The Abayudaya of Uganda's synagogue on Nabugoye Hill

The JCC in London are putting together a world tour of synagogues and they are looking for participants:

Are you going on holiday this summer? Take your camera, find the synagogue (if there is one) in the place you are visiting, take a photo – and send it to us. You’ll be in with a chance of winning a prize.

The JCC, with the support of Amanda Norton, are putting together an online exhibition called ‘Around the World in 80 Synagogues’ – and we’d love you to be part of it!

Take a photo you’re proud of and send it into us at: 80synagogues@jcclondon.org.uk with your name, age (if under 16) and contact details. Don’t forget to tell us what the picture shows us, too.

Everyone’s pictures will be featured in our online exhibition – and the winning photographer will receive a prize, courtesy of UK Digital Cameras, and the opportunity to feature in a gallery exhibition next year.

Competition closes 30th September 2010.

Take pictures as you wander the world. Where’s the farthest flung place you’ve found a Jewish community of the evidence of one in times gone by?

But what if you believe, like I do, that the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in ancient times was, from a historical point of view, the best thing ever to happen to the Jewish people?

Had we remained a temple cult, we would probably have long ago been relegated to the dustbin of history by now, like so many other sacrificial cults. Had we not internalized our culture and our faith, built a temple in the mind and carried it around the globe, the greatest achievements of the Jewish people would never have occured. And of course, we are no longer in exile. Any Jew who wants to go move to Israel (for now…of course, the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel might problematize the whole notion of who gets to be a Jew pretty soon).

So why do we mourn?

Anshel Pfeffer argued in Haaretz last week that we shouldn’t. He wrote:

Mourning on the Ninth of Av in this day and age flies in the face of both secular Zionism and religious Zionism. It contradicts the right of Jews around the world to decide where they prefer to live. The exile is over, and the temple has not been rebuilt because we don’t want to do it.

There is plenty to mourn in the world for Jews and non-Jews alike, although the Exile is no longer one of those things. I believe Diaspora is a blessing, for all peoples. It made me who I am. It made my parents and grandparents. It made artists and thinkers and scientists and cultures. It is not a thing to grieve.

We can mourn violence. We can mourn the continued abuse of our planet and our neighbors in defiance of God and common sense. We can mourn that Israel, the nation to which we returned, is far from perfect, but to mourn that which made us a global people is to mourn that which created me.

I am a product of Diaspora. I just can’t bring myself to mourn my own existence.

Anat Hoffman, Chairperson of the Israeli organization Women of the Wall, was arrested for allegedly reading from the Torah scroll at the Western Wall, which is forbidden for women under Israeli law, thanks to the stranglehold that the ultra-Orthodox have on Jewish religious life in Israel. She was later released and her organization claims she was not reading from the Torah, but merely holding it.

The official Orthodox Western Wall Rabbi, Shmuel Rabinowitz, has said that he would prefer to “distance politics and disagreement from this sacred place,” which means, status quo status quo status quo. In this view, women should not be permitted to pray from the Torah at this sacred site, because the ultra-Orthodox view of Judaism is the only legitimate view of Judaism. It seems, as Israel becomes more and more myopically a Jewish State, it is becoming less and less the state of the Jews, most of whom are not Orthodox, and many of whom are horrified by the increasingly illiberal policies of Israel.

The ultra-Orthodox are currently trying to rewrite conversion laws that would give them control over who gets to be a Jew, potentially alienating much of world Jewry from the Jewish state. Many converts would simply not be recognized as Jews. They already control the institution of marriage.

It is hard to witness these ridiculous acts of religious intolerance among Jews. I hope that the Israeli electorate will one day cast off the politicians who kowtow to the religious extremists in their midst. The Iranian people are currently fighting to be free of an insidious theocratic government that, among other things, wants to see the Jewish State destroyed. The Jewish people shouldn’t allow theocrats of the same mindset take over their country from within. What have the last sixty years been for if Israel is not a place where a Jew–any Jew–can fully live as Jew, even if she happens to have a different conception of what that means than the Orthodox?

