Hello friends,

“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches… Every minority feels it has the right to censor what it dislikes.”

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (afterword, 1979)

Boycotts, book bans, cancel culture and deepening socio-political divides — what can our biblical history teach us about how we got here, what can help us handle differences, and why 2,600 year old culture wars matter to our future?

Join me this Sunday to find out.

🚩Today’s post contains the Zoom link for this coming Sunday’s monthly LIVE learning session.

Scroll down for the information – not too late to join!

(not a paid subscriber and want to join this session and check it out? sure! send a reply here and we’ll send you the info.)

🚩 Some truths are suppressed when books get banned or burned. Some truths are hidden when books get written. Sometimes the truth triumphs despite attempts to silence it. Sometimes it does not.

As we enter the mid-way point of our year-long exploration of the oldest Jewish schism and how we got to be so divided now – there are critical narratives about who gets to tell our stories, which narratives count, and what alternative histories were banished or banned – and why.

The first book burning in the bible sets the tone for the eventual suppression of full truth by Jerusalem’s scribes – and the dominion of the southern narrative over the northern.

It’s the shocking story of Jeremiah the Prophet and how his scroll was tossed into the flames by the fearful King of Judah.

Throughout history, tyrants and fear-fueled societies kept and keep using various forms of censorship to dispel dissent and silence voices that threaten power paradigms. But truth? still stronger. Join me this Sunday to learn about Jeremiah’s scroll, Josiah’s book, and what the Judah-Israel division means to our modern day narratives, struggles, hurts and hopes. “

🚩 Next LIVE Session: Sunday 6/14/26 @ 2 PM (ET)

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Wishing us us all kinder days – everywhere

Shabbat Shalom – Peaceful Sabbath

Amichai

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The post Burning Bibles: How Scriptures Sometimes Start – and Can Solve – Civil Wars appeared first on Amichai.me.

Hello Friends,

When it comes to censorship of information – sometimes books are burned, talks are banned, voice silences – and sometimes books get written, propaganda propagated, and ideologies enforced – despite dissent, discord and different opinions.

Our history is full of such examples – like the creation of the Hebrew Bible — and sadly – this is part of our current reality. How can we learn to discern this trend, talk back to tyranny, lift up more narratives and perspectives that celebrate the full spectrum of life?

At our next LIVE LEARN session on June 14 (details below) we’ll learn about the first book burning in the Bible – and how this 2,700 year old story scorched the path towards the suppression of critical dissent and alternative perspectives that still impact and hurt our lives today.

Even in London.

Did you about the drama in the British Museum?

It’s a relative small storm in a teacup but still an upsetting incident that speaks to the high volume of tensions these days as attacks on anything to do with Israel and Jewish life continue worldwide – and in this case – directly related to the topic of our year-long journey.

What does the ancient history of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah have to do with contemporary political realities?

And why would a lunch&learn session at the British Museum cause fury and make it to every major media channel?

The short version is that an afternoon talk at the British Museum, planned for May 28, as part of Jewish Culture Month in the United Kingdom – was initially cancelled, then postponed, due to the museum’s concerns over disruption by protestors. A new date has yet to be announced – and hopefully it will include an online access option – so that we can all join.

Why the protest?

The event, titled ‘The Ancient History of Israel and Judah’ delivered by Paul Collins, Keeper of the Museum’s Department of the Middle East is intended to explain how “the histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah can be illuminated by the archaeology and art of the wider ancient Middle East.”

But with credible fears of Anti-Israel protesters, the Museum published a note announcing the postponement of the event – with heightened security.

You can read more about it in the New York Times:

British Museum Postpones Jewish Cultural Event, Citing Threat of Disruption

And you can also read the Museum’s Statement – here.

AND – what does this actually have to do with the histories of Judah and Israel and why this ancient discord informs the ways we are so deeply divided now?

British-Jewish historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of several books, among them the magnificent book Jerusalem: The Biography wrote a super long response on X to this scandal, worth quotation almost in full:

“This matters.
An obscure London event on the history of the ancient Jewish kingdoms in Judea and Israel is cancelled because of ‘security concerns’ and it turns out this was a reaction to a campaign to fill and then undermine the event by activist disrupters.
How strange! Why would a posse of aggressive activists be interested in the arcane details of bullae and steles and ostraca and inscriptions and numismatics in some small South Levantine kingdoms in the Iron Age?

