A Bad Case Of Blog Envy/Jealousy

I recently received an anonymous email that accused me of having a bad case of blog envy. It seems that they think that I must be very bitter that I don't have more readers and that the brands haven't bequeathed their bounty upon me.

It was kind of fun to read. Been a while since I got anything that resembled hate mail at least something that didn't go off onto some antisemitic or anti-Israel rant. One of my favorites was the email that went on about Palin the Prophet. I responded to them that they mean to write Profit, but I never did hear back from them. Darn.

Anyway, back to my new friend the anonymous emailer. In my younger years I would have shared your email with all 17 of the longtime readers and the few stragglers that come along for the ride. But the kinder, gentler, er, dumber Jack accidentally deleted it and emptied the trash so we'll have to do without for now.

Here is my response to your comments. I don't spend any time courting the brands. I don't pitch PR agencies about my blog. Don't spend any time talking to them about how influential my blog is. And I don't lose any sleep over that.

I don't feel an ounce of remorse for writing that some of the bloggers who are currently considered to be popular and or powerful would not be without gifts to give away. Their content is weak and their community is dependent upon the gifts they give.

This joint has moments of brilliance and moments of mediocrity. Over time it has developed a respectable following. I won't deny that I think it would be great to have six times as many uniques and ten times the number of comments. It would be great.

But I want to earn that. I don't want to by popularity. We're not the Yankees. We don't use our enormous payroll to buy championships. We earn them.

Anyway, I appreciate your note and hope that you stick around for a while. Leave me a comment or two- show some love 'cuz a bitter old guy like me can use it. ;)

Jon Lovitz on The Tonight Show Explaining Difference Between Scientology and Judaism

Wrestling With Atonement- Yom Kippur Kraziness

I am willing to bet that few people have written a post about Yom Kippur while listening to Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music. It is not really the sort of music that one thinks about as setting a proper mood for introspection but it happens to be what is playing on iTunes right now. In another moment I'll shift gears and put on something more appropriate, but this will work for now.

In a relatively short period of time the sun will rise and set and rise and set and another Yom Kippur will have come and gone. And so I find myself sitting in the dark contemplating what it all means to me and what I have learned.

I'll start out by quoting from Moments When I feel Closest To G-d:

"I have written a number of times about my struggles with G-d, how I Yelled
at G-d and the challenges I have had with davening. If you are really interested you can read more here, here and here. There are probably a couple more links but that is enough time shilling for my own blog.

If you are here you are probably interested in what I have to say or trapped beneath a heavy object and unable to do move away from the keyboard. If you are trapped and without an internet connection I encourage you to search for meaning in what I say, I do all the time because what is the purpose of living if there is no meaning in life.

That is not really tongue in cheek, it is just my wry sense of humor saying that we all need to find a reason to be here and that it is an individual thing that does not have to mirror your neighbor."

I used to dislike Yom Kippur immensely. I didn't really find meaning in it. It was a day that seemed to be predicated upon enduring being uncomfortable. I didn't find the davening to be significant, meaningful or interesting. Most of the people around me spent the time in shul complaining about something and few had anything positive to say.

At some point that feeling changed, but I can't say when. I have been trying to figure out when and what changed, but it is like grabbing smoke. The harder I try the harder it is to determine. So if you'll bear with me I am going to to just ramble a bit.

Unetaneh Tokef grabs me

"On Rosh Hashanah it is written and Yom Kippur it is sealed
How many shall pass on and how many shall come to be;
who shall live and who shall die;
who shall see ripe old age and who shall not;
who shall perish by fire
and who by water;
who by sword and who by beast;
who by hunger and who by thirst;"

Part of me shrugs my shoulder at it all. It is easy to blow it off and say that people die, earthquakes happen, fires burn and the world goes on. Certainly I won't say that divine punishment is the reason for natural disasters. Neither will I say that some people die early because of some unknowable divine plan. That is not how I roll.

But I have come to appreciate setting aside time to sit down and take a hard look at my life. It is not always easy to engage in that sort of introspection, to take a hard look at the good and the bad. And that is what I do.

I try to take time to consider who I am. I am a flawed individual. There are many things that I need to improve upon. It would be unfair, unreasonable and unwarranted to suggest otherwise. I have made mistakes that I am very sorry for. I have traveled upon some dark roads that I wish that I could have avoided.

I don't expect to find salvation by admitting all my sins. I don't believe that with a few words they can all just be forgiven and washed away. That doesn't make any sense to me. Neither do I believe that I should engage in endless self-flagellation for them.

What I will try to do is the best I can to improve. I'll do what I can not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to try and be better for the future. A large part of that effort will be spent on trying to help my children avoid the pitfalls that I fell for and into. It was a challenging year, but that is how it goes.

