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DonorsChoose.org: Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn.

Channel surfing during the news hour, I noticed an ABC report about how much money teachers in public schools spend on their classrooms--amounting in the hundreds of dollars annually--because of cuts to education budgets. Most of us in the Etz community are unusually blessed to live in school districts that are blessed by higher tax income and parent organizations that are capable of assisting schools with activities and supplies.

Unfortunately, even just a few miles away, there are less fortunate families in suffering school districts.
Schools in several Bay Area school districts have been forced in the past 10 years to cut art, athletics, and even libraries due to the combination of lower home values (resulting in lower tax income) and families less capable of supporting school financial needs.

The ABC program talked about one way teachers are succeeding in getting their needs met: DonorsChange.org. Supported by major No. Cal. partners such as Bank of America, Yahoo, and the Koret Foundation, DonorsChange allows individuals to donate to specific classroom needs--everything from art supplies to new chairs.

During this season of giving, it is important for us to share whatever resources we have with the communities of which we are a part--and it is certainly worthwhile to support our local schools (including at the synagogue--where parents have thankfully been generous at recent fundraisers). I also would like to encourage your family to consider giving a gift to a class that is less fortunate this winter.

DonorsChoose.org: Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn.

In 50 years, kibbutz movement has undergone many changes

During the past few weeks, the sixth graders and I have been studying about Kibbutzim, Jewish agricultural communes in Israel. The first kibbutz (Deganyah) was started at the time of the Second Aliyah, and the movement continued to grow, prosper, and diversify over the following several decades. Today, there are still kibbutzim, but most of them are extremely different from their predecessors.

For a primer on the Kibbutz Movement, check out the following links:

List of kibbutzim - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kibbutz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/kibbutz.html (on how kibbutzim have changed over time)

In 50 years, kibbutz movement has undergone many changes (news article)

Maimonides and the Explusion from Spain

After studying about the Golden Age of Spain, when Jews and Muslims prospered in Moorish Spain, Jen and I introduced the seventh graders to one of the most important Jews of all time: Moses Maimonides, also known as Rambam (acronym for Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon). Rambam fled Spain with his family when the Almohades, a more radical Islamic party, took hold of Spain. Eventually, he settled in Egypt and became that kingdom's most important physician and rabbi. We spoke about Rambam's efforts to simplify Jewish beliefs into thirteen basic principles. My class focused in particular on a number of these beliefs that maintain their relevance in uniting Jews behind common values and practices.

This week, we started learning about the Expulsion from Spain, the 1492 mass exodus of the Jews of Spain (the Sephardim) to new homes in Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the New World. We shared an awesome book--The Cardinal's Snuffbox, a "choose your own adventure" type of book that traces the types of choices and experiences Sephardic Jews encountered in the 15th - 17th centuries. You may want to check it out from a library or purchase it from URJ press (here). The same author wrote several other similar books, set in different periods of Jewish history, that are also worthwhile.

Students may enjoy the following contemporary description of the plight of the Sephardim: First Hand Account of the 1492 Expulsion by an Italian Jew.

Behrman House: Family Education Game: Bubbie's Bubbles

Behrman House: Family Education Game: Bubbie's Bubbles

'Scrubs' star Zach Braff falls in love with Tel Aviv - Haaretz - Israel News

'Scrubs' star Zach Braff falls in love with Tel Aviv - Haaretz - Israel News Look who's visiting Israel.

Freedom's Feast - Introducing Freedom's Feast

Freedom's Feast - Introducing Freedom's Feast

"Since 2001, Freedom’s Feast has helped make Thanksgiving a more fun, meaningful, and memorable American experience for families across the country.

Endorsed by educators, parents and civic leaders, Freedom’s Feast is a flexible, activity-filled program designed for a universal audience. Guests read from America's founding documents, learn fun facts, sing patriotic songs, and personalize the celebration in countless ways. We hope Freedom’s Feast will inspire you to create a few new Thanksgiving traditions of your own!"

The website has a terrific ten-minute service to use at Thanksgiving dinner.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US faces kosher meat shortage

BBC NEWS | Americas | US faces kosher meat shortage

The Virtual Jewish History Tour - Spain

Beginnings of the Jews in Spain, through the period of Muslim Rule,
selected from: The Virtual Jewish History Tour - Spain

Introduction
The history of Spanish Jewry dates back at least two thousand years to when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and brought Jews with them back to Europe. Since that time, the Jews of Spain (Sephardim) have experienced times of great oppression and hardship, as well as periods of unprecedented growth and renewal.

Roman Rule (ca. 205 BCE-Early 5th Century)
While the area of modern-day Spain (formerly a collection of kingdoms which included Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia) was still controlled by the Holy Roman Empire, the Catholic Church convened at the Council of Elvira where they issued 80 canonic decisions, many of which were intended to ostracize the Jews from the general Spanish community. For example, Canon 49 prohibited Jews from blessing their crops, and Canon 50 refused communion to any cleric or layperson that ate with a Jew.