The BM and its leadership are decent and well-meaning and have explained that they wished to save an event from disruption by bullying vandals but I am sure the BM realizes it is essential to announce a new event fast lest it give the impression that the permission of tiny cadres of aggressive bullies are required before it hold events. But the significance is wider than an event about the Moab and Tel Dan steles in a great museum.

..There is the history itself.
This event concerns the study of the ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel that existed between roughly 1100BC and 586BCin the Levant. It is not a coincidence that this was chosen for disruption. The history of the Judean kingdoms and the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem that stood for most of the time between 1000BC and 70AD etc is important and fascinating history in its own right, supported by complex and growing archaeological finds.
These small kingdoms and the subsequent Temple priestly mini-state (restored by the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius 539BC) and then the larger Judean kingdoms of the Hasmoneans and Herodians – between 167BC and 135AD chronicle the long indigenous history of Jews in the region – which the protesters are keen to erase.

This is a political project of ideological erasure and malicious incitement of course concerned with the complex, brutal Israel-Palestine conflict that has now gone on for a hundred years and is unlikely to be solved in a small lecture theatre in the British Museum.

But it also attempts to deny or erase Jewish history itself – and by implication the heritage of British Jews who live here in Britain, a small community that is now under cultural and sometimes physical threat.

Incidentally – but it is worth saying, this history does not deny anyone else’s history, nor the many other small realms in this region through ancient times nor the many names of the region and its entities and the historical origins of those names (Canaan, or Philistia or Peleset, Phoenicia, Aram Damascus or Moab or later Nabatea and the provinces of Palaestina Prime, Seconda and Tertia and the Ghassanid kingdoms and so on etc etc).

The history of one can not be used to erase the history of the other and does not need to do so. The pursuit of knowledge which is one of the delights of human life and is the mission of the BM and indeed anyone who writes, reads or enjoys history, can celebrate and recognize all of these.

Yet this protest and the many like it deployed across Britain nowadays is the opposite of that – an attack on history using the methods of intimidation and vandalism. Much of this involves distorting or dismantling actual history or often lying to replace it with a fabricated ideological structure that nourishes no one and helps no one but degrades our culture and civic life not to speak of history itself.

And this is relevant not just to those of us who write study or enjoy the history of the region but also to those who believe that cultural life and civic society is a right that must not be submitted to the aggressions and plots of loud well-organized much-indulged ideologues who take advantage of the freedoms of our society to undermine its principles and the very freedoms they are designed to guard.

Just as vital is a rule of history itself that concerns the rise and fall of civilizations: the society that ceases to allow to free discussion of ideas and stops respecting and recognizing the value of scientific and historical sources and facts is a society that will fail.”

I’ve been wanting to go visit the British Museum in London for some time now – with a special focus on viewing precious relics and artifacts from the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel.

I hope it happens soon. Or at least I can attend the Zoom version of this rescheduled event. I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile – our next event is coming up:

🪬Next LIVE Session: Sunday 6/14/26 @ 2 PM (ET)

“Book Burning: What Scriptures Start a Civil War”

This LIVE LEARNING session welcomes Paid Subscribers – as one way of thanking you, generous supporters, for enabling me to do this research and work with tech support to deliver this blog series.

There are several tiers/options – please consider joining over 150 other supporters today.

It really does mean a lot and would be very helpful.

Check out Subscription Options.

Thank you!

Not a paid subscriber?

No problem.

You’ll get the recording and resources within the week of each LIVE LEARNING session.

More info on the course:

Judaism: Born Divided Landing Page

If you have questions or issues with subscriptions or renewal please email us here:

Judaismborndivided@gmail.com

Wishing us all Shabbat Shalom.

Peace שלום سلام

Amichai

The post Did You Hear about the Judah/Israel Drama at the British Museum?? appeared first on Amichai.me.

