tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148227452024-03-24T05:28:08.265+11:00I wonder if.....This blog is a space to share ideas about things in the world that aren't quite right, and ways of improving them.Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-82997932435252325452017-12-06T07:39:00.001+11:002017-12-06T07:39:24.936+11:00If not now, when?<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-reJgm3Q2TTg/WicDswVk3VI/AAAAAAABJ1g/VHKJ3VtnFdQcux42OW-jLJfXZCGObz-8gCLcBGAs/s1600/Carm%2BIttay%2BNava%2BEitan%2B-%2BShana%2BTova%2B5778%2B%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1597" data-original-width="1600" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-reJgm3Q2TTg/WicDswVk3VI/AAAAAAABJ1g/VHKJ3VtnFdQcux42OW-jLJfXZCGObz-8gCLcBGAs/s320/Carm%2BIttay%2BNava%2BEitan%2B-%2BShana%2BTova%2B5778%2B%25284%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>In six weeks from now, Carm, Nava, Eitan and I will be moving to <span class="il">Jerusalem</span>. Our plan is to live there for the next two years, in order to see how our lives can be enriched from the experience.<br /></div>
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Our reasons for making this move at this time in our lives are as follows:</div>
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<br />1. For many generations, the Jewish people had no state of their own, which brought about a great resilience in our people, but also led to same great catastrophes. We feel blessed to live in a period of history where Jews can exercise their right to self determination in the form of a state, and we very much want to be a part of this special moment in the epic history of our people.</div>
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2. The modern State of Israel is very much a part of the answer to our “Why be Jewish?” question. We don’t want our children to have a Jewish identity based on victimhood, and antagonism against the world because Hitler killed their ancestors. To quote <a class="m_2747928821450711240gmail-profileLink" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/haim.watzman?fref%3Dmentions&source=gmail&ust=1512592138655000&usg=AFQjCNHD8X6Guxj4h1ap8VavNi4AYYMHpw" href="https://www.facebook.com/haim.watzman?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Haim Watzman</a>,"Our history, tradition and culture are rich and powerful and provide adequate reason to want to be a Jew and an Israeli even if Hitler had never been born and the swastika never had reigned.”</div>
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My hope for the future is that my children grow up and be people who think “I’m a Jew because the Jewish people produced the Bible whose stories and poetry have become the common heritage of mankind…..I’m a Jew because of my people’s ethos of learning, argument and dialogue, because of the Talmud, midrashim, and thinkers ranging from Maimonides to Spinoza and Yeshayahu Leibowitz….I’m a Jew because my people preserved its language and culture through centuries of dispersion and reestablished and recreated them in the modern State of Israel” (Source: <a href="http://www.southjerusalem.com/2008/11/jews-despite-the-holocaust-necessary-stories-column-from-the-jerusalem-report/">Jews despite the Holocaust</a>)</div>
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3. As cultural Jews who embrace humanistic expressions of religious identity, we acknowledge that Israel (closely followed by New York, which we also considered for this adventure) is one of the best places on earth to be a secular Jew. Living in a state whose history is bound up with the history of the Jewish people, whose principal language is Hebrew, and whose main holidays reflect its national mission is a blessing for us. Knowing that in less than a year from now, our children will be singing, playing and of course arguing with each other in the same language in which the Mishna of Rebbi Yehuda, the poetry of Amichai and the lyrics of Alma Zohar are written is a dream come true for us.</div>
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4. When Israel was founded in 1948, the Declaration of Independence aspired that the state should be one that is “open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; fostering the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants”. The wish of the founding fathers and mothers was that Israel would be “based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”</div>
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Looking at the Israel of 2017, whilst it is possible to observe many aspects of this vision as being realised, there is a still a long way to go. This year marked the 50th year under which the Palestinian people have been living under IDF military occupation, that has denied them basic rights of freedom and self determination that our own people celebrate each year on Yom Haatzmaut. Furthermore, Israel’s current government has alienated millions of Israelis and diaspora Jews from religious Judaism by giving power to an Orthodox Rabbinate that has long ceased to interpret halacha in a manner that serves the interests of the majority of Israelis. The policies of the government have also exacerbated economic inequality, with Israel’s child poverty rate now surpassing that of Mexico and Chile. When Israel becomes our home, we hope to join with the many progressive forces in Israel that are working tirelessly to reverse these trends in order to help the Israel of today realise the vision of her founders.</div>
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5. This move is an opportunity we can best offer our children while they are young, and while we are all open to adventure. Acknowledging the significant differences between an Australian and an Israeli childhood, we hope we can offer them the best of both. We are blessed to have grown up in a loving and supportive community in Melbourne, filled with amazing friends, family and the incredible <a class="m_2747928821450711240gmail-profileLink" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/shira.melbourne/?fref%3Dmentions&source=gmail&ust=1512592138655000&usg=AFQjCNHwwpPd8x0R_aER9J0NrLsTR-ysUQ" href="https://www.facebook.com/shira.melbourne/?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Shira Melbourne</a> and <a class="m_2747928821450711240gmail-profileLink" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/kehilatkolenu/?fref%3Dmentions&source=gmail&ust=1512592138656000&usg=AFQjCNHeIqbON0PvBV3M724I9Bhgnxk27Q" href="https://www.facebook.com/kehilatkolenu/?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Kehilat Kolenu - קהילת קולנו</a> communities which we will both miss greatly. We hope that leaving for a while will give us greater perspective on what it means to be an Australian, which is also a country that to has an unreconciled past.</div>
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--<br />Thanks to everyone in advance for all your support, guidance and advice as we embark upon this journey. </div>
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אם אין אני לי, מי לי? וכשאני לעצמי, מה אני? ואם לא עכשיו, אימתי?<br />If I am not for myself, who will be for me?<br />But, If I am only for myself, what am I<br />And if not now, when?</div>
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Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-6650949426575595182017-09-29T11:16:00.001+10:002017-09-30T21:24:18.339+10:00Neilah 5778: The Final Drasha<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How would you act if you believed today was your last on earth?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s a question I have been thinking more about this year than any other time in my life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The initial trigger that sparked this thought that hasn’t left my mind for the past three months was reading the book <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/thirty-days-a-journey-to-the-end-of-love">Thirty Days</a> about the wonderful Kerryn Baker, who was loved and admired by many people in this room here tonight.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2l-VdhwAksA/Wc2cfLIVVVI/AAAAAAABJFk/g5EGPxY9S0Ypykxw7f9R2ojoXIjr5jZkgCLcBGAs/s1600/9781925498653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1047" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2l-VdhwAksA/Wc2cfLIVVVI/AAAAAAABJFk/g5EGPxY9S0Ypykxw7f9R2ojoXIjr5jZkgCLcBGAs/s320/9781925498653.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thirty Days</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I went to Mark’s book launch two months ago, I initially didn’t buy the book, thinking that even though I wanted to know and understand the story, reading it in full detail would be too confronting in that it would bring up memories of the loss of my father when I was 21. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As fate would have it, a week later the book appeared on my bedside table, after Carm had borrowed a copy from a friend. 48 hours later, I had finished reading the entire testimony. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The key questions of the book that I’d like to explore in this drasha is: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Is it possible to live everyday as if it were your last?”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This often heard cliche heard at so many simcha’s and graduations in our community, is seemingly a goal to which many aspire, yet how many people take a moment to actually internalize what it means to truly live each moment with the full awareness that death could be imminent? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question asked in the book is similar to that posed by the Days of Awe</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Babylonian Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 16b </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">שלושה ספרים</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> נפתחים בראש השנה: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">אחד של רשעים גמורים </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ואחד של צדיקים גמורים </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ואחד</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">של בינונים. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Rosh HaShanah, three books are opened: one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediates. The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed and sealed for life. The thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed and sealed for death. The intermediates hang in the balance from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur. If they are found worthy, then they are inscribed for life. If not, then they are inscribed for death. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which brings to today and this moment of Neila. According to the Talmud, our lives now hang in the balance, with just over an hour left until our fate will be determined based on our actions of the past year. This is why we annulled our vows at Kol Nidre last night, lest we go to the grave having made a promise or commitment which we will be unable to keep. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rabbi Laura Geller, writes in <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=fwQQSYkqVXUC&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=without+the+obligations+created+by+our+vows+and+oaths.+On+Yom+Kippur+what+matters+is+that+we+stand+naked+and&source=bl&ots=H2hdUMQW8R&sig=B3O-gaDGqg8mNZYJF3JC6tQKyYQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUvY2smsnWAhVFEpQKHR7eAK4Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=without%20the%20obligations%20created%20by%20our%20vows%20and%20oaths.%20On%20Yom%20Kippur%20what%20matters%20is%20that%20we%20stand%20naked%20and&f=false">The Torah of our Lives</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yom Kippur is a day lived without bonds, without the obligations created by our vows and oaths. On Yom Kippur what matters is that we stand naked and alone before God. We are disembodied souls, confronting the reality of our mortality. Yom Kippur is a symbolic encounter with death. We are supposed to refrain from life-affirming activities – eating, drinking, bathing, making love, and adorning ourselves. Because leather is viewed as adornment, we are instructed to take off our leather shoes, to stand barefoot, resembling the shoeless corpses we will someday be. We are to wear white; with some even wearing a kittel, which is the white garment in which we are buried.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, as much as Yom Kippur is the most awesome day of our lives, it’s also a bit like the hearing a Leonard Cohen tune at shira, where everyone knows in advance that it will come, but is always pleasantly surprised when it appears. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is affirmed by none other than Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi who disagrees with the other sages, stating in the <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Shevuot.13a.32-35">gemara that</a>: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“For all transgressions that are stated in the Torah, whether one repented, or whether one did not repent, Yom Kippur atones.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yom Kippur as a day of joy</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rMEA1NCgRos/Wc2dUJRc3uI/AAAAAAABJFs/3Kg1MfNRORMxCK-IlAgnB0RdiNd1rR9BACLcBGAs/s1600/woman-white-dance-field.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rMEA1NCgRos/Wc2dUJRc3uI/AAAAAAABJFs/3Kg1MfNRORMxCK-IlAgnB0RdiNd1rR9BACLcBGAs/s320/woman-white-dance-field.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For this reason, the last Mishnah in Ta'anit declares that "there were no more joyous days for Israel than the Fifteenth Day of Av and Yom Kippur." Also, Yom Kippur --like all the other festivals of the Jewish calendar-- has the power to cut short and even entirely cancel the mourning period of a mourner because of the national festive nature of the day as one where all forgiven. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So perhaps the appropriate greeting for this day shouldn’t be “gut yontef” but rather, “chag sameach” or “only 24 hours to go, see you in the book of life.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, ladies and gentlemen, if this is true, what we have come here to do today, is all part of an act, the final play in a cosmic narrative. Part of an elaborate imaginative exercise of teshuva that affirms the words of our other Rebbe, the late Leonard Cohen Z”l who stated in his holy lyrics:</span></div>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKvmexdkwnc/Wc2doaGrrOI/AAAAAAABJFw/UC2wFg9eKTo4wzYfYsG9Bk7idIs3LZBKQCLcBGAs/s1600/leonard_cohen_star_david.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKvmexdkwnc/Wc2doaGrrOI/AAAAAAABJFw/UC2wFg9eKTo4wzYfYsG9Bk7idIs3LZBKQCLcBGAs/s320/leonard_cohen_star_david.jpg" width="320" /></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Everybody knows that the dice are loaded</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everybody knows the good guys lost</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everybody knows the fight was fixed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poor stay poor, the rich get rich</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's how it goes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IfmiKnZi3E">Everybody knows</a>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As someone who experiences Judaism as less about covenant with God and more about infusing rituals with meaning, I’d like to practice what I preach in the last few minutes of this drasha, by imagining for a moment that this may be the last drasha I will ever give. </span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I only had five minutes left to live, to say the most important words, to the most important people in my life, many of whom are in this shul right now, what would they be?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before I answer this question, I’d like to tell you about something I shared with my partner Carm after reading Thirty Days. I finished the book on a sunday morning, when as luck would have it, both our young children were sleeping at Nana’s, a rare occurrence in our lives.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I told Carm how I felt about the book, and about how I didn’t want to wait till I had cancer or another illness before telling her some truths about my life. At first she said, “you are being too intense, let me have a shower and breakfast, after which we can talk.”</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Half an hour later, we sat around our kitchen table, in our very quiet child free bubble which was only to last two hours, and I began talking, and Carm began typing. Everything I said to Carm, and she said to me went into a google doc, a shared record of what we want, when we do face our real Neila, our final hours, without the Book of Life lying safely on the other side.</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The doc begins with me telling Carm how I want to die. I tell her that there is no need to hide me from the world, that anyone who wants to visit should be welcome. I tell her than if euthanasia is legal, I’d like to die peacefully at a time of our choosing rather than suffer through the agony of a painful death. I also tell her that I’d like all my organs donated so that my death can be a gift to save as many lives as possible. I tell her that at my funeral, I want men and women to sit together, despite the mechitza and whatever rabbis says it is forbidden. I list all the people I’d like to speak at the funeral. Finally, I tell her how I’d like my children to be raised in my absence.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike many parents who say, “whatever they choose that makes them happy will be good” I want my children, Nava and Eitan, to be reminded throughout their lives that their purpose on the short time they have on this earth is to do <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9Trdafp83U">more than find joy and gladness.</a></span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted it to be known that I share the view of renowned psychologist Martin Seligman who says that meaning comes from belonging to and serving something beyond yourself and from developing the best within you.”</span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a teacher, I see the unintended consequences of a culture that places the desire for happiness before the obligation of community service every day in ever growing rates of anxiety and depression that are at close to all time highs in 2017.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted Carm to write down, that when it comes time for my children to choose the path in their lives, that if I am no longer around to be a part of this conversation, I’d like them to choose a direction leading them towards relationships, professions and religious rituals and communities that enable them to make our world a better place, even if this may appear to come before their own immediate needs for happiness. This is because I believe, that true happiness, can only be found in a life that is filled with meaning. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sPp678eNV_s/Wc2eIYcMRQI/AAAAAAABJF4/L77Nzc8zh8cjypvnmkA41kL3QAcH4oCZgCLcBGAs/s1600/Preview%2BImage%2B590x332%2B32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="590" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sPp678eNV_s/Wc2eIYcMRQI/AAAAAAABJF4/L77Nzc8zh8cjypvnmkA41kL3QAcH4oCZgCLcBGAs/s320/Preview%2BImage%2B590x332%2B32.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After 40 minutes of typing, each sharing with each other our wishes and thoughts around the future, we both felt comforted, and whole. It’s a moment we felt very close and affirmed the importance of having difficult conversations with those whom you love.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started this drasha by asking, “How would you act if you believed today was your last on earth?”</span><br />
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know my answer to this question. If today was my last day on earth, I would spend it with my close friends and family, sharing stories, hearing about their lives, avoiding small talk by asking big questions, having meaningful conversations, and above all, singing together. What better a way to have a last day than that.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My hope for the people in this shule, is that at the end of this Yom Kippur, before you go to sleep tonight, you are able to take a moment to find the people most important in your lives, either those in this room, or those in your home, or those at the MCG, and take an hour to tell them how you want to be remembered, and the teshuva you want to do. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life’s too short to wait until cancer or another tragedy plucks the life out of us mortals before we have filled the time we deserve to have on this earth to be with those we love. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wrote recently on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MarkRaphaelBakerAuthor/">author page</a>, “'Stop just assuming you have a full lifetime to do whatever it is you dream of doing.' This indeed is the challenge of Yom Kippur. </span></div>
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<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To face our inevitable deaths together as a collective, yet to die with as much grace and dignity in which we lived.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May we all be granted the gift of being stamped in the book of life.
