Blog Link: Heeb'n'vegan

http://heebnvegan.blogspot.com/2009/12/use-of-animal-products-in-jewish-ritual.html

Interesting discussion about what it means to live a both vegan and Jewish life and the compromises one must consider.

Blog link: FrumSatire on wilderness

http://www.frumsatire.net/2006/12/01/wilderness-red-bull-for-the-soul/

blog link: Mayim Bialik on mikveh

http://www.jewishweddingnetwork.com/mayim-bialik-student-of-the-water

Today We are All Chabadniks

I found this entry today on Jewlicious.  I agree with its ideas that we should all be united as Jews, rather than worrying about whether we're converts or Reform or Chassids.  To many, we are all the same, despite our sub-cultural differences.

The article also points out another personal connection: the rabbi and his wife are my age.  And her glasses are very similar to mine.

Zach Braff might make Aliyah?

Zach Braff is one of those famous Jews I've had ambitions of writing about.  I think that he's smart, and he's funny, and that's all it takes to make me a fan, really.  I'd heard some rumblings before about his Jewishness, but I didn't want to speculate.

As it happens, he's very much Jewish.  Recently, he gave an interview to Haaretz about his experiences in Tel Aviv and what it's like for him to be in the Jewish community.  The way he talks about community is very interesting to me.  I'm also excited about the idea that he might write and make a movie about an American Jew in Israel.  That's something I'd really like to see from someone like him.  His comedy is very slapstick, but it's also very intelligent and sensitive.

Another thing that I find interesting, as someone who is very soon to convert, is how he talks about not being a minority when he's in Israel.  One of the reasons that it sticks with me is because he talks about he always felt like he was in the minority living in the United States, but he also points out how the communities he's lived had large Jewish communities.  I hope to someday be lucky enough to live in a place with a lot of other Jewish folks.  I'd also love to go to Israel someday.

Oh, and lest you think I read Haaretz and believe that I'm smarter than I am, I found this story on Mixed Multitudes.

G-dcast

I don't know if I should call this a blog, because even though it comes in weekly installments, it's not really just that.

G-dcast.com  is an attempt to animate the Torah, essentially.  Each week, the new parshat comes up, always with a new commentator.  I've been enjoying it since Bereshit, although my favorite so far is Lech Lecha.  I highly recommend stopping by every Monday for a quick dose of something to think about.

Blog Link: Shavuot (and my weekend)

This weekend was really disappointing for me.  I didn't get to keep Shabbat at all, and for the first time, I wasn't even able to harbor the delusion that I was going to try and it really bothered me.

You see, my bathroom wall decided to give out this past week, and Saturday was the only day my dad would be able to help me demo the old shower surround, because it was going to need a day or so to dry out before we put up new sheetrock.  And, of course, the only day we could do that was Sunday, which is also the day the Temple was planning a Shavuot gathering.  Granted, we finished putting up the drywall in time that I could have gone to the service, but...my parents were planning to go to a wedding and needed me to watch their dog.  Plus, I haven't had a shower since Friday, so I'm not fit for being seen in public.

Ugh.  I was really looking forward to talking about the Torah portion at services this week.  And the Shavuot all-nighter.  Grrr.  But at least my bathroom will look good.

I did find this really neat article about Shavuot on Treehugger.com: Explore the Hebrew Holiday of Shavuot that talks about how Jewish holidays tend to have a strong connection to nature and food, and then talks about how that's true for this particular holiday.  I loved that it was on a secular blog about nature and living with a connection to the earth.

Blog Link: Shalom

From Jewlicious: Dare to Bless

This one starts out with a little bit about this week's parsha.  My favorite part comes at the end, when he breaks down the word "shalom".

Reb Shlomo taught that the very lettes of the word Shalom teach us important lessons about peace.  'Shalom' has three letters, Shin, Lamed, and Mem.

Shin - The first way to bring peace is to bring two sides together, like the middle of the 'shin'.  (The letter 'shin' consists of three 'vavs' which are joined at the bottom).

Lamed - The tallest letter.  It goes from the highest to the lowest.  If you want to bring peace, you have to stick out.

Mem - The 'mem' is closed, with no openings.  Shalom has to be complete, like a little wall.  The wall of peace has to be complete.  You can't say, "I am peaceful, but I have a little opening for getting mad in an emergency."