Visigoth Rule (5th Century-711)
During the early 5th century, the Visigoths captured the Iberian Peninsula from Roman rule. While initially anti-Christian, the Visigoths later converted to Christianity and adopted many of the previous laws that existed during Roman rule. Under the rein of Toledo III, children of mixed marriages were forcibly baptized and Jews were barred from holding public office. The situation got progressively worse and, in 613, the Jews were ordered to convert to Christianity or face expulsion. Though many Jews chose to leave rather than convert, a large number of them still practiced Judaism in secret for centuries. In 633, the Fourth Council of Toledo, convened to address the problem of crypto-Judaism (Jews who converted to Christianity to escape persecution, yet observed Jewish law in private. The people who practiced this were also know as Marranos). While opposing compulsory baptism, the Council decided that if a professed Christian was determined to be a practicing Jew, his or her children were to be taken away and raised in monasteries or trusted Christian households.

Muslim Rule (711-11th Century)
In the 8th century, the Berber Muslims (Moors) swiftly conquered nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula. Spain flourished under Muslim rule, and Jews and Christians were granted the protected status of dhimmi. Though this still did not afford them equal rights with Muslims, during this “Golden Age” of Spain, Jews rose to prominence in society, business, and government.

The conditions in Spain improved so much under Muslim rule that Jews from all across Europe came to live in Spain during this Jewish renaissance. There they flourished in business and in the fields of astronomy, philosophy, math, science, medicine, and religious study. The same period also witnessed a resurgence of Hebrew poetry and literature from a traditional and liturgical language to a living language able to be used to describe everyday life. Among the early Hebraists of the time were Yehudah HaLevi who became known as one of the first great Hebrew poets, and Menahem ben Saruq who compiled the first ever Hebrew dictionary.

The intellectual achievements of the Sephardim (Spanish Jews) enriched the lives of non-Jews as well. In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim translated Greek and Arabic texts, which proved instrumental in bringing the fields of science and philosophy, much of the basis of Renaissance learning, to the rest of Europe.

In the early 11th century, centralized authority based at Cordoba broke down following the Berber invasion and the ousting of the Umayyads. Rather than having a stifling effect, the disintegration of the caliphate expanded the opportunities to Jewish and other professionals. The services of Jewish scientists, doctors, traders, poets, and scholars were generally valued by the Christian as well as Muslim rulers of regional centers, especially as recently conquered towns were put back in order.

Yet, despite the Jews’ success and prosperity under Muslim rule, the Golden Age of Spain began to decline as the Muslims began to battle the Christians for control of the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish kingdoms in 722. The decline of Muslim authority was matched with a rise in anti-Semitic activity. In 1066, a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, crucified Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city. Accounts of the Granada Massacre state that more than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, were murdered in just one day. The conditions of Jews living on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) steadily began to worsen again. As a result, many people started fleeing the Iberian Peninsula to neighboring nations. Among those who fled were the famed bible commentators Abraham Ibn Ezra and Rabbi Yosef Karo (author of the Shulchan Aruch), as well as the families of Maimonides and philosopher Baruch Spinoza.

As Israeli Elections Are Called, Livni Is Assessed - NYTimes.com

As new head of the ruling Kadima party, Tzipi Livni has failed to assemble a majority coalition that will preserve the current government and allow her to become prime minister. As a result, she has been forced to inform President Shimon Peres to call an early election, which will come in late winter 2009.

For more details, read on!

As Israeli Elections Are Called, Livni Is Assessed - NYTimes.com

By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: October 26, 2008

JERUSALEM — Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister of Israel and head of the centrist Kadima Party, on Sunday officially asked President Shimon Peres to declare early elections, adding more uncertainty to her chances of becoming prime minister.

Article Permalink: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/world/middleeast/27israel.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Herzl and the World Zionist Organization

In the past few classes, we have been studying about Theodor Herzl and his efforts to bring Jews from all over the world together in order to fulfill their dream of a Jewish homeland. The belief that Jews are a people who need a homeland of their own is called "Zionism." Herzl founded an group called the World Zionist Organization (or WZO) that still works today supporting Israel, helping Jews immigrate to Israel, and educating about Judaism.

The WZO holds meetings called World Zionist Congresses, to which every Jewish community sends representatives. The first World Zionist Congress met in 1897, in Basel, Switzerland. Each World Zionist Congress meeting allows Jews to set policies and elect officers to carry out their work of protecting, supporting, and educating Jews throughout the world and especially Israel.

The sixth graders just learned about two specific decisions of the World Zionist Congress. In class, we learned about Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, and how it was chosen as a way of unifying Jews and expressing their hopes for a homeland. We also studied the Sixth World Zionist Congress (1903), where they had to decide whether they should accept a British proposal offering Jews a refuge in Uganda. You can find the short play, "Zionism without Zion", here.

Some of you might like to read some of Herzl's writings. You can find a selection from his novel Alteneuland (Old-New Land) here.

Is Keeping Kosher Good for the Environment?: Scientific American

This is sort of a weird article, and it is worthwhile to read to the end and the comments that follow. As several who've commented report, a strong case has been made by many rabbis (over two millenia) that the purpose of Kashrut is partially to reduce the consumption of meat. God only allows humans to eat animals at all in order that we are less likely to vent our innate violent impulses on human beings. If one keeps kosher in the traditional way, one's consumption of meat is greatly limited, since most of us will eat one or two vegetarian or dairy meals a day. A large number of us eat meat only 2-3 times a week, which greatly helps our energy footprint.

On the other hand, purchasing exclusively kosher products often involves a large number of non-local food items, since most of the United States must import their kosher meat and prepared foods from out-of-state (or even Israel). This, however, is an issue faced by all Americans and is not exclusive to the Jewish, kashrut-observant community. In order to balance the fuel usage of importing food, I join many others by eating as much locally produced items as possible--particularly fruits, vegetables, and dairy. When was the last time you checked where your milk came from? Or checked whether your apples were from Washington State, California, or Maine?

Is Keeping Kosher Good for the Environment?: Scientific American

I particularly like the coda on the article, quoting Lise Stern, author of How to Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws:

Even though keeping kosher is not inherently more or less ecofriendly than a conventional diet, Stern notes that the small but growing kosher organic meat offerings, along with the overall boom in organic foods, make it easier to suffuse keeping kosher with her green values. And, of course, there are benefits that can't be counted by the numbers. "For me, keeping kosher is a spiritual commitment," Stern says. "It imbues the mundane with the sublime."

At the Festival of Sukkot, Cooking Is Identity for Syrian Jews - New York Times

This article (from the New York Times two years ago) describes how New York's Sephardic population celebrates Sukkot. The "Related" box on the left of the screen (when you go to the article at the NY Times website) features recipes for dishes mentioned in the article.

At the Festival of Sukkot, Cooking Is Identity for Syrian Jews - New York Times

Cooking Defines Sephardic Jews at Sukkot

By JULIA MOSKIN

LIKE its trees, Brooklyn’s sukkahs sprout in unlikely places.

All over the borough, observant Jewish families spent the first week of October building sukkahs, outdoor rooms with open roofs, in preparation for the holiday of Sukkot, which began last Friday and ends this Friday. Perched on asphalt roofs and in concrete gardens, they will eat under the stars for a week to commemorate the Jews’ biblical wanderings in the desert.

For one food-loving community within Brooklyn’s sizable Jewish population, Sukkot has additional significance.

“We always cook a lot, but for Sukkot, we do even more,” said Aida Hasson, who grew up in Beirut and is part of Brooklyn’s tight-knit community of Middle Eastern Jews.

This network of a few hundred families shares roots in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, and also an extraordinary culinary tradition. They use the term Syrian Jews, to distinguish themselves within the larger world of the Sephardim, the Jews of the Mediterranean.

“We call ourselves Syrian, Sephardic, Middle Eastern, whatever,” said Giselle Habert, who was born in Cairo. “The important thing is that we all know each other, and we all cook the same things.”

This community’s favorites are labor-intensive dishes that are still passed down from mother to daughter: sambusak, crisp little half-moons stuffed with allspice-scented meat or tangy white cheese; mujadara, lentils and rice cooked together and thickly piled with gold-brown strands of onion; mahshi, vegetables like tiny eggplant and finger-size zucchini stuffed with spiced meat and rice; and kahk, sesame-sprinkled rounds of crumbly pastry.

“Ours is the real, original cooking of the Jews,” said Vicki Maijor, whose grandmother was born in Aleppo, Syria. In the Bible, she pointed out, when Esau sells his birthright, “it is for lentil soup, isn’t it?”

Now spread over the world, “the community,” as its members call it, is defined mostly through family and religion, but also by its distinctive food, so different from the brisket and bagels of the Ashkenazic tradition most Americans are familiar with.

FOR MORE OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK HERE.

About the image above:

Evan Sung for The New York Times

A dessert table includes, from top, sesame rounds called kahk; preserved apples and spaghetti squash; and cactus pear and pomegranate seeds, fall fruits that are traditional for Sukkot.

Getting Started on Herzl

Today we also started our unit on Theodor Herzl and the beginnings of modern Political Zionism. For a brief biography of Theodor Herzl, see this Jewish Virtual Library article.

Imperial History of the Middle East

Last week and today, in class, we spoke about the series of empires that have controlled the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) in the past three millennia. I just found this super-cool interactive map that shows in much more detail the sequence of empires that claimed the Land of Israel as their own due to either its strategic importance or its religious significance.

Imperial History of the Middle East



A quick written history of these empires can be found here: Brief History of Israel and the Jewish People. Scroll down, and take a look of the list of foreign empires that ruled the land.

I also just found a nice summary of how Israel arrived at its current borders on the Middle East Facts website.

Big Questions and Answers from Your Kids

This past Sunday, both hours' classes took slight digressions from our main topic (the Jerusalem Temples, the past importance of sacrifices, and how prayer replaces sacrifices today) and hit many of the BIG Jewish spiritual questions: why do mitzvot, why God is quieter today than in the past, why God spoke through prophets in the past, why has God given human beings so much power in the world when we often abuse it so horribly. The kids asked the highest caliber of questions and gave just as good answers. I was very impressed that one of the girls actually knew the rabbinic answer to the question of what God does today, since human beings seem to be in charge of the day-to-day business. As Hannah reminded me, God makes marriages. (This is, depending on which class member you ask, either a brilliant answer from the sages of the past or one that just avoids the question.)

I love speaking to kids about God, as do Ari and Melissa. However, kids often benefit particularly from talking with their parents and other family members about God, the Universe, and the meaning of it all. I've put together a few (possibly too few) items for you to help prepare you for this task.

On the Web, you can do a search for "talking to kids about God Jewish" and find many helpful sites and repeated postings of a helpful article from Rabbi David Wolpe, a Conservative rabbi in LA: My Jewish Learning: How to Talk to Your Kids about God. I also recommend the following interview with Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, one of the most important Jewish children's authors: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/features.php?id=15228. Sasso is best known for her book God's Paintbrush.

My favorite books on Jewish theology for middle-schoolers are:

• Kushner, Lawrence. The Book Of Miracles: A Young Person's Guide To Jewish Spiritual Awareness: For Parents To Read To Their Children, For Children To Read To Their Parents. UAHC Press, 1987. Jewish Lights Pub; 1997.
• Gellman, Marc. How Do You Spell God? Answers to the Big Questions from Around the World. Reading level: Ages 9-12. William Morrow & Company; 1995.
• Feinstein, Edward. Tough Questions Jews Ask: A Young Adult's Guide to Building a Jewish Life. Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003.
  

True Teshuvah

Repentance is a major theme of the High Holy Days, but the season for repentance actually begins a whole month in advance. Every day of the month of Elul, Jews are reminded by the blasts of a shofar to start the process of makeing repentance, or atonement. This past week, the sixth graders and I discussed repentance--in Hebrew, teshuvah. I'd like to take a little space here to go over what we discussed and expand on it.

1) Teshuvah comes from a Hebrew root that suggests returning or repeating an action. When we think of the English word "repentence"--or the related adjective, "penitent"--we usually think of feelings. One feels bad about what he/she did wrong or becomes aware that what they did was not moral. Many people think that it is enough to feel guilty and promise not to do something again. Others think that saying one is sorry, even if the apology is empty of feeling, is sufficient. However, from a Jewish perspective, repentance must include other aspects: acceptance of responsibility, including (if relevant) behavioral consequences or payment of damages; actions to reverse the negative outcomes of one's actions (such as providing medical assistance to an injured party, replacing a lost or stolen item, or taking on extra work to make up for lost time); and efforts to choose correct actions in the future.

2) I've heard parents and educators encourage students (adult as well as kid) to "rewind" and "redo" their mistakes, and this is a great exercise to role-play teshuvah. It can be extremely difficult to own up to one's mistakes, especially ones that others might not have noticed. Practice admitting you did wrong, saying you're sorry, or accepting punishment. Talk to someone--a friend or relative who's uninvolved in the event--and talk through what you could have done differently. But don't stop there! It's also important to address your regret and willingness to reverse (as much as possible) the negative effects of your actions with the people who you may have harmed or slighted. If you know you've made an error with another person, tell them that you'd like a "re-do," since you are unhappy with how behaved previously.

3) Commit yourself to correct action in the future. An important medieval scholar, Rambam, taught, "What constitutes true teshuvah? If the sinner has the opportunity of committing once again the sinful act and it is quite possible for him to repeat it and yet he refrains from so doing because he has repented... he is a true penitent" (Hilkhot Teshuvah 2:1).

Shanah Tovah! (Happy New Year!)

MUSIC VIDEO: Amonai Shamati—Moroccan High Holy Day Piyyut

This beautiful melody is from the Sephardic-Moroccan musical tradition. A piyyut is a prayer in prayer form, usually composed on the specific theme of an older prayer and being chanted before or in the middle of that prayer. This piyyut--asking for God to hear the singer's prayer--is chanted just before the Amidah on both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

HADASSAH Magazine - Jewish Traveler Archive

Every month, Hadassah Magazine has a terrific article about Jewish life in a particular country or city, remote or close at hand. The articles are terrific resources for travelers and are great resources for learning about Jews around the world but are also fun to just look at.
HADASSAH Jewish Traveler Archive

Links for Learning about Israeli Elections

With the approach of the US election, it's easy to forget that it is also an election year in Israel. Here are some links to prepare you for understanding the upcoming Israeli elections:

• About the current leading coalition party: My Jewish Learning: Kadima
• About parliamentary politics: My Jewish Learning: Pros and Cons of the System
• Overview: Israeli Politics
• More on Tzipi Livni's win of the Kadima party primary from PBS
• What is a coalition government? See Wikipedia
  

Jews around the world

Jews around the world

This website has links that describe briefly the history of Jews from countries all over the world.

Do Parents Influence Teen Behavior?

I just saw some fascinating statistics about the effects parents have on their teenage children on the Moving Traditions (the organization that sponsors It's a Girl Thing!) website. You may want to check it out!

Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
Do Parents Influence Teen Behavior?

Following Narrow Victory in Kadima Primary, Livni Has a Full Plate - Forward.com"

Following Narrow Victory in Kadima Primary, Livni Has a Full Plate - Forward.com"

Agriprocessors and Beyond - Forward.com"

For those of you following the current controversies and new attitudes in the Kosher meat industry, The Jewish Daily Forward has an on-going summary of what's happening with links to articles in the still-developing story.

Agriprocessors and Beyond - Forward.com"

Kadima Party in Israel Held Primary Today

Exit polls - Livni clear winner in Israeli primary - NYTimes.com

Filed at 5:04 p.m. ET

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won a clear victory in the Kadima Party's primary election Wednesday, TV exit polls showed, placing her in a good position to become Israel's first female leader in 34 years and sending a message that peace talks with the Palestinians will proceed.

Cheers and applause broke out at party headquarters when Israel's three TV networks announced their exit polls giving Livni between 47 percent and 49 percent, compared with 37 percent for her closest rival, former defense minister and military chief Shaul Mofaz. Livni supporters hugged each other and shed tears of joy.

Livni needed 40 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff next week.

If official results bear out the exit polls, as is likely, the 50-year-old Livni will replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as head of Kadima. Olmert, the target of a career-ending corruption probe, had promised to step down as soon as a new Kadima leader was chosen. [click link above to read more]

Hebrew Hear-Say: You name it | Personal Notes | Jerusalem Post

Hebrew Hear-Say: You name it | Personal Notes | Jerusalem Post
A fun article on trends in Hebrew names.

Welcome to a new year of Rabbi Rochel's RealLife Blog

Berukhim Haba'im (welcome) to my blog! As a teacher at Congregation Etz Chayim, in Palo Alto, I find it extremely useful and fun--for kids, parents, and me--to keep a blog especially suited for my students. As we start a new year, I'd like to give a little tour of this blog and its features.

Entries I write entries for the blog with varying frequency. You'll find that the entries serve several purposes. They are helpful for:

• Students who are absent should read the blog to see if there is material corresponding to the lesson they missed.
• Parents who want to keep up-to-date with class topics and learn more about our material.
• Students who want to study more in depth what we covered in class.

I also post on topics that aren't related strictly to what we've covered in class, but might be of interest. In particular, I link to news articles on Jewish and Israel world events.

Tags The first non-biographical item in the left column is a way to access entries by class (both years that I have taught each grade at Etz Chayim) or subject. Just click on one of the tags to see those entries. For example, if you want to see what I posted about Zionism, you can click and see all those entries from both this year and last.

Blog Archive This box allows you to view posts by calendar month.

Rabbi Rochel's Writings In addition to my work in education, I also am a freelance author. I have mostly written for MyJewishLearning.com. Some of my older topical overview articles there have been added to and integrated with additional authors over the years. More recently, I've been given more freedom to write on practical topics that have a direct impact on daily Jewish life. My two most recent articles are at the top of the list. Middle-schoolers may find some of the articles quite challenging to read; the target audience is educated adults. Nevertheless, I am very proud of my articles on-line and in print. Check them out!

The Rabbi Suggests (Links) Here, you can find links to resources I find interesting, useful, and fun on the web. Students in particular may enjoy the links to Israeli and Jewish-interest museums. I'm adding new links all the time!

Defining the Borders of the Land of Israel

Land of Israel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This Wikipedia article has great images of the various ways in which the Tanakh (the Jewish Bible) outlined the Land of Israel and its borders. The maps include the definition from God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15, the books of Numbers, and Ezekiel. There is also an image of different Biblical explanations of the extent of King David's empire.

Map showing one interpretation of the borders of the Promised Land, based on God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 15).

Some Palestinians support ending the Palestinian Authority

Memo From Jerusalem - Support for 2-State Plan Erodes - NYTimes.com
This new article points to a growing number of moderate Palestinian voices who think that the solution to their continued disappointment with the Palestinian Authorities experiment is to become Israelis and push for equal rights alongside current Israeli Arabs.

New Articles on My Jewish Learning

This week's myjewishlearning.com lead articles are on religious differences within Jewish families... and they have been penned by me! I've placed the two articles' in the "Rabbi Rochel's Writings" sidebar to the left. Tell me what you think, and pass the articles on to anyone you feel can benefit from them.

Summer Viewing and Reading: The Exodus Decoded and Biblical Archaeology Society Discourse

Unlike many rabbis, I don't have too great a concern as to whether the Exodus from Egypt actually happened. If someone were to force me to choose a side, I'd say that I think it happened, but probably in a manner somewhat unlike the account in the Torah. My personal theology is not overly impressed with fact and prefers more mythic, metaphorical, or emotional forms of truth, but I believe that the Torah (as we have it, in written form) was compiled from oral traditions of God's Revelation (and I'm not too concerned about whether it occurred on Mt. Sinai, either). So, when a program called The Exodus Decoded aired a while back, produced by James Cameron, I rolled my eyes, mumbled under my breath about the foolishness of "Bible codes," and promptly forgot about it.

Although it is two years since the program first aired, I just saw The Exodus Decoded (watch here) on the History Channel, during my day-time, summer vacation multitasking. Its host, Simcha Jacobovici, has created a super-slick program that I found both riveting and melodramatic. Some of the program's claims were productively challenging and others seemed wildly speculative. A less-careful viewer could easily be convinced that Jacobovici had finally assembled the true story of how the Exodus occurred.

Immediately I ran to my computer, reeling from some of Simcha Jacobovici's assertions, particularly that Exodus occurred earlier than the usual date cited by biblical scholars. Before the show was even complete, I had found a Biblical Archaeology Society review of the program by UC Berkeley scholar Ron Hendel (who has been friend and teacher to many of my friends and peers) and the resulting dialogue between Jacobovici and Hendel and settled in for some serious back-and-forth regarding the program's claims (read here). Sadly, the level of discourse fails to meet my expectations. Hendel, a fine scholar by reputation, penned a review so scathing in tone and sloppy in argumentation that it is unsuccessful at providing cogent criticism of Jacobovici's scholarship. As someone who has read a fair amount of academic writing about films and also has a modest background in biblical history, I will offer my opinion that the BAS should have sent the review back to Hendel for a major rewrite.

