Urban Entrepreneurial Academy

Detroit entrepreneur Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena, recently created an urban entrepreneurial academy called Bizdom U. Set to launch next month, Bizdom U will be a full-time, two-year program designed to produce entrepreneurs who will start up and lead successful Detroit-based businesses.

The goal is to provide graduates of urban high schools who do not plan to pursue a four-year degree with an alternative education in entrepreneurship. Those who graduate from Bizdom U can expect between $25,000 and $500,000 to be invested over time, based on milestones and performance, into their companies. This is a wonderful contribution to Michigan's economy and will greatly benefit many young people in Detroit who could create tomorrow's companies. More information on the project is available at the TechTownWSU site.

Dan Gilbert is a pretty remarkable business man. He founded the Michigan-headquartered Rock Financial in 1985 as a 22-year-old, first-year law student, growing it into one of the largest independent mortgage banks in the country taking it public in 1998. In 1999, Intuit purchased Rock Financial and the national web operation was renamed Quicken Loans Inc. With Dan staying on as CEO, Quicken Loans quickly became the leading provider of home loans on the Internet and about two years later Gilbert bought Quicken Loans Inc. back from Intuit.

Dan is also a partner in the private investment group Camelot Ventures, which recently invested in my cousin's company, ePrize. Camelot also owns and operates FlashSeat, a company which has created technology and processes that replaces physical tickets for large sports and entertainment events with an electronic approach. Dan was Rawlings Sporting Goods' largest shareholder and was instrumental in effecting the sale of Rawlings to K2 in March 2003.

I first met Dan because of his involvement in JARC, a non-profit organization that provides housing and services to the developmentally disabled, where he served as President when my mother was the Secretary of the board. JARC is one of my favorite charities and continuously receives awards for being one of the nation's best non-profits. The photo above was taken at a Cleveland benefit for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in which Dan Gilbert and his business partner David Katzman were honored.

Buy Books from Indigo Bookstore in Toronto

It would appear that the North American Jewish community should support the Indigo Bookstore Company, a pro-Israel company in Toronto with an online bookstore. Here is the news brief from the JTA.org.

Toronto bookstore picketed for Israel donation

Protesters picketed a Toronto bookstore because its owners made a donation to an Israeli cause.

A group of about 25 picketers waved Palestinian flags this week on Bay Street as they urged a boycott of the Indigo bookstore chain because its owners, Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, contributed to an organization that assists Israeli soldiers.

The Canadian Jewish News reported Dec. 21 that Reisman and Schwartz pledged to fund 100 scholarships annually for the next three years through the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers, a charitable organization that assists Israel Defense Force graduates without parents or extended family in Israel.

The protesters said they were from the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid.

Timed to coincide with the pre-Christmas rush, their protest "appeared ineffective judging by the throngs lined up at the cash" register, according to one report.

Israeli Ties

I just read in the Detroit Jewish News that two congregants of Adat Shalom Synagogue (the suburban Detroit shul where I grew up) have launched Am Yisrael Tie Company. They are selling neckties in three styles that all include an Israeli flag together with an American flag. Mickey Levin and Steven Zinderman came up with the idea at a rally for Israel last summer during Israel's war with Lebanon. The ties are available by online ordering at TiesforIsrael.com. Most of the proceeds go to the Jewish National Fund.

Unfortunately, just under the article about these ties for Israel was a news brief stating that four tzedakah boxes were stolen from a Detroit area Judaica store. One box was for the Frankel Jewish Academy of Detroit (Detroit's trans-denominational Jewish high school) and another was for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. How interesting that these articles sit on the same page one on top of the other. One article about some guys trying to do good and give to tzedakah, and another article about someone doing bad and stealing what was intended for tzedakah. Of course, the article about the ties for Israel was on top according to the Talmudic dictum ma'alin b'kodesh v'ein moridin - "You ascend in holiness and do not descend."

Christmas DOESN'T have to be for everyone!

"Sex and the City" executive producer Cindy Chupak's article in yesterday's NY Times was problematic on more levels than there are days of Hanukkah (I would have used "days of Christmas," but I have no idea how many days of Christmas there really are. It would appear there is only one, but then there is that song that includes the lyrics "On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me" that has always confused me.)

Chupak is a newly married Jewish woman who, together with her Jewish husband, decides to jump right into the Christmas spirit and purchases a Christmas tree for their new home. Of course, Chupak blames the Pottery Barn holiday catalog for the fact that they picked out a Home Depot Christmas tree a year-and-a-half after they presumably stood under a chuppah proclaiming to make a Jewish home together.

As a rabbi, I have come to empathize with interfaith families who have to face the daunting challenge of the "December Dilemma" each winter, and I am of the opinion that each interfaith family has to make difficult decisions for themselves as to how they will handle celebrating (or not celebrating) Christmas. Even families in which both partners are Jewish but one converted to Judaism struggle this time of year because of the one non-Jewish side of the family (grandparents, siblings, etc.). At my shul I have instituted an "Interfaith Family Forum" to help interfaith families navigate these thorny issues. However, this article is troubling because it is about two Jewish partners in a marriage caving in to the annual Christmas envy that some Jewish people feel.

Chupak writes, "So here we are: two newlywed Jews celebrating our No No Noel (or Ho Ho Hanukkah) not because we secretly want to convert to Christianity, but because the rampant commercialization of Christmas works!"

