Is Glenn Beck Mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Yes, Glenn Beck is mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Beck assuredly is one of the Sons of Darkness mentioned in the War Scroll.

It's also true that -- as is the case in so many other issues that Mr. Beck speaks about on TV -- he is factually wrong and utterly confused about the history and contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

See Jim Davila's blog and Robert Cargill's blog for details.

Is the Jewish Theological Seminary Jewish?

We don't really like to say, "Is the Pope Catholic" when we want to make a point that something is plainly obvious. So we now can start to say instead, "Is the Jewish Theological Seminary Jewish?"

Up until now that was not so plainly obvious. For decades the institution sought to promote "scholarship" which was not always directly supportive of Judaism. Peculiar forms of lexicography and arbitrary theories about the origins of texts abounded in the learning there and the laity in the Conservative movement wondered about the relevance of it all to Jews and Judaism.

It was relevant of course in the manner of all scholarship that underpins authority in a religious society. But not much coming out of the Seminary bestowed any direct meaning on the life of the plain Jew.

We thought it self evident that our teaching there this year should provide and provoke creative theology. That's what we worked for in our course on liturgy. Students rose to the occasion with brilliant work.  And our efforts have led us in a new and direction, now published as a paper and soon to be completed as a book. We think the results are directly relevant to all Jews who pray.

Now plans are in place that will change the overall direction of the Seminary. There is much work that needs to be done, a few people who can and wish to carry it out and a few who see and value that enterprise.

Jonathan Sarna is one of the few. He describes in an essay in the Forward with great precision and with personal reflection the potential value of the seismic shift that is underway now at JTS.

Goodbye Wissenschaft, Hello Relevance
Now and Then
By Jonathan D. Sarna

The Jewish Theological Seminary’s chancellor, Arnold Eisen, recently unveiled a bold new strategic plan aimed at transforming the school’s curriculum, redefining its purpose and setting forth its future direction. The plan called to mind a story that my late father used to tell about a modest change that he proposed to the JTS curriculum as a young professor there in the 1950s.

Dad had been asked to teach the school’s traditional course on the Book of Psalms. Looking through past syllabi, he came up with a new idea that he proposed to his senior colleagues at a faculty meeting. “How about revamping the class so that we teach those Psalms that appear in the Siddur,” he suggested. “That will make the class more relevant to rabbinical students. Down the road, they will be able to use what we teach them to instruct their own congregants in the meaning of the prayers.”

The members of the faculty, my father reported, were aghast. The very idea that the content of JTS courses should be influenced by what might be relevant to rabbis greatly troubled them....more...

YouTube Video: Michael Freund Helps Bring Chinese Jews from Kaifeng to Israel

Michael Freund and Shavei Yisrael help bring Chinese Jews from Kaifeng to Israel.
Hat tip to Henry.

The Bumper Sticker Wars in Nasty Teaneck

Lately, Teaneck is getting to be a nastier place. The local election a few weeks back was beset by dirty tricks. A local Rabbi mouths off with sarcasm at just about every service, sometimes attacking Arabs who aren't there and sometimes just insulting his own membership.

But just when does nastiness become a crime? When a judge says that it does.

And we like Teaneck's Judge James Young. We think he is level headed. At first we thought he went too far in allowing this harassment accusation to go to trial. He should have sent the warring parties off to reach a settlement, we felt. But on further review we realize the context here. A man claims to have been subjected to several acts of aggression due to his expression of support for Palestinians by displaying bumper stickers on his car.

Let's put an end to this right here and now, the judge must have thought. Yes, let's hope that lessons are learned in Teaneck and that nastiness turned into bullying stops.

But then again, let's expect that it won't.

The Mondoweiss blog has the not-so-dramatic story of Trau v. Siegel, the crux of which we paste and link below, "Teaneck harassment trial involves pro-Palestinian bumper stickers," by Philip Weiss.

...Siegel believes in the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. He decided to get his views out there in a very assertive way by putting four bumper stickers on his 13-year-old gray Honda Civic. His wife was OK with it. Two of the stickers said, "Free Palestine, End the Occupation." Another said, "Stop US Aid to Israel," and another said, "We refuse to be enemies. Christians Jews and Muslims working for peace and justice."

The bumper stickers got attention. A lot of people give Siegel the thumbs-up, or honk approvingly. But Teaneck/Fairlawn are a hotbed for Gush Emunim-land-of-Israel types, and many people get ticked off by the Honda and give him the finger. He's used to that. Some have vandalized his car.

On the afternoon of April 20, Siegel noticed a Toyota following him a little too close as he was headed home down River Road in Teaneck. The car followed Siegel after he turned on to one side street and then another, traveling into his neighborhood. Siegel says the driver followed him right up to his house and then pulled up alongside his parked car and gave him the finger. Then he drove to the end of the block and turned around and drove slowly past Siegel's house again.

Siegel had the presence of mind to record the man's license plate number and decided to file a police complaint against him. The driver was Bernie Thau, who is active in the Jewish community of Fairlawn, New Jersey. After a probable cause hearing a couple weeks back, at which Thau appeared and denied his guilt, Judge James Young of the Municipal Court found sufficient evidence to hold Thau for trial for harassment..more...

