley!

2012-01-31T08:01:00.001-08:00

The New Jewish Primary School in Finchley will be a one-form entry Jewish primary school in the North/West Finchley area. We propose opening in September 2013 with a year three and reception class. We will provide an outstanding general and Jewish education to Jewish and non-Jewish children from across the local community.

To register interest for your child please go to www.newjpsfinchley.org.uk by February 7th.

The more registrations of interest we receive, the more likely the school is to go ahead so please share this information with friends and neighbours.

To get involved or for more information, please contact us on: finchleyJPS@gmail.com or 07092 986 512

Our school is built on four core values:

Excellence in Teaching and Learning

We will support the highest level of academic attainment and will place a priority on critical, independent and creative thought and expression. We will provide a thorough Jewish and Hebrew education of the highest standards which will equip our pupils with the skills, knowledge and confidence to participate in Jewish Life and learning.

Inclusivity and Diversity

We will be a non-selective free school and will support the abilities and learning styles of every child. We will welcome and value families from across the spectrum of Jewish religious observance as well as families of other faiths or none.

Identity and Values

The school will create a caring community of children, parents and teachers. Through inspiring Jewish experiences including daily prayer, we will foster a love of Judaism and teach the values of good citizenship, mutual responsibility, care for the natural world and positive relationships with the wider community.

Nurturing Each Child to Achieve their Best

We will create a happy, nurturing environment in which children experience success, become independent learners, enjoy warm relationships with their teachers and with each other, and are inspired to challenge themselves in a safe space.

jpost.com: "First mixed prayer service in Knesset"

2012-01-25T10:15:00.001-08:00

January 25, 2012 Wednesday 1 Shevat 5772 10:14 IST

First mixed prayer service in Knesset
By JEREMY SHARON
25/01/2012
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=255117

A historic prayer service was conducted in the Knesset on Wednesday by a leadership mission of the Masorti-Conservative movement from North America who held the first ever mixed men and women service in the Knesset.

The group, including male and female rabbis and communal leaders from the US and Canada, met with several MKs to discuss the issue of religion and state, including Ministers Dan Meridor and Uzi Landau, as well as Yohanan Plesner and Orit Zuaretz.

The meetings focused for the most part on the issue of religious radicalization in Israel and its influence on the country's image abroad, particularly in America.

As has been the norm for the group during the visit, they went to say the afternoon mincha prayers when their schedule of political engagements was over, and, as is the custom in the conservative streams of Judaism, men and women sat together without a partition.

The service was led by Rabbi Jen Gorman in the Knesset synagogue in what the group described as an historical first.

"It was an inspiring service and we were extremely happy to be praying in the beautiful synagogue of the parliament of the Jewish State," said Rabbi Dr. Alan Silverstein, president of the Masorti foundation in the US. "Each Shabbat we pray in communities of Conservative Judaism worldwide, for the well-being of the State of Israel, and here we had the opportunity got to do this great mitzvah in the synagogue of the Israeli Knesset of Israel, one of the most important symbols of Jewish sovereignty."

The group also raised the controversial issue of rights for non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, referring to the lack of recognition the state grants the Conservative movement's rabbis and ceremonies.

"All of us love Israel and support Israel and members of our communities are part of the central leadership of AIPAC, Hadassah and the Jewish Federations," said David Lisi, the director of the Masorti Fund in the US. "But the State of Israel degrades us time and again when it says that we are second-class Jews," he continued mentioning conservative marriages and converts in particular. "The discrimination against non-Orthodox movements in Israel does massive damage to the image of Israel as a state for all Jews," Lisi asserted.

The director of the ITIM religious rights group and orthodox rabbi, Seth Farber, told The Jerusalem Post that the state of Israel finds itself at a cross roads in this regard and that as the relationship with the Diaspora matures "some very difficult decisions lie ahead."

"A lot of work still needs to be done to make Jews of all denominations feel comfortable in Israel," he said.

"There isn't enough strategic thinking going on to think about how Israel can be a homeland for all Jews. The state wasn't founded to be insular and indifferent to Jewish people and so there needs to begin a sincere dialogue with Diaspora communities to tackle these issues."

Rabbi Andrew Sacks on Jpost: "Haagen Dazs - The Great Kashrut Controversy"

2012-01-23T13:38:00.001-08:00

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/we-all-scream-ice-cream

Rabbi Andrew Sacks is the Director of the Masorti [Conservative] Movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Israel (the organization of Masorti/Conservative rabbis) and the Masorti Movement's Bureau of Religious Affairs. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Masorti organizations.

Monday Jan 23, 2012

We all scream for ice cream

Haagen-Dazs is NOT Kosher. Ouch! The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, who under Israeli law has sole authority for matters relating to Kashrut in Israel (despite the plethora of Badazim) has ordered the product removed from the store shelves. They have gone so far as to say that "those refusing to comply risk losing their Kashrut certification." This abderian behavior, sad or funny though it may be, is becoming a trend.

Did someone discover lard in the ice cream? Is General Mills (the owner of Hagen-Dazs) spiking the product with pigs milk? The answers are no and no. The same ice cream that has been deemed Kosher until now has suddenly become suspect.

The problem, according to the spokesperson for the Rabbinate, is that Haagen-Dazs uses real milk rather than milk powder. If the milk is produced by non-Jews (Halav Akum), then they fear that it may become contaminated with a mix of milk from non-Kosher animals. For various reasons that defy logic this suspicion does not apply to powdered milk.

So the OU certification (the largest corporate Kashrut certification in the world) is good enough for North America but it falls short of the demands of Israel's zealously pious Orthodox Chief Rabbinate.

Well, one might simply say "different strokes for different folks." I have a friend who is an Orthodox rabbi here in Israel. His family keeps a vegetarian home. Yet, his brother-in-law won't eat in his home because he allows the use of dairy products that are under the supervision of this same Rabbinate that bars Haagen-Dazs. Maybe all dairy products should be pulled from store shelves?

Sound like the Chief Rabbinate has gone over the top? Sound silly? Well it is not. This is part of an ugly effort by Israel's Chief Rabbinate to become the equivalent of a papacy by setting religious standards for all communities, both in Israel and abroad.
It was just a few years back that this same righteous Chief Rabbinate decided that they would no longer recognize as Jewish those who convert via the rabbis who are members of the RCA (Rabbinic Council of America). They limited to a very small number the rabbis and rabbinical courts they would accept. The RCA and the OU are part of the same movement structure. The conversions performed by Orthodox rabbinic graduates of Chovevei Torah have been rejected almost outright.

Local rabbinic courts have always been autonomous. They must take into account local circumstances. Indeed, it is the oppressively strict standards used by the Chief Rabbinate of today (this was not so when Ben Zion Uziel or Ovadya Yosef served as Chief Rabbis) that has contributed to a strong public distaste for the religious establishment in Israel.

The Pope may set the standard for all priests in the Catholic faith tradition but we do not have a Pope. Even the concept of a Chief Rabbis does not come from within the Jewish tradition. It was established by the British based on the Millet system of the Ottomans.
This power grab by the rabbinate is little more than a veiled attempt at obtaining greater power. They have made this effort with regard to conversion, Aliyah, family status matters, military issues, and now ICE CREAM.

I don't know how other observant Israelis will take this but I, for one, will continue to enjoy my White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Hagen Dazs.
You scream, I scream, let's all scream for our ice cream.

From Masorti AmLat: Intl. Holocaust Remembrance Day

2012-01-22T10:02:00.001-08:00

Rabbi Dov Linzer in the NYtimes: "Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Modesty Fight"

2012-01-20T15:24:00.001-08:00

NYtimes.com: "Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Modesty Fight"

Rabbi Dov Linzer

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/opinion/ultra-orthodox-jews-and-the-modesty-fight.html?_r=1

Lechery, Immodesty and the Talmud

By RABBI DOV LINZER

Published: January 19, 2012

REPRINTS
SHARE

IS it possible for a religious demand for modesty to be about anything other than men controlling women's bodies? From recent events in Israel, it would certainly seem that it is not.

Enlarge This Image

Jennifer Uman

Related News

Israelis Facing a Seismic Rift Over Role of Women (January 15, 2012)
Israeli Girl, 8, at Center of Tension Over Religious Extremism (December 28, 2011)

Last month, an innocent, modestly dressed 8-year-old girl, Naama Margolese, living in Beit Shemesh, described being spat on and vilified by religious extremists — all men — who believed that she did not dress modestly enough while walking past them to the religious school she attends. And more and more, public buses in Israel are enforcing gender segregation imposed by ultra-Orthodox riders in and near their neighborhoods. Woe to the girl or woman who refuses to move to the back of the bus.

This is part of a larger battle being waged in Israel between the ultra-Orthodox and the rest of Israeli society over women's place in society, over their very right to have a visible presence and to participate in the public sphere.

What is behind these deeply disturbing events? We are told that they arise from a religious concern about modesty, that women must be covered and sequestered so that men do not have improper sexual thoughts. It seems, then, that a religious tenet that begins with men's sexual thoughts ends with men controlling women's bodies.

This is not a problem unique to Judaism. But the Talmud, the basis for Jewish law, offers a perhaps surprising answer: It places the responsibility for controlling men's licentious thoughts about women squarely on the men.

Put more plainly, the Talmud says: It's your problem, sir; not hers.

The ultra-Orthodox men in Israel who are exerting control over women claim that they are honoring women. In effect they are saying: We do not treat women as sex objects as you in Western society do. Our women are about more than their bodies, and that is why their bodies must be fully covered.