The rampant commercialization of Christmas should work... for Christians! Not for Jews. My advice to the Chupak family: About a week or two before September 26 next year, you both should go to Home Depot and shop for some materials to build a sukkah (you can even decorate it with flashing lights if you wish). Then mill through the Pottery Barn catalog and pick out some cute chotchkes to decorate your sukkah.

You and your choo-choo-train-around-the-Christmas-Tree-loving-husband will be able to spend eight wonderful evenings together having holiday meals in your sukkah. You might even make your Christmas-celebrating neighbors jealous of your adorable hut holiday! Oh, and when you have kids, you can teach them about how much fun the Jewish holidays like Sukkot, Purim, Tu Bishvat, and Hanukkah (see MyJewishLearning.com for creative ways to celebrate these) can be without having to adopt any of the rituals of Christian holidays... even the secular rituals in an à la carte way!

Jewlicious also blogged about Cindy Chupak rationalizing her Christmas observance.

The Israeli Rosa Parks?

I've been following the story about Miriam Shear, the Orthodox woman who was spit on and beaten by several Haredi men on a public bus heading for the Kotel in Jerusalem last week. There are those who claim that she is the "Israeli Rosa Parks" for refusing to give up her seat to the Haredi men who wanted her to sit in the back of the bus even though this was not a Mehadrin* bus (there are some public Egged buses in Jerusalem that have separate seating for the ultra-Orthodox to maintain their views of modesty).

[*In a telltale sign about what the Web has become, I was going to offer a link to the Wikipedia entry for the Hebrew word Mehadrin. So I put "Mehadrin" into my Firefox Wikipedia search engine and while there was no Wikipedia entry for Mehadrin, the first result to come up was "Miriam Shear" with a 12.1% relevance!]

The comments about this article at Haaretz.com are very interesting because there are some who claim that the woman had a hidden agenda and essentially was looking for this to happen to her to make a point (that would be the "the woman was looking to get beaten up" argument that thankfully doesn't fly anymore in America). Some in the ultra-Orthodox camp even criticize the victim for violating the laws of lashon hara (gossip) by going public with this story that gives a black eye to the Haredi community. As of this posting there are about 475 comments about this story on the Haaretz.com site.

The story was also picked up by Jewschool.com.

From Ha'aretz

Woman beaten on Jerusalem bus for refusing to move to rear seat
By Daphna Berman

A woman who reported a vicious attack by an ad-hoc "modesty patrol" on a Jerusalem bus last month is now lining up support for her case and may be included in a petition to the High Court of Justice over the legality of sex-segregated buses.

Miriam Shear says she was traveling to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City early on November 24 when a group of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men attacked her for refusing to move to the back of the Egged No. 2 bus. She is now in touch with several legal advocacy and women's organizations, and at the same time, waiting for the police to apprehend her attackers.

In her first interview since the incident, Shear says that on the bus three weeks ago, she was slapped, kicked, punched and pushed by a group of men who demanded that she sit in the back of the bus with the other women. The bus driver, in response to a media inquiry, denied that violence was used against her, but Shear's account has been substantiated by an unrelated eyewitness on the bus who confirmed that she sustained an unprovoked "severe beating."

Shear, an American-Israeli woman who currently lives in Canada, says that on a recent five-week vacation to Israel, she rode the bus daily to the Old City to pray at sunrise. Though not defined by Egged as a sex-segregated "mehadrin" bus, women usually sit in the back, while men sit in the front, as a matter of custom. [more]

United Synagogue Sells its Headquarters Building

I just received an announcement from the Conservative Movement's lay organization, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), that they have sold their international headquarters building -- Rapaport House.

USCJ has entered into a contract for the sale of 155 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and are working to establish a closing date for the purchase of two floors of office condominium space at 820 Second Avenue in Manhattan. The new headquarters will continue to bear the Rapaport family name.

I've found the Rapaport House to be stuck in the 1970s in terms of its internal physical appearance. Some, including me, have criticized United Synagogue of operating as if it were an organization stuck in the 1970s (okay -- to be fair, the 1980s). Hopefully, this edifice and location change will result in improved operations for the congregational arm of the Conservative Movement for generations to come for the benefit of Conservative Jews and USCJ-affiliated synagogues.

The rest of the announcement is below:

The decision to sell the property at 155 Fifth Avenue represents the culmination of years of internal discussion, a comprehensive survey of needs and security concerns, and consultation with space planners, architects and realtors. It is our belief that the new facility will provide United Synagogue with operating and management efficiencies. It had become clear that the building offers a less-than-desirable working environment to our employees, who are dispersed over seven floors. We considered renovating the building, but the cost of doing so made a move a more desirable outcome.

The board resolution requires that the balance remaining after payment of the purchase price and relocation expenses be placed into a restricted account, used only for extraordinary expenses beyond the purview of the normal operating budget in the upkeep of this or other new property. The interest from that restricted account will be available only for improvements of the premises and other budgetary items for the premises that were not part of the usual and ordinary expenses at 155 Fifth Avenue.

The resolution also provides for a limited portion of the balance in the net proceeds to be placed into a separate restricted account under the same terms and conditions as the other account, with the interest of that fund to be used for United Synagogue’s programming and/or building expenses. Until we complete the transition, it will be difficult for us to determine how the funds that are available for programming will affect our operating budget. We anticipate that it will be about two fiscal years before we can be certain of that impact.

