Windows & Doors

With 13 dead, 30 wounded and an Army psychiatrist who shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he opened fire on them, we must do three things: first, most importantly, we must care for the injured, support their families, and comfort the mourners. Second, we must fight all efforts to use this tragedy to cast aspersions upon an entire tradition and all of its followers. And third, we, and more importantly those followers, must ask probing questions about the relationship between the faith which the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, followed and the actions which he took.

The human issues really are job one. And the test of that commitment will be in the way which people not only reach out to the families of the victims, but also to the Hasan family as well. They too, by all accounts, are victims. There is no evidence that they supported Maj. Hasan in his terrorist attack, and they are among the most vulnerable to any potential backlash which may occur. While the military and the FBI will certainly continue to investigate all aspects of this case, including Hasan's family, until we know otherwise, they too deserve our compassion and concern.

This picture of a US warship built out of metal salvaged from the Twin Towers blown up on 9/11, is on the cover of today's New York Times and papers all over the nation. As I saw the picture of the ship, I could not help but think of what might be the Bible's best-known teaching on recycling, Isaiah 2:4, "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks".

Are Isaiah's words relevant to this picture? Is it, and the entire story of how scraps recovered from the worst terror attack on American soil were used to build a new ship for the navy, offensive? Beautiful? Sad? Empowering? I think the answer is "yes".

I appreciate the empowerment and even the beauty of repurposing metal dipped in the blood and ash of murdered victims, and turning it into a tool which could be used to prevent further victimization. But if that is the end of the story, then I think we should all be a little sad, if not offended.

I would love to see other scraps repurposed as ploughshares, libraries, voting booths, and other symbols of civil society in the contemporary world. I would love to see front page images like that, at least alongside, if not instead of the one pictured above.

We do not yet live in the perfected world about which Isaiah spoke, but I think that having more pictures like that would move us in that direction.

Despite the headlines in this CNN story about "New Jews", there is nothing really new here. Most of the new practices being described are not so new, as in the case of recently founded prayer groups or Hebrew school teaching techniques which are wonderful but hardly radical departures from that which preceded them. And for those that are new, such as tattooing, the newness lies in the practice, while the intent of those doing it is, in their own words, about ethnic pride and communal connection. What could be more traditional?

In fact, when Jessica Ravitz (Jessica Rabbit's Jewish cousin?) writes, "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai about 3,300 years ago, he couldn't have seen these Jews coming", she is drawing on a Talmudic passage which anticipated the on ongoing evolution of Jews and Judaism, almost 2,000 years ago.

Over the past two days, I have posted about the appropriateness of hate crime legislation and about people's concern over anti-Semitism. Today's shooting at Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Orthodox Synagogue in North Hollywood, in which two members were shot at close range, brings together both of those previous posts. And in what some might find surprising, does nothing to alter my previously stated views.

One commenter's observation on my hate crimes post, that I would change my tune if someone spray-painted a swastika on a synagogue and suddenly embrace such legislation, is now demonstrably wrong. This is a whole lot worse than graffiti, and I still resist the rush to label this a hate crime, let alone prosecute it as such. And in this case LA Mayor Villaraigosa is with me.

Having received numerous questions about the Coen brothers' most recent film, a contemporary commentary on the Book of Job, called A Serious Man, I am going to respond even though I have not yet seen the movie. How can I do that? I can do so because the comments have had little to do with the actual movie. They are really about the amazing level of insecurity which Jews feel about how we are portrayed in popular culture.

Most of the comments have focused on how the rabbis come off in the film. People are concerned that the apparently poor showing they make as counselors to the suffering Jew who turns to them in his time of need. Will, those who write me ask, audiences come to think poorly of Jews because of this?

For Starters, the questions assumes that most people think that all Jews are like rabbis, and that alone is a big presumption - one which gives rabbis far more status than is either real or appropriate. But the larger issue has to do with our fears about how we are seen, even as we live with greater acceptance in America than we have in any country other than Israel, ever in Jewish history.

One woman wrote: I have to admit that I was also becoming very concerned about how non-Jews would perceive this film, and whether this would encourage Anti-Semitic stereotypes. My 88 year old Yiddish speaking mother went to see the film with her 93 year old friend, and they were completely horrified and disgusted!!

My response: