Roz Chast

I recently read a very funny cartoon in the New Yorker. It was by Roz Chast who has a unique ability to sum up life in a brilliant, concise way that shows both a frustration with and deep appreciation for the world in which we live. Her somewhat neurotic take on pop culture has endeared her to New Yorker readers since she was first published in 1978.

You don’t even need to see a picture to get a chuckle out of this one. A cartoon tombstone reads:

ED JONES

Tuned in,
Turned on,
Dropped out,
Dropped in,
Worked out,
Saved up,
Dropped dead.

Funny! But of course Judaism teaches us not just to look at life in the broad swaths of time, but also to look at the fine brush details of every day. And those details, the minute, single stroke moments are truly ours to control. We imbue them with meaning, we make them count. We realize that unlike the cartoon above, life is not just about us but about the lives of those we influence and touch.

Learning Tzedakah from the Poor

Who gives more to tzedakah, the poor, the middle-class or the wealthy? The answer is the poor. Taken as a percentage of their overall income, the poor give the most. Interesting, no? People who don’t have money still don’t have a hard time giving away some of what they do have. Perhaps it is because they have the greatest empathy for those in need. Maybe it’s because they are less likely to have credit cards. Many people I know tell me that between the credit card bills, the tuition, the taxes, the mortgage and the car payments, they don’t have anything left to give. Judaism, of course, believes that we should give our tzedakah “off the top” not from that which is left. Perhaps we can learn something from the charitable poor.

Among the poor, statistics show that certain types of poor Americans are more likely to give. A person who lives below the poverty line, but is not on government assistance, belongs to a House of Worship and is married is in fact seven more times as likely to give to tzedakah as a person who is on government assistance for food and housing, does not belong to a shul or church, and is a single parent – even if they have the exact same income per year!

It seems to me that these stats indicate that these people who give tzedakah see it as part of their social responsibility. People who stand proudly on their own two feet and who join in community (both spiritually and in terms of family) have a greater sense of connectedness with the world around them. Their tzedakah is a proud statement of who they are and what they stand for, not a “luxury tax” donated because they feel that they have been blessed. They do not give because they have “a little extra”. They give because they feel a sense of responsibility. We all have a lot to learn from those who seem to have the least. At the end of the day they have a lot more than most people think.

Rolling Up Our Sleeves

In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday I decided to do some community service. My family went to an event organized by Main Line Reform Temple where the kids read for a Books on Tape program and packed care packages for children in the Methodist Home in Philadelphia. 1000 (!) kids without parents live there.

Me? I started the day by donating blood. I’m AB Positive and I know my type is rather rare. (OK, stop the jokes right now!) I’ve always felt that giving blood is a mitzvah (commandment) just like giving tzedakah. Actually, I’ve been doing some research and I’ve found out that statistics show that people who give tzedakah are twice as likely to also donate blood. There is a direct correlation between giving money and blood. Blood donors are also far more likely to volunteer their time. And they are also far more likely to be part of a church or synagogue.

Americans are, by and large (and especially compared to Europeans) generous when it comes to charitable giving. The average amount given by families is 3.5% of household income, or about $1,800. Actually, private American giving could more than finance the entire annual gross domestic product (GDP) of Sweden, Norway, or Denmark.

Still, 75 million Americans never give to any causes, charities or religious institutions. Moreover, 130 million Americans never volunteer any time at all.
On a day devoted to remembering a great servant of the community we should all reassess what we are willing to give to make the world a better place.

Remembering Martin Luther King

It was nearly two generations ago that Martin Luther King, the most important black leader of our time, was involved not only in the civil rights struggle, but also participated in the efforts to free Soviet Jewry, make Israel a secure and independent state, and combat anti-Semitism. That is why Jews worldwide should enthusiastically join celebrations of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, Jan. 15. The details of the connection between Dr. King and Jewish people seem to be fading with time. We should never let that happen.

We should remember that from virtually the very beginning of the movement to free Soviet Jews in the 1960s, Dr. King was a major advocate on their behalf. Nearly 40 years ago, he publicly sought support for the re-establishment of the "religious and cultural freedom" of Soviet Jews. He also urged the Soviet government to "end all discriminatory measures against the Jewish community."

Dr. King's commitment to a secure and independent Israel was also clear. A few months after the Six-Day War, he wrote to Jewish community leaders that "Israel's right to exist as a state in security is incontestable." In addressing a convention of rabbis just 10 days before his tragic death in 1968, the Nobel Prize laureate referred to Israel as "one of the great outposts of democracy in the world." He went on to say that "we must stand with all our might to protect [Israel's] right to exist, its territorial integrity."

Dr. King also frequently denounced anti-Semitism. According to him, "the segregationists and racists make no fine distinction between the Negro and the Jew." In a letter to Jewish leaders, he attacked anti-Semitism "within the Negro community, because it was wrong. I will continue to oppose it, because it is immoral and self-destructive."
In retrospect, King's adoption of these causes is not surprising, given his belief that the freedom of blacks was inextricably tied to the universal right of all groups to live in peace, free from discrimination and oppression.