In fact, though, their actions objectify and hyper-sexualize women. Think about it: By saying that all women must hide their bodies, they are saying that every woman is an object who can stir a man's sexual thoughts. Thus, every woman who passes their field of vision is sized up on the basis of how much of her body is covered. She is not seen as a complete person, only as a potential inducement to sin.

Of course, once you judge a female human being only through a man's sexualized imagination, you can turn even a modest 8-year-old girl into a seductress and a prostitute.

At heart, we are talking about a blame-the-victim mentality. It shifts the responsibility of managing a man's sexual urges from himself to every woman he may or may not encounter. It is a cousin to the mentality behind the claim, "She was asking for it."

So the responsibility is now on the women. To protect men from their sexual thoughts, women must remove their femininity from their public presence, ridding themselves of even the smallest evidence of their own sexuality.

All of this is done in the name of the Torah and Jewish law.

But it's actually a complete perversion. The Talmud, the foundation of Jewish law, acknowledges that men can be sexually aroused by women and is indeed concerned with sexual thoughts and activity outside of marriage. But it does not tell women that men's sexual urges are their responsibility. Rather, both the Talmud and the later codes of Jewish law make that demand of men.

It is forbidden for a man to gaze sexually at a woman, whether beautiful or ugly, married or unmarried, says the Talmud. Later Talmudic rabbis extended this ban even to "her smallest finger" and "her brightly colored clothing — even if they are drying on the wall."

To make these the woman's responsibility is to demand that Jewish women cover their hands, and that they not dry their clothes in public. No one has ever said this. At least not yet.

The Talmud tells the religious man, in effect: If you have a problem, you deal with it. It is the male gaze — the way men look at women — that needs to be desexualized, not women in public. The power to make sure men don't see women as objects of sexual gratification lies within men's — and only men's — control.

Jewish tradition teaches men and women alike that they should be modest in their dress. But modesty is not defined by, or even primarily about, how much of one's body is covered. It is about comportment and behavior. It is about recognizing that one need not be the center of attention. It is about embodying the prophet Micah's call for modesty: learning "to walk humbly with your God."

Eight-year-old Naama could teach her attackers a thing or two about modesty.

Dov Linzer, an Orthodox rabbi, is the dean of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical Schoolin the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || menachemcreditor.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson: "Biblical Economic Justice: Supply and Demand Isn't Enough"

2012-01-09T12:27:00.001-08:00

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson: "Biblical Economic Justice: Supply and Demand Isn't Enough"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-bradley-shavit-artson/supply-demand-isnt-enough_b_1178974.html

As the voters of the United States recommence the process of electing the next President, it is important to recall our core values. Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans may legitimately differ on how best to implement those values, but clarifying what values remain our bedrock is the first step toward assuring that these policy disputes remain constructive. One of those bedrock values is, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, "providing for the general welfare." In biblical terms it is "loving your neighbor as yourself."

During my second year in college, I decided to take the introductory course in economics. After all, learning how we allocate resources, create products, and encourage creativity and productivity all seemed like important tools for being an informed citizen. The Intro to Economics course was wildly popular, offered not in a classroom but a university theater in order to accommodate the standing-room-only numbers of students who enrolled. This class, clearly, held the keys not only to information, but to influence and power.

At the first lecture, the professor taught us about supply and demand, an economic model for determining the price of a good in the market. Equilibrium (the price charged for a product) rests at the intersection of Supply provided by producers (at a particular price) with the quantity of Demand (at a particular price) by consumers. When those two meet at a single point, their market equilibrium is found. That price marks the most efficient level for the production and distribution of a product.

Note that "demand" here does not equate to human need, but to the ability (and willingness) to pay for a product. No money -- no demand.

"Wait a minute," I objected. "You mean that if someone is starving on the street, penniless, then according to this model they have no demand to measure?" Right, I was told. Demand measures ability and willingness to pay, not need. You can starve to death with no measurable "demand," no impact on the market whatsoever.

At that moment, I realized that market economics measures efficient production and distribution of resources, but nothing more. Like Darwinian evolution, it possesses no moral compass; it simply describes what is, not what ought to be. And -- again like Darwinian evolution -- its mechanism doesn't integrate values such as compassion, minimizing suffering, protecting the weak, expressing a commitment to love or justice. Supply and demand measures efficiency -- an important concern to be sure, but by itself, incomplete. Just as our society makes decisions that integrate values other than Darwinian survival (we are committed to foster the flourishing of the individual, to intervene to heal the sick, to educate and empower the disabled and the underprivileged), so too our economic priorities must integrate but cannot be limited to market efficiency. There are other important values we also must advance. Supply and demand, by itself, does not evaluate when there might be concerns that override efficiency in particular cases -- feeding impoverished school children, for instance, making sure that indigent elderly have shelter, providing inoculations where needed, internalizing the cost of industrial waste dumped into our air and seas.

Such a commitment to human flourishing even at the occasional expense of efficiency is as consensual as our founding fathers and as sacred as Scripture: It was Thomas Jefferson, after all, who reminds us that "we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." God-given concern for life, liberty and happiness are the proper goals of American democracy. Market efficiency is often a tool that advances those goals, but the goals are more encompassing than efficiency and sometimes require us to modify our commitment to the free market in support of more ultimate goals.

The Bible itself provides ample examples of laws that modify the unbridled rights of property owners: we are commanded to leave the corners of our fields unharvested, and to harvest our crops but once. Any remaining produce becomes the property of the poor, and they are legally entitled to access to that yield. Mandatory funds are established so the poor can sustain themselves, and the rich were obligated to provide food, clothing and sustenance for the widow, the orphan and the poor. Ancient Israel provided community education for all (male) children. One legal standard applied to rich and poor alike, with all contributing their fair share in tax revenue. Fields are to lie fallow every seventh (Sabbatical) and 50th (Jubilee) years to renew their bounty. While the market forces of supply and demand were the baseline for ancient Israel's economic activity, both Bible and Talmud delineate a prohibition of excessive profits, which were held to be sinful and impermissible.

Biblical Israel aspired to attain a vision in which all people were recognized as reflections of God's image -- each person of equal worth and dignity. That theological commitment, as it does in the USA's Declaration of Independence and in the world's Scriptures, mandates concern for the individual that sometimes supersedes the mechanism of market efficiency.

Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals should legitimately dispute which policies best advance that bedrock commitment. Such debates can help the nation better understand the challenges ahead and how most effectively to address them. But the underlying commitment must remain bipartisan supreme.

An economy that ignores supply and demand may find itself lacking the resources to sustain itself. We properly work with market economics as the starting point for our economic activity.

But an extremism that elevates supply and demand to its solitary and highest priority rejects a more encompassing Biblical commitment to care for the widow and the orphan, to provide food and clothing for the poor, to educate and nurture all its children, to live harmoniously with creation. Such a idolatrous dogmatism must be rejected, both in the name of our Founding Fathers and in the name of the world's wisdom traditions.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || menachemcreditor.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

Rabbinical Assembly: "A Prayer in Honor of Martin Luther King Day"

2012-01-05T23:35:00.001-08:00

Rabbinical Assembly: "A Prayer in Honor of Martin Luther King Day"
By Rabbi Lilly Kaufman

http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/prayer-honor-martin-luther-king-day?tp=205

Dr. King would have faced hard facts today.
He would know the number of children
going hungry in America this very minute.
He would know the number of our war dead,
and those wounded in new ways.
He would know the astounding costs
of financial corruption.
He would have seen beyond the numbers,
to the faces of our people,
and he would still have faith in them,
and in what is right.

He would be preaching now
a determined, measured, poetic, prophetic outrage.
He would be teaching by example
our civic duty of compassion,
and decrying the grave civic danger of cynicism.

He would challenge the strange new ideas
that money equals speech
and corporations are people
in a democracy.
When he gave his life for peoplesʼ rights
of speech, and assembly, and the vote,
it was for people
who had no money to pay for speech.
They knew speech as an unalienable right,
and their wealth of spirit sufficed.

Dr. King had faith in a few great things:
one was our essential American dream.
Not a middle-class American dream,
or an upper-class, a working-poor,
or an impoverished-class American dream.
But the defining American dream
which lifts up those bowed down.
The abiding American dream
of liberty and justice for all.

Dr. King asked of God in 1964:

... grant that we will always reach out

for that which is high,
realizing that we are made for the stars,
created for the everlasting,
born for eternity.

May we learn again to reach out for that which is high.

Amen.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || menachemcreditor.org

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

Let There Be Light - the Masorti response to children in concentration camp uniforms and yellow stars

2012-01-01T12:50:00.001-08:00

From the Rabbinical Assembly:
Let There Be Light!

http://addyourlight.tumblr.com/

In response to photos of the protests in Jerusalem where a misguided few dressed their children in concentration camp uniforms and yellow stars, we cannot stay silent. Whatever they meant, they told the world that their Judaism is engulfed in darkness. We live rich Jewish lives every day. Our Judaism adds meaning and purpose. Our Judaism exists to bring light to the world. If you feel the same way, please share a photo! Let's show everyone what Judaism means to us!

http://addyourlight.tumblr.com/

Forward.com: "Day Schools Stuck in Neutral: Enrollment Numbers Grow, But Only Among Ultra-Orthodox"

2011-12-29T11:18:00.001-08:00

Forward.com: "Day Schools Stuck in Neutral"

Enrollment Numbers Grow, But Only Among Ultra-Orthodox

http://www.forward.com/articles/148762/

GETTY IMAGES

Declining Numbers: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visits Jewish day school students. Despite a massive push, enrollment is down at Jewish schools, except for those serving the ultra-Orthodox.

