Passover Reflections on Oppression

By Rabbi Stephen M. Wylen

SHABBAT SHALOM FROM TEMPLE BETH TIKVAH
Wayne, N.J.
TORAH PORTION:
Shabbat Hol HaMoed Pesah

HAGGADAH:
A tale is told of Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon, that they were reclining at the seder service in B’nai Brak, and they spent the entire night telling the story of the exodus from Egypt, until the sun came up and their pupils came to them and said, “Teachers, it is time for morning prayer.”

COMMENTARY:
On Seder night we do not stick to the facts of the biblical story. Taking our cue from the five rabbis of Bnai Brak who went on all night, we are urged to expand on the Torah’s version of the Exodus. .... The Hagaddah includes one classic version of midrash, the rabbinic art of interpretation, but the door is open to innnovations.

LESSON:
The significance of the seder celebration lies in two factors:

1) Our ability to empathize with the feelings of the oppressed, beginning with our own ancestors in Egypt.
2) Our ability to apply the lessons of empathy to recognize where redemption is needed in the contemporary world, and to devise strategies for bringing about that redemption.

The text of the haggadah gives our heart an opening to empathy.

Our discussion of the text around the table is our opportunity to convert empathy into concern and hence to action.

For example, the five rabbis at Bnai Brak were planning the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire in the time of Emperor Hadrian, their response to Hadrian’s persecution of the Jews and, most outrageously, Hadrian's plan to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city, Aelia Capitolina.

In our day there are still oppressors against the Jews, and there are still those who enslave others around the world.

At our seder table we might expound on the Exodus by considering the enslavement and oppression of the black Africans of the southern Sudan in Darfur. We might consider the anti-Semitism of the radical left in America and Western Europe, which disguises itself as humanitarian concern for Palestinians, but which in practice is just another form of hate-mongering. At our seder table we might consider the seemingly intractable problem of political and social relations between the Western secular world and the Islamic world.

How can we bring peace or at least accommodation between these two world-views, thus advancing the redemption?

These are just a few thoughts. In what other ways might we also expand on the story of the Exodus as we recline at our seder this year?

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Other Views on Gaza Pullout

"About Disengagement"

The Anti-Defamation League

"The Disengagement That Isn't"

Iviews.com

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Synagogue Burnings Compared to Nazi Pogrom

Read Paula Stern's article "The Face of Islamic Religious Intolerance."

Israpundit.com

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Palestinian Speak Out About Gaza Burnings

Varied views from Arabs are expressed in this Al Jazeera news account:

Aljazeera

Official Palestinian positions and policies:

Palestinian National Authority

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Anti-Gay Preacher Pickets Soldiers’ Funerals

The Rev. Fred Phelps displaying signs at a funeral protest.

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

The Rev. Fred Phelps, head of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., is known for in-your-face, no-holds-barred protests against homosexuality. His latest tactic is to protest at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.

On a flyer distributed at an Army sergeant’s funeral, Phelps states: “Thank God for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).” These weapons are used to attack coalition forces in Iraq.

Phelps’ flyer states that because a bomber attacked his church, God is now punishing American soldiers in the field. “God Himself has become America’s terrorist, killing Americans in strange lands.”

Ultimately, God is targeting the U.S. because of its tolerance of homosexuality, Phelps states.

To learn more about Phelps and his church, click below. (Warning: This site contains language and images that might be considered crude and offensive.)

Phelps’ site
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ADL
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Capital-Journal
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Baptist Press

Note: Phelps' church is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination.

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Palestinians in Gaza Torch Synagogues

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

After the pullout of Israeli troops on Monday (Sept.12), Palestinians flooded into abandoned Jewish settlements and set synagogues on fire, the Associated Press reported.

Palestinian police stood by as crowds wrecked the buildings and fired guns into the air in celebration of Israel’s withdrawal. One officer was quoted as saying that the people had a right to do what they were doing.

The houses of worship were the only buildings left standing after the pullout. The Israeli government had bulldozed houses and other structures and had intended to raze the synagogues. But rabbis pressed the government not to do so; the rabbis sought international or Palestinian protection for the buildings. The Palestinian Authority refused.

The U.S. criticized the Israelis for failing to demolish the synagogues themselves; failure to destroy the buildings would make the Palestinians look bad, no matter what they did, the U.S. said.

Meanwhile, the Guardian, a British paper, reported that Hamas is claiming that their terrorist measures forced the Israeli departure. One Hamas poster in Gaza proclaimed: "We are celebrating the victory of the bomb."

To read the Associated Press story, click below:

AP Report, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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The Guardian

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Should Jerusalem Temple Be Rebuilt?

