Mail.Liberal-Judaism

• Rick Dinitz <dinitz@tss.com>

• mfrydenb@jeopardy.cv.com
• feldmhs2@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Howard Feldmesser)

• Gregory Davis <gdavis@isnet.is.wfu.edu>

• hrubin@stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)

• SUSAN FENDRICK <SUFENDRICK@jtsa.edu>

• David Feder <BaalSforim@aol.com>

Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 11:27:40 -0700
From: Rick Dinitz <dinitz@tss.com>
Subject: Re: 9 Av

Howard Schild writes:
> Without focussing on the health of the evolution of Judaism (which
> is another matter altogether), I must disagree with Joseph Bottero's
> (V4 N5) on Tisha B'Av. The sacrifices in the temple are not a
> "cult". They were the core of the Jewish religion...

 While I also disagree with Joseph Bottero's opinions about the Temple service
and the 9th of Av, I must correct what appears to be an important error in
Howard's response.

 The Temple service, including sacrifices of meat, grain, oil, dough and wine,
the ma'or, the water pouring, the Levi'im singing, the special clothing of the
Kohanim, the tax and donation system that supported it, and more -- all of
these are collectively referred to in English as "the Temple cult."  This use
of the term does not carry the negative connotations recently attached to the
word "cult" as applied to religious fringe groups that are destructive to
their members.

 Here's what Webster's 7th Collegiate has to say about "cult."  Definitions 1
and 2 are fitting descriptions of the activities centered on the Temple in
Yerushalyim.

cult \'k*lt\ \'k*l-tik\ \'k*l-.tiz-*m\ \'k*l-t*st\ n [F & L; F culte, fr. L 
   cultus care, adoration, fr. cultus, pp]. of colere to cultivate - more at 
   WHEEL 1: formal religious veneration : WORSHIP 2: a system of religious 
   beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents 3: a system for the cure 
   of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator 4: great and esp. 
   faddish devotion; also : its object or adherents - cul.tic aj

				     ***

 I believe it was the Rambam who wrote that God destroyed the Temple to wean
Bnai Yisrael away from animal sacrifices, and that in Olam Haba [the world to
come], when the Temple is rebuilt, its service would not involve animal
slaughter.  (Sorry, I can't produce references for these statements.)

 As I understand these statements, God did not intend animal sacrifice as the
only way to get close to God -- rather this aspect of Temple ritual was meant
as a stepping stone to other forms of worship.  Bnai Yisrael were not ready to
accept those other forms until later in history.  When the time came to
advance, Bnai Yisrael had grown dependent on animal sacrifice; God had to
remove our training wheels (that is, destroy the Temple) before we could
progress to the next step.  Today we offer prayers instead of cattle.

 Notice that the Rambam does not denigrate the Temple and its activities -- he
merely indicates that animal sacrifice is no longer an appropriate expression
of Jewish worship.  We grew out of it, even though God had to drag us away in
tears.

 If the destruction of the Temple was necessary and important for our growth,
one might ask why we mourn it.  Others have already noted the great loss of
life that accompanied the destruction of Yerushalyim.  This alone would be
enough for us to mourn.  And of course the fast days on which we mourn for the
Temple also commemorate other dark episodes in Jewish history.  But I think
our mourning goes even deeper.

 I think we all mourn for something lost when childhood falls away -- some
aspect of our life that was very important to us.  We carry fond memories of
the way we were, even though if given the opportunity most of us would not
return and actually become children again.

 Often the lost past becomes a symbol of our hope for the future.  We do not
expect the future to really be exactly like our memories of childhood, but we
do hope it will recapture some essential qualities that we remember.

 Our vision of the Temple rebuilt has become a potent symbol of Olam Haba, and
all the perfection we expect based on prophetic descriptions of that time.
Mourning for the Temple destroyed is also a way of facing our sadness that we
are not yet living in Olam Haba, with the Temple rebuilt.