By J.J. Goldberg

Published December 29, 2011, issue of January 06, 2012.

The month of December brought some bad news for Jewish day school advocates. According to the Avi Chai Foundation, which tracks these things, day school enrollment saw a "modest decline" of about 1.4% in the 2011-12 school year, compared with the year before.

The sharpest decline was reported among the Solomon Schechter schools of Conservative Judaism, which experienced a 3.8% drop, from 11,786 students nationwide in 2010 to 11,338 this year. They were followed by so-called Community (non-denominational and/or federation-sponsored) schools, which fell 2.5%, and Modern Orthodox schools, which fell 1.6%. Centrist Orthodox schools, which are similar to Modern Orthodox but segregate classes by gender, actually gained 1.7%.

The numbers offer several useful insights. Perhaps the most useful, though hardly the insight the authors intended, is how easily numbers can mislead. Comparing this year with last, we find a slight drop in day school enrollment, presumably due to the economy. When we dig a little deeper, though, we'll find a significant decline in non-Orthodox enrollment, while overall enrollment soars due to an ongoing Orthodox baby boom.

Looking deeper still, we find some eye-popping details. Most dramatic: the calamitous drop in Schechter school enrollment. In 1998, the year Avi Chai first took attendance, Schechter enrollment totaled 17,563 students in 63 schools nationwide. This year, as noted, enrollment is just 11,338 students in 43 schools. That's a 35% decline.

The main reason, several Schechter officials told me, is an exodus of families and whole schools to a network of non-denominational community schools with fewer religious rules. Community-school enrollment rose from 14,849 in 75 schools in 1998 to 19,417 in 91 schools this year. A smaller number may have left for Hebrew charter schools in New York and South Florida.

We'll also find an explosive growth in ultra-Orthodox or Haredi school enrollment, including both Hasidic and non-Hasidic (that is, misnaged or "yeshivish" black hat) schools, reflecting high birthrates. Modern Orthodox schools, by contrast, are essentially holding their own.

Avi Chai compiles its numbers by a census — literally contacting every day school in America and asking for numbers, grade by grade. It's probably the most accurate source of American Jewish demographic information, though limited in range. However, the full census is only conducted every five years. The last one was in 2008.

The figures released this past December are based on a partial census that's conducted annually between full headcounts. The partial tally includes only the five most modern school groupings: the four mentioned above (two Modern Orthodox, two non-Orthodox) plus the much smaller Reform day schools (total enrollment 4,300). Among those not included are the two Haredi groupings, Hasidic and Yeshivish, which account for more than half of all America's Jewish day school students.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

The Forward's Sisterhood Blog: "The 8-Year-Old Girl Who Woke Up Israel"

2011-12-26T08:58:00.001-08:00

The Forward's Sisterhood Blog: "The 8-Year-Old Girl Who Woke Up Israel"

By Allison Kaplan Sommer

http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/148571/

Israel has a new and unlikely national heroine. She is a small blond bespectacled Orthodox 8-year-old girl, the daughter of American immigrants who live in Beit Shemesh. Her name is Na'ama Margolese and she was featured in a news broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 about the ongoing Haredi harassment of the girls who attend the Orot Banot School, and about the problem of extreme Haredi control in Beit Shemesh in general.

Naama spoke on camera of her fears while walking the short distance from her home to her school, after numerous occasions when she was cursed at and even once spit on by the Haredi demonstrators. Israeli viewers watched as her mother, Hadassah, holding her hand, tried to convince her to make the short walk as she cried, whined and protested; it's a ritual they go through every school day.

To the residents of Beit Shemesh (and to readers of The Sisterhood) the story of Beit Shemesh and the intimidation of Orot Banot girls is nothing new.

Related

But just as the experiences of one individual young woman who refused to sit in the back of buses, student Tanya Rosenblit, last week galvanized mainstream Israeli public opinion regarding gender segregation on public transportation, the televising of Na'ama's plight woke up the Israeli public. Until now, that public had remained relatively indifferent to the trials the Orot Banot girls and the residents of Beit Shemesh were undergoing. Members of an extremist Haredi group that have settled there over the past several years have been pushing for the creation of gender-segregated bus lines, designating parts of the city where women and men were directed to separate on public streets, and harassing the girls of Orot Banot on the ground that they did not dress modestly enough.

Immediately after the piece was aired on Channel 2, Facebook groups were organized and demonstrations in Beit Shemesh planned by angry citizens who wanted to take action. The power of the press had truly flexed its muscles. (The extremists were clearly aware of the damage done to them by the television coverage, as they demonstrated when they attacked the reporter when he returned to Beit Shemesh on Sunday for a follow-up story.)

Unsurprisingly, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who clearly sensed where the political winds were blowing, went on a public relations push over the weekend to show he was taking action. Ynet reported that he "asked Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Saturday to instruct the police to act firmly against violent attacks targeting women in the public sphere." In the aftermath of the Channel 2 story and the reaction, the ultra-Orthodox mayor of Beit Shemesh ordered workers took down street signs that directed women to cross the street and "not linger" in front of a synagogue. As they did so, Haredim threw rocks and called the municipal workers 'Nazis.'

The fact that the government took action only after the media paid attention to Beit Shemesh is infuriating. The girls of Orot Banot have been under siege since school opened in September, as detailed here and here. They deserved firm action and government protection long ago: Na'ama should never have had to be terrified in the first place.

But the Orot Banot parents will take what they can get. One of them wrote on Facebook that the Channel 2 piece their "Hannukah miracle" and Na'ama's mother said in a television interview that the numerous expressions of support that their family received following the broadcast felt like "a massive hug from the entire country." They are joining together with their new supporters on Facebook for a massive Hannukah candlelighting, rally, and march on Tuesday night designed to drive the forces of darkness out of Beit Shemesh, and bring the city closer to the meaning of its name: The House of the Sun.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

We are losing Israel from within. Please watch this video.

2011-12-25T08:32:00.001-08:00

This video makes me cry. Please watch it. It is 15 minutes long, and must be seen and considered. We are losing Israel from within. It's not an anti-Charedi mindset that makes this upsetting. It's my love of my People, my love of my Homeland that makes me hurt watching this.

English subtitled link -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFm1tZkEuxI

A Comment on Rabbi Hanan Alexander's OpEd on JPost.com: "Postmodernism in masorti education"

2011-12-21T20:04:00.001-08:00

A Comment on Rabbi Hanan Alexander's OpEd on JPost.com: "Postmodernism in masorti education"

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

The problem with my teacher Hanan's eloquent article (pasted below) is that he sees advocates for Jewish gay inclusion as arguing for autonomy. This is a misrepresentation of halachic progressive advocacy, which argues for the organism of Halacha to continue evolving in response to a growing understanding of ethics and science, including human biology. Framing the conversation as post-modernism is not helpful. This continuation of the modern critique of Judaism has been the hallmark of Conservative/Masorti Judaism since its birth in the 19th century.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

Postmodernism in masorti education

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=250444

By HANAN A. ALEXANDER
12/21/2011 22:56

Traditionalists say proponents of homosexual ordination have not made their case based on a rigorous examination of legal precedent.

The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, which prepares Masorti-Conservative rabbis in Israel, sits at the intersection of at least four overlapping tensions, between disparate roles of higher Jewish education, rival notions of religious pluralism, competing understandings of human sexuality and different approaches to textual reasoning. The departure of three senior administrators from the school in as many years, reported byThe Jerusalem Post on Friday, December 9, is partly related to these tensions.

To address them, the Board of Trustees has appointed a committee to review and make recommendations concerning a number of policies and practices, including those relating to structure, admissions, education, religious standards and relations to its various constituencies. It is the sense of the board that the committee should also address how the question of admitting and ordaining homosexuals should be discussed in the future, in order to chart a way forward for a more productive dialogue on this issue.

As a condition of its accreditation, The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies was asked to become a non-denominational graduate school, without affiliation to Masorti-Conservative Judaism. Schechter's other three divisions, originally part of one institution, were also divided into independent NGOs. The Tali Education Fund emerged as a freestanding network of pluralistic Jewish education programs within Israel's nonreligious state school system. Midreshet Yerushalim was transformed into an independent institution of continuing education and outreach. Only the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary remains formally tied to Masorti-Conservative Judaism, although the other three organizations continue to promote a pluralistic approach to Jewish learning.

This division has enabled the Schechter Institute to attract hundreds of religious and secular students to its highly regarded MA programs and the Tali Education Fund to reach tens of thousands of youngsters in Israeli public schools. But it has also left some issues that need to be addressed among between the four Schechter NGO's and the Masorti-Conservative movement, both in Israel and abroad. One important task of the board committee will be to facilitate a discussion of these issues.

Another tension stems from the fact that Masorti-Conservative Judaism has typically followed a view of pluralism which holds that religious texts have several legitimate interpretations. Communities, institutions and individuals may choose between equally valid readings of these texts, which can lead to conflicts. In 2006, Masorti-Conservative authorities approved two opposing positions concerning the ordination of homosexuals, for example.

The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem and the Seminario Rabbinico Latinamericano in Buenos Aires both followed the more traditional ruling which rejects such a move, in contrast to its more liberal sister institutions in the US which have embraced it.

Traditionalists hold that proponents of homosexual ordination have not made their case based on a rigorous examination of legal precedent. Liberals, on the other hand, read rabbinic sources as maintaining that the pursuit of a sexual orientation is a human right, provided that it meets other standards of Jewish sexual ethics. This follows an alternative approach to pluralism which holds that individuals have the right to choose their own life paths. Denying this right is seen by advocates of this approach as morally odious since it undermines personal autonomy.