Blog Link: Paying Attention to Detail

From Radical Torah: Paying Attention to Detail

I'm at a point in my studies in which my Rabbi is allowing me to direct my own curriculum, for the most part.  At the moment, we're focusing on learning to read and understand Hebrew, and liturgy.

So I've been reading a lot of blogs lately, trying to find out what other Jews are talking about on the topic of prayer and ritual (its also much less dry than reading the siddur).  I liked this article, because it explains one of my biggest questions right now: why is Judaism so darned complicated?

And I love its basic answer: so one must continue learning.

This article is focused on the brachot related to eating various types of foods, but that simple premise applies to much of Judaism, I think.

Blog Link: Sustainable Judaism

From Radical Torah: The Questions We Must Ask

I found this really interesting.  One of the areas that I'm studying is Judaism and ecology.  I came across this blog entry, and it definitely made me think.  We usually use the word "sustainable" in terms of green living.  Here, that philosophy is applied to spirituality.

It's actually a really strong metaphor.  There are people who go to pretty extreme lengths to make environmentally ethical decisions.  They buy specific products, avoid certain activities, and are conscious of their impact on the planet.

These are wonderful things to do, and I do them to the best of my ability (and budget).

I think religious devotion deserves those same standards.  The Torah asks that of us.  

It also asks us to be ethical stewards of the earth.

This just happens to dovetail nicely.  Torah certainly is a tree of life.

News Link: New Einstein letter about religion found

This is one of those stories you just have to comment on. I found it at news.yahoo.com, but it will fall off their servers in a couple of weeks. I printed it to an image and attached it to this posting.

I've always been a bit fascinated by Einstein and his stance on religion. There was so much room for contradiction.

You have a man who was incredibly logical and yet very imaginative. He was raised a Jew, but lived during a time where even God himself seemed to forget about the covenant. It's sometimes hard for people now to figure out how to keep their faith in the face of scientific discoveries. It must have been even harder when that struggle was compounded by the Shoah.

I wouldn't blame Einstein a bit for thinking that belief in God is childish. It certainly must have seemed futile in his mind, given the events of his time.

Even though certain Einstein quotes about religion (especially "science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind") have
been cited as proof that a man of faith can also be a man of science, this new information says Einstein wasn't an example of that phenomenon. And that's a fine thing.

Einstein was, after all, only a man. He left us an amazing legacy: the theory of relativity, as well as a face to the very personal struggle between faith and reason.

I still find the quotes inspirational. They aren't an answer; they are more of a trailhead for your own journey toward truth and understanding. You can agree or disagree with his statements, use them to raise your own questions, and ultimately, come to your own conclusions, just as Einstein did.

Previously, people would bolster their arguments with something along the lines of, "Science not only purifies the religious impulse of the dross of its anthropomorphism but also contributes to a religious spiritualization of our understanding of life." That might still be valid, but Einstein would probably end it with this: "I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever."

As I read through Einstein quotes to choose a few for this article, I realized that my favorites have nothing to do with religion or science. They are merely observations about life:
"Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do — but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it."
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

Interesting.

News Links: Biblical Archaeology in the News

On National Geographic's website, Eilat Mazar identifies a ruin in Jerusalem as the Wall of Nehemiah.  She points to pottery shards and other artifacts to date the structure, and the biblical record to confirm the identity.  Not everybody agrees, as the article points out, but it's an interesting theory.  For a weak Hanukkah-Nehemiah tie-in, see Faithhacker.

Yahoo News reports that archeologists have found a palace thought to belong to Queen Helena of Mesopotamia.  She lived in modern-day Iraq and converted to Judaism in the 1st century C.E.  After her conversion, she moved to Jerusalem, and, the theory goes, built a palace that the Romans destroyed when they took Jerusalem in 70 C.E.  For a neat Hanukkah tie-in, all this would have been happening right at the time Hanukkah celebrations were first becoming popular.

Blog Link: Faithhacker

This is a topic that I touched on in my opening post, when I talked about the reasons why I was considering conversion.  I'm concerned about the commercial endeavors of churches, the impact on the separation of church and state, and, ultimately, religious freedom.

Faithhacker posted about this very topic.  It's especially interesting to me, because I have attended the church at the heart of this discussion, and even mentioned it in that post.  The Faithhacker post brings up several of the issues which really do bother me: excessive evangelism, and the separation between church and state.

