A Memorial Day Tribute

I come from a devout military family that, up until my generation, treks back hundreds of years throughout Europe. My father was a Navy man, my mother an Army brat, and the military representation just keeps going.

I'm blessed because my mom's side of the family traces itself through the Duval Family Association, which documents a very well-documented family hailing from France and arriving in the U.S. while fleeing religious persecution in 1701. (Think Catholics marrying Hugeonots!) These folks rubbed elbows with George Washington and other well-known historical giants.

But let's get to honoring so many of my family members who defended freedom.

My dad's dad, Joseph Edwards, was a military man who served during World War II in France, but what he did there I'll never know because the facility that held his military records burned down in the 1950s or 60s, which I find hugely disappointing. What I do know is that he ended up in France after the liberation, but I don't know what he did there, what his rank was, or anything like that. Joseph -- my middle name sake -- died of a heart attack on August 17, 1965, just 11 days after my dad turned 12 years old (his mother died a few years prior).

My mom's dad, John Baskette, was a Navy man who served during World War II in Pearl Harbor -- and yes, he was there when the attacks of December 7, 1941 happened. He spent his entire life in the military, and when my mom was born he was stationed in France. He died in April 2007 after quite a long life devoted to retelling what happened at Pearl Harbor. When I was in Middle School in Joplin, Missouri, I got to do a huge report on my grandfather and even borrowed my dad's old Navy uniform and dressed up like him.

Much further back, we're talking Civil War time, I have oodles of family that served. John Howard Baskette was born in 1829 and died in 1884 and was a Colonel of the 68th Regiment of Tennessee Militia of Coffee Company (mmm ... coffee). Then there was Dr. William Turner Baskette (the aformentioned's father) who was caught three times by the North while traversing across the war line. His house still stands today in Mufreesboro, Tennessee, where the local Women's Club now meets.

William's father, Abraham, was a private in the War of 1812, and his father William Semple Baskette was a Baptist minister in Virginia who was a Lieutenant during the Revolutionary War.

There are dozens of other members of my family that served in the military, but I think this will suffice. I wish I knew more about my father's family line, but with his parents having died so young, there are a million questions I didn't get to ask and will probably never get the answers I need.

So here's to soldiers -- past, present, and future -- who fight for peace, freedom, and liberty!

Are You Friends with Esther?

[Come tomorrow, I'll post images of my OWN hamantaschen!]

As you all know, I work at the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education as their social media ninja (that's not the title on my business card, but come on). I was tapped to write the March newsletter bit on Purim, and this is what I came up with.

It’s the month of Adar, and that means it’s time for Purim, one of the most festive holidays in the Jewish calendar. Everyone is a’twitter with talk of mishloach manot (gift baskets), hamantaschen, costumes, festive meals, Megillat Esther readings, Purim shpiels, carnivals, and more. Commemorating a time when a young Jewish woman, Esther, rose to power to become Queen of Persia under the tutelage of her guardian Mordechai, the Purim story tells of Esther risking her life to save the Jews from the evil Haman. The story concludes with the Jews turning the tables on their enemies, who are punished in place of their intended victims. This miracle is the major theme of Purim, and it’s clear that — although not mentioned in the entirety of the Book of Esther — God is behind the scenes “pulling the strings.” The story of Purim gives us hope that no matter the circumstances, redemption is right around the corner. It took just one person — Esther — putting herself in harms way by speaking out against an imminent evil to save an entire people.

So what if the Purim story were unraveling in today’s times? Would Esther be blogging her tough decisions? Would Mordechai be writing on Esther’s Facebook wall “Risk your life! Save the Jews!”? And what about Haman, would he unfriend Esther after his plot was ruined?

The reality today is that you can find Pinterest boards full of images of delicious varieties of hamantaschen, costume ideas, and Purim decorations. You can hop over to YouTube and find plenty of Purim-themed videos or visit Facebook to “like” Queen Esther. You can even listen or watch the Megillah read online! But Esther probably would have used social media for more than just finding the fun and entertaining pieces of Purim.

In our modern, digitally social world, local and international events of persecution make it to the internet in no time. The internet is a great place to plan your Purim party or to connect with others about meal ideas, but it’s also a powerful means of social action. If you haven’t taken the time to check out how we’re using social media, we urge you to hop online and test the waters of Twitter or Facebook to see how you can impact change in a new, virtual environment. Whether it’s donating to an impactful organization or speaking out against injustices, you cannot imagine the power your virtual voice can have.

Be a modern Esther, and help the essence of Purim go viral! Best wishes for a festive Purim!

To be honest, I was surprised that my past writings on Purim are pretty nil. Have a favorite d'var or blog post written about Purim? Let me know!

Also, if you need a really good laugh, read this.