This conflict is exacerbated by a third tension between modern and postmodern accounts of human sexuality. Traditionalists ground their position in modern sensibilities such as scientific historical scholarship, whereas some more progressive liberals appear to believe that contemporary attitudes about human sexuality have been irrevocably altered by the so-called "postmodern condition."

POSTMODERNISM IS concerned to expose the ways that people exert power over one another. The traditional preference for heterosexual over homosexual relations, for example, has enabled those who favor the former to dominate people who are inclined toward the latter. But our attitudes toward these preferences are socially constructed, according to postmodern theory, even though the preferences themselves may be influenced by a variety of biological factors.

Following this analysis, we should permit several sexual orientations provided they are grounded in love, commitment, mutuality and respect. Postmodernists view this as a revolution in human sentiment no less momentous than the discovery of romantic love or the rise of feminism, to which Jewish law needs to adapt. Yet one might ask whether Jewish tradition should resist or embrace such postmodern insights.

Finally, traditionalists often ground their arguments in legal positivism, which holds that legal decisions should be based on the critical reading of texts alone, independent of moral judgments not found in the law itself. Without rejecting critical exegesis, which seeks to discover the intended meaning of a text in its original context, both moderate and progressive liberals appear to place equal weight on midrashic eisegesis, which looks for innovative readings of a text apart from original intent that are in tune with current moral sensitivities.

The blurring of accepted dichotomies, such as exegesis (reading out) and eisegesis (reading in), is also characteristic of postmodern criticism. This process, which some postmodernists call "deconstruction," is the subject of considerable controversy among intellectuals. One paradox of this approach, for example, is that the concern for overcoming dominant discourses by means of new interpretations can also become a means of domination.

The willingness of the Board of Trustees to facilitate a serious examination of these perplexing dilemmas presents an extraordinary educational opportunity for the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary to demonstrate the value of dialogue on matters of principle in an atmosphere of mutual respect that engages Jewish sources in a careful and critical manner. This is the hallmark of Masorti-Conservative Judaism. As a leading institution of rabbinic education in Israel,we have a sacred obligation to do no less.

The writer is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Haifa, and Sr. Research Fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.

"I won’t sit at the back of the bus" - Ynetnews

2011-12-18T09:31:00.001-08:00

18:17 , 12.18.11
   
    Print 

Religious War
 
Tanya RosenblitPhoto: Tzvika Tishler 
 
  click here to enlarge text
   I won't sit at the back of the bus
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4163399,00.html
 
Ynet special: Tanya Rosenblit recounts clash of civilizations she experienced on Israeli bus; 'until yesterday, I was sure that I live in a free country,' she says
Tanya Rosenblit

 Until yesterday, I was sure that I live in a free country. I was certain that a person's dignity and freedom are supreme values in our diverse society. Indeed, there are calls against one group or another, but people, whoever they are, regardless of religion, creed or gender, will be respected, because this is the kind of society I grew up in. These are the values I learned.
 
However, a short while after I boarded Egged's Route 451 bus from Ashdod to Jerusalem, I was proven wrong. As it turned out, not everyone adheres to the dictum: Derech Eretz Kadma LaTorah (proper behavior comes before the Torah.) 
 Sex Segregation 
  Chief rabbi: Israel isn't haredi land / Ynet
 
Rabbi Metzger speaks out against sex segregation on buses, says ultra-Orthodox public cannot impose its opinion on rest of population
Full Story 
 
The bus I boarded passed through haredineighborhoods. I took it because it stops five minutes from my destination, in Jerusalem. Only after the driver was surprised by my presence did I understand where I was. I sat behind him so he can tell me exactly where to disembark, yet apparently not everyone thought I'm permitted to sit there. 
 
It's still hard for me to believe that in the year 2011 there are men who believe they must not sit behind a woman. 
 
One of the passangers was unwilling to sit down and stayed on the stairs next to the driver the whole trip, yet another passenger decided to create a commotion. He prevented the driver from shutting the door and called his friends, who arrived at the site and gathered around the bus. There were about 20 of them, they spoke in Yiddish, and it appeared as though a small rally was organized to charge that this bus is theirs, via a deal with the Egged company, and that whoever boards it must adhere to the community's demands. 
 
They repeated this claim in Hebrew too, even though the driver attempted to explain to them that this is a regular Egged bus route and is not characterized a "kosher" one. 
 
 Policeman asked me to move
I must admit I was a little scared at that point. Nobody bothered to turn to me and ask me to do what seemed so logical to them – for me to move to the back. They made do with pointing at me, calling me names, and expressing outrage over Egged's failure to safeguard their rights. I must admit I still don't understand what these rights are.
 
The driver, who saw he cannot continue, called the police. When the police officer arrived, he traded a few words with the driver, spoke at length with the organizer of the spontaneous protest, and then boarded the bus in order to ask me whether I am willing to respect them and move to the back of the bus. He repeated the question twice. He was also the first to turn to me and speak to me all that time. 
 
I replied that I showed enough respect for them with my modest dress and that I cannot humiliate myself in order to respect someone else. They must ask themselves how it could be that humiliating a woman shows respect to them. How could it be that a man in this day and age feels that a woman is not worthy of sitting before him? How would he feel if his mother, sister or daughter encountered such contempt? 
 
Ultimately, the police officer accepted my refusal, for lack of other choice. The man who organized the protest remained in Ashdod, while the other passengers, including new ones who boarded the bus later, passed me and sat behind me without an incident. 
 
Yet I was left with a few questions following this incident: Why is limiting the rights and freedom of someone else considered fair when it comes in the form of adhering to Jewish law demands? Since when does the Torah come before basic manners? How could religion be used so cynically and how come nobody realized until now that this is a social problem, and that its connection to religion is slim to non-existent? How could it be that an entire community chooses to humiliate its daughters, wives and sisters and nobody raises a hue and cry? Who believes that one could really choose to live a life of humiliation and exclusion? 
 
 I'm not anti-religiousIt's important for me to emphasize that I'm not coming out against the haredim or religious. I'm also not speaking out against religion. What bothers me is the State's attitude to these phenomena throughout its existence. The renunciation of the basic rights of so many citizens for the sake of the minority's dignity and welfare, and the indifference shown by the State towards these phenomena, which is even encouraged at times.
 
The State of Israel is a country of minorities, and everyone must show consideration to others. It's important to fight radicalism, wherever it is. Every opinion and every worldview are acceptable, until they are taken to the extreme. There they become dangerous. It can be a hurtful religious edict or anti-haredi calls. It can be a missile fired at Ashdod or "Death to the Arabs" chants. 
 
In Israel of 2011, the war is for individual freedom! War between groups leads to nothing with the exception of a long conflict filled with empty slogans: Arabs against Jews, and haredim against seculars. After all, we all wish to live our life in line with our beliefs, abilities and understanding and to be the best and most successful we choose to be; with an emphasis on the word choice. 
 
We must not allow one pressure group or another to overrun the unique voice of any one of us. Freedom is not a curse word; everyone aspires for it in every society and in any situation. If we give up the stigmas and approach the person who hides behind the words "haredim" or "seculars" we can produce genuine dialogue and possibly minimize the gap between us. 
 
Tanya Rosenblit is a writer and translator. She studies at the Camera Obscura school of arts 
 
Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter 
 
Back

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale at: ekspublishing, itunes & amazon.com!

Ha'aretz: "Retooling halakhic conversion: Re-imagining halakhic conversion matters is necessary both for the health of Jewish identity in Israel and for the attainment of untapped potential of Jewish possibilities in the Jewish state."

2011-12-16T15:03:00.001-08:00

Ha'aretz: "Retooling halakhic conversion: Re-imagining halakhic conversion matters is necessary both for the health of Jewish identity in Israel and for the attainment of untapped potential of Jewish possibilities in the Jewish state."

By Rabbi Adam Frank
http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/retooling-halakhic-conversion-1.401758?trailingPath=2.169%2C2.212%2C2.215%2C

Historically, radical change has been an essential element in the survival of Jews and Judaism. This has been true not only with offshoots from, or "reformers" of the Jewish establishment, but also with that establishment itself, when it has recognized the need to adapt.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, in 70 C.E., for example, the sages changed the focus of Jewish worship from sacrifices to prayer and study. Not long thereafter, Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi broke with normative Jewish law and compiled a heretofore prohibited written record of the Oral Law - the Mishnah - and in the 13th century Rabbi Menachem Hameiri unilaterally declared Christianity as non-idolatrous, thus allowing Jews to conduct business with a population previously prohibited to them.

The definition of Jewish identity has also undergone radical change over the past 2,000 years. During the times of our forefathers and foremothers, patrilineal descent was the key to being Jewish. Thus, Jacob's Jewish identity was passed on to all 12 of his sons, who then became the heads of the 12 Tribes of Israel, and further in Leviticus 24, a man born to an Egyptian father and a Jewish mother is not given the status of an Israelite.

Culturally, patrilineal descent made sense in the ancient world, as it was the most reliable way to insure continuation of the Jewish people, for whomever a man married became part of his clan.

Critical to this conversation is the fact that prior to the Temple's destruction, a person was considered to have converted to Judaism if he or she lived among Jews (as Ruth says to Naomi, in Ruth 1:16, "For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy People shall be my People, and thy God shall be my God"), and underwent ritual immersion, and, if a male, ritual circumcision.

The earliest mention of the move to matrilineal descent is found in the Mishnah (Kiddushin 3:12/13). Most believe it was a response to wars waged against the Jews of Palestine by the Greek-Assyrians and Romans, which threw into question the paternity of babies born to Jewish women.