It is perhaps less than coincidental that in synagogue across the country we begin the Book of Exodus this weekend, the very weekend we celebrate his birthday. The Exodus story, the story of the Jewish People leaving Egypt, was adopted by Dr. King and the civil rights movement in America as their paradigm, too. Dr. King saw the relationship between blacks and Jews as a natural alliance. We should pray for a time when that can again ring true, and in whatever small way possible, help to make it come to pass. That would be the best way to remember Martin Luther King’s birthday.

Government with Religion

Last week, thirty Jewish members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 13 Jewish U.S. senators were sworn in. The 43 Jewish lawmakers assuming office Thursday in the 110th Congress include 29 Democrats and one Republican in the House and nine Democrats, two Republicans and two independents who caucus with the Democrats in the Senate. The number of Jewish senators sets a record although there were more than 30 Jewish House members between 1990 and 1994.

Two Buddhist also came to Congress, a first for our country. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, became a Buddhist decades ago, though his family does not share that faith. Rep. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat, is also a Buddhist. In addition, Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota was also sworn in. Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress and he used a Koran owned by Thomas Jefferson. An array of Jewish groups joined Arab-American and Muslim-American groups in condemning some right-wing assaults on Ellison’s decision to use the Koran. I support both them and him.

Both the strong level of Jewish leadership and the widening array of religious traditions represented in the Senate and House make me proud to be an American. The highest “House” makes me think of my “house” and reminds me of the words of Mahatma Gandhi who once said, “I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible, but I refuse to be blown off my feet by any of them”.

Singular Years - Long Term Memories

Tomorrow we finish the Book of Genesis. It focuses on Jacob’s final days. The Torah portion (Va-Yechi) begins, “And Jacob lived in the Land of Egypt 17 year (singular shannah is used in Hebrew), and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 17 years (plural, shannim is used in Hebrew) and 40 and 100 year (singular shannah used again).

Since nothing appears in the Torah by accident, we have to wonder about this usage (which is not unique to his section). Perhaps we can explain it by seeing it as a reflection of human nature. The plural is used for the smaller numbers because those memories present themselves as individual reflections. We can call to mind recent events and see how one effected the other. Each of the memories is distinct, we see it from many angles. But when it comes to large chunks of time, decades or more, we use the singular because we remember them as a whole. “Those were the good years”, “those were some tough times” etc.

Torah comes to teach that we need to look at our lives both in micro and macrocosm. Sometimes we get so caught up in the details, the wear and tear of every day life that we forget to see the forest for the trees. We need to take a step back and visualize today as part of a much larger picture for when we do we’ll be less likely to obsess on the individual, often trivial decisions that seem so very important at the time. Spirituality is a gift that allows us to see the big picture of our lives. Sure, little decisions matter, but it is the overall quality of our lives that ultimately matters most.

Teddy - End of an Era

Teddy Kollek, the longtime mayor of Jerusalem died Tuesday at the age of 95. Teddy – he was always known by just his first name - is being remembered as the most prolific builder of the city since King Herod two thousand years ago. He is the man who in 28 years transformed the Israeli capital from a dusty backwater to an international city of parks, theaters and museums, making it into an international destination from more than just religious pilgrims.

Teddy grew up in Vienna and came to what was then British Mandate Palestine in 1935. His death is really the end of an era. He is considered one of the last of the generation of Israel's founding fathers. He was known for navigating the divide between Jerusalem's diverse populations - Jewish and Arab, religious and secular. Teddy became mayor in 1965 and served as the mayor when the Old City was reclaimed in 1967. He famously said at that time, "Jerusalem's people of differing faiths, cultures and aspirations must find peaceful ways to live together other than by drawing a line in the sand."

I lived in Jerusalem when Teddy was mayor and there is no comparison between the feel of the city then and now. When Teddy was mayor there were all sorts of Jews living in the Old City, for instance. There were secular Jews and of course Orthodox Jews of every sect, but there was also a comfortable place for Conservative Jews. In fact, my first pulpit was in the Old City of Jerusalem serving a couple dozen Conservative families who lived there. To the best of my knowledge every one of them has moved out and the diversity of the Old City is greatly diminished. Teddy also argued strongly on behalf of the Arabs who lived in the eastern part of Jerusalem who, prior to Israel’s reclamation, had few utilities like electricity, sewers and even running water. In part because of his support of diversity, he lost reelection in 1993 – to Ehud Olmert who was less willing to negotiate on the religious and political issues of diversity that made Teddy Teddy. It is strangely odd these days to see Olmert adopting a more open policy; more willing to negotiate. Too bad he does not have Teddy’s charisma and charm. If he did, Israel would have a beloved Prime Minister and not one who is merely tolerated.