Morethodoxy: Exploring the Breadth, Depth and Passion of Orthodox Judaism

Woke up early and had a certain energy – I really think that Jerusalem, Shabbat and being with this diverse group gave me this high to connect with those around me and basically spread Jewish and Zionist love. 

We hopped in the bus, and it took us about twenty minutes in rush hour traffic  to get to the outskirts of Ramallah and transfer through the Qalandia checkpoint – though there was a lot of traffic around that checkpoint, in both directions.

Ramallah is a prosperous and booming!  There are incredible high rises going up when you come in – dozens of new buildings. It is a very pretty city, chariming – very different than Amman which was not uplifting or inspiring.  Here there are hills and vistas, old and new buildings. Built on hills like Jerusalem, but in some ways has even better green space with trees in between low rises and houses. 

The northern outskirts of Ramallah, where we were going, driving through Bir Zeit, are really beautiful – hills, apartment buildings, olive groves, sweeping roads.    Beautiful neighborhoods nestled in the Judean Hills.  The housing is old fashioned – some of it Ottoman, no doubt – and even the new apartment buildings work with the surrounding scenery.  Unfortunately, there is garbage all over, so it is certainly not pristine, but it is pleasant and uplifting to drive around.

Occasionally we see Palestinian police in smart blue and bright green uniforms and blue cars.  We pass Abu Gash another charming Arab town nestled on a hilltop till we get to our first destination, Jiffna, which is in the valley, with horses roaming in green fields – really a bucolic, countryside feel, relaxed – frozen in time almost.  Reminded me of Oxfordshire or Yorkshire, especially with a gentle fog that was descending in the morning.

My iPhone reads as its carrier: Jawwal Palestine… We are not in Jerusalme… A bit eerie, also strange to have BZU – Beir Zeit University – on my list of wifi networks. But it’s locked…

We went to a Catholic church for Sunday prayers, and because I don’t go into church sanctuaries, I stood in the back, near the door, under the entranceway.  So I became kind of the “rabbi greeter” to everyone coming late through the back door…  There aren’t many Christians anymore – a few percentage of the Arab population in this area, even though Ramalla was originally a Christian city.  It is a big issue that honest Palestinians recognize – why have all the Christians left?  They of course to not say it is because they have been intimidated…

It was a typical Arabic Sunday morning service. The Priest, certainly knowing we were visiting on a piece mission said: “We can all live together…”  I was told later that it was a classic Catholic service, just in the vernacular – Arabic.

I saw a kid with a sippy cup, like shul…

There was a small, charming choir, and the acoustics and singing were great.  Then the spice came – I was sneezing already from the intense “shuk like” spicy smell. I think because it was not the smells I usually enjoy and the fact that I was coughing,  sneezing and my eyes were tearing helped with any questions of getting “hana’ah – pleasure” from a foreign religion. But the music was beautiful – with the organ and the mostly woman choir – led by a man and a male organ master. 

The traditional greeting which comes towards the end of a Christian services was – of course – in Arabic – Asalam aleikum.

Beethoven’s 9th was the tune for a hymn in Arabic – but I don’t know what the words were. Very powerful music – I aways tear up for it – even though I don’t know the meaning of the words in German or Arabic. 

Service ended with announcements – like shul!  And kiddush  after services – and them a responsive prayer – something like “let us pray”- and then a somber song – not a crazy Adon olam with kids on the bima…. I do miss home!

Everyone very extremely friendly and warm – men, women and even teens. That’s really the most pronounced part of this 24 stay in Ramallah – people are friendly and responsive.  I did not see them staring at my kippah at all, nor did I feel uncomfortable.  We all know that terrorist who have killed our brothers and sisters – and our Jewish children! – have come from these kind of places.  But it was easy to connect with all the people we met.  Kiddush was kiddush – with small cups of coffee and a bachlava which I didn’t eat – and people were happy to talk and smile and be polite and welcoming.