Shana Tova
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Drasha delivered at <a href="http://www.shira.org.au/">Shira Melbourne,</a> Neila 2017</div>
Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-43553505585184060942015-12-05T08:24:00.001+11:002015-12-05T08:41:45.452+11:00The fifth question: Songs of Songs and the Book of Ruth <span style="font-size: x-small;">Written By Yossi Sarid in <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/the-bible-the-fifth-question-1.217235">Haaretz</a>, <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: sub;">April 1, 2007</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: sub;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: sub;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5X7XBAfJoc/VmIEYAu8buI/AAAAAAAA27c/ugmaWUCR18o/s1600/song-of-songs-1360137344_org.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5X7XBAfJoc/VmIEYAu8buI/AAAAAAAA27c/ugmaWUCR18o/s320/song-of-songs-1360137344_org.jpg" width="320" /></a>Rejoice, rejoice in the good
news: Spring is here and Passover is on the way. And I too rejoice when Nissan,
the month that was once the first of the Hebrew calendar, arrives, and with its
vernal beauty steals the joy of the still-blustery Adar - though we are all
commanded to rejoice during that month. The joy of Nissan is double - both
departing for freedom and departing from winter. <br />
<br />
I have revised my tastes in Bible a number of times over the years; a kind of
weakness of taste, a sort of capriciousness of temperament that is
characteristic of transitional seasons. Today I am almost certain that I have
formulated my position: The Song of Songs and the Book of Ruth are my
favorites, and that is final. <br />
<br />
These are two books of a subversive character, and both of them always bring up
the question of how they succeeded in the first place in entering the
collection of Holy Writ. How were they given canonical status? Were such
writings collected and redacted nowadays, it is doubtful they would be awarded
this status. Quite possibly, the Song of Songs would be left out because of its
eroticism and the Book of Ruth pushed out because of its ethics. But we shall
write about Ruth at length at the end of the counting of the Omer, when the
holiday of Shavuot arrives. <br />
<br />
Ruth and the Song of Songs are the most Land-of-Israel books that I know of,
then or now. When the question arises of whether there is such a thing as
Israeli literature, and not just Israeli writers, these two books are the
decisive answer: Indeed there is such a literature. Reading and delighting in
them is possible anywhere, but the writing could have taken place only here, in
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, among the fields and vineyards of the beloved land of
our fathers. <br />
<br />
I once suggested to our Interior Ministry that it rely on the Book of Ruth to
establish the rules for obtaining citizenship in this country, and now I am
suggesting to the Tourism Ministry that it use the Song of Songs to attract
tourists in love. And Bar Refaeli, with little marketing effort, can play the
role of "For I am lovesick." As everyone knows, the Song of Songs is
attributed to King Solomon, but according to modern research, the text was
shaped many years after his reign. Not only historically, but also from the
literary perspective, it is difficult to accept Solomon as the author, as in
his palace harem he had a thousand women, whereas Shulamith's love for her
beloved is unique and exclusive. The lord of a thousand women does not qualify
for a love experience that is so focused and for longings that are so
distilled. <br />
<br />
Today the prevailing assumption is that the anthology of love songs was not
written by a single hand but rather by various authors in various periods,
although a rereading reveals perfect stylistic and thematic unity. <br />
<br />
The Song of Songs is a subversive book in biblical, conservative and
traditional terms, so much so that the sages had to interpret it as a kind of
allegory. Not a beloved and a lover, not a shepherd and a shepherdess, not
Shulamith and her beloved, but rather a love affair between the community of
Israel and God. Rabbi Akiva, of all people, who held the Song of Songs to be
more sacred than the other books of Scripture apart from the five books of
Moses and the Prophets, is recorded as having said that "anyone who
warbles the Song of Songs in drinking houses and makes it into a kind of ditty
has no portion in the world to come." <br />
<br />
Those sages always had to spoil our fun. Why do they do this to us? What did we
ever do to them? Happily for us, this exegesis, which was aimed at preventing
desecration, did not make a deep impression on creative inspiration. Generation
after generation had its say and transmitted material, and there isn't a single
line that has not been put into the mouths of flesh-and-blood lovers. There
isn't a single poem in the Song of Songs that has not been sung by the young in
spirit, who, in the breezes of the night and the day, imagine themselves as
shepherds and shepherdesses, black and comely, tanned swarthy by the sun; this
is their sensual fantasy. <br />
<br />
The allegory argument in this case is rather funny and far out. Even God
Himself would not be grateful to the great leaders of Israel and their exegetes
if a trace of the human remained in His image. What is it they want to tell us,
the sages of blessed memory - that their God is not only merciful, but also
libidinous, and that the community of Israel, for its part, is particularly
interested in the thighs of the Holy One, blessed be He, which are "as
pillars of marble." He swoons over her most intimate parts, "the
rounding of thy thighs," "thy belly is a heap of wheat" and
"thy two breasts are like twin fawns," and he dreams of climbing into
the palm tree with the help of the branches thereof and her breasts as the
clusters of grapes. As for her, she will nestle him between her breasts, his
left hand under her head and his right hand embracing her. <br />
<br />
God shows up all of a sudden, and with no prior warning in any other reference,
knocks on the door, his head filled with dew, on his locks the drops of night,
removes his coat, washes his feet and is ready; and she rises to open the door,
her heart moving for him, her hands and her fingers flowing with myrrh on the
door handles. She too is ready. <br />
<br />
Good God, what is happening here? Has the landlord gone crazy? How is it that
we hadn't previously known such a human God, so similar and equal to us?
Neither did He know that He was like that, until his emissaries and exegetes
told Him. The Song of Songs is customarily read on the Sabbath of the
Intermediate Days of Passover, between the first and the seventh day. There are
those who also read it on the closing holiday, and even a few who end the seder
night by reading it. I very much recommend this custom, and I think it should
spread. The Song of Songs is a much better read than the Passover Haggadah,
which is an eclectic text that stops at every station in time, like a slow
train that takes on more and more freight. <br />
<br />
Because the Haggadah is a wide-open text that has not been zealously guarded in
every generation, it has been infiltrated by a mix of biblical verses and bits
of legend, prayers and hymns and just plain songs. With its educational mission
("thou shall tell thy son on that day"), the Haggadah is ostensibly
also aimed at children, and perhaps first and foremost at them, so as to
instill in all four kinds of sons the story of the Exodus from Egypt, to make
them like it and to educate each according to his needs. But while the Song of
Songs only charms, the Haggadah is also scary, like Grimms' fairy tales. When
the Haggadah pours out its wrath, it does so on young and old alike. Alongside
fine and interesting sections, there are a number of baffling and boring parts.
No wonder many families postpone the worst and have the meal first so that
slumber will not fall on the eyelids of the tender Jewish infants. <br />
<br />
Therefore, I recommend that another question be added to the traditional four:
How is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we read
only the Haggadah; on this night we also read the Song of Songs, wherein the
songs are better than wine and verily, even the fleshpots.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-47474396387082019262015-09-12T22:05:00.000+10:002015-09-13T13:33:08.248+10:00Rosh Hashana Drasha 5766: Race, Racism and the Creation of Mankind <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">When you woke up in the morning today, many of you put on your nicest clothes in honour of the chag and began your journey to shul. As you walked down Balaclava Rd, you wished Shana Tova to the people you passed, and exchanged hugs and reminisced with friends not seen for some time. One thing you may not have done, is wish someone ‘Happy Birthday.’ Many of us don't realize that the reason we are here today is to mark the birth of two people.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />Two people, initially created as one, born of no parents, with no religion, separated from each other at birth. They walked the earth 2000 years before the first Jew was born, and 2500 years before we were proclaimed a people at Mt Sinai. Their names were Adam and Eve. According to the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 29:1), today is their birthday.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />The words ‘Hayom Harat Olam,’ “Today the world was brought into being” mark the creation of the first human soul. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Talmud asks in Masechet Sanhedrin, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"Why was only a single specimen of man created first? To teach us that he who destroys a single soul destroys a whole world and that he who saves a single soul saves a whole world; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Man was also created alone so that no race or class may claim a nobler ancestry, saying, 'Our father was born first'; and, finally, to give testimony to the greatness of the Lord, who caused the wonderful diversity of mankind to emanate from one type. And why was Adam created last of all beings? To teach him humility; for should he ever become arrogant, let him remember that the little fly preceded him in the order of creation." – Talmud, Sanhedrin viii. 4-9)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />The Yalkut Shimoni </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_921026313" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">1:13</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> elaborates on this idea by stating God formed Adam out of dust from all over the world—yellow clay, white sand, black loam, and red soil. Therefore no one can declare to any people that they do not belong since this soil is the source from which we all emerged.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />There are more texts in this vein which go to great lengths to express the idea that all mankind is descended from one Adam, a being who was neither male nor female, whose body held the potential to be a vessel for all future genders, races, and possibilities of human identity.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This principle, that all mankind originates from one, exists in many faiths, and is also enshrined in the pre-amble to the <a href="http://zenpencils.com/comic/134-the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>, which recognises the “inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.”</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first article of this declaration which has been endorsed by almost every nation on earth states, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Guinness Book of Records describes the Declaration as the world's "Most Translated Document." Even though it is not legally binding, the Declaration has been adopted in or has influenced most national constitutions since 1948 and served as the foundation for a growing number of national laws and international laws.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Sometimes I read it to my children as a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/jan/30/human-rights-in-pictures-we-are-all-born-free-amnesty">bedtime story.</a></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ybXLB0Liv8/VfQIQOp1VTI/AAAAAAAA2ZM/fYeyf5xN91g/s1600/823327fd-ed3a-42be-8136-008dde4cad54-2060x1185.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ybXLB0Liv8/VfQIQOp1VTI/AAAAAAAA2ZM/fYeyf5xN91g/s320/823327fd-ed3a-42be-8136-008dde4cad54-2060x1185.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That said, in spite of this desire for mankind to be colour blind, articulated in both Jewish and civil law, so many events have occurred in the past year to show the opposite is true. I’d like to explore cases from two different countries that will be familiar to many of you here today.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3GLajQcljE/VfQIzoxl_6I/AAAAAAAA2ZU/Pd9tGOF5aBI/s1600/ba7dd7eb3f897a17a1034e079c3a5c2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3GLajQcljE/VfQIzoxl_6I/AAAAAAAA2ZU/Pd9tGOF5aBI/s1600/ba7dd7eb3f897a17a1034e079c3a5c2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3GLajQcljE/VfQIzoxl_6I/AAAAAAAA2ZU/Pd9tGOF5aBI/s320/ba7dd7eb3f897a17a1034e079c3a5c2a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Twenty years after Nicky Winmar famously lifted his jumper and declared ''I'm black - and I'm proud to be black!'' the response of Adam Goodes to a racist taunt from a 13 year old girl has now become a defining moment in Australian race relations. The day following the incident, Goodes explained </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZkquBdLm0E" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">his response</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“It's not the first time on the footy field I've been referred to as a monkey or an ape. It was shattering. This week is a celebration of our people and our culture. Last night, I was able to make a stand for myself and say racism has a face, and it’s a 13-year-old girl, but it's not her fault.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">She's 13, she's still so innocent. I don't put any blame on her. Unfortunately it's what she hears, the environment she's grown up in that has made her think it's ok to call people names.” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">A year later, Goodes was honoured with the title of Australian of the Year for his activism against racism. Whilst he was honoured by many, a small minority started booing him at AFL matches, the trauma of which led to him taking some time out of football in August this year. Amongst a great deal of commentary about this, I was incredibly moved to read these words of Wiradjuri journalist <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/30/i-can-tell-you-how-adam-goodes-feels-every-indigenous-person-has-felt-it">Stan Grant in the Guardian</a>:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I may be overly sensitive. I may see insult where none is intended. Maybe my position of relative success and privilege today should have healed deep scars of racism and the pain of growing up Indigenous in Australia. The same could be said of Adam. And perhaps that is right. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But this is how Australia makes us feel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Estranged in the land of our ancestors, marooned by the tides of history on the fringes of one of the richest and demonstrably most peaceful, secure and cohesive nations on earth.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The “wealth for toil” we praise in our anthem has remained out of our reach. Our position at the bottom of every socio-economic indicator tragically belies the Australian economic miracle.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">From childhood I often cringed against my race. To be Aboriginal was to be ashamed. Ashamed of our poverty. Ashamed of the second-hand clothes with the giveaway smell of mothballs and another boy’s name on the shirt collar. Ashamed of the way my mother and grandmother had to go to the Smith Family or Salvation Army for food vouchers.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br />I have met with a number of inspiring elders over the past few years through my participation in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6410PzipG4">Yorta Yorta Beyachad</a> program at Mount Scopus. These moving words of Stan Grant are not new to me, and underlie how far we still need to travel as a nation before the aspirations of our anthem are realised.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The country I’d like to explore next is an ocean away from us, but very close to the hearts of many in this room. From 1948, its government had the dubious reputation of being one of the most racist in the world. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I am speaking of South Africa. A country ruled by the British or Dutch since the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 until the end of apartheid in 1994. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being one of what sometimes feel like a minority of Jews in Melbourne who is not South African, the history of this country has always fascinated me. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of visiting this most beautiful and challenging of places as a guest of </span><a href="http://www.limmud.org.za/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Limmud South Africa</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb-jrzRNcJo/VfQKY4KFiBI/AAAAAAAA2Zg/ogzdckl39aQ/s1600/apw2002052446092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb-jrzRNcJo/VfQKY4KFiBI/AAAAAAAA2Zg/ogzdckl39aQ/s200/apw2002052446092.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Before my visit, most of what I knew about the country was based on memories of watching the Power of One and the 1995 Rugby world cup with many South African school friends who ate Biltong and lived in Doncaster. I remember the symbolism of Mandela wearing the once hated springbok jersey, and seeing the now multi-racial rugby team win over New Zealand. It was an incredibly inspiring moment demonstrating the power of reconciliation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Like many Australians, I also heard many stories about Nelson Mandela, who seems to occupy a special place in the western imagination together with Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr as being one of the greatest champions of non-violent resistance, forgiveness and transformational leadership.</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">A month after Mandela was elected president in 1994, he famously said of his people, “Each of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Last week, I re-watched the final minutes of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1VuGEcYV4k">1995 rugby world cup</a> where South Africa defeated New Zealand. The first thing the Australian commentator said when the final whistle was blown was; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL8WX7a-H2k">“It's Over. A triumph for the rainbow nation.”</a> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This made me think, Is South Africa a Rainbow nation? 20 years after the end of apartheid, has it finally overcome its demons of history? Was this nation that categorised all of its people into black, white and coloured for so many years, able to implement the idea in Talmud Sanhedrin, that we are all created equal and are all from the same source?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">On one hand, I found many examples to answer this question in the affirmative. Most striking was my visit to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Hill,_Johannesburg" style="color: #222222;">Constitutional Hill</a><span style="color: #222222;"> which is the site of a former Johannesburg prison that incarcerated hundreds of black and white members of the ANC, three of whom went on to become Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Today it is home to the highest court in the land. The Constitutional Court enforces what is arguably one of the most <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/ms/southafrica/political/constitution/billofrights/">progressive constitutions in the world</a>. </span></span><span style="color: #381e05; line-height: 17.6000003814697px;">Not only does it guarantee the traditional civil rights such as the right to vote, free expression, the rights of association and assembly, but also important social rights such as the right to clean water, health and to be gay or lesbian without being discriminated against. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It ruled in favour of same sex marriage in 2005, passed strong laws against the death penalty, and has even tried a deputy president whilst in office. This court was an incredible prize to all who participated in the struggle for liberation.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WEWeuJR52oo/VfQSSTB3EjI/AAAAAAAA2Zs/ci4y_UMUwuM/s1600/IMG_2086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WEWeuJR52oo/VfQSSTB3EjI/AAAAAAAA2Zs/ci4y_UMUwuM/s320/IMG_2086.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Visit to the Constitutional Court with former prisoner Alan Fine</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">However, just outside the court, there were signs all over the city saying “Johannesburg says no to Xenophobia". These were a reference to a spate of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia_in_South_Africa">racist attacks against foreigners</a> in South Africa from Zimbabwe, and Congo, Somalia and Mozambique. 7 people lost their lives to this violence in April 2015.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The issues that motivated those who perpetrated the violence against the foreigners included competition for jobs, commodities, housing and nationalism. Clearly in these cases, even though both the victims and perpetrators shared the same skin colour, there was enough difference within the ethnic identities and lived reality to bring them to such tragic consequences.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In addition to this phenomenon of xenophobia, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodes_Must_Fall">#RhodesMustFall</a> movement which successfully lobbied for the removal of the Cecil Rhodes statue from the University of Cape Town this year has generated much discussion around the issues of white privilege in South Africa. These have included strong debates about the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) initiative, which gives preference to Black and Coloured South Africans in the awarding of government contracts and university places, as well as the strong feelings of alienation by black students who are still learning in courses where Afrikaans is the language of instructions such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF3rTBQTQk4">Stellenbosch University.</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In light of these issues, of all the descriptions that are used to describe the South African people today on their journey to liberation, ‘a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world’ are not the words I would choose.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Even though we have only explored two countries today, stories about social, political and economic equality based on race can be easily found in almost every country on earth. With this in mind, I’d like to share a simple hope for the coming year 5776.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Many people of conscience throughout the world would like our planet to return to being a Garden of Eden without racial discrimination, but before that can happen, we need to acknowledge the legacy of racism, the privilege that some races still hold over others and the tikkun required before we can again return to an idea we are celebrating today on the creation of the first human. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">May we all one day live in a world that is colour blind, where a person is judged by the </span><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlks-content-of-character-quote-inspires-debate/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">content of their character</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and not the colour of their skin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Shana Tova</span></span>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-9325159027165347812013-09-14T21:12:00.001+10:002013-09-14T21:12:38.671+10:00Neila Drasha 5774 - What if God would answer our prayers?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This is a drasha
I shared with the S<a href="http://www.shira.org.au/">hira </a>community in the moments before Neila, 5774. It
imagines what prayer would be like if it was a dialogue, rather than a
monologue. The following letter imagines how I would like God to respond to our
prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Imagining God’s Letter to the Jewish
People<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">My Dear Children
of Israel,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Over the past 24
hours, you have praised me, cried out to me, begged for forgiveness and sought
atonement from me and your neighbours. What an honour to share this day with
you. To be the address for your teshuva, for your desire to be a better a
person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Intoning
and enumerating your sins, you have beaten your right fist into our left breast
no fewer than 860 times. Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But
I say to you now, in the last hour of this shabbat shabtot, the holiest of holy
days, enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kfI2gFoC9z0/UjREeAwDPQI/AAAAAAAAPmY/-gTiE_5ovw4/s1600/1235493_10151818410955219_941628267_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kfI2gFoC9z0/UjREeAwDPQI/AAAAAAAAPmY/-gTiE_5ovw4/s320/1235493_10151818410955219_941628267_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">No
more guilt. For the last hour, abstain from guilt. True atonement has nothing
to do with guilt, and everything to do with responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Please
stop feeling guilty <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">For
not being the parent you wanted to be, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">For
procrastinating too much before you achieved the things to you wanted to do <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">For
criticising your friends and family without suggesting alternatives on how they
could do better<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">For
criticising your politicians with too many suggestions on how they could do
better<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">And
perhaps, for some of you, not taking the time to do teshuva seriously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Instead
of feeling guilty, please take this last hour on this most holy of days, to
focus on responsibilities. Let the beautiful singing that pervades this room,
be the backing track to your meditation and reflection on the responsibilities
you’d like to take upon yourself in the coming year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Will
you take responsibility for being more generous in the way you give tzedakah?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Will
you have more time for your family?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Will
you speak less lashon hara?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Will
you think more carefully about all of my 613 mitzvot before you accept or
reject them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Will
you engage more honestly in your work?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Will
you give more freely of your time to those who need it most?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">These
questions are for you to answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">My
Dear Children of Israel,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In
the past year, far too many of my creations having been doing things in my
name, which I am not happy about. In my name, people have advanced the cause of
racism, intolerance, sexism, homophobia, war and xenophobia. Those who advance
these causes in my name, forget that I have created all of you in my image.
