Something Sacred

My Mother, was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1916. That in and of itself, is nothing special, however, what is special is that my mother’s, Mother and Father, were born in New York prior to the turn of the century and that is special. What is really special, is that my m\Mother’s grandmother and grandfather were born in the United States in the middle of the 19^th century and that is almost unheard for Jews. You’ve got it right, I am a fifth generation American born Jew.

My Mother with little or no knowledge of what it meant to be Jewish, married a first generation American Jew and the son of Hassidick Malamud (teacher). My Father’s parents spoke Yiddish in their home and little or no English. My Mother’s parents spoke German and Hungary, although born in the United States.

Before the turn of the 20^th Century there were about 500,000 Jews in the US and most of them were German and Hungarian born. Between 1880 and 1920 two million Jews immigrated to the US from eastern Europe. Jews were looking to escape the pogroms of Shtetel life that would force young Jewish men to serve in the Military, often, never to be seen again. Jewish families also sought freedom from the indignity of discrimination imposed by police, military and civilian mobs.

My Zayde and Bubbe came here from Austria-Poland in 1905. First my Zayde came and then he brought my Bubbe and their two oldest children. My father and his younger brother were born here in the US.

My Zayde was a Sadia Ger Chassid and a Malamud (teacher) and my Bubbe ran a Kosher Dairy restaurant on the lower east side. When my father married my mother, his parents wanted proof of her Jewish lineage.

My Mother had little or no Jewish identity. Her parents lived completely secular lives. Esther, my mother, had a Jewish name and new she was Jewish but that was the depth of her Jewish identity. Esther was orphaned by the time she 17 years old and only she and her younger brother were left. My mother was forced to care for her younger brother with a little help from cousins.

Esther dropped out of High School to work at S. Klein’s a large home-goods store. Her meager wages provided for herself and her brother George. My mother had no recollection of Sabbath or Kashrut or anything Jewish in her parents’ home. Passover had a place in her memory because they would join one of their cousin’s for a Seder at The Pride of Judea Home, orphanage, in New York. My Mother’s cousin were benefactors to the home.

When my Father married my Mother it was as if he had married someone from a foreign land who didn’t know the customs or the language.

My Mother did not keep kosher, make Sabbath meals, or light Sabbath Candles. The Yartshites of her parents were not observed. My Mother didn’t attend Synagogue, not even on Yom Kippur. Then something completely unimaginable happened. Something unexpected and unpredictable. Something that would change her life forever.

One day, after returning from religious school, I announced that I wasn’t going to eat from my mother’s kitchen anymore. My Mother didn’t have a clue as to why, so she asked; don’t you like the way I cook? I thought to myself; Why would she think that I didn’t like her cooking. “Of course I like the way you cook.” It was clear that my Mother didn’t have a clue, and then she asked; “Why won’t you eat from my kitchen?” “We don’t keep kosher and God wants Jewish people to eat kosher”. “How do you know that?”, she asked. Rabbi Lieberman said; “God commanded us to only eat kosher;” I went on to explain that we needed to kosher our kitchen. I was only eight years old at the time and my mother didn’t have a clue what it meant to keep kosher but she was supportive and so she took my feelings seriously.

My Mother was a practical soul and she was also the Mother of six sons. Every day, at least one of her sons wanted something. Today, Peter, wanted a kosher kitchen and she took my request in stride. Esther assumed that this was a fad and I would get over it. My mother didn’t make Chazer (pork) and she used kosher meat, for my Father’s sake, so she assumed that keeping kosher wasn’t a huge stretch. Mom promised me that she would Kosher the kitchen on Passover if it was still important. We had just started the school year so waiting for Passover would allow her six months time to observe my interest in Judaism.

Passover came and Rabbi Lieberman came to the house to help my Mother kosher the kitchen. For the first Passover we used the most minimal dishes and stove-ware to take care of the holiday. The Sunday after Passover we drove from our suburban home, to the Lower East-side, were Fortunoff’s, a large Jewishly owned housewares store was headquartered. My Mother and Father purchase all new dishes fleshig (Meat) milchig (Dairy) and pots and pans to go along. We Toiveled the dishes in a local Mikvah (a tradition of dipping the dishes in rain water) and low and behold we had a kosher kitchen. Did my interest last, you may ask, by the time I turned ten, I was traveling 45 minutes by train, in each direction to attend Yeshiva six days a week.

Kashruth, Sabbath, Tallit, Teffilin, Shabbat Candles are ways we hold on to our heritage. It’s also a way we transfer our faith to future generations. I can remember as if it were yesterday, my Mother standing before the Shabbath candles and saying the blessing in English; “who commanded us to light the Shabbath Candles.” Observance provides a personal connection with tradition and God Almighty.