“Book burnings. Always the forerunners. Heralds of the stake, the ovens, the mass graves.”

(Geraldine Brooks — People of the Book, 2008)

Hello Friends —

Did you know that Since 2021, PEN America has documented nearly 23,000 book bans in public schools, “a number never before seen in the life of any living American”?

Many of the titles include LGBTQ+ content that Conservative America deems dangerous.

As Pride Month begins next week, following Jewish Heritage Month – it’s important to remember how far we have to go in protecting books and people from ignorance and hatred.

You can check out the list of banned books here.

What does this have to do with the Judah-Israel Divide we are exploring on this journey?

The first book burning in the bible sets the tone for the suppression of truth and the dominion of the southern narrative over the northern. It’s the shocking story of Jeremiah the Prophet and how his scroll was tossed into the flames by the fearful King of Judah.

Throughout history, tyrants and fear-fueled societies kept using various forms of censorship to dispel dissent and silence voices that threaten power paradigms. “

As we head into the mid-way point of our year-long exploration of the oldest Jewish schism and how we got to be so divided now – there are critical narratives about who gets to tell our stories, which narratives count, and what alternative histories were banished or banned – and why.

Scrolls and books, then and now, continue to be burned, banned, silenced or rewritten – all in the so-called interest of protecting people and preserving systems.

The price? The loss of pluralism, prophetic passion, political protest or complex ideas that do not fit into neat national/religious boxes.

That’s what happened when Jeremiah spoke up and had his scribe down his words of protest against the Judean king.

The scroll ended in flames – but the prophet’s words lingered on to become the writing on the wall that spelled out the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. When I went into the Below the Bible Belt archives to dig this chapter up I was shocked when I realized the date on which we read this text together — October 8 2023.

The chilling synergy between this terrible date now etched in our collective memory and the story of the suppression of prophetic truth-to-power is perhaps a reminder of why these narratives are so vital to our process towards truth, peace and reconciliation. From Jeremiahs’ Jerusalem to today’s global growth of authoritarian attacks on free speech — we have much to learn and fix, as history guides our path to better present and futures.

Ahead of our next LIVE LEARNING session on June 14th I invite you to check out this Below the Bible Belt reflection on chapter 36 from the Book of Jeremiah:

Book Burning: So It Begins.

🚩

Next LIVE Session: Sunday 6/14/26 @ 2 PM (ET)

“Book Burning: What Scriptures Start a Civil War”

This LIVE LEARNING session welcomes Paid Subscribers – as one way of thanking you, generous supporters, for enabling me to do this research and work with tech support to deliver this blog series.

There are several tiers/options – please consider joining over 150 other supporters today.

It really does mean a lot and would be very helpful.

Check out Subscription Options.

Thank you!

Not a paid subscriber?

No problem.

You’ll get the recording and resources within the week of each LIVE LEARNING session.

More info on the course:

Judaism: Born Divided Landing Page

If you have questions or issues with subscriptions or renewal please email us here:

Judaismborndivided@gmail.com

Wishing us all Shabbat Shalom.

Peace שלום سلام

Amichai

The post “Where Books Burn, People Will Too” appeared first on Amichai.me.

Hello Friends

“The biblical text is not a single univocal story but a chorus; we must learn to listen for the strains that run counter to the surface argument — the unexpected, dissenting voices that change how the whole text speaks….”

Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg

Tonight the Jewish world begins to celebrate Shavuot – the ancient agricultural festival of the fresh offering of wheat – transformed over time into the holy day that celebrates the Revelation of Torah at Sinai.

Layers are what makes our legacy so special, enduring and meaningful.

As Zorneberg writes – the ‘‘chorus’ of perspectives is what makes our story so compelling, complex and unique.

(you can read her full quote + others in the source sheet linked below)

The Christian holiday of Pentecost, developed out of Shavuot, also celebrated this coming Weekend, is another layer in this seasonal celebration of the sacred strands of revelation and access to the holy wisdom from beyond.

Despite our shared legacies and human yearnings for the holy – conflicts tear us apart.