With equal rights, and equal dignity. Shaming your fellow human in my name,
shames me. Loving your fellow creation, honours me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
siddur you are all holding in your hands, please use it wisely in the next
hour. From what I have heard so far, this holy book is filled with adjectives
about me. How great, wonderful, mighty and powerful I am. So many times, I have heard you describe my 13
attributes of mercy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">That
I am gracious, compassionate, patient, abounding in kindness and faithfulness,
assuring love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression and
sin, and granting pardon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">These
words about my nature are true. I am forgiving and want you to succeed in doing
teshuva. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">However,
I also wanted to let you know something else which isn’t included in the
siddur. I know that your teshuva will be incomplete.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I
know that many of the promises you will make today, will be broken. After all,
why else would so many of you come to shule last night to annul your vows
during Kol Nidre?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I
created you in an imperfect way, with free choice, to choose good and to choose
evil. To choose to kill and to choose to heal. To weep and to laugh, To mourn
and to dance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">To
acquire and to lose, to be silent and speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I
gave you the ability to gas people in Syria, to be blind to the suffering of the
asylum seekers and strangers in your midst, to ignore the hungry and the
homeless, and to use violence on far too many occasions when words would have
sufficed. I gave you the ability to commit unimaginable crimes and also to stop
them. I have given you all the ability, on each and every day, to be a
perpetrator, victim, bystander and upstander.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Every
day, I look at the world and I see what’s going on. </span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">I don’t need google to find out. Because I am the
only one who knows more than google.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I
am acutely aware of your cognitive dissonance. Of the many occasions when your
actions don’t match your ideas and beliefs. On this day, I forgive you for that
too. As long as you can promise me that after today, we have an agreement, that
you want to be better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Better
parents, better children, better partners, better citizens and better humans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Whatever
happens in the coming year, irrespective of whether you create more obstacles
or making the choices necessary to overcome them, please remember, that I will
always love you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We
are created in the same image. Sometimes broken, sometimes while, but always deserving
of love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I
understand that many of you in this shule are fans of the Canadian prophet I
sent you many years ago. One Mr Leonard Cohen. He was one of my better
creations, so I can understand why you like him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">There
is a song of his which I have heard from the floor of this room, which no other
congregation has shared. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJRKg07W1zU">If it be your will</a>. If I could sing one line back to
you, it would sound like this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Now it is my will, that I speak no more<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">My voice will now be still, as it was before<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">From this broken Hill, all my praises you did ring<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Now it is my will, for you to sing.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Gmar Chatima Tova<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-5982070154011426302013-07-22T21:23:00.001+10:002013-07-22T21:23:07.223+10:00A Moral Dilemma: Asylum Seekers<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 9.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.5pt;">Here’s a question
I have been thinking about since Kevin Rudd announced the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/captain-rudd-australia-depths-shame">PNG solution</a> for
asylum seekers who arrive on our shores seeking protection.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AtB-g3bbgRw/Ue0V-K8FWQI/AAAAAAAAG1w/7ZhqG0IJht4/s1600/better.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AtB-g3bbgRw/Ue0V-K8FWQI/AAAAAAAAG1w/7ZhqG0IJht4/s320/better.jpg" width="237" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 9.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If a victim of violence came to you asking for help, would you?</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">A: Welcome and
support them in the hope that they will never be a victim again</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">B: Tell them you
can’t help them, because someone else is also suffering on the other side of
the world</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">C: Send them to the
poorest guy in the street, and tell them to ask for help there.</span></span></div>
Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-1624536238051869212012-06-06T09:59:00.002+10:002012-06-06T19:52:19.051+10:00Eitan Reuven Flescher<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our son who was born at 12:20am on May 30
2012 / 9 Sivan 5772, is named after a biblical character who lived in the land
of Judah some 3000 years ago. We only know four things about his name, and all
four of them are attributes we want for our son.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The <u>first</u> is that he was a wise
person. We learn this from the first Book of Kings where it says: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"<span dir="RTL" lang="HE">וַיִּתֵּן אֱלֹהִים חָכְמָה לִשְׁלֹמֹה וּתְבוּנָה הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד וְרֹחַב
לֵב כַּחוֹל אֲשֶׁר עַל שְׂפַת הַיָּם: וַתֵּרֶב חָכְמַת שְׁלֹמֹה מֵחָכְמַת כָּל
בְּנֵי קֶדֶם וּמִכֹּל חָכְמַת מִצְרָיִם: וַיֶּחְכַּם מִכָּל הָאָדָם <span style="color: red;">מֵ<b>אֵיתָן הָאֶזְרָחִ</b></span><b>י</b></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE">וְהֵימָן
וְכַלְכֹּל וְדַרְדַּע בְּנֵי מָחוֹל וַיְהִי שְׁמוֹ בְכָל הַגּוֹיִם סָבִיב</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>:"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"And God gave
Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even
as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom
of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was
wiser than all men; than <span style="color: red;">Eitan the Ezrahite</span>, and
Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all
nations round about." (1 Kings 4:29-31)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Wk4tvFYpdI/T85mkBvW9SI/AAAAAAAAGyo/XMauxaf3c78/s1600/music_temple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Wk4tvFYpdI/T85mkBvW9SI/AAAAAAAAGyo/XMauxaf3c78/s320/music_temple.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The <u>second</u> is that he was a
musician. We learn this from the account of the amazing ceremony arranged by
King David when he first brought the Ark to Jerusalem, where Eitan is described
as one of the Poets / Musicians who provided the soundtrack to this wondrous day.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="color: #314b77; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></span><i><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="color: #314b77; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">וְהַמְשֹׁרְרִים, הֵימָן אָסָף
וְאֵיתָן--בִּמְצִלְתַּיִם נְחֹשֶׁת, לְהַשְׁמִיעַ</span></i><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><i><span style="color: #314b77; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">And the
singers, Heman, Asaph, and Eitan were appointed to play the cymbals of brass<span class="coversetext"><i> - 1 Chronicles 15</i></span></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">:19<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Eitan is also the author of Psalm 89.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The <u>third</u> is from the first Book of
Kings 8:2, where it says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<b><i><sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></sup></i></b><i><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">וַיִּקָּ֨הֲל֜וּ
אֶל־הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה֙ כָּל־אִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּיֶ֥רַח הָאֵֽתָנִ֖ים בֶּחָ֑ג
ה֖וּא הַחֹ֥דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִֽי</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All the men of
Israel gathered to King Solomon at the special feast in the seventh month,
called Yerach Eitanim.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today we call Yerach Eitanim the month of
Tishrei, the month of the Hebrew calendar which has more festivals than any
other, including Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot to name but three. The
festivals in Tishrei deal with our spiritual side, a time for reckoning and
accounting of our deeds, followed by two festivals of great joy and dancing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">If every month in the life of Eitan is like
that of Yerach Eitanim, we will be very happy for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-plbaHLJtXqU/T85j82UwPTI/AAAAAAAAGx4/zWiFGh4ZzqE/s1600/nachal+eitan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-plbaHLJtXqU/T85j82UwPTI/AAAAAAAAGx4/zWiFGh4ZzqE/s200/nachal+eitan.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In <u>modern Hebrew</u>, the word <span style="background-color: white;">Eitan can mean any of the following words - constancy,
firmness, safe, strong or enduring. In fact, when describing different types of
streams of water in Hebrew, there are two adjectives. </span><i>Nachal Achzav </i>(disappointment),
which flows only during the winter months, and <i>Nachal Eitan</i>, which flows
all year round, whose water source is usually from an underground spring, such
as the river Jordan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -9.35pt 0pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The <u>fourth</u> is that his name is a description
for social justice used on the book of Amos.<span class="he"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">Amos lived in the kingdom of </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah" title="Kingdom of Judah"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Judah</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">but preached in the northern kingdom of</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel" title="Israel"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Israel</span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">His major themes were</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice" title="Social justice"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">social justice</span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, God's</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnipotence" title="Omnipotence"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">omnipotence</span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_judgment" title="Divine judgment"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">divine judgment</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Under</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> King </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeroboam_II" title="Jeroboam II"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jeroboam II</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">793 BCE to 753 BCE) the kingdom of Israel
was incredibly prosperous. The gulf between rich and poor widened at this time.
Amos was called from his rural home to remind the rich and powerful of God's
requirement for justice. He claimed that religion that is not accompanied by
right action is anathema </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">to God and prophesied that the kingdom of
Israel would be destroyed. Amos' message was, perhaps understandably, unwelcome
in Israel. Not only was he a foreigner from the southern kingdom, but his
prophecies of doom were completely at odds with the prevailing political
climate of hope and prosperity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In chapter 5:21-24 Amos says to the
people of Israel on behalf of God, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“</span></i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I loathe, I
despise your festivals, I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies. If you
offer Me burnt offering- or your meal offerings- I will not accept them; I will
pay no heed to your gifts of well-fed animals. Spare Me the sound of your
songs, and let Me not hear the music of your harps. But let justice well up
like water, </span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">righteousness
like an ever-flowing/mighty stream.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<i><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="color: #314b77; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">עמוס פרק ה</span></i><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><i><span style="color: #314b77; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> - <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">וְיִגַּל כַּמַּיִם, מִשְׁפָּט; וּצְדָקָה, כְּנַחַל אֵיתָן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As a cultural Jew, these words of Amos,
that justice righteousness should be like a Nachal Eitan, resonate with me more
so than any other in the Tanach. <span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fffefc;"> Noam Neusner explains that this
passage in Amos is one of the most challenging in Tanach because it directly
contradicts what God told us to do in Vayikra, Bamidar and Devarim, namely,
celebrate festivals, kill cattle and offer them up as burnt offerings. Now God
speaks through Amos and says not only are these acts inappropriate, but
offensive if done with the wrong intention. What is the message of all this? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fffefc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">God does not want us to follow Jewish law,
whilst forgetting the message and spirit behind the law. He does not want us to
pay more attention to the kashrut of our food, than the words of gossip that
comes out of our mouths whilst we are eating it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bottom line:
True religion cannot be divorced from a just and moral society.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KhCaEvaWH8o/T87t4GlZQ7I/AAAAAAAAGy8/Ek2xgxGQFqE/s1600/i-have-a-dream-speech-martin-luther-king.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KhCaEvaWH8o/T87t4GlZQ7I/AAAAAAAAGy8/Ek2xgxGQFqE/s200/i-have-a-dream-speech-martin-luther-king.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In his famous “I have a dream” speech of
1963, Martin Luther King famously applied this reference to the Nachal Eitan to
his contemporary situation when he said: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 14.2pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in
Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for
which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until
justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a <b>mighty stream</b>”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In conclusion, we learn from the Tanach
that Eitan was a wise man, a poet and musician, whose name is both a
description for the most joyous month in the Hebrew calendar and a description
for the type of justice we need in this world. What more could we want for our
son?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The second name we chose was Reuven after
my late father, who on the 16<sup>th</sup> of May 1948, was one of the first
children born in the state of Israel, just two days after her creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LNvluLQjp_4/T85kgaJmuzI/AAAAAAAAGyA/OC6yDGFpwC8/s1600/Polishing+diamonds+at+age+15+in+Petach+Tikva.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LNvluLQjp_4/T85kgaJmuzI/AAAAAAAAGyA/OC6yDGFpwC8/s320/Polishing+diamonds+at+age+15+in+Petach+Tikva.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reuven Flescher at the age of 15, Polishing Diamonds in Petach Tikva</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From the age of 15,
my Abba worked in the diamond industry in Ramat Gan, originally polishing
diamonds on the factory floor, until he eventually became a gemmologist and was
brought out to Australia where he launched the first Australian School of
Gemmology, teaching people how to sort and value diamonds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Starting a new life in Australia at the age of 29 with a wife and two
young children was not an easy task. Both my parents worked incredibly hard to
ensure that my brother and I were able to attend Mount Scopus for our entire education.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When I reached Year 7, my father wanted me to join what was an
experimental program at that time called the bilingual class, where all
subjects would be taught in Hebrew. I was a bit sceptical about this because I
thought <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A: Why do I need Hebrew if I am going to live in Australia? </span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">B: Math and Science are complicated enough for me in English.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NK8j5n6H-WQ/T85klnpPvEI/AAAAAAAAGyI/8JwPBlXiQ_0/s1600/Ittays+Brit+1.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NK8j5n6H-WQ/T85klnpPvEI/AAAAAAAAGyI/8JwPBlXiQ_0/s320/Ittays+Brit+1.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ittay's Brit Mila in 1978</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What he said to convince me to join this program was that every new
language is like a new life. It is like a passport, which opens another door.
And even though you may not need it now, one can never tell what the future may
hold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was one of the best pieces of advice he gave me, as not only did the
Bilingual program greatly improve my Hebrew, but it was also the springboard
for my involvement and interest in studying Tanach, Israel and Jewish thought
in the original language, which was far richer than studying these topics in
translation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RlNYAeuDBKk/T85k0lrINuI/AAAAAAAAGyY/tEEodd2p4Mo/s1600/Reuven+at+14+Rehov+Sokolov+-+3rd+Floor+in+Ramat+Gan.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RlNYAeuDBKk/T85k0lrINuI/AAAAAAAAGyY/tEEodd2p4Mo/s320/Reuven+at+14+Rehov+Sokolov+-+3rd+Floor+in+Ramat+Gan.bmp" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This blessing of language is something I have passed onto Nava, as I
now only speak with her in Hebrew, and will also pass onto Eitan. On our first
Friday night at home, when Carm and I blessed Nava and Eitan together for the
first time after Kiddush, I was struck about how the words for the male
blessing are different from the female.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The source for blessing a male child
that he should be as “Ephraim and Menashe” the source of which comes from Genesis
48:20 which reads:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0cm -16.5pt 0cm 7.1pt;">
<span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">וַיְבָ֨רֲכֵ֜ם בַּיֹּ֣ום הַהוּא֮
לֵאמֹור֒ בְּךָ֗ יְבָרֵ֤ךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר יְשִֽׂמְךָ֣ אֱלֹהִ֔ים
כְּאֶפְרַ֖יִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁ֑ה וַיָּ֥שֶׂם אֶת־אֶפְרַ֖יִם לִפְנֵ֥י מְנַשֶּֽׁה</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0cm -16.5pt 0cm 7.1pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">On that day Jacob blessed them, he said, "In time to come, the
people of Israel will use you as a blessing. They will say, 'May God make you
like Ephraim and Menashe'." (Genesis 48:20)</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 18pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many have wondered why Jacob chooses to bless his grandsons before
blessing his 12 sons. Traditionally, the answer has been that Jacob chose to
bless them because they are the first set of brothers who did not fight with
each other. All the brothers who came before them in the Bible – Cain and Abel,
Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers – had serious issues
of sibling rivalry. By contrast, Ephraim and Menashe were friends known for
their good deeds. And what parent wouldn’t wish for peace among their children?
In the words of Psalms 133:1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pL0WQ30ulcU/T85ldLNfHxI/AAAAAAAAGyg/BUS-KZvfVcQ/s1600/DSC01017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pL0WQ30ulcU/T85ldLNfHxI/AAAAAAAAGyg/BUS-KZvfVcQ/s320/DSC01017.JPG" width="320" /></a><i><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">הִנֵּ֣ה מַה־טֹּ֭וב
וּמַה־נָּעִ֑ים שֶׁ֖בֶת אַחִ֣ים גַּם־יָֽחַד</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"How good and pleasant is it for brothers to sit peacefully
together."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
other interpretation for why we bless our sons to be like Ephraim and Menashe
is that they were the first pair of siblings who grew up in the diaspora, in
the land of Egypt, and maintained their Jewish identity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dxkj0fU2mnI/T85oA8C2L-I/AAAAAAAAGyw/RiTQOMYqaJM/s1600/DSC00844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dxkj0fU2mnI/T85oA8C2L-I/AAAAAAAAGyw/RiTQOMYqaJM/s320/DSC00844.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />With
that in mind, May you my two children Eitan Reuven and Nava Shulamit, be just like
Ephraim and Menashe, siblings with a great love for one another, and with a
strong Jewish identity that I pass on to you, that I inherited from my parents,
stemming from our language, culture and history. May these gifts lead you to do
all that you can to leave this world in a better place than it is now, at the
time you have arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank
You<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Special Thanks to Dr Roni Magidov who was
my supervisor at The Hebrew University in 2007-2008 who helped me write this speech.
