About the Ultra-Orthodox

Inevitably, when leading a discussion about Israeli politics or society, somebody asks about haredim (so called "ultra-orthodox Jews" also, in some circles, "black-hatters").  Often it's a question based on our separation of church and state: why do the haredim get special benefits for being so religiously strict? Why does the state support religious institutions?  Here's a paragraph from today's online Haaretz editorial that explains it more clearly than I have seen in a long time:

Haredi politicians have always manipulated Israel's governments for their own ends, exploiting the fact that they hold the political balance of power in order to free their constituencies from sharing the burdens: For example, the Haredim have been liberated from studying core subjects in their schools, from compulsory military service and from the need to work - while living off the public's largesse in the form of stipends and allowances. Now even many members of the community recognize that the current situation cannot go on because the national economy will collapse under the growing burden.

And if you are interested in the religion-state divide (or lack thereof) in Israel.  Read Gideon Levy's op-ed piece from Dec. 16th. I'm not sure it's the best or most balanced article, but the analogy he draws between rabbis and dance club bouncers makes it worth the read.  Especially given the fact that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, though not a rabbi is a former nightclub bouncer.

Top 10 Ways Congregations Shape and are Shaped By Society

The Alban Institute's founder, Loren Mead, put out this list on the Institute's weekly e-mail.  I have abridged the content but not changed the list itself. Does this list apply to Sinai? Does it matter to you personally whether it does or doesn't?  Each point has a question that flows from it. All of them are important but I'd like to hear your thoughts on any of them.

1. Strangers meet on common ground. In today's outside world, we are taught to steer clear of the stranger. But it hasn't always been this way. In our congregations, we have a laboratory for reaching out beyond ourselves and our families. Dare we think of the possibility of a public world ruled by the values of hospitality?
    
2. Fear of the stranger is faced and dealt with. We have all sorts of stereotypes and prejudices, all kinds of unexplored myths about "others." Can our congregations become intentional laboratories for exposing us to people outside our groups?
    
3. Scarce resources are shared and abundance is generated. We seem to be a social order in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Who is there to speak for and act on another vision? Our biblical heritage speaks of abundance, not scarcity: The more you have, the better I will be. Can we bring this consciousness to the world we inhabit and nurture it in our congregations?
    
4. Conflict occurs and is resolved. Our tradition brings perspectives about forgiveness and reconciliation that help us reach out to one another for community—not just cessation of hostility. As we deal with our differences, we learn about reaching beyond hostility in the public world toward a different vision of society. Can we learn to use our own spiritual resources of forgiveness and reconciliation within our own communities, learning to bear witness to the same power in the world outside our congregations?
5. Life is given color, texture, drama, a festive air. Every act of worship should be a laboratory in celebration of community. [Our temple on Simchat Torah] and a town park on the Fourth of July—both speak to what community means. Does our congregation help its members pursue a vision of what the larger community is called to be?
    
6. People are drawn out of themselves. In a society with strong pressures toward privacy, the public realm needs congregations to draw people out of their hidden aloneness and train them for community. Can we our congregation be counter-cultural (against the cultural trend toward isolation) and help people to become neighborhood leaders helping citizens enter the lives of their neighbors.
7. Mutual responsibility becomes evident and mutual aid possible. Many congregations have a list of people to pray for—the sick, the shut-ins, the grieving. Taking responsibility for one another is taken for granted in our congregations but not in our public arenas. Can our ordinary community life be a beacon to our society at the same time that it prepares us to offer these gifts of service outside our congregational bounds?
    
8. Opinions become audible and accountable. In this I must admit that congregations have as much or more to gain from as to give to the public. The modest political systems within congregations need to be opened up to the candor with which public figures articulate and defend positions. Would our congregation be strengthened by more such accountability?
    
9. Vision is projected and projects are attempted. People in congregations are regularly exposed to transcendent visions of what life is supposed to be. Congregations are grounded in a sense of God’s purpose and movement through history—something that does not fade after a few decades, as does political optimism.  In a gun-flooded society, congregations know about a world in which swords are turned into plowshares. Can we bring these visions to the larger world?
    
10. People are empowered and protected against power. Congregations, in their life of worship, act out and celebrate the importance of freely given gifts shaped and conformed by structures of authority and custom. They also understand the limits of human integrity, the presence of sinfulness, and the necessity for larger frames of value. Does secular society have something to learn from our congregation's understanding of power and limits?

Bar Mitzvah Training: It's not just a job....

The New York Times story about on-line bar mitzvah preparation caught lots of attention (at least for a few minutes).  You should read it if you have not.  It offers a window into some basic problems we face in the American Jewish community today.  First, what do synagogues matter anymore?  It is possible to do everything Jewish without a synagogue.  We often say that the community you find in a synagogue is vital to your Jewish life and not available anywhere else.  Whether or not that's true, the parents featured in the article don't seem to care.  And yet, they DO want bar mitzvah ceremonies for their kids.  Or do they?  The other important issue in the article is about the meaning of bar/bat mitzvah?  The final line of the article says it all: "Once Joanne Kapsack had found a rabbi for Eli to work with, she pretty much bowed out of the preparations, she said. “I just cared about the party."  I am sure this happens equally often in our temple (and others).  I must admit that I have never been a bar mitzvah party naysayer.  I've either stayed out of it and treated it as something outside my scope or I have embraced the idea of the parties as part of the mitzvah and part of the community gathering that can occur.  But, nothing has disappointed me more than hearing the post-event assessment from two recent bat mitzvah mothers: it was a let-down.  They whole experience, when it was all said and done, was a let down for these mothers.  What else could it be after all the hype, the buildup, the money and time spent on it?  I have no problem adopting new technology - though I don't really want an office that looks like the trading floor of a brokerage house.  I have no problem with adopting different standards than previous generations simply accepted in order to become temple members. I also have no problem with completely revolutionizing the way we do Jewish education in general.  But I do have problems with the ongoing march toward deification of bar and bat mitzvah.  Within this trend is not so much innovation as desperation.  We will do anything, it seems, to make our kids and ourselves feel good while we and they wallow in ambivalence about our Judaism.