Now, as in many times in our histories, people are at odds over religious narratives – and that includes the story from our Scriptures about the battle between the Ten Commandments and the Golden Calf: Words vs. Image, abstract or concrete divinity – and possibly – the narrative of Southern Judah in conflict with that of Northern Israel.

Understanding how we were born divided helps to make sense of this story, the ongoing schism – and how we might build bridges across divides – and heal.

🚩 In our recent LIVE LEARNING session we explored the story of the Golden Calf conflict in the context of the Judah-Israel divides, and why what happened at Sinai still matters today.

I invite you to watch the hour long recording and to read the source sheet – both linked below.

Our next LIVE LEARNING online session is on June 14 at 2pm ET. We’ll talk about book burning, censorship and the origins of the biblical canon.

You are all invited to join me.

Scroll down for details on joining the live conversation on June 14 or watching it later.

I wish us all meaningful and joyful holidays.

For those of you in the United States – may this Memorial Day Weekend honor the sacrifices and the courage of so many whose lives gave us the gifts of freedom, hope and home.

May peace prevail and joy unite us.

Amichai

🚩 Read: Source Sheet – Golden Calf Conspiracy

🚩 Watch: Golden Calf Conspiracy LIVE LEARN session

🚩

Next LIVE Session: Sunday 6/14/26 @ 2 PM (ET)

“Book Burning: What Scriptures Start a Civil War”

This LIVE LEARNING session welcomes Paid Subscribers – as one way of thanking you, generous supporters, for enabling me to do this research and work with tech support to deliver this blog series.

There are several tiers/options – please consider joining over 150 other supporters today.

It really does mean a lot and would be very helpful.

Check out Subscription Options.

Thank you!

Not a paid subscriber?

No problem.

You’ll get the recording and resources within the week of each LIVE LEARNING session.

More info on the course:

Judaism: Born Divided Landing Page

If you have questions or issues with subscriptions or renewal please email us here:

Judaismborndivided@gmail.com

Peace שלום سلام

The post Watch & Read: Golden Calf Conspiracy appeared first on Amichai.me.

“Jerusalem was capital of southern Israel, known then as Judah. Isn’t it true that there’s always a rivalry between north and south? North and South Korea, North and South Vietnam, Northern and Southern Ireland, Yankees and Rebels, uptown and downtown. Somebody please tell me why that is? “

―Tom Robbins,Skinny Legs and All

Hello friends – from Jerusalem

The controversies at the core of the Capital City of Gold is one of the top topics of our upcoming LIVE LEARNING SESSION this coming Sunday –

AND YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO JOIN

🚩Today’s post contains the Zoom link for this coming Sunday’s special session –

IT’S FREE FOR ALL SUBSCRIBERES & OTHERS CURIOUS TO LEARN ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND THIS COURSE.

WHY?

PER POPULAR DEMAND + WITH GRATITUDE TO THE GENEROUS PAID SUBSCRIBERS WHO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP THIS BLOG GOING.

Almost half way through this year-long journey I invite more of you to dive deeper into the exploration of this critical and ancient schism story with vital and deep relevance for who we are now, why so divided — and what will help us heal – together.

Scroll down for the zoom info. so that you can join on Sunday.

The recording will be shared with all during the following week.

🚩 But first – a few words about why today matters and what this session will be about.

Somehow – the Golden Dome of the Rock that I can see clearly as I write these words from a balcony in East Jerusalem — echoes the tragic tale of the biblical golden calf – the main topic of our session this coming Sunday.

What does this hallowed symbol of the city sacred to three faiths and meaningful to so many — have to do with a scriptural story of a national and religious crisis?

It all has to do with Jerusalem – and the real secrets inside this sacred city.

🚩 Today, May 15, is marked by many around the world as Nakba Day – the commemoration of Palestinian displacement and destruction of 1948.

On the Hebrew calendar – yesterday marked Jerusalem Day – the 1967 marker of the reunification or conquest of the city by Israel.

These are days fraught with competing narratives of joy and grief, as tensions and violence keep ripping so many of us apart.