When the Jews were dispersed, the sovereignty of Jewish society was lost. For the next 2,000 years, Jews were hosted by, and lived among, strictly gentile societies. It can be argued that one consequence of that dispersion was yet another radical change in the definition of a Jew - this time with respect to conversion requirements, which evolved to include a commitment to observance of Jewish law. Proof of such an unprecedented requirement is found in the commentary of the Tosafot - the post-Talmudic, early-Medieval rabbinic voices who demanded halakhic observance to accompanyconversion. Since then, standards of observance have continued to be requisite for conversion in the halakhic Ashkenazi world.

Fast forward to modern times. Though the Jews' proportion of the world's population decreases yearly and the number of people opting out of Jewish identification is rapidly growing, halakhic observance requirements for conversion to Judaism remain in place. And in the Diaspora, these requirements maintain their historic relevance, as they ensure the commitment to Judaism and public expressions of Jewish identity for a Jew-by-choice.

However, for those people who move to Israel under the Law of Return but do not have halakhic status as Jews; who have left the birthplaces to come to the world's only Hebrew-speaking society; who are prepared to serve or have their children serve in the Israel Defense Forces; who take upon themselves the challenges of living in an Israel that is under constant threat specifically because it is a Jewish state - a return to the Jewish societal milieu model for those who are prepared to undergo circumcision and ritual immersion should be sufficient for a halakhic conversion.

It is a well-known halakhic tool - the very same tool employed by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi to circumvent the prohibition on writing down the Oral Law: to permit an action that has heretofore been prohibited when doing so will result in benefit to the Jewish people, God and the Torah.

Retooling halakhic conversion in Israel will increase the number of Jews living here; increase the number of Jews engaging in Torah study; increase the importance and relevance of Jewish identity for citizens of Israel; and decrease the number of halakhically prohibited marriages.

Most non-halakhic beneficiaries of the Law of Return come here with a desire to be recognized as Jewish, and many seem willing to undergo formal conversion. But the strictures imposed by the Israeli rabbinate are so great that only a small fraction of those wanting to convert are allowed to do so. Consequently, as time passes, their interest, motivation and urgency to be recognized as Jewish among all wane. For both this immigrant population and for those secular Israelis who see prohibitive halakhic definitions of status as prejudicial and anachronistic - efforts to rethink halakhic conversion may stem the weakening relevance of Jewish identity among Israelis, and give our Education Ministry a chance to correct the error of not teaching Judaism in the secular schools.

Recognition of the radical difference in Jewish life afforded by the State of Israel - a phenomenon unknown in the world for 2,000 years - certainly qualifies as justification for a re-imagining of halakhic conversion matters. Such a change is necessary both for the health of Jewish identity in Israel and for the attainment of untapped potential of Jewish possibilities in the Jewish state.

Adam Frank is rabbi of the Masorti Movement's Congregation Moreshet Yisrael in Jerusalem.

---

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Check out my new album, "Within!" - on sale here: ekspublishing.com

Rabbi Reuven Hammer: "Hanukkah: We Kindle These Lights"

2011-12-15T23:40:00.001-08:00

We Kindle These Lights

Rabbi Reuven Hammer

Hanukkah is a holiday that is both simple and profound. It is simple is that very little is required in order to observe it according to all the requirements of Jewish practice. According to the Talmud, all that is required is the lighting of one light each night.

The lighting of more than one candle, which is standard practice today, was an addition to the requirement of one light per household performed by those who are "particularly zealous" in their observance. We, who follow the ruling of the school of Hillel, add one more light each night (Shabbat 21b).

The original reason for kindling lights each night is uncertain. The well-known story of the miraculous can of oil does not appear in the books of Maccabees or in the Mishna, but only in the Talmud. It may be connected to the fact related in First Maccabees 4:50 that "They burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the menorah and they lighted the Temple." Certainly the rekindling of the Menorah, the most important symbol of God's presence in the Temple and eventually the most important visual symbol of Judaism, was a central feature of the Temple rededication and one that could be easily replicated in each home by the kindling of a light. The tale of the oil only added greater significance to that action.

Of course it should not be forgotten that the lighting of lights at the season of the winter solstice, the time when the hours of daylight are the shortest, was an ancient practice of many religions. The Talmud records a legend that as the days became progressively shorter, Adam was frightened, thinking that eventually there would be no light at all. "Perhaps because I have sinned," he said, "the world is becoming dark and returning to the state of chaos and confusion. This is the 'death' to which I have been sentenced by Heaven!" He then fasted for eight days, but as the days began to become longer again he realized that this was simply the natural way of the world and then kept a festival for eight days. He observed this festival every year in thankfulness to God, but idolaters later observed it in honor of their gods (Avodah Zarah 8a). This was the Sages' explanation of the origin of the Roman festival of Kalenda at that time of year.

The eight days of Hanukkah is actually based on the fact recorded in Second Maccabees 10:6 that they celebrated the rededication of the Temple for eight days "like Sukkot, recalling that on Sukkot they had been wandering in the mountains and caverns like wild animals." That also explains why we recite Hallel on Hanukkah each day, since Hallel is recited each day of Sukkot.

Although the historical events leading to the Maccabean revolt are quite complicated and include an inner conflict among various Jewish groups as well as the struggle between Jews and the Syrian Greeks who ruled the land, the holiday has come to represent the triumph of religious freedom over the attempt to force an alien culture upon the Jewish people. As such it is a time to celebrate the right of a people to determine its own destiny and to worship God according to its own beliefs.

The lights that we light, then, do not simply represent the renewal of the physical light that has diminished at the turn of the year and will then increase each passing day, but the light of the spirit, the light of religious freedom, the light of the Divine presence in our lives. Thus the simplicity of the holiday and the ease of its observance is balanced by the weight of the importance of that which it celebrates: religious freedom for all.

From an Israeli former Mishlei Student at Schechter

2011-12-11T09:54:00.001-08:00

Dear Chevreh,

Reactions to the open letter from Bay Area Masorti regarding the resignation of Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum from Machon Schechter have ranged from rejection (mostly from American-born Conservative rabbis and American rabbinical students) to appreciation (mostly from Israeli-born Masorti Rabbis and Jews).

This email (below) was just sent to the ShefaNetwork by Noa Raz (also available online here: http://shefanetwork.blogspot.com/2011/12/from-noa-raz-regarding-machon-schechter.html). For those who might remember Noa's name, she was the Israeli woman assaulted one year ago at a bus station by a Charedi man for having evidence of having put on tefillin on her arms. Her experience, reflected below, is important to consider, in that light and on its own. This isn't about gay inclusion. It's about Israeli Masorti leaders aching to be trained, embraced, and empowered by a resonant Israeli institution whose mission is the support of the Masorti Movement.

Again, it is natural and expected that any institution would protect itself. But the experience of students, Israei-born Masorti-raised students who would be the next rabbinic leaders of the Israei Masorti Movement, is not reflected in Rabbi Hanan Alexander's eloquent statement in defense of Machon Schechter.

It is important to realize, as many do not, that the Jewish Agency's funding of Masorti is divided approximately in half - split between Machon Schechter and the Masorti Movement. Realize that Masorti communities are severely underfunded, and our heroes, the Masorti rabbis who are the next wave of Chalutzim, pioneers in a spiritual war to reclaim the fundamental pluralistic vision of Judaism from a fundamentalist Rabbinate. They can't make a living, and half of the funding that would secure their work (and lives) is being allocated to a school where only the rabbinical school purports to be connected to the Masorti Movement, and which claims a small handful of students. Many Masorti rabbis have lost their jobs, and many communities struggle to organize themselves without rabbis, which is certainly possible but far from ideal.

In other words, the Masorti Movement would be strengthened enormously by a correction to the Jewish Agency's policy, which is enormously influenced by American Conservative Rabbis whose understanding of Schechter is vastly different from the Israeli Masorti's. This isn't about JTS students studying abroad. This is about the Israeli Masorti Movement's welfare. Just think about what the Israeli Masorti Movement could accomplish with double its allocation.

In addition to Noa's email (pasted below) please also see this official statement from the Masorti Movement's chair, Emily Levi Shochat, online here: http://bamasorti.blogspot.com/2011/12/this-topic-will-continue-to-generate.html.

The original Jpost article has been taken down yet again. But it is archived here: http://bamasorti.blogspot.com/2011/12/jpost-rabbi-quits-machon-schechter-over.html.

Shavuah Tov,

Menachem

Re: [Shefa] "We Have a Problem" - An Open Letter from Bay Area Masorti

Boker Tov and Shavua Tov from Israel :-) i would like to drop my 2 cents to this discourse. I'm sorry for the lame English, i'm writing out of great frasturation. I'll followo Jonah's steps...

I was the onlyout LGBT student in Shechter. It was last year, when I atended Mishley, headed by Rabbi Tamar. At the end of the year I was expelled, I will collaborate more on that later. It wasn't homophobia, i think, but it surely was very disturbing behavior of Shechter's leadership.

1. I think Jonah is up to something. Raba Tamar did requested not to discuss the issue of her resignation. Even though i'll be the happiest person on earth to learn that this was indeed the reason, i still think we should respect her request.

2. The fact that Shechter didn't respond is just another layer in Shechter's dissability to lead something, let alone the most important institution is shoulb be.