Update: Trau apologized to Siegel and the matter was resolved outside of court as reported here.

Times: Dalai Lama Misses On Judaism's Meditation of Compassion

We are of two minds regarding the Dalai Lama's op-ed about compassion in the world's religions in the Times. On the one hand, we have been working in a chapter of our new book on the premise that the birkat hamazon - the grace after eating - is the quintessential Jewish meditation of compassion, with certain caveats about the universality of that prayer.

On the other hand we were unimpressed by the superficiality of the Dalai Lama's description of the importance of shared compassion the faiths of the world.

Here is the Judaism reference from the Dalai Lama's essay, following upon his appearance this week at Radio City.

Take Judaism, for instance. I first visited a synagogue in Cochin, India, in 1965, and have met with many rabbis over the years. I remember vividly the rabbi in the Netherlands who told me about the Holocaust with such intensity that we were both in tears. And I’ve learned how the Talmud and the Bible repeat the theme of compassion, as in the passage in Leviticus that admonishes, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Not a very deep or profound insight, but well-meaning and he does mention the Holocaust.

Does the iPad Torah App Make Your Device Sacred?

Barry Schwartz at Rusty Brick Inc alerted us to his new and incredible iPad Torah App today. So now we have it on our iPad.

It is indeed a scrolling replica of an actual Torah scroll - a great asset for Torah readers who wish to practice on the go! A neat concept and nicely executed with a little "yad" pointer icon that you can activate and use while you read from your iPad Torah.

But on further analysis we started to ponder some Talmudic questions. Now that we have an actual Torah on our iPad, can we take it into, ahem, the lavatory? Does this app make our iPad into a holy book?

After due consideration, we have made our initial ruling on this matter. As long as you do not open the app in a place that is not dignified for sacred books, there is no problem. From the perspective of Jewish law, a closed app is nothing more than an cartoon icon. Yes, you heard it here first.

New Yorker Parody of Heidi Montag's Prayers

It's a matter of perspective. For most readers the hilarious Paul Rudnick parody in the New Yorker ("Hi From Heidi") of Heidi Montag (just who is she anyway?) was about her ten-plastic-surgeries-at-a-time mentality.

For us, due to our unrelenting interest in prayer, the whole joke was about how she prayed, not about how she spoke about her obsessive body sculpting.

The reality-show personality Heidi Montag recently underwent ten plastic-surgery procedures on a single day. Montag told People that, before deciding to take these measures, “I prayed about it for a long time and said, ‘God, if it’s wrong, then I won’t do it.’ ” The full text of Montag’s prayer has only recently been made available:

Dear Lord:

As You probably know, because I guess You sort of know everything, I’m thinking about having a mini brow lift; lipo on my neck, waist, hips, and thighs; a chin reduction; an ear job; fat injections in my cheeks, nasolabial folds, and lips; a revision of my previous rhinoplasty; a redo of my earlier breast implants; Botox injections in my forehead and frown area; and a buttocks augmentation, if that is Thy will.

I won’t go ahead with any of this if You don’t approve, but I keep thinking, Why would God have made my plastic surgeon, Dr. Frank Ryan, so totally cute if He didn’t want me to use him?...more...

And what about that Jewish correction of the week in the same New Yorker issue? It is just a riot.

First Israel, Now the Yankees Ban the iPad

Last month the State of Israel banned the iPad for several weeks.

Now reports are circulating that the venerable New York Yankees have banned the device from the stadium.

Oy, we guess that means the pinstripes have hired Israelis to monitor the security at the Bronx field. Check back in three weeks.

From CNET:

A report from Yahoo Sports suggests that the Yankees have decided in all their infinite, historic wisdom that the iPad falls under its "No laptops" policy.

Spacekatgal, a poster on the IGN boards and who first caught Yahoo Sports' attention, said: "The security people told me it was not allowed and I was turned away at the gates. Why on earth would they have this policy? Terrorism concerns? I couldn't get an answer. I snuck it in under my jacket...I bring it to Fenway all the time and they don't care."

Tzvee's iPad App of the Week: SkyGrid

Not just another news aggregator, the SkyGrid iPad app is something special. Impossible for us to describe, so we will just cite what the developers say:

SkyGrid filters the information to find the things we think you’ll find exciting to discover and share with others. Common examples are world events, sports updates, entertainment news, and other things that people like to share. SkyGrid has over 25 different filters to make the streams you view high quality. Some of the things people using SkyGrid are most excited about are our patented SkyView™ algorithm that filters for reputation and velocity. These words probably sound a bit technical, and let us quickly describe each one. Reputation just means we always want to show things only from people you trust (think about the difference on Facebook from getting a friend request with a picture of someone you may know vs. the blank silhouette image). Velocity shows you the information that’s changing the fastest. It’s always exciting to know what others are also finding exciting.

Honestly, we go to the SkyGrid "Latest on iPad" category at least once a day to see what people are saying and doing about and with the revolutionary new device.

Doonesbury's Berzerki Talmudi Jewish Rebels

If it's Talmud, we link to it, even if we don't really get the humor.

Today, Doonesbury's comic strip includes a reference to the imaginary "Berzerki Talmudi" Jewish rebels.

See the strip here.