We look forward to announcing the opening of the new Rapaport House at 820 Second Avenue within the next two years.

Carter Center should Invest in Duct Tape for Jimmy Carter

On December 10, I blogged about how Prof. Ken Stein (right) resigned as a fellow at Emory's Carter Center because of the anti-Israel rhetoric (including referring to Israel as an Apartheid state) in Jimmy Carter's new book. Well, it appears that in an effort to sell more copies of his new book, on December 15 the former president issued a letter to the American Jewish community. In the letter, President Carter refers to a meeting he had with rabbis in Phoenix who announced before Carter's arrival that they would demonstrate against the book as any pro-Israel rabbi should do. The letter is well intentioned but extremely contradictory to what Carter actually writes in his book. In this letter he tries to redefine his usage of the term Apartheid. Nice try!

Carter ends his letter by describing the warm feelings he had at the end of the meeting when the group of Phoenix rabbis held hands in a circle while one of the rabbis prayed before Carter then autographed copies of his book. The Anti-Defamation League does a good job responding to Carter's letter in their own "Open Letter to Jimmy Carter" where they write:

Your efforts in the letter to minimize the impact of your charge that American Jews control US Middle East policy are simply unconvincing. In both your book and in your many television and print interviews you have been feeding into conspiracy theories about excessive Jewish power and control. Considering the history of anti-Semitism, even in our great country, this is very dangerous stuff.

Perhaps the best response to Jimmy Carter has been the firsthand account from one of the rabbis who attended that meeting. My colleague, Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky, gave me permission to quote directly from his e-mail account of the meeting. His words are in italics:

Carter's visceral disdain for Israel was visible to most of us. He EXPLICITLY and repeatedly used terms like "Israeli colonialism" and actually drew a moral equivalency between the attacks against innocent Israeli civilians and the Palestinian casualties due to Israeli military strikes (and complained that more Palestinians died than Israelis - I was unaware that an equal number of people need to die in order to justify the actions of a nation acting in self defense).

Carter was, to say the least, clueless. He is blind to Israel's virtues and equally blind to the inherent evil of Radical Islam. When I asked him, "How do you negotiate with people who declare "We have won because we love death as much as they love life?", he didn't have much of an answer.

In my opinion, Jimmy Carter will serve society much better if he sticks to the good work he's done for Habitat for Humanity and puts a strip of duct tape over his mouth when he has the urge to talk about the situation in the Middle East.

Rabbi Jason or Elf Jason?

Office Max has a new promotion on the Web, called Elf Yourself, that allows you to upload a head shot of you or a friend to create a dancing elf. Here is my creation. It's not the best cutout of my face, but I didn't want to spend [er, waste] too much time doing this.

Thanks to Arthur Bocian of Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell, NJ for letting me know about this fun waste of time!

I actually like the Elf Yourself I did with the face of Arnie Eisen, the new chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Fortunately, Prof. Eisen has a great sense of humor. I found it to be even funnier if you play the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from Disney's "The Lion King" while you watch Chancellor Eisen dance.

Menorahs from Around the World

I saw the image of menorahs around the world (below) in an American Greetings online greeting card I received today from Paul Magy, immediate past president of Adat Shalom Synagogue and the new chair of the Rabbinical School Board of Overseers at The Jewish Theological Seminary.

I thought it was a cool idea so I decided to make my own for the state in which I was born (Michigan) and the state in which I currently reside (Ohio). The Michigan menorah is the map of Michigan filled with lake water and riding on wheels with the upper peninsula holding the shamash. The Ohio menorah is scarlet, with buckeyes as the flames and an OSU football as the shamash.

Kosher Plus

Kosher than a jar of another brand of salsa even if it bears a heksher (authorized symbol of kashrut certification) as well. With Paul Newman donating all his Newman's Own net profits to tzedakah (charity), we have the ethical obligation to support his company's products. [He's donated over $200 million to charity thusfar, not to mention his salsa is very good] Now the Conservative Movement is coming along and considering the creation of an additional label that would identify a product as meeting ethical standards as well as the standards of the Jewish dietary laws.

Here's the article from the Forward about this "Heksher Tzedek"

From JTA.org

Conservatives might mark food for ethics

The Conservative movement is considering labeling kosher food according to the ethical standards by which it is produced.

A commission appointed by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly is debating the creation of a social responsibility certification.

The commission was created in response to recent reports of unsafe working conditions and labor violations at AgriProcessors of Postville, Iowa, one of the nation’s largest kosher meat-packing plants.

The new label would be concerned primarily with protecting workers' rights, in accordance with Jewish law.

It would be an additional label placed onto food already carrying traditional kosher certification.

Samuel Freedman on the Brokeback Mountain Effect and the Conservative Movement

Columbia University Professor Samuel Freedman takes on Rabbi Avi Shafran in today's Jerusalem Post on the issue of the homosexuality in Judaism and the recent decision by the Conservative Movement to be more inclusive toward gays and lesbians. Freedman, author of Jew vs. Jew (I wonder if Rabbi Shafran read that one?) and Letters to a Young Journalist, writes that "the decision to open a space of theological acceptance for gays and lesbians seems to me deeply true to the Conservative movement's mission of interpreting Halacha in light of modernity." Well said Professor Freedman.