3. As for Mishlei, last year. when my class enrolled, we were promised that this is a Masorati leadership progrem that will lead evantually to 2 extra years for Rabbinical ordination. About 50% of my class enreolled just for that. we want to be Masorati rabbis, and this was the way to do that. Sadly enough, at the end of the year everything changed. Mishlei now is nothing but a MA program for people that want to do it in the easy way, 2 days a week in Beit Midrash. It has nothing to do with Rabbinical aspirations or leadership, and my classmates who stayed are highly frasturated. The reason I was expelled together with two other students is that we don't have a BA yet (something that Shechter knew all the way and still enrolled us). I'm about to finish mine, but the other two are far from that and Shaechter knew it. It was perfectly fine for leadership-rabbinical program (dependong of coursr on us completing the academic demands), but it's not okay for MA program of Machon Shechter, so we're out. They told us that during summer vacation, without really letting us deal with it, discuss it, or ask our classmates how will they feel without a half of the class, three of its best students, all of them want to go on for ordination. As for now i'm working on my MA in the Talmud department in Bar Ilan University, studying torah from Rabbi Prof. Shama Friedman and Dr. Aaron Amit, i guess Bar Ilan now is more Conservative than shechter :-)

4. I'm glad to hear that. But please ask your Isreali classmates about THEIR experience as for now. You'll get a different picture.

5. Gee, thanks Shechter for letting us use Ani Tfilati. Jonah just forgot to mention that students in shechter are not allowed to mention the Imahot in Amida, so in fact there's no reason to use Ani Tfilati, since the verses are orthodox.

It's time for Shechter to ordain gays, but even before that, it's time for Shechter to be part of the Masorati movement in Israel, and to train its leadership. Without doing that, as it is now, it's time for the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel to initiate a real Conservative seminary in here, and let Golinkin's Shechter to be the modern-orthodox seminary it is. Without our students, and yes, without our money.

Shavua Tov U'Mvorah

Noa

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

from Noa Raz, regarding Machon Schechter: [Shefa] "We Have a Problem" - An Open Letter from Bay Area Masorti

2011-12-11T09:29:00.001-08:00

Boker Tov and Shavua Tov from Israel :-) i would like to drop my 2 cents to this discourse. I'm sorry for the lame English, i'm writing out of great frasturation. I'll followo Jonah's steps...

2. The fact that Shechter didn't respond is just another layer in Shechter's dissability to lead something, let alone the most important institution is shoulb be.

4. I'm glad to hear that. But please ask your Isreali classmates about THEIR experience as for now. You'll get a different picture.

Shavua Tov U'Mvorah

Noa

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (2)

Recent Activity:

New Members 1

Visit Your Group

Visit our home page at http://shefanetwork.blogspot.com/

*****************************************

"Shefa: The Conservative Movement Dreaming from Within" is a forum for
passionate Conservative Jews to reflect together as they increase creative
energy within within the culture and environment of the Conservative
Movement in an effort to bring a renewed and revitalized perspective to
Conservative Jews.

We belong to the Conservative Movement and commit ourselves to working
towards its revitalization. Be a part of this community of visionary
thinkers and builders. To join the conversation, email
shefa-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Visit our home page at http://shefanetwork.blogspot.com/
*****************************************

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (3)

Recent Activity:

New Members 1

Visit Your Group

Visit our home page at http://shefanetwork.blogspot.com/

*****************************************

"Shefa: The Conservative Movement Dreaming from Within" is a forum for
passionate Conservative Jews to reflect together as they increase creative
energy within within the culture and environment of the Conservative
Movement in an effort to bring a renewed and revitalized perspective to
Conservative Jews.

We belong to the Conservative Movement and commit ourselves to working
towards its revitalization. Be a part of this community of visionary
thinkers and builders. To join the conversation, email
shefa-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Visit our home page at http://shefanetwork.blogspot.com/
*****************************************

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

jpost: "Rabbi quits Machon Schechter over exclusion of gays"

2011-12-08T19:16:00.001-08:00

Photo by: YouTube

JPost.com: "Rabbi quits seminary over exclusion of gays"

By GIL SHEFLER
09/12/2011

"Masorti seminary rejected gay applicants, wanted to expel gay students."
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=248788

A Masorti (Conservative) rabbi has quit the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in acrimony over the exclusion of openly gay students from its rabbinical studies program, The Jerusalem Post learned on Thursday.

Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, former associate dean at the seminary, resigned this week because it allegedly reneged on a promise to ordain homosexual students, a source said.

"She was promised two years ago when she entered the position that they will ordain LGBT students," the source said. "She learned this was not going to be the case two weeks ago and quit."

Elad-Appelbaum did not answer her phone on Thursday but several sources verified the story.

The Schechter Institute issued a response expressing regret over the rabbi's decision to leave, without elaborating on the circumstances of her departure.

"The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary received Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum's resignation with great regret," said Rabbi Prof.

Hanan Alexander, chairman of seminary's board of trustees. "Rabbi Elad-Appelbaum contributed enormously to the seminary during her tenure and we wish her every success in her future endeavors."

The row between the seminary and the rabbi is part of a larger debate taking place within the Conservative Movement over its policy toward homosexuality. During the 1990s some of its rabbis embraced the gay community and welcomed its members into its ranks while others adhered to the traditional halachic ban against same-sex relations.

In recent years two of its most important religious schools, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, have opened their doors to LGBT students. But the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem under the presidency of Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin has refused to ordain openly gay students.

Sources said Elad-Appelbaum decided to step down after Golinkin "rejected openly gay students who applied for admission next year and wanted to investigate the sexual identities of those already enrolled at the seminary."

Amichai Lau-Lavie, an openly gay student at JTS and the scion of a renowned rabbinical family, sent an e-mail calling Elad-Appelbaum a "courageous and inspiring leader whose commitment to human dignity, tikkun olam and halachic progress is of international renown."

Lau-Lavie said her departure presents a "painful reality check" but that he was optimistic it would eventually bring change to the Conservative Movement's policy toward gays in Israel and in general. The rabbinical student said he considered applying for admission to Schechter in 1997 but was advised against it "because of my sexual orientation."

Other members of the movement on Thursday said the expected backlash over the resignation of Elad- Appelbaum – who they said was the third senior official to leave Schechter in as many years – may undermine Golinkin's position at the helm of the Masorti seminary in Jerusalem.

"The news may hurt the institute's image and its appeal in the eyes of students, who may not want to go there, as well as donors," a source said on condition of anonymity. "Golinkin will either give in or have to leave."

Golinkin on Thursday chose not to comment on Elad-Appelbaum's departure, saying "I have no response."

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Tradition Today: The stranger in your midst 12/02/2011 16:50 By REUVEN HAMMER

2011-12-05T08:10:00.001-08:00

Tradition Today: The stranger in your midst
12/02/2011 16:50 By REUVEN HAMMER
Is it even legal to discriminate against any group in employment on the basis of race or religion?

Many organizations have been getting into the business of giving so-called "kashrut certificates" that deal not with the ritual aspects of kashrut but with ethical concerns. The Rabbinical Assembly in America now has a Magen Tzedek certificate it issues to indicate that the kosher food is produced in ways that meet the standards of business ethics of Judaism, so that the food is ethically pure as well as ritually pure. Other rabbinical associations have followed suit.

Here, there is a group that issues certificates to firms indicating that they follow ethical business practices. All of this only emphasizes that Judaism is more than a set of rituals, it is also an ethical way of living.

So I was shocked to see a recent newspaper report that there is a Jewish organization planning to give "kashrut certificates" to stores and companies that can prove that they do not employ "enemies of Israel," which the head of the group explained means Arabs.

Any business displaying such a sign would be one I would absolutely refuse to patronize. The most disturbing part of the report was that this certificate was being sought after by many places in the ultra-religious areas of Jerusalem. What evil spirit is getting into such groups that they would offer such a thing? And that anyone would want to display it? This is yet another discriminatory measure together with calls not to rent to Arabs and demands for loyalty oaths. I hope that common sense will prevail and that this "kashrut certificate" – which should more properly be called a certificate of shame – will disappear as if it had never existed.

Is it even legal to discriminate against any group in employment on the basis of race or religion? After all, Arab citizens are guaranteed freedom and equality by our Declaration of Independence. It states quite clearly, "The State of Israel will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture."

It would be well for us to remember both our history, in which for centuries Jews were denied employment in so many fields, and our tradition which forbids us to discriminate against non-Jews. For centuries in pre-emancipation times Jews suffered under restrictions that were placed on them in regard to ways that they could make a living.

They were prohibited from engaging in many trades and forced into such enterprises as money lending out of necessity. And in the Nazi era, among the first anti- Jewish laws that were passed in Germany and Italy were those forbidding the employment of Jews.

They were forced out of universities, out of schools, out of orchestras, and their stores and businesses were boycotted. Then there was the informal discrimination against Jews that existed even in England and the US, where it was difficult for Jews to be employed in banking and in certain law firms, as well as quota systems that kept Jews out of prestigious universities and medical schools. Do we now want to imitate that by encouraging businesses not to employ Arabs? That religious Jews should do that is particularly disturbing because the Torah goes out of its way to prohibit discrimination against and persecution of "the stranger."

The Torah takes it for granted that when Israel inhabits its own land there will be non-Israelites who will dwell there with them and makes provision to protect them.

The Torah is emphatic in emphasizing that these strangers must be treated well and fairly. In the very first of the Torah's legal codes it is stated: "You shall not wrong a stranger [ger] or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 22:20). This is repeated again even more explicitly in the very next chapter: "You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt" (Ex. 23:9).

The holiness code in Leviticus reiterates this and equates the stranger to the native, i.e. the Israelite: "When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your God" (Leviticus 19:33-34).

When the theme of the stranger is taken up by Deuteronomy it requires the judicial system to protect the rights of the stranger: "...decide justly between any man and a fellow Israelite or a stranger" (1:16). "For the Lord your God... upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing him with food and clothing. You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (10:17-19).

