The Rabbi on the Beach at the Shul on The Beach
Do You Know How Many Prisoners Are In For Life Without Parole Who Committed Their Crimes As Juveniles?
I do.
It depends where you ask this question. There is one answer for the United States of America, the Land of the FREE and the Home of the Brave and there is one answer for the REST OF THE WORLD.
In the REST OF THE WORLD there are 0 / ZERO / nil / Zed / zip / zilch / nada.
In the United States of America, the Land of the FREE and the Home of the Brave there (more…)
At Pacific Jewish Center we endeavor to share the light Judaism with the entire Beach Community. As we approach the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, the least we could do was wish the Venice Boardwalk a collective Shana Tova (A Good Year) to all the passersby.
So I set up shop outside the Shul on the Beach on a Sunday afternoon. Literally thousands of people pass the Shul on a beautiful summer Sunday like yesterday. I started all alone, but was eventually joined by Shul Co-President Alan Danziger and veteran of the Venice Boardwalk outreach scene, Rabbi Mintz and as the Klezmer Concert approached (Klezmer on the Beach Concert Was a Great Success) many, many friends, neighbors and my family. Over the course of the few hours we were there plenty of folks from the local area and as far as Australia, London, Israel (of course) and South Africa stopped by. (more…)
From time to time, the Shul on the Beach hosts events on Sunday afternoons and evenings that are open to the public. Yesterday we hosted a Klezmer concert on the Beach and it was a smashing success!
Dr. Ellie Goldstein’s close friend has been playing for Dr. Goldstein and his friends at Dr. Goldstein’s home for many years. Ron Grun (along with Ken Husbands) are very talented klezmer musicians and close friends of Dr. Goldstein.
Over the last year, PJC has been privileged to have Dr. Goldstein and his friends join our shul. One of the many perks of their involvement was the concert taking place in the shul. (more…)
Living among Christmas Celebrators for almost my entire life, I have picked up on a notion of the “Holiday Spirit” that ushers in the Holidays of Christmas and New Year’s. Folks are generally more friendly and generous under the “guise” of Holiday Spirit.
Seeing as Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) is a mere 9 days away, if we were Christian and the New Year was 9 days away, we would be knee-deep in the “Holiday Spirit”. A congregant of mine told me an anecdote that would fit neatly in the “Holiday Spirit” if we had an equivalent. (more…)
Child Witches in Nigeria
I saw this CNN article on a friend’s Facebook page.
There is a severe humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. I don’t know how much we can do to help but I think the crisis is emblematic of social issues in our culture as well.
Innocent children are being physically abused, even tortured or killed because they are thought to be witches. If a child can be blamed for a tragedy or illness by claiming they are a witch they will be outcast, then beaten and then abandoned to rid the community of the witch. (more…)
This past Sunday I was in Baltimore MD (Birthplace of Eliyahu Fink and his son Rami) for a very unique occasion.
My grandmother was celebrating her 70th birthday (that’s not so unique – right?) AND her recent Ph.D (yes – she just got her Ph.D). Veteran readers of this blog will remember that both my grandmothers work full time (see: My Thoughts On The Aughts). That’s an accomplishment on its own merits! (more…)
I bet Dr. Laura is not smiling quite as wide this morning.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger is quitting the over-the-air radio business. She has been forced into a corner with no apparent way out. Her resigning was demanded in the wake of her comments to a caller in which she used racial slurs to illustrate a point.
I am not defending Dr. Laura’s use of insensitive language, however I do not think she should quit or be asked / forced to quit.
Here is exactly what happened: (Source)
A black woman called the show and told Dr. Laura that
her husband is white and his relatives frequently use hurtful racial language around her, including the “N-word.” In response, Schlessinger said “Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n*****, n*****, n*****.” Schlessinger also told her that “If you’re that hypersensitive about color and don’t have a sense of humor, don’t marry out of your race.”
Predictably, there was a lot of backlash and Dr. Laura was forced to quit. (more…)
I have visited a prison and a jail. (My Visit With Judith Clark at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility) I have learned a lot about the failures of our current system of incarceration and it sickens me. As a (realtively) outspoken individual I have made my opinions known to anyone who will listen.
I tell them that I am against prison in principle. I don’t think anyone should go to prison. It’s a waste of money and far worse it is a waste of a human being. People accomplish almost nothing while incarcerated. Society gives them a free ride and they produce next to nothing for society.