From the Jerusalem Post (complete article)

In the Diaspora: Brokeback minyan
By SAMUEL FREEDMAN

When I was a senior in high school and editor of its student newspaper, my English teacher took our staff into Manhattan for a scholastic journalism convention. At the end of the events, which happened to fall on St. Patrick's Day, he shepherded us onto the subway and then walked us to the correct platform of the bus terminal for the ride back home to New Jersey. Having boarded us all, he backed away from the closing door and said in a sprightly way, "Well, I'm off to see some Irish friends in the Village."

Most of us knew the import of those flip words. Mr. Stevens, our teacher, was gay, and he was heading into the part of his life that was an open secret. Certainly, our community would not have acknowledged the presence of a homosexual on the faculty, someone entrusted with the lives of scores of teenaged boys. Just as certainly, nobody would have wanted to lose the most inspiring teacher in the school by forcing a confrontation. The result was just one more version of the closet, and it was in that closet that Mr. Stevens essentially drank himself to death.

I found myself recalling Mr. Stevens, a Protestant from the South, in relationship to the Jewish world last week, as the Conservative movement was finally, admirably opening the closet door. The movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards accepted a position paper that permits Conservative seminaries to ordain gays and lesbians as rabbis, and allows Conservative rabbis to perform ceremonies for same-sex unions.

THIS REMAINS incomplete justice, to be sure. Among the five papers accepted by the committee are one restating the movement's 1992 ban on ordaining homosexuals and another urging gays and lesbians to receive treatment so they can become straight. Each of the movement's five seminaries and hundreds of congregations has the right to adopt or ignore any of the approved positions. [more]

New Video Game Stars Rabbi

More and more these days we see rabbis in TV shows and movies, but I didn't think the time would come anytime soon that we would see a rabbi starring in a video game. I've never been much of a fan of video games (I guess I've always like to play some of those retro games like PacMan, Arkanoid, Frogger, etc.), but I've got to check out this one. It's called "The Shiva" and I guess that means you have to sit to play it (typical rabbi joke #1). Also, you're not allowed to play it on Shabbat (typical rabbi joke #2). Maybe my idea for the video game "Rabbi Cop" will finally see the light of day now. And thank you to the guys at Bangitout.com for posting my "Rabbi Cop" creation to their site.

From Yahoo! News:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - While Christian games like the newly released "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" gain mainstream attention, Manifesto Games in New York City is billing "The Shiva" as the first to star the leader of a Jewish congregation.

In the murder-mystery game named after the Jewish mourning ritual, protagonist Rabbi Stone is having a crisis of faith and his congregation on New York's Lower East side is losing members and cash.

When he inherits a small windfall from a controversial congregant, Rabbi Stone must solve the mystery behind the gift and make sure it is not cursed.

Manifesto, which announced the title via e-mail, said "The Shivah" plays on personal computers and is the first commercial game from creator Dave Gilbert.

Representatives from Manifesto, which sells downloadable games, were not immediately available for comment. "The Shivah" sells for $5.

Hanukkah-mania? No Wrestle-mania!

Here's a great video from the Man Show with Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carrola in which they spend the eight nights of Hanukkah with the professional wrestler Goldberg.

Rabbi Joel Roth Speaks Out

Rabbi Joel Roth, who resigned his long-time position on the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) -- the Conservative Movement's standing law committee of the Rabbinical Assembly, has explained his actions in an op-ed piece found on the JTA.org website. He claims that the CJLS stepped outside the halakhic framework in its ruling on the gay issue. "The ostensible legal reasoning in the permissive paper that was approved was outside the pale of acceptability of halakhic reasoning," Rabbi Roth explained. He is the author of the book, The Halakhic Process: A Systemic Analysis.

The entire text of Rabbi Roth's op-ed can be found here.

The photo to the left is of Rabbi Joel Roth and me at my 2004 ordination ceremony at the Jewish Theological Seminary. We are standing next to JTS professor Rabbi Burton Vizotsky who is donning an "ORDINATION REGARDLESS OF ORIENTATION" button produced by the JTS Gay Lesbian advocacy group Keshet. I was wearing one of these buttons as well, but out of respect for Rabbi Roth I removed it before taking this photo. What makes this such a great photo however is that just to the right of Rabbi Roth's head is Rabbi Neil Gillman, almost functioning as a "thought bubble" for Rabbi Roth (or is he one of those little angels or devils on Rabbi Roth's shoulder?).

Also available on the JTA.org website is an op-ed written by Cyd Weissman, an irate member of the Conservative movement who is the mother of a gay son. She takes great exception with the passing of a teshuvah by Rabbi Len Levy, another member of the CJLS who resigned following the passing of a teshuvah allowing for gay inclusion was passed. Levy's paper argued for the status quo but also suggested that, contrary to the common medical and psychological opinions, gays should undergo "reparative therapy."

She writes, I was compelled to ask a Conservative rabbi, "When does Jewish tradition allow you to stand up and say the hurt caused by a law far outweighs the halachah?" Burning within me when I asked this question was the pain I felt while reading in The New York Times that the Conservative movement approved a legal opinion suggesting that "some gay people could undergo 'reparative therapy.' " The movement I'm affiliated with was elevating to Jewish law the notion that gays and lesbians needed repair. Although not enough to make a minyan, six men had decided to brand my son -- many sons and daughters -- in need of fixing.