We must show each other the respect we demand from others.

It’s a great piece simply for challenging the assumption I certainly grew up with that there is something essentially liberal about Jews, and that if only we lived up to our ‘Jewish values’ the state of the Jews would be a utopia because it is the state of the Jews. He takes a nice look at one of my favorite books–The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon–as a jumping off point for how surprised so many Jews are when faced with the reality of “seeing Jewish conservatives, fundamentalists, quasi-fascists and militarists…” I’m certainly pained when I read about Jews like Dan Gertler, profiting from the misery of others, the way non-Jews certainly have for centuries.

It is the shock that Jews can be illiberal (and he does also note the illiberalism of the Jewish State is often overblown, but read his piece to hear why) that leads so many to disillusionment with Israel. I imagine if Tibet ever gained its independence, those Tibetan utopians who hang on to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s every word, would experience the same shock when the reality of politics, power, and diversity of opinion gained their full national expression.

States, especially states founded on ideals rather than accidents of history and geography, always disappoint. Why should Jewish disappointment merit so much anxiety? Probably because Diaspora Jews in the 21st century, unlike Tibetans or Kurds or Chechens, can opt out of the national project if we want. Many do. I did for most of my life.

But I’m not now. And the reason is because I haven’t give up on the idealism of Jewish values I grew up with. No, these values are not being expressed by the policies are the government of Israel right now. But that doesn’t mean things can’t change.

There are other visions of Zionism than Bibi Netanyahu’s and Avigdor Lieberman’s. There is a lively debate forming over a rebirth of a cultural Zionism that draws in inspiration from Martin Buber and Ahad Ha’am, a Zionism that calls on  Jewish home in Israel without political hegemony. Critics note that these attempts all failed in the past and that cultural Zionism never saved the life of a refugee in need, whereas political Zionism has saved hundreds of thousands. But past failure doesn’t guarantee future failure, and progressives must grapple with the real politics of Zionism without losing sight of the why of Zionism. Do the Jews want a national homeland because we are an ethnic group like any other with national aspirations? Or do we want a homeland because we believe we are an historical people with an historical mission? Can these two ideas co-exist? No easy answers to these questions, but we need our best minds to grapple with them in the 21st century.

The most important argument Gorenberg makes in his piece is the argument that calls me back to thinking about, writing about, talking about, and caring about the Zionist project, even as I am angered and pained by how the Israeli government kowtows to the ultra-Orthodox and the Settlers, denies Arabs equal rights, continues to occupy the West Bank and to strangle Gaza (although that situation is changing a bit).

Gorenberg writes:

The only thing that a state of the Jews offers is an arena in which Jews can work for such a [liberal & just] society, without the excuse that other people are responsible for the failures. For American Jews willing to look at the illiberalism of Israel in 2010, turning away isn’t the only answer. There are organizations ready to harness your dissatisfaction. Don’t give up, get involved.

There is a lot of talking going on and not a lot of listening to the voices from Israel and from Gaza who suffer under siege and insecurity. That the flotilla was a political act, rather than a “purely” humanitarian mission is clear, but also beside the point.  My heart goes out to the soldiers who were injured and nearly abducted, to the activists who were injured and killed, to the families of both, to the citizens of Gaza and the citizens of Israel living in fear and my heart goes out to the politicians who made this mess and to those who are trying to heal it. Some of them are the same, some are not.

For those who do want opinions on all this, there are several places to find it, and they multiply by the hour.

Crisis in Israel breeds punditry around the globe.

A few of note:

Gershom Gorenberg, author of The Accidental Empire and proud South Jerusalem resident, provides some historical context for decisions leading up to the flotilla raid from a progressive Zionist perspective. He describes the raid as “a link in a chain of premeditated folly.”

Amos Oz’s essay on the post-1967 Israeli infatuation with the use of force is thought-provoking and painful.