The first response I hear is usually related to the safety of society. That somehow we, on the outside, are safer if the criminals are isolated, on the inside. (more…)
The MTA has approved a pretty powerful anti-Cordoba Center ad.
Here is the ad:
I find the ad obscene. It is provocative, misleading and presumptuous all in one.
However, as much as the ICC has a right to exist, this ad has a right to exist as well. The same laws that protect the ICC, protect this obscene ad. (Note: If the ad was so incendiary as to cause violence it would NOT be protected by the constitution, in which case it would lose my meaningless approval as well)
The irony is that the folks behind the ad can hide behind the 1st Amendment but would deny the same rights to the Cordoba Center.
Way back in the embryonic stages of this blog I wrote about a father who was denied a birthday cake by a local Shoprite for his son’s birthday.
The reason? The store refused to write the child’s name on the cake.
That child’s name? Adolph Hitler Campbell. (Adolf Hitler Campbell can’t get a birthday cake)
A little while later, I reported that the child, along with his siblings were taken into protective services. (Breaking News! Ad@lf Hitl&r Campbell Update)
Following an appeal, Heath Campbell (the father) has lost custody of his children. (more…)
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear: Don’t Judge A Group By It’s Extremists
The Westboro Baptist Church practices and preaches an extremely fundamental version of Christianity. They hold that God punishes American soldiers in Iraq because there are “Gays in the military”. They hate Jews because Jews are they killed Jesus and are the cause of fornication. They protest at shuls, Holocaust Museums and funerals of soldiers. They are fundamentalists and like many fundies are obscene, anti-social and hateful.
There are orthodox Jews who practice a very fundamental view of Judaism. They say that God killed (more…)
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear: Islamaphobia and Cordoba House
It seems that the Cordoba House in downtown Manhattan has cleared a major hurdle by winning a 9-0 vote of the Landmarks Conservation Commission. (NY Times link)
Conservatives and liberals seem to be at loggerheads on this particular issue. Sarah Palin made headlines with her plea that the center be blocked and fellow right wing pundits have expressed their distaste to the center. They feel it disgraces the deceased by glorifying what they believe to be the religion that caused the tragedy at Ground Zero almost 9 years ago. Liberals, on the other hand, see the center as an olive branch to Islam and think the center glorifies America, not the dangerous form of Islamic Fundamentalism that took down the Twin Towers, 3000 victims and the U.S. economy.
I can’t say whether the center is an affront or not. (more…)
This past winter I wrote an article about Felony Murder for a student run Law Journal at Loyola Law School. (Read: I’ve Been Published! My Article On Felony Murder Is Online)
In researching the subject of Felony Murder I was introduced to the case of Judith Clark by Professor Gilda Zwerman who accompanied me to visit with Judith. Judith Clark has a website all about her crime, time served and the way she has rehabilitated her life while in prison. (Link: http://www.judithclark.org)
On Monday I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours with her in prison. It was very powerful. (more…)
An arab man lied to an Israeli woman about his ethnicity. After they “consummated the relationship” she discovered he was not Israeli, he was Arab. He was charged with rape.
He has been sentenced to 18 months in jail. He will appeal.
The headlines are scandalous.
Israeli Arab who ‘raped’ a woman says verdict ‘racist’
Sex with Jewish girl costs Arab man 18 months in Israeli jail
Over on DovBear (Israeli Court Shames Itself With Idiotic Ruling) there is a fairly predictable post and discussion about the merits of the Israeli court decision. (more…)
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear: Dancing at Auschwitz
Everyone has been talking about this video.
From the description:
On a recent trip to Europe, a family of three generations (a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren) dance to Gloria Gaynor’s pop song – ‘I Will Survive’ at concentration camps and memorials throughout Europe.
This dance is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit and a celebration of life.
Is it appropriate for a survivor and his family to celebrate their survival in this manner? Everyone seems to have an opinion. (more…)
At sundown this evening, the 9th of Av, Jews all around the world will begin a 25 hour period of mourning. We mourn the loss of the great Temple in Jerusalem, and all that it symbolized. We lament the loss of our national unity and the special Temple connection. We hope and pray for a complete redemption and the messianic era of peace, harmony and sprirituality.
(Read my thoughts on Tisha B’Av from last year: Mourning The Living On The 9th of Av)
Most people are familiar with the custom to fast for 25 hours as a sign of our mourning. We suffer to try and feel what we are missing. For many people, Tisha B’Av is a fast day and nothing else.
That is tragic. (more…)
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear. Way more discussion here.