Well stated and I happen to agree with her. Certainly, Rabbi Levy (my professor for two courses in the JTS Rabbinical School including one titled "Practical Halakhah") worked long and hard writing this paper, but it should not have been brought in front of the committee for a vote. Originally, many rabbis wrote teshuvot on this issue and there was a decision to merge several papers into only a few. The two extremely liberal papers that were both deemed takkanot should have not been considered, and the paper by Rabbi Levy should not have been considered leaving only the inclusive paper by Rabbis Nevins, Dorff, and Reisner along with the status quo paper by Rabbi Roth. If Rabbi Roth wanted to re-draft his paper with Rabbi Levy, then this would have been his choice. The three rabbis of the middle-of-the-road position (increased inclusion based on the concept of human dignity, but no abrogation of the ban on male-male anal sex) did decide to collaborate their efforts and I believe it made for an even better constructed teshuvah.

Ken Stein Resigns

Before leaving Michigan for Columbus, Ohio, I took part in TEAM -- a one-year program for Jewish educators through the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit and the Alliance for Jewish Education. In June, the program concluded with a three-day conference on best practices for teaching about Israel and Zionism in the classroom. The conference was coordinated by the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel and led by its director Ken Stein, a professor at Emory. I was very impressed with Ken and his entire team for what was an extremely thought-provoking experience on how to convey the situation in the Middle East to students at every age level (past TEAM meetings and discussions had left me frustrated for what was a waste of my time). Ken has recently been in the news after resigning his post as a fellow at Emory's Carter Center because of the anti-Zionist rhetoric in Jimmy Carter's new book. Kol Hakavod to Ken for standing up for what he believes! Here is the article from the Forward:

A prominent Middle East scholar, Kenneth W. Stein, announced his resignation as a fellow of Emory University's Carter Center, in response to former President Jimmy Carter’s new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

Stein did not give the book's title in the e-mail announcing his resignation, saying that it was "a title too inflammatory to even print."

Carter's book, published last month, is based on his years as a peace negotiator, including his role in the 1978 Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt. The book has drawn widespread criticism from Jewish activists.

Stein was the first executive director of the Carter Center, and he is now the director of the university's Middle East Research Program and of the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel. Carter and Stein co-wrote a book in 1984 called "The Blood of Abraham." Stein said he was present in the room, as well, during a number of events recollected in Carter's new book, and his notes show "little similarity to points claimed in the book. Being a former President does not give one a unique privilege to invent information"

Stein characterized Carter's book as "replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions, and simply invented segments."

In his e-mail, Stein said that he plans in the future to more fully rebut the errors that he found in Carter's book.

Stein said that in his early years working with Carter, "we carefully avoided polemics or special pleading. This book does not hold to those standards. My continued association with the Center leaves the impression that I am sanctioning a series of egregious errors and polemical conclusions which appeared in President Carter's book."

Stein will continue in his other academic positions at Emory.

Esa Einai: Out of the Depths [of Staten Island] I Call You

Some might say it's a sign of the Mashiach arriving! The PS22 Chorus sings Hebrew song Esa Einai (Psalm 121) with an original rap by Dritan, otherwise known as "Lil' Eminem." When Jewish kids come home and tell Mom and Dad that they had to sing "Silent Night" at school, the Jewish parents usually complain (December Dilemma). I wonder about the reaction of the Staten Island parents at this school.

United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism to change gay hiring policy

The United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism will not currently hire a Jewish educator or staff member to work with youth if they are gay or lesbian. Following the decision of the CJLS today, the USCJ issued a statement that seems to say that they will soon reverse that policy:

"Given the Law Committee's decision today, Rabbi Epstein (at left), who is United Synagogue's mara d'atra, has told United Synagogue's leadership that he sees no reason why we should not revise our hiring policies. Based on this conclusion, we may consider applicants for United Synagogue jobs no matter what their sexual orientation. United Synagogue's leadership will discuss the issue at its next scheduled meeting."

The response on the USCJ website seemed to say "Here here" to the CJLS vote. Actually it said "here" a few more times:

Halakhic Status of Gay Men and Lesbians

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards met to consider the halakhic status of gay men and lesbians. We respond to decisions made on December 6 here and here.

On August 24, in one of a series of panels to be held across North America, Rabbi Joel Roth and Rabbi Elliot Dorff discussed the issue. Click here and here to read newspaper articles about the panel. If you want to see a three-part video filmed that evening, click here for Part I, here for Part II and here for Part III. To see a guide to the video, click here.

Arnie Eisen on the CJLS Vote on Homosexuality

FROM CHANCELLOR-ELECT ARNIE EISEN OF
THE JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

To the JTS Community:

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) of the Rabbinical Assembly has now issued its ruling on the status of homosexual behavior. We are all in their debt for the years of hard work and sustained reflection they have put into this issue. Views on the matter among all of us at JTS differed widely before this week's decision, and they will no doubt continue to differ widely in the wake of this decision. Opinions on both sides of the issue are strongly held and passionately felt. As we embark on the next stage of our consideration of gay and lesbian ordination at JTS, I am confident that the long-standing JTS tradition of embracing and respecting significant differences of opinion will continue to guide us. I write to remind you of the steps through which we at JTS will carry the discussion forward in coming weeks.

