hill in a handbag

I dreamed that I saw Dalai...

52 years ago today, the 14th Dalai Lama fled his homeland of Tibet due to invasion and oppression of Communist China.  His exodus took him to India where he still lives in exile today.  I believe the Dalai Lama to be a source of great inspiration.  His teachings and peaceful practices should be a supplement to every religion.  Click here to read the speech he gave today.

Passover Revisited

So last night during the Seder my father posed an excellent question...We celebrate our freedom from the ancient Pharaoh in Egypt but is there a current day Pharaoh and do we really live in a free society? 

He alluded to a certain Pharaoh-ish leader and his regime but I shant name names.  Unfortunately, there are many Pharaohs out there today.  Maybe some of their evil ways are not as blatant as those in biblical times but I do believe their actions and mistakes are of biblical proportion.

We do not live in a free society.  Gays are not free.  Immigrants are not free.  Women are not free.  Jews are not free.  Blacks are not free.  But I suppose "freedom" is subjective.  No, we are not enslaved.  We have a very charmed life compared to those of Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq...  But I also believe it is naive to think that we are not living in oppressive times.

This Passover, in addition to celebrating our freedom as a people from Egypt, I also plan to  pray for our current and future freedom which seems to be alluding us.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

Tonight marks the first night of the Jewish holiday Passover.  Passover celebrates the Israelites exodus from the oppressive Pharaoh of Egypt.  It last eight days and throughout the duration of the holiday all leaven substances are not to be eaten along with legumes.  I love the idea of the holiday but hate the practice of it.  It's very difficult and everyone seems to be on edge the whole time because of the timely preparation and horrid food selections.  I'm counting the days...believe me.  For more info on Passover click here to check out the Wikipedia entry. 

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Rosh Hashanah

The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset tonight and ends at sunset on Wednesday night.  I'm no expert in Judaism but I'll give this explanation my best shot...

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.  Rosh is Hebrew for Head, Ha is Hebrew for The and Shanah is Hebrew for Year.  Rosh Hashanah is also referred to as The Day Of Judgment, where God reviews the deeds of humanity which transpired over the previous year.  God decides "who shall live, and who shall die... who shall be impoverished, and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise." Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (tune in next week for info on Yom Kippur) are considered the holiest days of the year for Jews.  In addition, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of Adam & Eve.

On Rosh Hashanah we go to the synagogue for a good part of the day.  No work is allowed.  Throughout the service the shofar is sounded.  A shofar is a rams horn carved into a sort of trumpet.  It's sound is intended to alert worshipers of upcoming judgment. It is tradition to eat apples and honey to signify a sweet year.  We always go to Bubbe's for lunch after the first day of Rosh Hashanah and have a giant family lunch together.

What does Rosh Hashanah mean to me personally?  When I was a kid it meant buying new fancy fall clothes and being on my best behavior.  As an adult I wish I could say that I feel the full impact of being judged for two days but I don't always.  To me it's importance is spending time with my family and honoring God and my religion.  I try to reflect on the year past but it's a very hard thing to do.  I feel the vibe of Yom Kippur much more. 

Another tradition of Rosh Hashanah is to ask you friends and family to forgive you for hurting them over the past year.  This isn't something I always do but seems very fitting now that I have a blog.  So, if I have said or done anything to hurt you over the past year, please forgive me.  It's just human nature to hurt people, intentionally or unintentionally, it's divine to forgive.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

Last night was the first night of the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.  By no means am I an expert in Judaism but I'm going to take a stab at this...Passover, or Pesach, is the celebration of the Israelites exodus from Egypt and the birth of a Jewish nation.  We eat matzoh or unleavened bread because the Israelites had to leave Egypt in such haste that there as no time for their bread to rise.  This prepared Jews world wide for the advent of the Adkins diet. 

Let's talk about Moses...I've always found Moses to be an interesting biblical character.  Moses was not a natural born leader.  He had speech problems and stood in the shadows when possible.  But just like in many other bible stories God chose the underdog who prevailed against the odds...proving God's might.  God told Moses to ask the Pharaoh to let his people go and Moses did it.  He risked his life for his people and his faith.  Talk about overcompensating for your shortcomings.  Moses was probably the worlds first rock star.  The stage is but a platform shoe.