We just found God

For immediate release

Temple Sinai Board of Trustees announced tonight that God has been found and returned to the temple's mission statement.  "Apparently, God had been inadvertently lost these past ten years," says Rabbi Jonathan Roos, "we were pleased to see how easy He was to find."  Mission statement experts report that 91% of all consumers, members or customers of an organization never look at a mission statement.  "It is no surprise," one expert who wished to remain anonymous told us, "that God could be dropped from a mission statement without anybody realizing it.  It probably happens all the time."  Board members were pleased to see God back in the temple mission though nobody could remember exactly when He left.  God's return to the mission statement still requires full congregational approval at the annual meeting in May 2011.  Roos does not expect much resistance to God's return but reminds readers that "hester panim" - God hiding from humanity - is a common divine behavior that could occur at any time between now and the meeting.  Other sources, however, were quick to point to Hasidic teachings that say, "Where is God? Wherever we let God in."  Still, you might want to show your support for God at the May meeting.

(Caveat: this is not a real press release but a joke suggested after tonight's board meeting where a motion passed unanimously to add the phrase "worship of God" to our temple mission statement)

Israel is for liberals

Tablet Magazine (online) ran a story showing Israel to be a liberal's dreamland.  While the mainstream news is dominated by stories of the Obama administration clashing with the Netanyahu government over housing in Har Homa, another picture of Israel emerges from the stories of Gili Shem Tov and the Israeli Health Ministry's approach to medical marijuana.  Shem Tov is a sports reporter on Israeli TV and openly lesbian. She is also now the first competitor on any country's version of Dancing With the Stars, to dance in a same sex couple.  The Health Ministry is considering paying for marijuana for medical use for Israelis in the national universal medical coverage.

How Much Do You Know?

We've been talking a lot about faith, belief and God at temple lately.  Forget about what you believe (or disbelieve) for a minute.  How much do you know?

According to the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, "atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions."


Take the quiz from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and see how you rank.  For what it's worth, I did not get 100%.

p.s. This should mark the end of the blog's month long hiatus.  Updates weekly or more to come.  If you have something you'd like to share with the Sinai community, pass it along.

Greetings from Milan

Rabbi Fred Reiner sent this message:

Sherry and I send our warmest wishes from Italy for a sweet 5771. Today (September 7) we are traveling to Florence, where we will be spending Rosh Hashanah and I will be leading the services; on Yom Kippur I will lead services in Milan.


From the windows of our apartment we can see the Alps on clear days, so I am thinking of Psalm 121. As we lift our eyes to the mountains here, we are thinking of how important these words (and music) are to Temple Sinai and to all of us.

May your worship be fulfilling these High Holy Days, and may all of us enter a year of peace for our people and our world.

Fred N. Reiner
Rabbi Emeritus

More "In the News"

WTOP, NBC-4 (the local DC affiliate), and PBS also ran stories on the press conference condemning the rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence.  The PBS piece provides the most content from me and is the most thorough on the issue.  Watch it here.

Special thanks and acknowledgement to Professor Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University.  His article in The Forward, "When Shuls Were Banned in America," provided me with a great deal of content to support my point at the press conference.

We Stand For Religious Freedom and American Values

Rabbi Portnoy and I joined with several other clergy from across the religious spectrum to denounce violence against Muslims and the rising rhetoric of hate against all things Islamic.  Here is a clip of the local Fox 5 coverage:



And here is TribalChurch's announcement of the event:

A group of prominent Greater Washington D.C. area religious leaders will hold a press conference today, Monday, August 30, 2010 at 1:00 p.m., to denounce the upsurge of anti-Muslim rhetoric and actions in the U.S. The leaders represent many of Washington’s largest Jewish congregations, Muslim organizations and Christian congregations with histories of social justice advocacy. “When one part of Washington’s wonderfully diverse religious community is attacked, we are all attacked. We will defend the rights of and demand respect for our Muslim brothers and sisters,” says Rev. John Wimberly, senior pastor, Western Presbyterian Church.

Confirmed Participants as of 8/27/10:

Nihad Awad– Council on American Islamic Relations
Naeem Baig– Islamic Circle of North America Council for Social Justice
Rev. Canon Timothy Boggs– The National Cathedral
Rev. Karen Brau– Luther Place Church
Imam Mehdi Bray– Muslim American Society Freedom
Jean Duff– Center for Interfaith Action
Rev. Jeffrey Haggray– First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.
Sr. Asma Hanif– Council of Muslim Organizations
Rabbi Mindy Portnoy– Temple Sinai
Rabbi Jonathan Roos– Temple Sinai
Rabbi Ethan Seidel– Tifereth Israel Congregation
Haris Tarin– Muslim Public Affairs Council
Rev. John Wimberly– Western Presbyterian Church

Rabbi Oleon participated in an interfaith service on Saturday organized for the same message under the banner of several other groups.

What Kind of Rabbi Are You?

I think Ovadia Yosef's words speak for themselves so I won't even make explicit judgement.  It has been reported that Yosef, in his sermon this past Shabbat about upcoming peace talks, called for death for Palestinians.  Yosef, is the so-called "spiritual leader" of Israel's Shas party, a political party of mostly religiously observant Jews from Sephardic heritage.  Because Israel lacks American style separation of "church" and state, a demagogue (...and I said I wouldn't judge) like Yosef not only has the "bully pulpit" but direct political power through Knesset seats and government ministry control.

Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported on Yosef's sermon:

"Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) and all these evil people should perish from this world," Rabbi Ovadia was quoted as saying during his weekly sermon at a synagogue near his Jerusalem home. "God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."  The Shas spiritual leader also called Palestinians "evil, bitter enemies of Israel" during his speech.

Israel's Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, is a member of the Shas Party.  His office is a key player in any decision about settlement activity and other issues that will be at the heart of any peace talks.

The U.S. State Department has publicly condemned Yosef's sermon.  The Israeli government has, so far, 'distanced' itself from the remarks but has not condemned them.  How would we react if a Palestinian Muslim cleric gave a Friday sermon that called for death to the Jews and Abbas refused to condemn the sermon? 

Ovadia Yosef

JR's note: I changed this posting on Sept. 1st to remove a line that insulted Yosef's appearance because, as Helene M. pointed out, it did not advance my argument.