First, let me emphasize that the halakhic authority for the Conservative Movement and the institutions associated with it rests with the CJLS. The Law Committee has split on the status of homosexual behavior according to Jewish law; its rules and those of the Rabbinical Assembly regard each of the opinions authorized as equally legitimate. The ball is thus in our court with regard to the question of ordination of gays and lesbians at JTS — a decision regarding admission and graduation requirements that we will treat as such and not as the matter of law that stood before the Law Committee. We at JTS are not poskim. We will not be adjudicating matters of halakhah. However, we are going to consider what we think best serves the Conservative Movement and larger American Jewish community. We know that the implications of the decision before us are immense. We fully recognize what is at stake. This is why we are determined to conduct a thoroughgoing discussion of which we can all be proud no matter what outcome is eventually reached.

We have commissioned a survey with Stephen M. Cohen to determine where rabbis, Conservative Jewish laypeople, and the movement's leadership stand on the issue. This data will be in hand before JTS reaches its decision on the matter.

I have invited the heads of the other seminaries affected by the CJLS decision — Machon Schechter in Jerusalem, the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, and the Ziegler School of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles — to join me for a frank airing of the matter.

JTS students will be informed about the details of the Law Committee decision in coming days and will over the next month or so have a chance to debate with one another the pros and cons of the ordination of homosexuals. They will also have the opportunity to make their voices heard by faculty and administration.

Through the Campus Life Committee, the Deans of Student Life and the five schools will continue to consult and plan for both possible outcomes of this process.
Faculty will hold several discussions of the matter in coming weeks with the aim of making a clear and reasoned determination.

Let me note, that this critical phase of the discussion and the very debate itself is a hallmark of JTS — and Conservative Judaism more generally — of which we can be proud. We have the burden and privilege of this debate not because we are in the middle, but because of our commitment to halakhah on the one hand and full immersion in the culture and society of the present on the other hand. We are dedicated to thoughtful change as an essential element of tradition — which is not to say that the change proposed to us now is right or necessary, but that the process of considering it thoughtfully, whatever we eventually decide, is to us inescapable and welcome. One could say that such debate defines us — and that, well-conducted, it strengthens us. Of course debate on this and similar matters has the potential to wound us as an institution and a movement. It also, however, has the power to remind us of what we stand for, and why despite our differences — or even because of them — we choose to stand together.

That is why I hope you will all join me in doing our very best to ensure that we do this right. I firmly believe that the way we discuss the matter in coming weeks may well have as great an effect on the future of JTS as whatever decision we eventually reach. Argument le-shem shamayim is for us a long and valued tradition. Never has it been more needed than now.

Let me just add in conclusion that if you have suggestions or thoughts about either the process or its outcome, please do not hesitate to communicate them to me.

Arnold Eisen
Chancellor-elect

Four Resignations on the CJLS over the Vote on Homosexuality and Halakhah

At the end of the CJLS deliberations, four members of the Committee resigned: Rabbi Joel Roth, Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz, Rabbi Joseph Prouser and Rabbi Leonard Levy. They expressed the view that the permissive teshuvah accepted by the Committee went beyond the bounds of halakhic process. The CJLS members have asked them to reconsider. I think this is really a shame.

Rabbi Danny Nevins co-authored the CJLS teshuvah on homosexuality

I disagree wholeheartedly with these four rabbis that the permissive teshuvah went beyond the bounds of the process to decide Jewish Law, however, these are also four very talented and thoughtful poskim in the Conservative Movement. Rabbis Roth, Rabinowitz and Levy were my teachers in rabbinical school (Rabbi Prouser's wife Ora Horn Prouser was my teacher too). I certainly hope they re-consider (especially Rabbi Roth and Rabbi Rabinowitz who have served on the Law Committee with distinction for so many years).

At the conclusion of deliberations, three papers were approved. The teshuvot of Rabbi Joel Roth and of Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Rabbi Daniel Nevins and Rabbi Avram Reisner each received 14 votes. A third teshuvah by Rabbi Leonard Levy received six votes. The other papers were voted takkanot and failed, each receiving seven votes. These will be included in our papers as either concurring documents of papers to study.

JTA Story on the CJLS Meeting

Well, here's the JTA "Breaking News" alert on the CJLS meeting. It answers the question about the two liberal papers (one by the father-son team of Rabbis Bob and David Fine; the other by Rabbi Gordon Tucker) that were apparently ruled as takkanot and defeated in committee.

Conservatives open to gays

The Conservative movement's highest legal body moved to allow commitment ceremonies for gays and the ordination of gay rabbis. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards endorsed three opinions Wednesday on homosexuality.

Two opinions upheld earlier prohibitions on homosexual activity, but the third endorsed commitment ceremonies and the ordination of gay rabbis, while retaining the biblical ban on male sodomy.

Two other opinions that were under consideration, which would have removed all restrictions on gay activity, were declared takanot, or substantial breaks from tradition that would require an absolute majority of the committee members for adoption.

They were defeated.

Conservative Movement Changes Policy on Homosexuality

Here is the article from the Forward.