I really like the Museum of Tolerance. The overall message of the museum is a message that I wholeheartedly agree with.
Tolerance is a very important value in my worldview and the museum does a super job teaching that message.
(For a more complete review of the museum read my previous post My Visit to the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.)
There was one thing I noticed, or rather, did not notice that I find necessary to question and perhaps even criticize.
This summer I took a class at Loyola Law School called Hate Speech Seminar. The course was very discussion based with some non-traditional law school reading. We also read the key First Amendment (Free Speech) cases and important Law Review articles on regulating hate speech.
I learned a lot.
Part of the course was a trip to the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
I took my tour of the museum today. What follows are some general impressions. (more…)
This post has been cross-posted to DovBear: Rubashkin’s Lawyer On Claims of Anti-Semitism
I was shocked when I saw this.
If you read the frum papers you have been told that Rubashkin was singled out for being a Jew. We call this anti-Semitism.
I have gone on record saying that I don’t see the anti-Semitism here. (Is the Rubashkin Saga / Trial Anti-Semitic? and Are the goyim out to get Sholom Rubashkin?: Why he isn’t a victim of anti-Semitism).
I have been chastised by commenters on this blog and on DovBear. (more…)
A little while ago I read the unfortunately mis-titled book, Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean.
I say unfortunately mis-titled because the book was excellent but it really was not about Jewish Pirates and certainly was not limited at all to the Caribbean.
The book was good because it tells the story of some of the most famous Converso Jews following the Spanish and Porteguese Inquisition. The well footnoted text gave me a better appreciation for the 15 century Mediterranean Jews, their struggles and their success.
Perhaps above all, as I was reading the book I found myself with a greater appreciation for Sephardi Jews. (more…)
It only took 2 months. But in the time since I wondered on April 16, 2010 if there were any Orthroprax Rabbis (read: Orthoprax Jews and Orthoprax Christians), an Orthoprax Rabbi has come out of the proverbial closet.
Boy did he set off a firestorm. Hundreds of comments on his blog, another few hundred on the other blogs talking about the Orthoprax Rabbi confirm the provocativeness of the idea of an orthoprax rabbi.
I have a lot to say ABOUT the Orthoprax Rabbi and I also have some things to say TO the Orthoprax Rabbi (IF HE IS REAL AND NOT A HOAX). (more…)
So we finally made the big-time. Who is we?
I am a student at the (now) well-known Loyola Law School of Los Angeles.
After being featured on the snarky law blogs for a a little while, our curve adjustment made it into “The Gray Lady”. Yes, the New York Times thinks our school’s new curve is news worthy.
Yesterday the NY Times ran this story about our curve and the law school arms race: In Law Schools, Grades Go Up, Just Like That. The story is a slightly sympathetic and certainly more fair than the skewering Loyola Law School got in some of the law blawgs.
Here’s the real story: (more…)
Cross-posted to DovBear: Harsher Sentences Are Not The Answer
This is what the shoe feels like when it’s on the other foot.
For decades, right-wing / republican / conservative / Judeo-Christian Valuists have talked a big game when it comes to fighting crime. Running on “Law and Order” platforms and promising harsh sentences for criminals was a sure way to gain support.
On the other hand, bleeding heart liberals have been trying to model the justice system after the softer Euro sentencing structures.
Traditionally, middle class white people support Law and Order style justice. Harsh sentences make them feel safer and they are less likely to know someone who will be incarcerated, thus they are removed from the effects of the harsh sentencing of criminals.
Lower class folks usually support softer punishments. (more…)
Cross-posted to DovBear here:
There is a healthy nostalgia built into Judaism. “Chadesh yameni k’kedem” – renew our days to the way things were, we say. Of course, like any good thing, too much nostalgia is a bad thing.
After reading the famous case of Brandenburg v. Ohio I find myself pining for the anti-Jewish sentiment as expressed in 60′s as opposed to today.
Yesterday I wrote about my high school. (Mr. Miller Was My Math Teacher at Ner Israel) I went to a pretty well known yeshiva high school but this kind of media exposure for Ner Israel is not too common. Of course I was proud so I told my sister to check out the video and article.
Not to be outdone, my sister told me that her high school was also famous!
It seems that WNET, the New York PBS affiliate, has a segment called “Religion and Ethics. A few weeks back they did a piece on hateful gossip in schools. With the advent of the internet and specifically sites like Facebook, it has become so easy to say nasty things about others and leave a permanent record of the comments. (more…)
FB Links