</span></span></i></div>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-66278600467418405722012-01-06T05:41:00.007+11:002012-01-06T17:11:06.461+11:00How do you say Social Justice in Hebrew?<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">In </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">December 2011, I was privileged to attend one of the m</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">ost amazing events in the Jewish world known as </span><a href="http://limmud.org/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">Limmud</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">. Held at the Un</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">iversity of Warwick in England, Limmud brings together over 2,300 Jews to learn continually for 5 days. Each hour there are over 25 sessions on offer from some of the greatest minds in the Jewish world. This year I attended a number of sessions about the J14 s</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ocial protests, presented by Ruth Calderon, Eetta Prince-Gibson and two of the first tent dwellers, Daphni Leef and Barak Segal.</span></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">The seed for these protests began in June 2011 when Israeli film studen</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">t Daphni Leef received a notice to vacate the apartment that she had rented in Tel Aviv for the previous three years. After several weeks of searching to no avail for a new apartment within reach of her financial situation, Leef discovered that the rental prices in the entire Tel Aviv metropolitan area had doubled in the previous five years. At the time, Daphni was working 14 ho</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">urs a day on a reality TV show ironically named “Your house is worth more.” In realising that even a person like herself, from a 'good' family with an honest job could not afford to live in Gush Dan where rents had risen by 49% in the past 5 years (42% of Israelis live in the Gush Dan region), she started a </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=531401831" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Facebook group</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> inviting anyone else in the same situation to join her in a tent on Habima Square on July 14. (see</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> </span><a href="http://www.j14.org.il/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "><span style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; padding-top: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; ">www.J14.org.il</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">These protests gradually grew larger until they peaked on the night of Sept</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ember 3rd</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">where 460,000 Israelis </span><a href="http://makom.haaretz.com/blog.asp?rId=275" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">marched for Social Justice</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">. An </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">opinion poll released by Channel 10 television showed that 88% of respondents s</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">aid they supported the movement.</span></p><div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Daphni spoke of the idea in this <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success.html"><span>TED Talk</span></a> as being particularly significant in shaping her political philosophy. “</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">You know, in the middle ages, in England, when you met a very poor person, that person would be described as an “unfortunate.” Literally, somebody who had not been blessed by fortune, an unfortunate. Nowadays, particularly in the United States, if you meet someone at the bottom of society, they may, unkindly, be described as a “loser.” There is a real difference between </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">an unfortunate and a loser. And that shows 400 years of evolution in societ</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">y, and our belief in who is responsible for our lives. It’s no longer the gods, it’s us. We’re in the driving seat. That’s exhilarating if you’re doing well, and very crushing if you’re not.” – Alain de Botton.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">The <a href="http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=232153">demands of the protests</a> were initially for the government to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">do someth</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ing about housing prices. As more people joined their movement, they ar</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ticulated further demands that were formed out of many dialogue circles and round tables.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">The round tables during the tent protests were conducted in a manner that is unlike any discussions I have ever had with Israelis. Inspired by the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Spanish_protests%20," style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">15M movement</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> which brought ov</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">er 7 million Spaniards out to the streets in May 2011, they adopted and invented a number of unique hand signals in order facilitate up to 200 people being part of one discussion.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">These </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_movement_hand_signals" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">emoticons</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "> have now spread throughout the world through the occupy movement.</span></p><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSFS3g96pZc/TwXwxaBDlxI/AAAAAAAAGuM/FiHurAL27Ug/s320/hand%2Bsignal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694222035467867922" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 320px; " /><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">One of the best sessions I attended at Limmud was run by Daphni Le</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ef and Barak Segal, where they broke with the traditional lecture style format and arranged all the chairs in the room into circles around ten. They then taught us the </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNhihcB8ka0" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">speaking legend</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; "><i>Waiving your hands upwards – Agreeing</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Waiving your hands downwards – No</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">t agreeing</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "><i>Crossing your hands – Veto (I will not participate in this initiative)</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "><i>Rolling hands – Get on with it, I’m not getting any younger.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "><i>Raising your hand – I want to speak (the table instructor will note and write down)</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Firing with Fingers – I have a brief comment – Only allowed with the permiss</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ion of the speaker</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "><i>Time out sign – Technical intervention</i></span></p></div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">We then participated in a Round Table discussion which gave all involved <a href="http://j14.org.il/1000tables/">a powerful taste of what direct democracy feels like.</a> Under the rules of Round Table facilitation, all p</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">resent must speak, which in itself is a big step forward from the far too passive approach many citizens around the world have towards their stake in democracy. Next, each perso</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">n spoke to the person on their right for 5 minutes, after which their partner introduced them to the group. After this, each person turned to their left and shared an economic problem they had experienced. Topics that came up included the source of the London Riots, rises in student fees and the nature of capitalism. These problems were then shared </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">back with the main circle, after which we again split into smaller </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">groups to start researching solutions to each of these problems.</span></p><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kWI-smec8dk/TwXxXOlj81I/AAAAAAAAGuY/t3KBrxapqTE/s320/circle.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694222685234787154" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 150px; " /></div><div></div><div></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">In the tent protest, the suggestions of these teams went on to become part</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> of a </span><a href="http://ebookbrowse.com/spivak-yona-housing-report0911-pdf-d190094081" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">detailed report</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> by a committee of 60 economists led by Yossi Yonah, professor of e</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ducation at Ben-Gurion University, and Avia Spivak, professor of economics at Ben-Gurion University and former deputy governor of the Bank of Israel. As opposed to the </span><a href="http://mobiletrunk.jpost.com/HomePage/FrontPage/Article.aspx?id=88242628&cat=1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Trachtenberg Committee</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> established by the government, the recommendations of the Spivak-Yonah Committee were very much by the people, for the people.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">The use of round tables has now </span><a href="http://english.themarker.com/israel-2021-the-people-find-their-voice-1.400919" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">spread throughout Israel</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> through organisations such as </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ArvutOrg" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Arvut.org</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> and the </span><a href="http://2021.themarker.com/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Israel 2021</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Another one of my favourite presenters at Limmud was Ruth Calderon from </span><a href="http://www.alma.org.il/?lang=en" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Alma, the Secular Yeshiva in Tel-Aviv</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">, who spoke movingly about the place of humanistic Jewish ideals in the slogans of the tent protestors. To see her point, compare the slogans of the many social justice campaigns around the world.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; background:white"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; background:white">“Give me Liberty or Give me Death” – Patrick Henry, American Revolutionary War, 1775 <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; background:white">“Libertie Egalitie Fraternitie” – French Revolution 1789</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">“We are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">” – M15 Protests in Spain</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">“Action for Australia” – GetUp (Australia) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">“We Are the 99%” - Occupy Movement (Global)</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Noting that the similarity between the concerns of these other social justice movements and the tent protestors, it was amazing to see the Israelis use decidedly Jewish langua</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ge to make their point with </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjHatr7Ogc0" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">slogans such as</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">: </span><span style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; ">“<span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; ">The nation demands social justice <span lang="HE" dir="RTL">העם דורש צדק חברתי</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>”, </span><span style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">“We want justice, not charity <span lang="HE" dir="RTL">רוצים צדק לא </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">רוצים</span><span style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto; "> </span><span style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; "><span lang="HE" dir="RTL"> צדקה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>” and finally “<span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span> </span></span><span class="long-title" style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; "><span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="letter-spacing:-.4pt;border:none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt:none windowtext 0cm;padding:0cm">כל ישראל אוהלים זה לזה</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; background-color: white; ">All of Israel are tents for one another,” a play on words from the famous Talmudic quote, “All of Israel are responsible for one another.” (BT Shavuot 39a).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><o:p><span> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">In addition to these highly prophetic slogans that would seem for more at home in the mouths of Amos, Jeremiah or Isaiah than the streets of secular Tel-Aviv, Calderon spoke proudly of the many Talmud study sessions facilitated by Alma in between the tents and the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOrQ_1UV-Jo">Kabbalat Shabbat services</a> held each Friday night.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-48kKNFRy3yI/TwXxsuX5HkI/AAAAAAAAGuk/1q_bXGJRqek/s320/Kol%2BYisrael%2BOhalim.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694223054544641602" style="text-decoration: underline; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px; " /></div><div></div><div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; "><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">In reflecting on the remarkable events of Summer 2011 in Israel</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">, many</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> h</span><span style="background-color: white; "><span>ave decried the </span><span>protesters </span><span>as being naive idealists in calling for a welfare state that Israel can’t afford, whose protest will not achieve anything until they can form a political party and win big in an election. But Daphni doesn’t see it this way. She sees the goal of this pr</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">otest as not changing the government, because she knows that this is not a right- left issue. What </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">she is trying to do is to make sure that the concerns of the protesters are at the core of every decision made in the Knesset, no matter which side is in power. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Acknowledging that the change she is advocating for will take a generation,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> the protest movement has recently created a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; ">new non-parliamentary movement <strong><span lang="HE" dir="RTL" style="font-weight: normal; ">תנועה</span></strong><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> called <strong><span lang="HE" style="font-weight: normal; "><a href="https://www.facebook.com/j14rev?sk=wall"><span dir="RTL">ב' זה אוהל</span></a></span></strong><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that will c</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">ontinue the struggle over the cost of living and the values of Israeli culture and democracy. The movement will form a non-profit company in which the public will be able to buy shares and which will act as a lobbying group for social affairs.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; background:white">Together with a number of the first tent protestors, the movement will be headed up by </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Major (res) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZveUQFDqCuk">Tomer Bohadana</a>, a company commander in the reserves, who was seriously wounded in the Summer of 2006, fighting in the Second Lebanon War. He was evacuat</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">e</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">d to Rambam hospital in</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">Haifa, and then rushed from the helicopter on a stretcher, with a doctor pressing his neck so he would not bleed to death. Before losing consciousness he saw a group of television crews and photographers, and </span><a href="http://www.childrenshome.org.il/en/123/126" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">signalled V for victory</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> with his hand. This became the symbol of the war.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">At the launch of the new movement, they read out the following <a href="http://www.zavit3.co.il/article.asp?id=18098">state</a></span></span><a href="http://www.zavit3.co.il/article.asp?id=18098" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">ment</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">, “The foundation of this movement is the understanding that being a citizen in a democracy is not a respon</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; ">sibility that ends with a ballot at election time. This movement will strive to bring about a public debate around the hot topics that were strengthened by Herzl’s response on the eve of the First Zionist Congress in Basel to those who criticised him by saying that “the Zionist movement is entirely a racket, no more!” Herzl replied angrily: “Yes of course! </span><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="background-color: white; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">But all politic</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">s is bustle. The whole of world history is nothing but tumult: tumult of new ideas advancing. ”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Echoing the words of Herzl, I fervently hope that the new ideas that are</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: white; "> being advanced by this movement will be the saviour of Zionism. By combining the best Jewish humanistic ideals epitomised in the direct democracy of the round tables, combined with the ancient vision of the prophets for a more just society, these young Israelis are showing the world how one should say Social Justice in Hebrew.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Behatzlacha!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p></div></div></div>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-80861727333121973752011-08-06T07:43:00.017+10:002011-08-06T08:11:31.325+10:00Stuff White People Like – The Melbourne Edition<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:14.25pt"></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 12pt; margin-left: 7.1pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Most of you have probably read the American <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/"><span>Stuff White People Like blog</span></a> by now and laughed about it at many dinner parties which have also been fundraisers for various causes. In writing this entry, please note that in describing the group of people below, ‘white’ is probably not the best choice of word in Melbourne and should probably be replaced with ‘inner city middle class.’ After you read through the list, give yourself a score out of 80 to determine how ‘white’ you really are.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xgzxFJaYUIQ/TjxodYAm2BI/AAAAAAAAGno/n6PnKbUMfic/s320/christianlander_wideweb__470x296%252C0.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637495687431510034" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>1.Living in North Fitzroy (According to Christian Lander, this is the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/books/its-hip-to-be-white/2009/06/09/1244313134964.html"><span>whitest suburb in Melbourne</span></a>)<br />2. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2010/09/08/134-the-ted-conference"><span>The TED Conference</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>3. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/5-farmers-markets/"><span>Farmer’s Markets</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>4. <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/facebook-group-urges-advertisers-to-boycott-the-bolt-report-45912"><span>Hating Andrew Bolt</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>5. <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/census-wont-count-jedis-or-pastaferians-20110727-1i0m9.html"><span>Answering “Jedi” to the religion question on the census</span></a></span><u><span> </span></u><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">6. Beanies<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>7. </span><span>Having breakfast at </span><span><a href="http://www.monkbodhidharma.com.au/blog/"><span>Monk Bodhi Dharma</span></a></span><span>, lunch at the </span><span><a href="http://www.oasisbakery.com.au/"><span>Oasis Bakery</span></a></span><span> and dinner at the </span><span><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/restaurant-reviews/moroccan-soup-bar/2006/02/03/1138836416229.html"><span>Moroccan Soup bar</span></a></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>8. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/12/03/117-political-prisoners/"><span>Political Prisoners</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>9. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/07/31/106-facebook/"><span>Facebook</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>10. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/101-being-offended/"><span>Being Offended</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">11. ABC Radio National<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>12. Any event sponsored by The <a href="http://wheelercentre.com/"><span>Wheeler Centre</span></a> </span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>13. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/04/20/96-new-balance-shoes/"><span>New Balance Shoes</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>14. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/93-music-piracy/"><span>Music Piracy</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>15. <a href="http://www.ceres.org.au/"><span>Ceres</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>16. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/88-dinner-parties/"><span>Dinner Parties</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>17. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/88-having-gay-friends/"><span>Having Gay Friends</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>18. <a href="http://www.putumayo.com/en/shop_catalog.php?category=9&submenu=S8"><span>Putumayo World Music Collection</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>19. <a href="http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/Events.html"><span>Events put on by the local council</span></a></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>20. <a href="http://www.superliving.com.au/storyview.asp?storyID=447708&sectionsource=Direction+-+Giving+Back"><span>Bartering</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>21. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/82-hating-corporations/"><span>Hating Corporations</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>22. The Greens (see </span><span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH_MBwQhGgA"><span>here</span></a></span><span> and</span><span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T9Ao9TxOi8"><span> here</span></a></span><span>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">23. Op Shops<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>24. <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/inner-city-mums-breast-feed-longer-than-suburban-mums/story-fn7x8me2-1226059914781"><span>Breastfeeding</span></a></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>25. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/78-multilingual-children/"><span>Multilingual Children</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>26. <a href="http://www.theinfantboutique.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1854"><span>Sophie</span></a></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>27. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/08/14/128-camping/"><span>Camping</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>28. <a href="http://www.lentilasanything.com/"><span>Lentil as Anything</span></a></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>29. Cassette tapes</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">30. Coming to places on time<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>31. <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/mo-and-mos-race-in-slowmo-20110531-1fekc.html"><span>Muslims</span></a></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>32. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/62-knowing-whats-best-for-poor-people/"><span>Knowing What’s Best for Poor People</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>33. Leonard Cohen (I’m offering a prize for anyone who can spot a </span><span><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2010/11/21/3072231.htm"><span>non-white</span></a></span><span> person in the audience at his Hanging Rock concert)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">34. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xtcB457jqQ"><span>Go the F*#k to Sleep</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>35. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/61-bicycles/"><span>Bicycles</span></a></span><u><span> (especially the fixed gear variety which are the most authentic) </span></u><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>36. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/60-toyota-prius/"><span>Toyota Prius</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>37. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/55-apologies/"><span>Apologies</span></a></span><u><span> (especially the one by Kevin Rudd)</span></u><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>38. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/50-irony/"><span>Irony</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>39. <a href="http://www.confest.org.au/"><span>Confest</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>40. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/48-whole-foods-and-grocery-co-ops/"><span>Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">41. Self-deprecating humour<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>42. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/47-arts-degrees/"><span>Arts Degrees</span></a></span><u><span> (especially when they lead to writing PhD’s you can angst about at dinner parties) </span></u><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>43. The Age (with a special mention to the </span><span><a href="http://www.adcentre.com.au/good-weekend.aspx"><span>Good Weekend</span></a></span><span>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>44. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/40-indie-music/"><span>Indie Music</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">45. Couchsurfing<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>46. Advocating for Public Education whilst sending your own kids to Private Schools (especially one’s that enhance your child’s uniqueness like </span><span><a href="http://www.preshil.vic.edu.au/"><span>Preshil</span></a></span><span> or </span><span><a href="http://www.sophiamundi.vic.edu.au/"><span>Rudolph Steiner Schools</span></a></span><span>.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">47. Collingwood Children’s Farm<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>48. </span><span><a href="http://www.lucaspapaw.com.au/"><span>Lucas’ Paw Paw Ointment</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">49. Masterchef (Especially the Eco Challenge/Dalai Lama episodes) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>50. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/39-apple-products/"><span>Apple Products</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>51. </span><span><a href="http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/zara-opening-worth-the-chilly-wait-20110615-1g2ib.html"><span>Zara</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>52. Bragging about unique furniture you found in a hard rubbish collection</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">53. The Chaser<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span>54. Acknowledging the Wurundjeri</span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>55. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/35-the-daily-showcolbert-report/"><span>The Daily Show/Colbert Report</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>56. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/33-marijuana/"><span>Marijuana</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>57. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/32-veganvegetarianism/"><span>Vegan/Vegetarianism</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>58. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwKO0hx344k"><span>Flash Mobs</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">59. St Kilda Night market<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">60. <a href="http://www.kathandkim.com/"><span>Kath and Kim</span></a> (This entire show is made for the benefit of inner city people who wish to laugh at outer suburbs folk)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>6</span><span>1. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/29-80s-night/"><span>80’s Night</span></a></span><u><span>s</span></u><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">62. Asylum Seekers<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>63. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/18-awareness/"><span>Awareness</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>64. <a href="http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2010/05/virtual-bridge-walk-reconciliation"><span>Walking over a Bridge for Reconciliation</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>65. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/16-hating-your-parents/"><span>Hating their Parents</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>66. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/17-gifted-children/"><span>Gifted Children</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">67. Astor Theatre Posters<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>68. <a href="http://www.johnsafran.com/"><span>John Safran</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>69. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/"><span>Having tweets appear on Q&A</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>70. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/15-yoga/"><span>Yoga</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>71. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/8-barack-obama/"><span>Barack Obama</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>72. <a href="http://media.theage.com.au/entertainment/red-carpet/key-moments-and-places-for-royal-wedding-2331884.html"><span>Royal Weddings</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">73. The Dalai Lama<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>74. <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/national/slutwalk-melbourne-20110528-1f9fd.html"><span>Slutwalk</span></a></span><span> and </span><span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wswqZBl33Y"><span>F#ckwalk</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>75. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/7-diversity/"><span>Diversity</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>76. <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/2-religions-that-their-parents-dont-belong-to/"><span>Religions your parents don’t belong to</span></a></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>77. SBS Documentaries that </span><span><a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/goback"><span>validate</span></a></span><span> your own view of the world<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>78. </span><span><a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/1-coffee/"><span>Coffee</span></a></span><u><span><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">79. The UN<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>80. Giving themselves scores on lists (With thanks to </span><span><a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelikeinmelbourne.blogspot.com/2009/08/stuff-white-people-like-in-melbourne_08.html"><span>Ben</span></a></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span">)</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:7.1pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">So, how white are you? My score was 65/80. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><a href="http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_white_stuff"><span>Samitha Mukhopadhyay</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> writes that </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-transform:uppercase">“</span>SWPL is primarily a place for white people to chortle at the oddities of race and class and then congratulate themselves for having done so, thus neatly avoiding the need to delve any deeper. Or, conversely, they may like the blog because it allows them to disassociate themselves and laugh at those white yuppies. The core message is that it's OK to be rich and white, as long as you laugh about it. No further analysis required. It's a message that, unsurprisingly, rich, white people love to hear.” If that is true for you, stop reading here. But i</span><span class="apple-converted-space">f you scored more than 60/80, the following statements may be true for you.<u style="font-weight: bold; "> </u></span></span><b><u><span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><br /></b></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">1. You are a confident person<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">The “right” kind of white people are supremely confident in their own superiority. Their self-esteem and sense of entitlement are rock solid. The right kind of white people believe that (1) all other human beings aspire to be just like them, and (2) they will always remain in power and able to secure and perpetuate their values. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">2. You are a marketing agents dream<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>Due to their likes being so predictable, the right kind of white people are highly susceptible to greenwashing campaigns and purchasing anything that’s advertised in free indie music mags like X-Press to clothing advertised in the Good Weekend. Whites are also far more likely to support causes with accessories like expensive T-Shirts, wrist bracelets, and various coloured ribbons. Whites are also particularly susceptible to </span><span><a href="http://findwhatworks.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/social-cause-marketing-is-made-to-stick-but-can-we-also-make-it-not-suck/"><span>social cause marketing</span></a></span><span> which sometime do far more damage than good.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">3. You think poor people want what you have<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>Due to their colonial past, white people have enormous guilt towards people in the third world which they try to fix by assuming that if only the third world was whiter, they wouldn’t be in poverty. This leads to ridiculous </span><span><a href="http://goodintents.org/media-and-charitable-advertising/whites-in-shining-armour"><span>Whites in Shining Armour</span></a></span><span> aid projects like </span><span><a href="http://goodintents.org/aid-debates/1-million-shirts-campaign"><span>One million T-Shirts for Haiti</span></a></span><span> or </span><span><a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/03/14/dont-donate-money-to-japan/"><span>Socks for Japan</span></a></span><span>. </span><span><a href="http://goodintents.org/blog"><span>Good Intentions are not enough</span></a></span><span> is an excellent blog which responds to these well-intentioned, yet stupid ideas. For example, the very trendy Tom’s Shoes company recently wrote the following in its advertising for the </span><span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-mycoskie/one-day-without-shoes-its_b_523190.html"><span>A Day without Shoes</span></a></span><span> initiative (</span><span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlz3QKHJBac&feature=player_embedded"><span>the video clip</span></a></span><span> is one of the whitest pieces of marketing I have ever seen). “T</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span>he great thing about an event like One Day Without Shoes is that it's so easy to participate. We've had some supporters go barefoot for 20 minutes and others have gone barefoot for months!”</span></span><span> The clip made by good intentions in response to Tom’s Shoes is called </span><span><span><a href="http://goodintents.org/in-kind-donations/a-day-without-dignity">“A Day without Dignity.”</a></span></span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><b><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">4. You are possibly quite well off and have a great deal of spare time<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">One of the whitest functions on facebook is the “Like” button, in that it allows white people to demonstrate they are supporting the right kind of everything from humour to political positions. Bolstering your white credentials on facebook or in other places often takes a great deal of time, and may be quite expensive. And by the way, how many of you are reading this blog at work?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;line-height:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">5. You are not unique<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>To quote Christian Lander “</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span>But a closer look reveals that from Austin to Australia, from L.A. to the U.K., indigenous white people are as different from one another as 1 percent rBGH-free milk is different from 2 percent.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">6. You are middle class<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">Christian Lander writes on the blog “It’s partially about race, but it’s fundamentally about class. It’s about a generation and class that values authenticity and credibility more than monetary wealth.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto;line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">7. You are the beneficiary of positive stereotypes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="Apple-style-span">Though most ethnic stereotypes are negative, different racial groups also hold some positive stereotypes of white people.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_white_people"><span>A 1972 study</span></a> found that, in general, whites were stereotyped with positive traits and minority groups with negative traits. Positively, whites are stereotyped as intelligent, socially diverse, and generally non-dangerous and unlikely to commit crime. However, they are all considered<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>racist,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>prejudiced, or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>biased<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and scared or uneasy around minorities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b>8. Most Films and TV shows<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>are often created with you in mind<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_white_stuff"><span>Samitha Mukhopadhyay</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> writes that “w</span><span class="apple-style-span">hat makes Stuff White People Like special is that it describes relatively wealthy white Americans, and in doing so, recognizes that their particular culture has been mainstreamed and presented by Hollywood as the norm.” </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span><span class="apple-style-span">Filmmakers know that due to white people having more spare time and disposable income, they are more likely to watch films. Below is just a small list of film themes that attract white people<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">*Car trips to wineries (Eg: Sideways, Road Trip)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">* White boys trying to lose their virginity on campus (Eg: American Pie, The Social Network)<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">* Films about therapy (Analyse This, In treatment, Prime)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">* Inspiring white people changing the world (Good Will Hunting, Erin Brockovich, Patch Adams, Dangerous Minds, The Power of One, Pay it Forward – Teachers LOVE these types of films)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">* Films about white post-modern angst (When Harry Met Sally, Garden State, Juno, Rachel’s getting married, 500 days of summer, Up in the Air)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span">* Films about prejudice (Invictus, anything by Michael Moore)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><b><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">9. You were raised to be middle class<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>From the moment you were born in a midwife led, doula assisted, drug free, home birth, it is quite likely that you were breastfeed, read to every night, and that your toys were made of organic materials and/or had the word “Baby Einstein” on them somewhere due to your <a href="http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/22/17-gifted-children/"><span>inherent giftedness</span></a>. If you get nothing else from this blog, next time you are having a discussion about what’s best for poor people, note that the reason you are not poor relates directly to the </span><span><span><a href="http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html">daily effects of white privilege.</a></span></span><span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-add-space:auto; line-height:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">10. You are the product of immense privilege<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">Matthew Miller writes, “Stuff White People Like is, to be blunt, something that very few people seem to get. It's not just an attack on hipsters, and it's certainly not racist, but rather, it's an attack on privilege. The 20 and 30-something upper-middle class kids Lander mocks benefit tremendously from their positions as children of the elite, and have created their own "culture" that reflects their pretensions by affirming their own uniqueness and artistic merit without requiring any real effort. It's also an attack on class, and repeatedly points out that in order to advance in a society controlled by the "right kind of white people," you have to parrot their views and affirm their (well-meaning, but sill patronizing) stereotypes, which is ironic considering how tolerant and open-minded they claim to be.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><u>Personal Note<o:p></o:p></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">I have spent several weeks trying to put together this blog post in manner that best articulates my thoughts on this complex issue of class in Australia. If you feel guilty or offended, that is not my intention. My purpose of posting it here is to add depth to the inevitable conversations I often have about SWPL on Sunday mornings in vegan cafes. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">If this blog prompts discussions about <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">-how and why you donate money to various causes, <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">-why you buy the clothes you do, <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">-what motivates you to write certain things online, and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">-what makes you happy<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">Then my purpose has been achieved. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:12.0pt;margin-bottom: 0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span class="apple-style-span">Looking forward to the conversation.</span></p><p></p>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-27874742112424085832011-07-06T08:16:00.008+10:002011-07-06T11:56:36.963+10:00A Jewish Balanda in Yolngu Country<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5dvEuFP9M8/ThOOpLGtryI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/aMLnVEgA2F0/s1600/Elcho%2B3%2B178.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5dvEuFP9M8/ThOOpLGtryI/AAAAAAAAGnQ/aMLnVEgA2F0/s320/Elcho%2B3%2B178.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625997197522612002" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi"><br />Spending five days on Elcho Island was an eye-opening experience that will stay with me for a long time. Learning about the Law and ceremony of the Yolngu people, seeing how they practice it despite all the pressures from the modern world that dismiss it, was remarkable. Indigenous Australian law is probably one of the world’s oldest continually practiced traditions still alive today. Every time we have a national event like the Olympics, Australians are very proud to display their aboriginal history through dances and performances in public settings.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">That said, if more Australians saw the living conditions of the people on Elcho Island whose tradition we say we value so much, they would be very confronted. Due to an extreme <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/11/16/3068281.htm?site=katherine">housing shortage</a>, about 30 people live in each house, there are almost no jobs on the island, and English literacy is very poor. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_National_Emergency_Response">Northern Territory National Emergency Response</a> (usually referred to as ‘The Intervention’) which aimed to fix a number of the issues outlined above is a subject of great controversy amongst the people who live there, with some feeling it unjustly disempowers the local elders and discredits their traditional <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytfqf1LWdQI">way of life</a>. Others feel that it is <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/against-change-for-the-wrong-reasons/story-e6frg6zo-1225766571739">necessary</a> to prevent further deterioration in living, health and education standards across the NT.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">The school we stayed at was called Shepherdson College. It was a well-resourced school whose staff are doing some pretty amazing things. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/yolngu-elders-take-truants-to-new-horizon/story-fn59niix-1226073296852">This news story</a> is a great example of what can happen when elders are empowered to make decisions for themselves.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Our Scopus students were accompanied much of the time by children aged roughly 5-13. They were very friendly with us, often holding our hands and even adopting us into their families due to their complicated <a href="http://www.manikay.com/library/yolngu_family_concept.shtml">kinship system</a> which outlines permitted and forbidden contact with people in the community. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">The Yonlgu students enjoyed the activities we put on such as Israeli dancing and mural painting. We also enjoyed visiting their sacred sites and learning about their ancient law.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">One thing that struck me when listening to the elders describe their law, was that in order to keep it, they must live in their ancestral land near the sacred sites, as the law is intrinsically tied to these places. They spoke proudly about how their law had not changed at all since their tradition began (cave paintings found in the area indicate that their tradition may be up to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/31/2913350.htm">40,000 years old</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">After I heard the elders explain their law, which is intrinsically tied to certain sacred places, seasons and ceremonies, I reflected on the fact that I was very fortunate to belong to a religion that one can practice authentically in any place in the world. It made me think that perhaps one of the reasons that the Jewish people have been so materially successful over time, is that our law (halacha) constantly evolves through rabbinic interpretation in a manner that makes our traditions intrinsically portable and fully compatible with western notions of employment, income and social interaction.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Clearly there are some similarities between us, with parallels between sacred sites and the existence of Israel today (a point actually noted by one of the elders), yet the challenges that exist for a Yolngu person who wants to keep their law whilst living in a balanda (white person) society are still far greater than for a Jew. For some Yolngu, being asked to move away from one’s land for employment is forcing one to choose between keeping their law and having a job. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Before the trip, Emanuel Holbein, who is an inspirational teacher on the Island, successfully applied for a $2000 grant from the NT government in order to provide meals for the students at the school for the first week of the school holidays whilst we were there. Emanuel was expecting about 10 students to be at each meal. What happened in reality was that up to 50-60 people (young and old) showed up to each meal. It very quickly occurred to me that many people on the island are not eating three meals a day. Our students immediately swung into action by helping to cook and serve food for all the hungry.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">I felt grateful for our over-catering, that allowed us to leave a great amount of kosher food behind for the students in the coming week. The knowledge that some of the students at the school may be hungry until school resumes in three weeks was challenging for all of us, and gave the Scopus students much to be grateful for in their our own lives back here in Melbourne.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">I am looking forward to working with the school community next term in highlighting some of the <a href="http://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/indigenous-australia/close-the-gap">issues facing Indigenous Australians</a> today and exploring ways in which we can make a difference.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi">Reflecting on the difference between our lives in Melbourne and those on Elcho can best be described in this story.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="postbody"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">One day a rich Westerner who had made millions from speculating on the stock market was strolling along the beach and saw the fisherman pulling in his boat with his meagre catch.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MMvLftGxHZc/ThOQhBp31bI/AAAAAAAAGnY/P0-5ZnPNp2A/s320/031arnhem07.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625999256570025394" /> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>The rich Westerner stopped and remarked “not much of a catch today”. The fisherman replied “yes not much” but explained that his small catch was enough for him and his family.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>The rich Westerner asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>“I sleep late, play with my children and have an afternoon’s rest under a coconut tree. In the evenings, I go to the local pub to see my friends, play some music, and sing a few songs….. I hav</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><i>e a full and happy life.” replied the fisherman.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>The rich Westerner ventured, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you…… You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span class="postbody"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have a large fleet.<br />Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to a city fr</span></span></i><i><span class="postbody"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">om where you can direct your huge enterprise.”</span></span></i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>“And after that?” asked the fisherman.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>“After that? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the rich Westerner, laughing, “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stock in your company and make millions!”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i>“Millions? Really? And after that?” pressed the fisherman.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><i><span class="Apple-style-span">“After that you’ll be able to retire, move out to a small village by the sea, sleep in late every day, spend time with your family, go fishing, take afternoon naps under a coconut tree, and spend relaxing evenings with friends…”</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span></span>After reading that story, many might assume that the person whose society is most broken is that of the white fella who is working 70 hours a week and barely seeing his children for more a few minutes a day. On the other hand, the story does over romanticise the life of the fisherman, who whilst being happy with his life on the island, would also love to have the access to education, health services and emplroyment that are available in the white society.