Pharaoh...The Pharaoh of Exodus is now thought to have been Raames II.  He refused Moses' requests for independence several times.  God cast ten plagues against Egypt...Pharaoh ignored nine of them.  1)  The Nile turned into blood 2) Frogs 3) Lice 4) Wild beast attacks  5) Pestilence (death of livestock due to disease) 6) Boils 7) Hail 8) Locust 9) Darkness.  By the way...there's historical proof of all of these plagues...or so says The History Channel.  Then came ten...Death of firstborn sons.  Jews were instructed to put lambs blood on their doorposts to tell the angel of death to PASSOVER their homes.  Pharaoh's eldest son died which finally convinced him to free the Jews.  Mind you, he changed his mind soon after and caused his army to drown after the Red Sea was split. Interesting side note...my father mentioned last night that they have the mummy of Raames II on display in Egypt.  You can go and look at the remains of a guy who actually spoke with Moses.

Anyway, on Passover we remember our oppression as a nation and appreciate that for right now we live in a free society where we are allowed to express our religious beliefs as we wish.  I believe in what I believe in and believe that everyone is entitled to believe what they want.  I don't care if you worship fruit or Barney the dinosaur...as long as you respect the fact that not everyone in the world has to believe in what you believe then we're cool.  There are many lessons we can learn from the story of Passover but I think one of the most important is that of tolerance.  Pharaoh believed that he was right and everyone else was wrong and he totally got screwed because of it.

I love the ideas behind Passover.  I hate the holiday itself.  The food is disgusting and everyone is always in a bad mood because of it.  If I had a time machine I would go back and tell the Children of Israel to get that bread baking a few hours early.  One day into the holiday and I'd probably eat a bucket of flour about now.  I need some leaven.  I'm not at all observant.  I don't keep Kosher or observe the Sabbath or go to the synagogue more than twice a year.  But proudly, I've never broken Passover...ever.  It just means something to me.

HAPPY PASSOVER!!!

The Pope RIP

As a Jew I don't 100% understand the role of The Pope or believe in everything he stood for but I do feel a loss.  I've read a lot about Pope John Paul II over the past few days.  As a boy in Poland one of his best friends was Jewish.  He was the first pope to visit a synagogue and the first pope to pay his respects to Auschwitz.  He also gave diplomatic recognition to Israel, something previous popes had refused to do.  In addition he was very supportive of the fight against AIDS in Africa.  I did not agree with his stance on homosexuality or abortion but most rabbi's would hold the same convictions and I wouldn't agree with them either.  I truly think  he was a good man whose only intention was to help mankind to the best of his ability and beliefs.  I think he's successor will have some very large shoes to fill.

Check out these interesting links:
Biography Pope John Paul II
Papal Election

What's so funny about peace love & understanding?

I read today that Ray Charles was a big supporter of Israel and world Jewry.  I had no idea.  This is a really big deal to me, especially because I've been obsessed with Ray (the movie) for the past week now.  Historically, it shouldn't be a big surprised that blacks and Jews support each other since we were both sired in oppression.

Apparently, Ray Charles was extremely charitable toward many different causes including the civil rights movement, African-American education and blind & deaf education.  However, he was very modest in regard to his generosity...except when it came to Israel.

In 1976 he was named Man of the Year by the Beverly Hills chapter of B'nai Brith.  Here's what he said...

"Even though I'm not Jewish and even though I'm stingy with my bread, Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting. Blacks and Jews are hooked up and bound together by a common history of persecution.  If someone besides a black ever sings the real gut bucket blues, it'll be a Jew. We both know what it's like to be someone else's footstool."

On the same note...A few years ago the Simon Wiesenthal Center honored another little gentile guy whose people were sired from opression as well.  Read this.

Maybe all roads lead to Jerusalem...or Georgia...or Dublin.

And in this corner....our 3rd president, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the founder of the University of VA...

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."

-Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association on Jan. 1, 1802

NOTES:   I totally ripped this one off of my cousin Jonathan's blog...Blue Nation.  Also, this quote is dedicated to my father as he is a big fan of Thomas Jefferson and today is his 61st birthday!