 Jewish tradition also tells us clearly how to recapture an ideal world --
transform the world we're in.  Our tradition also singles out one attitude
problem as the most destructive; the sages say that the Temple was destroyed
because of sinat chinam [causeless hatred].  The implication is clear: the
Temple will not be rebuilt -- we will not enter Olam Haba -- until we rid
ourselves and the world of sinat chinam.  Only then can our fasts of mourning
become feast days.

 Kol tuv,
 Rick

[dinitz@tss.com]
Copyright 1994, Rick Dinitz

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Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 05:44:14 -0700
From: mfrydenb@jeopardy.cv.com
Subject: Re: Chavurot  

Greg Davis asked:  

>Would anyone on the list have any suggestions regarding starting up a
>Chavurah? 

Here's my chance to plug the National Havurah Committee:  :)

The place to get information about starting up a Chavurah is from the
National Havurah Committee (NHC). Their address is 7318 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19119. Telephone (215) 248 9760. 

The NHC is sort of the "umbrella organization" for the national havurah
movement, and they have brochures and tapes about how to start up a havurah, 
how to make your havurah work, etc., and a network of resources throughout
the country who can provide assistance and suggestions. The NHC maintains
a havurah directory and database; so they can also tell you if there's a 
havurah in your area already. They describe themselves as a "diverse,
transdenominational network of individuals and havurot who are committed
to Jewish renewal, spirituality, and enhancing their Jewish lives."  
Individuals and individual havurot can "affiliate" with the NHC. 

In addition to regional activities, they also sponsor a Summer Institute, a
week of learning, study, prayer, singing, spirit, and creating community,
coming up August 8-14, at University of Hartford, in Hartford, CT. I posted
some of my experiences from last year's Institute as well as information
about this year's program to this list in mail.liberal-judaism v3n141. It's 
not too late to sign up to attend this year's program; call the NHC special
Institute Phone at 215 248 9835 for details [or ask me!]

Mark Frydenberg

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Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 01:00:37 -0700
From: feldmhs2@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Howard Feldmesser)
Subject: Re: Chavurot

>Would anyone on the list have any suggestions regarding starting up a
>Chavurah? Is any literature available, such as from the UAHC or the CCAR?

        There is a National Havurah Society whose address I don't have.
However, I believe that I have an e-mail address at home (I'm obviously not
there now) and will publish that when I find it.  Thid society, with whom I've
had no contact yet, appears from their newsletter to be unaffiliated with any
of the major branches of Judaism.

        We have formed our own Chavurah without much structure and have been
operating on a once per month basis for a year.  Some of the original members
have left the group because it shaped up differently than they had hoped.  New
folks have joined in.  Although most of us are members of the same
congregation, we are not affiliated with it since some of the Chavurah members
are using the group as a substitute for Temple life and don't want to join (or
rejoin) the congregation.  We do use the Temple's siddur as the basis for most
of our liturgy but we have developed some of our own.  I'd like to discuss
Chavurot with all who participate to share the good and the bad and improve
life for all of us.

        B'shalom

Howard S. Feldmesser
feldmhs2@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu
feldmhs1@teomail.jhuapl.edu

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Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 14:21:48 -0700
From: Gregory Davis <gdavis@isnet.is.wfu.edu>
Subject: Nazis on the Net

In the last several months, the Internet has become an integral part not only
of my work (I'm a forensic pathologist and teacher), but I have also found it
to be a wonderful resource for exploring my Jewish identity and soul.  The
growth of Jewish opportunities on the Net has been described in _Moment_,
_Reform Judaism_, _Hadassah_, and other periodicals, and mail.liberal Judaism
is by far my favorite list, thanks to our esteemed moderator.

