December 2006 Archives

In addition to the worthy books Rabbis Grossman and Stern mentioned–and with particular appreciation for the selection of Etgar Keret’s The Nimrod Flipout, a fitting follow-up to the brilliant 2004 short-story collection The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God–I would add the recently published Torah Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land by Rabbi Shefa Gold.

Rabbi Gold has been a long-time teacher and song-leader in the Jewish Renewal movement, and her recordings of Jewish chant have been a point of entry for many into the words of our sacred texts. Her first book, Torah Journeys, is an exploration of the weekly portion written from the perspective of spiritual growth and development, and contains some remarkable insights and practices that are both profound and accessible.

Also worth a mention is Rabbi Jill Hammer’s The Jewish Book of Days, a day-by-day exploration of the Jewish calendar with reflections based on traditional Jewish sources. Beautifully laid out, it can be a source of daily inspiration for Jews and non-Jews alike.

--Posted by Rabbi Joshua Waxman

To be honest, I did not read too many Jewish books published in 2006, and of those I did read I was not blown away by any of them. Still, in my spare time I did manage to look at some of the books put out by the exciting new publishing initiative Nextbook.

While I love the Nextbook idea of making Jewish ideas and knowledge accessible to broader audiences, none of the books was much to write home about. I found Sherwin Nuland’s work on Maimonides and Robert Pinsky's book on King David to be solid but underwhelming and Rebbeca Goldstein’s effort on Spinoza to be at best only second best when read alongside Mathew Stewart’s brilliant work “The Courtier and the Heretic” on Spinoza’s relationship to Leibniz (see Alan Nadler’s very recently published review of both books in Commentary Magazine).

That said, if I was forced to pick my favorite Jewish book of the year (and to be honest I am not sure this book should be considered "Jewish") it would have to be Israeli writer Etgar Keret’s “The Nimrod Flipout.” What makes Keret’s work so noteworthy is that unlike his great predecessors Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, Keret writes short stories on the most mundane and comical facets of life. The lightness that permeates his prose and narratives never, however, eclipses or destroys the pain, anguish, and depth of the human condition. His often funny and light-hearted tales contain within them powerful lessons about what it means to be human.

I have always steered away from best book lists. How does one define “best” for a book? Most riveting story line? Most lyrical? Most moving? The book that made me think the most? That made me the angriest? A book that breaks new ground in one of my favorite subjects? That contributes to my understanding of our complex larger or inner world? That I just loved reading?

Ultimately, I believe there is no objective criteria to determining best books so here is my own eclectic list of six books I found important and meaningful in 2006. The books appear in no particular order, except for the first:

"The Contemporary Torah, A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation," edited by David E.S. Stein. One must always begin with Torah so here it is. What a pleasure to read the creation story and finally see that God created humankind, which, at least according to the great biblical scholar Harry Orlinsky, is the most accurate translation anyway. That sentence and others warmed the cockles of my heart and earned this volume a place on my crowded bookcase. This easy to read translation is a great place to start one’s daily or weekly reading of the biblical text.

"MitzvahChic: How to Host a Meaningful, Fun, Drop-Dead Gorgeous Bar or Bat Mitzvah," by Gail Anthony Greenberg. A congregant turned me on to this wonderful book full of concrete recommendations for making a Bar or Bat Mitzvah party not only fun but meaningful. There is a section of recommendations for every weekly Torah reading parsha and Jewish holiday that makes it easy to put the mitzvah and meaning back into the celebration.

"Night," by Elie Wiesel. This classic made it back to the best seller lists when Oprah included it in her Book Club. Wiesel’s moving story provides a poignant call to action in the face of a world in which rising anti-Semitism, a genocidal Iranian president, and the ongoing slaughter in the Sudan continues unabated.

"Sarah Laughed, Lessons from the Wisdom and Stories of Biblical Women," and "Inventing Jewish Ritual, New American Traditions," by Vanessa Ochs. OK, these are really two books, but I’m counting them as one. Whatever Ochs writes is worth reading. Her lyrical voice and observant eye offer a rare bridge between scholarship and inspiration.

"Changing Places, A Journey with My Parents into Their Old Age," by Judy Kraemer. Although not a new book, I read it this year for the first time when a congregant recommended it. Anyone whose parents are aging should read this moving, insightful and beautifully written book.

"The Unfolding Tradition, Jewish Law After Sinai," by Elliot Dorff. Anyone interested in religion and change will find this volume essential reading. This seminal volume is all the more critical for those of us who seek to negotiate at one and the same time embracing tradition and change as an expression of our love of God, Torah and the Jewish people.

In response to Rabbi Eliyahu Stern's blog post criticizing former President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," "God's Politics" guest blogger Jeff Halper, an Israeli peace activist, defended Carter's perspective on Israeli policies toward Palestinians and his use of the term "apartheid."

Virtual Talmud's Rabbis Rabbi Joshua Waxman and Rabbi Susan Grossman
answered Halper. Now Rabbi Stern replies to Halper:

Mr. Halper: Enough with the lies and rhetoric.

Will you and your ilk once and for all respond to facts? Before you begin another rant, do your readers a favor: Just answer the questions raised in Alan Dershowitz's review. Since it seems you have not read the review, I will include it below. So before you answer me or Rabbi Waxman’s and Rabbi Grossman's excellent responses to your post, please just try–I know it might be hard, it actaully was so hard that Jimmy Carter himself has been unable to do it–but try to read and respond to the following:


“Mr. Carter emphasizes that 'Christian and Muslim Arabs had continued to live in this same land since Roman times,' but he ignores the fact that Jews have lived in Hebron, Tzfat, Jerusalem, and other cities for even longer. Nor does he discuss the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab countries since 1948.