So here we are at the end of the post. Have I learned anything more about myself? Nope. Not sure that I have done much other than babble. But I am a believer in the exercise so if I am still blogging you can expect to see this kind of post again.

And for what it is worth, if I have offended or upset you my sincere apologies.

G'mar Chatima Tova. I wish you an easy fast. May you be inscribed and sealed.

Angry With G-d

This morning marked the fourth anniversary of my father's triple bypass. Two days later my daughter was born. It was the culmination of a very difficult period of time for me.

All of this has been discussed and dissected here more than once. I discussed some of those thoughts in a post called I Yelled At G-d.

Today I am here again with a new post called Angry With G-d. I suppose that this is one of those posts where I shake out the cobwebs and try to make sense of a few things that are bouncing around inside my head.

I don't believe that you'll find anything unusual here. I am not the first person to feel these things and I won't be the last. I am not offering ideas or solutions because I think that it is an individual matter.

(Side note) Before I get any farther into this I need to give proper credit to my chevrusa The Rebbetzin's Husband. The good rav's post Of Synagogue Dress Codes and Dress-Up Judaism set me off on this particular ride through the dark. To be clear, I had intended to write an entirely different post than this one, and may still do so. But that remains to be seen.

And here we go:

Someone I care very much for and I have been wrestling over multiple issues. I don't expect or need for them to agree with me on all of them. It really doesn't bother me whether they agree or not. Most of the time I appreciate the back and forth of the debate. It is good to be challenged.

One of the on going discussions we have is whether there is a G-d. At this stage they have decided that they are an atheist. I can tell you why I believe in G-d. I can give you a list of reasons but they're not the kind that are likely to bowl you over and make you shout hallelujah.

They call it faith because it requires a suspension of disbelief. I have gone through periods of time in which I didn't believe. I have moments now where I shake my head and wonder what the hell I am doing. Moments where I do the proverbial fist shaking at the sky and consider myself to be a fool.

Let me provide you with a list of some of the experiences I have had during my short 39 years on the big blue marble.

I know two people who were murdered.
I can name five friends who died from the complications brought on by brain tumors. None of them lived past 34.

I have a baby cousin who is fighting off a brain tumor right now. She is all of 26. At the moment she is doing well, but the odds are not good.

I have another dear friend who is fighting off a rare form of cancer. The docs don't know what the outcome will be, but she wonders if she'll live to be 40.

Then there is the list of those who died in accidents, motorcycle, DUI, biking in Europe, seizure in the bathtub and more.

And that my friends is the incomplete list. It doesn't include the blog friends who have lost their children.

In short I could share much more information with you about these tragedies. I have a strong enough command of the language to paint a picture that provides the background on these souls and how these events have impacted those who loved them.

It would be improper to claim that I was exceptionally close with all of them. It is important to note that those with cancer come from all over the country. I can't point to one central location that had radioactive fallout or exposure to carcinogens for being the source of their illnesses.

But I can tell you that I find it to be senseless. I can say without hesitation that I hate responses where people tell me that we just don't understand G-d's plan. It is a cop out. It is a weak excuse that works for some people because you can just shrug your shoulders and say well, there is a reason.

I don't buy it. I don't believe it. I can't accept it. I don't need to have answers to everything. I want to. I want a crystal ball. I want to know if the decisions that I make today are good or bad. I want to know so many things.

And so I go back to faith. I yell at the thing/person/force/whatever that we view as our higher power and say the following: "Some of this is FUCKED UP. I don't apologize for cursing. I don't feel badly, not one whit.

If I look at our liturgy, if I dig into the lessons I have learned, the tefillot and believe in rachmones, believe in love and kindness than I can do that and be ok.

Because if I have faith that there is a G-d than the one I believe in isn't going to cast me out for being angry, asking why or railing on about the injustice. Am I supposed to sit back during the Three Weeks and not do any of these things.

Am I supposed to be a human being or an automaton. I know what my answer is. I know what I believe...today that is.

Life is filled with so many different events and changes. I can't say that one day I won't change my mind about this or that I will. All I can do is wake up and see what the day brings.

Jefferson On The Bible

The LA Times has an interesting story about Thomas Jefferson's bible. Take a look at this:

"Making good on a promise to a friend to summarize his views on Christianity, Thomas Jefferson set to work with scissors, snipping out every miracle and inconsistency he could find in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.Then, relying on a cut-and-paste technique, he reassembled the excerpts into what he believed was a more coherent narrative and pasted them onto blank paper -- alongside translations in French, Greek and Latin.

In a letter sent from Monticello to John Adams in 1813, Jefferson said his "wee little book" of 46 pages was based on a lifetime of inquiry and reflection and contained "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

He called the book "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." Friends dubbed it the Jefferson Bible. It remains perhaps the most comprehensive expression of what the nation's third president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence found ethically interesting about the Gospels and their depiction of Jesus.

