![[MLJ Logo]](http://www.mljewish.org/mlj.gif)
www.mljewish.org
|
www.mljewish.org |
Mail.Liberal-Judaism |
| Volume 14 Number 36 | Sat Feb 12 23:50:02 2005 |
From: Rabbi Moshe ben Asher & Magidah Khulda bat Sarah <kharakim@jps.net> Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:46:50 -0500 Subject: Congregational development resources We have added the following DIVREI TORAH to our CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES page at http://www.gatherthepeople.org/Pages/Dlprayers.htm on the Gather the People web site: * "BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE" proposes that Jewish congregations are not meant to be homes of one-day-a-week "religion," but spiritual communities, historically dedicated to sacred purposes, which is more than most congregationally affiliated Jews want to live, leaving them stuck between a rock and a hard place, immobilized by careerism, materialism, sensuality, and spiritualism, which can only be displaced by authentic congregational community that offers the opportunity to move away from spiritual slavery and towards spiritual freedom. (2 pp.) * "A DWELLING FOR GOD'S TORAH" highlights fractional attendance of Jews at Shabbat services, the mistaken belief that "producers" rather than "consumers" of congregational activities and events can remedy the situation, the difficulty of imagining most American Jews centering their lives around congregational life, and the necessity of creating a welcoming place for the Torah in our minds and hearts, which may in turn inspire others to see the potential of overcoming the absurdities, frustrations, and disappointments of their lives through Judaism and congregational life. (2 pp.) * "MAKING JEWISH MORAL DECISIONS" considers contemporary approaches to moral decision-making commonly used by American Jews, the difficulty of their using Torah for that purpose since it's unread in Hebrew by the overwhelming majority of them and they are even more unfamiliar with the oral law, and the necessity of our choosing Torah in making moral decisions if we are to be unified and achieve progress as a spiritual community and people. (2 pp.) * "OBSERVING SHABBAT--NO MATTER WHAT!" questions how it is possible to use Shabbat to bring more happiness and fulfillment into our lives, the demands placed on us that are obstacles to keeping Shabbat, the meaning of the commandments to remember and observe Shabbat and the consequences, in the form of spiritual disease, for ignoring them, the need for trust in God to have the courage to protect Shabbat, and a verbal formula for doing that when challenged to give it up. (2 pp.) Gather the People is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization--launched by a sponsor committee of rabbis representing virtually all the branches and movements of Judaism--providing tools for congregational development and organizing at http://www.gatherthepeople.org.
From: Steven Weintraub <stevenw@fchoice.com> Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 08:30:51 -0600 Subject: A meditation for after the Amida This is a meditation that has been forming after I've been saying the Amida the last month. It finally coalesced and I wrote it down and I felt the need to share it. I stand here in my minuteness And I plea You who are unbounded take heed of me who is terribly bounded You who are outside time acknowledge me who lives in such a small slice of time You who laid the foundations of the Universe and will be there to iron out the last bit of Chaos remember my little attempts to do good in Your Universe. I know I am of less value to the Universe than a grain of sand is to the ocean, That ten million light years from here, twenty million years from now I have no relevance But You Lord can reach beyond that. You in Your Infiniteness can reach through the vastly finite to touch one of so small import. I know that if I walk truly humbly in Your Light, You will take heed of me. I know that if I work to heal the earth as You direct, You will acknowledge me. I know that if I act in accordance with Your Will, You will remember me. And in the end, when the last breath exits from the Universe, Your remembrance will be what matters.
From: Eth-el Jean (Kowan) Saltz <nietgal@airmail.net> Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 11:41:32 -0600 Subject: Talmud Torah and Holocaust and General Public Education Now that Rome, the Holy See, says that the Torah is part of Christianity, negating 1600 years of the legalism of Constantine, I feel quite democratic in discussing how group Talmud Torah has effected me. Remember I'm not a gifted human being. And above all, I've got a deteriorating brain because I'm 75YO. I could never lead any one, not even my own kids. So pretend I'm a Jewish grandma writing this from a nursing home. Oh yes, it's important to realize that the Holy See says that this is the truly correct way to do penitence for the Holocaust on their part. That is such a beautiful thought, for me. My approach to historical books would be to create a Tractate approach. With high-tek it is even fun, tedious in the process, tremendously thought-provoking in the results. Now I can't separate MEIN KAMPF from the Holocaust like the majority of Jews. To me, they are completely intertwined. So I would encourage USA kids to use the Talmud Torah approach to the book and create Tractates on "Jew", "England", "France", Negro, whatever is in their mind. Then discuss in school the resultant document. You can even do this with the Abrahamic Bible (HB A NT Q) in every country where we institute democracy. Else what are we committing suicide for? If I'm not allowed to speak this way then what lessons have I learned from all my bible study? What a wonderful way to use the bible in the mitzvot during feeding the poor. Put up a screen and talk to them this way. Eth-el Jean (Kowan) Saltz, Be-emet oo-ve-shalom oo-ve-ahavah Abrahamic Faith HB, A, NT, K 600-600 MMMMMR
From: Eth-el Jean (Kowan) Saltz <nietgal@airmail.net> Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 22:31:29 -0600 Subject: Why Judaism Survived Studying Jewish History in a wandering way, I asked myself this. Why did Constantine allow Jews to exist at all? He made all Pagans, Christian and made it a capital offense to convert to Judaism, circumsize and study Talmud Torah. It seems to me he thought that Judaism would just go away. After all, in terms of the Roman Empire, they were such a small minority. Another puzzlement, why during the Dark Ages did Judaism thrive. THEN, it's like putting two pieces of the puzzle together. Constantine was scientifically correct. However, the Germanic tribes destroyed the empire, not too long after standardization of Christianity and that's why we're Jews today. First the Babylonians, then the Germanic tribes. The irony is that it was the German tribes. In the meantime, the separated Christians were busy figuring out how to Christianize the Germanic peoples. I know this is too simple to be true. But every which way I read stark history, it all makes so much sense. I think Hitler understood all this and said there is only one way. Kill the Jews. In addition, there's a lot of modernity in all this. An additional question, why did these Germanic tribes invade? Seems overpopulation and natural disasters. My source is the Encyc Britannica cdrom. Eth-el Jean (Kowan) Saltz, Be-emet oo-ve-shalom oo-ve-ahavah Abrahamic Faith HB, A, NT, K 600-600 MMMMMR
Submissions should be mailed to either submit@mljewish.org or mlj@shamash.org. Please clearly mark your submission as a submission, and include either a relevant subject line or a reference to the issue to which you are replying.
If you would like to subscribe to MLJ, please complete the Subscription Request Form, or send a message to the moderator (listmgt@mljewish.org) requesting to be added to the list. Please include your first and last names in your request.
Backissues may be obtained by Email by completing a Backissue by Email Request Form. A specific backissue may be retrieved interactively by completing a Request Form.
Publishing any of the mail.liberal-judaism digests or portions thereof on any other medium including soc.culture.jewish without consulting the moderator and/or the originator of the article represents a breach of trust. Please remember why this list was created and that contributers may not want to discuss the "correctness" of their beliefs from your point of view. Also note that many of the people who write in wish their privacy preserved. Thank you for your cooperation with these restrictions.
"It is not our task as liberal Jews to complain about the Orthodox attitude or to be bullied by it, but rather to choose our legitimate path according to the inner logic and development of liberal Judaism" (Rabbi Walter Jacob)
| Previous Issue: v14n35 | Next Issue: v14n37 | |
MLJ Home Page
|
Return to Retrieval Form |