Like Hendel, I was also turned off by the style of the program and its tone; however, a clearer viewing of The Exodus Decoded that patiently sorts scholarship from production values finds that there is much worthy of further consideration. I have no problem with Jacobovici's arguments regarding the timing of the Exodus to approximately 1500 BCE. He correctly notes in his response to Hendel's article that the only current archaeological evidence of the presence of the Israelites/Hebrews back in the land of Canaan (Israel) can only tell us a date by which they must have arrived (approx. 1270 CE), rather than bearing any evidence as to their actual arrival from the Exodus. I also have little problem accepting an earlier date for the Israelites reaching Egypt to begin with; after reading the reader's comments on the BAS site, I actually think that it is worth considering whether the Israelites might have joined the Semitic Hyksos, who were already there. In other words, the Israelites were not identical with the Hyksos, but were rather cousins visiting from out of town, hoping to benefit from Hyksos riches and power while their homeland was deep in famine.

The other evidence I find most provocative is the geological and archaeological evidence of the Santorini volcano eruption and corresponding seismologic activity. In particular, the recent examples of parallel, natural "plagues" in Cameroon is hard to miss. Do I think that it is possible that a gas cloud killed only first born Egyptians? Probably not. But the culmination of such an event (a killer gas cloud that only killed some people, based on elevation) following the reddening of a lake, the killing of all of its fish, the swarming of frogs, the coming of disease, and the formation of boils is highly suggestive that we are talking about a similar natural cause (whether sent, or not, by a supernatural God).

Where Jacobovici really loses me is in his explanations of some of the representational artifacts he brings as evidence: three grave markers in Mycenae that he claims depict the Exodus; three pieces of jewelry he says represent the Ark of the Covenant, recreated by the Danaites (who he says are members of the tribe of Dan) of Mycenaean antiquity; a signet ring he attributes to Joseph (son of Jacob); and various other items linking Minoan and Egyptian cultures. I think Jacobovici uses a lot of showmanship in presenting his imaginative reinterpretations of the artifacts. I don't discount the possibility that he "reads them" correctly, mind you--I just think that they are as questionable as any other guesses about the same artifacts.

Do I think my students should see this program? Maybe. If you go into it with a critical eye, I think that The Exodus Decoded is offers a fascinating set of hypotheses in support of one of Biblical archaeology and Judaism's greatest mysteries.

Recent interest on Israelis' Electric Car Plan

In the past week, there have been several more stories on the electric car innovations championed by Israeli Shai Agassi and Renault-Nissan, in partnership with the Israeli government and--now--the governments of Denmark, Hawaii, and the city of San Francisco.

SFGate.com: Israel backs Palo Alto man's electric car plan

Newshour with Jim Lehrer's in-depth coverage: As Oil Prices Rise, Car Companies Look to Electric Future

And, for more critical discussion of current electric vehicles:
Forbes.com: Electric Cars: They Need Gas

Interesting Blog Evaluating Claims in Kosher Meat Dispute

Currently, there is a major debate in the Jewish community about the kashrut (kosher status) of meat from Agriprocessors (which sells under the names David's and Rubashkin's). Several weeks ago, they were busted for major immigration violations for hiring illegal and undocumented immigrants. There have also been numerous, well-documented claims that Agriprocessors' workers were verbally (and perhaps physically) abused. I, and many other Rabbis, have decided not to purchase Agriprocessors' meats until the company has instituted reforms under transparent conditions, i.e. circumstances in which independent examiners are welcome to investigate both the slaughtering and business practices.

Many in the Orthodox community have been unwilling to criticize or vilify Agriprocessors, prompting an outcry from some more socially conscious rabbinical students and rabbis under the auspices of Uri L'Tzedek ("Awaken to Justice"); their comments have drawn criticism in turn from a spokesperson from Agudath Israel of America in a recent op-ed in the Jerusalem Post.

The debate is vitally important to those of us who want our meat to be kosher, AND slaughtered in a manner sensitive both to animals' suffering and the rights of workers. This is a growing trend in the Conservative/Masorti community both here and in Israel, and I look forward to continued progress toward publicizing and fulfilling this gap in kashrut practice.

The following link is a blog entry at MyJewishLearning.com by Daniel Septimus which evaluates some of the recent dialogue:
Mixed Multitudes » Blog Archive » Agriprocessors: Presumed Innocence

See Also:
http://www.goveg.com/pdfs/HumaneKosherSignatories.pdf
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/16430/
http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/press/docs/hekhsher2008.doc

Paris Jewish quarter struggles with change - CNN.com

Should a Parisian Jewish neighborhood maintain it's preservation of its historical past or move toward the future? This article presents an interesting dilemma regarding the Rue des Rosiers (in the Marais district), an increasingly upscale neighborhood that has been occupied densely by Jewish families since the Middle Ages. With the kosher establishments in declining condition and the rise in property values, many traditional businesses have closed... but many of the trendy new boutiques moving in are also owned by Jews and a Holocaust memorial library and museum may be on its way.

The article also gives travel hints for visitors.

Paris Jewish quarter struggles with change - CNN.com

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Israel at 60

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Israel at 60

May Her Memory be a Blessing

Irena Sendler, a Polish Righteous Gentile, passed away this Monday at the age of 98. She and those she organized saved over 2500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto, using her position as a social worker to gain access to the Ghetto and its inhabitants. I was particularly moved by her words:

"Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no
longer living, is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory," Sendler said in
2007 in a letter to the Polish Senate after lawmakers honored her efforts in 2007.

