Witnessing Change in Iran?

What is happening in Iran is intriguing, fascinating, confusing, and amazing. The recent election and convoluted aftermath have become political footballs in our country and throughout the west.  In today’s technological age, anyone can voice his or her opinion. (and they are…)
The repercussions on Israel, the United States and the West of what is happening right now in Iran could be staggering.
With this blog, I will be quite brief. The best site I have been tracking is on the Huffington Post. It includes a blog by Nico Pitney. He is devoting hours to collect links, twitters, e-mails, video, translations, and on, and on, and on. He has done the hard work for us.
I can imagine some of you may be biased against the Huffington Post. The bottom line is that despite the political leanings of this Web site, Pitney’s content is highly impressive.
I encourage you to visit this site but also to respond with suggestions of other sites to visit. Let’s engage in dialogue. I want to hear your opinion of what is happening in Iran, why it is happening, and how it is or is not in our best interests.
What an amazing time to be alive!

Barbarians at the gates?

Once again, the normalcy of our routines has been shattered by murderous violence. On Wednesday afternoon, James Wenneker Von Brunn allegedly entered the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and opened fire on security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns. Other security guards returned fire. Both Johns and Von Brunn were hospitalized, but Johns died soon thereafter, and as of this writing, Von Brunn is in critical condition. Johns worked for six years protecting anyone who visited the Holocaust Museum. He died for us … and he died for anyone who strives to eradicate anti-Semitism, bigotry, intolerance and hatred from our world.

Horror in Wichita

Can we imagine someone entering the Blatt Levenson Sanctuary on a random Friday evening and opening fire on a lawyer who defended a doctor’s right to perform abortions, or on the doctor who performed the procedures, or upon me, a rabbi who defends a woman’s “right to choose”?

Celebrate Our Youth

Just a few years ago, our youth program was in trouble. We had lost our identity — our niche — as Reform Jews. Now, in quick fashion, we are back on track.

Echoes of Jeremiah

Like it or not, we have a responsibility to be witnesses.  Talk about a daunting task. It is hard enough to be a witness to one’s own life — to remember the details accurately day to day, month to month, year to year and infuse them with meaning. We are also expected to be witnesses to events separated by generations, even centuries? In a word — “yes.”

Our New Pharaoh Is Hunger

Thousands of years ago, after having been enslaved for 430 years, we depended upon a radical appearance of some higher power to be redeemed. We found this power in Moses and God, who blasted into history and changed our fate forever.

Confronting the Economic Downturn

A test of the strength of a congregational family is not how it responds to times of joy, but how it responds to crisis. Temple B’nai Israel is confronting such a time.

This Summer in Jerusalem

The closest I got to Israel as a youth was erecting a U.S. military tent in the Utica, Mississippi, backwoods of Henry S. Jacobs Camp. At least we called it the Kibbutz program. Now, our high schoolers have the opportunity to visit the real deal. The issue is whether we will lend them a helping hand.

Be an Amazing Faith

“A Jew, a Catholic, a Muslim, a Protestant and a Hindu walk into a sanctuary.”

No, this is not the first line of a joke; it is a reality we can help create.

Petition for Pluralism

During my year of rabbinical studies in Jerusalem, I learned that one of the easiest ways to make an Israeli look like a deer in the headlights is to try to describe pluralistic Judaism. The conversation went like this:

“You’re studying to be a rabbi?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re ‘dati’ (ultra-Orthodox)?”

“No.”

“You’re obviously  not ‘chiloni’ (secular).”

“Right.”

“So you’re ‘dati.’”

“No, I’m studying to be a Reform rabbi.”

“Reform?”

“I’m neither ‘dati’ nor ‘chiloni.’ I’m in between.”

“What is this?”

Silence.