They were easy victims of economic exploitation, the deprivation of property, or denial of legal rights. Therefore the Torah provides for their protection and it is God who upholds their cause! Yes, we were "strangers" not only in Egypt, but in so many other places. We know and understand what that means and therefore should be ultra-sensitive to how we treat others. Israel has sufficient laws to protect us against traitors and enemies, internal as well as external. It does not need vigilante groups to work outside the law to keep us safe and untainted by the "strangers" in our midst.

The writer, former president of the International Rabbinical Assembly, was the founding director of the Schechter Rabbinical School. His latest book is Entering Torah.

------------------------------------

Visit our home page at http://www.shefanetwork.org

*****************************************

"Shefa: The Conservative Movement Dreaming from Within" is a forum for
passionate Conservative Jews to reflect together as they increase creative
energy within within the culture and environment of the Conservative
Movement in an effort to bring a renewed and revitalized perspective to
Conservative Jews.

We belong to the Conservative Movement and commit ourselves to working
towards its revitalization. Be a part of this community of visionary
thinkers and builders. To join the conversation, email
shefa-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Visit our home page at http://www.shefanetwork.org

This Sunday in Oakland! Information session for Ramah Outdoors!

2011-11-30T10:30:00.001-08:00

Ramah Outdoor Adventure, the only Kosher Outdoor Adventure camp in the country with an intensive Jewish program, is currently enrolling children age 8-15 for the 2012 camping season as well as teens age 16 &17 for a leadership training program. Located on a majestic, 360 acre alpine ranch, Ramah Outdoor Adventure is located in the heart of the one million acre Pike National Forest, only 90 miles from Denver. Direct flights from the Bay Area to Denver allow your camper to experience the great outdoors: mountain biking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, horseback riding, farming, pioneer crafts, wilderness survival and much more!!!!.

Interested? Intrigued?

Parents and campers are invited to come meet our director, Rabbi Eliav Bock, at an upcoming Bay Area information session

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Time: 2:00-3:00pm

Where: Home of Beth Sirull and Jon Shuster parents of 2011 camper, Zevan. 290 Sheridan Road Oakland CA 94618

Please RSVP to info@ramahoutdoors.org or call 303 261 8214 X104 to reserve a space at either of these information sessions

Rabbi Eliav Bock

Director, Ramah Outdoor Adventure
eliavb@ramahoutdoors.org
303-261-8214

Visit us online at www.ramahoutdoors.org

Watch us online: on Youtube

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Help us learn about G-dcast

2011-11-28T18:01:00.001-08:00

Dear Chevreh,

I forward you this request from Sarah lefton, creator of G-dcast, a production company dedicated to raising worldwide Jewish literacy using digital tools and modern storytelling in short animated films and apps based on Jewish texts. This is a great opportunity to support an amazing project that has ANIMATED Torah-learning for many thousands of people in the past 3 years! Please participate in the study, and jump into Go-dcast - your Torah-mojo will thank you!

Kol Tuv,

Menachem

To better serve rabbis and educators, we'd love to know how you use (or don't use) G-dcast. We want to better understand the needs and interests of users and nonusers alike. We will select two random survey respondents to win their choice of a Torah or Holidays Teachers' Guide with a DVD from G-dcast, a $200 value!

Please complete G-dcast's brief online survey here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/G-dcastSurvey

If you have questions about the survey, please contact the researcher at dana@danapowell.org.

Get ANIMATED about Jewish stories!
http://www.g-dcast.com/

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Rabbi Aaron Alexander: "Reflections from My First CJLS Meeting: Access & Equality"

2011-11-21T09:42:00.001-08:00

Rabbi Aaron Alexander: "Reflections from My First CJLS Meeting: Access & Equality"
Posted on Nov 21, 2011
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/story/reflections-my-first-cjls-meeting-access-equality

By Aaron Alexander, Associate Dean, Ziegler School

Last week we intensely and passionately discussed and debated no less than eighthalakhic topics. However, this particular meeting illuminated one coherent theme:Access. Or, access, status, and equality in the light of Torah.

Access to Revelation.
Access to Authority.
Access to Relationships.
Access to God on behalf of the Community.

We talked deeply about real issues and real people. While it is impossible to cover everything at once, significant change demands careful attention, more questions than answers, and a healthy realization that different people understand and intuit God's will and word in diverse and distinct, yet equally valid ways.

(What follows is my take on four of the issues discussed, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the entire CJLS, or individual members.)

Access to Revelation: Rabbi Pamela Barmash put forth an appendix to her already unanimously passed teshuvah, "Status of the Heresh and of Sign Language." One issue remained unresolved: whether or not a deaf community could hold a fully ritualized Torah reading in sign language, complete with blessings. Rabbi Barmash brought with her well respected members of the deaf community who addressed the CJLS with passion and eloquence.

While the CJLS remains somewhat divided on whether or not sign language is 'reading' or 'translation', which impacts the Torah reading more than other rituals, Rabbi Barmash's teshuvah passed virtually unanimously. In this case, members of the Law Committee powerfully elevated inclusion and near-equal access to Torah for its deaf members of the Jewish community.

Access to Relationships: Rabbis Elliot Dorff, Avram Reisner and Danny Nevins put forth a worthy draft for a gay-marriage ceremony as a follow-up to their landmark teshuvah that passed in 2006. As the committee begins to fully unpack and internalize their effort, it is clear that the needs and rights of the gay community are being well considered within a framework of Halakhah and the Torah's most precious values.

Access to Authority: Rabbi Joseph Prouser presented a paper to rebut an unfortunate ruling by a prominent orthodox rabbi, that basically bans a convert from sitting on a Bet Din, even with all other qualifications being equal (see more here).

Rabbi Prouser has written an extraordinary response in the form of a teshuvah for the Conservative Movement's Joint Bet Din, bringing the best of halakhic discourse, academic rigor, and aggadic prose to strongly deflate any possible stringent opinion. In doing so, he beautifully reaffirms exactly how the Jewish community ought to treat and view those amongst us who make the holy choice to join Judaism - as nothing less than full Jews in every respect.

Access to God on behalf of the Community: Rabbi Gail Labovitz has addressed a question that has vexed living communities for quite some time. Knowing how essential and embedded the Yom Kippur fast is, may one who is unable to cease from eating based on medical advice (pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc..) still serve the community and God as Shaliah Tzibbur, prayer leader? Rabbi Labovitz's answer, Yes. While some restrictions will help guide the community in deciding how to implement this ruling, it is evident that Rabbi Labovitz has deftly utilized traditional sources and a realistic awareness of individual and communal needs to navigate this question.

After spending a few days reflecting on my first CJLS meeting I feel nothing less than honored and humbled to be nestled amongst this brilliant and thoughtful group, doing this work, all in service of God, Torah and Israel.

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

A New Viral YouTube: "Try To Imagine A Jew"

2011-11-18T14:20:00.001-08:00

If you're having trouble viewing this email, you may see it online.

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen: "On the Culture of Greed"

2011-11-15T15:11:00.001-08:00

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen: "On the Culture of Greed"

http://www.justice-in-the-city.com/?p=159

A few weeks ago, I was in a meeting discussing an upcoming ballot initiative which would eliminate the death penalty in favor of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Everybody in the room was opposed to the death penalty. The discussion was about the strategy that should be employed to convince voters to make the proposition law. The campaign's tactic was to argue that the death penalty was more expensive than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP). This is, of course, true. As theLA Times reported:

[An] examination of state, federal and local expenditures for capital cases, conducted over three years by a senior federal judge and a law professor, estimated that the additional costs of capital trials, enhanced security on death row and legal representation for the condemned adds $184 million to the budget each year.

However, sitting in that room, engaging in that conversation, I suddenly got very depressed. I realized how we had all been impacted by the culture of greed that has overwhelmed our country.

I want to make clear that I think that we urgently need to stop our country's machinery of death and to begin the hard work of justice—reforming our prisons, making victims and/or their families whole, allowing for transgressors to repent and atone (as I argue here). I think that replacing the death penalty with LWOP is a good and important step on the way to accomplishing this. I was reacting to the fact that the parameters of the debate (cheaper is better) are not ones that I agree with and are destructive to the moral fabric of our country and society. Let me explain.

One does not expect to learn Biblical lessons from a politician. However, just a few weeks ago, in an interview with the Wall St. Journal, Herman Cain illustrated an important lesson that the Torah teaches. Cain didn't teach Torah. Rather he personified the type of person that the Torah warned against. (This is all before he demonstrated his latest moral and political obtuseness.) We find the following in Deuteronomy chapter 8:

Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. … and you say to yourselves, "My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me."

Cain, referring to the folks at Occupy Wall St., said: "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself. It is not someone's fault if they succeeded, it is someone's fault if they failed." What better paraphrase is there of "My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me."

This narcissistic solipsism of the "winners" (or as Matt Taibi has pointed out, the cheaters) is not limited to one of the Republican candidates—it has taken over our culture in many ways. The most prominent arena in which this happens is the political. All arguments come down to their monetary value.

One of my constant companions nowadays is a rabbi who died over a hundred years ago. Simchah Zissel Ziv was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1824 and eventually became the rabbi of the Lithuanian town of Kelme, as a result of which he is known as the the alter or "elder" of Kelm. He was the student of the founder of the mussar movement in Judaism. This movement stressed the importance of strict ethical behavior in the spirit of Jewish law. Reb Simchah Zissel put his own spin on this school. In the collection of his essays he stresses that the most important prerequisite to living a righteous life is "helping one's fellow with their burden." Reb Simchah doesn't mean this in a metaphorical way. A person has to train themselves towards a radical empathy in order to be able to feel and then to actually respond to the sufferings of another person.