I started yesterday in the Old City of Jerusalem along with colleagues from Rabbis for Human Rights and hundreds of Israeli volunteers – standing in solidarity with the local Palestinian residents and offering Protective Presence to help defend the locals from the violence of the the most extremist among the thousands of Jews from all over the country, on their way to celebrate in the Western Wall. While the majority of those walking to the wall is peaceful – a loud and vicious growing minority – mostly teens and young Orthodox men, attack Palestinians, sing racist songs, damage shops and homes, and spew hatred in their path.

I used to be one of those young men, dancing, in my teens years, down the alley ways of Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter, dressed in a white shirt, and signing loudly about Jerusalem as our eternal home, seat of our on ce and future temple.

But in the past decade of so the vibe has turned triumphalist and violent. Yesterday I was there to bear witness, to protect and to pray for peace.

You can watch some of my reporting from there here: https://www.instagram.com/amichailaulavie/

The Flag March has become the cause for a day of division and a cause for concern.

And it does not have to be this way — Jerusalem – the seat of sacred story for Jews, Christians and Muslims can and must be a city that unites, not divides.

There are already many such unions happening despite this loud distraction. I was at an interfaith prayer at the foot of the walls of the old city the night before, and ended yesterday at a a joyful gathering in East Jerusalem – the first ever public LGBTQ event where Palestinian queers along with some Israeli and European activists came to celebrate pride, tolerance, peace and possible futures.

There is, despite despair, much hope here — the tribal and trauma-based either/or narrative can and will be challenged by a more inclusive and tolerant both/and approach.

The south needs the north to negotiate identity and forge a path forward.

So what does Jerusalem, with its multilayered histories, and the Golden Dome as its famous symbol have to do with the story of a Golden Calf created by the people of Israel as a religious icon?

Why does that puzzling and painful story have to do with the origins of the split between south and north, Judah and Israel – as it still continues today?

I invite you to join me in Jerusalem – from wherever you are – this coming Sunday, to explore these questions – together.

🚩 Next LIVE Session: Sunday 5/17/26

This is the ZOOM LINK for Sunday:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83001192942?jst=2

ID: 83001192942

THIS session is free and open to all.

To upgrade, support this journey, and enable others to join – please consider becoming a Paid Subscriber at a level that is comfortable for you.

You can upgrade here.

Thank you for your support!

If you have questions or issues with subscriptions or renewal please email us here:

Judaismborndivided@gmail.com

Wishing us us all kinder days – everywhere

Shabbat Shalom – Peaceful Sabbath

Amichai

The post Golden Dome/Golden Calf: Can We Heal Tribal Traumas with Timeless Truths? appeared first on Amichai.me.

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Hello Friends

Are the political fights and feuds splitting us further apart keeping you up at night?

Sorry about that.

And I’m here to help – in the very least to give you late night reading material to map how we got here – and learn about what can help bring us closer together.

🚩Welcome – and welcome back – to this year-long conversation, exploring the Iron Age riddle that is still impacting our contemporary complicated reality of deepening divides:

🚩Why is the Jewish community so divided, torn over core ideological issues?

🚩When did this feud begin —how did we get here – and what can we do about it?

In this online course we explore the radical idea that we were born this way.

And so was the Bible that defines our story.

🚩 In today’s weekly mailer I’ll recap the big picture of this journey – now in its fifth month – with a teaser towards our next monthly LIVE LEARN session on May 17 + and how you too can join us, adding your voice to the conversation.

(you can scroll down to read this info)

So what’s the story the schism and why does this mostly lesser known history matter?

Knowledge is power and power is change.

Knowing our origins of dispute is one critical way to work towards creation of common ground – while also respecting each other’s viewpoints – and lifting up nuanced narratives, and the dignity of differences.

Take German Jewry – for instance.

Last week I spent a few days in Germany, at the annual Limmud Conference which bought together 400+ of Germany’s estimated 200,000 Jews, including others of other faiths who love and live with them.

All ages were represented with multiple sessions and services offered very different options to the diverse audience.

But the excited people gathered did not represent the full spectrum and diversity of Jewish communities who call Germany home today.

Notably missing were the Orthodox and Ultra Orthodox communities, who largely avoid this conference that celebrates pluralism, includes prayers by all denominations, and even invites teachers like me – an openly gay rabbi as a featured speaker.