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span>My friend <a href="http://www.blogger.com/(http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2009/2648173.htm">Howard Goldenberg</a> who has spent decades working with remote communities across Australia has said that the main desire of the many Aboriginals he has worked with has been </span><span lang="HE" dir="RTL">להיות עם חפשי בארצנו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, “To be a FREE people in OUR OWN land".</span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left: 0cm;line-height:13.5pt"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Or in the words of Elcho Island elder Daisy Gondarra </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span">"The changes that have happened at Shepherdson College give students the message that there's a pathway for them, a purpose in life, to be able to get a real job. We want something better for students to achieve in the long run, a career pathway for them, not just a job for today but a job for the future. Our children have to learn to live in both worlds; that's the way forward. It's two types, Yolngu and balanda (white people), working together as equals."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(31, 32, 32); font-size: 11pt; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p></p>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-10141292357617946422011-06-24T11:10:00.009+10:002011-06-24T14:21:57.172+10:00B’tselem Elohim - בצלם אלוהים<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m6pzYjh8JkU/TgPlWIt1k4I/AAAAAAAAGmw/BHu9-Pu2NsU/s1600/5988_110524-goback-refugeecamps-113285584.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621588928348132226" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m6pzYjh8JkU/TgPlWIt1k4I/AAAAAAAAGmw/BHu9-Pu2NsU/s320/5988_110524-goback-refugeecamps-113285584.jpg" /></a><br />The Midrash teaches: One person (Adam) was created as the common ancestor of all people, for the sake of the peace of the human race, so that one should not be able to say to a neighbour, "My ancestor was better than yours.” I was reminded of this midrash constantly as I watched the powerful reality show “<a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/goback">Go back to where you came from</a>” on SBS for the past three nights.<br /><br />The show took six ordinary Australians who agreed to challenge their preconceived notions about refugees and asylum seekers by embarking on a confronting 25-day journey. Tracing in reverse the journeys that refugees have taken to reach Australia, they travelled to some of the most dangerous and desperate corners of the world, with no idea what is in store for them along the way.<br /><br />Deprived of their wallets, phones and passports, they board a leaky refugee boat, are rescued mid-ocean, experience immigration raids in Malaysia, live in a Kenyan refugee camp and visit slums in Jordan before ultimately making it to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, protected by UN Peacekeepers and the US military. For some of them it’s their first time abroad. For all of them, it’s an epic journey and the most challenging experience of their lives.<br />With the all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, the show is one of the post powerful rebuttals to the dehumanising language used about asylum seekers all too often in this country.<br /><br />Australia’s policy towards asylum seekers is largely decided by the opinions of participants in focus groups around marginal seats in Western Sydney. After watching Go Back To Where You Came From for the past three nights, I believe that if our government truly wanted to lead rather than follow the Australian people on this issue, they could easily educate many of us to find the best within ourselves by humanising, rather than demonising refugees who come here by boat.<br /><br />Irwin Cotler, the former Justice Minister of Canada said in a speech at the <a href="http://www.oxfordchabad.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/521669/jewish/Prof-Irwin-Cotler.htm">Oxford Chabad Society</a>, "The greatness of a society can be measured by its treatment and care of the most vulnerable and powerless." The most powerless people in the world today are the millions of refugees waiting in camps around the world. As a wealthy country, Australia can do far more to alleviate the plight of these people. Three good places to start would be to increase our level of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO371jFR-Zc">foreign aid to 0.7%</a> of GNI, support the implementation of the <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">millennium development goals</a>, and increase the number of asylum seekers given visas to this country each year.<br />On a broader level as a Jewish community, I also think that we would greatly benefit by remembering that all people, whether they be Greenies, Settlers, Palestinians, Chabadniks, Homosexuals, Reformers, Peaceniks, Zionists or Bundists, are created in the Image of God.<br /><br />Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his book <a href="http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadBook69.aspx">To Heal a Fractured World</a>, suggests that Judaism is a religion of sacred discontent. He sees Abraham, Moses, Amos and Isaiah as messengers of sacred discontent, of dissatisfaction with the status quo. He writes, "In Judaism, faith is not acceptance but protest, against the world that is, in the name of the world that is not yet but ought to be...There are cultures that relieve humankind of responsibility, lifting us beyond the world of pain to bliss...they teach us to accept the world as it is and us as we are. They bring peace of mind and that is no small thing. Judaism is not peace of mind...I remain in awe at the challenge God has set us: ...to build, to change, to 'mend' the world until it becomes a place worthy of the divine presence because we have learned to honour the image of God that is humankind."<br /><br /><br /><em>The final part of this documentary will be screened on Tuesday 28th June at 8:30 on SBS. </em>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-32896342750034329442010-12-13T22:32:00.006+11:002010-12-13T22:40:19.555+11:00A better way than BDS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/TQYEh4w4VOI/AAAAAAAAGiQ/-FT9vq-KKjg/s1600/groupcheerful.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/TQYEh4w4VOI/AAAAAAAAGiQ/-FT9vq-KKjg/s320/groupcheerful.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550128571000313058" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">I have proudly voted Green in the past three elections because of the party’s courage in standing up for refugees, the environment and more marginalised people in Australian Society. I have also promoted the values of the Greens to many of my friends in the Jewish Community through articles <a href="http://galusaustralis.com/2010/07/3358/are-the-greens-kosher/">such as this</a>, and by assisting candidates in the seats of <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Melbourne</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Ports</st1:placetype></st1:place> and Caulfield at recent Federal and Victorian elections.<span> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br />The recent <a href="http://www.nsw.greens.org.au/news/israel-greens-nsw-back-international-boycotts-divestment-and-sanctions">endorsement of the BDS by NSW Greens</a> is making me reconsider my support for the Greens. While I commend the concern that you and all the members of our party have for the people of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Palestine</st1:place></st1:city>, I am convinced that BDS is not the way to improve the lives of the people who live there. </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br />My conviction comes from the fact that I have spent a number of years living in and writing about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and have volunteered with several NGOs that promote a two-state solution. In my assessment, one of the major obstacles to a two state solution is the lack of trust and sometimes hatred that exists between Israelis and Palestinians. Politicians feed off this hatred to promote policies such as loyalty oaths and exclusively Jewish neighbourhoods on the Israeli side, and terrorism or Judeophobia on the Palestinian side<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br />There are more constructive and less divisive approaches that encourage Israelis and Palestinians to put their weapons down and start listening to each other's narratives. These may include support for one of the following organisations, with whom I have volunteered or supported in the past:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><a href="http://cfpeace.org/?page_id=2">Combatants for Peace</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The “Combatants for Peace” movement was started jointly by Palestinians and Israelis, who had previously taken an active part in the cycle of violence; Israelis as soldiers in the Israeli army (IDF) and Palestinians as part of the violent struggle for Palestinian freedom. The group is committed to acting only by non-violent means so that each side will come to understand the national aspirations of the other side. It sees dialogue and reconciliation as the only ways to terminate the Israeli occupation, to halt the settlement project and to establish a Palestinian state with its capital in <st1:place st="on">East Jerusalem</st1:place>, alongside the State of Israel.</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><a href="http://www.theparentscircle.com/">The Parents Circle</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">Parents Circle - Families Forum (PCFF) is a grassroots organisation of bereaved Palestinians and Israelis. The PCFF promotes reconciliation as an alternative to hatred and revenge. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><a href="http://www.handinhandk12.org/">Hand in Hand Schools</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">The vast majority of families in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> - Jewish and Arab - send their children to segregated schools. This segregation tends to promote rival viewpoints and attitudes that become ripe for exploitation by proponents of violence. Hand in Hand runs</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "> </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; ">Israel</span></em></st1:country-region></st1:place><em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; ">'s</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">first and only network of integrated,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "> </span></span><em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; ">bilingual schools</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">where Jews and Arabs study together in both Hebrew and Arabic and learn each other’s historical narratives. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><a href="http://sulha.com/ShowItem.asp?ItemId=about_youth_project" target="_blank"><span>Sulhita Training Peace Leadership</span></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></u></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">The Sulha Peace Project, a grassroots organisation, inspired by the indigenous process of mediation (“Sulha”), aims to rebuild trust, restore dignity and move beyond the political agenda. The Sulhita program includes monthly gatherings for 24 Israeli Arab and Jewish adolescents (15-17 years old), chosen from a partnership of several Jewish and Arab schools around the country, to introduce the concept of reconciliation and train participants for future peace leadership. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">These four organisations are only a few of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projects_working_for_peace_among_Arabs_and_Israelis">many hundreds of others</a>, actively working towards an end to the conflict through constructive and non-violent means. Participants in these organisations are often branded as </span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">naïve, utopian or even traitorous by the majority of their respective societies. I believe that if they had the financial and political support of the international community to promote their agenda that would be far better for the people who live there than the current situation where the bulk of funding goes towards partisan Israeli and Palestinian groups whose sole aim is to delegitimise the other.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; ">What these grass root organisations now need is not disinvestment and discouragement but active support from the international community. People genuinely interested in peace and justice for all the people who live in <st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Palestine</st1:place></st1:city> need to stop being pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian and start being pro-Peace. This means openly criticising acts of violence whether committed by the Israeli military or the Palestinian organisations as <a href="http://greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/children-gaza-conflict-must-be-protected">the Greens have done in the past</a>. It also means providing positive and </span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">constructive support for the people working against violence, segregation and occupation.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><br />Finally the specific resolution makes a number of comparisons between<span> <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/980074.html">Israel and the former Apartheid regime</a> </span>in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Uri Avnery, a leader of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s peace movement for the past 20 years has noted that while there were many similarities there were many differences between the two countries. Avnery argues that it is important to understand the differences, not as a matter of propaganda but to understand that unlike the situation in SA, a BDS strategy<span> <a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1251547904?ver=Sat%2C%2029%20Aug%202009%2015%3A11%3A47%20%2B0300">will not encourage</a> </span>Israelis to vote for and otherwise support future leaders who would seek a just solution. If anything, it is likely to embolden the Right to act as it wishes, building more settlements, walls and confiscating more land using the argument that “if the whole world is against us anyway, we may as well do whatever we want.”</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> What is really bizarre in this NSW resolution is that it would boycott people of the stature of Uri Avnery or <a href="http://www.electronicintifada.net/v2/article11138.shtml">Daniel Barenboim</a> – in fact taken to its logical conclusion it would boycott the Palestinian Authority and al Fatah because they only call for limited boycotts in <st1:place st="on">West Bank</st1:place> settlements.</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><br />May also the people who genuinely care about the welfare of Israelis and Palestinians find a <a href="http://jstreet.org/page/boycott-divestment-sanctions-movement">better way</a> to bring the long awaited peace, security and justice for which these two peoples have so long hoped and prayed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-22677998630467544882010-09-07T17:34:00.001+10:002010-09-07T17:36:13.891+10:00Rosh Hashana and Eid al Fitr<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/TIXrUCSVdUI/AAAAAAAAGf8/L1_D45b-fv0/s1600/islam-judaism_w.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 196px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/TIXrUCSVdUI/AAAAAAAAGf8/L1_D45b-fv0/s320/islam-judaism_w.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514072048228726082" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><span style="color:#000099;">To all my Muslim and Jewish friends,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">Over the past month, both our peoples have been marking Elul and Ramadan with increased acts of kindness, prayer and introspection. The purpose of these months in both traditions is to assess the things we need to give up or change in order to be better servants of God and each other.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">Netanyahu and Abbas embodied the spirit of Elul/Ramadan last week when they <a href="http://jta.org/news/article/2010/09/01/2740756/netanyahu-recognizes-palestinian-claim-to-the-land" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(20, 125, 186); ">met</a> for the first time in almost two years. Netanyahu said to Abbas, "The Jewish people are not strangers in our homeland, the land of our forefathers. But we recognize that another people share this land with us. And I came here to find an historic compromise that will enable both peoples to live in peace, security and dignity.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt; "> President Abbas, you are my partner in peace. It is up to us to live next to one another and with one another.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" letter-spacing: 0.75pt; font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" letter-spacing: 0.75pt; font-size:12pt;">Abbas said to Netanyahu, “</span><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">We consider security as essential and vital both for us and for you and we will not accept that anyone commits any act that would harm your security or ours."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">Netanyahu and Abbas said these words in spite of the considerable advocacy efforts of both sides in delegitimizing the other and convincing their populations that there is no partner for dialogue.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">If a year from now, Abbas and Netanyahu were to announce that they have come to an agreement that will share Jerusalem along the Clinton parameters and divide the land more or less as prescribed by UN Resolution 242, I suspect that the inboxes of supporters of Israel and Palestine will be deluged with facts, stats and videos about why such a deal is going to lead to the destruction of the other or is against God’s will.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">With this in mind, I appeal to Jews and Muslims to use the festival we both celebrate this week, Rosh Hashana and Eid el Fitr to pray for the coming year to become a time where our encounters with each other highlight the best in the others tradition, rather than the worst.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">I sincerely hope that the Rabbis and Imams around the world will use their <i>drashot and </i></span><i><span lang="EN" style=" ;font-size:12pt;">khutbah to</span></i><span lang="EN" style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> encourage all their followers to end any past animosities they may have.</span><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">After the prayers, as both peoples gather with their families to eat festive meals filled with apple and honey, sweet dates and copious amounts of food, we will greet our fellows with the words ‘<i>Shana Tova’</i> and ‘<i>Salaam Aleikum</i>.’ Should these manifest as more than meaningless slogans and become statements of our intention, then our coming year will truly be peaceful, sweet and good.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">With this in mind, I encourage you all to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wh_NbEJse8" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(20, 125, 186); ">watch this Rosh Hashana greeting</a> from the Palestinian leadership to the people of Israel. I will know that people have heeded the message of using words and emails to promote optimism and peace rather than intolerance and fear when this video has 1,000,000 hits rather than the 663 it currently does.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">To my Jewish friends I wish a <i>Shana Tova Umetukah</i> (May you have a Happy and Sweet New Year)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">To my Muslims friends I wish <i>Kul 'am wa enta bi-khair</i>! (May every year find you in good health!)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">To both I wish you a future where your peaceful actions speak louder than your peaceful words.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"><span style="color:#006600;">Chag Sameach and Eid Mubarak!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; line-height: normal; "><span style=" ;font-size:12pt;">Love Ittay</span></p></span>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-47543983767534059302009-08-12T21:27:00.002+10:002009-08-12T21:39:20.554+10:00What’s in a Name?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SoKpiicMFJI/AAAAAAAAGXo/zniEHNfiKt8/s1600-h/20080606192629!ShalomSalamPeaceIsraelisPalestinians.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SoKpiicMFJI/AAAAAAAAGXo/zniEHNfiKt8/s320/20080606192629!ShalomSalamPeaceIsraelisPalestinians.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369040116604736658" /></a><br /><span xmlns=""><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">A new book is soon to be published called <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/do-not-confuse-islam-with-terrorism-says-book-20090719-dpik.html"><em>A Lexicon on Terror</em></a><em>. </em>It was conceived by Victoria Police together with Australian Multicultural Foundation with the aim of reducing alienation and violence within the Muslim community. This made me think about our own various Zionist lexicons, which I have compiled below. I'm sure many of you have heard these words before, an am interested to know what association each one brings up for you? How can the choice of one word over another harm or benefit our community?<br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><strong>Names for the Conflict<br /></strong></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Israeli Palestinian Conflict<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Jewish Arab Conflict<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terrorism"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">War on Terrorism</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Good Vs Evil<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Clash of Civilizations</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbxrUMMteag"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Matzav</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Intifada<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://www.submission.org/muhammed/jihad.html"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Jihad (as understood by most Muslims)</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.terrorismawareness.org/know-about-jihad/"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Jihad (as understood by most in the West)</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> <a href="http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2685/">Caliphate</a><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=006SM3"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Crusade</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><strong>Barrier<br /></strong></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Wall<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Fence<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://securityfence.mfa.gov.il/"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Security Fence</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.securityfence.mod.gov.il/Pages/ENG/default.htm"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Fence against terror</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Separation Fence<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/C408D82F-9365-439A-A17B-A2BE418A618E/0/AntiTerroristFence.pps"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Anti Terrorist Fence</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=288845&contrassID=2&subContrassID=14&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Apartheid Wall</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.ir-amim.org.il/Eng/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/ShuafatMapEng.JPG"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Demographic wall</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_West_Bank_barrier"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Israeli West Bank Barrier</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><strong>Israeli Administered Territories</strong><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">West Bank - Judea and Samaria (<a href="http://www.yesha-israel.com/index/home/">Yesha</a>)<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Gaza Strip – <a href="http://www.gushkatif.net/">Gush Katif</a><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Golan Heights<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Occupied Territories<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://www.jcpa.org/art/brief1-1.htm"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Disputed Territories</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Arab Territories<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Green Line<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">June 1967 Borders<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/Israel+in+Maps/1949-1967+Armistice+Lines.htm"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">1949 Armistice Line</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><strong>Places of residence in the Administered Territories<br /></strong></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Cities<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Settlements<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Villages<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Communities<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/peace.asp?pi=58"><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Outposts</span></a><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><br /> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;"><strong>People who live in the Administered Territories<br /></strong></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Settlers<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Residents<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Occupiers<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Hilltop Youth<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Colonialists<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Jews / Israelis<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Palestinians<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Arabs (Blue ID, Orange ID)<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Jerusalem Arabs<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Zionists<br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">Which word/words do you prefer when discussing each topic? Why?<br /></span></p><p><span style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;">If you are trying to convince someone in conservation what will be more useful to you, having a better argument, or expressing it in the right words?