DNC: Livin' on a Prayer?

The heavy participation of religious figures, especially rabbis, at the Democratic National Convention has turned a lot of heads. The convention opened with a multifaith ceremony of prayer and scriptural reading on Sunday. The DNC’s “Faith in Action” committee has made a concerted effort to tap into the energy of faith that caught so much attention after the last presidential election. Rabbi David Saperstein (photo at left), Director of the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center, offered the invocation at the start of tonight’s proceedings.

Not everybody is so happy that the DNC is bringing so much faith and religion into the party and politics. Abe Foxman, Director of the ADL, criticized the DNC, noting that religion is no longer an element in understanding the character of the candidate but a central part of the party platforms. Barry Lynn, the director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State has pointed that while there's nothing illegal about religion at the conventions, it sends a troubling message. He told JTA, “It's a troubling trend to emphasize so often the connection between a party and a particular religious outlook.” Several members of our congregation stopped me at services and over the week to express their anger or disappointment in the DNC. Others are less surprised. One of our members has long told that the only difference he sees between the Democratic Party and the Reform Movement is the holidays observed by each.

Of course, the real problem is not the rabbis participating in the convention. The greatest introduction of religion to the convention will be the appearance of a voice more influential than any clergy. After Barak Obama's speech tonight, the stage will be given to a man who carries the weight of religious experience for millions of Americans: Jon Bon Jovi. It is not yet known if he will sing his signature ballad, “Livin’ on a Prayer” or one of the more recent Nashville inspired songs. In any event, Jon Bon Jovi is considered a god in many circles. His appearance overshadows the religious power of any prayer or scriptural reading. And I, for one, protest this infusion of religion into the election. It’s not just inappropriate to give a god a role in American politics. It’s plain unfair.


post-script from shortly after Obama's speech:
"Then Elijah said to the people... 'You will invoke your god by name, and I will invoke the Lord by name and let us agree: the god who responds is God'... So they invoked their god by name from morning until noon, but there was no sound and none who responded." (Abridged)

No Bon Jovi at the convention. Maybe the rabbis really did steal the spotlight. See more: http://app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/POLITICS/80828035

Team Redeem: Going for gold

Men’s basketball semifinals are tomorrow, finals are on August 24. USA men’s basketball has not won a gold medal in 8 years (Sydney Olympics). That has led hoops fans to a crushing disappointment in the players: the bling, the laziness, the hubris, the selfishness. The teams and their failures seemed to reflect something much greater than the game.

But, in both sports and Judaism, there is almost no thing so terrible that it can not be redeemed. This year’s men’s Olympic basketball team has adopted the name, “Team Redeem” (an obvious play on the “Dream Team” moniker bestowed on the 1992 lineup which included Larry Bird, David Robinson, Michael Jordan, et al.). As Prof. Neil Gillman teaches, Jewish ideas about redemption involve three levels: individual, group specific (i.e., the Jewish people), and universal.

In Beijing, the promise of redemption seems to be unfolding according to the Jewish model. The team and the Olympic men’s basketball program has regained credibility already. The story of individual redemption is best embodied (according to ESPN) in Dwayne Wade. Three years ago, Wade was at the top of his game and led the Miami Heat to the NBA Championships. Sportswriters called him “Flash.” In the past two years, he has floundered on the court and performed best on TV commercials with Charles Barkeley. Critics tagged him with the name, "Crash." Wade chalks up the hard times to poor health. He ran himself ragged in that championship season and never took time to recover and get strong again. So, he drained more energy, sustained injuries, needed two surgeries and it showed in his game. Dwayne Wade feels better, stronger, and healthier. He learned his lesson and got the rest and recovery that he needed.

On August 24th, if they make it to the finals, Wade and the team could bring group and national redemption with a gold medal. Even if they don’t, we can use the occasion to start preparing ourselves for the big showdown with redemption on the Jewish calendar. We have just over a month until Rosh Hashanah. That day we take over the role as Team Redeem. We have a month of Elul to prepare (our Olympic trials), Rosh Hashanah is our preliminaries round and Yom Kippur is the final. Get yourselves healthy and strong. Get your mind focused and bring you’re “A” game. We’re going for gold.

A minister and rabbi walk into a mosque...

Like a few characters out of the stock "walk into a bar" jokes, Reverend Myrna Bethke (of the United Methodist Church of Red Bank) and I joined a few other clergy for an introductory meeting with the Imam of the Islamic Society of Monmouth County today. The meeting took place in his study at the Masjid Al-Aman Mosque on Red Hill Road. Its name means “mosque of peace” and our experience today fit the moniker. There was no agenda. The goal simply was to meet each other and - as the imam requested - "build relationships." We mostly spoke through interpreters as he does not speak much English. Thanks to Rev. Bethke for helping arrange this meeting and for inviting me to it. And, of course, thanks to Sheila for connecting us.