The most recent issue of _Forward_, however, points out that there are others
who are not using the Net for such constructive purposes.  In an article
entitled "Anti-Semitism on the Internet: A Network of Cyber-Nazis Grows
Online," Jonathan Mahler, a freelance writer in New York, writes of the
growing infiltration of the Net by such hate groups as the self-styled
Institute for Historical Review, the thinly disguised anti-Semitic group of
Holocaust deniers posing as legitimate academicians.

I was wondering if any on the list have stumbled upon this execrable material
while surfing the Net? I became very upset after reading Mahler's article, but
I just received an email message from Zvi Lando, the Jerusalem One Network
Manager, who says that Jerusalem One is actively monitoring the Cyber-Nazis.

[Actually, I have. There was one fellow who was posting revisionist dribble to
soc.culture.jewish. As I maintain the soc.culture.jewish FAQ, with the help of
other s.c.j-ers, I forwarded the statement in the FAQ about allowed and
disallowed postings to the administrator of this fellow's site. Although his
posting privileges were not revoked, he was restricted from posting
revisionist material to soc.culture.jewish; he had to post it only to
alt.revisionism. -- Yr. Mod.]

Greg Davis   Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 06:37:46 -0700
From: hrubin@stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
Subject: Sacrifices, 9 Av, Jewish unity, etc.

These topics may not appear related, but I hope to relate them.

It is not the case that "sacrifice" was used in the modern sense of the word,
or even that sacrifices were even giving things up; the tithes, offerings of
the first fruits and the first born, had a much greater adverse financial
effect.  The word sacrifice comes from the Latin for "holy act".

Most sacrifices, and according to some, the only ones after the Moshiach
comes, were "peace" or freewill offerings.  Except for the part which went to
the priests, these were eaten by the one making the sacrifice and whomever
else he shared it with.  There are those who claim that, even in the early
days of the kingdom, the "high places" were secondary temples where the
priests and Levites acted as slaughterers.

The Temple, and its associated sacrificial service, was the main part of the
"glue" which united Judaism.  Even though the prophets emphasized that God
wants the service of the heart, people need formal symbolism.  The rabbis
augmented halakhah and the synagogue service to make up for this, possibly not
even realizing their reasons.  According to Josephus and others, the various
sects were quite different, only held together by the Temple service.

Now Tish'a b'Av broke this down.  It is relatively easy to get different
factions to agree on a body of ritual, but it is almost impossible to get them
to agree on a strict code of conduct.  Most Reform conversions, and I believe
all Conservative ones, satisfy the ritual aspects which the Orthodox demand,
but of course not the others, which amount to a full acceptance of the
Orthodox halakhah.

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Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 11:39:54 -0700
From: SUSAN FENDRICK <SUFENDRICK@jtsa.edu>
Subject: Temple Sacrifices

Two quickies on the subject of Temple sacrifice:

	Someone responded to a post about sacrifices by objecting to the use
of the word "cult" to describe temple worship.  I was not the author of the
original post, but I want to point out that the phrase "temple cult" is a
neutral phrase used by scholars and religious people alike to describe the
temple ritual.  It's more of an anthropological term than a put down.

	Also, I want to recommend a 1991 article by Rabbi Ira Stone in
_Judaism_ entitled "Korbanot: Recovering Our Spiritual Vocabulary".  He
attempts to reconnect us moderns with the power of sacrifices. It's very much
worth reading.

	Sue Fendrick 

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Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 15:08:27 -0700
From: David Feder <BaalSforim@aol.com>
Subject: Re: Tot-Shabbat

We have a successful Tot Shabbat program in Davis California that lasts for
approximately half an hour (7:00-7:30 p.m.) on the third Friday night of each
month.  There is an adult service that begins at 8:00 which leaves half and
hour for parents and children to socialize before leaving if they wish.  The
service is based largely on "The Sabbath" (?) published by Kar-Ben, by Rabbi
Judith Z. Abrams.  There are booklets for other holidays in the series.  We've
adapted it with family copies and a leader's copy.  E-Mail me if you'd like a
copy of our adaptation.

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"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)

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