The Abayudaya of Uganda's synagogue on Nabugoye Hill

The JCC in London are putting together a world tour of synagogues and they are looking for participants:

Are you going on holiday this summer? Take your camera, find the synagogue (if there is one) in the place you are visiting, take a photo – and send it to us. You’ll be in with a chance of winning a prize.

The JCC, with the support of Amanda Norton, are putting together an online exhibition called ‘Around the World in 80 Synagogues’ – and we’d love you to be part of it!

Take a photo you’re proud of and send it into us at: 80synagogues@jcclondon.org.uk with your name, age (if under 16) and contact details. Don’t forget to tell us what the picture shows us, too.

Everyone’s pictures will be featured in our online exhibition – and the winning photographer will receive a prize, courtesy of UK Digital Cameras, and the opportunity to feature in a gallery exhibition next year.

Competition closes 30th September 2010.

Take pictures as you wander the world. Where’s the farthest flung place you’ve found a Jewish community of the evidence of one in times gone by?

It’s a great piece simply for challenging the assumption I certainly grew up with that there is something essentially liberal about Jews, and that if only we lived up to our ‘Jewish values’ the state of the Jews would be a utopia because it is the state of the Jews. He takes a nice look at one of my favorite books–The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon–as a jumping off point for how surprised so many Jews are when faced with the reality of “seeing Jewish conservatives, fundamentalists, quasi-fascists and militarists…” I’m certainly pained when I read about Jews like Dan Gertler, profiting from the misery of others, the way non-Jews certainly have for centuries.

It is the shock that Jews can be illiberal (and he does also note the illiberalism of the Jewish State is often overblown, but read his piece to hear why) that leads so many to disillusionment with Israel. I imagine if Tibet ever gained its independence, those Tibetan utopians who hang on to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s every word, would experience the same shock when the reality of politics, power, and diversity of opinion gained their full national expression.

States, especially states founded on ideals rather than accidents of history and geography, always disappoint. Why should Jewish disappointment merit so much anxiety? Probably because Diaspora Jews in the 21st century, unlike Tibetans or Kurds or Chechens, can opt out of the national project if we want. Many do. I did for most of my life.

But I’m not now. And the reason is because I haven’t give up on the idealism of Jewish values I grew up with. No, these values are not being expressed by the policies are the government of Israel right now. But that doesn’t mean things can’t change.

There are other visions of Zionism than Bibi Netanyahu’s and Avigdor Lieberman’s. There is a lively debate forming over a rebirth of a cultural Zionism that draws in inspiration from Martin Buber and Ahad Ha’am, a Zionism that calls on  Jewish home in Israel without political hegemony. Critics note that these attempts all failed in the past and that cultural Zionism never saved the life of a refugee in need, whereas political Zionism has saved hundreds of thousands. But past failure doesn’t guarantee future failure, and progressives must grapple with the real politics of Zionism without losing sight of the why of Zionism. Do the Jews want a national homeland because we are an ethnic group like any other with national aspirations? Or do we want a homeland because we believe we are an historical people with an historical mission? Can these two ideas co-exist? No easy answers to these questions, but we need our best minds to grapple with them in the 21st century.

The most important argument Gorenberg makes in his piece is the argument that calls me back to thinking about, writing about, talking about, and caring about the Zionist project, even as I am angered and pained by how the Israeli government kowtows to the ultra-Orthodox and the Settlers, denies Arabs equal rights, continues to occupy the West Bank and to strangle Gaza (although that situation is changing a bit).

Gorenberg writes:

The only thing that a state of the Jews offers is an arena in which Jews can work for such a [liberal & just] society, without the excuse that other people are responsible for the failures. For American Jews willing to look at the illiberalism of Israel in 2010, turning away isn’t the only answer. There are organizations ready to harness your dissatisfaction. Don’t give up, get involved.

It’s Passover, that wonderful holiday that combines story-telling, liberation, and sacred crackers.

Passover commemorates the liberation of the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt, and marks an opportunity for all to be mindful of the as yet unfulfilled redemption of all slaves. Slavery is too much with us in the modern world. In fact, according to Rabbis for Human Rights, 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world, more than at any other time in human history. Kevin Bales, founder of Free the Slaves, speaks on the problem at TED2010 and offers a simple question: Are we willing to live in a world with slavery?

This year, during the Jewish Feast of Freedom, we must acknowledge this tragedy and work to end it. Here are some things you can do:

Visit the Rabbis For Human Rights page and Act Now to Combat Slavery

Contact your elected leaders

Work hard this year to eliminate from the marketplace at least one product produced by slave labor, whether it be electronics, carpets, or even tomatoes.

Know where your dollars are going and direct them to responsible producers and away from those who profit by destroying the lives of others (pdf report).