What makes my Mother’s story amazing is that without the slightest connection to Judaism, she remained Jewish. However, in my mother’s days, Jews were not really welcome outside the Jewish community. Cultural diversity and tolerance were yet to be learned and some would say, still to be learned. Nevertheless, I believe if my Mother grew up in my generation, the outcome would have been very different. If Esther had lived today, in all likelihood, she would not have survived as a Jewish woman to raise a Jewish family.

The Pew Research Center in 2013 spoke of a changing horizon for American Jewry. The Pew survey described an energetic Jewish community and reported “that Jewish identity is changing in America, where one-in-five Jews (22%) now describe themselves as having no religion”.

Conservative Judaism once was the description of the majority of Jews, now only 18% of Jews identify as Conservative having changed places with Reform Judaism representing 35% of Jewish households. For sure the moderate branches of Judaism are shrinking and the more traditional branches are growing. The moderate branches of Orthodoxy are growing but not nearly as fast as the Hassidim are growing.

Why is this happening? There is not one simple answer but part of the answer has something to do with spiritual satisfaction. Satisfaction is not easily achieved in general. Ask a musician if they are satisfied with their skills or an artist are they are satisfied with their skills. Few people are satisfied and success often depends on us seeking greater ability. Spirituality is the same. Religious people are always seeking to improve their relationship with God.

“Healthy start” is a good recommendation for all things. Children should have a healthy start in their day, meaning a decent meal. A “healthy start” in their education and a “healthy start” in their spiritual identity. We can begin by regularly providing our families with something sacred to cling to while we express the sense of sacredness we experience. In this equation there must be truth and integrity. I recommend that everyone choose a comfortable path and make sure your family has and maintains a healthy start.

What makes Traditional Judaism different From All Other Branches of Judaism

A young colleague of mine was asked to define the difference between Orthodox, Traditional Judaism and Conservative Judaism and he wrote the following article. Noah Gradofsky is a lawyer, has chosen to practice the rabbinate after graduating from the Union for Traditional Judaism (UTJ) rabbinical school, the Institute for Traditional Judaism (ITJ). His sentiment is exactly why I believed in Traditional Judaism and he said it, better than I ever could. Enjoy!

by Rabbi Noah Gradofsky

Let me state from the outset that I am not empowered to speak for the UTJ,
though I am one of the musmakhim (ordainees) of the Institute for
Traditional Judaism (ITJ) and have served on the UTJ board for many years.
The UTJ has a diverse membership, and I dare say that many of the rabbis
who participate in the UTJ have very different perspectives on many of the
important questions about Judaism. Hopefully our diversity and our respect
for those different perspectives is part of our definition.  But then
again, I guess there have to be some boundaries that make us who we are.
Given all this, much of what I say will be as much about me as about the
UTJ, but I will try to keep things as basic as possible to hopefully
provide a perspective that is shared by most of the members of UTJ.   I’d
like to focus on how UTJ’s approach to Torah and halakha might compare and
contrast with the Conservative and Orthodox movements.



On study of Torah, I think UTJ represents a more spiritual version of the
mixture of academic and classic study of Torah that you might find in the
Conservative movement.  I say this recognizing that this is probably mostly
based on my (our?) sense of what spirituality is.  I attended JTS (the
Conservative movement flagship institution) for my undergraduate education
and learned a great deal. However, I often found the learning to be
antiseptically academic, to lack a sense of religious meaning, and to
relish tearing down religious beliefs (admittedly, this was my own sense,
and I imagine others feel differently).  My studies and interactions at UTJ
have always affirmed and built up faith and treated all forms of learning
as a deeply religious act.



