Rabbi Eliyahu Stern: October 2006 Archives

Truth be told, my first three years watching Sacha Baron Cohen was spent fast-forwarding through Borat on to Ali G. And for the last year or two Bruno has replaced Ali G as my favorite character. But recently--maybe only the last six months or so--I have gained a new-found appreciation for that Khazakh Borat. Whatever, I still think Bruno's fashion euphemism for something not being sufficiently stylish "send 'em to Auschwitz" beats Borat's middle-America sing-along of "throw the Jew down the well."

What I like about all three characters is that they highlight the idiocy of bigotry. Contrary to popular belief, Cohen does not "get away" with what he does because he is Jewish--he is not gay and yet his Bruno character is the best spoof on homophobia out there. Cohen "gets away" with it because ultimately he is mocking those who are sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic.

Perhaps a more provocative way to see Cohen's work is in opposition to the music album "Jewface," put out by bunch of kitchy pop-hipster Jews associated with a record label named Reboot Stereophonic. Unlike Borat, here it is actual Jews embracing and promoting the worst Jewish stereotypes. Unlike the Borat effect, "Jewface" does not mock anti-Semitic sterotypes; it celebrates them and says yeh, there is some truth here.

The producers of this album--who, in their own words, are "all kind of disaffected American Jews, who aren’t particularly religious, don’t really practice, and don’t really lead very Jewish lives at all”--seem to think that by digging up and releasing artistic musical experiments in pathetic self-mockery (and perhaps self-hatred) they might be tapping into a whole new form of Jewish identity. With tracks such as "When Mose With His Nose Leads the Band,” who could disagree?

I mean this is art, very serious art. Children, just do me and the rest of the Jewish people--you know, those of us who are not as cool, hip, and ohh how can I forget...as ironic as all of you--a favor: Please don't forget to close your bedroom door when you're playing your music.

All too many times the “McMansion” issue is just a socially acceptable form of Orthodox bashing. “Why do these Jews have to destroy our communities?” “The Orthodox have no respect for our aesthetic.” “Don’t they have any shame?” These are only a few of the comments lurking not so deep beneath some Conservative or Reform Jews' Sunday afternoon observation of “Oh my God--look at that disgusting, gauche brick thing that they put up on what used to be the Cohen’s lawn!”

The bottom line is Orthodox Jews have figured out how to earn a little bit of gelt, and when you have seven kids, anything less than a mansion can get a little bit tight. Granted, I find most Orthodox Jews in the "Five Towns" of Long Island and other locales guilty of overindulging in a nouveau-riche aesthetic that makes even the most polite blush.

Likewise, many Orthodox Jews may have a Mercedes in the driveway and spend Passover in luxury hotels in Florida but can’t afford to pay up their synagogue membership dues. (It took close to 15 years for one Long Island synagogue known for its so-called wealthy congregants with mega-McMansion homes to raise enough funds for a synagogue-rebuilding project).

And yes, I am sorry to say but many Orthodox Jews in the Five Towns, Teaneck, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, have little respect or notion of a public aesthetic that’s tasteful, modest, and respectful of a community's history. That said, when you have a lot of kids, what is most important is not looks but space. Kids require space, Shabbat company requires space, and hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests) requires space.

Its not Orthodox Jews who have a problem: it’s the rest of the Jewish community that gawk at the mansions of celebrities and take vacations to Newport, Rhode Island, to admire the palaces that were built by wealthy WASPs.

Of course, people who find the need to have mikvahs (ritual baths) built into their homes are pathetic, but let’s be fair and honest: Are they any more pathetic than the rest of America that dreams about having a pool in their backyard?

Today's front page New Times article on Israeli machismo is very telling. It highlights how even those who speak in the most universal ethical/religious terms can locally act in the most unethical and anti-religious manner.

The Israeli machismo issue is only one angle of the larger issue of how we cope with power. The machismo that was privileged/tolerated for so long in Israeli society issue points to what Rabbi Grossman's post touches on: Namely, how do those in positions of authority--specifically those in positions of ethical, political, and religious authority--treat those closest to them?