AP Article: Polish Holocaust hero dies at age 98 - Yahoo! News

Tel Aviv setting up tent city for African refugees - Haaretz - Israel News

Tel Aviv setting up tent city for African refugees - Haaretz - Israel News

3rd century 'Shema' prayer scroll proves ancient Austrian Jewry - Haaretz - Israel News

3rd century 'Shema' prayer scroll proves ancient Austrian Jewry - Haaretz - Israel News

Challenges of Holocaust Survivor Immigrants to the US

After a Fight to Survive, One to Succeed - New York Times

By NINA BERNSTEIN

Published: March 9, 2008

They came to New York as “displaced persons” in the early 1950s, Jewish refugees who had survived the Holocaust. Today, in film and story, such survivors are treated with a kind of awe, and their arrival in America is considered a happy ending. But a very different picture, with an oddly contemporary twist, emerges from the yellowing pages of social service records now being rescued from oblivion at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan.

The files, from a major Jewish resettlement agency that handled tens of thousands of cases, show that many of these refugees walked a gantlet of resistance and distrust: disapproval of their lack of English and need for health care, threats of deportation, and agency rules shaped by a suspicion of freeloading.

(see link above for full article)

Jews - Marriage - Israel - New York Times

Jews - Marriage - Israel - New York Times

Abbas Rebuffs Call by Rice to Return to Talks - New York Times

Abbas Rebuffs Call by Rice to Return to Talks - New York Times

Shabbat: Free Yourself from Technology-Overload

I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really. - New York Times

Resources on Suicide and Euthanasia

Here are some resources regarding suicide and depression as well as euthanasia.

RECOGNIZE the SIGNS of SUICIDE
Most people with depression are not suicidal, but they all need help and the support of friends and family. To save a life by recognizing the warning signs that someone might make a suicide attempt...

Symptoms and Danger Signs (http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_ID=705F4071-99A7-F3F5-E2A64A5A8BEAADD8)

Warning Signs of Suicide

• Ideation (thinking about suicide)
• Substance use or abuse (increased or change in substance)
• Puposelessness (no sense of purpose or belonging)
• Anger
• Trapped (feeling like there is no way out)
• Hopelessness (there is nothing to live for, no hope or optimism)
• Withdrawal (from family, friends, work, school, activities, hobbies)
• Anxiety (restlessness, irritability)
• Recklessness (high risk-taking behavior)
• Mood disturbance (dramatic change in mood)

Additional Warning Signs of Suicide

• Talking about suicide.
• Statements about hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness.
• Preoccupation with death.
• Suddenly happier, calmer.
• Loss of interest in things one cares about.
• Visiting or calling people one cares about.
• Making arrangements; setting one's affairs in order.
• Giving things away, such as prized possessions.

A suicidal person urgently needs to see a doctor or mental health professional.

FOR MORE
To learn more about how to save a life by recognizing depression and suicidal tendencies, see.

• http://www.save.org/
• http://www.afsp.org/
• http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/index.shtml

EUTHANASIA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE
The following is an excerpt from an article about the Conservative movement's position on euthanasia.
In class, we discussed that the traditional Jewish position considers a person who is dying a goseis, one who is going to die but should be treated as a fully living person in all manners. This position, held by Rabbi Avram Reisner, suggests that one can remove or withhold a respirator or heart-lung machine, but not IV nutrition or hydration. Rabbi Elliot Dorff takes a more radical position, considering a person to be a tereifah, a person who is even closer to death than a goseis. In the times when Jewish courts had the authority to try murder cases, a person who killed a tereifah would not receive the same punishment as for a healthy person or even a goseis; by this thinking, the penalty of "a life for a life" cannot apply for someone who does not, for all intents and purposes, have a life. Rabbi Dorff, in a position considered to be equally valid by the Conservative movement, says that this case can be extended to allow the removal of nutrition and hydration.

Both rabbis emphasize that the only type of euthanasia that might be allowed is passive euthanasia, the removal of treatments keeping a person alive. The person then dies of their original illness. Active euthanasia--actions taken to bring the death of an ill person--is absolutely forbidden according to the Conservative movement's understanding of Jewish law.

From Rabbi Dorff's teshuvah:

I sympathize enormously with patients going through an agonizing process of dying, and in cases of irreversible, terminal illness, I have taken a very liberal stance on withholding or withdrawing life-support systems, including artificial nutrition and hydration, to enable nature to take its course. I would also permit the use of any amount of medication necessary to relieve pain, even if that is the same amount that will hasten a person's death, as long as the intention is to alleviate pain.

The [Conservative movement's] Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has validated that stance, as well as that of Rabbi Avram Reisner, who permits withdrawing machines and medications from the patient but not withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration, and who permits using large doses of morphine to relieve pain up to, but not including, the amount that poses a risk to the patient's life.

-- Conservative rabbi Elliot N. Dorff. Reprinted from "Teshuvah on Assisted Suicide," Conservative Judaism (Summer 1998).