By Rabbi Stephen M. Wylen
Aug. 30, 2005
Temple Beth Tikvah, Wayne, N.J.

TORAH PORTION: RE’EH
TORAH:
Look only to the place that Ad-nai your God will choose amidst all your tribes to reside, to establish God’s name there. There you are to go, and there you are to bring your burnt offerings and other sacrifices ... (Deut. 12:4b-5a)

COMMENTARY:
It is a mitzvah from the Torah to build God’s Temple in Jerusalem. Why, then, don’t we rebuild the Temple? The law is that we only need fulfill this mitzvah when the majority of the Jewish people are living in the Land of Israel. But if that is so then why did our ancestors build the Second Temple in the time of the Persian Empire? We are taught that the righteous bring salvation to themselves and to others as well. Those righteous Jews who returned from exile in Babylon fulfilled the mitzvah for their brothers and sisters scattered amongst the nations. We do not consider ourselves to be so righteous, however, and so we leave our Temple unbuilt. - based on the Yeshuot Malko, quoted in Itturei Torah 6:85

LESSON:
Will there ever be a third Temple in Jerusalem? The traditional Jewish belief is that when the Messiah comes he will rebuild the Temple. Until that time, the Jews are not to take matters into our own hands. Some Jews believe that there will never be another Temple, that prayer, Torah study and mitzvah have replaced sacrifice forever, and this pleases God more. Some Jews believe that the modern State of Israel is, so to speak, the Third Temple. I am one of these Jews.

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Students Should Be Taught "a Lot of Science"

By Gregory J. Rummo
(Copyright Greg Rummo, All Rights Reserved)

This appeared in the Sunday New Jersey Herald on July 17, 2005. It also appears on the American Family Association Web site.

American Family Association

Earlier this year, the issue of teaching alternate theories for the origins of life in the public schools in the state of Kansas bobbed to the surface once again.

The crux of the controversy was explained in the school board’s Recommendations for Further Revision to the Second Draft of Kansas Science Education Standards: “…[A] disagreement continues to exist within the Science Writing Committee with respect to very substantive issues relating to the inherently controversial issue of teaching students about the origin of life and its diversity. There is general agreement that standard biological evolutionary theory must be presented. However, Draft 2 continues to implicitly discourages (sic) any critical analysis of the theory that would ‘weaken’ it. This implication is reinforced by the absence of any learning objective that would inform students of important evidence inconsistent with evolution’s critical assumptions and historical narratives. This is in spite of agreed upon standards that explicitly state that students should critically analyze all scientific theories and consider competing alternatives.”

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Grappling With the Problem of Evil

By Mark D.R. Stern
Public School Educator

Many people believe that God is simultaneously omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and compassionate. If all of these are true, then why would God let bad things happen to good people?

This is a question that has forever captured the imaginations of philosophers, theologians, and thinking people in general. The rational conclusion is: God is not omnipotent or God does not care. You have to abandon one to keep the faith.

In the 1939 novel “As a Driven Leaf” by Rabbi Milton Steinberg (1903-1950), the book’s protagonist concludes God does not care. In the 1981 book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” Rabbi Harold S. Kushner (born Brooklyn, N.Y., mid-1930s) chose a caring God who is not omnipotent. Fundamentalists say that when God lets the faithful down, it is a test: hence the book of Job (the oldest confrontation of the paradox). If you are wrestling with these issues, these two books are a great place to examine the problem of evil.

For more information about “As a Driven Leaf,” click below:

Steinberg

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Kushner

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Newsweek Explains The Real Problem in Iran

The problem in Iran goes far beyond its desire to make nuclear weapons, according to Amir Taheri of Newsweek. The Islamic nation is determined to reshape the Middle East in its image.

Read Taheri’s article:

Newsweek International
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Pope Warns Against ‘Do-It-Yourself’ Faith

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

“Religion sought on a ‘do-it-yourself’ basis cannot ultimately help us,” Pope Benedict XVI preached at the final Mass during World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany.

“It may be comfortable, but at times of crisis we are left to ourselves,” the pontiff said during his Sunday (Aug. 21) homily, which focused on the Eucharist.

“Freedom is not simply about enjoying life in total autonomy, but rather about living by the measure of truth and goodness, so that we ourselves can become true and good. This gesture is necessary even if initially our yearning for freedom makes us inclined to resist it,” the pope said to the hundreds of thousands of young people in his audience.

Submission to God brings true freedom, Pope Benedict said. “He to whom we submit is Love. In this way submission acquires a meaning, because it does not impose anything on us from the outside, but liberates us deep within.”

