Following are comments in response to:

Iran said Tuesday it would send a blockade-busting ship carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists to Gaza, fueling concern in Israel, where commandos were training for another possible confrontation at sea

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100622/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gaza_blockade

Fluffy-Males Lower Upper Heyford

I don’t trust the Iranian’s but if I had to choose I would definitely support them over the Jew’s whom continue to steal Palestinian land and kill innocent civilains while labeling Palestinian fighters terrorists.How is killing innocent civilains with a helicopter gunship any different then killing innocent civilains with a bomb strapped to someone’s back.The Israeli’s are terrorists trying to disguise their crimes as defense of their homeland, which was stolen from the palestinian’s. If someone stole your land would you just let them or would you fight back any way you could?

SUN 1 minute ago Report Abuse

The present crisis wouldn’t have arise did HITLER not left his task uncompleted.

Urantian 3 minutes ago Report Abuse

I I promise to defend a parasite country.
S Support their philosophy of terror.
R Run all over some other people`s rights.
A Antagonize the whole world.
E Eliminate the Palestinians.
L Lie until the truth is no more.

Todd Male – St. Louis, MO

Open your Encylopedia to a map of Palistine (1950) and then to Israel (2010). They are on the same land. Then ask yourself when the palestinians are going to stop fighting? The answer is NEVER. The easiest way to end this conflict is for Israel to finish the Palestinian Genocide by killing the rest of them.
Please do this humanely by finishing them quickly. I am tired of watching kids run over by Caterpillars and Tanks every night on my evening news.
What Israel calls terrorists Palestine calls freedom fighters. The only solution is for 2 viable States. Israel should stop stalling while it seizes all of the usable land and produce a two state solution. Either that or finish killing them. After 60 years of occupation I am tired of hearing about this.

Zimbra 3 minutes ago Report Abuse

Israel’s largest Global export

an inexhaustable supply of very selfish and manipulating deceit

Really?

Against whom have you spoken out?  I mean other than Israelis and Jews.  I’m just saying that I’d like to know what topics you might have covered that affect the other 99.75% of the world’s population.

It appears that a congregation in Ohio has crossed a line that I cannot understand. When a Shomer Shabbat, and extremely learned man arrived to his new home community (having moved from NYC) he was greeted with that traditional Jewish phrase, “you are gay so you won’t be given any honors from the bimah.” Nice.

Another line was crossed when the Rabbi of the shul later communicated that this man was no longer welcome to join the minyan or attend services. In fact, it appears that the Rabbi delivered the message that the man would be forcibly removed from the shul should he return.

That is astounding to me. I wonder if this congregation has turned away other gay men. I’d be willing to bet they have had other members who are gay but perhaps not open about it. Have they been turned away too? What about the men who have lied, cheated, or stolen? Have they been forcibly removed? What about the adulterers? Is l’shon hara grounds for expulsion? Why in NY was this man a vital part of the community but in OH he is an outcast?

Seems to be a case of the golden rule at play. Those with the money told the rabbi what the rules are.

I’m creating a checklist for congregations so they can filter out those too objectionable to be included in a minyan. Let me know how many copies your shul might need. I’m recommending two for every member.

The leadership of the Allocations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County made a difficult decision this week.  They decided that despite the terrible economic situation, it was time to reevaluate the criteria used (in part) to determine which of the beneficiary agencies would receive what amount of funds.  Beach Hillel has traditionally been the recipient of the smallest amount of Federation funds in our community by a long long long shot.  Hillel received roughly $8K from the annual campaign.  The Hebrew Academy was next up the list bringing in $30K.  JFCS received about $60K.  So Hillel’s allocation was somewhere between embarrassing and disheartening. Or maybe insulting…. It certainly did not shout “hey Beach Hillel…you guys are a great partner! Thanks for looking after the college students and coming up with programs, such as the Jewlicious Festival!”