Rahab the Harlot: The Rabbis' Convert

Over Shavuot, I gave a shiur on Rahab (which, actually, is pronounced Rachav, or more appropriately, here's the Hebrew: רחב), and I'd been planning on posting some form of the shiur here, so here I am. This paper originated in the Fall semester 2009 for a Midrashic Literature course. How did I happen upon Rahab? You know, I honestly can't remember. I wanted to do something with conversion, and I had originally intended to write about the Rabbi's views on conversion. The literature on this, actually, is pretty broad, so I narrowed things down to one, single, well-loved convert: Rahab ha'zonah. After some interesting mentions of "red cords" and "red threads" in various parashot, I've decided to continue my exploration of Rahab and some inconsistencies and curiosities about the red cord (related to the Passover, perhaps, but in sacrifices of repentance, the red thread becomes as such through the dying of the thread with a substance derived from a lowly snail, showing a rise from a lowly state [repentance] to a higher place [Rashi]).

Anyhow. Let's start with my intro.

In the Book of Joshua, the reader encounters Rahab the Canaanite harlot (zonah, זונה), who is charged with saving Joshua’s spies from imminent danger and as a result is herself saved from certain death at the hands of the Israelites. Subsequently, the Rabbis understand Rahab as mending her unfortunate ways, accepting the Israelite G-d as the only god, and becoming the ultimate example among the Rabbis of the truly righteous convert. They sing her praises throughout the midrash, particularly her wisdom in concealing the spies and negotiating her own rescue. Because the Rabbis paint an extremely positive picture of the woman who, according to the midrash, would marry Joshua and produce eight prophets, it is clear that they view Rahab as symbolizing “the positive influence that Israel exerts on the surrounding Gentile nations, as well as successful conversion.” Any negativity surrounding her occupation, her national affiliation, or the incident of her being spared – despite the commands of Deuteronomy 20:10-20, specifically 10-16 to “not let a soul remain alive” – is washed away and ultimately romanticized throughout the midrash, save for one instance citing Israel’s failure to commit complete destruction by sparing Rahab, which will be discussed in brief. The Rabbis clearly view Rahab as the ultimate, ideal convert, applying to Jeremiah, who is said to have descended from Rahab, the proverb: “The son of the corrupted one who mended her ways will come and reproach the son of the fit one who had gone astray.”

The most intriguing question, however, is why the Rabbis chose Rahab as an example to gentiles as the ideal, righteous proselyte – what attracted the Rabbis to Rahab and her story, prompting their message that if a harlot can convert, so, too, can anyone? This paper will address this question through a discussion of the midrash, as well as its treatment in sources such as those of Josephus. This discussion ultimately will show that what Rahab offered the Rabbis was the model of the repentant fallen woman who finds the true G-d and emerges as a matriarch of Israel, in a “Jewish setting apparently anxious for female figures of conversion and repentance.” Rahab thus becomes the paramount model of the righteous proselyte, indeed one that surpasses even the most well-known of the Rabbis converts, such as Jethro, in her recognition of HaShem's true powers.

It's a little wordy, and it was hacked down by quite a bit for my Graduate Presentation in March and even more so for my shiur. The thing is, for the shiur I opted to axe the academics/scholars from the mix. Dangerous? Maybe. But it fit the shiur better.

The paper goes on to detail the narrative, then examining how Rahab becomes known as a harlot, followed by an exploration of the Midrashic literature on Rahab as a convert in the eyes of the Rabbis, and concluding with a discussion of why the Rabbis chose Rahab over all others as witness to the righteous convert.

I've got a boatload of sources, including a variety that attempt to launder Rahab's post as a harlot (she's named as a perfumer, innkeeper, and more!). But smashing 18 pages into one blog post is, well, ridiculous. So I decided to just post the sources up HERE and the actual paper up HERE. Enjoy. Read. And let me know what you think. I apologize for any mistakes, errors, or assumptions that might seem absolutely obscene to you. After all -- this is an academic exploration of Rahab, but it caters itself well to a religious inquiry as well, I think. Here are my concluding thoughts (in case you're too lazy to read the paper, that is).

The ultimate conclusion the Rabbis drew from Rahab’s conversion is the superiority of repentance over prayer, for even though Moses prayed exceedingly, G-d did not accept his entreaty to enter the land. The repentance of Rahab the harlot was accepted, and the midrash concludes that seven kings and eight prophets were issued forth from her (Seder Eliyahu Zuta). That the biblical Rahab becomes transformed into a repentant convert and wife and ancestress of worthy priests and prophets in Israel reflects the Rabbis’ need to adopt biblical models of the welcome Judaism extends to all sincere proselytes – regardless of their past. Rahab is thus evidence for the Rabbis of the “efficacy of Judaism and its traditions in taming the disordering powers of female sexuality.” These stories are evident in the midrash, including a popular tale in BT Menahot 44a (and Sifre Numbers 115) in a discussion of the importance of observing the precept of ritual fringes, or tzitzit, by recounting the tale of a student who, while careful in observing this precept, himself gets caught up with a harlot. The harlot, after a series of events, ends up converting and marrying the student. This narrative, like the Rahab story, is appealing and romantic, juxtaposing some of the “risqué imaged details of its subject’s profession with a religious miracle and the spiritually elevating account of her acceptance into the Jewish community.” That this prized convert is a woman attests to something even more unique, and that is that there were more men than women proselytes mentioned in rabbinic literature. Thus, it is understandable that the Rabbis would focus on key individuals such as Rahab in their discussion of the female proselyte as a penitent courtesan.

