Social Jewstice

#mondaymusic—afternoon edition

2011-03-21T14:02:00.002-04:00

In an act of somewhat shameless self-promotion, I'm going to post one of my own videos today as a #mondaymusic selection. Here I am singing Psalm 150 (תהילים ק'נ) to the tune of Leonard Cohen's Halleluyah:

And just because it's such an awesome song, the original version as well:

On the Disastrous Earthquake in Japan

2011-03-11T14:48:00.000-05:00

My thoughts and prayers this Shabbat will go out to all those affected by the devastating earthquake in Japan:

The earthquake and tsunami struck in deadly tandem, unleashing scenes of horror throughout northern Japan. First came the roar and rumble of the earthquake shaking skyscrapers, toppling furniture and buckling highways. Then walls of water rushed onto shore, whisking away cars and carrying blazing buildings toward factories, fields and highways.
“I never experienced such a strong earthquake in my life,” said Toshiaki Takahashi, 49, an official in the Sendai City office. “I thought it would stop, but it just kept shaking and shaking, and getting stronger.”

Ways to help here. May the memories of those lost be a blessing, and may a quick and speedy recovery begin in Japan.

So, You Want to Become a Rabbi?

2011-03-11T12:58:00.002-05:00

Quite amusing:

Shabbat Shalom.

#mondaymusic—evening edition

2011-03-07T18:56:00.002-05:00

A mentor and friend of mine, Dan Nichols, singing Hashkiveinu at Kutz Camp in 2008. Video courtesy of another friend of mine, Danielle Rodnizki:

G-DCast: Parshat Pekudei פרשת פיקודי

2011-03-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

It may not be the most riveting narrative, but G-DCast does a decent job of making nearly any Torah portion reasonably interesting. Shabbat Shalom!

I Lost My Benefits. So You Should Too!

2011-03-01T10:10:00.003-05:00

A great political cartoon by Daniel Kurtzman about the Wisconsin Public Employees' situation:

#mondaymusic—morning edition

2011-02-28T09:55:00.003-05:00

As I am still getting over a nasty bout of... well, whatever it is that went around last week, I wanted this morning's #mondaymusic choice to be Peri Smilow's "Thank You God," but as I usually like to embed a video for these posts, and Peri has not posted a version of that song to YouTube, I will share her video of Debbie Friedman's "Those Who Sow" as this week's morning edition:

A Message of Peace from the Rashi School

2011-02-23T11:01:00.004-05:00

It seems that one of the schools I work at, The Rashi School, is starting to post videos to YouTube. Check out the channel here, but watch this 4th grade animated video to "Zeh Hayom," Rashi's school song written by Cantor Jeff Klepper. Incredible work by the 4th graders.

--
On the personal side, I'm on February break at the moment, so posting has been a bit light lately.
As usual, feedback is always welcome!

JewManGroup Sings: "Bar'chu!" A Remix of Cee Lo Green's Hit Single "Forget You

2011-02-17T09:15:00.004-05:00

Have you heard Cee Lo Green's hit single Forget You? Maybe you saw him perform it at the Grammy's? Well, Jews have parodied it, and it must be shared here on the Jewstice. Who are these guys? JewManGroup? Anybody know anything about them?

Silent, at Work, for 5 Years

2011-02-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

Can you imagine a job at which you could work, and do so in silence, for five years, and somehow not be doing something wrong?

Clarence Thomas can.

#mondaymusic—afternoon edition

2011-02-14T12:50:00.002-05:00

So with everything that's happened in the last week, there wasn't a morning edition of #mondaymusic today. Oh well. To make up for that, here's Freddy Mercury kicking off the afternoon with Bohemian Rhapsody:

Gmail Responds Creates 2-Step Authentication

2011-02-12T17:39:00.002-05:00

Glad to see that Gmail is reacting to the threats posed by account security! Allowing for 2-step authentication is a great start to restoring my trust as a Gmail user. As soon as this feature becomes available for my accounts I will definitely begin to use it!

Gmail Hacked

2011-02-09T16:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I fell victim to the "I'm stuck in London without money or a passport please wire me money" hacking scam. Lost years worth of email archives when I regained access to my account. Luckily I recovered my contacts and my calendars.

A few reflections:

1. Back up your gmail or whatever e-mail you use people! I was careless and lost years worth of emails that I will inevitably try to search as the weeks go by only to find that they are now gone, most likely forever.

2. On the silver lining side of things, it was really nice to hear from so many people via phone, text and e-mail (once it got back up) checking and making sure I knew and that I wasn't actually in London.

