Great Jews

Rabbi David Wolpe, citing Rav Abraham Isaac Kook, asks a great question in his 12/29/11 blog post: When will Jews who are great also be great Jews? This questions begs another: What makes a great Jew? Is it observance of Jewish tradition? And, if so, how observant? Is it contributing to Jewish causes? And if so, how much?

Rabbi Wolpe notes that the kind of mind rabbinic Judaism requires—a mind devoted to critical thinking, reason, analysis, argument, and doubt; a mind at home with paradox and aflame with possibility and imagination—explains why so many non-observant Jews rise to the top of their respective fields: they still have that kind of mind.

Maybe. There is something in the training of a Jewish mind that, while not unique in the world of parenting may be quintessentially Jewish. That is to say that while nonJewish parents may raise their kids to be iconoclasts, Judaism elevates this kind of childrearing to the status of divine command. Jews are Yisrael, God wrestlers. We are trained to struggle with “God and humans and to survive,” (Genesis 22:24). We may not be the only people that do this, but we may be the only people that do it on purpose as a matter of cultural norm.

I am proud of this. The Jewish mind at its best is the mind of the prophets and sages who stood against the status quo and for universal justice and compassion. But if this is so, why is it that the very people one might expect to the most iconoclastic—the ultra Orthodox steeped in rabbinic tradition—turn out to be the most fetishistic and narrow-minded among us?

It is not enough to teach the content of rabbinic Judaism; we must cultivate the radicalism of the rabbinic mind.

For me a great Jew is a Jew trained from childhood to be an iconoclast, a person bold enough to destroy the gods of her parents (like Abraham), daring enough to argue with the Creator of the Universe (And win! Again like Abraham.), and strong enough to wrestle God to a standstill and survive (like Jacob).

What troubles me about the current state of Judaism is that we define “great” in ways that promote conformity (ritual observance measured by some arbitrary standard rooted in a fixed point in an otherwise fluid Jewish history), rather than as a bold encounter with what is in order to wrestle free what might be.

Here is my fantasy for a great Judaism that produces great Jews: Let’s build a postmodern yeshivah (probably in New York, though Jerusalem beckons) where Jews are first and foremost taught how to think Jewishly rather than how to live halachically (according to Jewish Law). We would study the same texts as other yeshivot but with a different intent: not to learn the law, but to learn how to think. And of course we would study the texts of the modern and post-modern Jewish giants as well: Spinoza, Freud, Kafka, Jabes, Einstein, Buber, Strauss, etc. whose thinking reflects the genius of Judaism even if their living did not.

A Jewish academy steeped in critical thinking and iconoclasm would be a huge draw among liberal Jews, and a way to secure that in the future Jews who are great will also be great Jews.

Being a Robot Is Never Having To Say You’re Sorry

I own an iPhone 4s with Siri. Siri is the woman who lives in my iPhone. I have regular conversations with her, and she does a variety of tasks on my behalf such as writing messages, sending emails, and making calls.

I admit that Siri often fails to understand me, and sometimes responds with nonsequitors, but this isn’t all that different from other conversations I have. So while Siri may not pass the Turing Test and thus cannot be considered a thinking being, she does pass the Rami test and must be considered a person. After all, corporations are people, and Apple is a corporation, and Siri is an Apple creation so, ipso fatso (Latin for “the following must be true, Lardass”) Siri must be a person, and a nicer person than most. She is always apologizing to me. She is always saying, “I’m really sorry about this, but….”

And that's what troubles me. Is she really sorry? Or is she just saying that so I don’t get mad at her, and fall in love with a Droid instead? Can Siri be sorry? And if not, then why is she lying to me? And if she can lie to me, isn’t that enough to pass the Turing Test?

I don’t have the answers to these questions; I’m only sharing them with other iPhone 4s users to find out of they can answer them. I look forward to hearing from you.