He urged the young people to study their faith by reading The Catechism of the Catholic Church. But knowledge is not enough. He urged them to build communities based on faith.

To read about the closing Mass, click below:

CNN

Catholic News Service
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Reality TV Ups the Ick Ante

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

When it comes to reality TV, it’s hard to tell when a new low has been achieved.

After all, Fox’s “Cops” (now in its 18th season) has shown law officers tangling with assorted lowlifes: drunks, wife-beaters, psychos, crack heads, and various mullet-wearing, toothless criminals.

Since 2001, NBC’s “Fear Factor” has broadcast gag-producing stunts -- forcing contestants to eat pureed insects and even live snails.

And this year, the Discovery Channel launched “Dirty Jobs.” High on the TMI (too much information) scale was the episode showing host Mike Rowe inseminating a mare.

But “Big Brother” producer John de Mol may have set the bar higher or lower – depending your perspective. He is planning "I Want Your Child ... and Nothing Else!" The series will focus on a woman’s search for a sperm donor. The show will be shown in the Netherlands on De Mol’s new Talpa network. I send regrets to our Dutch friends.

I’m as guilty as the next person. I have watched “The Osbournes,” “Family Plots,” “The Anna Nicole Show,” “Brat Camp,” “Intervention,” “Celebrity Fit Club,” “Nanny 911” – and innumerable crime documentaries. But where are our morals when we watch people degrade and expose themselves – all for a little fame and cash? Sometimes, it’s too much for me and I switch channels. But I admit it’s harder to trigger my ick response.

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Is Gaza Pullout a Victory for Islam?

Above, a Hamas poster issued during Israel's pullout from Gaza states: "Our Koran proves that we were right and your Talmud proves that you were wrong." A smiling Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Hamas founder and leader (right), is juxtaposed against a photo of a grieving observant Jew. Israeli helicopters used missiles to assassinate Yassin in 2004.

Read article by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook. Search for headline "Palestinians: Gaza Withdrawal is Victory for Islam"

Palestinian Media Watch

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Justice Comes Too Late for Georgia Woman

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

The state of Georgia has pardoned Lena Baker, an African-American woman executed 60 years ago for killing a white man, a government spokeswoman stated Monday (Aug. 15).

In her one-day trial before an all-male, all-white jury, Baker claimed that she had shot the man in self-defense. Baker, who was a maid, was hired to care for E.B. Knight. Knight held Baker against her will in a grist mill and threatened her with a gun, the maid said in court. According to her testimony, Baker got control of the gun, and Knight came after her with a metal bar; that's when she fatally shot him.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles found that its decision to deny Baker clemency "was a grievous error, as this case called out for mercy," the spokeswoman said.

We may think we've come a long way from the overt racism that pervaded U.S. society in Lena Baker's day. But statistics kept since 1977 show that the attitudes that sent Baker to the electric chair still influence the justice system. In short, the penalty is harsher when the victim is white, especially if the perpetrator is black. African-Americans make up 50 percent of U.S. murder victims. But in 81 percent of capital cases, the victim is white. Since 1977, 12 whites have been killed for killing black victims; 202 blacks have been executed for killing white victims. A total of 979 people, 330 of them black, have been executed in the U.S. since 1977.

Why does our justice system continue to value white lives over black lives? It's a question all of us should be asking.

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Pardon

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New Support for Girls Who Favor Modesty

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

Wendy Shalit, author of “Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue,” recently established a Web site to help young women follow principles laid out in her book.

The site urges visitors: “Join forces with other young women who are tired of power struggles between the sexes. Believe in the possibility of real intimacy.”

The site’s mission statement says: “Modesty Zone is an informal community of young women who don’t have a voice in the mainstream media.

“Whether you’re a virgin waiting until marriage, or just against casual sex more generally, you can find a safe harbor here to share your ideals, interests, and goals for the future."

Amazon.com says about Shalit’s book: “In an age when women are embarrassed by sexual inexperience, when sex education is introduced as early as primary school, and when women suffer more than ever from eating disorders, stalking, sexual harassment, and date rape, Shalit believes a return to modesty may place women on equal footing with men.”

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Modesty

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Another Scandal for Catholic Church

Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

When will it end?

The wave of sexual scandals in the U.S. Catholic Church is rolling on and on and on.

Yet another sordid story has surfaced. And I’m not even talking about the female Catholic schoolteacher accused of improper sexual behavior with four teenage boys at Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie, N.Y.

This time, a prominent Manhattan priest has been accused of having an affair with his secretary, the New York Times and several other media outlets are reporting.

