Confirmation Pride

Here is a guest post from Laura, one of my amazing confirmation students I mentioned a few posts back:

Sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial with the melodious prayers of the Havdalah service and the gentle playing of the guitar in the warm glow of our candle light, CBI’s Confirmation students came together with other Jewish teens in this beautiful separation from the Sabbath. I could not feel but an overwhelming sense of pride.


I had pride for our Confirmation class who revisited the tragedies displayed in the Washington D.C. Holocaust museum, and then made our voices heard so that congressional representatives understood that we were not going to tolerate injustice. We lobbied our representatives for economic justice, LGBT equality in the workplace, comprehensive immigration reform, reproductive rights, and for a greener America. I was proud to be among my friends, expressing our concerns so that “never again” would the Jewish voice be silenced.

I had pride for Reform Judaism. I was overwhelmed to be part of a religion that incorporates teachings from the Torah with political activism charged with the assurance of the safety of the oppressed. Pride for a religion that teaches acceptance and rejection, accepting those who are different and rejecting conformity and apathy. A religion that is spiritually individual and communal, where we have our own private prayers but there is always a network of support ready to celebrate and grieve as a whole loving unit. Pride for a religion that teaches the importance of knowledge and the importance of questioning, arguing, and disagreeing with the Torah, Rabbis, and other Jews.

On those stairs, all the years of Sunday religious school and Bat Mitzvah training started to make sense. I realized I was part of a community that is capable of being the voice of the silenced and leaders in making the necessary changes in our world today. We are supporters of fair, honest, and tolerant government and religion. I had pride for the Rabbi Michael Namath in charge of the L’Takein trip, expressing his great respect for Thomas Jefferson as a secular leader who upheld a value very important in Reform Judaism, separation of church and state. I am proud to be part of a religious movement that praises God and at the same time rationality and fair government. That night, it just ‘clicked’, from lobbying, to praying, from listening to homeless speakers pleading for change, to immersing in knowledge and vital controversial topics for the entire weekend. For me, at the memorial, I understood that perhaps Judaism is not just about God, the Ten Commandments, and bagels and shmear, but rather a lifestyle that motivates you to work hard, learn as much as you can, treat everyone with respect, favor the oppressed, and advocate for crucial change and protection of rights. That is when the true meaning (for me) of Reform Judaism was revealed, my friends around me with their singing voices giving thanks, and praising for a good week, underneath the colossal statue of President Jefferson, with the gentle playing of the guitar in the warm glow of our candle light.

Vayikra--Beginning the Book of Leviticus

"The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: When a person sins and commits a respass against the Eternal--by dealing deceitfully with another in the matter of a deposit or a pledge, or through robbery, or by defrauding another, or by finding something lost and lying about it; if one swears falsely regarding any one of the various things that someone may do and sin thereby--when one has thus sinned and, realizing guilt, would restore either that which was gotten through robbery or fraud, or the entrusted deposit, or the lost thing that was found, or anything else aobut which one swore falsely, that person shall pay the principal amount and add a fifth part to it.  One shall pay it to its owner upon realizing guilt.  Then that person shall bring to the priest, as a penalty to the Eternal, a ram without blemish from the flock, or the equivalent, as a reparation offering.  The priest shall make expiation before the Eternal on behalf of that person, who shall be forgiven for whatever was done to draw blame thereby" (Lev. 5:20-26).

Much of Sefer Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus, is concerned the ancient Israelite sacrificial system.  We learn what kind of animals were used, when to bring your crops, what happens if you can't afford an expensive animal, what you burn first, what you eat, what you do if the sacrifice is to make teshuvah for a sin, etc.  The Hebrew word that we translate as "sacrifice" is korban, actually means "something brought near."  Sacrificing livestock or a crop was our ancestors' way of experiencing the closeness of God. 

Sefer Vayikra sets up a system that is meant to symbolize the world as it should be.  As bible scholar Tamara Cohn Eskenazi writes, "Leviticus reflects the perception that God's created world is fundamentally harmonious, good, and orderly (as in Genesis 1).  To preserve God's orderly world, where everything has an assigned place, Leviticus specifies what must be done whenever boundaries are wrongfully crossed, be they boundaries of the body, time, or space--such as between sacred and non-sacred, or between life and death.  In this book's worldview, anyone who breaks God's ordained harmony can--and must--repair it.  Rituals, including sacrifices, serve to cancel or neutralize damage done to the created order and thereby restore the equilibrim."

This brings us back to the quote from the parashah.  The last few verses of this week's reading talk about the social and economic order.  (Wall Street should probably read the Bible.)  Economic sins against each orther are seen as sins against God.  The Israelites' camp, a microcosm of the world, is supposed to be just.  God demands it, and we are God's agent in carrying it out.  God is the the third party in our business dealings.

To those who say that contemporary American Judaism's focus on social justice work as a religious obligation is new, you should study our texts.  True, in the past, for Jews social justice was carried out in the Jewish community, but, I think, that is because Jews were generally not integrated into the wider society.  But, since modern times, in the Western world where Jews have had greater integration, we have statements about social justice based on Jewish tradition and texts, not just liberal politics.  In 1885, a group of Reform rabbis wrote in what came to be called the Pittsburgh Platform, "In full accordance with the spirit of Mosaic legislation, which strives to regulate the relations between rich and poor, we deem it our duty to participate in the great task of modern times, to solve, on the basis of justice and righteousness, the problems presented by the contrasts and evils of the present organization of society."  The Reform Movement in America was founded with the idea of text based social justice.  Social justice like Sefer Vayikra talks about--creating a harmonious society.  Fighting the root causes of injustice, not just giving to the poor to help them out. 

A related aside: Glenn Beck is telling his minions to leave their churches if "social justice" is one of their missions. 

 

A Serious Man

The Coen Brother's "A Serious Man" was my favorite movie this year.  (I do admit that I didn't get the chance to see that many movies this year.)  Maybe it's my favorite because it is very, very Jewish, and not just Jewish in a kitschy way.  It is a serious movie that deals with serious issues of Jewish thought.  The other day I read the best commentary on it from the Los Angeles Jewish Journal by Rabbi Anne Brener.  Enjoy.

Jewish Teens

To those who are fearful for the the future of the American Jewish community, you should have spent the weekend with me and my confirmation class.  My students never ceased to amaze me with their intellegence, wit, and passion.  We travelled to DC together for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's L'Taken Seminar.  These teens proved that the Jewish obligation to be a champion of social justice still rings true today.  Hopefully I can get one of them to guest blog here someday.

P.S.  I was more tired after returning to San Diego than I have been in the last few weeks with an infant.