<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center"></p></span>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-8966564405133525132009-05-16T12:33:00.007+10:002009-05-16T12:59:13.517+10:00Manhigut Le'Oz<a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/Sg4rJ5gzEYI/AAAAAAAAFmw/1IVgIE4cXjQ/s1600-h/Canizzo_Pole_Climb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/Sg4rJ5gzEYI/AAAAAAAAFmw/1IVgIE4cXjQ/s320/Canizzo_Pole_Climb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336250057537819010" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" 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font-family:Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} ol {margin-bottom:0cm;} ul {margin-bottom:0cm;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-family: georgia;">In response to a question posted by Yoram on the <a href="http://sensiblejew.wordpress.com/">Sensible Jew</a> blog about what would give a person or organisation legitimacy to speak on behalf of the Melbourne Jewish community, I offer these thoughts. <span style=""> </span>The ideal person or organisation would:</p><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-family: georgia;">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: georgia;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="ltr"></span>Speak about all issues of community concern in a <a href="http://www.myjewishlearning.com/index.shtml">pluralistic Jewish terms</a> rather than the language of an <a href="http://www.weaselwords.com.au/index3.htm">obfuscating diplomat.</a> <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: georgia;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="ltr"></span>Would <a href="http://urj.org/torah/ten/eilu/v37w1/">Hug and wrestle</a> with Israel both personally and in public<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: georgia;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="ltr"></span>Usually begin with the assumption that more can be gained by engaging with those with whom we disagree then boycotting or protesting. <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: georgia;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="ltr"></span>Encourage community organisations and schools to <a href="http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=5735">share resources</a> rather than compete. <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: georgia;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="ltr"></span>Not use the words like “pro or anti Israel” when talking about the conflict, but rather:<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-family: georgia;">Zionist: <span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.geneva-accord.org/">Pro-Two State</a> Solution, <a href="http://www.israelinitiative.com/">Anti-Two State</a> solution<o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: georgia;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span dir="ltr"></span>Not use the words Amalek<a href="http://www.forward.com/articles/6694/"><span style="text-decoration: none;">, </span>Holocaust, Nazi or Hitler</a> to describe those who seek to harm our community. <o:p></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: georgia;" dir="ltr"><span style="">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Should be knowledge of </span><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/15/books/culture-and-collective-memory.html">Jewish History as well as Jewish Memory</a><span style="font-family: georgia;">. This means wearing the glasses of Memory at the seder table, to be replaced with the glasses of History and reality when reading The Age. Both texts will make a lot more sense that way, and less offence will be caused to all involved.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p></p> Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-82297300101039972652009-01-04T22:36:00.004+11:002009-02-28T17:54:26.288+11:00Seeing Israel through the Internet<table width="100%" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="489"><table width="100%" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" height="25"><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Over the past weeks I have read numerous blogs, opinion articles and Israeli n</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ews sites representing viewpoints of both the left and right. I have written several comments on people’s Facebook walls expressing my opinions whilst simultaneously watching countless hours of Youtube videos and </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.mako.co.il/news" target="_blank"><u>live Arutz 2 news reports</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> about the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel. Throughout this process, I have noticed the same familiar expressions appearing in almost every dis</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SWCgyDvpMcI/AAAAAAAAFPY/iy5qfUmO9HY/s1600-h/12383.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 174px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SWCgyDvpMcI/AAAAAAAAFPY/iy5qfUmO9HY/s320/12383.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287402744392004034" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">cussion. “Israel has a right to defend herself,” “Israel has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza”</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> “Israel’s use of force is disproportional,” “The Arab world will be glad when Israel defeats Hamas,” “It’s time </span><span style="font-size:100%;">to end this cycle of violence” and “Ceasefire now.” I have also read enough comparisons with the Holocaust to make me believe that </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868385.html" target="_blank"><u>Avraham Burg's assertions</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> have more legitimacy than his detractors claim.<br /><br />Inevitably, every one of these talkback pages ends with the opinionated author being accused of such deep<span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.jstreet.org/page/recent-gaza-violence-question-and-answers" target="_blank"><u>anti</u></a></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">or </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.honestreporting.com/" target="_blank"><u>pro</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">-Israel bias, with comments that usually attack the person more than deal with the complexity of their argument. The people who write these comments usually fall in to two groups.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">There are the </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052348.html" target="_blank"><u>leftists</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> who believe that, based on the lessons of both the </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://southjerusalem.com/2008/06/ari-folman%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cwaltz-with-bashir%E2%80%9D-1-%E2%80%93-a-national-nightmare-on-film/comment-page-1/" target="_blank"><u>1982</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> and </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784034.html" target="_blank"><u>2006</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Lebanon wars against Hezbollah, it is not possible to “teach Hamas a lesson” through force and that this conflict will only end around a negotiating table. They argue that terrorism does not emanate from a person or organisation that can be eliminated with a bomb. They believe that terrorism is an idea that can only be defeated by a </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s2389924.htm" target="_blank"><u>more compelling idea</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;">, which in this case should be the value of dialogue and compromise.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051660.html" target="_blank"><u>rightists</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> argue that the path of the left has been tried and failed because there is no one to talk with in Gaza that can stop the rockets on Southern Israel. Therefore, in order for Israel to defend its citizens from daily rocket fire, the only solution to this conflict is a military one. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">In between all these arguments, which are often expressed with colourful and emotive candour, I have come to notice one thing: Very rarely do our co-religionists switch from the right or the left during these debates. If anything, these debates serve only to harden their positions. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">In two rallies held in Melbourne last week, a pro-Israel rally was attended by 600 Jews, whilst a pro-Palestinian rally was attended by 3000, with a few Jews there as well. Did either of these rallies convince anyone to change their positions? If all these “hasbara” efforts do little to change other people’s views, why do we bother? </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">In my observation the real reason we argue with one another so passionately is because we are desperately trying to convince <b>ourselves </b> that the very strong views we hold are legitimate. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Some say, “It’s right to bomb a school in Gaza to kill a gang of terrorists who use children as human shields.” “It’s right to negotiate with terrorists who don’t even recognise our existence because of the wrongs we have done to them in the past.” “If Arab mothers loved their children more than they hate us, there would be peace.” “It is Israel, the illegal occupier, who is the real threat to peace in the region.” These categorical statements make me shudder. Their shallowness and crassness only ever lead to screaming matches. By engaging in this kind of “information war,” be it from the left or the right, we are doing mental gymnastics to justify a logic that for many others is simply unjustifiable. Perhaps it is our way of saying “even though Israel’s choices seem unfathomable to you, I am trying to have them make sense for me.” However, the result of blaring our positions at each other through megaphones has resulted in us gradually becoming deaf to the subtlety and nuance required for </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052036.html" target="_blank"><u>reasoned debate</u></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> and reflective understanding on the issues. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">When we see every argument as a point scoring opportunity, then perhaps we are not really engaging with Israel or the main issues at all. Perhaps the purpose of these “hasbara” efforts is, depending on your point of view, to make us feel less guilty about Palestinian civilian causalities of this conflict, or to make us have less awareness of the incompatibility of Hamas with responsible leadership. Either way, I think it’s time to move beyond the confident proclamations of “the truth.” We should begin searching for the shades of grey and the humanity that this terrible war is sapping away from both sides every minute it continues.</span></p> <center> <span style="font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><br /> </center> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td width="20"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-79271642423500122312008-11-15T19:36:00.003+11:002008-11-15T19:48:33.923+11:00Avraham Avinu and Obama Malkeinu<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SR6MN8WBlhI/AAAAAAAAFOI/rjoYGs23TAM/s1600-h/obama_victory.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SR6MN8WBlhI/AAAAAAAAFOI/rjoYGs23TAM/s320/obama_victory.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268802785234753042" border="0" /></a><br />One of the most moving things about Barack Obama’s <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/prospect-of-peace-as-civil-war-wins/1354514.aspx">historic win</a> in the US elections was his incredibly powerful <a href="http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHbw3n0EIM">victory speech</a>delivered to thousands in Grant Park, Chicago. It happened on the week of Parashat Lech Lecha, where the great forefather of monotheism, Avraham Avinu, set out on another very different journey of his own, which was, like Obama’s, full of promise. I wondered what a discussion between Avraham and Sarah would sound like, if he decided to take a leaf out of the President Elect’s speech writing school. Here is Bibliodrama I came up with:<br /><br />Avram: Sarah, I believe our lives can be better. I believe that change is possible.<br /><br />Sarai: How?<br /><br />Avram: I think about all that I have seen in the last 99 years of my life– the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that Hebrew creed: Yes we can.<br /><br />At a time when people were swept up in the idolatry of Ur Casdim, where Faith in one God was scorned, I left the affluenza of Haran, and travelled to the new land. When there was despair and famine in Canaan, you God saved us from the wrath of pharaoh and set us free to be man and wife yet again. Yes we can.<br /><br />Then we returned to the land, and had to divide it up with my nephew lot, who got himself into many a troubling situation both in Sodom and with the four kings. It took great diplomacy, and God by my side to keep the peace. Yes We Can.<br /><br />And Hagar became my wife, and brought unhappiness between myself and you, and I had to choose whether to throw them out where they would surely perish. You told me to abandon my first born son, and my handmaiden wife. I listened to you Sarah, and your words were proved right. Yes we can.<br /><br />Then God made with me a covenant, saying that our offspring will be strangers in a strange land, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed 400 years, but He, God, will execute judgement, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth. Yes we can.<br /><br />I look up to the stars and God said to me “count the stars, if you can count them, so shall be your seed” . My child-less wife found this funny, but I told her “Yes We Can”<br /><br />I finally got my coveted heir, my beloved Yitzchak, and as my wife lay in labour for hours at age ninety, she screamed “ Yes Yes Yes Yes We Can”<br /><br />We have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So this morning, let us ask ourselves – if our children Issac and Ishmael should live to see the next century; if they can put their hatreds which they’ve inherited from us aside and be so lucky to live as long as we have, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?<br /><br />This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to rise up, walk about the land through its length and its breadth, for god has given it to us. To reclaim the Hebrew Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of one, we will be many, like the stars of the sky and the dust of the earth. That while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:<br /><br />Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless Am Yisrael. And let us say Amen.Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-50296627115634367152008-06-25T18:45:00.005+10:002008-06-26T00:41:43.659+10:00Senior Educators Program - Final Update<div align="center">,וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם--עַל-לְבָבֶךָ. וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ, וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם,</div><div align="center">בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ</div><div align="center">Deuteronomy 6:6</div><br />I have been working in the field of informal and formal Jewish education for over ten years. Of all the subjects I teach, I have the greatest passion and interest for the teaching of Tanach. It is a book that never ceases to enthrall me in its characterization of the human condition, its sparse narrative, the special obligation it outlines for the Jewish people and the real and imagined history it tells of my nation. In addition to a book of religious instruction, I also read the Tanach as the central text of Jewish collective memory. After touch, taste, hearing, sight and smell, Tanach opens me to my sixth sense, memory. Jonathan Safran Foer elaborates on this idea in his book Everything is Illuminated:<br /><br /><em>The Jew is pricked by a pin and remembers other pins. It is only by tracing the pinprick back to other pinpricks – when his mother tried to fix his sleeve while his arm was still in it, when his grandfather's fingers fell asleep while stroking his great-grandfather's damp forehead, when Abraham tested the knife point to be sure Isaac would feel no pain – that the Jew is able to know why it hurts.When a Jew encounters a pin, he asks: What does it remember like?"</em><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SGIH7HGq4gI/AAAAAAAADyI/GPnpq9z9ysI/s1600-h/graduation.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215740030549156354" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 161px" height="140" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SGIH7HGq4gI/AAAAAAAADyI/GPnpq9z9ysI/s400/graduation.jpg" width="224" border="0" /></a><br />Over the past year I have had a first class tutorial in Jewish memory through living and studying in Jerusalem as a fellow on the Melton Centre's <a href="http://sep.huji.ac.il/">Senior Educators Program.</a> Each day I woke up, ate, read, traveled, socialized, studied, questioned, rested, prayed, wrestled and hugged. The fact that I was doing all of this in the State of Israel provided a constant commentary to each of my activities. I encountered people from across the globe who love this land because of, and in spite of, what it is. I encountered a contemporary spoken language revived from the bible, sounds and songs of deep longing, food flavored with a rainbow of spices and a culture of deep searching for meaning, ritual, money and peace. Being in this most dynamic of societies, everything I learnt this year entered my mind through one of its many filters. After absorbing hundreds of <a href="http://melton.huji.ac.il/manpower.php?cat=134&incat=0">lectures</a>, <a href="http://southjerusalem.com/">websites</a>, <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02E2D91338F936A25752C0A962948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all">books</a>, <a href="http://hartman.org.il/">religious</a> and <a href="http://bac.org.il/">secular</a> shiurim, <a href="http://maale.co.il/">films</a>,<br /><a href="http://youtube.com/user/ittay78">concerts</a> and <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/ittay78">tiyulim</a>, I strove to find a medium for professional expression from t<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SGIH69PlwAI/AAAAAAAADyA/L3HmlObqgNw/s1600-h/Final+Project+Poster.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215740027902214146" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 296px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 212px" height="176" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SGIH69PlwAI/AAAAAAAADyA/L3HmlObqgNw/s400/Final+Project+Poster.jpg" width="261" border="0" /></a>hese encounters.<br /><br /><a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d84fz5r_48dr4hzbvq">From Tree of Knowledge to Tree of life</a>, the project I worked on for the past year, is one product of this encounter. For the rest of what I have learnt this year, I invite you to join me at a Shabbat table, class, living room, or lecture theatre in the future.<br /><br />Thank you very much to <a href="http://kds.vic.edu.au/">The King David School</a>, <a href="http://www.jewishmuseum.com.au/adulteducation.htm">Melton Mini-School</a>, <a href="http://vupj.org.au/">VUPJ</a>, <a href="http://upj.org.au/"></a><a href="http://upj.org.au/">UPJ</a> and the <a href="http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+Education/Strategic+Partnerships/Makom/">Jewish Agency for Israel</a> who made this experience possible.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215740543510647554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SGIIY-COEwI/AAAAAAAADyY/mE_ejuA3q1A/s400/group.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="center"></p>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-17671032923599224492008-05-07T14:59:00.005+10:002008-05-08T15:47:28.642+10:00The Meaning of Israel: יום העצמאות ה60 ערב<blockquote><p>“What is the meaning of the state of Israel? No single answer can exhaust its meaning. One fact is clear. In no other community do we witness such an intense, ongoing search, such an effort to understand itself in terms of a higher vision as in Israel.<br />–A. J Heschel, Israel: An Echo of Eternity</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SCE81QZijrI/AAAAAAAADGU/yRwLN-VbVy4/s1600-h/HaramElSharif+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197502330595086002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 230px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 158px" height="160" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SCE81QZijrI/AAAAAAAADGU/yRwLN-VbVy4/s400/HaramElSharif+017.jpg" width="150" border="0" /></a><br />From the time I was born here, and through my education in Australian Zionist schools and youth movements, I remember repeatedly hearing two contradictory answers to the question of what the purpose of the Israel should be, The first is that we should aspire to be a nation like all other nations. We will know that this purpose has been fulfilled "when Jewish thieves and Jewish prostitutes conduct their business in Hebrew." The second is that we have been selected by God to be different from other nations, and with this chosen status came a special responsibility. “To be a light unto the nations.” Both statements were always attributed to David Ben Gurion.<br /><br />On the eve of our sixtieth birthday, we are both. Like most other western nations we value money and materialism too much, our inept political leadership generates more apathy than hope, and we struggle to treat our minorities with the same dignity afforded to our majorities. More specifically the way we have dealt with the question of Palestinian nationalism has tarnished our image in the world more than any other event.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5tDDkvXSI8">Avashai Margalit </a>suggest’s there perhaps is a third, more realistic option between these two ideals. Margalit’s ideal is a society whose institutions do not humiliate the people under their authority, and whose citizens do not humiliate one another. He calls this a “decent society.”<br /></p><p>This coming week is not one for these questions. It is a time for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXEem4aNm0s&feature=user">honoring</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHKDdLh_HeE">celebrating</a> the great people and achievements of the only Jewish State. But once the smoke from the fireworks has cleared way, and the flags have come down, it would be nice to know where we are headed.<br /><br />עד 120 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MDrLD34qfw">יום הולדת שמח יִשְרָאֵל!</a><br /></p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SCE7PQZijqI/AAAAAAAADGM/qU4rwufV7gE/s1600-h/israel+60+logo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197500578248429218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SCE7PQZijqI/AAAAAAAADGM/qU4rwufV7gE/s400/israel+60+logo.jpg" border="0" /></a>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-67084439651748211422008-04-18T05:01:00.002+10:002008-04-18T05:21:49.018+10:00Ma Nishtana? Pesach 1960 and 2008I'd like to share my thoughts in this, the moment before the full moon of Nisan that marks our exodus from Egypt.<br />In 1960, David Ben-Gurion caused a storm in the Knesset suggesting that only 600 people actually left Egypt in the famous Exodus which we will all celebrate tomorrow night (<a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,939681,00.html">it's an amazing story</a>). <br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SAei98gA0uI/AAAAAAAACnQ/1v5d4cDx2ZE/s1600-h/kasher+lepesach.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/SAei98gA0uI/AAAAAAAACnQ/1v5d4cDx2ZE/s400/kasher+lepesach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190296280663904994" /></a><br />This year, a controversy has again been caused in the Knesset after Jerusalem Magistrate's Court Judge Tamar Bar-Asher Zaban <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971756.html">ruled that it is permitted</a> to display chametz during Pesach inside business establishments, despite the arguments of the religious establishment that this violates the "Festival of Matzot Law, 5746-1986", better known by the paradoxical name 'the Chametz Law'. She concluded that the interior of a business is not considered a public place according to the legal code, and therefore displaying chametz inside does not violate the law, whose intent is not to offend the sensibilities of observers of Torah and Mitzvot. <br /><br />And what was the response of the religious establishment?<br />Shas warned that their party would consider <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1207238158883">leaving the coalition</a> if the cabinet did not intercede immediately to overturn the ruling. Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yonah Metzger voiced sharp criticism in a Saturday sermon when he linked the <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/144888">decline in motivation for service in the IDF to a decline in the State's Jewish values</a>.<br />"If the court, with its own hands, crushes a sacred Jewish value like the prohibition of chametz on Pesach, it is crushing the Jewish symbol of freedom and we are to blame for the results," Metzger told the congregation. <br /><br />And the secular?<br />Here's <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/972828.html ">one opinionated stance</a> <br /><br />Why do I share this with you? Whether one is for or against the ruling is interesting, but not of great relevance to me. What is important is the question. And the fact that both in 1960, and again this year, significant time is devoted in the Knesset to these types of questions that only a chag like pesach could raise, is for me one of the best reasons to have a Jewish State. Because not only does it provide me with a forum to answer these questions, but more importantly, it forces me to ask them. <br /><br />Happy Questioning.Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-1904412310838666662008-02-13T21:03:00.003+11:002008-02-13T21:09:12.659+11:00SorryToday the Prime Minister <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/13/2161452.htm ">Kevin Rudd</a>, on behalf of the Australian government and people, delivered an apology to the Indigenous people of Australia. Watching it online from my temporary home in Jerusalem, I could not help but have mixed feelings. Pride and shame.<br /><br />In a government motion passed unanimously, Kevin Rudd said, "We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. For the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."<br /> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/R7LBgR6UZ4I/AAAAAAAACNE/2kPiaGV1Oiw/s1600-h/candles+say+sorry+-+alan+porritt.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/R7LBgR6UZ4I/AAAAAAAACNE/2kPiaGV1Oiw/s400/candles+say+sorry+-+alan+porritt.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166404482855364482" /></a><br />Hearing this, I felt proud. Acknowledging the cultural genocide that we now know as the Stolen Generations is an incredibly important symbol. In his Laws of Teshuva, Rambam states that the first step to complete reconciliation must be acknowledging that you have done something wrong. Aboriginal children were removed from their parents from 1869-1969. For finally taking this first step in admitting the consequences of this policy, I feel proud of the Australian government. <br />But I also feel shame. That Aboriginal life expectancy is 17 years shorter than that of the of the average Australian; that indigenous unemployment is three times the rate of the country as a whole; that crime and alcoholism are more prevalent in indigenous communities.