#Rabbi Ruth Adar

[coffeeshoprabbi]

Ask the Rabbi: Why did my bishop ban Christian Seders?

Image: A Seder in a private home. People are talking animatedly around a large silver Seder plate. Photo by Rabbi Ruth Adar. I recently received a very nice letter from an Episcopalian friend asking why her bishop had banned the practice of Christian Seder meals. This is my reply, with a few edits: Dear Lucinda, great question. I have mixed feelings about bans, too, but I appreciate your…

[progressivejudaism]

Such a fantastic list of humans!

[jewish-privilege]

...One of the subplots in the film is Flip’s gradual discovery that he does indeed have skin in the game. In an early scene he is asked by a co-worker if he’s Jewish, and he says, “I dunno – am I?” He is an assimilated secular Jew, and he is invested in that assimilation without being particularly conscious about it.

Because one of the Klansmen is suspicious that he might be a Jew, Flip spews a lot of anti-Semitic invective as cover, throwing around not only words like “kike” but a horrific speech on the “beauty” of the Holocaust and the need for “those leeches” to be exterminated. It is a heart-stopping moment, perfectly acted: we see the performance for the Klansman, and deep behind it, in Driver’s eyes, the terror of his own words. We see him recognize his skin in the game at the moment in which he is most desperate to save his skin from the Klan.

Spike Lee has a complicated history with American Jewish audiences, but he and the writers of the film (two of them Jewish, by the way) have articulated the question for American Jews at this moment. There has been a considerable squabble lately about Jews and whiteness, and considerable anxiety about the rise of white supremacy in our world. This movie slices through all the nonsense to the essential question:

“Why you acting like you ain’t got skin in the game, bro?”

The point is, my fellow liberal Jews of all complexions, we do have skin in this game. The question is, are we going to recognize it and drop the fantasy that if we act white enough – if we are cultured and educated and assimilated and meet standards of white beauty – that the white supremacist will somehow pass by our houses? Because that has been our strategy for the last century. It has been a successful strategy, up to a point: Jews are now seen by whites as such desirable mates that there’s talk of an “intermarriage problem,” to give but one example.

But here’s the thing: if we are so focused on those assimilated values of whiteness and homogeneity, we will never notice how that very assimilation causes us to behave to those in our midst with different complexions, the Jews of Color who cannot (and should not have to) pass. We will never notice because we are invested in whiteness.

I can imagine a reader saying now, “But rabbi, what you are saying is that Jews aren’t white!” That compels me to ask why do we keep acting so darn white? Why are we so fragile, waving frantically at photos of long-dead Jews marching with Martin Luther King, insisting that “not all” of us participate in racism? If we don’t want to be the bad guys (which is what I hear when I hear a light skinned person insisting that they aren’t really white) then why do we keep acting like the bad guys?

Why are people of color made unwelcome in our communities, treated like outsiders? Why do we quiz them, or assume they are the janitor or a convert? Why, upon seeing them, do we feel we have to comment on their difference?

We will be white as long as we continue to deal in white privilege.

We will be white until a Jew of Color can walk into our service and simply be accepted without comment.

On that day we will become One: one People of the one God...

[Read Rabbi Ruth Adar’s full piece at Coffee Shop Rabbi]

[aheavenlylake]

Friends, I just got 2 job offers!! Baruch HaShem!

I found a blessing for this occasion on jewishdoorways.org:

בָּרוּך אַתָּה הַ’ אֱלֹּהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁנָּתַן לִי תִּקְוָה וָכֹוחַ וְהֵבִיא אוֹתִי לַעֲבוֹדָה חֲדָשָׁה זוֹ כָּךְ אֲנִי יוּכַל לְהִתְפַּרְנֵס

Baruch Ata, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shenatan li tikvah v’ho-ach v’he-vi oti l’avodah hadashah zo, kach ani yuchal l’hitparnes.

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Ruler of Time-and-Space, who gives me hope and strength and has brought me to this new employment so that I may make a living.

Rabbi Ruth Adar

[binachai]

Finding the middle road

A while back the guy I’m dating mentioned that he was surprised that I am not taking the “normal” path of a ger. The other night over dinner I asked him to elaborate on that. 