"I have performed the operation for my own use," he continued, "by cutting verse by verse out of the printed book, and arranging the matter, which is evidently his and which is as easily distinguished as diamonds in a dunghill."

The little leather-bound tome, several facsimiles of which are kept at the Huntington Library in San Marino, continues to fascinate scholars exploring the powerful and varied relationships between the Founding Fathers and the most sacred book of the Western World.

The big question now, said Lori Anne Ferrell, a professor of early modern history and literature at Claremont Graduate University, is this:

"Can you imagine the reaction if word got out that a president of the United States cut out Bible passages with scissors, glued them onto paper and said, 'I only believe these parts?' "

I'll answer Ferrell's question. In today's America you cannot be elected unless you profess to believe in G-d. And even then, if you don't believe in the right G-d you probably still cannot be elected.

Creationist Indoctrinating Children

This is just downright frightening. I just have to shake my head at the ignorance being spouted here. Hat Tip to Pharyngula.

Are You Smarter Than A Rabbi? Part II

Hello and welcome to to Are You Smarter Than a Rabbi Part II. For those who are late to the party may I recommend that you read the first part by clicking here. Before we get started I'd like to refer back to a comment from the first post.

Kol Ra'ash Gadol provided an answer to my son's question. If he wasn't so young you'd probably find his response to be kind of rude.

Here is what KRG said:

Tell him that I told you that girls aren't jealous not to have a penis, because all out parts are neatly tucked away where they can't get hurt. And I'm a rabbi, so I can be smart about some things like that.
bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah! [rofluIwm]

My son's reply to this was to ask if she knew a lot about a penis because she had a father or brother. I didn't ask him to clarify, but it was clear that his disdain for girls overrode his respect for rabbis.

If you want to see something funny watch his face when you tell him that one day he'll think that girls are fun and interesting. Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Son: I think that you are smarter than the rabbi.
Dad: I appreciate that, but it is not important to me.

Son: It is to me.
Dad: Why?

Son: Because you're my dad.
Dad: Thank you. But really it is not that big a deal.

Son: I get it. You think that the rabbi is stupid and you don't want to hurt his feelings. You are being nice.
Dad: No. I don't think that the rabbi is stupid.

Son: You told me that rabbis are people.
Dad: Yes, rabbis are people.

Son: Sometimes people do stupid things, so maybe the rabbi is stupid.
Dad: Yes, sometimes people do stupid things, but that doesn't mean that the rabbi is stupid.

Son: Can I ask the rabbi?
Dad: What do you want to ask?

Son: I want to ask him if he has ever done anything stupid?
Dad: That is not such a nice thing to say. You shouldn't ask that.

Son: You told me that I could ask the rabbi anything.
Dad: You can, but that doesn't mean that you should ask a question that is going to be offensive.

Son: What does offensive mean?
Dad: It means that some questions will hurt a person's feelings. So you shouldn't ask him those.

Son: Right, because if he is a stupid rabbi he is really going to feel badly.
Dad: No, because we don't want him to think that we are calling him names.

Son: Moshe's father said that the rabbi belonged in Chelm and that he wears ugly ties
Dad: That is not something that we should talk about. Moshe's father did something that wasn't nice.

Son: Your ties aren't as ugly as the rabbis.
Dad: I don't wear ties that often.

Son: I know, but they aren't as ugly as the rabbis.
Dad: Ok, let's get something straight. It is not nice to talk this way. We don't judge people by how they dress, just by what they do.

Son: But dad, he bought those ties and they are ugly. That is judging him based upon something he did.
Dad: Listen to me, this is not a conversation that I want to have with you. It is not nice and we are not supposed to talk about people this way.

Son: Can G-d talk to people this way.
Dad: G-d can do whatever G-d wants to do.

And before he could confound me with anymore questions I offered to buy him an ice cream cone. Sometimes that kid kills me.

Are You Smarter Than A Rabbi? Part I

The almost seven-year-old hit me with a new series of questions today. I love it. I love his interest in the world around him and how it forces me to constantly think about what I believe and why and how to best explain things to him.

Sometimes the answers to these questions spur new questions or simple spin-offs about the original ones. And let's not forget how simple comments can lead to all sorts of new stuff.

You'll recall that in an earlier post I recounted his curiosity about body parts and whether they ever stop growing. I did my best to answer his questions without providing too much information. He doesn't always need to know how to build a watch, sometimes it is enough to just tell him the time.

Anyhoo, today we revisited a topic that I think is important. How to pee in a public restroom. As alluded to in previous posts there is an art to this and since most preschool teachers are female it is not being passed along as well as it should be. This really should be a separate post, but in the interest of space I'll try to condense it.