During the gathering I presented a session on the rising violence of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and the future of the peace process, as well as a panel with a leading Conservative rabbi on responses to the rising reality of intermarriage.

Both of these sessions resulted in important conversations, debated and disagreements – mostly respectful and hopefully helpful. Overall what this conference showcased was the way we come together – and the ways we really don’t.

While there’s nothing new here – and while German Jews have had heated debates over identity for over 1,000 years – what’s telling here is that this split stands for a much bigger and longer legacy.

With so much violence and hatred among us and against us at this time – making sense of this schism story seems more urgent than ever.

Divides among Jews over how to live our Jewish lives and which values to prioritize or devalue have always been part of our story.

How did we get here? Why does it matter?

Now more than ever, as bitter battles rage within Israel, where I am writing from right now, and as across Jewish communities worldwide difference of opinions split families and congregations apart – we must pay attention to the textures of our feuds and the fusions that will help us flourish.

That’s what this year-long exploration is all about.

Many scholars suggest that it all began with the ancient rift between the two kingdoms that became the Jewish nation and eventually also birthed the bible.

The Kingdom of Judah in the south and the Kingdom of Israel in the north were not always siblings or allies and their stories – our story – reveals the origins of the deep schism that hurts us now.

The north included ten tribes. The south – two. They existed alongside each other for two centuries, both eventually demolished by local empires – Assyria conquering Israel and exiling the ten tribes, and later Babylon destroying Judah and exiling the remaining two tribes of Judah.

The survivors wrote the bible —a genius was to survive without sovereignty – composed from the POV of the Judean kingdom’s ideologies which gave us their identity – Judeans, or later – Jews.

But what was the legacy of the earlier and larger Kingdom of Israel about and how is it different than the viewpoints of the Kingdom of Judah that rewrote history and wrote the book?

On my way to Limmud I stopped in Frankfurt to honor the graves of my ancestors, and to stop by the tombstone of the founder of the Neo-Orthodoxy movement which would become the Modern Orthodox world in which I was raised.

The Jüdischer Friedhof Battonnstraße – Old Jewish Cemetery on Battonnstrasse is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Frankfurt, and one of the oldest in Europe and the world – with burials dating back to 1272. (Photo: Amichai Lau-Lavie)

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a prolific 19th century Jewish-German religious leader, writer and interpreter of Scripture wrote this about the reason for the lasting rift between the two Jewish viewpoints:

“The ten tribes of Israel sought a life based on the ‘now,’ on political expediency. The two tribes of Judah sought a life based on the ‘eternal.’ This is the constant struggle of the Jew in the Diaspora.”

Hirsch could not have imagined the future of the Jewish state, yet in many ways his commentary also speaks to this moment of tensions between ‘now’ and ‘eternal’ not just for Diaspora Jewry but also among Israelis – as well as between Zionists and Anti Zionists, Religious and Secular, all over the world.

We are both the Jews of now and the Jews of always.

Where are you — where are we – on this spectrum of priorities?

At our next session, on May 17th, we’ll explore a tragic biblical story that may shed some light on this history and help us reflect on similar tensions that highlight our identities, agendas and choices.

What really happened with the Golden Calf?

How can understanding this faith-based fiasco, the first violent civil-religious war among the Jewish people help us deal – and heal?

Join me on Sunday, May 17th, to go deeper.

Just ahead of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot on which we celebrate the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai – this story about what happened at the foot of the sacred mountain reveals an astonishing history with much to teach us today about the real meaning of the feuds that fuel our fears and fury.

Hint? It’s not just about an idol. It’s about two different ways of being Jewish – and human – in the world.

Want to prep ahead?

I invite you to check out this hour-long Zoom talk that I gave some months ago:

Why the Golden Calf Riot Matters More – Now.

The LIVE LEARN session on May 17 welcomes Paid Subscribers – as one way of thanking you, generous supporters, for enabling me to do this research and work with tech support to deliver this blog series.

There are several tiers/options – please consider joining over 150 other supporters today.

It really does mean a lot and would be very helpful.

Check out Subscription Options.