FOR MORE

• http://myjewishlearning.com/ideas_belief/bioethics/Bioethics_Euthanasia_TO.htm
• http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/law/teshuvot_public.html (particularly, examine the papers on "Visiting the Sick and Medicine"

WITHHOLDING CARE AND MAKING END OF LIFE DECISIONS
The Conservative movement encourages individuals to make up their mind regarding prolonging their lives through extreme measures BEFORE it becomes an issue. I have included here the Kaiser Permanente Northern California packet regarding Advance Directives for Health Care, a legally binding document which can be filed even by a healthy individual to record their desires, as well as a packet usable by every Californian from the Californian Coalition for Compassionate Care. Advance Directives also allow people to engage in the mitzvah of designating their organs for donation. There are a number of articles and resources available.

• http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19861990/mackler_care.pdf
• http://www.uscj.org/Jewish_Advance_Medic6700.html
http://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/pdf/6316.pdf
• http://www.finalchoices.calhealth.org/advance_health_care_directives.htm
  

New Israeli Film Is Getting Great Reviews

I just read some wonderful reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for The Band's Visit, a new Israeli film. It's about the members of an Egyptian band who become stranded in Israel and find themselves welcomed into the homes and hearts of Jewish Israelis.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bands_visit/#syn

Kibbutzim: Past and Present

Check out this list and learn more about Israeli kibbutzim, past and present:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kibbutzim. You can look up specific kibbutzim--maybe ones that you or your family members have visited.

Also, many kibbutzim have their own sites. Look at:
Kibbutz Yotvata --home of a prominent dairy
Kibbutz Ketura --a religious, non-Orthodox kibbutz
Kibbutz Beit HaShita --home of well-known factory producing olives and pickles
Kibbutz Degania -- the first Kibbutz

Jews of Yemen and the Preservation of Ancient Hebrew

Due to their geographic isolation, the Jews of Yemen preserved Hebrew as it was pronounced in antiquity. To hear a Yemenite Jew speak Hebrew is to hear its pronunciation in the time of the Second Temple. They have preserved the correct sound for the 'ayin and hard/soft letters no longer having dual pronunciations in Modern Hebrew (such as a gimmel with and without a dot).

To hear a Yemenite pronunciation of the letters, open an audio program such as WinAmp, then open a browser tab to http://sagavyah.tripod.com/ALEFBET.html. Then you can click on each letter to hear it. The YouTube link doesn't seem to work.

You can also see a chart of the differences in pronunciation. The two pages have two separate URLs: page 1 and page 2.

Jews of Yemen

Most of the Jews from Arab countries have been brought to Israel or immigrated to North America. These Jews come from some of the oldest Jewish communities in the world--Babylonia/Iraq, Persia/Iran, Syria, Egypt. Over the centuries, these Jews have been frequently mistreated by the Moslems ruling over them. According to Islamic law, Jews and Christians are called "dhimmi." This status reflected that Jews and Christians (and later a few other groups) were also Jews of the Abrahamic tradition, people of the Book, but also set them apart from those who had accepted Mohammed and his prophecy. The wellbeing of Jewish communities and their people varied greatly according to the whim of the rulers and their interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law. The Jews of Arab lands (Mizrahim) were often humiliated by special dress-codes, forbidden honors like riding a horse, or kept from economic success.

One of the most fascinating Jewish ethnic groups are the Jews of Yemen, whose relative isolation, at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, helped form and preserve a unique culture. In Hebrew, Yemen is called "Teiman." Teimani Jews have contributed greatly to the culture of Israel today. This poor community--which suffered terribly at due to their status as dhimmi--possesses riches of music, metalcraft, Torah study, and ritual.

For general information, check:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenite_Jews
http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=33&letter=Y&search=yemen

On the dhimmi status and being marginal in Islamic society:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhimmi
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/
http://www.jimena.org/Countries_Left.htm

The Jews of Yemen--Weddings

When studying Jewish ethnic groups, it's often interesting to compare the customs of a place with both the local non-Jews and with Jews from other places. In the following links, you can find information about Jewish weddings in Yemen and their celebration with a henna ceremony, non-Jewish weddings in Yemen, and a slideshow of Yemenite henna designs.

http://www.ujc.org/page.html?ArticleID=40490
http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=733&p=culture&a=1
http://www.aisledash.com/photos/bridal-henna/504625/

Catching Up and the Beginning of Adar

Having taken a small bit of a break from blogging (first because of winter break, and then because of writing report cards and catching colds), it's time that I get back on top of things. You shall soon find a bunch of posts covering topics from the previous two months of classes.

Today is starts Adar I. The Rabbis tell us, "the one who enters the month of Adar, multiplies his/her joy." And why are we happy? Because we will soon celebrate God's rescue of the Jews of Persia, at Purim. This year, being a Jewish leap year as well as a secular one, we have two months of Adar, and Purim is celebrated during the second one.

Recently, at a staff meeting, my colleagues and I discussed what activities would bring the spirit of joy to our students. Joy is different than the happiness American society espouses. Rather than being the fulfillment of one's whims, the fun to be had with material pleasures, or simply goofing off, joy comes from a deeper place, a place of connection with God and amazement with Creation. I find it worthwhile to contemplate this difference between joy and American happiness.

There are different ways to reach joy. Joy can come from contentment--being satisfied by one's lot in life. In Pirkei Avot, we are told, "Who is rich? The one who is happy with his/her lot [in life]." This sense of having all that one needs sometimes occurs in a single moment; other times, it can last for quite awhile. Have you ever felt it?