At the other end of the spectrum, Orthodoxy often imposes a very strict
dogmatic structure on the understanding of Torah.  For instance, to me, the
introduction to the ArtScroll Chumash basically says that studying Torah
without holding a very narrow interpretation of Torah MiSinai is worthless,
and in the “*Torah u-Madda Journal” *(Volume 3) Rabbi Parnes declared that
Orthodox freedom of inquiry must be limited if such inquiry might undermine
Rambam’s faith dogmas.  But if faith dogmas prevent us from considering
what may be the reality of God’s world and our record of God’s revelation,
then those dogmas really don’t speak of faith in God, but of faith in our
human constructs.  In fact, to the contrary, the result is to impose our
own wishes on God and Torah.  I imagine that many UTJ members take a more
narrow view of the necessary dogmas of Jewish faith.  As Professor Marc
Shapiro (for clarity, Professor Shapiro is not a UTJ member) demonstrates
in “*The Limits of Orthodox Theology*,” Rambam’s view was anything but
universal.  For instance, my teacher (ITJ faculty member) Rabbi Alan Yuter
paraphrases Rabbi Yosef Albo’s dogmas of faith as “God is real, God
commands, God holds accountable.” Based on the above, UTJ embraces academic
learning and all that it has to offer in shedding light on our sacred
texts.  We see using every tool at our disposal to illuminate Torah and
help us understand God’s will, not as a threat to our faith, but as a
sacred imperative.  At the same time, we reaffirm our faith in God, divine
revelation (Torah min hashamayim), and the authority of Torah and halakhah
as the expression of God’s will for the Jewish people.  Our Reish Metivta,
Rabbi Halinvi coined the motto for our school, the ITJ, as “Emunah Tserufah
v’Yosher Da’at” – genuine faith and intellectual honesty – and that, I
think, is the UTJ’s clarion call.



As to halakhah, UTJ adopts a traditional approach to halakhah, one that I
would argue is more traditional than the approach taken by an Orthodox
Judaism moved to a reactionary approach by fear of the risks posed by more
liberal forms of Judaism.  I think that by and large we believe the
Conservative movement evolved into a system of halakhah where halakhic
decisions often represent a combination of capitulation to a generally
non-observant lay community and an overemphasis of modern philosophy and
morality in the halakhic system.  This is not to say that modern ideas and
ideals do not have a voice in the halakhic system.  My teacher (ITJ faculty
member) Hakham Isaac Sassoon, for instance, speaks strongly of the
importance of incorporating values of fairness and human dignity into the
halakhic system.  It is unfathomable to believe that a sense of morality
did not figure in the decisions of earlier rabbis, and it is illogical to
imagine that all new thoughts of morality should be isolated from the
halakhic process. However, for the most part we believe that morality
should have a voice and not a veto in the halakhic process and understand
that lending excessive weight to moral speculation can undermine the
halakhic system as a whole.



More generally, I would mention that I think UTJ rabbis are generally more
willing to reconsider common practice in the face of the halakhic textual
evidence.  Some of us (myself included, largely learned from Rabbi Yuter)
follow Rambam’s approach, as presented in the introduction to Mishneh
Torah, whereby we look to whatever opinion seems to fit the Talmudic
evidence best.  Others of us, for example, my teacher Rabbi Richard Wolpoe
(ITJ faculty member), lend more weight to common practice.  In large part
this owes perspective stems from Rabbi Wolpoe seeing halakhah more in the
frame of a common law system, such that the decisions of rabbis over time
can gain a level of halakhic canonicity, whereas Rabbi Yuter sees halakhah
more in the context of a positive law system, where the authority of
post-Talmudic decision making is based solely on the power of the arguments
behind the decision.  However, I think we all in some sense are a bit more
willing to consider that common practice in the Orthodox community is not
necessarily the correct halakhah.  I also think we are more apt to consider
whether modern situations require us to revisit some prior halakhic
standards (in the same way that Arukh haShulchan OCH 75:8, for instance,
says that the definition of ervah has changed in modern society).  Along
the same lines, I think UTJ members are generally opposed to the idea that
anything new must be viewed with suspicion and presumptively be considered
outside halakhic boundaries.  Most of us adopt the approach of ChaZa”L in
Mishnah Eduyot 2:2, that the fact that something has not been done in the
past is not proof that it may not be done today.



It is also worth noting that the UTJ has less of a taste for hierarchical
halakha than the Orthodox world does, in that the Orthodox world tends to
lend halakhic weight almost exclusively to its most renowned rabbis.  I was
taught by my teachers at the ITJ that I had a responsibility and
prerogative to voice my own opinion, and I know that my teachers would be
universally disappointed in me were I to defer to their opinion where I saw
matters in a different light based on my textual or sociological judgment
(this is not to suggest that I don’t lend importance to the views of my
teachers).



Finally, I think it is significant that, for the most part, UTJ eschews
denominational labels and we believe that these labels obscure as much as
they enlighten.  We believe that it is far more important to conform our
actions and beliefs to the will of the Almighty than to the consensus of
any political or sociological identity.



Returning to where I started, this is for the most part my personal
opinion.  Painting with very broad strokes, hopefully I have given some
sense of what sets UTJ apart from the Conservative and Orthodox movements.
May we all merit from bringing klal Yisrael closer to God, Torah, and good
deeds.