The imam, Sheik Reda Shata (left in NYT photo), was featured in a story in the New York Times published in January 2007 (and a series of articles the year before). Our meeting was warm and friendly. Over tea and lemonade we talked about spouses and children, how imams, ministers and rabbis find, keep, and move on from job to job, and where else we've worked as clergy (the imam had the most interesting resume of the group including positions in Saudi Arabia, Germany, and Brooklyn). On several points, the imam and I found ourselves with much more in common than with the rest of the group. We both struggle with the challenges of having a foreign language in the central texts of our tradition and the ways our religious schools must also serve as language schools. We both struggle with the challenges of religious law and communities that contain a wide spectrum of observance and outlook vis-a-vis that law. We both struggle with assimilation and its impact on our members.

The imam and I are about the same age. We both have kids of similar ages (although he has a larger brood). We both were especially happy to see each other at this meeting. I don't mean to imply that Christian-Muslim dialogue is unimportant. But, at one point while the group was breaking up, the imam came around his desk to sit across from me. He put a hand on my knee and said simply (in some of his only English of the meeting), "I am very happy that you are here today."

This year the end of Ramadan coincides with the High Holy Days so we agreed to meet again after those festivals. We agreed to meet in October and since it will be Sukkot, I invited the group to join me in our temple sukkah one afternoon. It will be a great way to invoke that holiday's spirit of hospitality and sharing. I think it will be a pretty good punch line: A minister, an imam, and a rabbi walk into a sukkah....

SOS (Save our Synagogues) from Israel

The Reform Movement in Israel (called the IMPJ, Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism) is in trouble. They do not have the same strength of numbers that we have in America. They do not operate in a cultural environment that is as open and pluralistic as America's. They do have the same long history we have. They also have a financial crisis spurred by the dollar's collapse vis-a-vis the shekel. During our temple trip to Israel we spent two Shabbat evenings with IMPJ congregations - services and dinners with their members. We learned how much they offer Israeli society and how far they've come in the past few years. They seemed confident and strong. The shifting financial markets and their impact on the IMPJ comes at a time when we were just about to soar. Please read this letter from several Reform movement leaders and help if you can:

July 23, 2008 20 Tamuz 5768

As leaders of Reform Jewry we need your help to save the future of the Reform Movement in Israel.

With the dramatic fall of the U.S. dollar in the last few months, the IMPJ, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, finds itself in a financial crisis. Through no fault of its own, the IMPJ has 2 million fewer shekels than originally budgeted, representing more than 30% of its funding. To stay afloat, the IMPJ has had to lay off half its staff and has drastically cut back on its operations.

The timing could not be worse. Never before in Israel’s history has the Reform Movement been so strong and vibrant. With almost thirty congregations now flourishing in Israel, its own Reform youth movement, two kibbutzim, the Har Chalutz community in Northern Israel and its own Religious Action Center, the Reform Movement has become, according to a recent Israeli survey, the movement that 34% of all Israelis identify with the most (compared to 23% for the Orthodox).

This is why we need your help. Unprecedented in our Movement’s history, every major North American Reform organization is working together to save the IMPJ. As chairpersons and presidents of these organizations we have pledged to raise $500,000 over the next six weeks to help the IMPJ over its immediate financial crisis. As someone equally concerned about our Reform Movement in North America and throughout the world, we are asking you to quickly respond to this email with your own gift that will be immediately sent to underwrite IMPJ’s budget and to alleviate IMPJ’s financial crisis.

Please consider a one-time gift of $500. Please take a moment to make this gift online at our secure site: http://gm-link.com/tm.asp?c=40681&i=149865&u=. Canadian residents click here for a tax receipt form. Together, we can secure the years of hard work and the solid foundation that has been laid for the Reform Movement in Israel.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Peter Weidhorn, Chairman Union for Reform Judaism
Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President Union for Reform Judaism
Barbara Friedman, Chair Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institue of Religion
Rabbi David Ellenson, President Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institue of Religion
Rabbi Peter Knobel, President Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Steven Fox, Executive Vice President Central Conference of American Rabbis
Steve Bauman, Chairman World Union for Progressive Judaism
Rabbi Uri Regev, President World Union for Progressive Judaism
Rabbi Robert Orkand, President Association of Reform Zionists of America
Rabbi Andrew Davids, Executive Director Association of Reform Zionists of America
Joan Garson, President ARZA Canada
Rabbi Sharon L. Sobel, Executive Director ARZA Canada
Union for Reform Judaism www.urj.org/give