It seems that some people teach the boys to pull their pants well below their groin. It makes sense as if the rookies will often inadvertently urinate on their clothes. However, they will eventually be in a public restroom where it is not smart for little boys or big boys for that matter to stand at a urinal with their pal in their hand and their pants around their ankles.

I have spent a lot of time explaining to my son why he needs to learn how to take care of his business in a fashion that doesn't require following the aforementioned ritual. Earlier today I learned that he has paid attention to our discussions about this as well as the one from the earlier post.

While running errands he told me that he needed to make a stop so off we went. I drank three cups of coffee so the timing was good for me too. Once inside we waited for a free urinal. He went first.

Son: Dad, It worked.
Dad: What worked?

Son: I peed with just one hand.
Dad: That is good.

Son: I can do it with no hands. Want to see?
Dad: You shouldn't do it that way. You might pee all over everything.

Son: I know. I wanted to see if you remembered.
Dad: What if I had forgotten.

Son: I would have reminded you.
Dad: That is good.

Son: Can girls sit and pee in a urinal?
Dad: They could, but I don't think that they'd like it.

Son: They must be so jealous that they don't have a penis. (His words, not mine.)
Dad: You might be right.

Son: I am going to tell mom that you said she wishes she had a penis.
Dad: I'd rather you don't.

Son: Why?
Dad: Because I didn't say that.

Son: Why didn't G-d give girls a penis?
Dad: That is a good question. I'll have to think about it for a moment.

Son: Do you think that the rabbi would know?
Dad: I think that I can give you an answer that is just as good as the rabbi.

Son: Are you smarter than a rabbi?
Dad: Well it depends on what we are talking about. Different people know different things.

Son: Yeah, and you know more about a penis than the rabbi does.
Dad: Not always. Do you remember what a mohel does?

Son: Is the man that cuts your penis in half?
Dad: He doesn't cut your penis in half.

Son: If your penis kept growing forever it wouldn't matter if he did.
Dad: That is true, but we know that doesn't happen.

Son: I still want to know if you are smarter than a rabbi?
Dad: Why do you want to know?

Son: Because I already know that you are stronger than the rabbi. You could beat him up.
Dad: Why would I want to do that.

Son: Well when I was a baby he might have cut off all of my penis and then I'd be like a girl. Could that really happen?
Dad: No, that wouldn't happen. And for what it is worth your mohel is a urologist. That means he is a doctor who is an expert on penises. He did your cousin's bris. Do you remember?

Son: Yes. His mommy kept crying.
Dad: She didn't cry the whole time.

Son: She is your little sister, right?
Dad: Yes, she is.

Son: Did you make her cry?
Dad: When?

Son: When you were kids. Sometimes I make my sister cry.
Dad: No, I didn't make her cry and you shouldn't make your sister cry either. (Ok, so I stretched the truth a little. It is a shalom bayit thing.)

Son: Dad, when you peed it was really noisy.
Dad: I guess that I really had to go.

Son: Remember I told you that it would be better if our penises were bigger because we wouldn't have to stand so close to the urinal.
Dad: I remember.

Son: When you pee that hard you can splash yourself.
Dad: Did I? (looking down and not seeing any spots on my pants.)

Son: No, but that guy in the black suit did.
Dad: It is not nice to point.

Son: He looks like the rabbi. Do you think that you are smarter than him?
Dad: I think that we need to finish washing our hands so that we can finish running our errands.

Stay tuned for part two.

Saudis Punish Rape Victim Part II

Part one of this story can be found here. Our good friends the Saudis, champions of human rights continue to provide the sort of role model we can do without.

The AP is running a story about how the Saudis are defending their actions against a rape victim.

"The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia's rigid Islamic law requiring segregation of the sexes.

But in considering her appeal of the verdict, the Saudi General Court increased the punishment. It also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman, Saudi news media said last week.

The reports triggered an international outcry over the Saudis punishing the victim of a terrible crime.

But the Ministry of Justice stood by the verdict Tuesday, saying that "charges were proven" against the woman for having been in a car with a man who was not her relative.

The ministry implied the victim's sentence was increased because she spoke out to the press. "For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows an appeal without resorting to the media," said the statement, which was carried on the official Saudi Press Agency."

Such compassion is heart warming is it not. CNN has additional information in which we learn that the victim's attorney had issues with the judge. Not to mention the victim's husband who suggests that this was an isolated incident.

"If this sentence is based on the law then I would've welcomed it," he said. "But it is harsh and the Saudi society I know and belong to is more sympathetic than that. I do not expect such harshness from Saudis, but rather compassion and support of the victim and her rights."

Saudi society, he said, is "is very respectful to women in general."