If you want to include any of these issues in your seder, you can download a variety of Pesach materials here.

And of course, buy fair trade. I recommend Mirembe Kawomera Coffee, from the inspiring interfaith coffee cooperative in Uganda.

Thank you to Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of CBST for bringing my attention to so many resources.

My response to Daniel Gordis’s Jerusalem Post column, ‘Those who destroy you will come from amongst you‘ is up on the Huffington Post:

In his latest column for the Jerusalem Post, Daniel Gordis — a rightly admired Jewish thinker of the conservative ilk — wades into the war of words between the left-leaning New Israel Fund and the right-leaning campus organization Im Tirzu. He takes as his jumping off point the inflammatory translation of Isaiah 49:17 (promising the Israelites that “your destroyers and despoilers shall leave you”) rendering it as “Those who destroy and despoil you will come from amongst you.” It’s a mistranslation, Gordis, observes, but he also notes that it rings true.

His argument is best summed up when he states emphatically, “The Jewish People is at war” and that in war, people must sacrifice certain liberties, like free speech, for survival.

He writes:

The issue is what a people at war for its very survival can allow itself. The issue is whether as the world’s noose tightens around the very notion of Israel’s legitimacy, Jews can allow themselves the liberties we might otherwise permit ourselves were we not fighting for our very existence. As the fate of Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us, it takes only a few words to move from a vision of a secure future to one in which those who could destroy us come from our very own midst.

I have some serious objections to his argument.

In my experience around the world, the Jewish people are not at war. There are Bosnian Jews building institutions in cooperation with their Muslim and Christian neighbors; there are Ugandan Jews who are at war with Malaria, HIV, and poverty, but not with some eternal anti-Jewish enemy. There are Iranian Jews struggling alongside Sunni, Shiite, Christian, and Baha’i for the very “liberties” their government denies all Iranians. There are Israeli Jews who are trying to build democratic institutions, multi-ethnic schools, and interfaith understanding, all of whom should take serious umbrage at his characterization of the Jews as a people at war. We have challenges, both internal and external. How do we mainstream the concerns and perspectives of non-European Jews? How do we engage a new generation in Jewish life or get younger Jews to care about what happens in Israel? How do we calm the ferocious anger between the Jewish left and the Jewish right? How do we secure ourselves in the face of violent extremism? How do we promote Israel as a legitimate state?

Read the Rest and Comment HERE.

]]> http://farfromzion.com/archives/302/feed 0 http://farfromzion.com/archives/190 http://farfromzion.com/archives/190#comments Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:31:40 +0000 Charles http://farfromzion.com/?p=190 So, the GOP has decided to deploy the Obama=Hitler comparison to stop Health Care Reform. The ADL has responded calling the comparison “outrageous and innapropriate.” Jewish Dems are calling for the GOP’s Eric Cantor to repudiate Rush Limbaugh, who is, as always, leading the hateful pack. Plenty of people are coming out against these statements, thankfully, but the constant “n=Hitler equation” that comes up in disagreements (the left has done this too) does a great disservice to the real survivors of the Holocaust and of the recent and ongoing genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Hitler comparisons cheapen the act of exterminating an entire race of people and all dissenters into a flourish, a way to score political points and get your picture in the paper.

Right now, in the world there are some very apt comparisons that can be made to Hitler, those leaders in Sudan, in the eastern Congo, in Burma, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Sri Lanka who are trying to exterminate their fellow countrymen for political gain. Until recently, I would have argued vociferously against the Iran comparisons, but given the regime’s current behavior toward its own subjects (but not, I should add, the Jews specifically as Jews), even that comparison is more apt than the Obama=Hitler nonsense.

Republicans and Democrats, Jews and non-Jews, and any people of conscience have a duty to focus on the real acts that are “like Hitler,” mass-murder that is very real and ongoing, and not try to score cheap points off of survivors. Limbaugh has no shame, but the GOP leadership should at least pretend to, and distance themselves from this cruel absurdity.

Courtesy of Reboot Stereophonic, The Barry Sisters present one of my favoirte Sinatra tunes, “My Way”… in Yiddish.

My Gram Bev would have loved it.

My Way

You can buy the whole CD here.

And some more:

Today there are around 600 million Pentecostals worldwide, the vast majority of them in developing nations, and Africa is a hotbed. Pentecostalism is not so much an organized religion — it has no central authority — as a set of beliefs and practices that can be adapted by local entrepreneurs. It is perfectly suited to harness the modern forces of global crosspollination.

The article explores the global ambition of movements like the Nigerian Redeemed Christian Church of God which seek to break all national, racial, and ethnic boundaries to ensure that “the church will one day claim an adherent in every family on earth.”