It's very easy to give God, a nation, or the cosmos respect; it is much more difficult to treat other human beings with respect. Rabbi Israel Salanter was known to have said, "I take care of my spiritual needs by taking care of other people's physical needs."

Great warriors, politicians, gurus, ministers, rabbis, and priests ask for enormous amounts of trust from their followers. They speak in abstract terms of "winning wars," "protecting nations," "saving souls," and "leading congregations."

In their desire to save the world, these outstanding individuals are prone to forget about the pashut (simple) person who has given over his/her trust. The challenge of being a leader in any realm of life is to never forget about where one's claim to leadership comes from: real, live human beings.

If there is any truth to the mounting rape and misconduct charges facing Israeli President Moshe Katzav, it will be a sad day not only for Israel but all religious Jews. The truth is that at this point there is not much to say. Katzav is innocent until proven otherwise. That said, it does not look good for the President.

What is most pathetic about the Katzav affair is that right around the time these charges started to pop up, the president was letting it be known that he would not refer to Conservative and Reform rabbis as "rabbis." So I guess it's kosher to ogle some young women but to call a Reform Jew "rabbi" is sacrilegious. How pious!!

If any of these charges is true--and there are a number of them to reckon with--this is just another case of religious people giving religious people a bad name.

Its not that Katzav should be treated any more harshly than anyone else. It's just that I wish religious people would stop being so concerned with mitzvot ben adam la makom (deeds done between man and God) while ignoring mitzvot ben adam lechavero (interpersonal religious behavior).

Katzav, just do us a favor: Before you go around giving us your religious assessment of other human beings, go worry about your own neshamah (soul).

Idolatry as “Bad habits,” “addictions,” “kissing Torah scrolls”: Weren’t these the kind of things pulpit rabbis spoke about in the 1950s on Shabbat when they couldn’t think of anything else to talk about?

Both Rabbi Waxman and Rabbi Grossman fail to address the searing social and religious issues regarding idolatry and Torah today.

As I have written elsewhere, the issue of idolatry is at the center of what some have called the clash of civilizations. If we look back and remember the first time most of us heard about the Taliban, it was not on Sept. 12, 2001, but a few months before that, in March 2001, when they decided to blow up ancient statues of the Buddha, claiming that the images where idolatrous.

Truth be told, the greatest idolatry being perpetrated today is by those who have substituted finite religious text for an infinite God. The extreme elements within Islam and Christianity (and some religious Zionists in Israel) are currently unable to distinguish between God and God’s written word.

God’s fixed word has in some sense taken the place of God’s infinite being. Idolatry is when one confuses a partial truth for a whole truth, or when one makes a relative into an absolute. As the 18th-century thinker Moses Mendelssohn argued in his book, "Jerusalem," God gave Judaism an oral law in order to act as bulwark against the idolatry of text. What these groups fail to realize is the ultimate infinity of God’s being. The struggle each of us engages in every day is keeping that infinity present.

These radical elements of religion, especially in Islam, wish to engender an absolute rule over all of humanity, forcing all to obey their reading of sacred text. This tyranny has now moved beyond politics and is infecting culture.

Whether it's Muslim cab drivers in Minnesota who refuse to take passengers carrying liquor, or Muslims in Europe threatening to disrupt a Mozart opera that contains “heretical” ideas, a new wave of cultural absolutism has been unleashed on humanity.

What is most ironic is that it is those who are screaming against idolatry are its greatest practitioners. What is child sacrifice if not a suicide bomber?

In Judaism, the term for idolatry is avodah zarah, which literally means a strange worship of God. It does not mean a denial of God, but rather serving God in an abnormal way. In other words, although one's intention may have a grain of truth, the mode of practice is all wrong and confused.

What all idolaters have in common is that they are religiously intoxicated human beings. They want to become closer to God; unfortunately what they forget is that they, like all of us, will never truly know God.

It's ironic that Rabbi Grossman sees Sukkot as an enjoyable holiday. In its essence, the holiday is meant to make us feel uncomfortable and challenge our sense of rootedness and complacency. Yes it might say in Scripture that you should...