Everyone, even when telling their stories against the Israeli oppression, was very good natured. A man who married woman from Gaza and had trouble getting her into Ramallah spoke at length, telling his story – which ended with her finally getting permission for her and her brother to come to West Bank. 

“Security is the main issue, but…” talked of land confiscation and the fence. 

A lot of talk of not being able to travel to Jerusalem, or leave Bethlehem. The assistant priest talked about Good Friday last year when Passover, Easter,  and Eastern Easter all fell on same day. Muslims Salafies yelled and cursed the Christians. The Israeli security guard pushed the Patriarch – but the message was that the Patriarch said in both cases: we are not here to fight; we are here to pray. The lesson was that the Christians want to be a “Bridge for peace between Jews and Muslims”. 

Everyone at this church could not have been friendlier.Even the Kids and teenagers! It was like a monument to peace – like a Hollywood facade. But I think in many ways it is genuine – not to say that there aren’t crucial security concerns that our State of Israel has to contend with. 

We headed back south to Ramallah and the ride was beautiful – Beir Zeit, just north of Ramallah, is like the Tayelet – sharp slope of trees. Stunning scenery.  We passed the many coffee shop chain: Star and Bucks Coffee!!  Green logo and everything…

Next stop: PLO Headquarters and Hanan Ashrawi.  

Forgive me, but it’s time to daven and head back to Jerusalem, so I will update the rest of my Ramallah day – and an incredible encounter with Prime Minister Fayyad who is just off the charts, amazing, humble, brilliant, honest man – in the next status update as soon as possible.

Until then,

Shalom al Yisrael

It’s Sunday morning, and after a glorious Shabbat in Jerusalem, we are heading for Ramallah to meet our Palestinian “brothers”. 

From Dubai to Yad Vashem

Eight Hours in Dubai: More Enlightening than I Thought

I had been looking forward to spending a little time in Dubai, on our way from Jakarta to Amman and finally, Thursday night to Jerusalem. However, it turned into a mini adventure that put the day’s activities into perspective.

This morning was a great session hammering out a consensus statement from the group. Many Muslim leaders – from the States and Indonesia – emphasized how important it was for the Arab world and the Muslim world to recognize the State of Israel – but, of course, they wanted it along with recognizing either the rights of the Palestinians to a state, or, some beyond that, to outright recognizing Palestine. 

In the end, we crafted a document that recognized the national aspirations of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. I was very happy with that language which did not attempt to propose a political solution to achieve that goal.

But it was impressive that Muslims had moved their people so close to recognizing Israel. 

After the session, one of the Indonesians worked hard to explain how Hana – in Javanese, meaning existence, was like – אהיה אשר אהיה – I will be Whom I will be. I don’t always understand them, but all the Indonesians – Christian and Muslim – are proud of how the Javanese culture has integrated Hinduism and Buddahism with Islam. 

Dr Yousuf – of the NU organization which represents the 30 million Muslims, mentioned yesterday, sat next to me on the bus to the airport and he said the organization stands for: Moderation, Tolerance, Balance.

Interestingly: Indonesians wear ties – the don’t interpret the Qur’anic verse of prohibiting going in the ways of the pagans (like the Torah’s “uv’chukoteihem lo telechu – the ways of the gentiles) in the way the Iranians or the old ulama (religious leaders) used to. They consider prohibiting ties to be merely a political prohibition. Kids in the religious boarding school we saw yesterday wore ties as did their teachers…

So that’s Indonesia. Smiles – sincere smiles – from everyone, and at least the language of tolerance and respect. Felt so comfortable there – so welcome. The government might not be doing enough to fight the forces of intolerance, but at least they seem to believe in respect and tolerance for all.

And on Emirates Airlines we felt the same way: they have kosher meals on Emirates – from Belgium. Not so good, but very kosher. And they have good Scotch (Glenfiddich 15…). So the airline was fine.

But Dubai is a world apart – no more smiles from anybody. What a contrast!