As Phyllis Bird suggests, the story depends on a certain “reversal of expectations.” It is unlikely to expect a “shrewd and calculating operator” like a prostitute to save the spies and declare allegiance to G-d, but she does. The Rabbis, then, understood something profound about their choice as the ultimate righteous convert: “The harlot understands what the king of the city does not – that Israelite victory is imminent and inevitable.”

(Note: In the paper, I use the fully spelled out name of HaShem (I know, I know, not in Hebrew it doesn't matter, but it feels weird to me), because in academia, this is how we roll. I apologize if I offend you!)

Blogging, v.2008.

The one thing I'll never understand, is why I have such an abundance of passersby, and yet no comments on many of my posts. I know it isn't outstanding, but I average at least 30-40 views a day -- and this is beyond the people who simply accidentally end up on my blog by clicking on some picture that happens to be linked to my page. I seem to get a lot of traffic from people researching the Donmeh. I'm not really sure how, considering when you Google search Donmeh my blog is definitely NOT on the first page. Even searching Donmeh Jewish doesn't pull up my blog. So how are people getting here? The great thing is there are viewers from all over the world, though most are in the U.S. I use sitemeter, which tracks locations and such. It's sort of a Big Brother thing, but it also helps me know who my readers are. I just wish they'd comment, so, you know, I'd really *know* who they are.

Unless, of course, my blogs are really that benign? Uninspiring? Uncommentable!?

I'm not looking for blind praise or comments saying "Oh Chavi, I love your posts, I comment all the time!" I know who my regular readers are, of course. I just wish I knew who the non-regular readers and sometimes-readers were. But we all can't get what we want, I suppose!

On the note of blogs, I started another blog. It's a blog about my (hopeful) weightloss journey. The blog can be found over at Fat Miss America. It's fresh, it's as naked as I get on the internet, folks. Exposing my soul, my personal struggles and my hopeful journey toward health. I mean, I'm healthy as is. The doctor told me so; it's just those extra pounds that someday, surely, will come back to haunt me. As Lisa has said, I'm zaftig! And as always, I post every now anda again over at Jewsbychoice.org. My most recent post is a Torah spiel about last week's portion, which happened to include the parting of the Sea of Reeds, among other things.

As for the blogs I'm attempting to regularly read, well, you can find those over there to the right of this blog. Click around. Check some people out. Take a gander. Enjoy. Most of them are friends from college, my college newspaper, or fellow Jews I've happ'd upon in my happy travels on the Web.

And finally, today is ט״ו בשבט -- Tu B'Shevat (which actually means the 15th of the month of Shevat). You'll note that Shevat can be spelled a dozen different ways, but you get the idea. The day is a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, and doesn't involve any fasting or particularly special services or observances. It's considered to be the "Jewish Arbor Day" of sorts and is one of the many new years in our calendar, and is really the "new year of trees." There is no specific mention of the holiday in the Torah, though it does appear in the Mishnah. According to Judaism 101, there is a bit of disagreement about the actual date of the the new year for trees, with Beit Shammai saying the proper day was the first of Shevat and Beit Hillel said the proper day was the 15th of Shevat. Of course, with most things, we lean on Hillel for the final word on the proper day of observance. Common traditions for the day are to eat fruits and nuts of the land of Israel, and sometimes even to plant a tree (hence the Jewish Arbor Day bit). Likewise, the Wikipedia article on the holiday has some interesting details about the customs.

So go eat some dried fruits or nuts and take notice of the beauty of nature around us -- even if that beauty is covered in snow.

Shalom, y'all!

Chanukah! Just a little bit left ...

So there is so little of Chanukah left. It seems to fly by in the blink of an eye, even though I remember growing up and Christmas feeling like it lasted for days and days and days. How odd is that? I wanted to post some cookie photos, of course, but first, I had to say THANK YOU to Beth, who sent me this awesome card, that has little punch-out candle flames that you insert into the menorah for each night! This is definitely an Amanda-friendly menorah :)


And here are the sexy cookie shots. I bought some canned icing to do interesting stuff this year, since I didn't want to make a mess of mixing the food coloring into the white frosting. However, I think in the future I'll go back to that method -- despite the mess! They just look more clean :)

O Chanukah!