Thank you!

Not a paid subscriber?

No problem.

You’ll get the recording and resources within the week of each LIVE LEARN session.

🚩 Next LIVE Session: Sunday 5/17/26 @ 2 PM (ET)

More info on the course:

Judaism: Born Divided Landing Page

If you have questions or issues with subscriptions or renewal please email us here:

Judaismborndivided@gmail.com

Now, and Always – I wish us all the good will to handle and contain complex realities, with respect and love, honoring our history of dialogue and debate for the sake of better lives – for all.

Wishing us us all kinder days, peace and justice – everywhere

Shabbat Shalom – Peaceful Sabbath

Amichai

The post Are We Jews of “Now” or “Always”? appeared first on Amichai.me.

Greetings Friends —

Sometimes a torn fabric tells us more about the future than about what’s torn apart.

Today is May Day – layered with many meanings, marked for centuries as the Celtic New Year of Spring, and since the late 19th century as International Workers’ Day, commemorating the fight for an 8-hour workday. Greetings to all who celebrate today! On the Hebrew calendar today marks the middle of the moon of Iyar – and the “Second Passover” – a biblical option for second chances of observing the holiday’s rituals for those who missed the first Passover. Avid readers of this blog may recall that this second Passover was one of the defining moments of the schism between Judah and Israel – when King Hezekiah King of Judah moved the original Passover to today’s date in order to attract the refugees from Israel and foster unity between the people. Today, Second Passover has become a celebration of diversity and multiple ways of Jewish life – esp. in the LGBTQ community.

Back to May Day:

This auspicious day is not to be conflated with the globally recognized distress signal MAYDAY – derived from the French phrase “m’aider” (help me).

It’s this emergency use of May Day as an emergency call that I want to highlight today, as we continue our journey exploring the ancient rift between Judah and Israel and why it still matters today.

There are moments in history that serve as distress calls, flagging pending ruptures. These are sometimes recognized in real time, and taken seriously. But so often are ignored.

A recent incident that made headlines all over the world made me think and link an ancient moment of rupture to today’s growing gaps of political polarities – connecting the schism of Judah/Israel to today’s turbulence.

It’s a small but serious distress signal that invites us to pay attention – and be aware of what’s at stake. It’s also a call for those of us who choose to rise to the occasion, to protest the rupture , and to protect justice and human rights as ways to prevent further and deeper divisions.

What’s it all about? The intentional ripping of a fabric.

Last week, a colleague of mine, Dr. Alex Sinclair, British born Jewish scholar and educator living in Israel, was detained by the Israeli Police for wearing a Kippah with both the Israeli and the Palestinian flag. He was released fairly quickly but his Kippah was returned to him – ripped apart – minus the Palestinian flag.

This outrageous and illegal action made world news, including this CNN Story about the Torn Kippah, and most recently, Dr. Alex Sinclair’s Response in the Jerusalem Post, in which he writes:

“I do not wear the Palestinian flag on my kippah naively. I do not ignore the pain and suffering of my fellow Israelis who have lost loved ones to Palestinian terrorism. I do not dismiss the very real challenges that lie before both peoples if we are to achieve peace.

But my kippah does remind me, and I hope it now reminds you, that there are two peoples here. They both, through the ironies of history, have a legitimate historical connection to this land. They both have a right to national self-determination. And we – Zionist Jewish Israelis – will never live in peace until the Palestinian people, in the State of Palestine, do too.”

The story of the torn Kippah made news for many reasons, exposing the brutality of the politically motivated Israeli police under the leadership of Ben Gvir – a champion of Jewish racist terrorism. It may serve as another link in the chain that leads more in Israel and abroad to recognize how low we’ve sunk and how political change is urgently needed.

What has this to do with the biblical battles between the two kingdoms?

It begins with a ripped garment.