Another Israeli thinker of great stature, the author David Grossman mourns “how far Israel has declined.”

For a calm and thoughtful response from someone  to the right of Gorenberg, Oz and Grossman, the American-born Vice President of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, Daniel Gordis, offers his thoughts in the NY Times, lamenting the loss of life, but stating with resolve that Israel will soldier on, alone if it must.

From a more official perspective, Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States launches a defense of his government’s actions and argues to discredit the label of “peace activists” which the flotilla’s organizers assert.

And here is Tikkun’s Rabbi Michael Lerner on the crisis, offering a prayer and a hope for justice and peace to all sides.

I hope that when the dust settles, the world does not allow this to become an “us vs. them” scenario, a excuse for anti-Semtism or anti-Muslim sentiment, or another bludgeon with which to bash Israel’s very existence. I fear it already has become both of those things. The international outcry about the recent actions of North Korea, or the continued trade in conflict minerals from the Congo, or the continued repression of activists and minorities in Iran have all been greatly lacking while the world fixates on Israel and Gaza. There are many pressing problems in this 21st century and we must try to move forward from the traumas of the last century so we can address them. It is nearly impossible to heal from a trauma while the violence continues, yet space must be created, as it has not been yet, for all sides in this conflict to heal. The heated rhetoric, the PR war, is not helping.

I’m praying, as Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR in Los Angeles put it, that the world and the people of Israel and Palestine can find “a third way” from all of this. There are people of good will on all sides, and I hope they find each other.

Speedily and in our time.

It is a must read.

In 2003, several prominent Jewish philanthropists hired Republican pollster Frank Luntz to explain why American Jewish college students were not more vigorously rebutting campus criticism of Israel. In response, he unwittingly produced the most damning indictment of the organized American Jewish community that I have ever seen…

[read the whole thing]

So, for now, I will leave you will my friend David Levithan on G-DCAST talking about how the Torah ends, quietly, with a respect for creation.

“A good ending is never an ending”

Parshat Vezot Habracha from G-dcast.com

More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

Anyway, much thanks to James Oppenheim for the shout out and I couldn’t agree more with his answer to the question of the miracle of cultural survival, Jewish or gentile:

“existence, co-existence, life, and joy.”

It’s Passover, that wonderful holiday that combines story-telling, liberation, and sacred crackers.

Passover commemorates the liberation of the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt, and marks an opportunity for all to be mindful of the as yet unfulfilled redemption of all slaves. Slavery is too much with us in the modern world. In fact, according to Rabbis for Human Rights, 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world, more than at any other time in human history. Kevin Bales, founder of Free the Slaves, speaks on the problem at TED2010 and offers a simple question: Are we willing to live in a world with slavery?

This year, during the Jewish Feast of Freedom, we must acknowledge this tragedy and work to end it. Here are some things you can do:

Visit the Rabbis For Human Rights page and Act Now to Combat Slavery

Contact your elected leaders

Work hard this year to eliminate from the marketplace at least one product produced by slave labor, whether it be electronics, carpets, or even tomatoes.

Know where your dollars are going and direct them to responsible producers and away from those who profit by destroying the lives of others (pdf report).

If you want to include any of these issues in your seder, you can download a variety of Pesach materials here.

And of course, buy fair trade. I recommend Mirembe Kawomera Coffee, from the inspiring interfaith coffee cooperative in Uganda.

Thank you to Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of CBST for bringing my attention to so many resources.

“I still struggle every day to discard my past ideas,” said Pawel, a 33-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew and former truck driver, noting with little irony that he had to stop hating Jews in order to become one. “When I look at an old picture of myself as a skinhead, I feel ashamed. Every day I try and do teshuvah,” he said, using the Hebrew word for repentance. “Every minute of every day. There is a lot to make up for.” [read the story here]

I just stumbled on a Hasidic proverb in Pico Iyer’s “The Open Road” that this story brought to mind:

“You must invent your own religion or else it will mean nothing to you. You must follow the religion of your fathers, or else you will lose it.”