I think that the greatest thing about this (once small, but now overblown) holiday of Chanukah is that there are surprises around every corner. Because Chanukah goodies, knick-knacks and things don't permeate every store on the planet like Christmas things do, it's fun when you find something small in a specialty store or while window-shopping.

Case in point: I just got back from a trip to Baltimore to celebrate my very, very wonderful friend Heather's recent wedding to a very special guy named Josh (MAZEL TOV!!). While there we went browsing in the Hampden area and there were oodles of small shops. The great thing was spying some cute little dreidel-direction cards, a variety of menorahs (new age and traditional), star of David ornaments made of blown glass (I was searching for these weeks ago and ended up getting some at Crate & Barrel, actually), and much much more. But the coolest thing was an ornament (I know, I know) that we found at this place called Cafe Hon. Now, this took me by surprise ... but I guess the word "hon" -- like, "You're a doll, you know that hon?" or "Thanks, hon!" -- is sacred in Baltimore (also known as Bawlmore). So they have Hon Fest and the Cafe Hon is the hot spot for all your hon paraphernalia.

Anyhow, we're perusing the mini store while waiting for a table to clear and what does Heather spot? THIS:

So she, in her awesomeness, picked it up for me. I think I might attach it to my fan pull :) Anyhow, it's super cute and I had to share because it's definitely unique, like so many of the neat little knick-knacks and fun things that Chanukah conjures up ... even if it does mean buying things that maybe aren't that necessary.

And to close us up, here are some pictures of my menorah from this evening. I decided to go ahead and light the travel menorah since I was unpacking my stuff from the trip. Happy Chanukah, friends and readers!


PS: Just saw this over on Ararat Scrolls, so check it out and GIGGLE: My Menorah (OY OY OY!)

Go Chabad! Go!

Chabad is rocking my world today. I mean ROCKING my world today.

I was down in the Loop in search of a hat. I have a large head, short hair, and well, those two just don't mesh. So I bought some gloves, and after Target and Macy's, I quit searching, bought a Earl Grey Vanilla Latte and called it a night. So as I'm walking to the El, here comes a pickup truck playing music really loud, sort of cruising. As it got closer ...

It was a Chabad-sponsored pickup truck with a menorah on the back! Yes, the shamash and the first two candles were lit and music was a'playin' as two yarmulke-toting fellows in the cab. It made me smile, big.

Then I got home and found the Chabad.org e-mail highlighting the site's special items for Chanukah, including a facebook.com application! Hot dog! So the first thing I did when I got home? I sent out Chanukah cards to my Jewish friends (lookout, folks!).

Tonight my plan is to take it easy, once again. I went to bed last night at 9 p.m. because of a horribly depressing day at work. Today I'm feeling a little better, but still not quite level, disallowing me from enjoying the well-lit holiday. But the moving menorah and the various menorahs spotting windows along Broadway Street on the way home have brightened my spirit and kept me from feeling incredibly isolated this year (if you recall, last year I went to the National Menorah Lighting near the White House -- also sponsored by Chabad -- with latkes, even!).

My plan for tomorrow is to make some latkes, some Chanukah cookies (that is, cookies in Jewish shapes iced with Jewish colors!), some sufganiyot and other goodies. Expect the step by steps as I've done with other holidays. It's my way of sharing my Chanukah with you!

Menorah addiction!

As it turns out, I'm going to be in Baltimore for a few nights of Chanukah to help my friend Heather celebrate her being a newlywed (a hearty mazel tov to her and her husband!). So I went to the store today and picked up my THIRD menorah! Yes, folks, I bought a mini "travel" menorah. It's no bigger than the size of my hand (which I hear is tiny) and has little birthday cake-style candles to go with it! I'm super stoked that I'll get to celebrate a few nights with my good friend! And buying menorahs? It's addictive!

Doin' the Turkey Trot.

Well, folks, it's another Thanksgiving. That means that tomorrow the world starts throwing itself into massive debt and today the packing on of the average of 7 pounds begins. So I want to wish you a delicious turkey day, but do not overindulge! Keep it safe, keep it simple. And if you do go out tomorrow? Well, just remember, things are just that -- things!

My otherwise crappy mood (since 5 a.m. the ancient heating units in my apartment have been clicking and banging and clicking and banging and stressing me the frick out) has been brightened by the fact that ... it's snowing! Finally! Snow! Yes, ohmigosh, SNOWW!!!

This means that I can finally be happy once again :) Goodbye reverse seasonal affective disorder!

So be happy, be full, be healthy -- and most importantly, be at peace!

Got some Gelt?

Tidings, friends and foes. I've been M.I.A. lately, after having a really, horribly, uncomfortably busy couple of weeks at work followed by a weekend of decompressing, that included treating myself to a new iPod Nano for my hardwork :) So I've been busy with that, too. I also posted over on the Jews by Choice blog about Chanukah and Christmas approaching, so get on over and take a gander if you're interested.