He stated that normally a convert will either fall into a secular Jewish lifestyle or be uberJewish. He gave an example of how the uberJew would freak out over why he didn’t have a muzzuzah on his door and rail about how that was a huge failure on his part. (This resulted in him realizing he should have one and feeling bad he didn’t.)

The reason he feels I am different is that I am not uberJew - in fact I am not judgmental about how one chooses to enact or show their Jewishness - but am still active in attending Shabbat and being involved with both my shul and the greater community even months after the mikvah dip. This fascinates him how I have found a balance.

I shared with him both that horrid date I had last year at this time with the Israeli music professor who grilled me for two hours (and I was proud I could go toe to toe with on concepts, Torah, and more) thinking that I “was at least sincere” as well as his joke about how if you sent to God@heaven.com and misplace the dot it wouldn’t go anywhere and thus not count. I told the guy I’m currently dating how I found that sort of extremist thinking harmful, but that my sincerity is reflected in how I put up or shut up. :P 

I also shared with my guy about the concept of how there seems to be a tendency of judging others reflected by an insecurity about how one is/acts Jewish themselves that is elaborated on in a series of essays by Rabbi Ruth Adar (1, 2).

I really feel that these bookend are what helps me take this middle road. I’ve been shamed as not enough by some and refuse to make others feel the same - about anything, not just in how they express or enact their Jewishness. No one can see inside our heads or hearts. No one deserves to feel poorly when they are doing what is right for them at that point in time. 

I think I’ve been lucky in absorbing this balanced line of thinking from my rabbi and shul community. I see both extremes and everything between in my community but my rabbi advocates for being nonjudgmental. (I’m going to miss my rabbi now that he is in another state.)

Each of us has different backgrounds and needs - that are continually shifting over the course of our lives. No one, not our spouses, parents, or rabbi can know where we are or what we need at any point in time. As we struggle with God, ourselves, our community, it is a lot. We don’t need to put our struggle on display for others through any of our own insecurities on display nor do we need to deal with the extra bullshit that others’ insecurities can do to stress us out.

There is nothing wrong with one (ger or ethnically) being secular only or with doing all the things. You do you. Let others be themselves.

[joshiesjourney]

Websites I frequent

Chabad: https://www.chabad.org/

If you google a jewish quesiton, you will land on Chabad. Orthodox, some takes that I find difficult to find anywhere else on the internet/when talking to rabbis irl so I recommend cross referencing. 

My Jewish Learning: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/

Maybe the best resource for Reform judaism that I have found so far. Comprehensive, lots of different topics, regular updates and multiple excellent newsletter subscriptions around specific topics. My favorite go-to. 

The Coffee Shop Rabbi: https://coffeeshoprabbi.com/

I didn’t discover this one until recently. This blog by Rabbi Ruth Adar feels more personal and is a Reform 101 website. Comprehensive, to the point and at times, very philosophical.

Judaism 101: http://www.jewfaq.org/

Much simpler, very comprehensive posts about all things to do with ritual, basic questions on judaism in general and more. Orthodox. 

Also a few more random ones: 

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRaDR

I just really like her thoughts and recently bought one of her books. She’s pretty cool. 

An online lecture series about Torah: https://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145

A Yale course that I haven’t quite finished yet, but it taught me a lot about bible study and the beginnings of judaism.

This wonderful person: https://jewish-kulindadromeus.tumblr.com/

This tumblr has very well researched posts with plenty of details. I adore it!

Halachipedia: https://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

A wikipedia just for judaism and halacha. I don’t use it super often but when I have random thoughts and questions I sometimes end up here. 

[funface2]

11 Rosh Hashanah Quotes For A Sweet New Year Let’s all party like it’s 5780, shall – Romper

Let’s all party like it’s 5780, shall we? Starting on the night of Sunday, Sept. 29, Jews will begin celebrating Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה), or, the Jewish New Year. In the spirit of renewal and of good tidings, I’ve compiled quotes for Rosh Hashanah that might be funny, might be uplifting, or might cause you to reflect — sharing all of the best qualities of the holiday. It’s the first day of the High Holidays, also known as the Yamim Noraim or, the “Days of Awe,” and it’s a time of celebration and reflection. These quotes reflect that.