On the "Mosque"

We should not oppose the Cordoba House project for Lower Manhattan.  There are plenty of reasons and lots of ink and hot air out there on the subject.  One of the best arguments I've seen for NOT opposing a mosque at Ground Zero is that this is neither a mosque nor is it at Ground Zero.  I have kept out of the fray until now mostly because I've been on vacation but I also wanted be more sure of the facts about the proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan.  Jon Stewart offered one of the best rebuttals of opposition to mosque:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mosque-Erade
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

I do believe that opposition to this project is contrary to the values of America and the principles of the Constitution.  I also believe that Jewish teachings keep us from opposing the Islamic center.  Chapter 2 of Telushkin's Code of Jewish Ethics, Vol. 2, offers a good concise review of traditional Jewish teachings on the subject of "Jews and Non-Jews."  The entire volume explores the commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Some of the teachings, laws and principles he cites include:

You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Exodus 22:20)
Do not stand by while your neighbor's blood is shed (Lev. 19:16)
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens, you shall love him as yourself. (Lev. 19:34)
Ben Zoma used to say: Who is wise? One who learns from every person. (Pirke Avot 4:1)

Other scholars who I trust and admire have lent their support to the center's cause.  Rabbi David Ellenson, my teacher and the rabbi who ordained me, wrote an article that has been widely distributed in favor of the center.

This Friday at services I will lead a discussion about a very specific dynamic in the debate over the mosque: why it is wrong to group all Islam and all Muslims together and why we can not, according to Judaism, hold a grudge against all Muslims forever because of 9/11.

Who Can You Trust? (Re'eh dvar torah)

Listen to Friday night's sermon, on Parshat Re'eh, using Frank Rich's Dec. 19th column claiming Tiger Woods should be person of the year (and other material too) as the jumping off point.





Powered by Podbean.com

Or you can download it...
Download this sermon (right click and save target as…)

Better take that vacation...

No seriously, I've been warned about the high rates of clergy burnout, unhealthiness and stress, but I did not know the problem was getting such a thorough study.  I also wouldn't have expected that a story about it would be so popular (#5 most emailed on NYTimes website after 2 days).  Saturday's NYTimes carried this story:

N.Y. / Region Section, Published: August 1, 2010
Taking a Break From the Lord’s Work
By PAUL VITELLO

Clerics, who suffer from high rates of obesity and depression, are being advised to take more time off.

I will admit a few things here: 1. Ever since my first year in the full time clergy world, I take all my vacation time.  Thanks to Rabbi Scott Shpeen who led by example and made sure I took time off as his assistant.  2. I try to exercise several times weekly, see a doctor and dentist regularly and do what they tell me to do to stay healthy.  So far so good.  But...  3. I spend way too much time on my BlackBerry and logging in to email even while on vacation and days off.  4.  I don't think we (clergy) do a good job accepting criticism, living with others' disappointment in us, or celebrating our successes.  At least I don't think I do.

I am interested to know: is this story news to my non-clergy readers? Why do non-clergy care to read the article so much?

The F-Word, part 1

In most of the small parlor meetings with temple members this past month, I have learned that faith is one of the big subjects that we need to address. Here is the first of 10 sessions I will offer on faith.

Download this sermon (right click and then "save target as..")

or listen to it directly from here:

Powered by Podbean.com

Hear Our Sermons

Starting this week, you can hear sermons from Sinai's past Shabbat services. If we don't have audio for a particular sermon, we'll do what we can to post the transcript. Try it out. Here's Rabbi Oleon's sermon from this past Shabbat:

Powered by Podbean.com

Download this sermon (right click and save)

Sinai Stands with Anat Hoffman

Yesterday a group of about 50 gathered outside the Israel Embassy to express solidarity with Anat Hoffman and protest the fact that a woman would be arrested by the state's police forces for carrying a Torah scroll in public in the kotel plaza (see video at the end of this post).

Frum Forum quoted Rabbi Bernstein and me as did the Jerusalem Post.

My comments and Rabbi Reiner's can be seen here:



Kol Hakavod, Sinai was well represented at the gathering by Elizabeth R., Margot F., Joyce S., Chris A., Lisa G., Sherry R., and Rabbis Oleon, Reiner, Asch, Bernstein and me.  After the Hoffman rally, I joined a later meeting (already scheduled with the embassy staff) to discuss Israel-Vatican relations.  It gave me a short opportunity to talk with some embassy staff about the Hoffman case though they could not express any opinions on behalf of the government regarding this case.

If you are not familiar with this story, here is the video of Hoffman's arrest:



Women of the Wall has more about the arrest on their website.

The cost of being Jewish

A temple member recently pointed me to Lisa Miller's latest Newsweek column, "The Cost of Being Jewish."  My first response was: "She must have just received her annual dues bill and temple membership renewal forms (it is that time on the Jewish calendar)." After reading the column, I empathized with Miller's plight (and anyone's who belongs to a synagogue) and pulled together some of the the sources she cited in her article. Bottom line is that money and dues are necessary for synagogue operations (disclosure note: I think you already know that my salary comes from synagogue dues and contributions) but they create an obstacle for many people and we need to change the system.

That being said, my second response was to connect Miller's column with a story that had grabbed my attention in The Wall Street Journal from July 15th.  The Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation has pledged $10 million to support impoverished Holocaust survivors.

As a young entrepreneur, Harry Weinberg vowed to care for Holocaust survivors who fled to North America. Now the foundation that bears his name is giving $10 million to the New York-based Claims Conference to help aging Holocaust survivors meet basic needs for shelter, food and medical care. "In the U.S., one in four survivor's lives alone and are five times more likely to live at or below the poverty level than other senior citizens," says Donn Weinberg, board chairman of the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation and Harry Weinberg's nephew.

The foundation estimates that there are more than 500,000 Holocaust survivors world-wide, with 144,000 living in North America. More than a third of survivors living in America live in Brooklyn, the foundation says.

