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JimmyC
On an airplane on my way from ATL to Las Vegas
What do you believe - on being Jewish from a mixed background. Is it your culture, a religion, inspired or required?
Reading Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler I’m remembering the stories I have read for years, as Bruce did to start the journey – wondering if they were history or myth, fact or fiction. On page 184 he finally confronts the “main character†God. Up until this point he has been covering historical figures like a news reporter tracing clues and places, situations and opinions. Between Sa el-Hagar and the Suez Canal – on the journey to the parting of the Red Sea he recants Gods change from working through people in the bible to a direct commandment that we observe Passover to remember the Exodus.
Now I’m back to my persistent discontent with Judaism, Not the Judaism of the Reform movement to some extent, but tradition. If Reform is inclusive – making it more of a religion then a culture. If it is what I once learned of Napoleon’s nationalistic command to the French Jews – If you are Frenchmen first and Jews second, then you are free to stay. A nationality within a nationality doesn’t work – it breeds jealousy, exclusion and hatred. It prevents a leader from total control as well. And this may be the biggest problem for Jews through history – the same force that has held the culture together, the religion together, is the same force that has made so many to hate the Jews. For most cultures do not allow for both - most countries controlled their people with Religion.
So for me this is my biggest source of discontent. For so many Jews – bloodlines are important. Most will say it is to combat assimilation – and the eventual disappearance of the Jewish people and faith. Some gentiles say it is an arrogance and source of exclusionary power designed to consolidate wealth and power – a wealth and power within each society they live that is a club few really can join. I have the bloodline – it’s thin but it is valid. My mother’s mother was a ‘purebred’ Jew – if that makes sense. My father is a ‘purebred’ Greek – if that makes sense. But how can it make sense – how can it be possible or probable. All cultures blend, my mother’s father is Italian – or Sicilian, really. He is the only of my grandparents that is living. He will tell you that no one from Sicily really knows what being Sicilian means. And that is my point – and my problem, and my pleasure. Any one of these people could be mixed from any other culture of the world. My love of of God and Judaism comes from my heart, what I have read in Torah and the teachings and laws of these stories. Do I believe them all to be true, does it matter what tribe I am from? It upsets me when I am asked - “Charanis, is that Saphartic?” It’s a test, a hidden probe of validity. Maybe, maybe not. I am what I am…I believe what I believe…
Greeks (Charanis):
Grandpa was directly from Limnos, Greece – an island not far from Turkey
Grandma’s ancestors are from Sparta, but from Main, USA
Italians (Capizzi):
Grandpa’s parents came from Sicily and surrounding islands.
Jews (Waldman):
Grandma’s parents came from Hungary
Wandering Eastern-European Jews could and probably did come from Mesopotamia originally, or fled form Spain or traveled from Greece. They could have been Jews in the land of Israel or what was Israel occupied by first Greeks, then Romans, then German Crusaders, then English Crusaders, then they finally (having enough) left and traveled north. They could have intermarried during the Greek Empire, Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire. They could have thrived under the Ottoman Empire and practiced Judaism all the while the Moslems built their culture and power. They could have been silent Jews during the inquisition and fled after; or, powerful Jews in the Holly Roman Empire or Germanic Kingdoms handling the money for the royals because good Christians didn’t do that. Maybe they had latched on to Alexander as he marched through Asia from Persia and stayed in what is now Hungary. Maybe a Jewish princess married a Greek warrior in Alexander’s army, convinced him that there was only one God and settled in for marriage and babies and life as it has been lived in a nuclear family for millions of years.
Sicilians living on the islands off of the tip of ‘the boot’ were also people of the sea. Through history they have lived under the rule of Greeks, Romans, North Africans, Arabs – whoever took their ships to this land and saw the beautiful beaches or mined the marble and pumice and said – this is for me. These were strong people with an unmatched survival mentality. They took the gods of the Greeks, then the Romans, then the God of the Germans who embraced Roman Catholic Church built from a crumbling empire revived as the Holly Roman Empire split from the Byzantine Empire. Perhaps a Greek sailor from an island in the Aegean or a Jew from the land of Israel boarded a ship and landed in Sicily. Perhaps a daughter of a Greek soldier in Sparta fed up with the oppressive colony culture of that city stowed away on a trading ship to Sicily. Perhaps this daughter and that sailor married because they were both people of the world with a common spirit; the spirit that draws any man and woman together – to live, to love and to build a family.
