Joel Oseran at SAUPJ Indaba

In a previous post on the blog Altneuland, I mentioned the address given by Rabbi Joel Oseran at the European Region Conference of The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) in Vienna (March 13 through 16, 2008). I suggested that “it [the address] needs to become something akin to a manifesto for Liberal, Progressive and Reform Jewish communities worldwide.”

According to an article on the SAUPJ (The SA Union for Progressive Judaism) website, it appears that Rabbi Oseran will be a keynote speaker at the SAUPJ Indaba, its biennial conference, to be held in Cape Town from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 June.

The other guest speaker will be Dalya Levy, executive director of Arzenu, the Zionist movement of Progressive Judaism based in Israel.

Presumably only those on the committees of the various Reform congregations countrywide and various invited guests will be attending. Perhaps one day when I’m big, I’ll also get invited to events such as this (no irony intended)!

Technorati Tags: Altneuland, Arzenu, Liberal Progressive Reform Judaism, Rabbi Joel Oseran, SAUPJ, SA Union for Progressive Judaism, WUPJ, World Union for Progressive Judaism

Alternative SA Jewish Report – 30 May 2008

The Great Debate on Mashiach

Page 5 of this week’s edition of the SA Jewish Report carried a half-page advert for various events related to Shavuot at the Mizrachi Shul.

One of the items featured is a “Great Debate on Mashiach”, including such thought-provoking questions as “What will he look like?”, “When is he coming?” and “How will we bring him?”

At one, time, this obsession with Mashiach (usually rendered Moshiach to prevent any odious confusion with the Messiah of another faith) was the domain of Chabad. With conventional Orthodoxy seemingly having lost its way in so many other respects, it is probably not surprising that Moshiach fever has taken hold there too.

Belief in the Messiah is one of Judaism’s 13 principles of faith (“I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless I wait every day for his coming.”), but it appears to me that Chabad and those of like mind are elevating it to the status of a super or defining principle. Questions along the lines of those quoted above seem to me to be a pointless exercise in religious self-stimulation, given that none of us can possibly know or even guess at (never mind intelligently debate) the possible answers.

Let’s rather have a debate along the lines of “Observance – is it taking the place of ethical behaviour?”

Lag B’Omer at Great Park Shul

Pages 6 and 18 featured the Lag B’Omer bonfire and other activities at Johannesburg’s Great Park Shul.

According to the glowing account of Rabbi Dovid Hazdan:

There was a marvellous diversity of people that lent their logos and support including Chabad, Bnei Akiva and Aish Hatorah, and others from the different synagogues, shuls and schools.

The greatest joy for Hashem is when communities get together in harmony.

When Jews are sharing smiles, when His children are close to each other, then they are close to our Father.

There is so much Ahavas Yisroel here - surely the time to bring Moshiach, he said.

His sentiments were followed by those of Chief [Orthodox] Rabbi Warren Goldstein who paid tribute to Rabbi Hazdan and the organisers, saying that Lag B'Omer in the forest had become an institution for South African Jews who can teach everyone the concept of achdut, unity.

We are 'one person with one heart'. May this continue to go from strength to strength. Every Jew is a part of Hashem and we have to focus on each other's similarities rather than the discrepancies.

This concept of diversity can probably be paraphrased as “you can be as diverse as you like, so long as you’re Orthodox”. Don’t expect to see a warm fraternal welcome extended to the SAUPJ, Netzer, Tamar or the SA Union of Temple Sisterhoods here. Reform or Masorti Jews would presumably have been welcome in their individual capacities, but not as representatives of these organisations. Marvellous diversity indeed.

Likewise, in the case of Rabbi Goldstein’s pronouncements that “we have to focus on each other's similarities rather than the discrepancies”; this only applies when dealing with other religions. Reform Judaism need not apply for this dispensation.

Brushing off evil: Dinner with Mugabe

I really enjoyed these gems from author Heidi Holland, author of Dinner with Mugabe on page 8:

Heidi Holland … said she had tried to present a "more nuanced version" of the man as much of the reporting on him was "rather shallow" - due to the fact that he had banned "most" journalists from the country.