The greatest obstacle to this radical empathy of "helping one's fellow with their burden" according to Ziv, is greed. Greed, he says, turns all actions and intentions on their head. One wants to give charity, but then, realizing that there is a monetary loss involved, one will invent all manner of justifications for not giving charity, up to and including making not giving charity an ideal ("moral hazard," "teaching people how to fish," "pulling up by bootstraps"). Not giving charity becomes in one's mind the more righteous path. Radical empathy is dependent on being able to respond to another person's suffering rather than calculating your actions vis a vis another in dollars and cents.

Wealth and greed are not the same. Greed is bad while wealth is neutral. The accumulation of wealth for the purpose of comfort and even luxury, if it is also accompanied by an investment in the well being of society—the assurance that all people reach a threshold of the goods needed to live in dignity— is good. The accumulation of wealth for its own sake—beyond any possible needs of survival then comfort then luxury—at some point turns into an obsession. The wealth becomes an end, a value independent of and overriding other values. In the Jewish tradition this is called idolatry.

The vocabulary of greed has taken over the political culture and has trampled empathy and the claims of justice. Cutting social service programs—which, a study released this week shows, have kept millions of people above the poverty line—in the name of "efficiencies" and "anti-tax pledges" is immoral. Raising the cry of narcissistic solipsism to the level of a moral virtue ("I earned this money all by myself and therefore nobody has any right to it!") makes the immoral claim of being an island unto oneself, as if one graded the land and poured the concrete and smoothed the blacktop with one's own hands to get one's widgets to the markets—as if one has not benefitted from luck and circumstance and the hard work of many who came before, and who toiled independent of one, as if the accident of birth, the economic and geographic circumstances of one who is impoverished are their own doing and their own fault.

The worse thing about this, the thing that had me depressed in that very nice living room with those fine people was that even those of us who are trying to create a more just world, have been impacted by the universe of monetized morals. Should we not be able to argue that the death penalty should be abolished because it is immoral on its own, and not because it is more expensive than the alternative!? Should we not be able to be heard on the issue merely because it is just and right?

---
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork

Rabbis for Women of the Wall || menachemcreditor.org

To join Rabbi Creditor's email list, send a blank email to thetisch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Ramah Leaders Shine at the GA This Week

2011-11-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

National Ramah Commission, Inc. of The Jewish Theological Seminary www.campramah.org	November 11, 2011 14 Cheshvan 5772

Ramah Leaders Shine at the GA This Week

Dear Friends of Ramah,

What a great few days for Ramah at the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly (GA) in Denver this week.

Sunday night was truly magical. Hundreds of Jewish leaders came together for the annual Covenant Foundation awards dinner, at which Amy Skopp Cooper, National Assistant Director and Director of Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, NY, was recognized as one of three winners of this year's prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education. I encourage you watch this inspiring video about Amy's work at Ramah Nyack.

Throughout the night, and all three days of the convention, people came up to me saying how wonderful were Amy's video and speech, how deserving she was, and how terrific it was to have Ramah again recognized for excellence. Fellow winner Rabbi Shai Held is also a Ramahnik, and among the previous winners of the Covenant Award in the past two decades are close to a dozen Ramahniks, including Dr. Sara Rubinow Simon, one of the winners in the first year that the award was established (1991); Ellie Bach Gelman (1996); Henia Lewin (1997); Rabbi Yosi (Joel) Gordon (2000); Lorraine Posner Arcus (2001); Vicky Kelman (2003); Jane Taubenfeld Cohen (2006); Rabbi Philip Warmflash (2007); Susan Werk (2008); Rabbi Stuart Seltzer (2009); and Rabbi Loren Sykes (2006), past Director of Ramah Darom and current Director of Ramah Wisconsin.

Anna Hartman

Looking towards the future, the Covenant Foundation this year announced the inaugural Pomegranate Prize, recognizing five promising Jewish educators. One of the five award recipients was Anna (Robinowitz) Hartman, Director of Early Childhood Education at Greenfield Hebrew Academy in Atlanta. Anna is an alumna of Camp Ramah in New England, where she was a camper, and of Ramah Darom, where she served as a staff member with Director Rabbi Loren Sykes. She represents a new generation of Ramahniks who are making valuable contributions to their Jewish communities. We were joined at the Covenant dinner by ten other young Ramah alumni, who were attending the GA as representatives of Hillel, members of local delegations, and Wexner Fellows. The enthusiasm of these lively Ramahniks was contagious.

Ramah Alumni Reception, November 7, 2011

On Monday night, for the first time in at least a decade, we held a Ramah Alumni Reception at the GA, where Ramah alumni and friends were invited to meet and share stories. Almost 100 alumni attended, and the publicity for the reception throughout the GA kept people talking about the impact of Ramah on their lives, and on the landscape of leadership of Jewish communities globally. Click here to see photos from the event on Facebook. While at the reception, we celebrated the impact of Ramah and Amy's award, and we announced the imminent creation of a Ramah movement-wide alumni initiative. Being in Denver, we also celebrated the second outstanding season of our newest camp, Ramah Outdoor Adventure.

As I walked around throughout the three days at the GA, it was striking to see so many GA delegates proudly wearing the Ramah buttons that we gave out to Ramah alumni, Ramah parents, and Ramah grandparents, and to recognize the significance of Ramah's influence in so many organizations. As JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen commented, "We are so proud of Amy Skopp Cooper and all that she and Ramah Nyack have accomplished. But this is also about Ramah being recognized as perhaps the greatest single creation of JTS, the Conservative Movement, and North American Jewry in terms of real lives impacted."

Best regards,

Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, National Director

ShefaNetwork: The Conservative/Masorti Movement Dreaming from Within

United Synagogue February eNews

JTS Launches New Continuing Education Initiative for Rabbis at the 2012 RA Convention

JTS Launches New Continuing Education Initiative for Rabbis at the 2012 RA Convention "Making Torah Relevant to Gen Next: You're the App for That!"

Yizhar Hess, CEO of the Masorti Movement (in ynet): "Israel’s Orthodox monopoly has changed from unpleasant annoyance to strategic threat"

America's Jews are worried

2nd class Jews?

Chancellor Eisen on Huffpost: "Moses, Pharaoh and the Candidates"

Magen Tzedek Certification Program is Officially “Open for Business”

Magen Tzedek Certification Program is Officially "Open for Business"

Masorti Foundation: History Made at the Knesset

News from Masorti UK! New Jewish Primary School Finchley!

Our school is built on four core values:

Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Inclusivity and Diversity

Identity and Values

Nurturing Each Child to Achieve their Best

jpost.com: "First mixed prayer service in Knesset"

Rabbi Andrew Sacks on Jpost: "Haagen Dazs - The Great Kashrut Controversy"

From Masorti AmLat: Intl. Holocaust Remembrance Day

Rabbi Dov Linzer in the NYtimes: "Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Modesty Fight"

Lechery, Immodesty and the Talmud

By RABBI DOV LINZER

Published: January 19, 2012

Jennifer Uman

Related News

Israelis Facing a Seismic Rift Over Role of Women (January 15, 2012)

Israeli Girl, 8, at Center of Tension Over Religious Extremism (December 28, 2011)

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson: "Biblical Economic Justice: Supply and Demand Isn't Enough"

Rabbinical Assembly: "A Prayer in Honor of Martin Luther King Day"

Let There Be Light - the Masorti response to children in concentration camp uniforms and yellow stars

Forward.com: "Day Schools Stuck in Neutral: Enrollment Numbers Grow, But Only Among Ultra-Orthodox"

Forward.com: "Day Schools Stuck in Neutral"

Enrollment Numbers Grow, But Only Among Ultra-Orthodox

By J.J. Goldberg

The Forward's Sisterhood Blog: "The 8-Year-Old Girl Who Woke Up Israel"

The Forward's Sisterhood Blog: "The 8-Year-Old Girl Who Woke Up Israel"

By Allison Kaplan Sommer

We are losing Israel from within. Please watch this video.

A Comment on Rabbi Hanan Alexander's OpEd on JPost.com: "Postmodernism in masorti education"

Postmodernism in masorti education

Traditionalists say proponents of homosexual ordination have not made their case based on a rigorous examination of legal precedent.

"I won’t sit at the back of the bus" - Ynetnews

Policeman asked me to move

I'm not anti-religious

Ha'aretz: "Retooling halakhic conversion: Re-imagining halakhic conversion matters is necessary both for the health of Jewish identity in Israel and for the attainment of untapped potential of Jewish possibilities in the Jewish state."

Rabbi Reuven Hammer: "Hanukkah: We Kindle These Lights"

From an Israeli former Mishlei Student at Schechter

from Noa Raz, regarding Machon Schechter: [Shefa] "We Have a Problem" - An Open Letter from Bay Area Masorti

jpost: "Rabbi quits Machon Schechter over exclusion of gays"

Tradition Today: The stranger in your midst 12/02/2011 16:50 By REUVEN HAMMER

This Sunday in Oakland! Information session for Ramah Outdoors!

Help us learn about G-dcast

Rabbi Aaron Alexander: "Reflections from My First CJLS Meeting: Access & Equality"

A New Viral YouTube: "Try To Imagine A Jew"

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen: "On the Culture of Greed"

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen: "On the Culture of Greed"

Ramah Leaders Shine at the GA This Week

JTS Launches New Continuing Education Initiative for Rabbis
at the 2012 RA Convention

"Making Torah Relevant to Gen Next: You're the App for That!"