31.5.06

Shavuot Poem








Double Word Score

Intermediary objects –
tablets, scrolls, books,
It’s all code,
chicken scratches, really,
God as text, as word, as story, as law,
language is a cousin once-removed,

Meditate on these words,
Really meaning go beyond the words,
Place them upon your heart,
Meaning tuck them somewhere inaccessible,
Write them on your doorposts and gates,
Then paint over them with smooth strokes in a latex semi-gloss,
Teach them on the way,
Open up the sunroof and throw them out the window.

It is not the words,
That is what the masters always say,
But we novices have secret crushes on words like
Supplication, wave-offering and breastplate
Because words are entire worlds,
We crawl up in them like a…
like a…
like a…
womb
waiting to be birthed into the world beyond beyond.

The inquisition - what a show!


So last night I was with a crowd of other Jewish professionals at the Jewish Center, the Orthodox shul that once was led by Mordecai Kaplan. That, I admit, is not blog-worthy. What is worth noting, though, is that the event was a lecture by Cardinal Egan. A bishop preaching from the pulpit in an Orthodox shul - I can hear Mel Brooks in my head "What is this? the inquistion?" I hate to to say it, but the forced sermons of the inquistion would have been more engaging than his extended shmooze. The bishop spoke personally about the many Jews in his life growing up in the Chicago suburbs (naming countless Jewish sounding names that were familiar to few if any in the crowd) , he delivered stale jokes about bagels and smoked salmon (three times), and he recalled civil rights and labor struggles that were old news thirty years ago. He had suprisingly little - or rather I should say nothing - to say about the current social climate except that we should work together on the pressing issues of our day. He did not give any hint to what those issues might be. Sadly, this was yet another example of a missed opportunity. Maybe the real dialogue happens back stage - or at the bar after the lecture - but it certainly was not evident in the shul. I did get to meet an interesting Catholic professor from Iona - and the reception featured a nice samosa like puff thingy.

25.5.06

Pretty Fly for a Rabbi


I once saw Weird Al Yankovich, the Polish American king of pop satire, in an elevator in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Many years back, he spoofed the song "pretty fly for a White guy" with his "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" replete with fake Yiddishisms. Now some genius has married Japanese anime and Weird Al and alas, another chapter of the Jewish people unfolds.... watch it at all unravel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=457OT3R_AaI

18.5.06

My New Jewish Week Piece - The Unrevised Edition

Swimming in the Arabian Gulf



By Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner



A week after Qatar and Iran pledged $100 million dollars to the Arab League to aid the struggling Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, I was on a Qatar Airways flight, watching Rabbi Rolando Matalon stare out into the Saudi Arabian sky. The Qataris’ indirect gift to Hamas wasn’t going to stop him from going to Doha, nor was it going to deter the former Chief Rabbi of France and the other four rabbis (three Americans, one Brit) on their way to the Middle East. But Western rabbis traveling to Qatar is hardly headline news. Matalon was there last year, with the first small group of Jews to be invited to the Conference on Religious Dialogue in Doha. What was making headline news in the Arab world this year was the fact that – due to the ground-breaking work of Matalon, Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, Dr. Mark Cohen and Rabbi Burt Vizotsky - rabbis from Israel were asked to speak at the conference. While Roly and I flew over Mecca, Rabbi Yehudah Mirsky (Orthodox - Jerusalem) and Rabbi David Lazar (Conservative – Tel Aviv) were making a car trip to Amman to catch a plane to Doha. Israeli rabbis headed for an inter-religious conference in a Wahabbi Muslim land. That is a first.

Wearing a yarmulke in Doha elicits a wide range of responses. As I walked through the airport, a man made the deep throat rattling sounds that alerted me to a potential spit incident. I walked a bit faster. But there were also unexpected surprises. A secretary from the Venezuelan embassy saw me in the hotel lobby and said “I am so happy to see you! I have not seen a Jew in two years!” She told me that her mother now lives in Miami, and all her friends are Jewish. A Palestinian man from Beirut greeted me in Hebrew with a “Shalom Aleciem. Hashaym Sheli Ahmed.” – words he had learned from his father, who had Jewish friends in Haifa before he fled. And with a boyish grin, an older Qatari official confessed to me that he had a Jewish girlfriend when he went to college in the U.S.

What can be accomplished in a religious dialogue? The conference itself, comprised of 130 Muslims, Christians, and Jews, mostly men, and mostly from the Middle East and Europe, was like many such events – dry speakers going well over their allotted time, speaking at a pace that the translators can not keep up with. One exception to the dry talks was the Imam from Denmark who had stirred up anger around the cartoon depictions of Mohammed. He pounded his fist on the dais and sprayed a fine mist onto the microphone. But there were moments in the conference that were unexpected. First off, the lead organizer from Qatar University, the Dean of Islamic Law, was a woman. Fully covered in a long-sleeved black dress and traditional headscarf, she moderated the opening panel with great civility and a touch of humor. Given that so many inter-religious events in the West are moderated by men, it was refreshing to be in the Muslim world and see her face on the jumbotron behind the dais.