So my Jewish Community Heros of the fiscal year are the members of the Allocations Committee and the Board of Directors.  Either body could have sat back and done what has been done for years.  But by breaking with the status quo and being willing to make reasoned change, the Board showed remarkable leadership.  Their decision is going to hurt other organizations and the client base they serve.  No doubt that Jewish Family and Children’s Service in Long Beach needs funds.  They are seeing cuts in donations and grants at a time when people are literally walking in the door with empty pockets, suffering the effects of unemployment and stress.  I feel for Wendy and her team.   Same with Rabbi Newman.  I don’t feel that Hillel won and am not pleased that we saw an increase while others will need to figure out how to deal with the impact to their operations.

However, Hillel needs to function in order for our community to have a future.  Years of Federation leaders have opted not to fund Hillel, artificially inflating the amount of funds available to other organizations.  It is unfortunate that it took an economic crisis to cause the Federation’s leadership to reevaluate.  But history shows that during recessions things tend to shake themselves out.

So to all of the Board members who spoke out in favor of raising Beach Hillel’s funding level, I want you to know that I appreciate your efforts.  I understand what kind of character it took to make a decision like this.  If we fulfill our mission of helping to connect Jewish college students to the community, to their history, and to Israel, they will return the investment somewhere, some time.

For months I’ve felt like a quarterback with the ball on my own one yard line…at 3rd down and 10.    As board president, the funding is a big relief–I’m  now playing the game from the 20 and can again focus on moving forward.

The Long Beach Jewish Federation’s Board and Allocation’s committee….my Jewish Community Heros hard at work.

I will be stunned (and thrilled) if he wins the $25,000 award.

So who will the “committee” pick?  The “Jewlicious Festival” Rabbi running amazing religious and social programming in the sprawling, laid-back, and diverse Southern CA and world-wide via the web?  Or the independent JCorps”social entrepreneur” who is bringing together young Jewish adults, and in the process strengthening the Jewish communities they serve?

What about the other three candidates?  Despite having a deep appreciation for the work of Rabbi Engel (I don’t know Rabbi Mendel or Devora Benjamin) I just cannot see a committee of the UJC trying to decide among Chabad programs, despite the broad impact they have in their communities.

While I would not count Rabbi Yonah out of the money, my gut is leaning towards Ari Teman.  He is the only independent volunteer in the top five on the leaderboard.  I have a feeling that the UJC and Jewish Community Heros judges will find that an easier selection than any of the other top five candidates.

The Jewish Community here in Long Beach does not have the resources of NY,LA or any other major city with a sizable Jewish Community.  We have very few donors capable of writing a check for $25k.  The impact of Rabbi Yonah winning and bringing a donation that large to our relatively small Jewish community will be substantial.  I hope that the committee accounts for this when they decide where the money will go.

BTW–Interesting that two of the (currently) top 5 on the leaderboard are Rabbis who have made their reputations for their work here in Long Beach CA.  In fact, both have spent time as the campus Rabbi for CSULB, one of the largest universities in the state.  Could Long Beach be the next epicenter for Jewish Life in the US?  Eh…probably not. But we’re doing a great job with what we have!

Focusing on only a part of themiddle’s post:  few Jewish families in Long Beach (where we live) send their kids to Jewish day schools.  The only two schools within a 30 minute drive are the Hebrew Academy and TVT. A third school closed its doors at the end of the last school year due to finances.  I’ve often wondered why more parents don’t send their kids to Jewish schools.  The answer, as themiddle notes, is in part due to finances. In our community, it may also be in part because TVT is a 30 minute drive, and the Chabad run school, no matter how good it is, is…well…a Chabad run school.

So in our community, only those who are very committed to Jewish education  or those who have specific requirements for their children’s education, will seek out one of the two options.  Generally speaking, only those that can then afford to pay the price of admission do so.  I had a hunch that there were more people in our part of town willing to look at TVT as an option, and bet that one of the main reasons people were not exploring the very solid education at TVT is that they did not know it existed.  Fifteen families showed up to a parlor meeting we hosted on TVT’s behalf–their largest parlor meeting ever (I’m told.)  Several families enrolled this year. Ah…themiddle is right!  His suggestion#6:  Getting the word out in collaboration with other organizations works!

