I just read that the JTA is reporting that the Chief Rabbinate has decided to accept all Orthodox conversions performed in Israel. I question how they will define what is Orthodox, and who is Orthodox. But it does seem like real news regarding opening up a closed system. Another difficult question: Is the enticement of getting your own conversion accepted going to lure previously excluded Orthodox rabbis into forgetting about the other fight going on: Reform and Conservative fighting to get their own conversions accepted in Israel. But remember that for now, Reform and Conservative conversions done in America are accepted by the State of Israel regarding Law of Return and citizenship; non-establishment Orthodox conversions are not. So things are crazy, especially for our Jewish state that is always worrying about demographics. The Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America and the other Orthodox International Rabbinic Fellowship are both having their conventions in two weeks – with new presidents coming in. Let’s hope that is a time of real change, where Jews all over can connect with their land and with Judaism. Great way to go into Yom Ha’atzmaut weekend.
Exciting News from Israel on Conversion by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
May 5, 2011
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Justice and Comfort on Yom HaShoah
May 2, 2011Friends of justice and those who value human life all over the world are celebrating the victory of American forces over one of the great forces of evil in our world in the past two decades, Usama bin Laden, who was killed by American Special Ops in Pakistan. And celebrate we must! On this Yom HaShoah, commemorated in the Diaspora on Sunday and in Israel, today, Monday, we remember the millions for whom there was no worldly justice. So let us celebrate that sometimes we are able to carry out justice on earth; sometimes we are given the power to vanquish our enemies. From the Song at the Sea to the Song of Devorah and to the chants of the Star Spangled Banner and “USA, USA”, let us sing a “shira chadasha”, a new song, that this victory will be only the beginning of a final and sustained victory over hatred, terrorism which usually centers around the Jewish people and the Jewish state. Kudos to President Obama – great work and a great speech – the US military – pulling this off despite a helicopter crashing – and to the United States in general, which is fighting the good war with her greatest ally, Israel. As our great prophetess Devorah said, “Kein yovdu kol oyvecha Hashem” – just as Bin Laden was vanquished so may all of God’s enemies be vanquished, with God’s help and with our efforts.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
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The King Hearings: Building Relationships Through Honesty, by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
March 10, 2011Representative Peter King of New York is conducting hearings on “Muslim Radicalization in America”. While I wish the name for these hearings would have been something like, “Muslims Americans Speak Out Against Extremism and for Moderate Islam”, I think these hearings are important and will lead to good things. I hope they expose Americans to Muslims who care about the United States and want to fight terrorism and extremism, and I hope they allow the Muslim community to take some responsibility for the acts of terror that were done on their behalf.
As an Orthodox Jew, I take responsibility for immoral things done on behalf of Judaism and Torah, and I sign petitions against those acts and statements – I am vocal and active in opposing them. Rav Ahron Soloveichik said that Orthodox Jews had to accept some culpability for the actions of Yigal Amir who assassinated Prime Minister Rabin. I am grateful that some . Muslims are holding preachers in mosques accountable, and I am thrilled that an early speaker in these hearings was Rep. Keith Ellison who told the story of a Muslim-American police cadet and hero – an American hero - who died trying to save lives in the World Trade Towers on 9/11.
Yes, Muslims are singled out because Islam – a popular and influential type of Islam – was used to justify killing American lives at the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, then again, tragically, in Yemen in 2006 with the attack on the USS Cole, then on 9/11, then at Fort Hood, etc. There is a pattern here, and there is a pattern of denial as well, most notably in the promotions and retention of the Fort Hood murderer, Major Hasan. It is sad that Islam is singled out, but it is singled out not by Mr. King, but by all these acts of terror carried out in the name of Islam, inspired by Islam and perpetrated by Muslims – granted, radical Muslims.