But I'm making a quick stop to remind all my Jewish and goyim friends to head over to TheLeeVees.com and check out the delicious goods they have to offer, including my favorite Chanukah CD, "Hanukkah Rocks," which I think we can all totally appreciate. With tunes like "Goyim Friends," "Applesauce vs. Sour Cream" and "Gelt Melts" ... not to mention a song devoted to my favorite Jewish good: Kugel! Here are some lyrics from "Goyim Friends:"

...All my goyim friends/are eating up their ham/hone-glazed, baked to perfection/with dinner rolls, gravy boats and turkey/greme brulee, cherry pie and fruitcake.

But we, we will march on/with General T'sao/and Eggo Foo Yung/take out's not wrong/ and we will march on

Tee hee. Personally, this makes me stoked to be in Chicago for Christmas, as there is an ACTUAL China Town here that I can attack on Christmas. Whoo hoo! But seriously folks, The LeeVees? Creative as all get out when it comes to penning the Chanukah tunes.

Anyhow, check out this video and then go download some of the songs or start sending cards, people. Chanukah approacheth!!!

Shabbat Shalom! Pick a menorah for me :)

So I've had a nice little, basic, simple Menorah that I've used for the past three years, but I'm itchin' for another (new) one! But I can't decide which to get ... what do you think?



The first is the "signature" menorah and the latter is the "music note" menorah. I'm leaning toward the bronze because I already have a silver/aluminum one (it was a Walgreens buy right before shul three years ago!! It was my first Chanukah :D)

On a semi-unrelated note: Services tonight were the most mundane, uninspiring they've been in eons. The people were dead. No one was participating. People were huffing and puffing. Kids were screaming (why are there not sitters at the shul for services?). It was frustrating. Why do people go if they don't want to be there? If they do nothing but moan and groan and nod off? I try to stay in my own zone, knowing that what I get out of services is what I get out of services. But sometimes I wonder: Are people waiting for enlightenment? Hoping that by forcing themselves through services for that WHOLE hour to an hour-and-a-half that a spark of something will rekindle their lust for life? Am I just cynical? I want people to love services and Judaism as much as I do. I want people to really WANT to be there; not for people to feel obligated or anything to be there. I felt like crap all day today. I didn't sleep last night and my stomach was upset and I just wanted to go home, but I made myself go to services because I know that -- for me -- I would regret it tomorrow if I didn't go. My week does not end unless I go to Shabbat; it just keeps going and going. But I didn't force myself to go out of guilt or just because that's what Jews do. I went for me, for my mind and spirit and soul. ARGH! So frustrated.

On a more pleasant note, I appreciated the sermon, which was actually not a sermon but a "learning Shabbat" service, where the rabbi explained the V'shamru prayer that we sing. He examined the source of the prayer and the difference in the commandment from Exodus and Deuteronomy, which I actually never noticed before. The original reason for Shabbat observance is because G-d rested on the seventh day, but in Deuteronomy it says we should keep the Sabbath because G-d took us out of Egypt! Oh the tricky intricacies of Torah :)

The final Parshah.

"And there was no other prophet who arose in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face ..." (Deut. 34:10)

This found its way into Maimonides Thirteen principles, chiefly within the following:

7. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses is absolutely true. He was the chief of all prophets, both before and after Him.
8. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moses.

Key in the initial citation to note is "in Israel," which makes one wonder if this is a foretelling that perhaps such prophets will arise in other nations, among other people. A midrash touches on this in the following:

Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses, in Israel there did not arise, but among the nations there arose, so that the nations should not have the excuse to say that if only we had a prophet like Moses we would have worshipped the Holy One. And which prophet did they have like Moses? Balaam the son of Beor” (Numbers Rabba 14:19).

Is it suggesting that other prophets of the caliber (in the eyes of worshippers) arose out of envy for Moses? Did envy or visions of grandeur birth the great prophets (visionaries) that birthed Christianity or Islam or Mormonism?

Or, perhaps, the key idea here is that what Moses (via G-d) gave to Israel was greater and unlike anything that would ever arise. Torah! As the greatest revelation from a prophet such as Moses, it never again will be repeated or regiven or redacted. It is THE ultimate final say.

Either way, this brief sentence at the very end of our Torah, before we begin again, inspired Maimonides in his Thirteen Principles (of course, which I'll discuss at some other time when I have more time to explicate on the many points, which I might not exactly agree or understand or GET), which says something. It is not enough to say that Moses was a prophet -- no, he was THE prophet.