"If a woman raises her voice to a man in public, it would be very unusual for the man to respond or argue," he said. "When a woman enters a bank for instance and there is no women's section, all the men make way for the woman to go ahead of them and get her business first. I would think that putting seven men in jail for rape shouldn't be difficult."

Despite the treatment given his wife by the Saudi judicial system, he believes his society respects human rights and he is optimistic about the future.

"Through this case, as a citizen and stemming from my sense of security and patriotism, I believe in the future... And I have faith and trust in the system," he said.

Sorry, I can't buy into any of this. The Saudis are among the worst violators of human rights and common decency. It sickens me to see the U.S. lie in bed with them.

Saudis Punish Rape Victim

Our dear friends the Saudis are beacons of friendship, tolerance and human rights. It is a wonder why they don't have a permanent collection of Nobel Peace Prize winners.

"(CNN) -- A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists, the lawyer told CNN.

The 19-year-old victim was sentenced last year to 90 lashes for meeting with an unrelated male, a former friend from whom she was retrieving photographs. The seven rapists, who abducted the pair and raped both, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.

The victim's attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, contested the rapists' sentence, contending there is a fatwa, or edict under Islamic law, that considers such crimes Hiraba (sinful violent crime) and the punishment should be death.

"After a year, the preliminary court changed the punishment and made it two to nine years for the defendants," al-Lahim said of the new decision handed down Wednesday. "However, we were shocked that they also changed the victim's sentence to be six months in prison and 200 lashes."

The judges more than doubled the punishment for the victim because of "her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," according to a source quoted by Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.

Judge Saad al-Muhanna from the Qatif General Court also barred al-Lahim from defending his client and revoked his law license, al-Lahim said. The attorney has been ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Justice next month.

Al-Lahim said he is appealing the decision to bar him from representing the victim and has a meeting with Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh on Monday."

Why Do You Pray

My best friend and I spend all sorts of time debating and discussing all sorts of stuff. The title of this post sort of sums it all up. We had been discussing whether I actually believe in the moshiach (messiah) and whether I daven (pray) for him to come.

I am a little short on time so I can't dig into this the way I want to, but I suppose that I can really sum up our conversation to be "Why do you pray?"

It deserves a real response. I'll try to come back and give it later.

(Feel free to share your own thoughts/comments.)

A Monkey With a Keyboard

Every now and then old Jack wades into the deeper waters of the blogosphere to debate topics of interest with other members of the blogosphere. Some of these conversations are exceptionally interesting and well worth my time and others....Well let's just say that some of the others are about as intellectually stimulating as debating a monkey with a keyboard.

Recently I have found myself in another one of these simian food fights. The monkey made some outlandish and ill advised remarks and I responded. Said monkey didn't like me throwing peanuts and begged for my bananas by trying to insult me. Now it is possible that I may have been less than endearing in my initial response to the monkey.

Then again maybe the monkey deserved to have his cage rattled. I don't take kindly to threats and that is what the monkey did. Bonzo decided that lashing out was the best response to this. If Bonzo was a toddler it would have been called a classic case of baby tantrum. But Bonzo is not, Bonzo is second rate hack who fancies himself a mighty intellectual.

Good old Bonzo warms the cockles of my heart, even if his ranting is based upon the twisted fantasies of his own mind.

Ann Coulter's Most Recent Mumblings

I haven't written about her for a whole variety of reasons, not the least of which has been time. But I thought that I would point out a link that I think is worth a look. Bookworm has a post that caught my eye because it was sensible.

The grouchy old bear pointed me to this article on WND. It contains all sorts of gems such as:

America is still quite friendly towards Jews, but the incessant attacks on Christianity by the likes of Deutsch, Forman and Abe Foxman have grown increasingly tiresome. Given this irritating behavior, and the historical fact that Jews have worn out their welcome in literally dozens of countries over the centuries, it is the height of foolishness for a small number of misguided individuals to demand that 80 percent of the American population remain silent about the tenets of its religious faith. Christians are dying for their faith in the Sudan, in North Korea, in China, Vietnam and Myanmar; they are not about to shut their mouths simply because a few Jews in the media disapprove of their beliefs.

and

Despite its flaws, America has been one of the best friends the Jews have ever had. It would not only be a tragedy, it would be a stupid and wasteful one if Americans were provoked into developing the instinctive anti-semitism that currently pervades Europe, the Middle East and so much of the rest of the world.

I do believe that we were just told to shut up and sit in the back of the bus, not to mention that the ignoramus repeats common antisemitic canards to try and make his point.

Well Voxy, Jews have been dying for our faith for quite a spell longer than you, but that is not the point. And frankly there is a disconnect between citing anti-Xtian issues in foreign countries in the context of this story. There is no correlation between the two. That is just a red herring.

Cutting to the chase, I don't really care all that much about Coulter's comments. I think that they were ignorant, unfounded and that they foster discord. She likes that kind of thing, so let her feel the results of her comments.