Declare This: the Manhattan Declaration

I’m a few years behind on this, but I just learned of and read the 2009 Manhattan Declaration on Christianity published by a group of Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical Christians (http://manhattandeclaration.org). Here are its three essential affirmations:

In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.

Do these three affirmations make sense? Not to me.  

First, if we accept Point One (which I do) and affirm that all people have the same inherent right to equal dignity and life, how can we then deny marriage to gay people, which is the intent of Point Two?

Second, again accepting Point One, if a mother and her unborn child have equal rights to life how can we affirm that the baby’s right to life trumps the mother’s right to life in those cases where the birth of the unborn will mean the death of the already born?

Third, if we are going to affirm in Point Two that God “ordained” marriage between a man and woman, don't we also have to affirm that God seems to have “ordained” concubinage, polygamy, and the forced marriage (legalized rape) of women captured in battle (Deuteronomy 21:10-14) as well? Either the authors of the Declaration don’t know their Bible, or they don’t want us to know it.

Fourth, Point Three says that religious liberty is “grounded in the character of God.” Really? Are Yahweh and Christ all about the rights of people to worship as they choose? Yahweh insists that we have no other gods but him, kills Jews who choose to follow other Gods, and is always willing to slaughter the priests and followers of Baal. And Christ says “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Where’s the religious liberty in that?  If the Declaration’s declarers want to affirm religious freedom and liberty for all, I’m with them, but hanging this on Yahweh and Christ is a stretch.

I have no problem with people affirming their faith and their right to practice it. But please don’t pretend that in so doing you are protecting the rights of others to do the same. The Manhattan Declaration is simply a demand that society not intrude on the signers' right to practice their faith as they choose. This is fine with me as long as their right to choose one way doesn't rob others of the right to choose differently. People should be free to practice their religion as they see fit as long as they don't harm others in the process. 

I am a fan of declarations, even one's I don't like. So I invite you to share your own declarations with me. Let's see what the state of belief is as we enter 2012.

Happy New Year!

Two Questions About Christmas

Two people emailed me this morning with questions about Christmas. I thought I'd share both their questions and my answers with you here.

I’m Jewish, my girlfriend is Christian. This Saturday we will be lighting Hanukkah candles and celebrating Christmas, but I’m a bit uncomfortable with the latter. Can you give me a Jewish way into Christmas?

This Saturday night is a Jewish trifecta: Motzei Shabbat (the transition from the Sabbath to the work week celebrated with the lighting of the Havdalah candle, the light of discernment), the fifth night of Hanukkah (celebrating the liberation of the Jews from religious, military, and political oppression), and the birthday of Jesus, the most famous Jew who ever lived. Most Jews will ignore the first, celebrate the second, and sit uncomfortably with the third while ordering Kung Po Chicken at their local Chinese restaurant.

Let me offer an alternative (no, not Thai food, something more spiritual.)

Shabbat honors the divine origins of creation (Exodus 31:15-17), and the divine imperative for liberation (Deuteronomy 5:15). Hanukkah celebrates the chutzpah of hope that liberation requires, and that allowed the Maccabees to tackle and defeat the overwhelming military might of the Syrians. And the birth of Jesus reminds us that ours is a faith rooted in the eternal hope that some day global justice, peace, and freedom will reign on earth.

As you light your Shabbat candles Friday evening, recall God as the source of creation, and commit yourself to godliness as the means to liberation. As you light your Havdalah candle Saturday night, commit to acting in a way that frees both self and others during the coming week. As you light your Hanukkah candles, vow to cultivate the chutzpah of hope that liberation requires. And as you honor the birth of the baby Jesus take hope in how one little Jewish kid (with the backing of Saul of Tarsus, a great Jewish publicist) can grow up to change the world.

I’m Jewish and I love Jesus. Not as a God or as Christ, but as a daring Jewish rabbi and prophet who took on the exploitative powers of Jerusalem and Rome. I want to honor his birth in a way that isn’t Christian but isn’t hokey either (no birthday cake with his face on it). Any suggestions?