This take on the situation seems pretty spot-on:

In the Yigdal prayer in the morning service, we read, "No one from Israel arose like Moses. . ." Could there have been another Moses? Theoretically, yes. But did anyone reach his lofty heights? Only Moses earned the right to ascend Mt. Sinai and accept the Torah directly from Hashem. Moses was just a normal human being who overcame his evil inclination and reached his vast potential. He was a man of physical defects who was slow in speech and spoke with a lisp. Nobody can say that it was his great oratorical skills that mesmerized an entire nation into following him. Moses was a far cry from one who could preach matters in his own words or give expression to divine truths. He was a scribe who could sit before Hashem on Mt. Sinai and take perfect dictation. Moses was the secretary who mirrored the ideals of his divine boss. Interestingly, Moses' Hebrew name Moshe, spelled mem, shin, hay, mirrors that of Hashem, spelled hay, shin, mem. Moshe spelled backwards reads Hashem.

Even the dissection of Moshe and Hashem is pretty compelling (if you're into etymology and a little superstitious like me).

Of this week's entire portion, this is the bit that moved me most. What a man, what an amazing man and what a gift -- or burden. And at the mouth of G-d, Moses passed. A thoughtful kiss goodbye.

It's a business.

Firstly, tonight begins Tisha B'av, a fasting "holiday" of mourning over the fall of the Temples, not to mention countless other tragedies over the past several thousand years. As such, I'm really stoked that my synagogue is actually HAVING something for the holiday. However, I'm not exactly sure I agree with the text of the spiel about what it will entail:

Today, we have a modern Jewish state in the Land of Israel. So, why on Tisha B'Av do we mourn the destruction of the Temple and a way of life we no longer want? Join us for a thoughtful and lively discussion as we use excerpts from Rabbi Irving Greenberg's controversial article in The Jewish Way along with traditional texts to try to answer: Should Reform Jews commemorate Tisha B'Av?

More specifically, I don't know that it isn't a life we don't "want" so much as a life that we have evolved from and grown from as society and culture have expanded. If the Temple still stood today, I imagine that animal sacrifices would not be standard, regardless of the Temple laws and Temple Judaism. Anyhow, I'm intrigued and am looking forward to the discussion. I just hope people actually show for it! I, for one, will be fasting, refraining from work, and will spend most of tomorrow resting and examining Lamentations, in the same way I have the past few years.

Secondly, I'm knee-deep in "My Holocaust" by Tova Reich. I still am not over Friday's encounter with Hitler man on the street. The book is definitely tough, and it isn't as smooth as "Mara," though I feel connected to my previous read, as there are overlapping characters, which I admire. I imagine I'll succeed in passing through it this week. I was forced to buy the hardcover, as that's all the Borders had.

Nothing like spending $80 on books :) Of course, part of that was guidebooks for Venice, where I will be traveling in September over my birthday weekend! It's an "academic" trip in part for the professor I work for, and the honeymoon we'll never be able to afford in the other part. It's my first international trip, and I couldn't be more excited. I'll be spreading U.S. academic glory with early childhood education as I enjoy the sites and sounds of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. My first stop in Venice? The Jewish ghetto!

Here are a few photos from Fourth of July/Baby Reilly festivities in Oak Park at one of the bandmate's house. It was a stellar time. So here's some of the baby photos! Hoo-rah!

This is baby Reilly.

Me with baby!

Ian with baby! But it's going to be six to eight for us :)

And finally, a hilarious commercial that I'm going to send to one of my rabbis because his sermon two weeks ago was all related on the iPhone. SCORE!

It's a holiday!

Happy Fourth of July, friends and readers! Feel free to get a little meshuggah! (But play it safe, all the same.)

Never again.

Yom HaShoah -- Never again! Never again? (Darfur, Rwanda, ...)

Today is Yom HaShoah. That is, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The world over, are people thinking about it? Remembering? Recalling? Reliving? So few Holocaust survivors remain. And by that, I mean individuals directly impacted by the Nazi horrors. Not Joe Shmo who was enjoying a hot dog in Chicago on State Street while millions were dying in Europe. No. I'm talking the individuals of witness and loss.

Friday at Shabbat services, the sermon was brief, but impactful. The thing is, the rabbi (whom Ian and I weren't particularly fond of -- the shul has three rabbis and we enjoy the other two) related Yom HaShoah to this week's parshah, which includes the death of two of Aaron's sons by fire. The first part of the parshah discusses the "alien fire" that the two sons present on the alter, resulting in their consumption in flames at (most likely) the hands of G-d. Flames, fire and ash. "Shoah" appears in the Tanakh THREE times, and more or less means total destruction or devastation. The rabbi then read a very graphic, touching, horrific portion from Elie Wiesel's "Night." I read the book a few years ago and cried uncontrollably. Thinking about the book or even hearing pieces from it is devastating.

The section she read depicted the hanging of three Jewish prisoners -- one of which was a child. When he was hanged, he remained alive for nearly a half-hour, his weight too small to kill him quickly. He shook and wriggled and the prisoners were made to watch. A prisoner screamed "WHERE IS G-D?!" over and over. Elie Wiesel thought to himself that G-d was there, hanging before them. The rabbi continued on saying "Where was G-d? He was there, suffering alongside us."