“Mr. Carter repeatedly claims that the Palestinian Arabs have long supported a two-state solution and the Israelis have always opposed it. Yet he makes no mention of the fact that in 1938 the Peel Commission proposed a two-state solution, with Israel receiving a mere sliver of its ancient homeland and the Palestinians receiving the bulk of the land. The Jews accepted and the Palestinians rejected this proposal because Arab leaders cared more about there being no Jewish state on Muslim holy land than about having a Palestinian state of their own.

“He barely mentions Israel's acceptance, and the Palestinian rejection, of the United Nation's division of the mandate in 1948.

“He claims that in 1967 Israel launched a preemptive attack against Jordan. The fact is that Jordan attacked Israel first, Israel tried desperately to persuade Jordan to remain out of the war, and Israel counterattacked after the Jordanian army surrounded Jerusalem, firing missiles into the center of the city. Only then did Israel capture the West Bank, which it was willing to return in exchange for peace and recognition from Jordan.

“Mr. Carter repeatedly mentions Security Council Resolution 242, which called for return of captured territories in exchange for peace, recognition, and secure boundaries, but he ignores that Israel accepted and all the Arab nations and the Palestinians rejected this resolution. The Arabs met in Khartum and issued their three famous 'no's': 'No peace, no recognition, no negotiation.' But you wouldn't know that from reading the history according to Mr. Carter.
Mr. Carter faults Israel for its 'air strike that destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor' without mentioning that Iraq had threatened to attack Israel with nuclear weapons if Iraq succeeded in building a bomb.

“Mr. Carter faults Israel for its administration of Christian and Muslim religious sites, when in fact Israel is scrupulous about ensuring those of every religion the right to worship as they please—consistent, of course, with security needs. He fails to mention that between 1948 and 1967, when Jordan occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Hashemites destroyed and desecrated Jewish religious sites and prevented Jews from praying at the Western Wall. He also never mentions Egypt's brutal occupation of Gaza between 1949 and 1967.

“Mr. Carter blames Israel, and exonerates Arafat, for the Palestinian refusal to accept statehood on 95% of the West Bank and all of Gaza pursuant to the Clinton-Barak offers at Camp David and Taba in 2000–2001. He accepts the Palestinian revisionist history, rejects the eyewitness accounts of President Clinton and Dennis Ross, and ignores Saudi Prince Bandar's accusation that Arafat's rejection of the proposal was "a crime" and that Arafat's account 'was not truthful' —except, apparently, to Mr. Carter. The fact that Mr. Carter chooses to believe Arafat over Mr. Clinton speaks volumes.”

In response to Rabbi Eliyahu Stern's blog post criticizing former President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," "God's Politics" guest blogger Jeff Halper, an Israeli peace activist, defended Carter's perspective on Israeli policies toward Palestinians and his use of the term "apartheid."

Read Virtual Talmud blogger Rabbi Susan Grossman's reply to Halper:

Commenting on Jimmy Carter's newest book, Jeff Halper says “apartheid” is "exactly what Israel is doing, from annexing its huge settlement blocs to imprisoning the Palestinians behind 26-foot concrete walls and electrified fences. I don't even see what the ‘controversy’ is about. Just go to the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem and open your eyes."

I have been to the West Bank and Gaza and have seen the security barrier with my own eyes, several times. I traveled with Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and with Rabbis for Human Rights, on whose advisory board I sit.

The electrified fences Halper refers do not deliver shocks to those who touch them, as one might infer from Halper's words. They do not harm anyone touching them. They are electrified with sensors which inform the army whenever someone tries to climb over them.

The walls comprise only short sections of the overall security barrier, most often to block Palestinian snipers from lethally shooting passengers in Israel proper driving in cars or putting their children to sleep in their bedrooms.

The barrier would not be necessary if Palestinians had in fact fulfilled the commitment they made to then-President Carter to renounce violence for negotiations. It is a shanda (a shame) that Carter, who could do so much good as an honest broker for peace in the region, sold out to become a lobbyist for the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who never could make the transition from terrorist to statesman and thus led his people to perdition instead of peace and statehood.

Now that chaos reigns in the territories, the situation is even worse.

The reality is that since the security barrier went up, deaths from terrorism are down in Israel. Simply put: The barrier makes it much more difficult for suicide bombers to get through to kill innocents.

It is true that the security barrier has created hardship for many Palestinians. It is also true that Israel's own courts have required the army to restructure the barrier to ease up some of those hardships. (That is not what would happen in an apartheid state.) But the bottom line is, if we are weighing hardship against loss of life, Judaism would come down on the side of saving lives.

As Alan Dershowitz points out in his fine article in The Boston Globe, if we really want to identify apartheid nations in the Middle East, we should look to the Arab nations that ban citizenship to non-Muslims. In contrast, Israel provides its Arab citizens with civil rights, electoral representation, and the full protection of the courts, which often support their causes.

There certainly are inequities in Israel, as there are here in the United States on race and class issues. But that is not the same thing as practicing apartheid. To imply Israel is doing so is simply slanderous. Worse, it actually undermines lasting peace by continuing to polarize the parties rather than bring them together.

Israel is not an ideal society, and the security barrier is far from the solution many of us, on the left or center, would prefer, let alone need, if there were a partner willing to commit to peace on the other side of the wall.

The cement slabs that are shown in the photo in Halper's blog post are from Abu Dis. They sit on a roadway. When I asked why, I was told it was because they could be set up without causing destruction to area homes and because they can be easily removed!

The hope is that they can be removed quickly, as soon as the threat of terrorism ends. But that will not be the case until enough Palestinian people in the territories decide they are better off living in peace next to a Jewish State that they are willing to elect leaders who will broker and enforce such a peace. Until then, good fences remain necessary to protect against bad, i.e., deadly, neighbors.

--Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman

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