Do they know ?

 

Tomorrow night otherwise sensible people will party hardy to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another according to the common calendar.

I wonder if they would be in such a celebratory mood if they knew exactly what they were celebrating.

If Jesus was born on December 25 - and there is substantial evidence he was NOT born on the 25th day of December - count the days until January 1.

    1 - 25
    2 - 26
    3 - 27
    4 - 28
    5 - 29
    6 - 30
    7 - 31
    8 - 1

Eight days.

Now when my sons were born, 8 days later we had celebrations. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of photos - still and video - lots of congratulations.

Jesus and my sons have several things in common.

All are Jews and two were born in Israel - Bet Lehem or Bethlehem - still IS in Israel.

One more thing all three have in common: on the eighth day of their lives they were circumcised - by a mohel, an especially trained, observant Jew. OK, I'm "assuming" that Jesus' mohel was "especially trained and observant."

What non-Jews are celebrating as "New Years" actually is their god's circumcision day.

It would come as a shock to the anti-Semites that they are celebrating a Jewish event.

It would come as a surprise to some Jews to learn that "Sylvester" - the name for the holiday in Israel - honors the god of a people who for centuries persecuted Jews.

Here, in the Several States, most revelers will consider the December 31 celebration and January 1 headache an "American" holiday free of any religious significance.

Just like "Christ"mas and Easter and Halloween are "American" holidays. They may be American COMMERCIAL holidays, but they are very much religious holidays, albeit borrowed from, or celebrated with icons taken from, pagans.

The reason Jesus' birth is celebrated in December near the Winter Solstice is because early European followers of Jesus were afraid the sun would desert them. They took a pagan celebration to appease the gods controlling the sun, moon, stars, and heavens so the sun would come back, gave it a spin to something their priests could approve, and gave it a new name. (Frankly, that also may be the reason Hanukah is conveniently near the solstice, some times closer than other times.)

Halloween, that great "American" holiday where children are taught to coerce treats from adults (versus simply begging for gifts before the winter holiday) by threatening a "trick" (such as "TP'ing" the house or painting graffiti on walls) was "converted" by Jesus' followers to the "Eve of all Hallows" - "hallows" being the church's saints.

Solomon said it - there is nothing new under the sun, but to borrow from the introduction to Jack Webb's "Badge 714" tv program, "the names have been changed to protect", not the innocent, but the previous pagan celebrants' holidays.

The rabbi of the congregation where I currently hang my kippa (so to write) said he will forego any December 31 parties. He doesn't object to Jews going to Jewish celebrations; he is, after all, a realist. However, he makes a concession to the holiday; the morning shiur (class) starts at 7 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. since many members of this working man's minyan will have the day off.

I once had as a friend a Conservative rabbi, back in the day when Conservative was conservative. ("Had as a friend" only because we lost touch over the years; our differing approaches to the religion had little to do with the past tense condition.) Rabbi Alan was asked by his parishioners if they could have a December 31st bash in the synagogue basement. The then young rabbi responded with a flat "No." I think the membership went on with the party, but at a different venue . . . and Rabbi Alan kept his job for many years after.

For me, December 31 is a night to stay off the road. Besides, I have to be up at 6 a.m. to get ready to "slap leather with the guys" at the synagogue.

Yohanon
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail dot com

Untimely thought

 

I was reading some entries in a blog by the "(no longer) The Northernmost Jew" when I chanced upon entry 279. "White House Seder" (http://northjew.blogspot.com/2009/04/white-house-seder.html) .

Amy W's blog (http://northjew.blogspot.com/) is worth a visit; she has some interesting "stuff" - some "Jewish," some slightly political.

Anyway, the bit on the Obama seder caught my attention and reminded me that a seder with a non-Jew (no-kare) is strictly prohibited by the Torah, and yes, I will cite book, chapter, and verses: Shemot/Exodus 12 43:50; look it up.

Ah, but the hagadah (Maxwell House or otherwise) tells us to feed "all who are hungry."

That seems to contradict the Torah.

It doesn't; not really.