For my friends and family, Rosh Hashanah is mostly a fun celebration where we eat a lot of challah, dip apples in honey, and then regret our life choices as we unbutton our pants on the sofa after the third serving of rugelach. But the holiday has much deeper meaning that that. In the book of Leviticus, we are told in a conversation between Moses and G-d that “In the seventh month, on the first of the month, it shall be a Sabbath for you, a remembrance of [Israel through] the shofar blast a holy occasion.”

It’s the party day of the High Holidays, but it is also the day to beg forgiveness, and to seek renewal, because 10 days later, Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement complete with fasting, prayers, and intimate self reflections.

So on Rosh Hashanah, let the kosher wine flow, unbutton those pants, and love your family and friends fiercely. Shana Tova.

1. “Because your future isn’t bound by your past.”

There is a “Street Rebbe” on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn with whom I regularly have occasion to speak with. He is a gentle soul, and imparts his wisdom to any who might walk by. This is what he tells me every Rosh Hashanah, and it brings me so much joy and peace. If you’re ever in Boro Park, stop by his hang out for a chat. Everyone knows the street Rebbe.

2. “Everyone can look inside his or her soul and decide what he or she can do to make a world at peace, to end this fighting that goes on every day around the world.” — Ruth Gruber

From the indomitable Ruth Gruber. What a blessing for the new year.

3. “The Book of Life and the Book of Death are open every day, and our name is written in one or the other of them at every moment, and then erased and written again the moment after that. We are constantly becoming, continuously redefining ourselves. This doesn’t just happen on Rosh Hashanah.” — Alan Lew

From Alan Lew, a rabbi who also studied Buddhism. He gets at the heart of what the holiday really means, and how it can be celebrated as a member of the world.

4. “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone. … We leave you a tradition with a future. The tender loving care of human beings will never become obsolete. People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed and redeemed and redeemed. Never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. Your ‘good old days; are still ahead of you, may you have many of them.” — Sam Levenson

This poem by Sam Levenson hung in the office of a professor of mine at Brooklyn College. With Levenson being a Jewish writer and comedian from New York, this quote resonates during the High Holidays.

5. “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” — Elie Wiesel

Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images

From Elie Wiesel. May his memory be a blessing.

6. “Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” — Hannah Arendt

Prolific writer and scholar Hannah Arendt was a champion of forgiveness and restitution.

7. “Fight with realistic hope, not to destroy all the world’s wrong, but to renew its good.” — Elizabeth E Wein

From the sequel of Elizabeth E Wein’s Code Name: Verity. A beautiful note on renewal.

8. “Forgiveness is the only way to reverse the irreversible flow of history.” — Hannah Arendt

More from Hannah Arendt. Her words have such power, even 80 years later.

9. “The legend engraved on the face of the Jewish nickel – on the body of every Jewish child! – not IN GOD WE TRUST, but SOMEDAY YOU’LL BE A PARENT AND YOU’LL KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE.” — Philip Roth

Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint is a classic for a reason.

10. “Every universe, our own included, begins in conversation. Every golem in the history of the world, from Rabbi Hanina’s delectable goat to the river-clay Frankenstein of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, was summoned into existence through language, through murmuring, recital, and kabbalistic chitchat — was, literally, talked into life.” — Michael Chabon

11. “Those who say they can, and those who say they can’t are usually right.” — Shimi Adar

This is from Shimi Adar, Orthodox Instagram sensation and motivational speaker. She is truly a blessing of a soul, and I get a lot from her message. This time of year, this feels like the right attitude for moving forward.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source link

Bài viết 11 Rosh Hashanah Quotes For A Sweet New Year Let’s all party like it’s 5780, shall – Romper đã xuất hiện đầu tiên vào ngày Funface.

from Funface https://funface.net/funny-quotes/11-rosh-hashanah-quotes-for-a-sweet-new-year-lets-all-party-like-its-5780-shall-romper/

[otir]

Survival in A Tough Time

Survival in A Tough Time

Coffee Shop Rabbi (a.k.a. Rabbi Ruth Adar) expressed feelings and ideas I share in this post I re-post on my own blog today. I wish I had written what she wrote: her words mirror those that struggled to form in my own overwhelmed mind. When the only thought that comes to mind is “disaster”, I want to stay strong and helpful. I want to use my personal powers of being alive and able. Doing one good…

[iscariotapologist]

May the Holy One forgive us, pardon us, and make atonement possible.