Compare this with the also rapid growth of the indigenous Jewish community in Africa, emanating from Uganda, but growing in Nigeria and South Africa (not to be confused with the African-American Jewish community, which is also growing). The largest number of converts to Judaism, Rabbi Bradley Artson of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies notes, come from the 7th Day Adventists. While the Christian iteration of rapid religious growth in Africa has growth as its goal, the Jewish version has no stated goal, like Judaism everywhere, does not seek converts, and seeks only the resources to sustain itself. If the passionate, conservative, and wealthy Christian movement in Africa reflects the future of global Christianity, then perhaps the evolving, and growing, Judaism of the Abayudaya of Uganda reflects the most sustainable form of Judaism, being deeply committed to interfaith cooperation and mutual respect for all faiths. This model of Jewish living, non-nationalistic, committed to Torah, but by no means dogmatic, might just provide the tools for an awakening among disenfranchised Jews in America, if its lessons can be harvested.

Lastly, for another NY Times piece about the tiny Jewish community in Manama, Bahrain, and how the King has taken unprecendented steps for an Arab ruler to reach out to Jews and to try to bring back expatriates.

“This seems to be very much to us a country that stands against extremism and against the threat of a nuclear and terrorist-sponsoring Iran,” said Mr. Isaacson, of the American Jewish Committee.

There are many such small and beloved Jewish communities around the world, though few so deeply embraced by their country’s leaders. The question this raises of course, is one of power. Is it easier for gentile nations to treat their Jewish communities well when they have no power? Is it when Jews weild power that anti-Semitism rears its head? Are we loved only when we are weak?

HuffPost has a list of their Top 5 Passover Traditions from around the world. I like the literalism of the Jews of Gibraltar:

4) GIBRALTAR: In the British territory of Gibraltar, the tiny island off the coast of Spain, Jews actually mix the dust of bricks into their charoset dish, a symbol of the mortar used to hold together the brick walls the Jews built in Egypt, according to Hillel.

Don’t know where to have a seder? In Peru and don’t know where to go tonight? Chabad can help you. Chabad is hosting seders for Jews all over the world today, and they have a helpful global search function for those looking for a place to go. They are holding seders in Mumbai again, but the location is not being publicised and is only by word of mouth, because of security.

Of course, as Passover is a time to celebrate our freedoms, we have a religious duty, I believe, to remain aware of those for whome freedom is not yet a reality. There is no shortage in the world right now, from gays in Iraq, to anyone in Somalia, the Baha’i in Iran (or gays, or dissidents, or women, or secularists), migrant workers in the United States, most Palestinians, and on and on. We also must be aware of the rising tide of anti-Semitism in the world right now, and use this holiday to reflect on what we, as Jews, can do to combat all of these ills. While there is not political solution to anti-Semitism, and our historical examples of dealing with it have mixed results (the assimilated were killed in the Holocaust with everyone else), our tradition does offer an ethical solution. We must care for the stranger, for the neighbor, for the world. We must remain committed to justice and to mercy and know when  the latter trumps the former, and we must do it even when those around us hate us. Hamas has a vile ideology, yes, and sadly many celebrate them, but that does not mean we are free to abandon our principles in fighting them. There is a literary example of Jews who abandoned their beliefs when circumstances were very hard, one we reflect on tonight. They ended up wandering in the desert for 40 years because of it. Let’s learn our lesson from this season, let’s remember when we eat our bitter herbs, that for so many, there bitterness has not ended.

The New York Times has a video up of the last Jew living in Kabul, Afghanistan, Zablon Simantov, in which he talks about his life there, why he stayed, and his relationship to the Taliban.

“The Taliban didn’t like Jews. They treated me very badly. But they didn’t like anyone. They treated everyone badly.”

He doesn’t mention his long feud with Ishaq Levin, the other Jew to remain in Kabul, who died in 2005. He shows the Flower Street Synagogue with the kind of detached sadness and nostalgia that fading Jewish communities everywhere seem to have, a mourning for the past he inherited that “dates back to the time of the Buddha”, and also a refusal to mourn it.

I think Epstein’s idea is a good one. The world can always use more communities bound to each other and their neighbors by mutual concern and care, though its success (and the recent American Religious Identification Survey that shows a decline in religious identification among Americans) says more about the kind of answers and services organized religion is providing than it does about the people who it studies. Most of us are spiritual seekers in one way or another, and Epstein is helping to build another path for those who want it. Fiercly individualist humanists will, of course, shun his religious influenced language and the structures he is borrowing from religious (and community-based) organizations, but for some, his ideas might just be a path to service and to a more fulfilling life. God is not necessary for a community, nor is religious faith, though I believe both those things do go a long way to build and strengthen communities (for good or ill). I hope this movement succeeds though, because the combined force of those who do “good without God” and those who find their path through religous tradition, could just create a more just, and equitable world. And isn’t that the point?