It's kind of sad, really, because I do feel that the ChangePoint people honestly think that they're trying to better the community, and a place like the Sports Dome really could have a positive effect.  I just wish that they had made it a separate entity, as opposed to an extension of the church.  I would want them to pay taxes at an appropriate rate (I don't know if it's for-profit or not).  I would want them to keep the preaching out of it, even though I agree that the code of conduct for their facility is appropriate.

Basically, if it's an athletic facility, it should be treated like one.  If it's really a church where people play indoor football, run track, and practice other sports, then it should be called one.  I don't like the idea of claiming to support religious freedom, but in the same breath talk about converting people to your religion.

If there's one thing that I've learned, it's that committing to a religion should be an act of free will.  It doesn't matter if it's a religion into which you were born, or one you chose for yourself.

Thanksgiving blogs

Faithhacker has a nice post on how Thanksgiving should be seen as a universal American custom, rather than something Jews should avoid for fear of assimilation:
www.jewcy.com/faithhacker/thanksgiving_jewish_holiday

The Chutzpah Chronicles on Faithbook compare Thanksgiving to Shabbat. She says that the way most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving is similar to how she saw Shabbat celebrated in Jerusalem.
http://Newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/faithbook/2007/11/thanksgiving.html

These are good to know, particularly the faithbook link. I may not have the time to celebrate Shabbat completely now, but it's helpful to have a picture of how God might have intended us to observe the day.

Blog Link: Faithhacker

From Faithhacker:

A post on the Bal Shem Tov.  The blogger tells a story about the Bal Shem Tov and a couple preparing to get married at an inn.  It's a great example of how mundane actions can become beautiful opportunities for Tikkun Olam (making the world a better place).

Blog Link: Faithbook

Today I was reading Faithbook, which is a blog on religion written by college students.  They represent different denominations and faiths, and it's usually pretty interesting.

One of their contributers is Shari Rabin, who is Jewish.

She wrote a really good post on Shabbat.

I agree with her position.  I, personally, have tried to observe Shabbat recently, but it's almost impossible given my lifestyle and schedule.  I usually have to work on Friday nights, which is a no-no.  But since sundown these days is early (the official candle-lighting time for this weekend is 4:20 pm), I give myself a pass.  When I come home from work, I light my candles.  This is usually at almost 11:00 pm, but I think it counts.  On Saturdays, I have to drive.  Even in my car, it takes me 20 minutes to get across town to the nearest temple.  Walking would be unnecessarily onerous.  I try to avoid working on Saturday, but I'm doing well to get my boss to schedule me for the closing shifts which allow me the ability to attend Shabbat morning services and Conversion classes.

I think that the more important thing is to recognize that Shabbat is a gift, and let that be a day that can't stress you out.  I do spend a lot more time in prayer on that day, and I make time for independent Torah study.

This weekend, I'll have Saturday off, and I plan to spend it with a friend, having a pleasant dinner and playing games.  It will be great.

Links and associated Disclaimer

Call it a harkening back to my professional life, in which I work for an attorney.

I've gone back through the my posts and added in links to external sites.

Some of them are to Amazon.com, to better define the books that I'm reading.  It shouldn't be seen as an advertisement for either the book or the website.  My intention is clarity.

Similar grains of salt for some of the definitions.  I've linked to wikipedia.org.  I chose that because it's not a religious site, and therefore seems unthreatening and non-partisan.  Yes, I know that it's user-written and that anybody can change it.  I also know that there are ideas and themes which may or may not be 100% accurate.  It's a broad stroke, and I do firmly believe that you shouldn't make any major life decisions based solely on wikipedia.

Online Classes

I stumbed across Jewish Pathways  the other day, but only just started actually exploring it.  It's an educational outlet of an Orthodox Jewish website.

Turns out, they've got some online classes that are FREE!  For a limited time, of course.  But you can't get any better than free.  Not to mention that study is a mitzvah...

One of them requires buying a text, which is kind of lame for an online class, but it happens to be a book that my Rabbi recommends, so I was planning to buy it anyway.  I've signed up for the Laws of Shabbat, Chumash Themes, The Way of G-d, and Deed & Creed.

So far, I've started the Chumash course, and it's pretty interesting.