For it is through true acts of genuine repentance and a sincere desire to change that we will bring change to our nation: the rule of fairness, justice and peace. May our hearts grow, may all wounded souls be healed, and may we live to see the day when the scourge of racism is truly behind us.

Amen.

[coffeeshoprabbi]

Registration for Winter "Intro" Now Open!

Registration for Winter “Intro” Now Open!

Image: Two hands fit two puzzle pieces together, with the words “Introduction” above and “To the Jewish Experience” written below. Artwork from pixabay, modified by Rabbi Ruth Adar. On January 2, 2022, Introduction to the Jewish Experience will begin its winter session. There will be two separate classes offered every Sunday afternoon, Pacific Time: Jewish History Through Texts What is the…

[coffeeshoprabbi]

The Eternal Light: A Sermon on Survival

The Eternal Light: A Sermon on Survival

Image: Bimah of Temple Ner Tamid, Bloomfield, NJ. (Photo: http://www.nertamid.org)

This is a sermon by Rabbi Marc Katz, given on Rosh HaShanah 5779 at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, NJ. He posted it on his Facebook page, and I asked for his permission to repost it here. – Rabbi Ruth Adar

In 1937, Walter Heilbronner climbed the steps of the bima at the Memmingen Synagogue as he prepared to become…

[coffeeshoprabbi]

Online Class: Intro to the Jewish Experience!

Online Class: Intro to the Jewish Experience!

Image: Two hands fit two puzzle pieces together, with the words “Introduction” above and “To the Jewish Experience” written below. Artwork from pixabay, modified by Rabbi Ruth Adar. CLASSES BEGIN SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. Introduction to the Jewish Experience, or “Intro,” is a 24-week online class in Basic Judaism. The series is for anyone who hasn’t had a basic Jewish education, or who wishes to…

[coffeeshoprabbi]

A Course in Basic Judaism!

A Course in Basic Judaism!

Image: My first “Intro to the Jewish Experience” class, in 2009. Photo by Scott Wexelberg.

Right after the High Holy Days, I start my “Intro to the Jewish Experience” series over again.

Intro to the Jewish Experience is a course in Basic Judaism offered by Lehrhaus Judaica and taught by Rabbi Ruth Adar – me. Who takes this class? People who for whatever reason never got a basic Jewish education…

[coffeeshoprabbi]

What is Daf Yomi and Why is Everyone Obsessed with It?

What is Daf Yomi and Why is Everyone Obsessed with It?

Image: A graphic representation of rabbinic literature. Graphic by Ruth Adar, all rights reserved.

There’s a lot of talk online and elsewhere about “Daf Yomi” right now. It means “Page of Talmud of the Day” – actually TWO pages of Talmud per day, for seven plus years until the whole thing is read. If that’s your cup of tea, mazal tov. But as Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) said very…

[coffeeshoprabbi]

The Rabbi's Weird Hobby: "Chickie"

The Rabbi’s Weird Hobby: “Chickie”

Image: Linda holding Princess, who is asleep. (Photo: Ruth Adar)

My wife and I have three aging toy poodles. They all came from Poodle Rescue, and we have had almost ten happy years with them. Now we’re all getting older together: Linda and I are 70 and 64, and the poodles are 14, 15, and somewhere past 20. Their names are Jojo, Princess, and Gabi; we call them our Jewdles.

Princess is…

[coffeeshoprabbi]

Greetings from Cincinnati!

Image: The opening meeting of the 130th annual meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Photo Ruth Adar)

I’m writing this message from a hotel room in Cincinnati, OH, where I am meeting with the rabbis of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) the association of Reform Rabbis in North America.

It’s a combination old-home-week, school reunion, continuing education and…