Monthly Archives: March 2008

JRC on Channel 11

Posted on March 28, 2008 | 4 Comments

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“Chicago Tonight” (a nightly news-magazine produced by our local PBS affiliate WTTW) recently featured what I think is the best piece yet on our new green synagogue. Click here to watch…

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Posted in Energy Efficiency, Environmentalism, Green Buildings, Judaism, Religion

On Clergy and Family

Posted on March 26, 2008 | 1 Comment

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I can no more disown (Reverend Jeremiah Wright) than I can my white grandmother.

- Barack Obama, March 18, 2008

(Rev. Wright) would not have been my pastor. You don’t choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend.

- Hilary Clinton to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 26, 2008

Like many, I appreciated Obama’s willingness to honestly and frankly address the issue of race in America during his speech last week. I don’t know that I have much to add to the substance of that issue, per se (click here for my previous post on the subject). As a member of the clergy, however, I must say there was another dimension of his words that struck me deeply – namely his unabashed willingness to stand by his controversial pastor as “family.”

Clinton highlighted even further the critical nature of this issue in her comments to the Pittsburgh press yesterday. Of course she is correct when she says that we choose our clergy and place of worship – and certainly no one should have to remain in the pew if they hear things spoken that they find patently offensive or unacceptable. But I do believe that Clinton missed (intentionally or not) at least two critical points made by Obama in his speech: one, that we need to understand the reality beyond the rhetoric, and two, that choosing a religious community and a religious leader should be more than just a consumer decision – ideally, it is tantamount to joining a family.

Obama made this clear in his description of his relationship with Rev. Wright:

As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

Like many clergy members, I know I have said things from the bimah that have not sat well with members of my congregation. (As we all know, this tends to be most often the case when we clergy venture into that treacherous but critical nexus between religion and politics.) But speaking personally, over the years, it has become clear to me that the more I come to share in the overall spiritual life our our congregational community – the more I share in the joys and sorrows of its members – the more they will be willing to hear what I have to say, whether they personally agree with me or not.

Indeed, when I began this blog, I knew that I would be taking something of a risk in this regard. And while the comments posted attest that folks have not fallen in line with everything I write, I’ve been incredibly gratified by the positive response from JRC members who appreciate the chance to hear from me in a more unfettered fashion. (I have no doubt that for some, I sometimes come off like crazy cousin at the seder who’s at it again, but I guess that’s family, right?)

Obviously we can only push the “clergy as family” metaphor so far (and too many clergy lose sight of the difference at their peril, but that’s a subject for another post.) In the end, however, I found it to be enormously refreshing to hear someone of Obama’s stature go out on a limb and publicly testify to the sacred nature of his relationship with his spiritual leader (at no small risk to his political reputation). At a time in which many in the clergy struggle with our purpose and question our impact, it was a welcome reminder of the stakes of the work we do.

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Posted in Current Events, Politics, Religion

Earth Hour 2008

Posted on March 26, 2008 | 1 Comment

If you live in the Chicagoland area, you should know that this Saturday, March 29, 8:00-9:00 pm (CST) has been designated Earth Hour – part of a global action to highlight the threat of global warming. Here’s an official description of the effort:

As World Wildlife Fund’s flagship city for the United States, Chicago, a leader in environmental initiatives, is encouraging its residents across the region to make the pledge to help fight global warming by voluntarily turning off their lights for 60 minutes. Signature skyscrapers, key landmarks, theater marquees and shops on the Magnificent Mile will voluntarily turn off their lights.

Earth Hour’s not just about cutting back for one hour. It’s about taking a stand and thinking ahead about what you, your neighbors and your city can do to slow climate change. Seize the Earth Hour moment and change some of your outdated energy-wasting light bulbs to new, efficient and inexpensive compact fluorescents. Think of other ways you can cut your energy usage and trim your electric bill after Earth Hour has passed.

Earth Hour debuted last year in Sydney and this year EH has gone global – participant cities are as far reaching as Aaloborg, Tel Aviv, Bangkok and Manila. Check out their website and click on the clip above for more info. (You will undoubtedly notice the sponsorship of several corporations not known for their love of the environment. Ah, the complexities of global activism…)

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Posted in Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Environmentalism, Global Activism

There ARE Jews Against the War

Posted on March 25, 2008 | 1 Comment

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As Aryeh Cohen’s comment to my post below points out, my pronouncement of the demise of Jews Against the War was greatly exaggerated. My apologies at the good folks at JAW – and thank you to their Executive Director Sarah Newman for sending me these pix of their recent demonstration in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles.

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Posted in American Jewish Community, Current Events, Iraq, Peace, War

Where is the Outrage?