But that wasn't enough. It's never enough just to say that, is it? I'd been in a very good mood throughout the evening. Ian and I sat in Argo, traveled North and headed to shul -- I was content. But this sermon shook me, putting me into a state of depression that continues on at this moment. I had two horrible nightmares that night and was depressed all day yesterday. The dissatisfaction from the rabbi saying that G-d was there, suffering ... was just so little, so sad. So unfulfilling. I don't command an answer, a reason, an explanation to the Shoah. It can't be karma, it can't be G-d's will, it can't be that it just happened.

Anyhow, the sadness won't let up. So on this Yom HaShoah, I beg for peace of mind.

The anti-Pesach food.

So my boyfriend is a HEATHEN! Well, not a heathen ... he just isn't observing Passover. So while I nosh on matzo with cream cheese and jelly or charoset ... he's noshing on this. Yes. That's charoset on bread, with cream cheese and a little butter. It's Italian-Jewish fusion, he says. I present to you, Charoset Bruschetta.

Evidently it's really amazing. In a week, you can bet I'll be making some fresh charoset and will be trying this out. I'll admit, it looks delicious. I'm jealous, of course.

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In other news: There is a job prospect on the front. It has nothing to do with Judaism or journalism, and I'm okay with that. It's a stepping stone and a job until grad school. On the positive, though, is that this gig is at the University of Chicago, includes benefits and half-price tuition. Talk about a STELLAR deal. I'd kill for some Hebrew classes right about now. Anyhow, here's to hoping for a job. I love sleeping in, really, but it's getting old. I've been unemployed for three weeks. It's about time I throw myself back into society, don't you think?

Chag Sameach.

I did some cooking. Okay, that's an overstatement. I made charoset and then some matzo pizza with the help of the boyfriend, who made me some delicious mostly-kosher-for-Passover pizza sauce (that is: tomato sauce and paste salt-free, some cherry Manishewtiz and spices). But first, the charoset.
I wish it had turned out a little bit more ... mortar-like. It wasn't as together as I would have liked, but it's delicious. Then came the pizza goodness.

It's merely the sauce, some cheese and your run-of-the-mill matzo.

Seriously, it was delicious. Absolutely, delicious. Basically it tasted like a super thin-crust pizza. I intend on eating it repeatedly throughout the week.

I downed that pizza like a starving child in the Sahara. The rest of the week will consist of some matzo farfel kugel (apple!) and probably some matzo ball soup. All goods that can be found in my kosher-for-Passover cuboard!


I hope everyone else's Passover is muddling about well.

A Seder Recap

Sigh. Chag Sameach friends and foes and bloggers.

So the boy and I headed up to Temple Sholom on Lake Shore for a first-night, community-wide young adult seder. Ian didn't stay because of outerlying factors, but I have some thoughts in general on the evening, because truth be told, the evening was a bust.

1) This was a young adult seder, aimed at people 22 to 40. There were 250 people signed up, and it was held in a gigantic room at the temple with tables seated for seven. It was open seating and ... there was NO MICROPHONE. Now, it started at 7:30 on a Monday. That means most people came straight from work or shortly thereafter. It's the beginning of the week. You don't have a microphone. People were RESTLESS. Talkative. Antsy. The rabbi was talkative, not loud enough, and this caused people to leave before the meal was even served. We hadn't even touched the second cup of wine when dozens got up and left. Why? It was 9:30 and we weren't anywhere close to dinner. Finally, the rabbi speeded it up and the evening ended around 10:30. A three-hour seder with a group of young adults? Most of whom likely were twice-a-year attenders? Ridiculous.

2) The haggadah (The Feast of Freedom edition) was ... well ... wordy. It's a great haggadah, and I've seen longer, but there was no transliteration. There was English and Hebrew, but NO transliteration. This meant about 10 people sang everything with the rabbi and the rest sort of hummed the tune. It isn't like services -- it happens once a year! Because it was a community-wide seder, there were Reform, Conservative, (Orthodox?), Conservadox, Reconstructionist -- you name it. A little help would have been STELLAR. It sucked to not be able to participate, because I could read the Hebrew quick enough. I mean, I can do it ... but not that quick, darn't!
See, there's the English on the left there and the Hebrew on the right ... but nothing else! I will admit that this haggadah WAS sort of nice because it had gleanings and explanations and insights on the margins of both pages to offer tidbits on what was going on. The weird thing, however, was that it sort of ... well ... skipped things. We never ate the egg. Well, our table did, anyhow.

