this woman’s work

How cute is this set? That’ll be our first night’s gift. I think I’d eventually like to get the Shabbat and Passover sets, too.

Noah is getting harder to buy for nowadays. His interests are more specific and expensive. Since we celebrate both holidays and then his birthday is just about a month after Christmas, it’s an awful lot of challenging shopping to do. And then, too, the grandparents want advice on what to get him.

Some people have asked if we’re going to celebrate Kwanzaa now and I said that we have enough December holidays for the time being. Besides, Kwanzaa means nothing to Madison’s birth family so it’s not like we’re stinting on her heritage. If either of the kids decide they’d like to try on celebrating it, we’ll revisit it then but for now, we’ll stick to the two we already have.

Google sticks to ‘Jew’ search, amid protests - The Times of India

Google Inc the leading Internet search engine, said Monday that it had no plans to alter its search results despite complaints that the first listing on a search for the word “Jew” directs people to an anti-Semitic Web site.

Yesterday Noah participated in our temple’s consecration ceremony. This symbolizes the beginning of the first graders formal Torah study, although I don’t actually see much formal Torah studying going on as compared to, say, the kindergarten curriculum last year. I think that for our temple it’s mostly about the community welcoming our children into the fold and celebrating our commitment to help them learn about Judaism and what it means to be a good Jew. My father (who is Jewish) came but the other grandparents couldn’t make it for various reasons (weddings and illness).

I always wonder how it is for my father to come to temple and see Noah growing in his Judaism since five out of his six children did not grow up in homes that were the least bit observant. My oldest half-sister’s mom is Jewish but I don’t know how observant she is or if she is raising her own kids as Jews.

My youngest half-sister is interested in Judaism and my father has encouraged her to get involved in the temple. I have, too, mostly because I think that having a structure in which to learn about faith is important for many agnostic kids. When I first began exploring my spirituality, I found it really overwhelming to sift through various creeds. Rooting myself in Judaism feels comfortably familiar and it centers my outlook but I don’t think that the Jews have a lock on truth. Anyway, I think it’s good to give kids a place to begin their spiritual journeys and I also think it’s important to give them room to take a different path, too.

I know some of my friends are reluctant to commit to a formal faith practice with their kids and I can appreciate that. The mistake is in thinking that by giving kids a faith, you’re invalidating other religious belief systems or creating a child whose worldview will always be limited. I believe that religious observation gives the family more opportunity to discuss big questions and also gives children the chance to see that humans are fallible even when we’re trying really hard to do things the “right” way. It’s perfectly all right — even necessary — to disagree with basic tenets within formal religious teachings. After all, religion is a way to bring people closer to God; studying and critical thinking, following your heart even when it leads you away from your religious leaders is a big part of that. Our big goal for Noah is to have him feel comfortable in having a personal dialogue with God/the universe/everything and only he can be the author of that.

But then we’re Reform Jews; what can I say?

I find it very inspiring when I meet families who create their own faith practices, too. Certainly religion doesn’t need the roots within a church or synagogue but having other people around who share your commitment is an awfully nice thing.

I have been thinking so much about the precall that we got. I badly want a baby soon but I am also very very aware that this birthmom is in such a painful, difficult position. I also know that we’re not the only people whose bios are being sent to her and I’m sure that they are feeling as desperately hopeful as I am. It’s strange wanting something so much and knowing at the same time that if it comes to fruition, there will be others who will be left in pain and/or disappointment.

I feel very woven into the world — tied to the other waiting parents and to the birthmoms who are sifting through our bios trying to make very difficult decisions.

There’s an article about Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion. The movie is a literal interpretation of the gospels and as such has been a target for criticism from interfaith groups and the Anti-Defamation League. Their argument is that the movie is anti-Semitic because its literal take on the gospels makes the Jews out to be bad guys.

Sometime around the year A.D. 30, in the Roman province of Palestine, an obscure Jewish carpenter named Jesus of Nazareth began to teach publicly and to proclaim the coming of a ‘Kingdom of God.’ For centuries, the Jewish people had expected the appearance of a promised deliverer known as the Messiah –a figure who would restore their ancient dignity, and free their sacred homeland from all evil and despair. In the minds of many, Jesus appeared to be this Messiah. Surrounded by a core group of twelve disciples, Jesus began to attract a massive following from among the common people of Galilee and Judea, who eventually praised him as their Messiah and King. However, Jesus also had many enemies in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, a governing senate composed of the leading Jewish priests and Pharisees, conspired to put Jesus to death.
 
With the aid of Judas Iscariot, a member of Jesus’ own inner circle, the Sanhedrin succeeded in arresting Jesus, handing him over to the Roman secular authorities on unsubstantiated charges of treason against Rome. Although Jesus consistently maintained that his Kingdom was a heavenly and spiritual one, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, faced with the possibility of a riot, ordered that Jesus be taken outside the city and crucified as a common criminal.

That’s from the movie’s web site.

This is a tough one for me. I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I believe that fundamentalist Christian and Catholics have a right to their point of view. But their belief that the New Testament is the inerrant word of God is really disturbing, especially because the Gospels pretty clearly condemn the Jews. If you believe that the bible is absolute then there’s no argument with that: it has the Jews saying, “His blood be on us and on our children!” and if you believe that then that means me and that means Noah. This puts the Jews in an extremely awkward situation. How do we defend ourselves while still displaying religious tolerance? And why do we have to defend ourselves against a religion we don’t even believe in?

You know, one could argue from the Christian point of view that the Jews were given the role illustrated in the New Testament by God in order to give Christians salvation. After all, if Jesus hadn’t died on the cross for the sins of mankind, then where would all of those sinners be? Except that I don’t believe that the Jews have blood on their hands. No, not at all. I believe that the Gospels were written centuries after Jesus died on the cross (if Jesus did, in fact, exist and did, in fact, die on a cross) and were written to convert people.

I’m a little scared of Gibson’s movie. In fact, I’m a little scared of fundamentalist Christians period. If you believed that the Bible was the actual word of God, how could you not follow it? Follow it exactly? Me, I don’t believe it and that’s why I’m a Reform Jew and not an Orthodox Jew. But as much as it scares me, I also believe in Gibson’s right to promulgate his views. And while I find his views disturbing, I believe that they are rooted in his devotion to his faith. It’s not like he’s out trying to get people to believe in blood libel; he’s just trying to tell people the truth as he understands it. I guess if I was a zillionaire with access to movie cameras, I might be doing the same thing.

This journalist does a much better job than I of explaining the social and religious complexities surrounding Gibson’s film.

Want to know more about the debate surrounding the Sanhedrin’s culpability in the crucifixion? Here are some links:
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We went to hear the shofar and it was a pretty good service. The rabbi told a funny story with props and the mood was jubiliant if a little stressed (all of those parents trying to keep small children somewhat quiet).

I can’t tell you all what a huge giant good feeling it gives me to watch Noah singing along to “A Tree of Life” or mumbling the Hebrew. I don’t know where his spiritual journey will lead him but knowing that his roots will always be in Judaism — that those songs will always sound like home — means a great deal to me.