Yes, I imagine that if a journalist can’t even get into the place, any reporting might start exhibiting signs of shallowness.

She had first met him 30 years ago and said she had been impressed with him then and had thought of him as "caring".

I can clearly remember the fate of any unfortunate white Rhodesian who happened to fall into the clutches of his “caring” terrorist cadres from the mid-60s to the mid-80s.

She claims that he has been "deeply hurt" by his rejection by whites and his response has been to take revenge.

He certainly gives every indication of having been “deeply hurt”. As we all now know in the age of PC, the oppressor is the real victim. It doesn’t explain how this translated into taking revenge on his entire country, not just the whites who rejected him.

Describing his "traumatised psyche", she said he was "emotionally incapable of accepting defeat" and was "now going for revenge as we've never seen before".

Holland disagreed, saying: "I think the West should talk to Mugabe - Britain should engage with him and make peace with him." She described as "tragic" the fact that President Thabo Mbeki had been left to resolve the situation in Zimbabwe.

Talking to someone has and will always solve every problem. That’s why our world has so few problems, it’s because we’re all talking to one another. I do agree with you on the Mbeki thing though.

She predicted that Mugabe would win the election "on his own terms. I think he's still running the place - I don't think he's been displaced," she added.

Definitely on his own terms. And yes, he’s definitely still running the place.

I can’t wait for Heidi Holland’s next book, “provisionally entitled “Cocoa with Hitler”. Rumours of a third volume “Chardonnay with Bin-Laden” have been strenuously denied by her publishers, however.

Yes Heidi, it is possible to find some redeeming human attribute in just about anyone. Just remember that explaining or understanding evil does not justify or excuse it.

Technorati Tags: Chabad, Jewish diversity, Jewish pluralism, Lag B’Omer, Mashiach, Moshiach, Mugabe, Orthodoxy, SA Jewish Report, SAJR

An inauspicious event

I’ve scheduled a post to go Live on Altneuland on Saturday night (i.e. after Shabbat). What’s the big deal? It will be the 100th post there since I started. It’s also almost exactly one month to go until the 1st anniversary of my leaving the corporate world to write full time (15 June 2007).

So where am I?

On the positive side, the blog has stabilised, I’m posting regularly (usually 3 times a week), reading lots, got into quite a good discipline. Visitor and page numbers are creeping up steadily. Very positive feedback from guys like Joel Katz (Religion and State in Israel) and a couple of others (thanks Mom).

On the negative side, I’m bogged down with trying to keep up with my reading, haven’t caught up my backlog of admin and capture. Spending too little time on actual writing and research. I feel totally ignorant about much of the technology I’m using and still have so much to learn about many of the things I’m writing about. I’m battling to break through the 10 hits a day ceiling, still nowhere near $10 each in revenue from AdSense and Amazon. Still very few comments. Still battling to achieve some visibility and recognition. The J-Blogosphere mostly sucks.

I’m by no means ready to give up (in fact I feel like I’ve just started), but the whole process is more difficult and taking a whole lot longer than I ever imagined. I estimated 6-12 months to achieve a breakthrough. Yeah, right…

Well, here’s to the next 100 posts and 12 months. I really believe I’m strongly placed to grow from here. Some routines will have to change, and I still have a steep learning curve ahead, but I’ll get there!

Also, I could never go back to where I was, in any sense.

Happy 60th birthday, Israel!

Dear Israel,

Happy 60th birthday!
May you have many, many more, and may the best of your dreams come true.
Thanks for always being there for us.
Sorry we can't be there to share the occasion with you. L Maybe next year.
You're in our thoughts and prayers constantly.

Love,

Us

Altneuland
Blog:

http://blog.altneuland.info/
Feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Altneuland
E-mail: http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=307264

Who runs the back office for Judaism?

The SA Jewish Report (SAJR) on both 11 and 18 April 2008 carried letters concerning the introduction of a mechitza in the ohel (sanctuary) of the Jewish section of West Park Cemetery (Johannesburg’s largest cemetery). The mechitza was apparently introduced by the Chevrah Kadisha in Johannesburg, at the request of the Beth Din. The letters protested this measure and it appears that it will not be enforced at progressive funerals or where otherwise requested.

