RELIGION
THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT
From time to time, the leader of a Torah study session or Shabbat services will ask the group to come up with an Eleventh Commandment. (The Ten Commandments Moses received on Mount Sinai are well known but often misunderstood.) One of the earliest of these Eleventh Commandments was Holocaust survivor Emil Fackenheim’s instruction to survive…
Read MoreA TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES
Some people believe that outrage in the name of religion—or religious hatred—only happens “there.” Not quite. But along with the bad news, there’s also good news. In Cologne, Germany, a regional court banned circumcision for children stating that the procedure does bodily harm without consent. German Jews and Muslims—along with co-religionists worldwide—protested vociferously. For Jews,…
Read MoreLONGING FOR GOD
I once read a story about the Holocaust, which may or may not be apocryphal. Not that it matters. Nothing—as well as everything—about the Holocaust is impossible to believe. What’s important is that the story’s conclusion tells us a great deal about humanity’s longing for God. One afternoon, a group of Jewish prisoners engages in…
Read MoreO JERUSALEM!
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand wither… —Psalms 137:5 Jerusalem’s place in the Jewish heart has been established for nearly three thousand years. So stating that modern-day Israel can and should live without part of Jerusalem is not easy. But it’s necessary. The Palestinians have long demanded that East Jerusalem—in…
Read MoreINVISIBLE
What if you looked in a mirror but couldn’t see yourself? That’s standard for Dracula. Also for Jews. We’re recognizable as one of the nation’s most accomplished ethnic groups and yet so easy to overlook. Three recent experiences illustrate what I mean. The April 9 issue of Newsweek featured a cover-story headline bristling with imperatives…
Read MoreTHE BAD IMPULSE
The murder of sixteen Afghan civilians allegedly by Staff Sergeant Robert Bales has set many Americans to soul searching. The killings were in themselves terrible. They also have caused serious deterioration in the tenuous U.S.-Afghan relationship. But even more is involved concerning something each of us must fear about ourselves. Family and friends portray Bales—now…
Read MorePURIM AGAIN… AND AGAIN
Yesterday (beginning Wednesday evening) Jews celebrated Purim. We read the Book of Esther, which presents a great threat to the Jews of ancient Persia. So what’s changed? According to the megillah (scroll/story), Haman, King Ahasuerus’s top counselor, responds negatively to the Jewish Mordecai’s refusal to bow to him. “Accordingly, written instructions were dispatched by couriers…
Read MoreFOCUS ON WHOSE FAMILY?
I saw a TV commercial last week featuring small children quoting and commenting on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have life eternal.” Now, I have no brief with people of any religion expressing their faith.…
Read MoreREPENT EACH DAY
In the Mishnah, Rabbi Eliezer advises us to “Return [to God] one day before you die. (Pirke Avot 2:10).” But none of us knows the day of our death. Thus we should repent daily. My friend Bruce’s friend’s father died last Friday at 72—five years older than me. He was healthy, active and vital. The…
Read MoreBACKWARD MARCH
They want to retreat centuries to a purer time when men were closer to God. No, not Islamists seeking to return to the time of Muhammad in the seventh century. I’m talking about the haredim, Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews. First, a bit of Torah. People have long believed in an idyllic past. Witness the Garden of…
Read MoreLOWE’S AND CHANUKAH
Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, beckons shoppers with, “Let’s build something together.” Earlier this month, Loewe’s sought to help build walls around American Muslims. This gives a whole new meaning to the ancient meaning of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. So let me unravel the mystery. The Tampa-based Florida Family Association took umbrage at…
Read MoreMUSLIM STATES/JEWISH STATE
Last week, Egyptians voted for parliamentary representatives in a third of the nation’s provinces. Although secular liberals led the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Islamic parties—no surprise—claimed 65 to 70 percent of the vote following runoff elections. The Muslim Brotherhood, which New York Times columnist Tom Friedman describes as less doctrinaire than its Salafist rivals…
Read MoreTHE JESUS CACHET
I was lied to as a child. As a kid in the ‘fifties, I was taught that anyone could grow up to be president. Not so. Several clear caveats existed. Then things changed. Well, some things. In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee. A woman! Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton served…
Read MoreNOW GO AND STUDY
When you teach, you learn. I spoke a few words at San Francisco’s Calvary Presbyterian Church two weeks ago. I’d been asked to invite the congregation to a joint study program with my synagogue, Congregation Sherith Israel. I told a story about Rabbi Hillel. Early this week, the lesson came back to me. Some background:…
Read MorePROPHETS AMONG US
If Job couldn’t understand God’s ways, how can we? I refer to individuals who claim to speak for God and even speak to Him. God appeared to Job out of the tempest (or whirlwind) but did all the talking until the end when Job capitulated. “Indeed, I spoke without understanding / Of things beyond me,…
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