Another highlight came during the session moderated by Rabbi Mirsky. After the session, a Palestinian participant asked when the “genocide” against the Palestinian people would come to an end. Mirsky tried to clarify the question, but the man yelled out, in English, “there is no Israel. It is Palestine! It has always been Palestine! Israel is the name of a prophet! The country is Palestine!” Mirsky attempted to raise the fact that there were many names, “it is also called Terra Sancta,” he remarked, but he was interrupted again “It is Palestine! There is no Israel!” A number of Palestinians and sympathizers erupted in applause, cheering the “There is no Israel!” cries on. A British Jew, Sidney Shipton, yelled out in what sounded like a House of Lords sound-bite “Would the gentleman please recognize the chair!’ but this only made the tension escalate. I was ready to run for the door. Was the conference about to turn on us? It wasn’t until one of our Qatari hosts intervened that I could breathe again. “We are not here to discuss this matter.” He said. “This is a conference on religious dialogue.” Afterwards Rabbi Mirsky made a noble attempt to speak with the Palestinian who had instigated the incident. It did not get very far.

But other exchanges did help us to understand one another, and speak in ways that transcended the usual political discourse. Matalon’s speech on the religious response to globalization was widely praised. I was asked to speak on environmental issues, and even the Palestinian who responded to my speech with a laundry list of Israel’s environmental crimes was willing to recognize that the only peaceful future for Israel and a potential Palestine is dependent on agreements on water and close cooperation on other environmental issues. In the hallway we shared a cup of coffee. Rabbi Fuchs–Kreimer ended the conference with an inspiring conversation with a Saudi woman professor who directs a center for domestic violence. In these moments of authentic dialogue and exchange we went beyond the formalities and met one another with open hearts.

What did I learn from traveling to Qatar? It occurred to me that Doha may be the new Geneva. The Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani rules a country whose citizens are devout and conservative Muslims, but he has already shown an interest in opening up to the wider world and acting as a bridge builder between rivals. His interest in religious dialogue, supported by the foreign minister, and by the Emir’s pioneering wife, Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, is part of a wider strategy of engagement with the outside world that includes investment in American universities and investment in environmentally friendly technology. For these advances, the Qatatri leadership has been criticized by those in the Arab world who despise the West; criticism that will only escalate now that they have publicly recognized rabbis from Israel. They will most likely be labeled ‘Zionists,’ which would probably make them the only Zionists on the planet who side with Iran in supporting the Hamas-led PA.

On the last day of my stay in Qatar, after a grueling squash match with a young Pakistani Muslim scholar, I ran down to the beach by our hotel and jumped into the Gulf. Looking out over the oil rigs in the distance, treading water, I felt that perhaps Qatar will not only be the place where liquefied natural gas is mined and major business deals are inked. Perhaps this may be the place where a wealth of natural resources will be translated into wealth of human advancement – educationally and environmentally. If the Emir continues on his path to openness, there is hope that Qatar will be the place where enemies meet and peace treaties are signed. Inshallah.





Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner directs the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City.

16.5.06

I-I-I- am calling You-u-u


Today I became a member of an 'outreach advisory board' for the new doc called The Calling by Daniel Alpert. Alpert's brilliant idea is to track a few students over three years or so as they become religious leaders. So far, he's followed a young Pakistani Imam-to-be at Hartford Seminary, a Latino Theologian (I wrote Novice earlier - out of ignorance - my apologies Steven) at a Catholic seminary in San Antonio and a guitar playing rabbinical student at JTS. He'll add more as the project goes forward. While the seminary students will not meet or interact with one another - I do like the fact that Alpert is tracking them at the same time, and envisioning weaving the stories together - if it works.

9.5.06

Art Green, Fiedlston, Gus Neibuhr....

I'm still waiting to hear if the Jewish Week is running my essay on Qatar - so please stay tuned! So in other news....I sat in on a brilliant talk by my former teacher Rabbi Dr. Art Green whis weekend at Montclair's Shomrei Emunah. Green spoke about the Zohar, and the idea that the sexualized feminine imagery of the mystics is a counter-narrative to the cult of Mary in Spanish Catholicism. Then Kabbalists in Turkey form a counter-narrative to the Sufis - fascinating idea. Green was mesmerizing - he spoke for over an hour and I was riveted by every word. (The last time I heard him speak for an hour was under a Chupah ten years ago when Lisa and I were married by him!) His best idea was in a discussion afterwards - Elohim is truly a flipped word - Mei - Eyleh -- meaning "Who?" and "These" the "Who?" is the 3 sefirot that are unknown and the "These" are the seven known sefirot. He also spoke on Hillel Zeitlin - who I've been thinking would make a good subject for my next play.

This morning I spoke (with Katharine Henderson and Nurah Amatullah Jeter) at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School at an assembly on the Holy Land -I spoke about the Tower of Babel, Abraham, and Exile...basically the idea of 70 nations, Jewish homeland, and the problematics of exile. The students were really sharp - they asked great questions.

Finally, tonight is our Rudin Lecture - please feel to drop by at 5:30 if you are in NYC. Here's my invocation:
The ancient words of the Book of Proverbs remind us:

Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of the judicious (Proverbs 14:33)

We come together tonight, people of many faiths, to set in our hearts a bed on which wisdom may rest.

There is an old Jewish folk tale on wisdom -

Wisdom enters the world and walks from village to village. But each person who sees wisdom is afraid. ‘Wisdom is ugly’ they say. ‘Wisdom is dirty’ they say. Wisdom is ‘sick’ they say. Everyone runs from wisdom. People go out of their way to avoid wisdom. Wisdom is broken-hearted. Wisdom floats back to the heavens and comes before God in tears.

“No one wants to see me!” Wisdom complains.

God answers: “When you go out into the world, dress yourself in a story.”

Tonight, we come together to hear from a journalist and a scholar, one who searches for stories, and teaches others where to find them. May we, in our discussion, share stories, and learn to welcome wisdom into our hearts.