And here is the Press Release from the Rabbinical Assembly that was just sent out from New York regarding the deliberations of The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards on the subject of homosexuality -- specifically on how Jewish Law (Halakhah) views homosexuals considering the biblical injunction against homosexuality. The ruling has a direct effect on whether rabbinical and cantorial schools in the Conservative Movement will be able to accept and graduate affirmed homosexuals to be rabbis and cantors.

Interestingly I do not see any mention of Rabbi Gordon Tucker's teshuvah or whether it was even considered a takkanah before the committee. I am surprised that Rabbi Leonard Levy's teshuvah, which argues for reparative therapy for homosexuals, was accepted by the committee (presumably by a minority vote). The bottom line however is that the teshuvah co-authored by Rabbis Nevins, Dorff, Reisner was accepted and therefore the Jewish Theological Seminary and University of Judaism will begin accepting out-of-the-closet gays and lesbians to rabbinical school. The UJ will likely begin this process tomorrow, while the Seminary will not likely begin until next year.

For Immediate Release

The CJLS of the Rabbinical Assembly concluded its two-day meeting on the subject of Homosexuality and Halakhah, or Jewish Law, this morning. The discussions and teshuvot of the CJLS reflect a deeply shared commitment to halakhah, Jewish Law and the Torah principle of kvod habriot, the God-given dignity of all human beings.

The Rabbinical Assembly is the international professional association of Conservative rabbis. The CJLS is the central halakhic authority for the Conservative movement, which represents more than two million Jews worldwide.

The following statement was drafted at the conclusion of the meeting:

Founded in 1927, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is empowered to deal with, and rule on, halakhic issues within the Conservative movement. The role of the CJLS is to issue rulings shaping the practice of the Conservative Jewish community. As such, it is an advisory, not a judiciary body. Parameters set by the committee guide all of the rabbis, synagogues and institutions of the Conservative movement, but within these bounds there are many variations of practice recognized as both legitimate and essential to the richness of Jewish life. As a result, there have been instances when two or more responsa, representing conflicting viewpoints, are validated by the committee. When that happens, the local rabbi determines which of the responsa to follow.

At the CJLS meetings, five specific teshuvot were extensively discussed in a spirit of collegiality and open-mindedness. Two teshuvot -- one authored by Rabbi Joel Roth and the other authored by Rabbis Elliot Dorff, Daniel Nevins and Avram Reisner -- obtained clear majority support. Rabbi Roth's responsum "Homosexuality Revisited" reaffirmed the prior position, which denied ordination as clergy to active homosexuals and also prohibited same sex commitment ceremonies or marriage.

In contrast, Rabbis Dorff, Nevins and Reisner, while retaining the Torah's explicit prohibition, as understood by the rabbis banning male homosexual intercourse, argued in "Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah" for the full normalization of the status of gay and lesbian Jews. Under this ruling, gay and lesbian Jews may be ordained as clergy and their committed relationships may be recognized, although not as sanctified marriage.

A third teshuva accepted by the CJLS, written by Rabbi Leonard Levy, which upheld the traditional prohibitions, argued that homosexuality is not a unitary condition and urged the development of educational programs within the community to achieve understanding, compassion and dignity for gays and lesbians. There was also some support on the committee for a more comprehensive repeal of the prior ban against homosexual relationships. All authors of teshuvot shared a universal appreciation for the principle of kvod habriot and the welfare of gays and lesbians in our community.

During its deliberations the CJLS did not discuss - nor do any of the papers reflect- any determination regarding gay marriage.

The meeting of the past two days on the issue of homosexuality and halakhah reflects a wide diversity of ideas and opinions. These distinct and divergent opinions may be used by rabbis, synagogues, institutions and individual members of the Conservative movement as a guide in welcoming gays and lesbians in our movement.

The teshuvot may also serve to determine the extent to which gays and lesbians may be admitted into our seminaries and guide the clergy of our movement on the question of whether to initiate commitment ceremonies for gays and lesbians.

The CJLS is united in its concern for the unity of the Conservative movement worldwide. The diversity of opinions issued today reflects an essential strength of the Conservative movement - namely, its very pluralism. Indeed, a multiplicity of approaches to halakhah has been a key feature of the Conservative movement since its inception.

The CJLS is composed of 25 rabbis and 6 non-rabbinical members (who are non-voting) and who serve on a rotating basis for a period of at least 5 years. The Rabbinical Assembly, founded in 1901, is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The Rabbinical Assembly actively promotes the cause of Conservative Judaism, publishes learned texts, prayer books and works of Jewish interest, and administers the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement.

Swearing in on the Koran... I see no problem

I personally do not see a problem if an elected official gets sworn into office on a copy of the New Testament, the Tanakh, or a Koran. Dennis Prager (see photo at left from the 2005 Rabbinical Assembly Convention in Houston) obviously does. He's taken issue with Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who is a Muslim and the first to be elected to Congress, taking his oath of office on a Koran. My colleague and friend Rabbi Barry Leff weighs in at his blog, Neshamah.net.

Charles Krauthamer, Borat and G'neivat Da'at

On the same day this blog reached its 33,000th unique visit, my website (RabbiJason.com) marked its 15,000th unique visitor. My goal is to reach 50,000 visits to this blog in 2007. Of course, I will have to post more often than I have been -- call it a new year's resolution.