But the remarks you made were asinine and unreasonable. There is no war on Xtianity in the U.S. It may make you feel badly that people ask that the US Constitution be upheld. It may make you feel badly that some people prefer not to have religion stuffed in their face, but that is just too damned bad.

Robbing The Bride and Groom

I have been meaning to write about this for a couple of days now. This story troubles me.

Rabbi Barry Tuchman has no congregation, no ties to a recognized Jewish movement and an ordination that was far outside the norm for American Jewish clergy.

But the interfaith couples who contact him don't want to see his diploma. They want to know whether he's willing to marry them. And Rabbi Barry, as he calls himself, is ready to oblige.

He officiates anywhere: in churches, alongside Christian clergy, on the Jewish Sabbath and at Roman Catholic weddings. A student of Shamanism, he can perform American Indian rituals, too.

"What I do," Tuchman said, "is throw the liturgy out the window."

Interfaith couples whose rabbis won't marry them are going to the fringes of American Judaism to find someone who will. And there are plenty of rabbis for hire.

Rabbis with unconventional, even dubious, credentials will create ceremonies that can look Jewish, even if they're not. Fees can run into the thousands of dollars, but business is booming. The rabbis have more work than they can handle.

"It's religion in America for a new generation," said Rabbi Richard Hirsh, executive director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, which represents rabbis in his movement. "It's pretty much an individual consumer culture of professional services. They are used to getting the services that they want."

The intermarriage rate for U.S. Jews has been above 40 percent since at least the 1990s, according to researchers for the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey. As the rate has climbed, so too has pressure on pulpit rabbis to perform the ceremonies. Advocates for interfaith families say officiating at the weddings can increase the odds that couples will raise their children Jewish.

Most rabbis aren't convinced.

The Conservative and Orthodox movements bar rabbis from performing the ceremonies.

For the full story please click here. Do you really want a hired gun to perform your marriage. And more importantly, who gets smicha to become rich.

Religion and Country- A Few Thoughts

I am about due for another post about religion and its place in society. By society I am referring to the United States. You can consider this to be a precursor to that particular post because I am due to take my afternoon siesta now, but before I do here are some thoughts.

Some people like to claim that religion is the foundation for all that is good in the world. I disagree. You don't have to be religious to be a moral person.

When discussing the separation of church and state some people try to prove their point by claiming that the Constitution doesn't speak about this. They'll say that no where in the Constitution does it say anything of the sort.

My response to them is simple. There are a lot of things that aren't in the Constitution. For example you won't find anything about speeding tickets or tickets received for running red lights. Lack of inclusion is not indicative of the validity of something.

Anyway, that is the general idea. If you have any thoughts you want to share now feel free to do so.

Second Guessing Ourselves- Elul Times Two

My chevrusa RWAC has a post called Elul: Doubting myself that caught my eye. Here is an excerpt that reeled me in:

In short: I do things that make my halakhic mind cringe. I do them for the sake of Torah and in a manner that conforms with my understanding of the halachah, but come Elul, they still bother me.

Elul is, after all, the period for second-guessing. For asking myself whether this action was correct, whether I should have said that differently. For debating the decisions that have brought me to this point in life.

So during Elul I look at these cases and ask myself: When I do these things, am I really motivated by ahavas yisrael and outreach, or am I doing it because I want people to like me?

It held my attention for many reasons. I find Elul to be unsettling. I am not Orthodox, but I don't think that you have to be Orthodox to find Elul to be unsettling. For that matter you don't have to be Orthodox to have an educated opinion about halacha or any Jewish matter. This is a position that is not popular with many people, but it is one that I am comfortable with.

The core of the issue for me is education. Are you familiar with the guidelines and reasons behind the various halacha and minhagim. Are you observant because you were raised that way or because you choose to be. I don't believe in G-d based upon logic, although that plays a role. I believe based in part because of faith. Faith doesn't require that 2+2 equal four. Although it would be nice that did.

I don't believe that mixed dancing should be frowned upon. I don't accept the minhagim that require my friends to wear a wool suit on a day in which the temperature exceeds 106. There are aspects of this that make sense to me. I appreciate the guidelines of being tznius, but to me they are just guidelines. I just don't believe that Chazal was trying to guide us to becoming shomer negia in the current fashion.

Granted there are going to be people who show me a gemara that says otherwise. Granted there is a reason why tradition shouldn't be completely ignored or abused. Yet it shouldn't always be taken as law just because that is the way it has always been done.

There are moments in which I have serious doubts about how I have done things. Moments in which I wonder if I have made the right choices. I second guess myself, but I also move on. I don't spend a ton of time wondering about every decision I have made.