Posted on March 24, 2008 | 2 Comments

One who is able to protest against a wrong that is being done in his family, his city, his nation or the world and doesn’t do so is held accountable for that wrong. (Talmud, Tractate Shabbat)

As we are currently marking an Iraq War “double-milestone” of five years and 4,000 American military dead, I decided to click on Jews Against the War – the coalition that was launched exactly one year ago. Much to my dismay, I found that the website no longer existed.

What is sadder is that I’m not that surprised. Why should the Jewish anti-war movement (such as it is) be any different than the rest of the anti-war movement, which is essentially in a shambles? I know that there are many reasons for this. I prefer not to analyze them now. I am just so very sad that this horrible anniversary has passed by with nary an ounce of public protest. While most of us who oppose the war are channeling our energies toward a Democratic victory this November, the truth remains that this war will be with us for some time – unless a mass movement of outrage decides differently.

If you’d like to do something, anything, to mark this anniversary, click here to sign an open letter to Congress, calling upon it to:

- Stop funding the war and give the Pentagon only enough money for the safe and orderly redeployment of US troops out of Iraq

- Support a diplomatic offensive – as recommended by the Iraq Study Group – to build a comprehensive solution involving many countries

- Stop funding the construction of permanent military bases in Iraq and military contractors

- Refuse to fund any permanent “security agreement” between President Bush and Iraqi President Maliki unless first approved by Congress and the Iraqi parliament.

And meanwhile, if you are looking for a little outrage to spark your activist conscience, click above for a recent, spot-on Keith Olbermann commentary.

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Posted in Current Events, Iraq, Peace, War

Stop the Clash of Civilizations

Posted on March 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

I was so pleased to read that that brilliant “Stop the Clash of Civilizations” (above) has just won “Best Political Video” in this year’s YouTube awards. (It says a great deal that a clip about global activism can win this award during an American election year.)

“Stop the Clash” is an impressive video, but the organization that produced it is even more so. Avaaz.org is a new online movement that works as a kind of global MoveOn.org – their weekly e-mail alerts and online petitions allow members around the world to promote change for a variety of critical issues including global warming, Mideast Peace and the recent conflict in Tibet.

According to their website,

In just one year, we’ve grown to over 2 million members, and have begun to make a real impact on global politics. The Economist writes that Avaaz is poised to deliver “a deafening wake up call” to world leaders, the Indian Express welcomes “the biggest web campaigner across the world” and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore says “Avaaz is inspiring, and has already begun to make a difference.”

I’ve had Avaaz on my blogroll for some time – I encourage you to consider becoming a member.

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Posted in Environmentalism, Global Activism, Human Rights, Peace, Politics

Keep the Fire Burning

Posted on March 21, 2008 | 2 Comments

fire_01.jpgFrom this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Tzav:

A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out. (Leviticus 6:6)

How do we understand this verse now that the Tabernacle no longer exists? Several well-known Hasidic commentaries have compared the eternal fire of the altar to the fire of worship that burns within our souls:

The same is true of the human soul: there needs to burn in it a fiery longing to worship the Creator, and this longing has to be renewed each day, as we read: “The priest shall burn wood upon it each morning, each morning.” Everyone who worships God may be called a priest, and this arousal of love in Israel’s hearts is the Service of the Heart, that which takes the place of sacrificial offerings.

(Sfat Emet, from “The Language of Truth,” p. 155, translation by Rabbi Arthur Green).

Bearing this teaching in mind, I am especially struck by the detailed description of the High Priest’s duties – and the importance that he constantly tend the fire to make sure it burns perpetually. Indeed, the Talmud points out that no fire may be kindled on Shabbat except for the fire of the altar (see JT Yoma 6:4). This is an enormously important insight, I think: although it is “eternal,” the fire cannot burn perpertually by itself.

Indeed, if you read the details of this week’s portion carefully, the picture that emerges is one of a High Priest, his beautiful vestements streaked with blood and ashes, as he labors to effect Israel’s sacrifices and clean up afterwards, all the while making sure that the fire never goes out. If, as the Sfat Emet suggests above, we are all High Priests now, it is up to us to keep the fire burning. Perhaps more than anything, this view strongly suggests that living a life of spiritual balance, of compassion, of devotion, takes work and discipline.

