While I'm away, read this

I'm away on vacation but saving up lots of stories and bloggish material for next week, but in the meantime, you should read Jay Michaelson's latest Polymath column in the Forward. Titled, "The Myth of Authenticity," the article explores the nagging sense that ultra-orthodox Jews are inauthentic and the rest of us are not. For example:

It’s not, of course, that we want to be the shtetl Jews of Anatevka — only
that we continue to see them as the “real” ones, and the rest of us, well, as a
kind of hybridization, or adaptation. Thus there persists in the American Jewish
imagination an anxiety of inauthenticity — that someone, somewhere, is the real
Jew, but I’m not it.

If you've ever seen "Annie Hall," "A Serious Man," or a female rabbi, the article has something for you. I'll be back next week.

Organ Harvesting: This is Not Really Happening, right?

For years we have seen modern incarnations of the most ridiculous medievel blood libels against Jews. Most of these modern blood libels involve Israel and Israelis. They have been so easy to dismiss because they have been so absolutely ridiculous: A Saudi newspaper story claiming that Jews drain the blood from Palestinian children in order make hamentaschen or the story that appeared earlier this year in a Swedish newspaper claiming that Israeli soldiers kill Palestinians and harvest their organs (the ADL called that one "irresponsible and shocking"). It was just so outrageous. How could anyone believe such a thing?! The sheer outrageousness of the claims was proof of the depravity of Israel's enemies.

Then, horror, it turns out that Israel really was harvesting organs from dead bodies without permission from the deceased or their families. Sure, they didn't just take the organs from Palestinians. They took from Israeli Jews and foreign workers. But it did happen. Sphere reports:

Over the weekend Israel Television's Channel Two broadcast a previously unaired
interview conducted by an American academic in 2000 with [Dr. Yehuda] Hiss, who then headed the [national forensic] institute. In the interview, Hiss said that Israel harvested corneas, skin, bones and heart valves from the bodies of Israeli soldiers, Israeli citizens, Palestinians and foreign workers, often without permission from the families.

Was I crazy to assume that such completely immoral and illegal things couldn't happen in a democratic, Jewish state? Don't answer. I already know.

Innovation

Wanna see innovation in the Jewish world? Check out the programs and organizations identitifed in the Slingshot Guide. As described on its website: "Slingshot A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation, is an annual compilation of the 50 most inspiring and innovative organizations, projects, and programs in the North American Jewish community today. First published in 2005, and now in its fifth edition, Slingshot continues to highlight those organizations in Jewish life with particular resonance among the next generation." It's programs are skewed toward the younger generations, but it's still worth a loook.

Who were those Maccabees, anyway?

There's more than one reason to have taxes and finances on our minds as we light the menorah tonight. A newly reconstructed stele at the Israel Museum gives some details and archaeological support for the Hanukkah story told in the book of 2 Maccabees. Like the American Revolution (think Tea Party, "No Taxation Without Representation!" etc.), the Maccabee revolt was sparked as much by government policies as anything.

The Jerusalem Post reports: "The reconstituted stele, or inscribed tablet, yielded a text from the king [Seleucus IV] dated 178 BCE, eleven years before the Maccabean Revolt. It set out instructions to his chief minister Heliodorus concerning the appointment of one Olympiodorus to begin collecting money from all of the temples in the region, marking the start of a significant, negative shift in Seleucid policy on Jewish autonomy. That shift culminated in a vicious Seleucid crackdown on the Jews of Judea and the looting of the Temple in 168-167 BCE, which prompted the Maccabean Revolt as memorialized in the Hanukkah story. " I wouldn't go so far as to say we have a Maccabean revolt brewing in America these days, but those Goldman Sachs executives might have a different opinion than mine (not to mention the AIG execs who've had to hire personal security guards for themselves and their families). There is good reason the Talmud emphasized the miracle of the oil over the military actions of the Maccabees.

Gil Shefler of JTA has a good piece from yesterday that points out many challenging facts about the "real" Maccabees. The historian in me loves this stuff, the kid in me still wants to pick up a plastic sword, stuff a few latkes in my mouth and run around the house playing Judah. Is that so wrong?

The Maharam and Gilad Shalit

A few weeks ago, our guest speaker for Book Month, Michelle Cameron, taught us about Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg (the Maharam). Among the things we learned, was the story of his kidnapping and his refusal to allow the Jewish community to pay the ransom. While her book focused on the Maharam's wife, the larger story strikes a chord for today's Jewish community. In the weeks since her presentation, it has become even more so.

With negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit actively moving forward, the question of what price Israel should pay for Shalit's release has become a question for public debate. The ghost of the Maharam haunts the conversation. Uri Dromi, former spokesman for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote the following:

In Judaism, redeeming the captive is very important: ``You shall not stand idly
by the blood of your brother.'' (Lev. 19:16). However, not at all costs. One of
the old Jewish sages has already cautioned against it. Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch,
better known as the Maharam of Rotenburg, was one of the leading rabbis of
Germany in the 13th century, when King Rudolph started persecuting the Jews.

He acknowledges that the deal will likely go through even though he (and most Israelis) have very mixed feelings. Read the full article here in the Miami Herald.

Can it be both Jewish and democratic?

Nofrat Frenkel was arrested at the Kotel in Jerusalem for wearing a tallit while praying with Women of the Wall. Frenkel writes of her arrest:

In my interrogation, I was asked why I was praying with a tallit when I
knew that this was against the Law of the Holy Places. I am an Israel Defense
Forces officer, a law-abiding citizen, a volunteer for the Civil Guard — I have
never incurred even a parking fine — and the idea of having broken the law was
most trying. Nevertheless, I cannot allow my basic right to freedom of religious
worship to be trampled because of a court ruling given years ago.

The Kotel belongs to all the people of Israel. The Kotel is not a Haredi
synagogue, and the Women of the Wall will not allow it to become such.

This deserves our attention as progressive zionists as much as anything.