Nevertheless, these hearings should not be seen as an opportunity for Islamobashing. Rather, they should be an opportunity for good people from all religions and backgrounds, Muslim and otherwise, to come together and figure out how to keep our country safe. From Rep. Ellison we learn how committed so many American Muslims are to this country, and from Rep. King I hope we learn of Muslims who are committed to taking responsibility to fight extremism that is a sad and dangerous reality in Islam today. Yes, Jews, Christians and even Hindus all have their extremists, but our war is now focused, and must be focused, on extremist Islam, and my hope and prayer is that the Muslim community will have the opportunity to demonstrate how committed they are to that war.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
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A Plea for True Respect for Arabs and Muslims by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
February 17, 2011Rav Yosef, my good friend and a rabbi I respect deeply, misunderstands my motivation in holding off on a prayer for Egypt. I certainly am frustrated with the Obama administration’s handling of the Middle East. However, my main point is that we need to stop pandering and patronizing the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world, and actually show some respect to them. They can face the challenges of their past just as well as Jews and Christians can: the anti-Semitic elements of their religion, which need to be re-understood just as Judaism and Christianity evolved in their understanding of the “other”; the discriminatory treatment of the Jews in Arab and Muslim lands throughout history; the abominable attitude of the Arab leadership, trade unions and professional organizations toward the State of Israel – even in Jordan and Egypt; the leaders and mobs who pressured Great Britain not to allow Jews to enter Palestine when faced with murder and destruction in Europe – and even after the Holocaust before the rise of the State of Israel. I respect the Arabs and Muslims, and I think they are capable of rising to the challenge of becoming an enlightened people, a part of the developed world. Yes, they need democracy, and that means a different attitude towards women – we in the West need to work on that as well – and toward homosexuals and other “others” in their midst. Yes, I think the Palestinians can advance to the point where selling land to a Jew is not a capital offense, nor is a gay person forced to hide their identity.
People from developed countries throughout the world come to Israel to learn agriculture, science and to share in Israel’s rich culture. I do expect Arabs to learn from Israel as well. It is their loss, their sad loss, and certainly the Palestinians loss, that they have spent nearly 63 years fighting Israel instead of teaming up with Israel. The protesters in Tienanmen Square erected a model of the Statue of Liberty; they understood that America stands for freedom and liberty. In Egypt, protesters put Jewish stars on Mubarak to show how much they hated him – how sad that they did not understand that Israel represents their ticket to freedom, democracy and a thriving, open economy, rather than the evil they need to eternally fight.
No, I am not angry, I am waiting: I am waiting for the Egyptians to rise to the challenge and to be the human beings they can be. The prophets understood that they can be a great people. But unless we challenge them to pursue truth, not just populism, and unless we ourselves admit to that truth, we are not respecting them and treating them as our equals. They are God’s children just like we in the West are God’s children, and I have every expectation that I place on myself and my own religion.
I pray that we stop pandering and patronizing and start respecting our Arab and Muslims brothers in a way that allows them to enter a new era of truth and good. When that happens, I will be the first to say a Shehechiyanu. Until then, I pray for us to be strong, and never to compromise or ask others to compromise the values that have given us our freedom and our liberty.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
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Why Am I Not Excited About the “Revolution” in Egypt? By Rabbi Lopatin
February 15, 2011Rav Yosef’s prayer about events in Egypt got my juices flowing: There is something that is bothering me about what is going on in Egypt, but even more so about how the media and the Obama administration is handling it. Please allow me to speak as a Jew and a Zionist:
When President Obama gave his famous Cairo speech, we were bothered that he took out the 4000 year old Zionist dream of the Jewish people, and replaced it with pandering to the Arab world. That pandering that directly led us to where we are now: We now have a situation where moderately pro-Western, and barely pro-Israel regimes are under attack – or have been driven out – without any strong, pro-Western, reasonable voices to take their place. The administration spent two years focusing on Israel’s “settlements” in Jerusalem, and cut funds for democratic voices in Egypt, Iran and elsewhere that could have been ready to help guide these countries into an era of true democracy, of true positive change for the Arab and Muslim world. No! The idea was to get kudos from the Arab world by appearing balanced: In other words, beat up on Israel, and let Arab and Muslim dictatorships (Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Tunisia, Yemen, etc.) do whatever they wanted with their people, and hope that the Arab and Muslim world sees that America is on their side.
Well, America is still being accused of being the pawns of the Zionists, and, not only that, we are accused of propping up a bunch of corrupt regimes. And we are nowhere with the Palestinians – who actually came much farther under George Bush, who didn’t make a big deal of Jews living in Jerusalem. The mobs in Tahrir Square enabled the military to take over – a peaceful coup – and they are celebrating dissolving parliament and their constitution. Hmm… Maybe they will get lucky and rebuild everything, but it sounds to me like the Egyptian military, not a great fighting machine, now has an even better chance of consolidating their corrupt ownership of the Egyptian private sector and of maintaining even better the power they had under Nassir, Sadat and Mubarak. That is not democracy.