I’m not proposing to get into a discussion about the religious pedigree of the mechitza. I hold the progressive view that the mechitza no longer has a place in Jewish life or worship. Not in the synagogue, and still less at the graveside. If you’re of another opinion, my blogs will probably not be to your taste.

What I’d like to first make note of is what I refer to as the tactic of creeping Halacha. Introduce an extension or embellishment to an existing law, custom or tradition. If nobody squeals, the new measure quickly assumes the status of Halacha. If there is some resistance, back off a little, try again later. This is (presumably) acceptable within a congregation. It is not acceptable when applied to the Jewish “public domain” as a whole. Those (such as the letter writers above) who observe the phenomenon at work should continue to raise the alarm.

Secondly, and the main reason for this posting, is the issue of how Jewish social and religious “services” (such as burials) are being provided and who is providing them.

For as long as anyone can remember, the ABO (anything but Orthodoxy) end of the Jewish spectrum has relied on Orthodoxy to provide these services. The non-Orthodox streams of Judaism were only too glad to leave the supervision of Kosher kitchens, etc., up to Orthodoxy. The services would be paid for by Jewish public funds, to which secular, traditional and progressive households contributed (probably more than) their fair share. Of late, however, we’ve started seeing the following worrying trends worldwide:

Raising the bar. Such as with the mechitza issue mentioned above, where our comfort with the level or nature of observance expected in order to utilize the services is continually being tested.

Exclusiveness. Services are increasingly being denied to the secular, members of progressive communities, the inter-married, converted, those with only one Jewish parent or who otherwise don’t meet the requirements, but are fully accepted within their own congregations or communities.

We can confidently expect both of these practices to become increasingly prevalent.

So, can we still trust Orthodoxy to continue to run the back-office for the rest of Judaism? Or, is it perhaps time for the ABO streams within Judaism worldwide to consider setting up shared parallel Jewish religious and social services, provided in a pluralistic, egalitarian and non-denominational manner or form. Perhaps it’s not the most important or urgent item on the Jewish agenda, but I believe it will start becoming more and more of a priority.

One of the first steps in setting up these shared parallel services would be to set up proxy funds. All contributions from those wishing to participate would be channeled into these proxy funds. Monies collected would be handed over to the bodies currently responsible for providing Jewish religious and social services, with conditions attached as to the market and tone of services expected. If at any stage the community wishes to go ahead with the actual shared parallel services, it would then be a simple matter to divert the proxy fund to the new “ABO” services.

A further initial step would be to define exactly what services would be provided. The list could include kosher/eco-kashrut supervision, ritual baths, charities and burial services and all other services traditionally supplied by Chevrah Kadisha societies. This could also be defined as all services provided by and to the community as a whole rather than a specific congregation.

Traditionally, we have always relied on Orthodoxy to provide the “Jewish infrastructure” for the entire community. Increasingly however, we are having to deal with a whole host of hidden and not so hidden agendas with regard to the delivery of these social and religious services. Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about new ways of delivering these services in a pluralistic, egalitarian and non-denominational manner tailored to the needs of the alternative streams of Judaism.

Day notes (14 April 2008)

The J-Blogosphere is closed: Go get your own

At first I thought it was my imagination, but I’m definitely finding the J-Blogosphere (Jewish blogging community) to be something of a closed shop. Despite filling in all the right online forms and sending e-mail messages to the right addresses weeks ago, I haven’t been added to at least two aggregators/directories:

JewishBlogging.com - the home of Jewish blogs, Israeli blogs and all blogs of Jewish interest

J-Blogosphere (Jewish blogging) community on The Truth Laid Bear (TTLB)

The Truth Laid Bear

Also no acknowledgement yet from Bluish Joggers, but I know they’re dealing with a backlog.

Bluish Joggers

I don’t want to come across as a conspiracy theorist, but I can’t help thinking that the exclusion is deliberate and has to do with my not being on the political/religious right, whose adherents appear to dominate the J-Blogosphere currently.

We’ll see; I haven’t totally given up yet.

Damn, I'm good!