We are obliged to feed all who are hungry, but not necessarily at the seder. Rambam - Moses ben Maimon or Maimonides - tells us we first take care of our immediate family, and then if there is excess, the extended family and then the community, and finally, the general community. (Bear in mind that there "always" is a little excess; even beggars are obligated to put a coin in the box.)

Back to the seder.

We - my family - had a very dear non-Jewish friend, a woman who truly was "like family," a "Dutch aunt." She very much wanted to participate in a seder, but this scrivener citing the Torah prohibition prevented it.

I should have taken a leaf from my educator Spouse's book and created a "mock" seder.

Most Jewish Community Day Schools have mock - or practice - seders. Often the parents are invited. Some of the children come from mixed marriages and some children are, by halacha, not Jewish. (I understand Reform accepts as Jewish any child born of a Jewish parent - father or mother.)

The "mock" seder, not being a "real" seder - that is, not occurring on the first night of Pesach - lacks the Torah prohibition, so everyone, even a US president, can attend.

Had I been "day school aware," I could have invited my "Dutch aunt" to a mock seder a couple of days before the "real thing." Or even during hol ha"moed (intermediate days of the festival).

What about mixed marriages - both religiously mixed and Jewishly mixed? My rabbi tells me that for "shalom biet" it now is (rabbinicly) permitted to have a no-kare (non-Jew) at the seder. My rabbi, were he Ashkenazi, would fall into the "Orthodox" category, but Sefaridim really don't understand "Orthodox," "Conservative," Reform," et al; a Jew is a Jew is a Jew'; some more observant, some less observant, but in the final analysis, a Jew.

In Israel, because of so many mixed marriages - and this time I refer to Sefardi and Ashkenazi couples - the rabbinute has relaxed its stand on kitniyot (peas, beans, and other items missing from an Ashkenazi Pesach menu) for the sake of "shalom biet."

There is one problem with a mock seder and that is timing.

The practice seder has to be held at least two days before the first night of Pesach. Why? The rabbis ordained that we must abstain from matzah on the day before the seder. Why? Because if we ate matzah every day, it would not be special at the seder.

Aside from the first night of Pesach, there is no requirement to eat matzah during Pesach. Leavened products still are prohibited, but matzah is not required.

One nice thing about a school mock seder - it teaches all who participate the "generics" of the period without impacting each family's own traditions.

Was the Obama seder - the issue that started this rant - a "kosher" seder?

According to one article I read, the White House seder was on the second night, and while most Jews outside of Israel celebrate two "first nights," TECHNICALLY the president's seder wasn't a "real" seder (that is on the first "first night") so maybe ...

After all, according to one report he had "kosher style" food.

In our time we follow Hillel; when the Mashiach comes, we will follow Shamai.

Caveat: I am not a rabbi and I don't play one on tv.

 

Yohanon
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail dot com

 

Primary care rabbis

 

I was a lunch guest last Shabat (the Spouse is visiting our kin in Israel). After a delightful meal we started talking about rabbis.

Traditionally, a person is to find a rabbi and stay with that rabbi - you direct questions to the person and accept his answers.

I am fortunate to have a worthy rabbi at "my" synagogue. He's a dayan, a mohel, and a shochet in addition to his congregational duties. He's North African. He's also my second source, my first being books by North African rabbis, mostly Messas (Shalom and Yosef) and Macluf Abehatzarah. I also have other works (R. Lau included), but the luminaries who authored the other books are not North African.

My hostess (I'm old enough to remember the distinction between "host" and "hostess" and "actor' and "actress") emphasized the point that a person needs to follow one rabbi. Period.

I contend that with modern communication, we can - and should have - a "primary care rabbi," a PCR, and specialist rabbis.

The best examples I can think of are medical-related. Medical ethics, even in the general world, are challenging. Within Judaism, more so. Transplants - taking, giving, and receiving; Do Not Resuscitate (DNR).

Law issues also come to mind. Do I sue a rabbi who destroyed my home in civil court or rabbinical court? Civil court, some hold, makes us (Jews) look bad, but suing a rabbi before his peers seems patently foolish and a sure waste of my energy.

Can my PCR, as wise as he is, provide an answer that will be accepted by all? (Well, no rabbi can do that, but you get my point.) My PCR is not a universally recognized authority on Jewish medical ethics, but there are some "specialists."