Ani maamin with all of my heart and soul that Hashem is not locked into one way. I do not now and cannot remember a time in which I believed that there is only one way to be Jewish. Just to be clear for my resident J4J- there are lines which you cannot cross and be considered Jewish. Some things are impossible, like being partially pregnant. Outside of those black and white lines, there is a lot of gray.

Even though I find Elul to be unsettling I appreciate it for what it offers. Specific time to reflect upon my life, who I am, who I want to be, the year that was and the year to come.

What a Waste Of Time and Money

In an earlier post I mentioned that thanks to my close personal relationship with the good old almighty I am receiving instructions from the big man. He told me that I am to share the story of the foolish high school girl with you.

As she stepped to the microphone to give her commencement speech last spring, Erica Corder knew that what she was about to say might ruffle some feathers.

But the 2006 Lewis Palmer High School graduate ? one of 15 valedictorians who addressed the crowd ? didn't believe she had a choice.

"I really felt God calling me to do this," Corder said Thursday. "My top priority is obeying God."

G-d told me to tell you that you're making this up as you go along. You knew full well that you would get in trouble. He is quite angry that you're wasting time and money to try and prosecute a losing case.

So Erica Corder thanked all the teachers, parents and peers in the crowd for their encouragement over the years.

Then, deviating from the 30-second speech that had been approved by the principal, she began speaking about "someone who loves you more than you could ever imagine."

"His name is Jesus Christ," Corder said. "If you don't already know Him personally I encourage you to find out more about the sacrifice He made for you ..."

The approximately 30-second speech sparked an immediate controversy.

Parents and students including some of her fellow valedictorians complained that Corder had been proselytizing, and that her comments were inappropriate for the occasion. She also took heat from school officials for deviating from the pre-approved script.

Now that the moment has passed and I am back to being me I'll insert my own commentary. This is not a typical free speech case. We could spend time talking about why public schools are not subject to the same rules as other places or why free speech is not absolute.

But the thing is that we really don't have to go there. She knew in advance that she was going to create a problem. She knew that what she wanted to do was out of line. Call it civil disobedience, call it ignorant. The bottom line is that she knew it wasn't approved and she did it anyway.

Now Corder is fighting back.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court this week, Corder says the Monument high school violated her rights to free speech and equal protection.

Corder's father, Steve, said Thursday the Corders are not seeking money other than attorney fees.

This irritates me on multiple levels. As a father you should teach your children to take responsibility for their actions. This doesn't do so. It was clear in advance that she knew that there might be consequences to her actions.

The district has a written policy titled "Student Expression Rights," according to the lawsuit. It prohibits expression that, among other things, is disruptive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous or threatens violence. It does not specifically prohibit religious speech, the lawsuit states.

The 15 valedictorians agreed before commencement that each person would speak for 30 seconds. Two people did the introduction, while others spoke about each year of high school. Corder and another student were tabbed to conclude the speeches.

Corder said the valedictorians had only a few days to prepare their speeches before they practiced them for the principal, Mark Brewer.

She knew she wanted to honor God in her remarks, but she didn't do so in her practice speech because she knew there was a chance Brewer would prohibit the comments, and because she didn't think there would be enough time to work through the issue with him, she said (Emphasis mine)

You knew that there would be consequences. You knew that there would be trouble but you did it anyway. And all that happened was a little slap on the hand. You had to issue a written apology for your actions. Big deal.

Reference: Prayer in School

The Almighty Speaks To Jack

If you are of a certain age you may remember that when John Denver wasn't singing Rocky Mountain High or asking country roads to take him home he was engaged in a dialogue with the almighty, George Burns. Ok, it was a movie, or a couple of movies. I can't be bothered to remember everything. It is bad enough that I am asked to remind everyone that the Shmata Queen turns 50 tomorrow. (Hee hee, she is going to kill me.)

Let's get back the post at hand, or at keyboard as the case may be. Today was an ordinary day. Much like the rest of the week. I did my 10 mile run in less than 90 minutes, pumped iron for a couple of hours and managed dunk twice over three 20 year-old boys who still can't believe that an old man has crazy hops like me.

Inside the steam room I received direct communication from above. The Big Kahuna, Top Dog, The Man, the creator of the universe and master of time and space reached out and touched me. Understand that being touched in the steam room is disconcerting. When you are naked and walking amongst the people you aren't real interested in being groped, nor do you expect that you'll have an experience like Big Jake in which the almighty lays a hand upon your thigh.

There inside that steam room I was given a vision, testimony that I was commanded to present to the world. I was warned that my word would not be taken seriously and that some people would accuse me of being crazy. But in the presence of the steam that was not consumed I knew that I had received my calling and a duty that I couldn't forsake.