It wasn't the largesse of the foundation that grabbed me - though I honor them for the mitzvah and wish I could match it.  It was the figures cited by Donn Weinberg (in bold above).  Did you have any idea that Holocaust survivors are living so close to and below the poverty level?  Had you not really thought about it ever?  For all my concern about how to fix the dues system of American Jewish life, I think Harry Weinberg and his foundation understand the real cost of being Jewish and put their money where their mouth is.

Save Israel's Democracy: Stop the Rotem Conversion Bill Now

This past Sunday, an Israeli Knesset committee voted to move forward a bill that gives the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate authority over conversions to Judaism and the authority to accept or reject conversions - even if performed in the United States or elsewhere outside Israel (the bill is sponsored by MK David Rotem).  This is a threat to Israeli democracy and pluralism and a threat to the rights and legal standing of non-Orthodox Jews in Israel.  Read this article from Haaretz newspaper about the bill "The Conversion Bill Demystified."  The final paragraph is especially relevant:

What are Reform and Conservative Rabbis afraid of?  They are concerned that for the first time, Israeli law is giving the Chief Rabbinate authority over conversion.  The rabbinate does not have that power today.  They are also concerned by the bill's statements that conversion will be recognized only if the convert, 'accepted Torah and the commandments in accordance with halakha.' This unprecedented stipulation excludes Conservative and Reform communities.

The Union for Reform Judaism's website has a statement on the bill, news and resources from other websites and links for action.  It is especially important that we voice our opposition and encourage Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop the bill (he has already frozen it from further advancement, it's time to kill it.)  Sign the online petition here and see the text of a letter you can send to PM Netanyahu here.

We are not alone on this. The Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements have all declared their opposition.  So has the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Federation, the Jewish Agency and many other Jewish organizations.

The Second Go 'Round

Of all the experiences that made this Fourth of July in the DC area so memorable, the Lincoln Memorial stands out.  We went for the fireworks display over the National Mall and sat at the base of the memorial.  Reading over the two speeches engraved onto the stone temple walls - the Gettysburg Address and the Second Innaugural Address (shown in the photo at left), I was struck by how relevant they are for our nation and our world in this time of war.  Lincoln's remarks about caring for the soldiers, orphans and widows struck a chord that I preached on Friday night.  I also couldn't help but connect one verse from the Second Innaugural Address to Israel's situation vis-a-vis Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.  Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu comes to visit Washington tomorrow with those "parties" on his mind and surely his agenda.  It is the second go around for him and I certainly hope it goes better than the last one (it's actually his fifth meeting with Obama but widely seen as a "do-over" for the last one).  I don't think I am a fatalist or war hawk though I am sure some do.  Lincoln's Second Innaugural is appealing because it so strongly deplores war and yet so clearly recognizes that loving peace and hating war do not mean you jettison your core values and do anything and everything to placate a hostile enemy.  Speaking of the South and the North in the Civil War, Lincoln said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive and the other would accept war rather than let it perish."  I am not sure how much the parties in the Middle East deprecate war.  I do believe, however, that Lincoln's quote could describe their postions, only the nation in question is Israel.  I can only hope that the next line in Lincoln's speech - "and the war came" - is not our next line too.

The Sky is Not Falling on Liberal Zionsim: A response to Peter Beinart

Peter Beinart's article, "The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment" in the New York Review of Books has caused quite a stir.  That's good.  We're talking about Israel and American Jews and what we're doing right and wrong in regards to both.  Here's my few cents on Beinart's piece:

*I agree with Beinart that we should be concerned about Israel and the gap between pluralists and seculars on one side and anti-Arab Jewish nationalists on the other.


* I think he conflates events that are unrelated and may actually disprove his point. For example, the apathy of Jewish college students regarding Israel in 2003 does not find continued manifestation in the Brandeis Student Senate's actions in 2008 (or their protests against Ambassador Oren in 2010). Further, neither '03 apathy nor Brandeis '08 necessarily proves the failure of Liberal American Jewish organizations. It is, I would argue, the opposite. The Brandeis action represents one example of serious liberal Zionism among young people. They didn't condemn Israel or simply forget about the 60th anniversary of Israel's Independence. They made exactly the kind of constructive protest that Beinart seems to be calling for.

* His implication that high school student straw poll preferences for Avigdor Lieberman signal a larger cultural shift toward Kahanist attitudes is just not convincing. It only reminds us why we don't let children vote in real elections. His citation of Netanyahu's 1993 book is equally empty. '93 was the big lead up to Netanyahu's first PM candidacy and the book is as much electioneering as anything. Second, the best peace makers in Israeli history were once die-hard pro-settlement, violently anti-Arab (he cites the best example, Begin's connection to the Deir Yassin massacre, but never mentions the '79 Peace with Egypt?!). Changed positions is more common than career long consistency.

* I found his assessment of the "obsession with victimhood" and especially the threat from Iranian nuclear weapons disturbing. This sentence strikes me as outrageous: "the dilemmas you face when you possess dozens or hundreds of nuclear weapons and your adversary, however despicable, may acquire one, are not the dilemmas of the Warsaw ghetto." It is not a simple factor of who has more. All it takes is one and the will to use it, which is why we are more afraid of Al Qaida getting a single nuclear weapon than we fear the entire Russian arsenal (and our fear of the Russian arsenal is about securing it against rogues and terrorists). Israel, like America, has many nuclear weapons whose purpose is defensive deterrence that will likely never be (please God) used. Even in its worst positions (1973?), Israel opted not to use nuclear. So it doesn't really matter that they have dozens or hundreds more than Iran. Iran, on the other hand, talks of destroying Israel and (though I know I'm changing countries here) we've seen for example with Iraq in the first Gulf War that Arab enemies of Israel who talk of attacking Tel Aviv with missiles will do it even if Israel has not attacked them first. There's no guarantee that Iran will strike Israel with it's one nuclear missile, but it's much more likely a threat than we can see from Israel's possesion of even a hundred-ish nuclear weapons. I think maybe we do have the dilemmas of the Warsaw ghetto - do you sit there and wait for the mass death or join the ZOB? An Iranian nuclear weapon IS an existential threat - or as somebody else once said "a flying instant death camp." I'm not obsessed with victimhood just because I believe that, I'm a student of history. One of the things we learned on the CCAR conference call with HaLevi and Miller is the sense that Israelis feel an existential threat on all sides: Hezbollah in the north, Hamas in the south and Iran from the East. The only place to go is into the sea they speak so freely of pushing us into.