Would any person in their right mind ask their primary care physician (PCP) to perform open heart surgery? So why would a person ask his or her PCR to answer a technical question?

Back in the day, if a person had a religious question, they went to their PCR and asked him. If he was a good PCR, he would ask someone he considered an authority who might ask someone with a greater reputation.

The problems are that (a) something always gets lost - or changed- as a message is passed along and (b) by the time an answer filters back down to the Jew who asked the question, said Jew might already be dead.

I would be concerned that my PCR would not fully understand my question, that he wouldn't forward it to a specialist (unlike the military where a private can write a letter to the president and all the intermediaries in the chain of command MUST forward the letter, the PCR has no obligation to seek assistance from a specialist rabbi), or that in forwarding my query that the question would be modified - perhaps innocently, perhaps in translation from my language to the specialist's language by the PCR who may have neither my language or the specialist's technical language as his primary language.

I'll quickly concede that an email to a hakham from Yohanon Glenn will, in the normal course of events, get less attention that an email - or snail mail - from a dayan and well-respected PCR. I also will concede that most specialists probably have people to screen their incoming communications and who, receiving my communication, might be tempted to condense or otherwise modify it, defeating the purpose of direct contact between "patient" and "specialist."

However, many of the specialists have published their opinions. Many of the opinions are available on the Internet. What did R. Soloveitchik, Feinstein , or Twerski say about this or that? What was the ruling from the current or previous Hakham Bashi (Sefardi Chief Rabbi in Israel) - hopefully following the advice of the specialists, both rabbinical and technical?

I don't expect my PCP to be an expert in all things medical. In fact, I don't WANT my PCP to claim expertise in all things medical; I expect to be sent to a specialist.

Likewise, I don't expect my PCR - as much as I respect and appreciate him - to be a specialist - an expert - in all things Jewish, especially contemporary issues that are "subject to change" as our wisdom increases.

Unlike medicine or law, I'm not certain there is a guaranteed way to get a rabbinical specialist's response in a timely manner. Rambam constantly complained that he was overworked, and given his fame, there is little doubt his claim was justified. But we can, and I posit that we should, use the technology at hand to find specialists' opinions that relate to our situations.

As for me, I'll search the WWW.

My hostess said we can't pick-and-choose a rabbi based on what we want to hear (but in truth we do that anyway in our choice of congregations), and she's right. At the same time, I think I would be remiss if I failed to seek an expert opinion on esoteric issues that my PCR - wonderful person that he is - lacks first hand, up-to-the-minute experience. If I ask my PCR a question beyond his ken and if he gives me an answer (which, in my PCR's case I doubt would happen) I would be obliged to "live with" the answer.

Opinions are handed down daily in the religious centers of the world; most don't make headlines even in the "professional press" but are known only to the experts concerned with the specific issue. My rabbi, a congregational rabbi, has too much on his plate to scour all the literature in paper and on the Internet for every issue that a congregant might encounter.

With all due respect to my rabbi and my hostess - who, incidentally , goes to a different synagogue - I will continue to seek the experts' opinions wherever I can find them.

 

Yohanon Glenn
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail dot com

 

Pastels

 

The following is excerpted from an AP article picked up by Yahoo.

Headline: Israel: British arrest warrant threatens ties

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091215/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_britain_livni

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni was targeted for her role in last winter's brutal offensive against Hamas in Gaza, when she was foreign minister.

Livni, a one-time lead negotiator with the Palestinians, enjoys a dovish reputation in much of the West. But as foreign minister, she staunchly defended Israel's devastating military offensive in Gaza.

Her support for that operation, launched to end years of rocket fire by Gaza militants against Israel, has remained strong, despite widespread international criticism and allegations of war crimes due to the hundreds of civilian casualties.

Well, Ms Teibel at least noted - almost as an after thought - that the "devastating military offensive" was "launched to end years of rocket fire by Gaza militants."

There is some debate about the number of casualties in Aza - and no mention of Israeli civilian casualties prior to Israel's "brutal offensive."

This is "colored with a pastel paint" journalism; not blatantly yellow but one-sided and incomplete.

 

Yohanon Glenn
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail.com