While capturing one of my old notebooks into OneNote, I came across this note written in December 2006/January 2007, i.e. a good 15 months before the latest crisis in JAFI's Aliya Dept.:

I think I'm correct in asserting that almost all remaining Diaspora communities are now in Western-style democracies. Unless these societies collapse under the weight of Islamism, illegal immigration (indigestible) and the reaction (including anti-Semitism), no more significant Aliya is likely to take place.

Code of conduct for the territories?

Because I live in the Diaspora, I'm not always going to understand what works and what doesn't work in Israel, so this is just a suggestion. What about a voluntary code of conduct/petition undertaking not to live in territories occupied but not annexed by Israel, as well as calling on the government to either annex or withdraw all civilians and their infrastructure from those areas?

SA Jewish Report subscription

I am probably one of the few people in the country who actually subscribes to the SA Jewish Report, which is otherwise distributed free. This is a hangover from our time in the South of JHB (where no distribution takes place), and also to ensure reliable delivery of the paper. Yeah, right. There have been a few problems in the past, but normally quickly resolved. This time around, delivery hasn't happened for the last month at least. I've made a couple of calls to Johnnic (now Avusa Publishing?), and each time receive assurance that the problem will be resolved and I will be credited for the missing issues. Still no delivery. I fully expect, however, to receive a call from their call centre when the time comes, asking if I'd like to renew my subscription!

(Avusa Publishing? I guess everyone has to have a politically correct ethnic name to trade under in SA these days.)

Alexa Site Information

In the interests of quicker page loading, I’m getting rid of the Alexa code/widget on Altneuland, for now anyway. It’s not reflecting any meaningful stats, and my ranking is nothing to brag about (yet).

altneuland.info - Site Information from Alexa

Anything that doesn’t add value to the blog needs to go, so more are likely to follow.

Google AdSense advert placement

I just spent a couple of hours (mainly because of my slow connection) tuning my Google AdSense ad placement and more or less standardising across my blogs. These were my guidelines:

• No Google ads in Sidebar. From what I can gather, this is the least successful spot for ad placement. I can rather use this valuable real estate for other affiliate and other widgets.
• Header. Try a text link ad for now, maybe change to a banner ad.
• Posts. Main advertisements will be in the form of adverts between posts. Set to every 3rd post, so that ads are evenly spread over Home Page (9 posts).
• Footer. Text link ad after last/only post on page.
• Referral ad for Google and related products only in e-commerce section of sidebar.

Given the Google AdSense three item per page limit, all ads will show on individual post pages, but only three (header and two post adverts?) for Home Page and other combined views.

Common widget for all Google Referral ads

As usual when it comes to Blogger, I’m struggling to find the right (or any) place to log a bug report, request or suggestion. What I’d like to suggest is that they make available an ad format common to all the Google Referral products. As things stand at the moment, there’s one set of advert formats for these products:

• Firefox plus Google Toolbar; Google AdSense; Google AdWords; Google Pack

And another set for these:

• Google Apps; Google Checkout

They’re mutually exclusive; there’s no one size fits all. I can only guess it’s because they have different markets…

Blogger Separator Widget

Something else I’d like to get onto Blogger’s wishlist; a widget to use as a separator between groups of items in the sidebar. Basically a text widget, but with a Title field only.

(These were originally intended to be separate postings (or the outlines of separate postings).  Right now we're dealing with another Eskom blackout, so they'll have to go in as one set of day notes.)

The Israeli Diaspora

This JTA article made for interesting reading, and supports my (as yet undocumented) assertion that Israeli expatriates will need their own parallel infrastructure in places where they are concentrated in any number. (I dislike the term Yordim; it’s so judgemental and 20th century "negation of the Diaspora".)

I’ve been making a few notes over the last year or so, and will develop the idea more fully in a later piece. I also see this infrastructure as being mainly virtual in nature, relying on existing Jewish infrastructure for physical “plant”, but networking in other ways, in parallel to the local Jewish community. I see it relying extensively on the Internet (in forms yet to be determined) to establish and keep contact, arrange events, etc. It will probably prove to be both insular and inward-looking, while also connected (to Israel, to other Israeli colonies and to the local Jewish and non-Jewish communities).