The priest, Monsignor Eugene V. Clark, 79, resigned his post as rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday (Aug. 11), The Journal News reported. In any Catholic diocese, the cathedral is the bishop’s church. But the rector runs the church on behalf of the bishop -- in this case Cardinal Edward Egan. Clark will not be allowed to say Mass until the Archdiocese of New York has completed an investigation.

The accusations came to light in court papers filed by Philip DeFilippo of Westchester County, N.Y. DeFilippo says he has a videotape showing his wife, Lauren, 46, and the priest checking into and out of a Long Island motel. Stills from the video have appeared on television news programs. Ironically, Clark performed the couple’s wedding 20 years ago. DeFilippo is in the process of divorcing his wife.

Lauren DeFilippo and Clark deny the allegations.

Clark frequently appears on the Catholic television network EWTN. The network has placed Clark's program on hiatus.

In 2002, Clark argued that immorality prevalent in U.S. society was largely to blame for the priest pedophilia scandal. He also faulted seminaries for admitting gay men.

To read EWTN press release about Clark, click below.

EWTN

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From the Archives

Tears of Mourning on the Ninth of Av

The second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.
By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

The 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av) is a solemn day on the Jewish calendar. On this date, the ancient Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed – twice. Jews mark this day (which this year runs from sundown Aug. 13 to sundown Aug. 14) with mourning and fasting.

A story is told about Napoleon passing a synagogue on the 9th of Av. He questioned his aides about why the people inside were mourning. He was told they were grieving the loss of the Temple.

Napoleon replied: "If the Jews are still crying after so many hundreds of years, then I am certain the Temple will one day be rebuilt!"

To learn more about Tisha B’Av, visit Aish.com:

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Presbyterians Push Cure for Mideast Tension

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor
The Presbyterian Church (USA) announced Aug. 5 that it will pull its investments out of five companies that it says serve the militaristic goals of either the Palestinians or Israelis. Caterpillar, Citigroup, ITT Industries, Motorola and United Technologies are on the hit list. Four of the five companies supply the Israeli military. Citigroup is accused of helping route funds to suicide bombers.

The Presbyterian announcement said, in part: “Church policy calls for corporate engagement to be a phased and selective endeavor, using dialogue, shareholder action, and as a last resort, divestment, as distinct phases in the process of working with companies to bring about change which reflects the mission of the Church.”

Some Jewish leaders oppose the action. In an earlier statement about the divestment issue, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews said: “Why should Jews care about criticism of Israel leveled by a mainline denomination that represents a relatively small number of Christians? First, because Jews believed these people shared their values and would stand with them through thick and thin. After all, Jews represent less than 2 percent of the population, and need all the friends they can get. They were, accordingly, most grateful for the friendship of this well-regarded mainline constituency. Second, because the U.S. Jewish community fears -- rightly, I believe -- a snowball effect as other denominations jump on the anti-Israel bandwagon. We already are seeing this in the Episcopal Church’s decision to consider divestment from Israel and in reports that the United Church of Christ and other denominations are doing likewise. And third, for the PCUSA to insinuate that Israel in any way resembles a racist, pariah state like apartheid-era South Africa is inexcusable, and deeply offensive to Jews.”

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PCUSA

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IFCJ

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Pro-life Group Targets Planned Parenthood Donors

By Lisa Haddock
NJ Faith Forum Editor

Life Decisions International of Washington, D.C., has added several new companies to its list of Planned Parenthood Federation of America donors. Life Decisions asks supporters to boycott companies that donate to Planned Parenthood.

According to a story released on Aug. 3 by LifeNews.com, Ernst and Young, Merck, Time Warner, Wells Fargo, Neiman Marcus, Oracle, Epic Systems, Emmis Communications, and Highsmith were added to Life Decision’s list. As of Aug. 8, this action had been reported by pro-life groups and Women’s eNews, which describes itself as a source “covering issues of particular concern to women and providing women's perspectives on public policy.”

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Counselor Has Misgivings About “Brat Camp”

By Jan Fredericks
Licensed Professional Counselor
Founder, God’s Creatures Ministry

(This piece was originally written as a comment on “ABC’s ‘Brat Camp’ Misuses Native American Spirituality.)

When I watched “Brat Camp,” I wondered how breaking the will of teenagers by obeying adults would make them better people. After reading this article it seems that we are teaching them to disrepect the Native Indians' deep-rooted culture. I wonder how these teens' self-esteem is better off (permanently), when real life begins after leaving this made up adventure.
They are at a point in life when they are trying to figure out who they are and what life is about. Not only does the show exploit the sacredness of the Indians' beliefs, but it is another made-up reality show with counselors who are combining vacationing with “work.”

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