* Last point, why no mention of J Street? New Israel Fund? the Reform Movement? The Four Mothers (within Israel)? This decade has seen the largest burst of new and increasingly strong American Liberal Zionist organizations maybe since '48 and they are making an impact. The right wing of the Knesset would not have held up NIF as traitorous if they weren't making headway and, despite the right's horrible proposition, that right wing assault did not pass. J Street not only survived the AIPAC/right wing onslaught at its birth, it came through it even stronger.

So, where's that leave us? Gravely concerned for the future of a Jewish homeland in Israel that can be pluralistic, democratic and strong. Outraged at the continued failure to protect human rights, foster true democratic values, and settle the #&@! occupation already. But not lost and disheartened with regards to American Liberal Zionist outlets. The opposite: we have more ways than ever to be (if J-street will allow me the usage) Pro-Israel AND Pro-Peace. So keep it up.

The Flotilla: How to make sense of it all?

I am sitting on a CCAR sponsored conference call with Aaron David Miller, Anat Hoffman, and Yossi Klein Halevi.  Miller's article, "The False Religion of Mideast Peace: And why I'm no longer a believer" in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy got much cudos on the call.  Miller himself was a very informative and coherent analyst on the call.  I'm reading the article as soon as the call ends, check it out yourself.

I will offer a sermon about the Gaza Flotilla and its larger issues tomorrow night at services drawing on the insights of these analysts and the text study shared by Rabbi Micah Greenstein about the existence of evil and how we respond to it.

Some points from the call:

Miller's points:
* Israel still has no strategy regarding Gaza
* Dysfunction is THE defining characteristic of Israeli - Palestinian negotiations and relations.
* Other crises are inevitable, especially with Hezbollah.  They have amassed a stockpile of high trajectory missiles AND Israel has no better plans to respond than it had in its unsuccessful war in Lebanon in 2006.
* There will be no fix to the Gaza problem because there's no lasting fix to the Palestinian issue.
* Iran moves dangerously closer to nuclear weapons by the day and there's no fix on the horizon, only "drift" - which encourages the last ditch open: military action.
* This flotilla crisis may bring some clarity and improvement to the US-Israel relationship.

Hoffman pointed out:
*Israel is not the only country imposing the embargo.  Egypt, in its desire to keep the Muslim Brotherhood from linking up with Hamas also has a blockade and embargo on Gaza.

*The list of products on the Gaza embargo is random and not productive, i.e. pasta is allowed because John Kerry demanded it but sesame seeds are not.  Shampoo is allowed in but conditioner is not.  This caused a problem recently over conditioning shampoo.  "It is hard defend the lists, but I can't say that Israel is causing a humanitarian crisis."

*Israel needs us now more than ever.  Do not boycott and do not hold back your investment and engagement with Israel.  We are moving towards greater pluralism in Israel and boycotts only encourage more "Masada mentality" in which Israelis see themselves as hopelessly trapped, surrounded.  Such thinking produces terrible outcomes.  (See Yediot Achranot article)

Yossi Klein Halevi:
* We must have a two state solution and most Israelis agree with this.  It is an existential necessity, however most Israelis also feel that a two state solution under current circumstances would be an existential threat.  Especially since the Goldstone Report, Israelis are now convinced that withdrawal from the West Bank would be suicidal because they believe the world would not allow Israel any clout to respond to terrorism launched from those areas.

* So long as Hamas is a significant player in Palestinian politics, there will be no two-state solution.  Israelis are simply too afraid of a Hamas takeover of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and could never accept it.

* For most Israelis the question of the Gaza siege is tactical and not moral.  i.e. liberal columnist Ben Caspit in Maariv's article, "It's not enough to be right one also has to be smart."  Israelis overwhelmingly accept the siege as morally legitimate.

* The growing crisis between liberal diaspora Jews and Israel is highlighted by reactions to the flotilla.  90% of Israelis want the IDF to stop the next ship coming to Gaza.  What would American Jews say? (probably much less he guesses).

* The lack of balance in coverage and condemnation is inexplicable.  For example, IAEA experts announced yesterday that Iran has enough fuel in the works for two nuclear weapons.  That story was on page 4 of the IHT; the front page was flooded with condemnation of Israel.  No country, no UN body has met or condemned that development.  See Daniel Henninger's very clear op-ed piece on this same issue in today's Wall Street Journal.

Hard day? The worst.

This is not good.  Simply put, it is very bad.  The worst.  A "flotilla" of six ships bringing supplies and activists opposed to Israel's closure of Gaza was enroute to Gaza with expressed intentions of breaking the Israeli naval blockade.  Israel made it clear they would not allow the ships through and directed the ships to the port of Ashdod (see the video below).

As it became clear that the ships were not going to turn from their objective, Israeli naval commandos stormed the ships.  Anywhere from 9 to 15 (I've seen varying reports) people on the ships were killed by the Israeli forces.  At least seven Israeli commandos were injured, two severely.  The circumstances are in dispute.  The facts are not clear beyond the numbers killed and injured and that this happened about 70 miles out to sea. Already there are widely different accounts from the Israeli government and soliders and the flotilla organizers and participants.  You can see the video below and many others like it that have been posted to YouTube.  Whatever the videos show, it is obvious that something went very wrong.  It also seems obvious that Israel will bear the brunt of the criticism and responsibility for this violent incident.  It also seems clear, however, that these humanitarian protesters were not the non-violent followers of Gandhi nor was this the Middle Eastern equivalent of th Freedom Riders buses in the American civil rights movements.  The UN Security Council is in emergency session about this incident - probably the tip of the iceberg of diplomatic and media (if not, God forbid, outright physical) assault that Israel and Israelis will face in coming day and weeks.



All I can say is that this is a shande - it is shameful, terrible and could have (SHOULD HAVE) been avoided.  It is a shame on so-called "humanitarian" critics of Israel to be defending club wielding thugs affiliated with terrorist groups (watch the video above) and there is nothing for Zionists to be proud of in these killings.