This morning we had a nice crowd at Agudas Achim for Shabbat services. I spoke about the movie Borat and how Sacha Baron Cohen is guilty of g'neivat da'at (literally, the theft of knowledge) when he deceives people into thinking he is an anti-Semitic Kazakh journalist and gets them to reveal their actual anti-Semitic feelings (or apathy).

I drew on the examples of g'neivat da'at that occur in the Book of Genesis:

1. Jacob deceives his father Isaac into thinking he is Esau in order to receive the birthright that was intended for his older brother;
2. Laban deceives Jacob by having him marry his older daughter Leah even though Jacob worked seven long years for the right to marry his beloved Rachel;
3. Jacob deceives Laban by sneaking off from Lavan's home in the middle of the night with his family.

I also handed out a source sheet with other examples of g'neivat da'at from other texts including II Samuel and rabbinic sources such as the Tosefta and the Talmud. We studied these texts and I also gave the example of Laura Blumenfeld's g'neivat da'at in the book Revenge when she deceived the Palestinian family of the jailed man who shot her father, Conservative rabbi David Blumenfeld, into thinking she was just an American journalist interested in interviewing them.

Using the Rolling Stone interview of Sacha Baron Cohen and the Charles Krauthammer article critical of Baron Cohen's explanation for his deception in the movie, I came to the conclusion in my sermon that:

1. The movie "Borat" is very funny... outrageously funny;
2. The movie is a sad commentary on anti-Semitism in America;
3. The movie is dangerous because so many people just "won't get it";
4. Sacha Baron Cohen clearly deceives people (g'neivat da'at) and that is not fair;
5. Even though there are examples of where g'neivat da'at is acceptable (e.g., Jacob deceiving Lavan because otherwise Jacob's family would have been in grave danger), in the case of "Borat," the comedian Baron Cohen's g'neivat da'at is not permissable.

The reactions to the sermon and text study were all very positive and of course they generated much discussion following services. Many people who didn't see the movie said they were going to go soon. Some told me that based on my comments they realize they either don't want to see the movie or feel they would be too upset by the anti-Semitism in the movie.

Overall, I've realized that most Jews are not upset by the anti-Semitism in the movie "Borat." This is probably because Jews "get it." My concern is for those who don't "get it."

The Anti-Defamation League came out with a statement that this is humor and to not take it too seriously. But also noticed that it has the potential to be dangerous:

We are concerned, however, that one serious pitfall is that the audience may not always be sophisticated enough to get the joke, and that some may even find it reinforcing their bigotry.
While Mr. Cohen's brand of humor may be tasteless and even offensive to some, we understand that the intent is to dash stereotypes, not to perpetuate them. It is our hope that everyone in the audience will come away with an understanding that some types of comedy that work well on screen do not necessarily translate well in the real world -- especially when attempted on others through retelling or mimicry.

Regardless of the comedian's intent, people's reaction to the anti-Semitism in the film, or people's outrage or disgust at some of the "gross-out" gags in the film, there is no denying that Sacha Baron Cohen has introduced a new form of humor even different than that of Mel Brooks ("Springtime for Hitler").

Don Imus joins Mel Gibson in the Anti-Semitism Hall of Fame

Last week Charles Krauthammer published an article about Sacha Baron Cohen's movie "Borat." Krauthammer argued that if Baron Cohen was, according to his out-of-character interview in Rolling Stone, trying to using Borat's anti-Semitism as a "tool'' to expose it in others, then he was looking for anti-Semitism in the wrong country. Rather than coming to America to out everyday Christians of being anti-Semitic, Baron Cohen (Krauthammer explains) should have stayed home in Europe.

In the Rolling Stone interview, Baron Cohen explains that his Arizona bar stunt where, as Borat, he gets the entire Country/Western bar to passionately sing along with his "Throw the Jew Down the Well," revealed "indifference'' to anti-Semitism. And that, he maintains, was the path to the Holocaust. Krauthammer takes great exception to this comment.

To Krauthammer there really is no anti-Semitism problem here in America. He writes: "This is all quite crazy. America is the most welcoming, religiously tolerant, philo-Semitic country in the world. No nation since Cyrus the Great's Persia has done more for the Jews. And its reward is to be exposed as latently anti-Semitic by an itinerant Jew looking for laughs and, he solemnly assures us, for the path to the Holocaust?"

He continues: "It is very hard to be a Jew today, particularly in Baron Cohen's Europe, where Jew-baiting is once again becoming acceptable."

Well, take a look at Mel Gibson. Take a look at Michael Richards (who in addition to his racist tirade allegedly make anti-Semitic comments in a stand-up act as well). And now, take a look at morning radio show host Don Imus who on his radio program yesterday called "Jewish Management" at CBS "Money Grubbing."

Krauthammer writes: "Harry Truman used to tell derisive Jewish jokes. Richard Nixon said nasty things about Jews in government and elsewhere. Who cares? Truman and Nixon were the two greatest friends of the Jews..." Well, he can make excuses for anti-Semites all he wants but the fact remains that anti-Semitism is on the rise in our country. I'm sure the ADL is busy preparing their response to the Don Imus tirade, but Krauthammer making it seem that anti-Semitism isn't a problem here in America is not going to help.

This Shabbat, I will speak about the Borat movie and Sacha Baron Cohen's deceptive approach to revealing anti-Semitism in America. Is it positive or negative? Is it funny or sad? Is it fair? Is it telling? And perhaps the most important question: Is it dangerous?