<br /><br />This leads me to reflect on the country where I am living now. What would reconciliation look like in Israel? To whom would the government apologize?<br />To the Yemenite children whose children were removed from their parents when they arrived in the 1950's? To the Palestinians who lost their homes and homeland in 1948 and 1967? To the many Israelis who have not yet known a year without violence? To the young IDF soldiers who spend the best years of their youth at isolated checkpoints? To the families of Gush Katif who lost their homes and livelihoods for no apparent gain? To the Bedouins whose villages are still not recognized? To the many Holocaust survivors who live below the poverty line? To the parents who lost their sons in the last Lebanon war? To the people of the southern Negev who have been living between their homes and bomb shelters for the past seven years? To the people of Gaza who are bearing the brunt of a cruel collective punishment? Or to today's Ethiopian immigrants who are suffering from same absorption mistakes of the past in terms of social discrimination and peripheralisation?<br />How would a reconciled Israel look? How would the process begin? The Australian opposition leader Brendon Nelson responded to today's motion with this,<br /><blockquote>But in saying we are sorry - and deeply so - we remind ourselves that each generation lives in ignorance of the long term consequences of its decisions and actions. Even when motivated by inherent humanity and decency to reach out to the dispossessed in extreme adversity, our actions can have unintended outcomes.</blockquote><br />The very short but incredibly tumultuous history of the State of Israel is filled with so many decisions that were motivated by inherent humanity, but have ended in suffering. When I look at this country's history, I feel both pride and shame. Perhaps, on this historic day, the Jewish State can take a eucalyptus leaf out Australia's book and begin the process of reconciling its past because maybe that is the best thing she can do for her future. I can't think of a better gift that Israel could give herself on this, her 60th birthday year.Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-82785317281092074632008-02-07T01:02:00.000+11:002008-02-07T01:34:36.770+11:00Mechanchim Bechirim UpdateShalom from Jerusalem,<br />The flags from Bush’s visit are back in storage, Annapolis is only a city in Maryland, the snow has passed, professors are no longer striking and Winograd is just the name of a retired judge again. Life in Israel has gone back to normal, i guess?<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/R6nAvYVtmAI/AAAAAAAACMc/JSKU8t4RwDg/s1600-h/Jordan+078.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163870367976888322" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/R6nAvYVtmAI/AAAAAAAACMc/JSKU8t4RwDg/s200/Jordan+078.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />From a personal perspective I really enjoyed visiting Jordan with a <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/ittay78/Jordan">few close friends</a> and telling them “on a clear day, you can see Israel from here.” It’s important to visit the neighbors once in a while. From my impression, the folks in Jordan don’t need sugar or eggs, but would love some water and an end to siege on Gaza. They were quite unhappy about us not providing that last item. I guess that’s why we don’t visit each other so often.<br /><br />In terms of my academic studies, I have been exploring Shwab's common places of curriculum construction, reflecting on Alick Issac's antidote to war called 'Weak Theology,' thinking about how to apply 'blue ocean strategy' to a new field called Educational Entrepreneurship and been challenged by Michael Rosenak's tensions between Authenticity and Relevance(more on Rosenak's theory in the next post).<br /><br />With reagrd to the major project that I will be completing by May, in conjunction with my stutor Roni Magidov, I have decided to focus on the relationship between human stories and biblical stories, and how they can complement one another within the Jewish Studies classroom. The specifc text I will be focusing on for this task will be Chapters 14-16 of the Book of Samuel (<a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d84fz5r_41fs6n4xff">see attachment </a>for more detailed project outline). May the new school/academic semester that begins in Australia this week be filled with an education that not only teaches students how to make a living, but also how to live. (John Adams)<br /><br />Keep smiling<br /><br />:)<br /><br />The real struggle is not between East and West, or capitalism and communism, but between education and propaganda. ~ Martin BuberIttayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-59337586392966334782007-11-14T18:30:00.000+11:002007-11-16T05:02:25.888+11:00Surely God is in the place but I, I did not know it – Jacob the Dreamer 28:16This blog is best read listening to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWXOhsxqiIQ">this</a>. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqkwQx1CyI/AAAAAAAABXE/Dzl14QS4Ui0/s1600-h/desert.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132595874386742050" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 195px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 129px" height="173" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqkwQx1CyI/AAAAAAAABXE/Dzl14QS4Ui0/s320/desert.jpg" width="227" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I went to the desert to learn about the desert people, the ancient Hebrews, who spoke to God from the empty space. It was 5am. I was in <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=lB5yRyNn_oU">Mitzpe Ramon</a>. There was no wind, no birds, no leaves rustling, no other people to be heard. Only silence. The instruction was to sit and think for an hour, and then when the sun rose, return to the bus. Fine.<br /><br />For the first 10 minutes. Still Fine. But then I started getting bored. I stood up, looked around and sawmy friend Baruch praying on the next hilltop. He was wearing his tallit and tfillin. He was speaking to God, maybe God was listening? I have always found tfilla difficult. I go to shule and there is always something that bothers me. I don’t like the shule’s rabbi, its politics, the location of its mechitza, the length of the service, the tunes and so on. I have many excuses as to why I don’t pray at shule so much. That doesn’t mean I do<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqkwAx1CwI/AAAAAAAABW0/isJ0yRECTeg/s1600-h/kever+of+yaakov.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132595870091774722" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 163px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 251px" height="260" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqkwAx1CwI/AAAAAAAABW0/isJ0yRECTeg/s320/kever+of+yaakov.jpg" width="94" border="0" /></a>n’t go. I go every week, some would say religiously.<br /><br />Yet I feel further away from God in Israel than I do in Australia. I thought, maybe in the holy city of Hevron, at Maarat HaMachpela where my heroes lie, there I will find my kavana. But Hebron, unfortunately, is one of the most unharmonious sites of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where many people have their lives curtailed every day in the name the sanctity of this cave. Praying at the tombs of my ancestors from behind iron bars, due to the conflict over their bones, was not a place where I could find God.<br /><br />But now I was in the desert. Here there is no conflict. No blood is spilt for this soil. Who wants to live in <em>this place</em>? This is neutral ground. And, what did God do for Hagar in the location where I was sitting?<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqowQx1C0I/AAAAAAAABXU/QNTL2wcEJeo/s1600-h/hagar+and+ishmale.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132600272433253186" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 126px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 207px" height="235" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqowQx1C0I/AAAAAAAABXU/QNTL2wcEJeo/s320/hagar+and+ishmale.bmp" width="92" border="0" /></a> “<em>And she wandered about the wilderness of BeerSheva.. and she thought “let me not look on as the child (Ishmael) dies.” And sitting thus, she burst into tears.<br /><br />God heard the cry of the boy and an angel of God called to </em><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RzqkwQx1CxI/AAAAAAAABW8/WAYqT2LJUVA/s1600-h/hagar+and+ishmale.bmp"></a><em>Hagar from heaven and said to her, “what troubles you Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand and I will make a great nation of him” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.”</em> Gen 21:14-19<br /><p></p><p></p><p></p>I had no excuses not to pray here. There was no politics to bother me in the desert. Davka the opposite. The desert is where my ancestors have prayed, Hagar, Eliyahu, Hannah, and God has listened.<br /><br />So I tried to pray. I said the Shma, I tried Amida. But nothing. No voice from heaven spoke to me, there was no thunder and lighting, not even a still small voice. I heard only the deafening silence of the desert. I wanted to tell God “Hineni!” But instead I asked Him “Ayeca?”<br /><br />A week later, I shared this story with my friend Sarah (not her real name) and asked if she has heard God before. She was sure she had. I was very excited. She told me that she once really wanted something in her life, so she went to a rabbi and was told that if she prayed shacharit for 40 days straight at the kotel, her desire would be granted by God. She prayed for 10, 20, 30, 40 days. Nothing happened. On then on the 42nd day, her desire was granted. She was convinced that it was a reward for her tfilla. I asked her, why didn't God grant her desire on day 1? She said, "because God wanted me to earn it, to show I had emunah". “Yafe” I said. "But what if God had not granted your desire? Would you have stopped believing?" Sarah replied “of course not.” I would have understood that I was asking the wrong desire from God. I said “that’s a nice logic there, God wins both ways.” My question was not answered.<br /><br />So I went to Aviva Zornberg’s Parasha Shiur on Parshat Vyetze. After the class I chatted with a girl named Rina (not her real name) and asked what she did when she had trouble praying. She told that her Rabbi from Kehilat Hadar told her on Yom Kippur, whatever your thoughts about God are right now, tell him. Have a conversation. Whatever you feel, say it. I have tried this too. But how long can you say how you feel, when the audience is an ancient wall whose enormous stones bare only silence despite the overflowing paper requests within her? If the conversation is a monologue, then maybe “God is not in <em>this place</em>?”<br /><br />But earlier on Aviva had drawn my attention to Yaakov. Yaakov, the ish tam who dwelt in tents, Yaakov, who lied to his father and stole the birthright, Yaakov, who was on the run from Esav. Yaakov, who had a dream, and when he awoke said “<em>God was in this place and I, I did not know it</em>.” What was <em>this place</em>? The Torah tells us it was Beit El, which had previously been the city of Luz. Rashi disagrees. He says that place was in fact Har HaMoriah. The place where father Abraham had prayed, and Yitzchak too. But Yitzchak almost died there. So Yaakov was terrified of <em>this place</em>, where had the akeida been fulfilled, he would not have been born. So Rashi says that at this point “Mount Moriah was forcibly removed from its locality and came hither to Luz.” Why did God have to uproot the mountain and drag it to Luz? Yaakov was running way, and avoiding confronting his past. Like a second generation survivor perhaps?<br /><br />What did Yaakov mean when he said “God is in this place but I, I did not know it.” It was a revelation he had after his famous dream where Bob Dylan says Yaakov “built a ladder to the stars and climbed on every rung.” Chazal say this was the first time in 14 years that Yaakov had slept, having occupied his nights as well as his days studying Torah in the yeshiva of Shem and Eber until this point. But how could Yaakov, who has been in yeshiva for 14 years, not know God yet? Aviva suggested that perhaps he only learnt Sod HaTorah during this time, not Sod HaTfilla.<br /><br />Sod Hatorah is going directly to what one wants. It is rolling the giant stone of the well and kissing Rachel. It is working to get what one wants. It is control, unity and harmony.<br /><br />Sod HaTfilla is spending the whole night calling out the name Rachel and waking up to realize that “Behold, It was Leah.” Leah was not what Yaakov desired. But in order to obtain the bechora he had to find his dark side, saying to his father, “Anochi Esav, your first born.” The Sfat Emet says that Yaakov was speaking the truth at this point. Yaakov wants to amplify his identity beyond that of the ish tam yeshiva student. Yaakov needed to become Esav, the one who was destined to marry Leah, despite her crying her eyelashes out in protest. After Yaakov married Leah he hated her.<br /><br />After Leah bared three children as the unloved wife, Yehuda was born. She said “This time I will praise the Lord.” How did Leah and Yaakov find their peace and reconcile their animosity for each other?<br /><br />Because Yaakov stopped being <em>Anochi Esav</em>, and became <em>Anochi Yaakov</em>. How did he find his Anochi Yaakov? Like Hagar it the desert, God opened his eyes. And then Yaakov stumbled over it.<br /><br />So maybe in order to have a meaningful tfilla experience, I will need to find my “<em>Anochi</em>” this year. That is the Sod Hatfilla. <em>Hineni ki karata li</em>.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/Rzqkwgx1CzI/AAAAAAAABXM/ney5cmfds7g/s1600-h/flower.jpg"></a><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132601071297170258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/Rzqpewx1C1I/AAAAAAAABXc/wAUm5o3B9Vc/s320/flower.jpg" border="0" />Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-23947785097602072782007-09-15T14:24:00.000+10:002007-09-16T22:06:15.662+10:00From trees and beesShalom from Jerusalem. I have been living here for six weeks now. It's giving me a lot of sympathy for God. Being Ellul now, every morning, the Moroccan shule 50 meters from my apartment in Abu Tor begins slichot/shacharit at 4am. Shortly after, the muezzin from the nearby village of Silwan calls the residents there to prayer. Then the <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RutqoS1SlZI/AAAAAAAAAk4/maW34mCj71k/s1600-h/mix.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110295442664625554" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RutqoS1SlZI/AAAAAAAAAk4/maW34mCj71k/s320/mix.jpg" border="0" /></a>church bells from the Old City to the St Andrews Church of Scotland toll. Everyone here is crying and screaming to God. She must be a very good listener. I have visited the Kotel a few times. Cynics sometimes say that praying to God is Israel is like speaking to a wall.<br />I understand what they may mean. But it is Ellul, with Rosh Hashana fast approaching and I need to find a language in which to communicate. The king is in the field. Now is my opportunity. But for what shall I ask?<br /><br />Every year I ask for peace, for the wellbeing of my community, friends and family. Doesn't everyone? But "Next year in Jerusalem" is now.<br />Rosh Hashana in Israel is like Grand Final day in Melbourne. For those who follow the event, the lead up takes a whole year. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RutoGS1SlWI/AAAAAAAAAkg/fpDrhW9BLFM/s1600-h/old+city.jpg"></a><br /><br />The popular radio station galgalatz(think Fox FM) is asking for votes in the lead up to its annual top 40 countdown on erev rosh hashana, the supermarkets are already advertising their specials for the chaggim, Shules are sending out emails reminding the faithful to book seats for the main events.<br />There is talk that someone may top last years bid of 10,000 shekels<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/Rutsci1SlaI/AAAAAAAAAlA/qJzkJQkRQGA/s1600-h/100_3866.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110297439824418210" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/Rutsci1SlaI/AAAAAAAAAlA/qJzkJQkRQGA/s320/100_3866.JPG" border="0" /></a> to open the ark at one shule. I feel that this year, I should pray for something more specific.<br />Our tradition says that God's house once stood on the mountain next to the one where I live. Perhaps this year, with front row seats at the Kings former palace, my prayers may be answered.<br /><br />This is not my first time in Israel. Something I have noticed on this visit compared to previous sojourns in this land is that the gaps within the Jewish community are widening. The antipathy between those on opposite sides of the political/religious spectrum is palpable. The differences in opinion are so wide, that the bridge to reconciliation seems filled with enough troubled water to end Australia's drought.<br /><br />What do about the Kassams coming from Gaza with increasing frequency? The Syrian/Iranian threat? The construction and route of the security barrier? The challenge to the authority of the High Court from the Knesset? The widening gap between Jewish and Arab Israelis? The neo nazis in Petach Tikva? Returning Gilad Shalit home? The people in Tzahal who won't obey orders from their commanders? The people who now refuse to serve in the army at all?<br />The same people are offering the same options. Few inspire hope. Few seem to be bringing any of these issues closer to resolution.<br />So this year. I'll be praying for the following:<br /><br /><em>I pray that we will find a place in our hearts</em><br /><em>A place that is hidden deep down</em><br /><em>A place that is optimistic That is sweet and innocent <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RutoGy1SlYI/AAAAAAAAAkw/8rj2y2Lqgbg/s1600-h/100_3603.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5110292668115752322" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RutoGy1SlYI/AAAAAAAAAkw/8rj2y2Lqgbg/s320/100_3603.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />That has tasted no bitterness and war<br />I call this place Eden. </em><br /><br /><em>It's just north of Caulfield or Emek Refaim<br />There, one loves his neighbor more than he hates him</em><br /><em>There, one honours the difference in the other<br />There, fear does not rule<br />There, one is wise, because he learns from all</em><br /><em>There, one has time, because nothing is more important than the person looking into his eyes</em><br /><br /><em>There "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, </em><br /><em>They shall never again know war;<br />But every person shall sit Under their grapevine or fig tree<br />With no one to disturb them" (Micah 4:3-4)</em><br /><br />The trees and bees have been working hard this year. On Wednesday night we will be enjoying their apples and honey.<br /><br />May their sweetness be the beginning of a journey to a teshuva shleima that allows us to love the world anew, or in the words of Hannah Arendt:<br /><br /><em>"Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and by the same token save it from that ruin which., except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable. And education too, is where we decide whether we love our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their chance of undertaking something new, something unforeseen by us, but to prepare them in advance for the task of renewing a common world." </em><br /><br />I'm here to learn how to educate children. Sometimes, it's tough being an optimist in Israel. I pray that I will keep being one.<br /><a href="http://scopusimage.com/NIF_newyear/english.html">Shana Tova</a> U Metuka<br />Love IttayIttayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14822745.post-59182701543968184902007-08-19T06:23:00.000+10:002007-08-19T06:52:44.942+10:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdZgOvkDrI/AAAAAAAAAVM/3MVPmgjfhPo/s1600-h/100_3393.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100143513268653746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdZgOvkDrI/AAAAAAAAAVM/3MVPmgjfhPo/s320/100_3393.JPG" border="0" /></a> I have just returned from a three day coexistence gathering with over 1200 Israelis and Palestinians held in the Olive Groves of the Latrun Monastery. Sponsored the grassroots organization <a href="http://sulha.com/">Sulha Peace Project</a>, the encounter aimed to use the indigenous process of mediation (Sulha), to rebuild trust and restore dignity between the two historic nations of this land.<br /><br />It was inspiring and hopeful as it was sad and confronting. On presentation that particularly grabbed my attentionsentation of a movie from the <a href="http://theparentscircle.org/">Bereaved Families Forum </a>called <a href="http://www.encounterpoint.com/index.php">Encounter Point</a><br />After the film, there was a discussion facilitated by the two brave protagonists.<br /><br />Ali Abu Awwad was shot by an Israeli settler in 2001. Whilst in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment his brother, Yusef was killed by an Israeli soldier. Ali had spent years in Israeli prisons for actions like demonstrating against the occupation, throwing stones, and being a member of a political party. When Yusef was killed, Ali joined the Bereaved Families Forum to work with Palestinians and Israelis who together advocate nonviolence and reconciliation. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdXYevkDoI/AAAAAAAAAU0/RRkRKbs_ow0/s1600-h/100_3325.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100141181101411970" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdXYevkDoI/AAAAAAAAAU0/RRkRKbs_ow0/s320/100_3325.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Robi Damelin is an Israeli mother whose son David was shot dead in 2002 by a Palestinian sniper whilst he was manning a checkpoint. Robi is haunted by the loss of her son, and the knowledge that he was posted to defend an Israeli settlement in occupied Palestinian territory to which he was politically opposed. After David was killed, Robi also joined the Bereaved Families Forum.<br /><br />They stood together after the film and had a very clear message. For many years both Israeli’s and Palestinians have been fed two myths by their respective media.<br /><br />On the Palestinian side, there is a perceptions that all Israelis don’t want peace. They all serve in the army which inflicts a brutal occupation on the Palestinians. They have never offered to completely withdraw from the occupied territories.<br /><br />On the Israeli side, the mantra being heard all too often is that the Palestinians don’t want peace and are only interested in driving us into the sea. Even this week, whilst Olmert is trying to restart negotiations, the leader of the Labour Party(which calls itself a leftist party) Ehud Barak repeated this mantra. Why? <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/894498.html">Meron Benvenisti</a> writes in yesterdays Haaretz:<br /><br /><blockquote><p>With the Camp David failure and the outbreak of the second intifada, the Israeli public needed a narrative that would unite its parts, justify its deeds and allow it to deal with a difficult situation while describing the situation as a war for survival. The narrative presented by Barak, in which he offered the late PA chairman Yasser Arafat the moon and Arafat chose violence instead, has become resistant to any contradicting argument, fact or evidence. Barak and his disciples have succeeded in convincing the Israelis that the Palestinian rejection of the generous and unprecedented offers led to the wave of violence, and that the Palestinians are not ready to end the conflict, which is not territorial but stems from their refusal to accept Israel's very existence.<br /><br />The "there is no partner" formula is what led to the peace camp's destruction. Anyone who dared present a more complex picture was accused of supporting the enemy. </p><p>But the pundits' decree is unequivocal: Barak's motives are personal; he is undermining the process out of fear that someone will succeed where he failed. </p><p></p></blockquote>Hearing Robi and Ali speak about how they have chosen the path of nonviolence was truly inspirational. They travel around the country visiting both Palestinians and Israeli schools sharing their stories and those of the others in the Bereaved Families Forum. Their message of non violence includes an admonition of Palestinian terrorist activities parallel to an equal condemnation of the Israeli occupation and soldiers who, when obliged to do serve in the IDF, act in a way for more brutal than is necessary.<br /><br />For the path of non violence to work, we need to let go of a number of dreams.<br />1. That military force alone will eradicate the threat from the other side<br />2. That the occupation, in any form, can continue indefinitely<br />3. That Jerusalem can remain undivided<br /><br />I know many Israelis and Palestinians who will never let go of these dreams. They say the dream of the left is a fantasy. Hamas and Islamic Jihad will always want to kill innocent Israelis. The Israeli government will never dismantle all the settlements. But what’s the alternative? Perpetual war? Continued UN resolutions and Quartet mediated peace conferences were neither side budges from their “red lines?” Unending occupation corrupts Israeli society as much as it harms Palestinian dignity.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdXYevkDpI/AAAAAAAAAU8/VoFgza8wlbM/s1600-h/100_3388.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100141181101411986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdXYevkDpI/AAAAAAAAAU8/VoFgza8wlbM/s320/100_3388.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Each morning of the sulha, there were sharing circles where we listed to each other’s stories. The pain and anguish was evident. In the evenings both Jewish and Arab musicians including David Broza, Yair Dalal and a Palestinian dance troupe performed and I witnessed something I had never seen before. Israelis and Palestinians dancing wildly together until 2 in the morning. It was like a wedding.<br /><br />During the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7dw73oY8ag">closing ceremony</a>, many Palestinians, especially the teenagers, cried. Knowing that this island of peace and mutual respect was going to end the moment they stepped of their busses in Hebron, Ramallah and Jenin behind the wall and humiliating checkpoints.<br /><br />I left feeling hopeful that such a gathering actually exists. Many of the Israelis present would be considered members of the extreme left , the Palestinians present would be considered traitors. As I mentioned at the start of this blog, Sulha is a grassroots movement. Most people present left convinced that the method I have just described is the best way to achieve peace between our two nations. We are but small minorities, the majority in both countries remain unconvinced.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdZf-vkDqI/AAAAAAAAAVE/tQvmSdefSvk/s1600-h/100_3334.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100143508973686434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XvcXCxwYDYs/RsdZf-vkDqI/AAAAAAAAAVE/tQvmSdefSvk/s320/100_3334.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=s3f2x12ShPg">From little things, big things grow…..</a>Ittayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02508597128498611055noreply@blogger.com2