(Reprinted From South Florida Jewish Journal)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Yom HaShoah Service
(Reprinted From South Florida Jewish Journal)
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The 45RPMSHOW
Hello Friends,Here is a short video promo for my internet radio show, "the45rpmshow." Log into "weinetwork.com" Tuesday at 8pm or Sunday at 10am.
L'Chaim Show For April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Passover Lessons
The Taste of Freedom
Forget Broadway. Judaism has produced the longest running play in history. It only runs for two nights a year but tickets have been selling for over three thousand years; did I mention still with the original cast? The play I am talking about is the Passover Seder. It is a “play” in many ways – as we sit around the table we read the script and employ all the props that tradition has given us. Wine, matzah, bitter herbs, and a royal meal are part of this grand historical re-creation of Yetziat Mitzraim, the Exodus from Egypt.
Besides being good theatre with a lot of audience participation, the Seder touches our most intimate sense. We declare the Matzah to be the bread of slavery and, as we eat it, we actually taste slavery. We taste the plain baked bread of a people about to escape and, most importantly we taste the anticipation of freedom. I really think it is time that Judaism won an Oscar- we have created a work of art that has stood the test of time and inspired countless other peoples to take our story, the story of slavery and freedom, and make it their own. Century after century nations have recast their own struggles using the language of our ancestors. How many times in the course of human history has the phrase “let my people go” been the cry of those wanting nothing more than the chance to live in freedom.
As we draw nearer to Passover, I would ask you to reflect on a different question: what does freedom taste like? The Jewish people were given freedom as a gift centuries ago but how can we ignore the fact that there are still entire populations that serve modern pharaohs and risk life itself for the chance to live in freedom.
The current state of rebellion in the Arab world is an example to remind us that freedom can come at a very high price. As we watch the people of several countries fill the streets in protest we can’t help but think of our own experience- we know what it is like to be ruled by an individual who seeks not the welfare of his people but their virtual enslavement for his own profit.
We do well to think about the taste of freedom- for much of the population of the Middle East freedom would taste like having enough to eat. Freedom would taste like the meal purchased by one’s own wages. Freedom would taste like a fine stew made of democracy and security. I only wonder if such a meal will ever be served.
I realize the implicit irony of talking about freedom in the Arab world- it is a world that wants to wipe the Jewish people off the pages of history. It is hard to wish freedom for those who profess hatred for you but perhaps that freedom would be a first step in destroying some of that hatred. Ironically perhaps that wish is our greatest expression of our freedom. I have to imagine that a world in which freedom is a universal possession is a better world than the one we live in now. Only time will tell but, as we sit around the Seder table, let’s give some thought to that possibility.
Forget Broadway. Judaism has produced the longest running play in history. It only runs for two nights a year but tickets have been selling for over three thousand years; did I mention still with the original cast? The play I am talking about is the Passover Seder. It is a “play” in many ways – as we sit around the table we read the script and employ all the props that tradition has given us. Wine, matzah, bitter herbs, and a royal meal are part of this grand historical re-creation of Yetziat Mitzraim, the Exodus from Egypt.
Besides being good theatre with a lot of audience participation, the Seder touches our most intimate sense. We declare the Matzah to be the bread of slavery and, as we eat it, we actually taste slavery. We taste the plain baked bread of a people about to escape and, most importantly we taste the anticipation of freedom. I really think it is time that Judaism won an Oscar- we have created a work of art that has stood the test of time and inspired countless other peoples to take our story, the story of slavery and freedom, and make it their own. Century after century nations have recast their own struggles using the language of our ancestors. How many times in the course of human history has the phrase “let my people go” been the cry of those wanting nothing more than the chance to live in freedom.
As we draw nearer to Passover, I would ask you to reflect on a different question: what does freedom taste like? The Jewish people were given freedom as a gift centuries ago but how can we ignore the fact that there are still entire populations that serve modern pharaohs and risk life itself for the chance to live in freedom.
The current state of rebellion in the Arab world is an example to remind us that freedom can come at a very high price. As we watch the people of several countries fill the streets in protest we can’t help but think of our own experience- we know what it is like to be ruled by an individual who seeks not the welfare of his people but their virtual enslavement for his own profit.
We do well to think about the taste of freedom- for much of the population of the Middle East freedom would taste like having enough to eat. Freedom would taste like the meal purchased by one’s own wages. Freedom would taste like a fine stew made of democracy and security. I only wonder if such a meal will ever be served.