And with the five Jews in our group of 24 wearing kippot, it didn’t take long for the trouble, or challenges that I wrote of on Facebook just a few hours ago. A soldier/officer type asked me how many Jews were in the group. And while I answered, that I thought about 5, I really didn’t feel good about answering. Both the Muslims and the Christians in the group that were aware of the reason for the delay – that soldier had to ask his superiors, etc. – were very supportive. One Imam offered to wear a kippah. The Episcopalian was not happy with the excuse the guard in the white robe gave that there was no problem with Jews in Dubai, just for our own protection we had to either cover our kippot with a hat or take them off.

Some of us joked that this felt like an Entebbe moment – I cannot remember when I personally have ever been selected or separated as a Jew. In the end a Palestinian American Imam schmoozed with the guard, and tried to sensitize him to how it would feel if a Muslim woman were asked to remove her head covering. We shared Hadith about Muhammad and Jews who liked him. There is a lot of work to be done, but still believe it starts with relationship building.

So I sign off from an ornate hotel room in a glitzy hotel in Dubai, wearing my kippa. The guard said we could inside the hotel… I want to see how things will be in Jordan, Ramallah and Bethlehem. But I am with a great group, and we are all growing together.

Layla tov and Shalom al Yisrael,

Asher Lopatin

An item posted yesterday (2/21) on JTA quoted political commentator Alan Steinberg as  asserting that “[Sen. Rick Santorum’s]  stance on social issues will be a plus, particularly in the Orthodox community.” This is a markedly glib assessment however, reflecting both an ignorance of and disrespect for the sophistication  and nuance of Jewish law. There may be other reasons that Orthodox Jews may prefer Santorum, but his positions on several social issues stand in stark opposition to deeply entrenched Jewish legal tradition.

Jewish law does prohibit abortion on demand. Not because it regards a fetus as a human being, rather because it sees a fetus as representing potential life.  Though this distinction may seem subtle, it carries enormous legal implications. Jewish Law not only permits but actually mandates abortion in a situation in which a fetus is  (unwittingly of course) threatening the life of its mother. This is directed by the same principle that mandates that Shabbat be violated when life is in in danger. In Maimonides’ words, “the laws of the Torah were not given to inflict vengeance on the world, rather [to bring] compassion, kindness and peace to the world. (Laws of Shabbat 2:3)”.  Nor is the halachik discussion about abortion  limited to cases in which the threat to a mother’s life is physical, with numerous authorities also regarding the prospect of severe emotional or psychological trauma as grounds for abortion.

 And the issue is actually bigger than abortion per se. Jewish law bestows virtually no legal status at all upon fertilized embryos that are not implanted in a mother’s womb. This is why the Orthodox community has always been vocally in favor utilizing such embryos for stem cell research (See for example the statement of the Rabbinical Council of America’s statement  -http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100553 ). While stem cell research is not as hot an issue as it was a few years ago, its return to research prominence – or the emergence of another, similar technology – is not at all unlikely.

Jewish Law also stands at odds with Senator Santorum’s anti-regulation approach to the relationship between humankind and the Earth. Judaism’s legal approach is defined by the tension between the Torah’s dueling directives that we  subdue the Earth (Genesis, Chapter 1) and simultaneously guard over it (Chapter 2). We are thus directed for example, to take full advantage of the earth’s fertility, and are simultaneously prohibited to needlessly destroy fruit-bearing trees. We are permitted to use animals for purposes of work and food, but we are prohibited to cause them physical or emotional distress (even muzzling an animal while it is threshing grain is prohibited by the Torah), or to drive a species toward extinction (see Nachmanides to Deuteronomy 22:6, regarding the  requirement to shoo away a mother bird before taking its young). The Talmud (Brachot 35a) charges us with the obligation to  navigate the tension between “the  Earth and it fullness are God’s” and “the Earth He gave to the sons of man”. We strive for balance, recognizing that we are at all times both  “subduers” and “guardians”.  In the words of the Midrash, “At the time when G-d created Adam, He took him around the trees of the Garden of Eden, and He said to him, ‘Look at My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! Everything that I created, I created for you; take care that you do not damage and destroy My world, for if you damage it, there is no one to repair it afterwards! (Kohellet Rabbah 7)

On issues like feminism and even homosexuality Judaism’s worldview  is more sophisticated, nuanced and wiser than Senator Santorum’s is. The two should never be confused for one another.