Greeks in Sparta were strong willed and relentless fighters. The colony-mentality of the Spartans thought as a unit, freedom was freedom from choice. Resources for the common good were gained through power and war. Needs were – well, “Spartan” and goals were basic and focused. The Athenians had the deep thinkers and politicians that discussed all matters of great importance and fought wars with the Spartans and other city-states until all resources, solutions and eventually their young men were exhausted. Not so different then our country and the Arabs?
Greeks of the islands were the People of the Sea in many historica texts and biblical stories. They could have been from Troy, Turkey, Asia Minor or Greece. It all depends on the time and place in history. What I do know is that I felt very comfortable sitting on a patio at a bar in Lemnos sipping coffee and talking philosophy with a complete stranger. Turkes, Greeks or misplaced people from Crete - This is the stuff of Homer. The Greeks in the Aegean were people of the sea. They traveled to the coast of Egypt during biblical times, and Turkey (Troy) during the time of Odysseus. They left soldiers and settlers everywhere. They joined forces with the Athenians and eventually the Mesopotamians under Alexander. The Greeks conquered all of eastern Asia, Eastern Europe, and yes Sicily. Alexander took it further east to Persia and Israel. Any one of these people I have described were all a part of this same Greek culture under Alexander’s Empire and could have met at any point in history.
So I am my own culture – it is a powerful story and a common thread to what is common among all of us. Humanity is the act of living, loving, traveling, growing and gaining. Most of all it is a faith in the future, a desire to grow and know. Know what makes things go. Know what makes things as they are. It is human to wonder and it is human to recognize greatness. There are so many things about life that create the desire to know what could possibly be behind it all. The idea that this is one big accident is fathomable but unlikely. The idea that we know right from wrong and that evil exists to be confronted and controlled through a faith in the future. This for me is the essence of my faith in one God and one force of nature. I do not want to cloud it with idols or kings or spiritual leaders. I do not need to base this faith on identified miracles and individuals who were spontaneously born or possessed to change and control a culture.
This is the only part of my discontent as a Jew. This is why I shy away from the culture of my Jewish heritage; because it is not the same for me. My culture is a blend of all that we know of history in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. When people ask me if I’m a Jew I say yes – I practice Judaism as it is the one religion that I can find enough of a connection to God as a force of nature and the one truth of humanity. The truth is that we should just be nice, simply follow the golden rule. So it is not because my grandmother’s people were genetically Jewish – it is because of the underlying message that resonates thorough every story in the Torah and the teachings it has spawned.
As Hillel stated on one foot under the skepticism of one who had not studied – “That which is hurtful to you don’t do to others. The rest is commentary, now go study.†This is the underlying message I want to be in the back of my head when I make any decision, teach my children, go about my work or play with others. It is not enough to follow the rules or follow your dreams – we live and depend on others and as long as there is that interdependence there must be that one key rule. That rule is God; it is our conscious and our guide. It is the spirit that spawned our ability to grow and conquer the world. It is not war and hatred that create but cooperation and love that make people and allow them to survive. It is so simple and yet so hard to follow. That is why there is a Torah, a God and what we call Religion. It is a look from your mother, a guiding hand from your father, an kiss from your wife or husband and a hand from your fellow man.
So I am not a Jew simply because my people came from an ancient tribe in Israel, I am a Jew because it was a gift given to me by my Grandmother on my thirteenth birthday in the form of the poem “IF†and the logic and reason I have learned by studying Torah.
Matisyahu - A Reggae sound by a Hasidic Jew. My faith never sounded so cool. Wait - what about Benny Goodman? What about him? What about the great divide that doesn’t have to be there. Soul is from G-d, we all have it in us, and it comes out in many ways.
JDub Records - find more Jewish Artists
Dear God, thank you for this. I hope it continues. Why not create states like we have here. If you are a liberal live in the northeast, conservative the bible belt. Or a great state like GA here where we even manage by county! No, its not perfect but if the Iraqis figure it out they can have states with conservative views - secular in others.
I’m dreaming I know, the fundamentalists say “anyone not like me must die.” I’m sure. But perhaps that’s only a small part of the popl.
When I posed the article previously mentioned to an Iranian friend (now a US Citizen) who has lived here over 25 years and hails from a time with the Shah he explained to me that 99% of the Iranians aren’t for the extreme views of the government - but they are forced to vote for the choices they are given. Lesser of two evils. He says almost 100% of the Iranians outside of that country don’t support that view of “death to America and Israel”.
The Sunni’s have a right to live the way they want. If most believe that they cannot support a lifestyle like we live, then don’t live it. It works here, for the most part.
So its down to guys like Bin Laudin - ass hole. So much hate, such a short life. My faith is in the teachings of Torah that says to live life here the best you can
-its not about the afterlife, its about life.