Who are the democratic elements? From the religious Right, the Muslim Brotherhood, who want to destroy Israel and destroy the West – including democracy and everything that goes with it. From the left, the secularist parties also talk about doing away with the peace treaty with Israel. Where are the voices who will rebuild a moral, ethical and just Egypt? Nowhere.
So, if we really care about the Egyptian people, and Arab and Muslim people of the world let’s stop pandering:
First, America needs to be balanced: We recognize Damascus as capital of Syria, and Cairo as capital of Egypt: So America needs to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Second: A majority of Jordan is Palestinian. They need to be given their full civil rights, and Jordan needs to be recognized as a Palestinian state.
Third: The powers in Egypt – including the media – should be ashamed at how cold they kept the peace treaty with Israel. America needs to let every party in Egypt know that not only do the Americans expect the new government of Egypt to keep all its existing treaties, but for over a billion dollars we expect to see good, warm relations with Israel. Israel should be the model for Arabs for a state with a strong military and yet a strong democracy that can allow the army not to take over. America should be flying Egyptian leaders to Israel to observe how a true democracy works. And even if no one goes, that is the expectation. If you want us to admire your courage, if you want us to think that something is happening beyond the demagoguery and lies of Nassir’s populist United Arab Republic, then the Arab world is going to have to shape up.
When I hear something like that coming from the Obama administration, then I’ll write a prayer.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
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Rabbi Marc Angel, Firebrand of Modern Orthodox, Comes To Your Shabbat Table, by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
January 3, 2011Angel for Shabbat, by Rabbi Marc B. Angel
($18 online at Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, www.jewishideas.org )
Reviewed by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Rabbi Marc Angel has just come out with a unique book entitled “Angel for Shabbat.” It is a semi-autobiographical, Modern Orthodox manifesto and Bill of Rights, using the back-drop of the parshiot and chagim to illustrate the key points of Rabbi Angel’s thought. This book is Old World and New Age: it quotes classic Hassidic and Sefardic masters – from Levi Yitzchak of Bardichov to the Kotzker Rebbe to Rav Chaim David Halevi, Chacham Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Benzion Uziel – and classic secular thinkers such as Dr. Bruno Bettleheim, Eric Fromm, Paul Johnson, and a half-dozen former presidents of the United States. You just don’t see books written today which cite Rabbi J. H. Hertz who quotes Marcus Jastrow or which spell mitzvos, “mitzvoth”. The book will bring you back to a different era in Jewish thought, where it was OK to entertain the idea of the world being several billion years old or the idea that superstitions are actually bad and not integral to Judaism.
On the other hand, Rabbi Marc Angel does not hold back on expressing his views on every contemporary flashpoint in Orthodoxy, from the Gedolim, to discrimination against Sefaradim in Emanuel, to Postville and the Rubashkins to parking lots and protests in Jerusalem. Whether you agree with Rabbi Angel or not, it is fascinating to see how a pulpit rabbi of a 17th century colonial New York congregation can use the language of the Rambam to leap from the text of the parsha to blast charlatans who would espouse an irrational Judaism or teachers who would demand a literal interpretation of Midrashim. Was Rivka really three when she decided to marry Yitzchak? Can we view Mordechai and Esther as assimilated Jews? This book will get you off your comfy chair to shout out either “How can Rabbi Angel say this!” or “Lead the way Rabbi Angel! We are right behind you!”
This is parsha book like no other – in a sense it is a gorgeous and tender polemic, where Rabbi Angel’s father, wife and congregants come into the picture as being part of the story of a former president of the RCA and leading Orthodox rabbi (he is now Emeritus at the Historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue) who has only gotten more passionate and self-confident to try to make a difference in the world. Parsha after parsha, in pithy two-page essays, I found myself saying, “Don’t hold back Rabbi Angel! Tell us what you really think!” Tell us how you think it might be morally dubious to reject Thanksgiving as a Jewish holiday! This book is a must read because it recreates a time in Orthodoxy where doing Thanksgiving and reading the Hertz chumash and quoting Harry Truman were all very much part of the “frum” Jewish experience. But at the same time the ideas in this book, and Rabbi Angel’s uncompromising style, bridges the generation gap and addresses issues that the Modern, Centrist and Chareidi world are struggling with today. Nostalgia is just the start; this book wants to take you to a world of independent thinking, bold questioning and strong “inner calm” that will wake you up. It’s not a book to read just every week – it’s a book to go through in one setting, and then to ponder it again as our Jewish year, and our Torah, unravels before us. Good luck putting it down!