I’m overwhlemed and energized with one full day in Indonesia: A land of gracious, humble people who are courageously breaking from a fog and taking a new look at Israel and the Middle East. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, so please allow me to recap today’s events:

After waking up earlier than I had wanted, davening – facing West still – and scarfing down some tuna wraps, I had a bit of time to walk around our hotel.  Of course it’s impossible to “discover” Indonesia or even Jakarta by a 30 minute walk around the hotel, but I did discover gracious people all of whom smiled at me when I smiled at them – strangers, simple folks, deep frying food in the street for breakfast all around the area.  Indonesians are big foodies, and even just the fruit, which is all I have been eating, is fresh and delicious.  There is an element of innocence in this tropical Republic of 260 million people.  I know that’s probably naive, but the people’s responsiveness is captivating.  I only wish that when we wish “Shabbat shalom” to people around us, those we know and don’t know, that we get the same kind of warm, friendly, no-strings-attached response.  Im yirtzeh Hashem – may it be God’s will.  

We started with a visit to the Cathedral (Catholic), which overlooks the Independence Mosque, which overlooks the Protestant church. There certainly are issues with elements in Indonesia not being tolerant and burning churches. However, official line is one of tolerance and respect, and the Muslim organizations are supporting that. In fact, Dr. Yusuf, the co-chair from Indonesia of our mission, heads a 30 million strong Muslim organization and political party – he was a member of parliament – and he told me that his
Muslim organization sends its members to guard churches on Christmas. The
Minister of Defense of the largest Muslim country – is Catholic!

You go from the Cathedral, the biggest church in Indonesia, to the biggest Mosque in Southeast Asia (third biggest in the world), by crossing the street. The Istiqlal Mosque means independence mosque. Like many things in Indonesia, it is built with gematria symbols – the hight of this represents this, the length of this represents this, etc. Apparently, that is a Javanese influence – everything is symbolic. It was pointed out that the architect for the Istiqlal Mosque, Frederick Sylavan (sp?) was Christian and also designed the Lutheran church. In the mosque is a 300 year old drum – called a batuk – and… it’s a Hindu minhag (custom) taken over by Islam here. They use it twice a day to call people to prayer (even though prayers are 5 times a day…).

When you look out in the direction of the qibla – Mecca – you see the spires of the Protestant church. Everything in this country speaks of tolerance and blending and taking from other cultures. True, there were almost no Jews here to speak of – perhaps 1000 at its peak – but that makes the warmth here toward the Jews in the delegation even more surprising and powerful. The Muslim leaders in the group – some of them anthropologists, some studying women and Islam – are eager to learn, not only more about Judaism, but also about Israel. They are excited to be going, and everyone repeats that this is an historic gathering of leaders who really want to make a difference.

We met with some young boys and girls – the girls sit in the back, behind the boys – learning in the mosque school, and I even was introduced as a rabbi who knows the first chapter of the Qur’an (the Fatiha) by heart. I think they thought the whole thing strange… But as Indonesians, they were polite and clapped at the end…

From the Cathedral and Mosque we went to an ornate building, Independence Hall, where the Indonesian Declaration of Independence was signed, to meet with the foreign minister. Gold all over, crystal chandeliers, sitting around a fancy table with place cards – for some reason I sat right next to the Foreign Minister and our host, the Ambassador to Washington, Ambassador Jallal. White glove service of tea with Equal packets – what a country! – and sweets (not kosher- but they looked nice).