The first book of Kings describes the moment in which the dye was cast in favor of a split that will rip the northern kingdom of Isarel apart from the southern kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam, King Solomon’s tax collector, is already engaged in resistance to the tyranny of the king and his excessive and oppressive taxation. As he leaves Jerusalem one day – a prophet by the name of Ahijah from Shiloh confronts him, and proceeds to rip his robe apart, as a visual message from God:

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לְיָֽרׇבְעָ֔ם קַח־לְךָ֖ עֲשָׂרָ֣ה קְרָעִ֑ים כִּ֣י כֹה֩ אָמַ֨ר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל הִנְנִ֨י קֹרֵ֤עַ אֶת־הַמַּמְלָכָה֙ מִיַּ֣ד שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה וְנָתַתִּ֣י לְךָ֔ אֵ֖ת עֲשָׂרָ֥ה הַשְּׁבָטִֽים׃וַיִּתְפֹּ֣שׂ אֲחִיָּ֔ה בַּשַּׂלְמָ֥ה הַחֲדָשָׁ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָלָ֑יו וַיִּ֨קְרָעֶ֔הָ שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָׂ֖ר קְרָעִֽים׃

Ahijah took hold of the new robe he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

“Take ten pieces,” he said to Jeroboam. “For thus said the ETERNAL, the God of Israel: I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands, and I will give you ten tribes.

King I 11:30-31

The robe ripped into 12 pieces is the MAYDAY call of its day – signaling the severing of the ties between the tribes and the creation of two different sovereign entities.

You can read more about it in the post I wrote about this chapter a few years ago, Below the Bible Belt:

He Raised His Hand Against the King

The story of this torn coast is also not the first such severing to tear a family apart.

Scholars suggest that the action of the prophet echoes a much older tragic ripping of a coat — the one worn by Jospeh the dreamer when his brothers stripped him of his beloved striped coat and sold him to slavery. That cruel moment in which ten tribes went up against their brother — may be a literary trope hinting at the tensions between the tribes of the north and south — the children of Leah vs. the children of Rachel.

The narratives are not the same yet mythic symbols seem to resonate between these stories.

Ripped fabrics, coats or kippahs, are symbols of what happens when we are tearing at the seams – before we are fully torn apart. We must be vigilant.

Does history repeat itself – or can we learn from the past to recognize distress signals, even if symbolic – before it’s too late?

I hope and trust that we can. The reason why we study history -and why this course exists – is precisely that: to remind us where we’ve been, what’s at stake – and what course correction we can still commit to in order to prevent future painful ruptures — as best as we can.

We will pick this up when we meet again in two weeks.

I look forward to continue our live learning together on May 17th, revisiting the revealing backstory of the revelation at Sinai:

What does the Golden Calf Fiasco have to tell us about the first violent civil-religious war of the Jewish people? How can history help us deal – and heal?

You can find all info here:

Judaism: Born Divided Landing Page

And you are invited to upgrade your subscription to enable you to join the LIVE session and to help support this course: Subscription Options

May what’s torn mend with kindness, and this May bring us blessings of healing, unity, repair and resolve.

Shabbat Shalom

Amichai

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Dear Friends –

“The twelve tribes represent a foundational pluralism. Israel’s origin story is not that of a single man’s family becoming a monolith, but of a confederation of distinct groups who must learn the difficult politics of alliance …The tribal symbol is the root of the ‘problem of the many’ within the ‘one.’ How can a single nation contain twelve distinct identities without fracturing?”

Michael Walzer, From Exodus and Revolution, 1985

This quote, one of many sources in the most recent monthly session on the Judaism: Born Divided journey invites us to probe a problem most of us never knew existed:

The peculiar origins of the prevailing notion that Judaism is born of a family of twelve siblings turned into tribal systems.

Really?

Or is there more ancient rubble here covering up a more complex series of origin stories with their own political agendas of forced unity over a more diverse and distinct narrative?

This old history meets today’s growing gaps as a roadmap guiding us towards the dignity of difference, the power of knowledge and the vision of pluralism as a path to peace.

I invite you to watch the session, and to access the Study Source Sheet.

As always, comments, replies, questions and feedback – welcome!

Our next session is on May 17th.

What does the Golden Calf Fiasco have to tell us about the first violent civil-religious war of the Jewish people? How can history help us deal – and heal?

I wish us all hopeful days of kindness and wisdom, just peace and joy

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem

Amichai

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