I realize the implicit irony of talking about freedom in the Arab world- it is a world that wants to wipe the Jewish people off the pages of history. It is hard to wish freedom for those who profess hatred for you but perhaps that freedom would be a first step in destroying some of that hatred. Ironically perhaps that wish is our greatest expression of our freedom. I have to imagine that a world in which freedom is a universal possession is a better world than the one we live in now. Only time will tell but, as we sit around the Seder table, let’s give some thought to that possibility.
Monday, April 11, 2011
More Is Less!!
While you are busy reading take a break for a song- here is a video that Evan Gonshak and I recorded at the WLRN studio in Miami.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Saying Kaddish For Religion?
I came across a news piece that immediately caught my attention- the headline read “Religion to die out in 9 Countries.” When I saw that title I just had to look at the story and see how religion was about to “die out.” The story was based on some research done in England that showed that, based on mathematical models, if the current trend continues there will no members of the population who label themselves as members of a religion. The countries surveyed were Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The research shows that in these countries fewer and fewer people consider themselves as members of any religion. The survey claimed that, from a functional point of view, religion will die out in these countries because belonging to a religion does not have the appeal of alternative ways to identify one’s self. That seems like a statistical way of saying that people won’t affiliate with a religion if it doesn’t serve any social purpose.
While I understand the logic of this gloomy declaration, I think the researchers failed to consider at least one important factor: people affiliate and identify themselves as “religious” or as “members of a religion” because they believe in it. While it may be hip and cool to go to the “right” church or synagogue, that is not the only reason to affiliate. Religion is about the core beliefs that an individual has- it is not about what being a member of this place or that place can do for you. (Yes, I know, for some folks it is!)
I believe that people who have faith do not ask if they are popular. They do not ask if they are doing the “in” thing. They ask if they are doing the right thing. The implications of this study do raise some interesting questions for the Jewish community. We know that fewer and fewer Jews belong to a synagogue. Fewer Jews participate in Jewish communal life. Despite this, however, many aspects of Jewish identity are stronger than ever. It is hard to explain that but I think it is a clear indication that our identity is bound up with the fate of Judaism as a religion. While Jews may prefer to call themselves by other labels such as “secular” or “Zionist” or “cultural” or the many other variations of modern Jewish identity, it remains clear that the “ground zero” of our people is still a religious identity.
I am not yet ready to say Kaddish for religion. I can’t speak for other religions but I can speak for the Jewish people- our religion makes us who we are. We can protest it, we can reject it, we can even deny it but, at the heart of our people is a core belief and faith system that defines and shapes us.
I came across a news piece that immediately caught my attention- the headline read “Religion to die out in 9 Countries.” When I saw that title I just had to look at the story and see how religion was about to “die out.” The story was based on some research done in England that showed that, based on mathematical models, if the current trend continues there will no members of the population who label themselves as members of a religion. The countries surveyed were Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The research shows that in these countries fewer and fewer people consider themselves as members of any religion. The survey claimed that, from a functional point of view, religion will die out in these countries because belonging to a religion does not have the appeal of alternative ways to identify one’s self. That seems like a statistical way of saying that people won’t affiliate with a religion if it doesn’t serve any social purpose.
While I understand the logic of this gloomy declaration, I think the researchers failed to consider at least one important factor: people affiliate and identify themselves as “religious” or as “members of a religion” because they believe in it. While it may be hip and cool to go to the “right” church or synagogue, that is not the only reason to affiliate. Religion is about the core beliefs that an individual has- it is not about what being a member of this place or that place can do for you. (Yes, I know, for some folks it is!)
I believe that people who have faith do not ask if they are popular. They do not ask if they are doing the “in” thing. They ask if they are doing the right thing. The implications of this study do raise some interesting questions for the Jewish community. We know that fewer and fewer Jews belong to a synagogue. Fewer Jews participate in Jewish communal life. Despite this, however, many aspects of Jewish identity are stronger than ever. It is hard to explain that but I think it is a clear indication that our identity is bound up with the fate of Judaism as a religion. While Jews may prefer to call themselves by other labels such as “secular” or “Zionist” or “cultural” or the many other variations of modern Jewish identity, it remains clear that the “ground zero” of our people is still a religious identity.
I am not yet ready to say Kaddish for religion. I can’t speak for other religions but I can speak for the Jewish people- our religion makes us who we are. We can protest it, we can reject it, we can even deny it but, at the heart of our people is a core belief and faith system that defines and shapes us.
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