The foreign minister is a humble, youthful engaging man, tall, man who introduced himself and then asked us all to speak. After our leader, Rabbi Sid Schwarz, introduced the goals of the mission – to use religion to bring peace to the Middle East – he asked to hear from us. I urged him to bring the engaging, tolerant culture of Indonesia to the Middle East. I would love for Indonesia to recognize Israel. In subsequent conversation, we got the foreign minister to declare his support for a Two State Solution, but not – yet – to recognize Israel. Indonesia does “recognize” Palestine, and it even has a Palestinian embassy in Jakarta. But we tried…

Indonesians are the most humble and modest people I think I have ever met – Jews are supposed to be that way – and we are deep down – but Indonesians are that way from the moment you meet them and they smile back when you smile, and say hello – everyone, from the stranger on the street to the people you sit around the table with talking about the Middle East. The Ambassador, who came a few minutes late to the table, apologized not only to the group, but to me personally – how ironic, Mr. On Time Rabbi – for coming late. Amazing people. I need to remember to get a kippa for the Ambassador – he asked for one for his birthday.

And… all the Indonesian diplomats are using iPads. Very cool.

Foreign minister said he was very supportive of the goals of mission – admires “inclusive outlook”. Praise for Ambassador Dino Jallal who made the mission happen. Indonesia is proud of its motto: Unity in diversity. And he claimed that they practice on a day to day basis. He admitted that there were challenges from those less tolerant. But overall adherence to respect, etc. “Interfaith tolerance is in our DNA…”

From the Foreign Ministry – which occupies Independence Hall – we went to a modern building for lunch at the Religion Ministry. I had three courses of delicious fruit. So far I have subsided on a lot of fruit and the tuna sandwiches. The tune is fine; I am praying hard that all this delicious fruit will be OK.

The Assistant Minister of Religion who sat at our table, emphasized that at its moment of independence Indonesia specifically avoided calling itself an Islamic state. They are not. But, on the other hand, there is not a full separation of church and state. It’s not religious but not secular.

After lunch we headed for an Islamic Boarding school. There are thousands of these, throughout Indonesia, and they are even more religious than the government religious schools. Kind of like Israel and America: There are public schools, days schools (Mamlachti Dati/Torani in Israel) and then Yeshivas and seminars…

But these frumest of the schools still are co-ed – girls and boys have separate classes and separate dormitories fare away from each other – and we got to spend some fun time with the kids. They were all delightful, engaging, smiling, sweet – everything that their adult counterparts are. Very unique for students to be this engaging.

The boarding school teachers explained that even in this highly religious environment, the schools are multi disciplinary. #1 extra curricular activity: marching band – the girls said this! Frum, modest “tziusdik” cheer leaders…

But here’s an interesting fact:

Since 1970s Indonesia has had women judges in Islamic courts…

We came back inspired by the leaders, by the students and by our group which is excited to forge new frontiers by flying to Israel. Yes, we are also meeting with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and Bethlehem. But the “chidush” – the novelty – will be our time in Israel and Jerusalem, Yad Vashem and far beyond and with President Peres.

I ended off the day eating fresh lichee fruit – learning how to peel them, which is as easy as a banana. And then hair fruit and some giant leather fruit. I’ll have pictures soon.

Time to get to bed to get ready for tomorrow’s meetings where we will finalize a letter to all the heads of state about our mission. Interesting discussions no doubt.

Shalom al Yisrael and layla tov – Good night from Jakarta!

Asher Lopatin

Arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, to sweltering Tel Aviv-in-the-summer type weather. The airport kind of feels like a tropical hotel, with walkways to customs that look out on to lawns and gardens.

After thinking about whether I should where a baseball hat (with a suit?) or my kippa, I opted for a kippa. I thought that if someone starts to give me a hard time – a guard, etc. – I would switch to a hat. But people – everyone: guards, police, people at the passport control, customs, taxi people – could not have been nicer or more gracious. Totally comfortable here.

At passport the man in the booth asked purpose of my visit – I said it was an interfaith mission with Christians and Muslims and Jew. He asked – was I Christian? No, I said, Jewish. Stamp!