3. I was reminded that being hacked this way, whether it is Gmail or Facebook or whatever else, is really such an invasive crime. Some hackers out there had access to a huge portion of my digital life over the last five years—files I've received, who posted on my Facebook wall and when, stupid links I shared with friends, etc. While their English clearly wasn't very good, it is quite discomforting knowing that now I not only have no record, but some hacker might...

The 2012 Republican Field

2011-02-08T09:54:00.001-05:00

Nate Silver has a really neat graphic of the 2012 Republican presidential primary field:

It's a great piece and you ought to read the whole thing, but here is his take the "Conservative Outsiders":

Conservative Outsiders. Central to any discussion of this group is, of course, Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor. But Ms. Palin, if she runs, may find herself in a crowd. There are several potential candidates in her orbit, like Mr. DeMint, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and perhaps Mr. Gingrich; these candidates may compete with her for voters whether or not they are viable themselves.

Meanwhile, there is Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, an old-fashioned populist whom voters see as more moderate than Ms. Palin, especially on economic issues. The constituencies of Mr. Huckabee and Ms. Palin are not exactly the same — she cannot match his appeal to evangelical conservatives, while he may not match hers to the Tea Party. But polls nevertheless suggest that voters who have Ms. Palin as their first choice often have Mr. Huckabee as their second, and vice versa. If either were to stay on the sidelines, the other would become a much more formidable candidate.

Here's my question: what is wrong with the media establishment in our country that despite Ms. Palin and Mr. Huckabee's employment by Fox News, they can be treated as establishment "outsiders" by a free press?

#mondaymusic—evening edition

2011-02-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

This band, Hey Mama, plays at The Burren in Davis Square on Wednesday nights. They're pretty awesome live. Enjoy:

#mondaymusic—morning edition

2011-02-07T08:22:00.000-05:00

I think it was probably Dan Nichols and Rabbi Ken Chasen who first introduced me to David Wilcox at Hava Nashira a few years ago. This was the song they sang, and the breaking news coming from Egypt at a flood-like pace, it seems particularly appropriate for the morning edition of #mondaymusic.

Torah Queeries: Parshat Terumah פרשת תרומה

2011-02-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

Shabbat Shalom! The Shabbos Potpourri will be back next week, but for this week, here is a Torah Queery from Jewish Mosaic. David Katzenelson discusses the importance of giving of oneself, literally the terumah, or offering, to the community:

The purpose of the terumah is also obscure. “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” All of this so that G-d may dwell among the people? The Omnipresent, who is in the Heavens and in the Earth, needs us to build him a house? This just doesn’t make sense.

To me, it seems the answer lies, as it does many other places in the Torah, not with the needs of G-d, but within the needs of humans. G-d does not need a physical sanctuary as a dwelling, but the sanctuary enables us to feel and know that G-d dwells among us...

A community can give a lot to its members. But a community is dependent on the members giving something to it. Most communities have some sort of required payment. But that is rarely enough. A community whose members pay membership fees, go to services, lessons or events, but to not give of themselves will ultimately collapse, leaving members unsatisfied and lacking. We have to give more than the minimal required.

This is the terumah. It is something we have to give in order to have the community, religious, and spiritual life we want to have. It is a voluntary donation, a gift and an offering of something that is dear to our hearts, our portion in the whole of the community and an uplifting of our spiritual life. Yes, it is voluntary, but without giving it we will not have the life we want. The borders between voluntary and mandatory are not as clear as one would think.

What exactly it is we must give as our terumah depends not only on what we want and are able to give, but also on the needs of our communities. Sometimes we may be called upon to donate money or objects. Other times there may be need for a volunteer to help lead services, to head a parasha discussion, or to organize en event for the elderly. Just like G-d in our parasha, reality may dictate a list of donations that may not include our first choice, but the list is usually long enough for us to find something we can give willingly.

Remembering Mitch

2011-02-02T14:07:00.001-05:00

It has not been an easy month. The Camp Harlam community has suffered a terrible loss with the sudden death of Mitch Perlmeter earlier this week. May our fond and warm memories of Mitch and his vibrant personality be a blessing for years to come, and may his family be comforted amongst all the mourners of Zion. From NJ.com:

Rabbi Frank DeWoskin, director of Camp Harlam, in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, which Perlmeter had attended since he was a child and where he was to be a counselor this summer, said Perlmeter had a generous outlook and an infectious smile.

"He made positive impacts on everyone he came in contact with," DeWoskin said. "There’s no question he is going to be missed by the Harlam community and by his home community and by anyone who knew him. It’s just a very sad day."

May the Source of Peace send peace to all who mourn and comfort to all who are bereaved.

עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל

Remembering Debbie

2011-02-01T09:44:00.004-05:00

Sunday afternoon I had the honor to participate with a great number of fellow educators, song leaders, Cantors and Cantorial Soloists at "Remembering Debbie," a tribute concert to Debbie Friedman, z'l, who passed away a few weeks ago.

