Category: Israel / Judaism

Aspects of Forgiveness

People who know me in real life know that as Jewish observance goes I am on the low end of the spectrum, but I do take Yom Kippur seriously. I believe we reap what we sow in life, and thus this is the time of year to stop and consider what it is that you’re putting out.

There are three aspects to teshuvah, as I see it:

1) Asking forgiveness from Adonai
2) Asking forgiveness from other people
3) Forgiving yourself

I struggle a lot with number three.

For those who observe, I wish you an easy fast, and may we all be sealed for a blessing this coming year.

With Friends Like These

by way of Tapped, here’s an NPR piece on the influx of Evangelical tourism to, and financial support of, Israel. With supporters like this, though, you have to wonder if they’re a blessing or a curse:

Leon Ferguson, an African-American from New York, wears a white skullcap and Jewish prayer shawl to the march, describing himself as a gentile with a Jewish heart. He is close to tears as he contemplates the possibility of an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

“The true and living God wants his people to be in an undivided Israel, undivided Jerusalem,” he says. “There should be no more give-backs. Every time we give back the land of Israel, something happens in the United States. Katrina followed the give-back of the Gaza.”

Oy.

Not to mention the crux of the issue, which Gershom Gorenberg points out towards the end of the piece: support for Israel isn’t necessarily support for the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. After all,

many evangelical Christians want Jews to convert to Christianity.

“That vision is one in which the Jews eventually disappear,” [Gorenberg] says. “If you say that at the end of days, in a perfect world there aren’t going to be any Jews, what you’re saying, right now, is that you don’t accept the legitimacy of Judaism.”

No, You’re Not

Could someone explain to me how a Catholic follower of Kabbalah would have the unmitigated gall to declare herself an “ambassador for Judaism” when on a trip to Israel?

By way of the Huffington Post:

Madonna toasted the Jewish new year with Israeli President Shimon Peres and declared herself an “ambassador for Judaism,” local newspapers reported Sunday.

The singer, who is not Jewish, arrived in Israel Wednesday on the eve of Jewish new year to attend a conference on Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism.

Madonna met Peres at his official Jerusalem residence on Saturday evening and the two exchanged gifts, with Madonna receiving a lavishly bound copy of the Old Testament.

Oh, of course, it’s a superstar diva with entitlement issues. Carry on, then.