___

You can reach Noah at noah@e-ark.net 

Milwaukee Burned On the 9th of Av a Prophecy or was it Poverty

August 14 was an important day in the Jewish calendar. The Jewish community commemorated the ninth day of Av one of the most frightening days on the Jewish Calendar. On that day we commemorated the destruction of both Holy Temples when Jews of that day watch as both Temples burned to the ground. A final reminder that Jews would be driven into the diaspora the psalmist declared “to disperse their offspring among the nations and scatter them through the lands _{(JPS 1999)}” (Psalms 106:27).

It seemed ironic that on the 9^th of Av the Sherman Park neighborhood, on Milwaukee's Northside, were many orthodox Jews live, the City was ablaze the result of riots. Some of the members of the Jewish Community would be heard to say that it was an omen of things to come. Others, would blame the fires and rioting on the lack of mutual respect in this integrated neighborhood. The riots were instigated when a 23 year old Black man was killed by a black Milwaukee police officer. Two young men ran from police after a traffic stop. The driver raised a weapon and was fatally shot after he refused a police order to drop the gun.

Justified or not, the shooting instigated a riots. Police were fired upon by civilians, people pelted the police with rocks and gun fire could be heard all around the neighborhood were I live. Chaos prevailed and police force was brought in to bring the crisis under control. It took three days to restore quiet and those three days felt like three months. Barbie and I basically hunkered down and decided to let things cool before venturing far from home.

On the afternoon of Tisha B’Av I attended synagogue, to pray with a minyon (a quorum of men) and when the services were done I sat to talk with my friend Tuvia. We've been pals for more than 30 years and we’ve supported each other in times of prosperity and in times of despair but we have always been at each others side. Soon the conversation turned to politics. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, I learned that this dear and sweet friend would vote for Trump if he were only an American citizen. Thank God he’s not. That being said, I was still shocked and surprised that Tuvia would advocate and politic for a man who violates every moral expectation Judaism places on it adherents. While Trump is not Jewish and therefore not obligated to these Torah rules, nevertheless, most of these rules are universally accepted as the moral precepts for all of humanity. Don’t call people by derogatory names. Don’t lie about the character of others. Don’t mislead your fellow human. Don’t steal from others to preserve your own wealth.

Some people talk about Trump’s statesmanship but the question for me is the clarity of his moral vision. His mission is self and not community. He does not sacrifice personal needs for the betterment of his fellow human being. Trump like Darwin categorizes people into subgroups from superhuman to subhuman and we cannot deny the unfortunate application of organic evolution to describe those considered to subhuman. We have heard and witnessed this regrettable behavior, when he stands before an audience and demeans a man with a disability and jests about his tremor and his struggle with speech; there was nothing funny about his mimicking the reporter’s tremor and voice, this is not about statesmanship it’s about dignity and Trump lacks the humility and dignity to be President of the United States.

People who care about people don't mock others especially not the disable. If you plan on voting for Trump ask yourself this;

Do you want Donald Trump to serve as a role model for children around the world?

Would you want your children or grandchildren to see President Donald Trump taunting the disabled?

Donald Trump makes disrespectful sexual suggestions about his own daughter; would you want your teenagers to hear the President make remarks that are disrespectful to mothers, daughters beloved family members?

The seriousness of his failure to control his words can best be seen in an article published by the New York Times. I urge you to read the following article._{(http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html?_r=0#rockin-in-the-free-world)}

Jewish law identifies this behavior as Mozei Shem Rah (disparaging accusations) and declares it spiritually offensive. According to Judaism 101, “money lost can be repaid, but the harm done by speech can never be repaired. For this reason, some sources indicate that there is no forgiveness for lashon ha-ra (disparaging speech)”.

The source found in the Torah comes from Leviticus “Do not deal basely with your countrymen. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow: I am the L-ord. _{(Lev.19:16 JPS 1999)}”

Trump is vile in every respect and his values are diametrically opposed to what Judaism teaches us about building a moral code.

When my grandparents arrived in New York after months of traveling across Europe and then across the ocean to a land they only read about in books. They came to a place were the language was different, the culture was different, the monetary system was different but they were willing to pay the price in order that their family might be free and able to practice their religious beliefs. When they arrived these are the words etched as the foot of the Statue of Liberty.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

These words were exactly what they wanted to see, an invitation to sit at the table of democracy and enjoy the illumination of the light of freedom.