Themiddle goes on to make other recommendations about community organization of Jewish day schools.  He is right, but I think there is more to the story than he discusses.  He is dead right that Federation dollars need to be reallocated.  Many of the overseas needs have shifted, and the domestic Jewish communities are, in many cases, in trouble.  Our own institutions including JCCs and synagogues are hurting, and our infrastructure is aging as quickly as the generation who built most of it.

With declining dollars and increased needs, we must rethink how we meet our Jewish children’s educational needs.  This goes beyond the day school and secular education and crosses into how synagogues educate children.  As themiddle notes for day schools, competing synagogues and their religious schools have redundant infrastructure.  Is there any reason other than politics and proprietary membership lists that synagogues could not share resources?  How often are vast sanctuaries fully filled?  Could systems, software, and even teachers share responsibilities across organizations?

I’ve encouraged our local Jewish Federation and JCC to step back and reevaluate their mission based upon the current needs of the community.  No organization is thinking broadly about the “cradle to grave” needs of our Jewish community in detail.  There is no organized method of recruiting Jewish families as they move to the community or have children and helping guide them from one station in life to the next.  In our community, neither of our large early childhood education programs makes an earnest effort to involve parents in educational and volunteer efforts specifically designed to keep them in the fold “for life”.  As such, many families who walk in the door with young children, walk out when they enroll their children in public kindergarden.  Others exit post-bar mitzvah.  The parents and their dollars go with them.

So I say to themiddle, you are right, AND we need to think more broadly.  Not only do we need to involve more people and organizations in the management and marketing of our day schools, but we need to have a more cohesive approach to providing for the needs of  educating all Jewish families.  We will never (barring some future nationwide rise in anti-semitism in the US) enroll most Jewish kids in day schools.  So we must make after school programs attractive, affordable, and convenient.

Most after school Religious School programs exist today as they existed a generation or two ago, but with fewer hours a year available given the proliferation of other extra curricular activities including sports. Religious education needs to be fun for and relevant to kids.  It needs to incorporate “modern” technologies from the web, ipods, and cell phones.  But most synagogues are too small and many educational systems too entrenched to do it on their own.  Federation leadership:  this is one of those times you should be scratching your head saying “hey…an opportunity to build future donors!”

Themiddle’s suggestion #13 is something I also agree with completely.  We need to do a better job of crossing Jewish denominations. We seem to have built very high walls between different denominations and movements to the point where fear and misinformation are common.  I’ve met Orthodox people who, after attending a Bat Mitzvah of a relative are astounded that a Conservative synagogue says the same prayers in roughly the same fashion as does their own congregation.  I’ve met members of Reform congregations who are simply unaware of the basic practices of Kashrut and who have a fear of their child becoming too Jewish if they expand their Jewish knowledge base.  I know many members of Conservative congregations who have no idea what the Hebrew prayers they recite really mean.  Perhaps economics will drive us together to rethink and rebuild.  I won’t hold my breath.

Meanwhile…I thank those families who have contributed to TVT, the Hebrew Academy, and  the countless other Jewish day schools.  While all funds make a difference,  I especially thank those (See suggestion#4) who really wrote the big checks, donated buildings, land, and otherwise had a significant impact.  You’ve made it possible for our son and many others to be educated in a Jewish environment and get a solid secular education as well.  I hope he appreciates it as much as we do.  I suspect we won’t know for many years.

A note to non-Jewish readers: this is an odd topic.  It may seem somewhat racist or exclusive to seek to educate Jewish kids in Jewish schools. I’ve written a companion primer on being a Jewish kid in public schools and why some parents choose Jewish day schools.

Jewish kids are often a minority in a classroom, school, and district.  It can be extremely difficult to be THE Jewish kid.  For those of us who observe even a modest portion of Jewish rituals and holidays, schools are just not set up to accommodate us.  And I understand why.  But there are things you may take for granted that cause us great pain.