Make no mistake, this secondary Israeli Diaspora is here to stay (albeit the membership is likely to be more transient). We ignore it or disparage it to our own peril as a people.

A whole new Diaspora model for the 21st century!

Clinging to their native identity, British Israelis stick to their own

Alternative SA Jewish Report: 28 March 2008

Surprisingly enough, I only found two items to whinge about in last week’s edition of the SAJR. I haven’t yet received this week’s edition. In fact, it hasn’t been delivered for the last 3-4 weeks…

Without a ‘meaning in life’, crime will flourish in SA

Page 3 carried a lengthy interview with Prof. Gill Marcus, once a comrade in The Struggle and now the chairman of Absa Bank. When it came to crime, the gist of her response was “Without a ‘meaning in life’, crime will flourish in SA”. I beg to differ, and I think I speak for many in SA (judging by the response to a recent poll on the death penalty). The answer is much simpler than that: Without effective law enforcement, crime will flourish. Dealing with the root causes of crime is something that may take generations, and many innocent victims will not survive the process. Right here and now, criminals are committing crimes of the most violent, horrific nature, because they believe (with good reason) that they will escape the consequences.

Of the crimes reported, few are effectively investigated beyond taking the victim’s statement. Of those investigated, few result in an arrest. Those arrested seem to find it laughably easy to get bail (many crimes appear to be committed by those out on bail). Few of those arrested ever make it to trial, few of those brought to trial ever receive a prison sentence. Our prisons resemble revolving doors, with parole, amnesties and escape the order of the day. Incompetence, corruption and inefficiency reign supreme.

This is not about a struggle to find meaning in life, this is about the total absence of consequences, no matter how callous the deed.

We have to get away from divisions

The letters page (Page 14) carried a letter from a Justin Bachmann concerning a statement Orthodox Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein apparently made to the effect that “those who are not Orthodox are not Jews”.

I will limit my response to saying that SA Jewry was blessed to have a long succession of truly great Orthodox Chief Rabbis, the last of whom was Rabbi Goldstein’s immediate predecessor, Rabbi Cyril Harris OBM.

More adventures on the J-Blogosphere

JewishBlogging.com

I’ve just had another go at adding Altneuland to the JewishBlogging.com blog aggregator site. This is probably about the 4th and final time I’ll attempt to get listed. As on the previous occasions, I was given an acknowledgement saying:

Blog Added Successfully.

Your blog has been submitted successfully. We will process it and publish it if eligible as soon as possible. Thank you.

This is what it says in their FAQ:

JewishBlogging.com FAQ

How do I add my Jewish blog or Jewish news service?

It's very easy to add your Jewish blog or related Jewish news service to Jewishblogging.com - just click on the link at the top of the page that says Add A Blog. Fill in your details and then we will review your submission. We aim to include new blogs within 48 hours of being notified of them. Of course, submitting a blog to Jewishblogging.com does not mean we will include it. If your blog is full of hate for example, then we will not include it.

Based on that, I’m not really sure what’s disqualifying me from making it through the process. Altneuland is not “full of hate”, unless you count my justifiable broadsides against Orthodoxy, and is now included on all other J-Blog aggregator sites.

I see there is a Contact Us page, so that will be my last stop before writing them off.

JewishBlogging.com - the home of Jewish blogs, Israeli blogs and all blogs of Jewish interest

The Truth Laid Bear

Also finally got around to querying why my posts as reflected on The Truth Laid Bear are only up to the end of February. I’m sure it has something to do with my Site Meter stuff. (I can’t figure out from the TTLB site whether or not I should include my ID or allow them to detect it. I’ve tried both.) Anyhow, I’ve now logged a formal “support ticket” for the problem.

One last “also finally”. I sent an e-mail message to the Community Administrator (Ezzie of SerandEz) of the J-Blogosphere Jewish blogging community on The Truth Laid Bear, asking for Altneuland to be included there as well.

Documentation

I was going to say more about documenting the code snippets and widgets for Altneuland, in preparation for implementing a version of the 3-column Garland Theme Blogger Template.

I’ll have to pick this up again tomorrow; my eyes are starting to take strain.