Psychotic ramblings of the Iranian leadership.
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iranian leader denies Holocaust
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has courted further controversy by explicitly calling the Nazi Holocaust of European Jewry a “myth”.
“They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets,” he said.
What on earth is the world coming to. Well - when the people only have two choices to vote for a leader - and it is “dumb and dumber” then that is what you get. The only way to keep people in check is to create hate and fear. WRONG. But it is one way. Its the way of old kings and tyrants. And they still exist today. The greatest leader of all time - George Washington understood this. I call him the greatest leader for a reason. At the end of the Revolutionary War in America, creating our United States, he was SO POPULAR he could have become king. He had been granted supreme power during the war. But he immediately relenquished it and thus the States were born. The king of Enland called him the greatest leader of all time for that very reason. To be able to be king and to let it go. That is what these leaders fear - they know they are not great, only powerful.
So that is my point - create more crap in these poor citizens minds. The children will grow up hating and history may repeat itself. The promise made to Abraham and the patience and faith God required of him may continue another 1,000 years.
UPDATE:
What they said today Dec. 15 2005 the next day…
Vatican official slams Iran over Holocaust remark
ROME (Reuters) - A senior Vatican cardinal on Thursday sharply criticised Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for claiming the Holocaust was a myth, condemning the assertion as a shocking injustice to the victims of the Nazi genocide.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, who, like Pope Benedict, is German, launched a specific attack on Ahmadinejad in a speech accepting an award from an international Jewish organisation.
“It is shocking to hear from the mouth of the president of a nation with an ancient and venerable culture, as the Iranian nation is, expressions of anti-Semitism which for every human being are unacceptable,” he said.
Iran’s Holocaust slur provokes fury in US and Israel - London Times
President Bush described Iran as “a real threat†last night, repeating the infamous “axis of evil†epithet and urging Tehran to prove that it does not seek nuclear weapons.
Capping a day of worldwide condemnation provoked by Tehran’s latest anti-Israel gibes, Mr Bush said that he was “concerned about theocracy that has little transparency, a country whose president has declared the destruction of Israel as part of their foreign policyâ€. “I called it (Iran) part of the ‘axis of evil’ for a reason,†Mr Bush said. “It’s a real threat.â€
Russia condemns Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust remarks
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust happened, saying his remarks were unacceptable and ran counter to the principles of the United Nations.
Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the Holocaust — the systematic killing of six million Jews by the Nazis in World War Two — was a myth, reiterating comments that drew international condemnation last week.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry, employing language it has used before in reacting to anti-Israel statements by Ahmadinejad, said: “We consider attempts to revise generally known historical facts about the Second World War, including those facts connected with the Holocaust, as unacceptable.”
Germany slams Holocaust remarks by Iranian president
The European Union leaders will discuss the latest Iranian president’s description of the Holocaust as a “myth,” Germany’s foreign minister said Thursday, warning that patience is running out with Tehran.
According to the AP, the German government has condemned the remarks by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and called on the United Nations as well as the EU to follow suit.
Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in the German parliament these remarks showed “with how much irresponsibility and cynicism the Iranian government currently regards the situation of Israel and the Near East.” “I say again: the government in Tehran must understand that the patience of the international community is not endless,” Steinmeier said.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
Interesting Journalist. Luke Ford
After listening to a drawn-out Christian discussion on faith vs works, Rabbi Adl–stein made three sharp points that I still remember. First, that faith goes nowhere to gaining heaven. According to Judaism, each person is rewarded according to his deeds. Second, how do we know what is right and wrong? Judaism’s detailed legal code provides answers. Third, because there’s much more to this life than gaining after-life, Judaism concentrates on how to live each day, balancing the competing demands of family, work, friendship, education, play and worship.
In reply to a Pastor’s insistence that only faith in Jesus Christ brings salvation, Rabbi Ad–rstein told the story of a Protestant minister from Canada who flew to Israel to provide Adolf Eichmann (the architect of the Holacaust) with last rites. Met at the airport by reporters, the minister said that if Eichmann confessed his sins and took on Christ he would be saved. And what about Eichmann’s six million Jewish victims? If they died as Jews and without taking on Christ, could they too be saved? The minister replied with a pithy “no.”
Rabbi Adl–stein’s story made clear to me what I’d always felt - any system that makes beliefs more important than behavior will lead to evil. And he showed me a masculine approach to religion. The rabbi didn’t get angry at people’s differing theologies as much as he got angry at evil - gratuitous human cruelty.