Our “High Holy Days” of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur generally fall within the first few weeks of school. There are several other Jewish holidays that follow along within the next few weeks.  Jewish kids need to make the choice between missing school or not observing their holiest of days.  No kid in the USA ever has to decide whether to miss school in order to attend Christmas services or to be with family across the country.

No minimally observant Jewish kid will ever receive the perfect attendance awards given out by most schools.  Our kids simply cannot qualify.  After all, many of our kids will miss as many as three days of school in the first weeks of the new school year–and that assumes they don’t catch whatever flu is going around at the time!

The Jewish sabbath (Shabbat) begins on Friday evening at sundown.  (All Jewish holidays start at sundown–and it’s generally the day before the day written on your calendar!)  For families who traditionally have a Shabbat meal together or go to religious services, this again causes Jewish families to have to make tough decisions:  should we let our kids go to the Friday night football game?

Shabbat is, for observant Jews, the holiest of days.  It is so important to us that we have it every week.  Traditional Jews refrain from most activities on Shabbat. They don’t drive, spend money, cook, etc….  Time is spent with family, or in synagogue, learning, praying, reading, and relaxing.  A Friday night football game is one of those American high school experiences that helps build camaraderie and reputations.  Telling a kid they cannot be part of that teenage experience is hard for parents, and a killer for the teenager who cannot join “everyone” else.

Unfortunately, there are instances where school administrations actually schedule major events on the Jewish holidays, even when they have a choice not to, and even when there is a significant Jewish population.  My high school did this.  A local elementary school scheduled their first major event for Friday Sept. 18, 2009–Rosh Hashana.  Any reason to do this?  When we’ve asked, we’ve been told that they won’t change the date because that’s the day they’ve put on the calendar.

Jewish schools close for the High Holy days and other holidays.  All of them…even those that you’ve never heard of, and most of us don’t celebrate.  Jewish schools close a bit early on Friday afternoons so students and staff can be home and prepared for Shabbat without rushing.  Jewish schools play sports any days except Friday afternoon through Saturday night. Jewish schools never schedule events on our holidays.  Nor do they ask our kids to sing overtly religious Christmas carols or participate in other activities that are contrary to the beliefs of the child and his or her family.

Most people are understanding.  Most teachers are helpful.  Some are assholes.  I can’t begin to remember how many times I’ve heard of teachers who knowingly schedule major tests on a major Jewish holiday and then treat the student horribly when they ask for some consideration.  Think about it:  how many times did you have to discuss your religious beliefs or observances with your teacher?  Odds are that if you are of a Christian faith, you’ve never even considered the need to do so as it relates to your ability to attend class or complete your school work.  Jewish kids often need to identify themselves as Jews within the first days of meeting a new teacher.  From personal experience, I can share how difficult it can be.  Especially if you happen across one of those asshole teachers. One of mine told me I’d burn in hell.  I couldn’t wait to tell my next teacher I was Jewish and would be missing class for a Jewish holiday.

Everything above is only one significant piece of the issue.  Another is that being Jewish and observing Jewish holidays takes a lot learning.  For starters, our Torah (“Old Testament” as it is known in some quarters) is written in Hebrew, as are many of our prayers.  Depending upon the branch of Judaism a family follows, prayers may or may not be in English.  Guess what that means?  Learning Hebrew. And there are really two forms of Hebrew:  biblical and modern.  Modern Hebrew is what is used every day as the primary language of Israel.  Biblical Hebrew is just that: the language of prayer and our Torah.  It is as different from Modern Hebrew as Shakespearian English is to Modern English (the language…not the band!)