I met Debbie first in 2004 and had the honor of learning from her as recently as last June. Her humor, her smile, her music and her personal support for my song writing, will be blessed memories of mine forever.

Over the past few weeks, I have had many moments trying to explain to friends or students who Debbie was, and why she meant so much to me and so many others. This has been incredibly challenging.

The best I've been able to come up with though, is to say that Debbie Friedman is, in many ways, the reason I have a job.

Her music, her spirit, and her dedication to bringing Jewish people together through song—they were unprecedented and unparalleled. Culturally and musically, liberal Jews all over the world sing and pray in a way that did not exist fifty years ago. Generations of Jewish musicians have already followed in her footsteps, and generations of children to come will learn Judaism through music, because of her life.

So while I was initially surprised to hear the announcement that the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College would be renamed The Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, I think it is a beautiful way to honor her memory. Here is the song that the Remembering Debbie event began with:

#mondaymusic—evening edition

2011-01-31T21:58:00.001-05:00

An old favorite. The PS 22 Chorus sings "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay:

#mondaymusic—morning edition

2011-01-31T09:15:00.001-05:00

While some may be sick of this song by now, I still think it's incredibly catchy. Here's Cee Lo Green singing "Forget You":

Shabbat Shalom!

2011-01-28T13:35:00.003-05:00

After a nine-month hiatus from the blogosphere, Social Jewstice is back!

You might ask, why has it been so long? I did not anticipate that it would be a full three quarters of a year before I got back to the Jewstice, but I have long felt the need to make sure that this blog would grow and change with my vision for what it should or could become. Last spring, though I was not unhappy with the content I was creating, I realized that if I want to be able to update regularly I needed better organization. It was around then, also, that I started to become discouraged that it had been so long since I had updated and really maintained MaxChaiken.com, the site dedicated to my Jewish music and educational endeavors.

I spent the summer in an internship, one month lead to the next, and nothing happened online. Ultimately, I think it was good to take this time off. It allowed me to gain some perspective and decide whether or not creating, editing and maintaining this blog was something I want to do.

So, over the past several weeks I have been working on redesigning both sites and while it is still a work in progress, I am looking forward to getting back to a regular posting schedule very soon.

5-year-old's Incredibly Calm (and Slightly Humorous) 911 Call

2010-04-30T09:41:00.000-04:00

This brave 5-year-old girl named Savannah seems to have saved her father's life.

On the "Faux" Nature of the South Park Mohammed Controversy

2010-04-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

Arsalan Iftikhar has a nice opinion piece on CNN on how the recent South Park controversy regarding the depiction of the prophet Mohammed is a distraction from real issues of intolerance. In his own words:

As an American Muslim civil rights lawyer and proud First Amendment freak, I can honestly say that I love both my Prophet Mohammed and "South Park." In any free democratic society, the concept of free speech can only be combated with more free speech, not censorship. If the creators of "South Park" choose to depict the Prophet Mohammed, that is their First Amendment right, and they should be able to do so freely without any threats of physical violence and retribution.

I also believe that Comedy Central probably went too far when it censored the following episode -- 201 -- especially since the show had run a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in season five.
On the issue of the U.S. Army disinviting Franklin Graham, I do think it was perfectly fine to disinvite him to play a prominent role at the National Day of Prayer at the Pentagon. Just as Graham has the First Amendment right to hate and defame Islam, the Army and Pentagon also exercise their own free speech by not giving an anti-Muslim evangelist a platform on their turf.

This is what I mean by saying the best way to counter free speech is with more free speech, not censorship. Because as we all know, the free speech clause of the First Amendment of our beloved U.S. Constitution legally allows racist, xenophobic and bigoted attitudes to be held that could easily be deemed Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, homophobic or anti-black.

Sadly, instead of dealing with the real cases of racism, bigotry and xenophobia regularly injected into our public airwaves by some of our political leaders and opinion makers, we have instead allowed ourselves to get sucked into a faux controversy involving two no-name idiots with a radical website taking on four pre-pubescent, fictitious cartoon characters from South Park, Colorado.

Right on. Now convince Comedy Central to air the real episode!

South Park 200, 201, Mohammed and Censorship

2010-04-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

In case you are not a fan of South Park and haven't been following, the last two weeks (really, the last two new episodes—their 200th and 201st all time) have been wonderful. Not only have Parker and Stone been ridiculously funny but they have also been at the top of their cultural-critical game, so to speak. Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish has been covering the controversy extremely well, and following his advice, here is the clip from 2001 where Matt and Trey already showed an image of Mohammed.