At the time I perceived most religious men, particularly the pastors with all their talk about love, faith and relationship, as effeminate. Most of the guests on Religion on the Line, for instance, were nice but weak. But Prager, Rabbi Ad–rstein and Dr. Russell Roberts showed me that real men can take religion seriously.
———-from Luke Ford’s Autobiography
Absolutely one of the main reasons I am a Jew. Yes, mom’s mom was a Jew so I’m “technically” a Jew anyway but I had to choose it. I appreciate it. Luke puts it out there pretty well.
Services this year for Rosh Hashana were very nice.
I had my “moment” when the Torah was out, and we all sang the Shema - that always “gets me”. Its such a lovely unifying moment.
Off to AFP this weekend, should be a fun time.
Next week I will go for a walk in the woods. We missed our annual hike this spring so I have been longing for it. It won’t be the same. Not just because Andrew, Taylor or Tim won’t be there - it won’t be spring:
Nothing like the mist in the morning as you hike in the woods during spring time.
So I think I’ll go for a few days and try and work it out to finish the last 35 miles of Georgia’s section.
Got me thinking tonight at Synagogue. First the Rabbi started the service with an observation or reminder that being in Synagogue was a time for us to feel comfortable in who we are. To be Jews and not have to tip-toe around that fact that we do believe in God, one God and that we have a soul and customs and laws. Later, the Rabbi talked about what the world would be like if there were no Jews and what that means. It was the second Sabbath of the month so it was Q/A time. Initially the discussion turned to things missing like the contributions from famous Jews like Einstein and Salk or even two other major religions (Christianity and Islam) since the basis is Torah. (Stephanie pointed out that there would be no movie industry!) But then we talked about what Judaism has to contribute to the world going forward. My mind turned to a topic I have discussed here already - Tzedaka and how helping others and mankind is simply the right thing to do in our world. I thought of my feelings about the golden rule and how I tell the kids to look for good.
So it reminded me of the AT again. We talk a lot when walking (some more then others, myself included) and I had a discussion with one of my friends who was raised Catholic and now is a Baptist through marriage. He asked what it meant to me and why I was Jewish.
So back to the point earlier - most of the time these days my non-Jewish friends are curious and I’m ok with that, better then a hundred years ago when many were just plain ignorant and mean. So I explained a little bit about my background and choices. But then I realized why he asked, he was not sure if he believed all the Baptist customs and faith; or the Catholic for that matter. A very clear message came to me.
I told him that Judaism became so much more important to me after I became a father. Its back to mythology, stories, morals and laws. You can make up reasons, force your kids to listen, beg them to be good, etc. Or you can live a good, Jewish life and guess what - its all in there. The stories in Torah teach and do it in an interesting way. The laws on how to live together, be healthy, be happy are in there too. So why fight it? My kids are good kids, they enjoy the songs, the customs and they understand the reasons. They have faith and they have hope for the future.
I could go on about how so many of today’s religions were rooted in power struggles and control. So that is why the Jews are so stiff-necked about sticking to it and together. I’m sure a long time ago the Torah was used to control as well. Perhaps to bring order, perhaps to consolidate power. But today it is not, at least for me and there is a comfort to that.
So look for the good in others, that is Love.
That which is hurtful to you, don’t do to
others.
Be Nice.
On Sep 7, my friend Roger wrote about my father-in-law giving so much time and effort to the Hurricane Victims:
“Now that’s living out the Shema (did I get that right?). Very cool.”
Yes, very cool but its really Tzedaka. The Shema is more or less our proclamation that the Lord is our God and He is the only One.
That is important and the reason why we don’t follow the Trinity but its not what we are talking here. This is more or less living out the “golden rule”, the core principle of our faith. To be more specific here is a quote from Rabbi Telushkin:
“the English word for “charity” comes from the Latin caritas, meaning “from the heart” and implying a voluntary act. The word for charity in Hebrew is tzedaka, which is simply the feminine form of the Hebrew word for justice, tzedek. In Jewish law, one who does not give charity is not just uncharitable, but unjust as well. Thus Jewish courts had no compunctions about compelling people of means to give tzedaka (Jewish Literacy pp 499).
Further:
Hillell once said when asked to summarize Judaism briefly “What is hateful unto you, don’t do unto your neighbor. The rest is commentary - now go and study” (Shabbat 31a)
Rabbi Akiva : “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’- this is the major principle of the Torah” (Palestinian Talmud, Nedarim 9:4)
Hense when Jesus preached, “Love your neighbor,” he was simply quoting the Hebrew Bible.
Peace.