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Reclaiming the Jewish Naqba by Rabbi Lopatin
November 11, 2010I do not know who Mayor Dieter Salomon of Freiburg Germany is, but he recently made some excellent points – transformative – to help Jews and Israelis define their relationship with history and with the Palestinians. It involves an exhibit that a pro-Palestinian group wanted Freiburg to sponsor, which the mayor rejected because of its one-sidedness. But note two powerful points by the mayor: First for the Palestinians – and all Arabs – to take responsibility for their own predicament – that will be the only thing that will pull them out of where they are. Second, we Jews and Zionists have to start using the term The Other Naqba: the expulsion of 800,000 Jews from Arab lands and their welcome absorption into the new Jewish State of Israel. Let’s start remembering that many Jews were Palestinians and that we have a Naqba story to tell as loudly as anyone else.
From the Jerusalem Post:
The mayor of Freiburg, Dieter Salomon, pulled the plug on a Palestinian “Nakba” exhibit, which was slated to open on Friday in the local library, because “from the perspective of the city of Freiburg, the presentation is one-sided,” Edith Lamersdorf, the mayor’s spokeswoman, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“One-sided accusations and friend-foe paradigms do not promote insight into the complicated relationships in the Middle East or contribute to understanding and peaceful development in the region,” the Green Party’s Dieter Salomon said in a statement last week.
“Palestinian Arabs do not appear in the presentation as responsible and active actors in this conflict. There is, for example, no discussion of the anti-Semitically motivated Arab pogroms that took place since the mid-19th century, and especially after 1945, in the Jewish settlement areas in the Arab regions. The other ‘Nakba’ [catastrophe] meant flight and expulsion for hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews, who had to leave their homes and were taken in by Israel,” the mayor said.
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Standing Together: Chicago’s Muslims Stand with her Jews, by Rabbi Lopatin
November 1, 2010Friends,
I have worked over the years with building Jewish-Muslim relations in Chicago by co-chairing the Jewish Muslim Community Building Initiative of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, a social justice organization. Our shul has hosted every year an Iftar meal for Muslims to break their Ramadan fast and to come together – after Jews davening Mincha and Ma’ariv and the Muslims praying their Salat (in the JCC) – in camaraderie and friendship. We learn during the year, frequently with a rabbi and an imam presenting their own respective religion’s take on a biblical/Q’ur’anic story or an issue such as health care. The letter below is from the head of the largest Muslim organization in Chicago, which includes the diversity of the Muslim community – Arabs and non-Arabs – and even the controversial CAIR-Chicago. I think the letter speaks for itself:
(CHICAGO- OCTOBER 29, 2010) – The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago stands with our faith partners and the Jewish community in condemning the recent terrorist act to send explosives through cargo airlines to Jewish organizations in Chicago.
President Barack Obama declared today that authorities had uncovered a “credible terrorist threat” against the United States following the overseas discovery of U.S.-bound packages containing explosives aboard cargo jets. President Obama said both had been addressed to Jewish organizations in the Chicago area.
“We are thankful to our law enforcement agencies to uncover this plot before it could cause any harm,” said Dr. Zaher Sahloul, chairperson of the Council. “Illinois Muslims stand united with our Jewish partners and organizations in condemning this terrorist and heinous act. There is no place in Islam for terrorizing innocent people or spreading mayhem.”
“We urge our fellow citizens to stay alert and cooperate with law enforcement agencies,” said Mohamad Nasir, executive director of the Council. “This is our duty. One of the best ways to fight the perverted message of terrorists and protect our homeland is to affirm our patriotism through civic work, interfaith action and voting in large numbers on November 2nd.”
Peace has not broken out in the world, and Jews and Israel still have our enemies who wish to destroy us at any opportunity. But at least we have come to the point where the local Jewish and Muslim communities can work together as “faith partners”. Words do mean something, and the words are sweet.
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Part III of Clemency for Pollard: The Case for Liberals and Conservatives, by Rabbi Lopatin
October 29, 2010Two new arguments that make sense for all Americans and lovers of justice and the American way.
