Monday, April 19, 2010

The AIWAC prize

I hereby announce the AIWAC prize, an award given by one judge (myself) for contributions to Judaism made in the great State of Israel. The contributions can be social, cultural or religious. Each prize will contain a theme, and is not limited to one recipient.
This post's theme: Making Jewish sources user-friendly and accessible
After long deliberation, I have decided to award the prize to the following people:
1) Rav Pinchas Kehati - for his seminal work in explaining the entire Mishna in easy-to-understand terms.
2) Rav Adin Steinzaltz - for his monumental bi'ur of the entire Shas, which is set to be finished this year.
3) The Da'at Mikra team - For making the entire Tanakh, book by book, come to life.
Honorable mention also goes out to Rav Shlomo Tal, creator of the widely used Rinat Israel siddur.
To all of you, those who are with us and those who have passed on, I say yashar co'ach for having made such a tremendous contribution to the spread of Torah.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

My Independence Day

"Don't it always seem to go/That you don't know what you got till it's gone" – Counting Crows

You know, we take a lot for granted in our lives. That we'll have our health, our family, our jobs. Yom Hazikaron is just such a painful reminder to many not to take their loved ones for granted. Yet I can't think of anything we as Jews take for granted more than the very existence of the State of Israel. Day in, day out, we bicker and argue about all the problems involved in the medina. The corruption problem. The violence problem. The question of Jewish identity. The Palestinian issue.

We argue so much that we forget just how wonderful it is to have Israel around. We argue about what the army should do and forget that there was a time we didn't have an army. We argue the merits and demerits of the Israeli schools; we forget that Israel is the single largest provider of Jewish education (in whatever form) in the world (and relatively inexpensive, too!). We write op-eds galore on issues of the day; we take for granted that most of it's in Hebrew, a language that virtually everyone wrote off as dead but 150 years ago. We debate how to work the Law of Return; we forget there was a time when there wasn't such a thing; when no country in the world would let us in.

So tomorrow I intend to turn off the kvetch-o-meter for a day. For me, Yom Ha'Atzma'ut is Israel appreciation day. It's the day I stop taking the state for granted and start reveling in all the good stuff we've gotten from it.

Criticism? I've got the rest of the year for that.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

What is to be Done? (American Secular-Liberal Jews and Israel)

Every so often you see on the net another article on how liberal American Jews are becoming "disenchanted" with the State of Israel. The usual litany of reasons is given: Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, the Orthodox monopoly on religion &c &c. Diaspora should be at the center of Jewish life (ostensibly leaving Israel at the periphery).

I certainly understand their point of view on these matters, even if I disagree. Nevertheless, I don't understand why this has to be zero-sum game. Why can't Israel and the diaspora serve as a mutually enriching "dual-center" of Jewish life, rather than it being one or the other? Most people I know over here have abandoned the extreme "negation of the Galus" attitude, why can't they do the same? As to the Palestinians and the religion-state problems, yes, these are painful, controversial issues, but do they really necessitate an "I hate you guys" attitude? A "you people" or "Israel is a cancer" attitude?

Come to think of it, why do they see the State only through its flaws or problematic parts, both real and alleged? Zionism and the state of Israel have contributed so much from a Jewish point of view that surely even non-Zionists can see it. The full-scale revival of Hebrew (including Hebrew education abroad); compulsory Jewish education (in different ways, of course); a civil calendar that works by the Jewish life-cycle calendar; the list goes on.

Much has been made, justifiably, of "non-denominational" learning events like "Limmud" in London. Well, there's plenty of that here, and it happens all year round. Not a week goes by that lectures on various facets of Jewish history and culture aren't given in all parts of country. What's more important, it comes in every flavor – from ultra-Orthodox to secular. There are even secular "batei-midrash" and "yeshivot". There's more: on Sukkot, for instance, there is a huge non-denominational learning event called "Hakhel" that takes place near Tel Aviv. I am certain that if more people came here to learn, there could be funding for even more events.

I am saying all this not to belittle our very serious disagreements, but to argue that Israel is more than just the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the religion-state issue or a hundred other complaints. There is a lot about this place that is positive, specifically from a Jewish point of view. If you focus solely on the political or democratic angle and judge Israel solely by those yardsticks, you are missing out on a lot. I know that for many, if not most, liberal Jews, the "classical" Zionist ideal of soldier/pioneer &c has lost its luster, but there are so many other options nowadays. I could spend a whole web page just listing them.

We Jews are a family. That doesn't mean our relations are ideal or even have to be. We bicker, argue and often settle scores. But in the end we are family, and we need each other. I would much prefer it if liberal Jews came to visit at gatherings even after moving away rather than cut all ties in anger. If that happens, we will both be the losers.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Waltzing with Wellhausen

[This case is a hypothetical based on Ben Chorin's latest riddle. I consider it an especially important dilemma, since the DH is one of the big emuna landmines for intellectually curious OJs. I guarantee you it is more common than you think. – aiwac]

A religious university student (or professor) is in a bind. He feels intellectually compelled to accept the Documentary Hypothesis (either wholly or in part), and none of the present Orthodox solutions (R. David Tzvi Hoffman's work, Rav Breuer's "shitat habehinot" &c) set him at ease. Nevertheless, he wishes to remain a frum, believing Jew. He approaches his Rabbi on the subject.

What should the Rabbi do, and why?

1) Tell him to take off his kipa, the damned apikores.

2) Try to provide him with some sort of fall-back position for TMS that is intellectually and religiously acceptable, if borderline (assuming one exists).

3) Convince him to continue living a frum life, in the hope that either he finds a personal solution for his dilemma, the DH is rebutted, or that he will at least have zechuyot against his kefira be'ikar emuna.

4) Other (elaborate)