Here's a few links to Jewish sources I follow and their initial reactions and reports of the event:

Scholar and Rabbi Daniel Gordis offers his defense of Israel and its actions on his blog.

Ynet news account from an Israeli reporter, Ron Ben-Yishai.

Haaretz blogger, Bradley Burston, critiques the Israeli action and the Gaza blockade in general.

Moral Clarity, Transition and the Street

As much as I like to read one book at a time, my recent acquisition of a Kindle (love it) has shifted my reading into overdrive.  I am juggling three things at once (not well, I should admit).  I started with Susan Neiman's "Moral Clarity" after seeing it cited in a Haaretz op-ed piece that struck a chord with me.  Neiman is an expert on Kant and the Enlightenment and she turns to that era for guidance for "grown up idealists" today.  She starts by acknowledging that the American left has ceded moral principles to the right and now holds nothing more than "helpless pragmatism."  She puts it like this in her introduction: "This book aims to reclaim moral concepts that the left no longer uses with full voice.  Reclaiming them from the right isn't a matter of packaging but of the conviction that without them we will lose our souls - whatever we take our souls to be.  We will also lose our footing, and our young. The inevitability of cynicism often looks like the twenteith century legacy, but one goal of philosophy is to enlarge our ideas of what is possible... [that] will take us back to concepts that have been abandoned to the right: good and evil, hero and dignity and nobility."  I admit here that my journey from academia to the pulpit was, at least in part, a response to my growing cynicism: frustration (and at times out-right disillusionment) with the leading intellectual ideas on the left, my discomfort with knee-jerk anti-Israel sentiment from the left, my rejection of moral relativism.  Some would see my most recent moves as a shift to the right: I am now reading the Wall Street Journal as my daily paper of choice and the New York Times for Sundays only (I'll still take Frank Rich and David Brooks' over Karl Rove and Peggy Noonan).  When I get to DC, I will surely add the Washington Post to my daily regimen. We'll see how my eyes hold up under the strain.

It is not a shift to the right so much as an embrace of moral clarity. You can call me old fashioned but I believe in the values of duty, patriotism, and character; the power of faith; and the importance of family. I do believe that there is right and wrong, good and evil.  I believe in phrases like "Never Again" and "There but for the grace of God go I."  I believe in the power of ideas (that led me to academia) but it's where the rubber meets the road that we make the world a better place (that led me to the rabbinate).  It doesn't hurt that a congregant is an editor at the Journal while the Times laid off a congregant who had loyally stuck with the paper through ups and downs.  Personal connections matter.

My other book actively open at this time? Michael Watkins, The First 90 Days.  A Harvard Business School publication about executive leadership transition.  Very helpful stuff.  I know you will see its impact on my work and we will all enjoy success through the upcoming transition because of it.  A gem: "The overriding goal in a transition is to build momentum by creating virtuous cycles that build credibility and avoid vicious cycles that undermine credibility."  Sounds easy enough on paper, why's it so hard in practice?

Books of the month: What I just read

Whenever I sat over lunch with my friend Marty Cole, z"l, we talked shop.  He was a sales manager constantly looking to bring out the best in his team and in himself.  He loved ideas and was a "student of the game" who always believed we could improve.  I'd like to describe myself the same way.  I just finished reading the last book he suggested to me, Moneyball by Michael Lewis (soon to be a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill).  Through the story of Billy Beane, Oakland A's general manager, Lewis presents important lessons for organizations and their leaders:  Too often we make major decisions based on nothing but gut, intuition, emotion or appearances. It's not how much money you spend but how you spend it.  Leaders who are willing to break the "rules" (not literally but in terms of industry culture) and use good, measurable, outcome-oriented information to make decisions that contravene the accepted wisdom of their industry can succeed far beyond expectations.  The "club" of industry insiders will reject that success and explain it away irrationally and emotionally rather than admit their own failure (or, the old guard will always dismiss the new guard and the more the new guard succeeds the more hysterical the old guard will become).  Luck and "the human element" can mess up the best scientifically based and perfectly executed theories.  Describing pitcher Chad Bradford, Lewis shows how self-doubt and insecurity can destroy the future success of a person whose past performance otherwise seems to guarantee it: "Chad doesn't know that he will retire batters at such a predictable rate that he might as well be a robot. As a result, he might not do it." The story of Scott Hatteberg teaches how people can grow and improve with the help and support of others.  Hatteberg's wife spent weeks hitting ground balls to him so he could learn to play first base and thereby stay in pro baseball and his fielding coach practically manufactured his skill at picking up difficult throws by constantly calling Hatteberg a "picking machine."  Moneyball has lots of great stories for leaders trying to navigate new territory.  There is applicable material here for the synagogue and Jewish organizational world.  Take Marty's advice and mine: Read it before the movie blows it for you.

We Mourn the Passing of Rabbi David Forman

Rabbi David Forman was our scholar-in-residence at MRT about 5 years ago. He was a well known rabbi and community leader, a prolific writer, activist and more. The following notice was published by the World Union for Progressive Judaism:

WORLD UNION MOURNS THE PASSING OF RABBI DAVID FORMAN

We at the World Union mourn the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Rabbi David Forman z"l, who passed away May 3 in Dallas, Texas, while awaiting a liver transplant. He would have turned 66 next week.

Rabbi Forman made aliya in 1972 and served on the staff of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, and later led the Israel office of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, today the Union for Reform Judaism. He was the founder of Rabbis for Human Rights and was always a strong voice for religious pluralism.

His funeral was today in Israel.

Our loving prayers go out to his wife, Judy, daughters Tamar, Liat, Shira and Orly, and all his family. David was the consummate activist whose commitment to the principles of Progressive Judaism, Zionism and human rights for all God's children will continue to inspire each and every one of us. May his memory be for a blessing.

Count your change...

One of my favorite stories from the High Holy Day collections of my colleagues is about change. Hanging near the door or propped by the register at many stores is a small sign that says: "Count your change before you leave." One of those colleagues saw a fitting holy day message there: before you leave the synagogue on Yom Kippur, be sure you look back on the 10 days and count how you've changed.