The first works well for those on the Left – but is valid for those on the Right as well:
Fair Sentencing for Jonathan Pollard is a matter of American Justice
Clemency for Jonathan Pollard is not an issue just affecting Jews or for the pro-Israel community; rather, it is a matter for all who care about American justice and civil rights. Pollard, who has been in prison for 25 years, is serving an unprecedented sentence, way out of proportion to the normal sentencing, for his single indictment, that of transferring information to a foreign country, with the intent that that information would be used by that country (Israel). Some have said that there are secret papers – known only to Casper Weinberger and to the judge who sentenced Pollard – that show how serious his crime was. Others say that Pollard is getting his “just deserts” and he deserves to rot in jail forever. Neither of these statements bode well for a system of justice that is supposed to be transparent and unbiased. In fact, this attitude of letting those in the security services determine how long people are sent to jail for, without any accountability even to lawyers who defend the accused, will lead us down a road where civil, legal and human rights are denied to anyone whom the security services don’t like – Muslim, Jew, radical or reactionary. We have already seen issues in the Patriot Act that verge on this usurpation of American justice; let us not allow our love for America, over any other nation, friendly – such as Israel – or unfriendly, destroy the fair and open justice system that we have fought to defend for centuries. Whether it is a radical Muslim that you don’t like or a spy for Israel that you don’t like, let us make sure that blind justice is done and that American law is followed. Let us not let “secret information”, known only to those in power, to destroy “liberty and justice for all”.
The second works well for those on the Right – but is valid for those on the Left as well:
Clemency for Pollard is an important issue for those who are interested in fighting America’s true enemies – such as Islamic terror extremism and its supporters throughout the world – rather than making moral equivalents between allies and enemies. Pollard transferred information – illegally – to America’s closest ally and friend. True, any two countries will have different priorities and different strategies in fighting the common enemy, and as an American Pollard needed to follow American law which reflected the American strategy for fighting the enemy. But, unlike many in the politically correct community, it is important for those interested in American interests to finally recognize that Israel is not the enemy, Israel is not the obstacle to peace, that it is not true that without Israel the Middle East or the world would be a stable, pro-American bastion of democracy! For too long, in Democratic and Republican administrations, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, and Palestinians who danced on 9/11, have been coddled and allowed to export terrorists and Imam’s who preach terrorism and export the money that pays for those Imams and terror organizations all over the world. I believe that we have to say that yes, Pollard violated American law by spying, but let’s put things in proper perspective; let’s understand who our friends are and who are enemies are. Clemency for Pollard can be the first step in moving in that more realistic and strategic direction, and being honest in admitting where the threats to America’s well being lies, and who are our allies in defeating that threat.
Let’s make the case!
Asher Lopatin
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Scorecard for Jonathan Pollard: Ask your Representative! by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
October 22, 2010I have been pushing for a letter of clemency for Jonathan Pollard that Rep. Barney Frank was circulating to members of the U.S. House of Representatives to ask President Obama to extend clemency to Mr. Pollard. My information is that it was presented to President Obama with thirty signatures: all of them Democrats, none Republicans. I have been trying to get Mark Kirk, a Republican representative running for Senate in Illinois to sign, to no avail. Rep. Eric Cantor has refused to sign it; Minister Hagee and Gary Bauer – two fundamentalist Christians – tried to get him to sign it, but he wouldn’t. I am gratified that my own Rep., Jan Schakowsky did sign it, and that the Republican candidates for House in my area, Joel Polak and David Ratowitz as well as Democratic senate candidate Alexi Gionoulias have all agree that they would support clemency. Unfortunately, Rep. Mike Quigley – in our shul’s district – did not sign the letter and has not gotten back to me with his position after weeks of emails and phone calls. Can you please call your Rep, or the opposing candidate for Rep in your district and find out what their position is on this?
Many people feel that the only important issue is Israel and the Jewish people. If so, find out if the candidate that everyone is proclaiming is so pro-Israel or pro-Jewish is supporting this request for clemency. In my state, Mark Kirk has been hailed as the best person for Israel: So why can’t his campaign answer me regarding his lack of support for clemency for Jonathan Pollard who was acting as an Israeli agent for the sake of Israel, and the lives of Jews in Israel. Even if it was a crime by American law, he has been punished more than anyone else who has spied for a friendly country, and the charges that he caused the capture of 11 Americans by the USSR have long been shown to be incorrect – it was the Russian mole Aldrich Ames who compromised their lives.
On erev Shabbat as we read of Avraham’s plea to God for justice for Sodom and Gemora, let’s start demanding of our politicians – from whatever party – that they start showing the courage to really stand up for Israel and fair justice, not just when it suits them.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
2 Comments | Contemporary Issues, Halacha (Jewish Law), Jewish Leadership, mitzvot, Modern Orthodoxy, Morality, Parshiot/Holidays | Permalink
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