Or to put it another way, it is simply not possible to make a successful offering without getting one’s hands dirty…

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Posted in Judaism, Religion, Spirituality, Torah Commentary

Rabbi Wolf on Obama

Posted on March 20, 2008 | 5 Comments

I had planned on writing some of my reactions to Obama’s speech this last Monday (click above), but I don’t think I could do it as well or as eloquently as the great Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, of Chicago’s KAM/Isaiah, who wrote this piece today for the New York Jewish Week:

We sometimes forget, but an integral part of (Jewish) tradition is dialogue and a willingness to disagree. Certainly many who call me their rabbi have taken political positions far from mine – just as Barack Obama’s opinions have differed from those of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

On March 18, the candidate gave a speech that made abundantly clear that he and Wright often disagree. Obama condemned Wright’s “incendiary language,” and “views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but… that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation.”

Of course, race is only one issue on which Wright has stepped beyond the bounds of civil discourse. He’s frequently made statements regarding Israel and the Jewish community that I find troubling. But to limit our understanding of Obama to the ill-conceived comments of the man who once led his church is dishonest and self-defeating.

Obama’s strong positions on poverty and the climate, his early and consistent opposition to the Iraq War, his commitment to ending the Darfur genocide – all these speak directly to Jewish concerns. If we’re sidetracked by Wright’s words, we’ll be working against these interests. After all, a preacher speaks to a congregation, not for the congregation.

Click here to read the entire article,

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Posted in Civil Rights, Current Events, Politics, Religion

World Water Week

Posted on March 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

Did you know that lack of clean and accessible drinking water is the second largest worldwide killer of children under five? Rather than take that in as yet one more depressing stastistic, there is something you can do. UNICEF’s Tap Project is an effort that celebrates the clean and accessible drinking water available as an every day privilege to millions, while providing safe drinking water for children around the world.  

Here’s a description the Tap Project’s figurehead campaign, World Water Day:

Beginning Sunday, March 16 through Saturday, March 22, restaurants will invite their customers to donate a minimum of $1 for the tap water they would normally get for free. For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days.

Currently, UNICEF provides access to safe water and sanitation facilities while promoting safe hygiene practices in more than 90 countries. By 2015, UNICEF’s goal is to reduce the number of people without safe water and basic sanitation by 50 percent.

The Tap Project has a great website that walks you through the entire project and gives you an easy way of identifying participating restaurants in your area. (After a quick perusal, I discovered that nearly all of my favorite local eateries are part of this campaign.)

Will this effort be enough? No. Will every effort make a difference? Absolutely. Click above to learn more about World Water Week.

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Posted in Food, Global Activism, International Aid, International Health, Poverty, Water

Gonna Be a Long Walk Home…

Posted on March 19, 2008 | 1 Comment

Caught the Bruce Springsteen concert in Milwaukee Monday night. Now granted, as a fairly rabid fan who’s lost count of how many Bruce concerts I’ve attended, I will admit that I lack a certain objectivity on this particular subject, but even so this was one of the really, really good ones. Good lord, even as he is pushing sixty, the man is performing with a passion and intensity that is truly inspirational.

There was much to love about this concert – he busted out some rarities and even brought out legendary jazz bassist Richard Davis for a gorgeous “Meeting Across the River.” (If you are a fan too, check out the concert review and setlist here on Backstreets.com.) Though I always love the old Bruce standards, what I really reached me was the material from his latest album, “Magic” – a collection of great, danceable tunes that soberly address the perils of living in America during the Iraq War era.

At the concert, he introduced the title song thus, “Here’s to the end of eight years of bad magic tricks:”

I got a shiny saw blade
All I need’s a volunteer
I’ll cut you in half
While you’re smilin’ ear to ear
And the freedom that you sought
Driftin’ like a ghost amongst the trees
This is what will be, This is what will be

You don’t have to be a Bruce expert to observe that he’s has grown more courageous in his willingness to address critical political issues more directly through his music in recent years. Some of his songs have an even deeper resonance now than when they were first written. It’s remarkable, for instance, to hear the prophetic lyric of “Lonesome Day,” written in the wake of 9/11 and almost a year before the US invasion of Iraq:

Better ask questions before you shoot
Deceit and betrayal’s bitter fruit
It’s hard to swallow, come time to pay
That taste on your tongue don’t easily slip away

My personal favorite from the new album – and one that he and the band played with even greater intensity in concert than on the record – is “Long Walk Home.” This one definitely gets my vote for our new national anthem:

My father said “Son, we’re lucky in this town,
It’s a beautiful place to be born.
It just wraps its arms around you,
Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone”

“Your flag flyin’ over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone.
Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t”

It’s gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don’t wait up for me
Gonna be a long walk home

As I was jumping around in an arena full of delirious middle aged fans, I realized how important Springsteen’s music has been to me over the years. His songs kept me sane during High School in the 70′s and wouldn’t you know it, they continue to do the same for me during the turbulent Bush years…

(Click above for a great clip of Bruce and Davis’ duet from the concert.)

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Posted in Music, Politics, Rock and Roll