3) Tables were doing their seders willy nilly. I sort of supported this, because it was going along so slowly and everyone was so hungry that it was almost necessary. The problem? Our table wasn't, so we were just hanging out as all the other tables noshed on matzo and charoset. I would have supported two large groups or tables to run their own. The shul I went to last year in Omaha did a great job with the large crowd ... but they had a mic. Then again, there was children there last year.

4) The dinner was not warm by the time we got it, unfortunately. The great thing about it was that there was this great matzo farfel kugel ... man. It tasted like bread pudding, really. Which was sort of a treat, of course. The rest of the food was pretty gross. Luckily, the gefilte fish was DELICIOUS with the horseradish. The charoset was pretty subpar, unfortunately. And we never got through the four cups of wine. Somewhere along the line, a few glasses just didn't appear in the haggadah. Sigh. A bust, really.

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So basically, by 10 p.m. after dinner, there were about 50 people left. I felt really bad for the rabbi (who seemed pretty young himself), but the way things were going, it was inevitable. There was a woman going from table to table around 9 p.m. asking for someone to go tell the rabbi to quit his yabbering. If anything, I felt bad for the rabbi. It made me think ... would I be willing to keep schlepping through it all in hopes of getting to a few people if I were a rabbi? I don't know, really.

I'll end my first-night Pesach seder rant by saying that I did have some great people at my table (a recent film student grad, three med students and a fellow who is a counselor on Birthright trips as well as works for a company that promotes Jewish environmentalism for youths ages 11-13). I got some info from the latter on a great Birthright program and from one of the med students I got an e-mail address. It was nice to meet some other Jews -- hoorah!

I don't know if I'll make it up to Temple Sholom for Passover services tomorrow morning. Maybe I'm a horrible person but something about the bust of an evening sort of makes me want to sleep (although that's what I did pretty much all day, ugh). Tomorrow I will, however, be making charoset. I'm pretty stoked -- considering it's my first time throwing it together.

I hope your seders managed to work out great. I wish I had another to go to tomorrow ... last year's seders were absolutely fantastic. Next year, there will be a seder at home. I want to make it work, and I will.

Shalom and laila tov.

Pesach is coming alive!

Well.

The Pesach goods are bought. That is, the matzo (I accidentally bought egg matzo, only to have to go back and purchase NON-egg matzo, rawr). Among other things.

We've got cream cheese, jelly, goods for charoset, matzo farfel, apples, eggs, matzo ball mix, etc. etc. This will be a glorious Pesach. Filled with ... well, lotsa matzo with cream cheese and jelly and salad. I'm okay with this, of course.

I hadn't realized, however, how hard it was to find goods without things like CORN SYRUP ... ugh. Grocery shopping was, well, more hectic than it's been before. Mostly because I hadn't paid that much attention last year to it all. This year, however, finding salad dressing that would be good for passover, not to mention all other goods ... man. Tough cookies. It made me truly respect Pesach, though. Expect reflection ... hardcore reflection. I did pick up a classic Maxwell House hagaddah at the store at no charge. Oh yes. Some of the translations irritate me, tho.

And in honor of not being able to down corn syrup and rice and things as such ... I downed oodles of sushi and Coke tonight. It was a good way to ring in Pesach, I think.

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I'm stoked for the first-night seder tomorrow night! It's a community-wide young adult seder up at Temple Shalom on Lake Shore Drive (though it did cost a pretty penny for tickets). Ian and I went there for services Friday night in our third adventure in shul shopping. After a synagogue I didn't like and a synagogue he didn't like ... we found one we LOVE. Temple Shalom ... my G-d. It was absolutely wonderful. It was relaxed, but not too relaxed. I daven without anyone looking at me oddly, which is really nice, and the people were really impressive and friendly.

[Sidenote: I've noticed sort of by accident that I daven. It isn't conscience, it happens. Actually, I didn't notice on my own. A man at the second shul-shopping destination asked me if I was visiting from a Conservative synagogue because I was davening. It's subtle, and it's natural. Hrm.]

The seder is there, although it isn't sponsored by the temple. We're definitely in love with the place and intend to go back. The great thing about it, is that it's in a BEAUTIFUL neighborhood up by Wrigleyville, and there's a kosher deli right there on the corner (where we're going to eat Friday since our typical pizza evening is axed ... ).

Basically ... I think I've found a shul I can really, really thrive and grow at. I'm planning on hitting that up for Pesach service Tuesday morning (although truth be told it IS a bit of a trek). Seriously though -- there's a rabbi there who I'm absolutely all about it.

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I have some thoughts on Tzav from last week that I have yet to write about. Plan on reading here and there on it -- especially some thoughts on the dynamic of the haftarah portion with the parshah (conflicting views on the rules of ritual sacrifice). It's some fascinating stuff that played a pretty significant role in the then-future of Judaism and its practices.

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Oh, and I'm sort of cutting it close. But I need to burn my chametz and gift my cereal and other goods to Ian and the other roommate. This must be done stat. Wahoo!