Well this isn't Tishrei and I don't do sermons on this blog, but it is time to count the change. With my impending move to Washington, I had put the blogging on hold. Then, last week, Meet The Press unveiled their new set. It got me thinking that this is time to change our set. Send me your feedback and suggestions. I'm counting the change.

Passover left-overs

I'm packing up and moving this week (not to DC yet but to a short term apartment for a few months). Blog will be sparse. But, here are some left-overs from this year's crop of Passover knock-knocks that I wrote up for the kids school seder. Save them for next year, they'll be fine.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Butter.
Butter who?
Butter get rid of all your hametz before Passover starts.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Wendy.
Wendy who?
Wendy afikomen is found we can move on to dessert.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Tallis.
Tallis who?
Tallis the Passover story already, we're ready to eat!

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Kippah.
Kippah who?
I Kippah few jokes in reserve just in case the seder goes long.

There were more - knock,knocks with Sinai, Nirtzah, Hallel, Gefilte, Pig, Ketchup, and of course, Dayenu.

Passover Zen

A Passover tip that you didn't know you needed:

Happy Bicentennial!

Amidst the political news, March Madness and Spring Training, you probably didn't see much about the bicentennial of Reform Judaism. My teacher, Rabbi Gary Zola, recently sent me one of his hilarious, regular "schnorrer letters" on behalf of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati. In it, he reminded me of the special occasion:

It was two hundred years ago, on July 17, 1810, that the German financier, Israel Jacobson (1768 - 1828), inaugurated a small "temple" in his gymnasium in Seesan. In this little sanctuary, Jacobson instituted extraordinary changes in Jewish worship. Jewish prayers were recited in the vernacular, hymns with organ accompaniment were sung, and the liturgy was shortened. It was Jacobson who personally instituted the first confirmation ceremony.

Two hundred years later and still praying in the vernacular, singing with the organ and keeping it shorter than that other shul. Be sure to check out the AJA website for some interesting documents and upcoming programs. And while you're at it, Dr. Zola always appreciates donations as they are "the chance to prove that money will never make me [Dr. Zola] happy!"

Help Adam Understand "Apartheid"

One of my college roommates sent me this question recently. He had driven through an event in Seattle that was part of the now annual "Campus Apartheid Week." How would you respond? Post your answer as a comment. Adam wrote:

"Over the weekend, I was driving with our dog through the University of Washington commercial district. At the main intersection, several demonstrators hoisted large yellow signs. In bold black letters I read "End U.S. support of Israeli Apartheid." Over the winter, I had been in Munich, Germany, where I saw a similar protest that meshed young Muslim's clad in kafirs with German soccer moms (hemp farmer's market bags, Birkenstocks, etc.). Seeing the protesters less than a mile from our home at first made my blood boil. I wanted to flip them the finger. Then, I cycled at 4x rewind in how we got to this point. Sometimes I thumb through my old Sunday School books. The musty aroma of "To Be a Jew" and "Israel: A Modern History" brings me back to a time when we (Israel and American Jewry were always one "we") were the underdogs. I recall the first time I travelled to Israel in 1982. I cheered the IDF as they drove south from the border with captured Soviet tanks. In 1992 I returned to Israel. We could no longer enjoy lingering visits to Hebron and Jericho. The Intifada was in full effect. And now we have the current generation of soccer moms siding with the Palestinians. I'm looking for the right response to those people with the signs. I don't think it's the finger or a shout of hatred. I think it requires some other action and learning "the facts" on my own. Help?"

What I learned from Marty Cole

Marty Cole was a good friend and devoted to his family. His commitment to Judaism, the temple and making the world a better place are inspirational. He was a Shabbat "regular" despite the fact that his sales job had him as busy as anybody. His sudden and tragic death on Monday brought out legions of admirers, friends, and family. Here's just some of the wisdom he left us.

Every morning when Marty put his daughters on the school bus he told them the same thing: "Do your best and keep your promises."

Be an organ donor and make sure EVERYBODY knows that about you. Marty was an organ donor - thanks to Karen's support and understanding of Marty's commitments. He donated blood regularly because he was type AB - one of the rarest gems. In his death, Marty saved and brought healing to dozens (literally, dozens!) of people. If you think that Judaism forbids organ donation, you are mistaken. Judaism not only permits but encourages organ donation. If you need to "hear" that from an orthodox source, visit the website of the Halachic Organ Donor Society.

Live life to it's fullest and enjoy the simple pleasures now. Marty surfed, cycled, got a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, excercised daily, loved a good meal, spent quality time with his good friends, and never missed a chance to be with his wife and girls. He was explicit about this and wrote on his PMC rider profile web page: "This past December, at the annual Bikers Dozen Team Holiday Dinner, we raised our glasses to toast some of the simple joys in our lives ... a nice ride, good friends, and helping the greater good. We are blessed with the chance to hop on our bikes, be with a great group, and raise money for a good cause. Unfortunately, we can never forget that those with cancer often forego even the simplest of life’s pleasures as they fight to survive. "

Do your best, keep your promises, live life well, keep your friends close, your family closest, leave the world better than you found it.

For Lance Corporal Jeremy Kane, z"l, let's serve the country

Lance Corporal Jeremy Kane, a US marine, was killed last week while on patrol in Afghanistan. He grew up and had his bar mitzvah at M’kor Shalom Reform Temple in Cherry Hill. His funeral was there today. I sent a contribution in his memory to the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council from “The members of Monmouth Reform.” The Jewish community has not been touched so often or so directly by military casualties since 9-11. But that is not because Jews have not been killed or don’t serve proudly and with distinction in our military. Lance Corporal Kane’s death is a close reminder of the price we all pay for freedom and security. His life should inspire us to find ways to serve ourselves. Let’s not put that off any longer; but make that happen this year.

Please read this letter from Anat Hoffman (director of IRAC, the Israel Religious Action Center) about religious freedom and women's rights in Israel...

Dear Friends of IRAC,
When I was on the Jerusalem city council, I gave a lot of thought to earthquakes. The seismologists had figured out that every eighty years an earthquake strikes Israel, and since the last major earthquake occurred in 1927, we are due for another one soon. Many things have not changed since my city council days – Israel was and is not prepared to deal with an earthquake and its aftermath. Only in 1980 did Israel start building according to earthquake safety codes. We are better prepared for biological or chemical warfare than we are for natural disaster.