Learning Hebrew is difficult, especially as the Hebrew letters do not resemble English letters at all.  It’s a whole new Alef Bet (Alphabet in Hebrew.)  When Jewish kids celebrate their Bar Mitzvah (boys) or Bat Mitzvah (girls) they often read from the Torah (girls usually do not do this in very observant families) in front of their congregation.  Reading is not always an accurate description. Chanting or singing is really what is done.  But the Torah has no vowels nor musical notes.  Can you imagine learning to sing in another language and then do it without the aid of the basics?  Learning these skills along with Jewish history, Jewish texts, and of course secular subjects that are required of all students takes far more time than would be available outside of a Jewish Day school.  Some Jewish day schools immerse their students in Jewish life  in all aspects of study.  Others, such as the school my son attends, has a Jewish environment, teaches Hebrew and Jewish History, but distinctly separates and focuses on secular subjects.

I could go on.  So to summarize thus far, Jewish parents often send their kids to Jewish day school because it is just works better for them and their family values.  There is not generally a desire to be separated from non-Jews (though this certainly does occur) but simply a reality that leading a Jewish life means being in an environment where Jewish observance is an integral part of the school.

Back to public schools for a moment.  I attended public schools.  One of my kids attends a local public high school. I understand how schools operate and understand the complexity of dealing with kids of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.  However, there is often an assumption that goes something like this:  we’re a Christian nation so what do you expect?  And to some extent, that is true. To be clear, I don’t expect that a school district with few Jewish kids would shut down on a major Jewish holiday the way schools in parts of NY and LA do.  However, I do expect basic consideration.

Remember too that the demographics of this country are changing. Look to Europe if you need a reminder that just because this has been a predominantly Christian nation doesn’t mean that it always will be.  There are already neighborhoods in some cities, or even school districts, where Islam, for example, is the dominate religion.  The best way to insure that all of our kids in public schools get a solid secular education is to insure that our school districts keep religion out of the classroom.  You may vote for prayer in school today, only to find that you don’t recognize the prayer read in your school next year.  Just a thought.

So why is one of my kids in a Jewish school?  Are we rebelling against public education?  Eh…I wish I could take the credit.  In a way I guess I can given that we lead an active Jewish life.  But in this case…our son wanted to attend a Jewish so that he could be around more people like him and fit in.  And at the end of the day, isn’t that what most kids want?

BGU and Advanced Technologh Park

BGU has a reputation as one of the leading institutions in a country that is clearly turning out graduates capable of creating and building industry. It is also located in the middle of what was basically flipping nowhere.  It is now, however, connected to other parts of Israel via the high speed rail.  In the long list of places to fight over, the Negev isn’t usually high up on the list.  I’m sure that will change one day as Israel makes the desert bloom…

Combine the high tech and modern university with a politically mild atmosphere, and it would seem like an ideal opportunity for business. I imagine that as Israel expands and invests in the Negev,  more and more opportunities will arise, which means more people, which means more industry, which means more opportunity. It also means that the hotel that is planned for this development is going to be in a relatively great location.  Did I mention the huge IDF telecommunications and R+D center also being built adjacent to the University?

Seems like a great opportunity for a hotel company to set up shop.  Can anyone think of a hotel company owned (historically and primarily) by a Jewish family that has no current presence in Israel?  There is that little company called Hyatt that comes to mind.

I’ll grant you that building a hotel in Be’er Sheva isn’t as sexy as building one on the beach in Eliat or Tel Aviv. But here’s hoping that Hyatt might look to the future, as Israel has done, and build their next hotel along side BGU.  That one of the world’s leading developers is overseeing the building of this massive project is no guarantee of success, but it’s a pretty good indicator.

It seems odd that Hyatt would be absent from Israel but has built and operates hotel properties in places such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Jordan…..  So Hyatt, don’t pass up a Grand opportunity.  This may just be a Hyatt Place kind of place.

In the last few months I’ve gotten to know Eyal a bit. He has made a few business trips back from Israel trying generally get settled for life in Southern California. That means buying cars, renting a house, getting kids enrolled in school, bank accounts, and a lot of things we take for granted everyday.

Eyal and I have hit it off and I’m glad to have a new friend. But I just don’t want him to stick around too long. Part of me fears that he and his family will find the easy life here in our part of the world to hard to resist, and another Israeli family will have left Israel.