I am more than just the Bishop of Bullfrog. I am more than just Jack. That roar you hear isn't an airplane, it is not a big truck, it is the heavenly host telling you that you better damn well take notice of me. In the very near future I will be presenting you with the most important information you'll ever encounter.

For now I have been directed to visit the missionaries so that I can correct their behavior. Those who witness are being instructed to stop the trash talking. You got the message wrong. You blew it and now is your sole chance to redeem yourselves. Listen well, listen long and remember the words that I will present you.

I am the eggman, I am the eggman, I am the walrus.

Prayer In School

Prayer in school is a hot topic. It is a hot button issue that is regularly covered within and without the blogosphere. I have a number of posts that touch upon or discuss it. I'll provide links to some of those posts at the end of this one.

On a side note I have noticed that virtually every time I have run something about this subject my blog has been dropped from blog rolls. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I don't need everyone to either. I find it somewhat telling and sad that some people find my position to be so offensive that they no longer want to visit. Mostly it is because they claim to be quite tolerant, but such is life.

The following are just some thoughts from the top of my head. This is not an attempt to prove the intent of the framers as being for or against, although if you want my opinion I think that they were at best neutral about it, if not downright against it. If they wanted the government to sanction prayer in school they would have specifically included it within the Constitution.

I am against organized prayer within public schools. Note that I said organized prayer. In concept, I am not against a moment of silence but I tend to be skeptical about whether people will truly be silent.

My concern about prayer in school is that it can be divisive, exclusionary and that some students may be ostracized because of their beliefs. Our schools should be havens of learning in which no one is targeted because their beliefs do not adhere to those of others. Organized prayer that is sanctioned by the school places these havens in jeopardy and infringes upon parental rights to instill values within our children.

In a Utopian society different views and philosophies are celebrated. However we know from painful experience that this is not the world that we live in. School children are subjected to tremendous social pressure to fit in and while it is noble and worthwhile to teach them to stand up for their beliefs this is not the situation in which to try and do so.

A belief in a particular religion is always rooted in faith that its tenets are true. Faith is the key word in that sentence. You cannot rely upon logic and reason to take you to the place in which an a consensus is reached about faith. This is a big hurdle.

If you note how many denominations of particular religions exist you can see how this exacerbates the situation. I know of Orthodox Jews who see the non Orthodox as apostates, evangelicals who consider Catholics to be idol worshippers etc. If you cannot find consensus among the believers of the same faith you are walking on thin ice.

Earlier I mentioned how organized prayer interferes with parental rights. It is something that I feel strongly about. My biggest job in life is to teach my children how to be menschen. It is a parent's obligation to instill values within our children. It is not the school or societies responsibility to teach them how to become good people. It is mine. This is a large part of why I make time for my kids.

I love my children and want them to be happy. So I provide them with structure, with guidance and with a framework that they can apply to life. The primary set of values is what they receive at home. It is nice for that to be supplemented by the school, but a public school shouldn't touch upon religion for all the reasons I mentioned above. There is strength in plurality.

Posts regarding Prayer in School and similar issues

You Live In A Christian Country- Deal With It
Stop The ACLU Coalition Nonsense
Religion In Schools
Prayer In School- Kentucky High School Shenanigan
Interfaith Relationships- Jews and Christians Misunderstood Again
Southern Baptist Bunk
Air Force Sued Over Religious Intolerance
Appeals court broadens prayer ban in Arkansas school district

Rejecting radical Islam -- one man's journey

CNN has the story of a man who was born Jewish, converted to Islam and then converted to Christianity.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The path to faith often takes unexpected twists. In the case of Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, the road went through three of the world's major religions -- Judaism, Islam and Christianity -- and ultimately brought him to the FBI.

Born to Jewish parents who call themselves mystics, he grew up in what he calls the "liberal hippie Mecca" of Ashland, Oregon, a town of about 20,000 near the California border. It was in this ultraliberal intellectual environment that a young Gartenstein-Ross experimented with a radical form of Islam that eventually led him to shun music, reject women's rights and even refuse to touch dogs because he believed this was "according to God's will."

"I began to pray for the mujahedeen, for these stateless warriors who were trying to topple secular governments," he said.

His journey began in 1997, when as a junior at Wake Forest University, he began to examine his own spiritual identity after experiencing a couple of brushes with death caused by illness. "That kind of thing can cause spiritual discomfort and make you reevaluate what it is that you're living for," he told CNN in an upcoming documentary called "God's Warriors."

It is an interesting story and I really have touched upon just a brief element of it. If you read more you'll see his encounter with radical Islam and how he has become a counter terrorism consultant.

I am not really focusing on any of those things. What I am curious to learn is what made him feel the need to go through three religions. What was he searching for. What was missing in his life. What drove him on this search. He sounds like a lost soul who was just buffeted around a bit.

How many lost souls are there floating through life. Quite a few I'd imagine.