The fault line runs from the Dead Sea, and into Jerusalem; it passes under Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Kotel. Some of the holiest structures in the world could be gone in one morning. And while my interrogation two weeks ago certainly rocked the Jewish world, it is nothing compared to what an earthquake could do.

I believe the greater tragedy would not be the destruction of holy structures, but the destruction of holy human life. The terrible earthquake in Haiti reminded me that too often we think about the stones of these structures, animating them with our thoughts, but forget about the lives being lived around them, and the individual spirits that fill them with prayer.

Women who pray out loud at the Kotel are told that their voices offend the very stones of the Wall – no mention that in the name of protecting the feelings of these sacred stones, a living woman can be made to feel marginalized and humiliated. Too often we forget about each other, we forget we’re each alive.

This past week I’ve been moved in so many ways – by the heroic efforts of the Israeli emergency responders and by international aid relief efforts in Haiti, and more personally, by the outpouring of support we’ve received from around the world for Women of the Wall and religious pluralism.

From one of my favorite passages in Isaiah: “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:1). The walls of the house can be built of anything, anywhere; it is the people who dwell there that count.

L’shalom,
Anat Hoffman

P.S. If you have not done so already, please send the following letter of support to your country’s Israeli ambassador.

Dear _____,

On behalf of the Jewish people fighting for religious pluralism in Israel, I am outraged that one of our leaders, Anat Hoffman, was interrogated and fingerprinted by Jerusalem police on January 5th, 2010. Police told Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center and leader of Women of the Wall, that she may be charged with a felony for violating the rules of conduct at what many consider to be Judaism’s most sacred site.
Hoffman’s interrogation came less than two months after the November 18th, 2009 arrest of the Women of the Wall member Nofrat Frankel for wearing a talit and holding a sefer Torah.

We will not tolerate this discrimination and abuse to continue among our own people. Women are treated as second-class citizens at a holy and historic place that has great symbolic importance for all Jews.

We are shocked by the brutal and callous insults to which Women of the Wall have been subjected. Many of these curses cannot be repeated in polite company. Israeli police have seen fit to arrest women who go to the wall for peaceful prayer, and make no attempt to reprimand those who spit and curse at them, a stark reminder of the power enjoyed by the Israeli ultra-Orthodox, and their success in forcing their religious practices on an entire nation.
If this were to happen in any other country in the world, the Jewish community would be up in arms. Israel is the rare democracy today that tolerates and even endorses religious discrimination against Jews.

Make no mistake: What appears to be a growing religious crisis in Israel is as much a threat to Israel's survival as are the external threats, and perhaps more so. Israel has shown that she can protect herself from armies and terrorists. Protecting herself from religious extremism may be Israel's biggest challenge--a challenge that cannot and must not be ignored by those who care about Israel’s soul.
We cannot allow this discrimination to continue any further. We must protect our religious rights in Israel.
Pass on our message to the Israeli government: the Kotel is the beating heart center for the whole of the Jewish people, and not an Ultra-Orthodox synagogue. The arrest and intimidation of women praying at the Wall must stop. The Wall must become a place where all Jews can pray and connect spiritually to Israel.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States:

Michael Oren
Embassy of Israel
3514 International Dr. N.W.
Washington DC 20008

Haiti Earthquake: Help provide relief and support

Yesterday's earthquake in Haiti requires a quick and massive response. There are few things that you and I can do directly to help the people of Haiti in this time of desperate need other than give financial support for supplies and recovery efforts. We are blessed with safety, security and material abundance (yes, even in this time of our own economic struggle, the earthquake surely reminds us how fortunate we are). The Union for Reform Judaism is collecting funds for Haiti's recovery and relief needs. I just gave. Will you join me? Donate Here Now

I also encourage you to make time for prayer in response to this tragic disaster. Offer prayers of gratitude for your own well-being, prayers for the strength and welfare of those hurt and displaced by the earthquake, and prayer for the dead and their families. We will, of course, include prayers for Haiti in our upcoming Shabbat services.

Make Hummus, Not War

Linda Gradstein reports from Abu Ghosh, just outside Jerusalem (those who came on MRT's last Israel trip, we had our farewell dinner there):

Israel fired a new salvo at its northern neighbor Lebanon in what has been
dubbed the "hummus war" by retaking the world record for the largest dish ever
of the chickpea paste that is a staple of the Middle Eastern diet.... (read the
entire article)

Maybe the Israelis are on to something. This war may have the same cycle of one-upsmanship as more violent conflicts, but nobody dies and the more the "war" rages, the more people get to eat. So go ahead, Lebanon, bring your best next shot. And somebody pass me a fresh pita.

Somebody close the door, it's getting cold in here

In doing research for tonight’s sermon, “The Jewishness of Janus,” I learned that we are not the first “superpower” to find ourselves in a state that feels like – if not truly is – perpetual war.

According to a Wikipedia article on Janus: Numa Pompilius, the second ruler of Rome (after Romulus), introduced the Ianus geminus (also called Janus Bifrons, Janus Quirinus or Portae Belli), a passage ritually opened at times of war and shut again when Roman arms rested. It formed a walled enclosure with gates at each end situated in the Roman Forum. In the course of wars, the gates of the Janus were opened, and in its interior sacrifices were held to forecast the outcome of military events. The doors were closed only during peacetime, an extremely rare event. The Roman historian Livy (who lived at the turn of the common era) wrote in his definitive history of the empire, Ab urbe condita, that the doors of the temple had only been closed twice since the reign of Numa: first in 235 B.C.E. after the first Punic war and second after the battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E.

While one could argue that America has not been “at war” throughout our history, it must also be acknowledged that the past 100 years (or more) have not been so peaceful as some would like to imagine. The “Cold War” and the current state – whether one calls it “the War on Terror” or as Melanie Phillips recently called it, a “global religious war against the free world” – remind us that “war” is not just “hot” engagement with the enemy on a traditional (Yorktown, Waterloo, Bulge) battlefield. Maybe that chill you feel won't be solved by green technology and Energy Star. Maybe we should start with somebody trying to close that door that's been left open.