It’s easy for me to have this opinion as I’ve never lived in Israel, and I have only a romanticized notion of what it takes to live in a small country with less than welcoming neighbors, and an apparent (still needed??) affinity for socialism. Should I fear that Israelis coming to the States will ultimately make the country (Israel…not the U.S.!) weaker? Will it actually do so? I have to admit that I don’t know.  But given the unkind story told by history, having a strong Jewish homeland is important to me.  And given the effort made to help Jews move to Israel, it seems counter-productive when a family of five packs up and leaves Little Satan for the Big Daddy Satan.

As an aside:   Our friend Jolene is headed TO Israel.  She arrives on September 8th.  We can all watch her arrival (along with a plane full of other soon to be Israelis) live at http://www.nbn.org.il/live/ .  It’s a pretty amazing site to see.

So the natural question is “if you think that it’s so important to have Jews in Israel, why aren’t you there?”  And I don’t really have a good answer other than “I just didn’t think about it in time.”  And that’s probably not an entirely truthful answer either because I don’t know if I would have had the nerve to pack up and go.  I’d like to think I would have, but I’m still sitting here in the LBC worrying from afar about those who are leaving there for here.

So Eyal and family, I welcome you to Long Beach and look forward to spending time with you all.  I’m here for you.  Just make sure you don’t stick around too long.  Unless you want to.

I was very surprised to see near the top of the Featured “Judaism” podcasts, titles including “Messianic Shabbat: Torah teacher Mark McLellan” and “Messianic Jewish Teaching: Beth Israel Messianic Synagogue.”  Rounding out the top 12 was “Yeshua in Context: by Derek Leman (who claims to be a Messianic Rabbi and says “I believe that Judaism not centered on Yeshua (Jesus) is missing the life of the tree.”

Hold on.  By our definition of our own people and and by our tradition, this kind of content is not about being Jewish.  In fact, given the specific attempt by organizations such as the Southern Baptists to welcome Messianic Jews into their fold in an attempt to convert Jews (on top of allocating mucho dinero to do it on their own)  it isn’t much of a stretch to argue that this content is in direct conflict with Jewish tradition, culture, and learning.  It’s kind of like finding podcasts entitled “Loving your Little Boys” in the “Kids” section of iTunes–only to discover that the real subject is pedophilia.  Ok…kids are the subject matter but…um….

My hope is that we can convince Apple to re-categorize this kind of content.  Where should it go?  I’m not going to voice an opinion on that.  So long as the misleading content is removed from “Judaism” I really don’t care.  As Apple has recently been taking a fairly heavy hand in determining what is appropriate for their App Store, perhaps they will show some love to the people of the book too.

For people unfamiliar with Jewish traditions, or who are trying to learn about Jewish beliefs and customs, the inclusion of messianic content is horribly misleading.  (Perhaps Rabbi Yonah will comment with why, for anyone interested.) I was once at a hotel and watched as dozens of people walked by wearing their kippot and tallitot.  After a few minutes of watching my fellow Jews wander past, I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right.  Though the crowd had all the outward appearance of being Jews, they were not.  This messianic congregation was celebrating Yeshua.

Singing “God Bless American, waving an American flag, watching football and eating apple pie doesn’t make someone American. Right?  There are traditions and laws defining who is an American, and we don’t exactly give other nations the right to redefine who we are.  Why shouldn’t we, as Jews, have the same control over defining what is Judaism and what is not?

Our friends over at Apple might want to wander over to the Cupertino public library (do they still allow books in Cupertino?) where they can find the venerable Dewey Decimal System.  In that system, category 200 is “Religion.” Categories 225 – 287 are all categories of Christianity.  Judaism has it’s own category (296) as do other religions.

Contact Apple via iTunes: Click on   Podcasts: Audio Podcasts:Judaism.  Then click on any of the messianic content. In the upper right you’ll find a link to “Report a Concern”

Apple Public Relations     (408) 974-2042

Apple Corp   (408) 996-1010