Mr. Trump thinks that "extreme, extreme, very extreme vetting, is the answer to the problem of immigration". There was a time when my ancestors aboard the St. Louis were returned to Nazi Germany to face certain extermination because the United States engaged in “extreme vetting”. Nine hundred thirty seven men, women and children were returned to Germany and refused entrance to Cuba or the US. The Holocaust Museum in Washington DC reports about the passengers on the St. Louis the following: “Hostility toward immigrants fueled both antisemitism and xenophobia. Both agents of Nazi Germany and indigenous right-wing movements hyped the immigrant issue in their publications and demonstrations, claiming that incoming Jews were Communists.” Does this sound familiar? Has the crowds at the Trump rallies hyped the idea that immigrants are criminal who steal jobs from American Citizens?

The idea of turning people away because there might be among them a terrorists, or they might be criminals, or steal jobs from citizens is abhorrent and should make us feel ashamed. Trump’s father was an immigrant but now he wants to exclude his father and anyone like him, if they were citizens of Syria or a country with a majority of Muslims, they are to be immediately refused entry.

The guile of this egotistical maniac violates every Jewish principle the Torah teaches. When my friend told me that he would support Mr. Trump if he had the opportunity to vote, I was shocked, appalled, ashamed and embarrassed and the tone of my voice reflected my feelings. My friend is a man who likes peace, he rarely argues and usually finds a way to reach common ground about most matters but not on this matter. He said to me; " you will have to account for this in the world to come!" I responded; "I'm prepared to defend my actions.” Again he pressured me, "Have you asked a great Rabbi?" I told him; "on matters of spiritual issues I ask great Rabbis but on political matters, I make decisions based on my personal knowledge.” Then came the common Israel card, "Israel he said; what about Israel?" Again I responded; "I'm not voting for the President of the State of Israel, I'm electing the President of the United States and I expect that s/he will serve the citizens of this country to the best of their ability." My friend was appalled: "You don't take care of your fellow Jews first." I tried to defuse the conversation since we were not going to find common ground and I told him that I always try and do what's best for the Jewish community but not at the expense of 300 million of my fellow Americans who depend on my vote to live in peace, harmony and prosperity."

We walked out of the building wishing each other well but frustrated that we had seen a side of one another that we did not approve of and wished that it were different.

Milwaukee burned on Tisha b'Av and there was some irony in the experience and an underlying message as well. My friend would say that the spiritual events of the day meant the Messiah was on his way.

For me, the message of the day is that it’s time to get our act together. We can't have 48% of the black community, their young leadership, between the ages of 15 and 35 serving prison sentences. The prisons are overcrowded and all we can expect is more abuse of those rookies who join the prison system.

We can't continue to ignore the importance of providing reasonable opportunities for young black men and women to be educated in suitable educational environments. Including academic and trade schools that will allow our neighbors to prosper.

In a country as rich as ours, everyone, has the right to live in reasonable, safe housing. All people have the right to live in respectable safe housing. If they quelled the riots in New York by offering opportunity to the poor we sure should be able to do it in Milwaukee.

We cannot continue to take from the very poor and give to the rich. Tax breaks for multimillionaires and billionaires is absolutely offensive and we need to really think about our moral mission. When we take 500 million from the University system and allot that same money to build a basketball stadium for the owners of a basketball team who are billionaires there is something serious wrong with our adherence to a universal moral code. The State of Wisconsin under the leadership of Scott Walker and his cronies has lost its virtuous way and abandoned the poor and down trodden.

The Preamble to our constitution declares that “we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare,” these are bold goals but not only are they goals; they define the moral vision of the “founders” of this unique country.

Our country has also lost the vision of the founders and thus lost it’s moral way. The day we elected “Tea Party” candidates who advocated a Christian agenda from their personal perspective, is the day our Constitution was violated. Abortion is not a high priority when we have The Bill of Rights which guarantees freedom of religion for all people be they Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and even those who practice Wicket. Forty Six million people are in poverty and 48.1 million peoples in America will suffer “food insecurity” or a euphemism for Hunger. Shouldn’t we be worrying about the people who are hungry rather than the unborn. Paul Ryan went home for his summer vacation without having Congress address the Zika virus and ensuring funds to protect against the virus. Protection to avoid the spread of Zika and the birth defects secondary to the virus. Families are going to abort when they learn the results of the blood tests that records their infection with Zika and Paul Ryan will be responsible in part for those abortions.

Time to put our house in order. Black Lives Matter, Chidrens' Lives Matter, the Hungry Matter, and until we work on Community needs rather than tax breaks for billionaires we can expect our city’s to suffer and efforts to get attention will go eyry.

Our children will look back on our generation beginning with the boomers and describe them as be selfish and self centered. Turning this Country around begins with every citizen.