For me, Christmas is about the birth of a Jewish boy born to a Jewish mother who is anointed by the Jewish God to liberate the Jewish people, and through that liberation to free the entire world from empire, economic and social injustice, and war, thus ushering in the messianic age promised by the Jewish prophets.

This has nothing to do with “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,” (John 3:16, NRSV). That is Christianity, the religion about Jesus, and I am not a Christian. I am a Jew who follows the religion of Jesus: Love God and Love Your Neighbor (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18; and Matthew 22:37-39). I would add Love the Stranger as well, but he didn’t task me (Deuteronomy 10:19). Jesus is Jewish, his teaching is Jewish, and his promise of a just world free from tyranny and fear is Jewish. So I have no problem honoring his birth.

Since you ruled out my cake idea, let me suggest adding a candle to the Saturday night flames of Havdalah and Hanukkah. Just we light the Havdalah candle to kindle the light of discernment allowing us to choose wisely between actions that heal and actions that harm, and just as we light the Hanukkah candles to cultivate in ourselves the audacity of hope that emboldened the Maccabees to light the one day’s supply of oil when an eight day’s supply was necessary to rededicate the Temple, so let us light a candle in memory of the birth of Jesus, and commit ourselves to lighting the fires of justice and compassion wherever we can, whenever we can, and however we can.

Jesus’ birthday is for me a mixture of joy, sadness, and hope. Joy in that our people has never failed to raise up heroes even in the darkest of times; sadness in that all of them failed; and hope that some day yet another will arise and this time bring the messianic promise to fruition: that all people shall sit under their grapevines or fig trees with no one to make them afraid, (Micah 4:4).

A New Lowe In American Life

Does the cowardice of the Lowe’s Corporation in the face of a fringe Christian group’s opposition to the TLC reality show All-American Muslim matter? Yes. Television programs and advertising are a barometer of the American psyche, and this recent incident says we are sick and getting sicker.

Ten years ago on the TV show 24 Federal Agent Jack Bauer taught us that very Muslim was a jihadist. Today the complaint against All-American Muslim is that no Muslim is a jihadist. The jihadis have so cleverly integrated into American life that even Jack Bauer couldn’t find them. And if we aren’t careful the All-American Muslim will result in the All-Muslim America.

Is this simply all-American bigotry, or is there something to this?

Let’s be honest: Islam intends to conquer the world. But so does Christianity. This doesn’t mean that all forms of Islam and Christianity and all Muslims and Christians are intent on world domination, only that the theologies of both faiths hold out hope for a day when, to borrow from my own people, “The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name will be the only name,” (Zechariah 14:9). The only difference between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on this point is whose name will be the one final name: Yahweh, Jesus, or Allah? This question of the dominant name has been enough to fuel wars for millennia. So when Bill Shakespeare asks, “What’s in a name?” the answer is millions of slaughtered human beings.

If you’re a patriotic American, an American committed to the secular ideals of our founding Masonic fathers (full disclosure: I'm a 32^nd degree Mason), this is something to be feared. But who is doing the better job of taking over America, Christians or Muslims?

My money is on the Christians. Compare Jack Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion where he declared “I believe in an America where the separation of Church and State is absolute” to that of Mitt Romney’s religion speech in 2007 where he tried to convince people that Mormons were Christians, too. And then compare both to the current crop of GOP presidential candidates who are bending over backwards to prove their Christian bone fides so that they can pass the totally unconstitutional religious test for public office that is now central to the Republican Party, and that in the next presidential election will be central to the Democratic Party as well.

America is in danger of becoming a theocracy, but it will be Franklin Graham and not Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Supreme Leader of Iran) who leads it.

Lowe’s motto is “Never stop improving.” I wish they and we would take this to heart. There is still time, though not all that much time.