The Avis taxi people got me a cab, and then when one had already been ordered by my hosts, they graciously voided my cab fair, and the Avis driver was walked me back to get my money back – no fighting or quibbling as the taxi people do in some other countries, ehem, ehem, and another man seeing my kippa said, Oh you are Jewish… First I thought he said he was Jewish, but I think he meant he was going to visit Israel, but in any case, very friendly – he was Christian. A lot of Christians around here seem to be happy to see a Jew – an even smaller minority than them. Christians are about 10%, Jews – well, there are now 25 in the country including the 5 rabbis.

Believe it or not, but Jakarta has E-toll speed pass! Looks kind of like Israel when you leave the airport with a mixture of hi rises and low rises or single family bungalow. All of Jakarta looks a lot like Tel Aviv with its slummier areas and more modern areas.

Still have the auto rickshas I remember from India 25 years ago! But on the other hand, I think an important measure of how advanced the country is can be seen by the helmets worn by motor cyclists. Every single one of the drivers – on the smallest motor scoter, moped etc. – wears a helmet – and most passengers as well.

Many people wear face masks – pollution… I think that’s an Asian thing…

Right near the hotel is the national (Catholic) cathedral, which shares a parking lot with a giant mosque. Whatever he issues may be in parts of the country between Christians and Muslims – Muslims burning down churches and not being convicted – in theory and on the ground to a great extent this country is still firmly committed to diversity.

In our opening session, getting to know each other – there are 24 us total, with 5 rabbis, and about 8 Christians, one of the members of our group, who represents that largest Muslim organization in Indonesia – 30 million members – spoke passionately about how the Western world and Islam have to come closer together, not further apart. Also, the voices here were about Islam not blaming the West for its challenges – but he hoped the West would not blame Islam either for the acts of radicals.

Another Imam said how good things were in the old days of Medina, when Muhammad “hung out” with the Jews and Christians. But I challenged this view: The Qur’an speaks over and over again about how evil the Yahud – the Jews – of Medina were. Yet another Imam gave a brilliant – homiletic, forced, perhaps, but based on the great commentator Zemachshari – that even in the Qur’an there is a difference between Al-Yahud – THE individual Jews who were so bad to Muhammad and his followers – and Yahud – Jews in general who dwelled in Medina even after Muhammad’s death. Another Muslim leader concurred. It doesn’t really matter to me what Muhammad actually meant, or what the Qur’an really meant. What is important is that I am hearing that there is a different narrative – a narrative tolerant and respectful of the Jews – that is coming out of some circles of Islam. The question is whether this progressive, embracing narrative will win, or will the intolerant rejectionist narrative of the fundamentalists win?

Discovery: Our sponsor is not the Indonesian government. We are guests of the Indonesian Ambassador to Washington, who has taken serious risks to his own career for bringing this diverse multi-faith group together and to go to the Middle East. But our sponsor is mainly a very nice TV mogul who, in honor of our group, is going to have a Muslim, Christian and a Jew on Indonesian TV tomorrow morning. This is all unprecedented. Interestingly, the TV mogul’s parents are intermarried – Muslim father, Christian mother – but it has lead him to believe that we can bridge gaps. Interesting. Even in America, where we desperately are trying to get Jews to marry Jews, sometimes something good comes out of an intermarriage… Food for thought.

Speaking of food: I was able to pass through security (carry on) with tuna and mayonnaise and flat breads – and Rabbi Julie Schohnfeld packed more tuna in her suitcase for me – so even though there really isn’t any kosher food besides fruit, I will be fine.

Ending on one sobering note: For all the divisions that Muslims have, one of the Muslim ulama’a pointed out that they all pray together. Even millions in Mecca can all pray together – whereas Jews are really finicky about where we daven – certainly outside of our denomination, but even within! But Rabbi Peter Nobel pointed out that a Reformation has never really come to Islam. So maybe we just have to give them time…

It’s bedtime in Jakarta.

Layla tov and more adventures God willing in the morning – including meeting the Foreign Minister and I hope to push him on relations with Israel.

Asher Lopatin