Mezuzot and Tattoos: What Do/Should I Stand For?

It has been some time now since the 8th Grade was discussing anything, but when last we met it was all about tattoos and piercings - the time before being about the mezuzah. I had yet to write on either of these, but I have been thinking a lot about both since reading an article posted on medium.com. It is entitled "JUDAISM NEXT" and is a Rabbi's take on what to do about the evolving nature of Judaism, namely Reform/Liberal Judaism. I felt it appropriate to use this article to demonstrate where I am at in terms of everything we are talking about in the 8th Grade this year and trying to make the traditions/commandments relevant to us today. 

Here is an excerpt that sums up the article nicely:

The problem with liberal Judaism is liberal Judaism, not liberal rabbis or liberal Jews. The God affirmed in our liturgy is dead. The idea that the earth was created for our sake is laughable. The insistence that God loves us and will intervene on our behalf is simply sad. The notion that the people Israel is chosen and the Land of Israel is promised is seen for what it is: an Iron Age marketing campaign. Hyping Jewish jingoism to post–ethnic and post–tribal Jews and their Gentile partners is absurd. Pretending that serious Torah study consists of asking “What does this passage mean to me today” is insulting to both Jews and Torah. And equating deep contemplative practice with clapping hands to neo–Hasidic melodies is so ridiculous that most Jews in the pews don’t even bother to try. If liberal Judaism is to have a future, we need to do different, not better.

Why have we, as Reform/Liberal Jews, taken it upon ourselves to hold onto some mitzvot and not others? Are we hurting the religion/culture/traditions as a whole by allowing for our younger generations to question Judaism and give them the right to choose what they want to practice?

The whole idea behind a mezuzah and getting a tattoo(s) is to "affix" a meaningful symbol on your doorpost or body. Right now, this article is speaking to me in all sorts of ways.

Here is the rest of the article for you to enjoy and perhaps continue asking some of the important questions this Rabbi is articulating.

He who saves one life...

It has been a few weeks since we spoke about it in class, but I felt it appropriate to post some thoughts on the commandment: do not stand idly by when another's life is in danger. I thought and thought about what I could possibly say about this mitzvah and how I would observe in my own way. Do I discuss my opinions on social action and tzedakah within the Reform movement? Would I physically go out and observe the mitzvah as it is written? How should I determine whether  another's life was in danger? By the time I finished asking myself these and other questions, the Shabbaton retreat was upon me and I pushed this commandment to the back of my mind. However, with the retreat's theme being "THE PROPHETS" I was immediately thinking about the mitzvah again. Many of the prophets' main messages were about fixing our actions and doing better in the eyes of God. For the retreat I had written and was running programs all about taking action and reanalyzing our relationship to ourselves, others, and God. I felt really good about leading activities and discussions for others to contemplate all of this, but it did not feel right for me. I still felt like I was cheating myself out of the challenge of observing the mitzvah.

Another week had passed and I maximized my time off for the Veteran's Day holiday so once again, my mind was not focused on the mitzvah. But as most things you have to do in life, this mitzvah was unavoidable. This week in my weekly movie night tradition, Schindler's List was the Oscar Best Picture movie choice. I had never seen it and to be honest, had avoided it until now. Which, while watching the film, I began realizing that this was exactly the message of the film and the core idea behind the mitzvah of not standing idly by. The movie did not present any historical information that I was not already aware of, but it did allow me to begin rethinking what it means to take action. How so many people were able to justify their actions or inactions during this time in humanity's history will always frustrate, anger, confuse, and amaze me.

"He who saves one life, saves the world entire" is taken from Talmud and is engraved on the ring given to Oskar Schindler at the end of the film. It is such a simple concept yet so very powerful if ever done. I also do not believe that it always means to literally save someone's life, but to care for another. It truly represents the mitzvah of not standing idly by and gives us something to strive towards. We often turn our heads at injustice and violence and atrocities when we should face them together. I have yet to act on this Mitzvah, but at least I am now thinking about it and want to become more knowledgeable as to how I can act going forward.

Keeping "Kosher" (i.e. vegan AND gluten-free)

When I was teaching the 7th Grade at Wilshire Boulevard Temple back in 2007, we had a lesson about kashrut that I was responsible for teaching. I knew nothing about what it meant to actually observe kosher laws, but I did not feel right about teaching them if I did not learn myself. I did some studying and ended up really being affected by what I learned: clean animals killed in the kosher method, keeping the animals as happy as possible while they are still alive, environmental impact while eating more vegetables, etc. I ended up keeping kosher for 3 whole years and turning into a vegetarian for 6 months after continuing to learn about how we impact the Earth through our diets. During this time I also visited Spain for 2 weeks which proved to be extremely difficult and tested my dedication as the food there was not kosher/vegetarian-friendly. However, it all came to a screeching halt in the summer of 2010 after a camp tradition had me eating 3 whole steaks after a 3-day hike. My desire to keep kosher and vegetarian completely went out the window all because of a tradition at camp in which I could not help but be a part of. Since then, I have eaten pork, shellfish, meat, cheese, meat and cheese -- you name it. However, my time keeping kosher and learning about how to eat healthier did not go to waste. I am much more mindful about what I am putting into my body, how it affects me, how it affects the animals, the ingredients in the food and where they come from/how they are made, and what my diet is doing to the environment. This has even crossed over into a bit of an obsessiveness about the contents of cosmetics/toiletries as well, but that can be saved for a separate conversation.

For this past week, I wanted to keep the mindfulness and intention, but was having a difficult time figuring out what exactly I would need to do. Keeping kosher as it is written in the Torah and how it has been translated through rabbinic tradition was going to prove to be too easy - as would keeping vegetarian. These are both ways of living I have tried before and I wanted to challenge my notion of kosher. I decided that going vegan for the week was going to be the right challenge for me and I ended up loving it. I was also unintentionally keeping gluten-free at the start of the week and just kept it up for the remainder of the week. Figuring out what I could and could not eat in my own home was actually pretty easy as I went to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods when I made this decision. However, eating at the few restaurants I did this week proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. It was not as vegan+gluten-free friendly as I would have guessed with so many today choosing both of these as viable options for their lives. I am still keeping vegan+gluten-free for one more day (Sunday to Sunday). 

This week has actually opened my eyes to some important health-related food habits that I am considering going forward. The vegan thing is not really for me...yet. It is very respectable and I would definitely strongly think about it as an option as I get older. However, the gluten-free portion of my week has proved to be much less difficult than anticipated (and planned) but also probably much healthier. I eat a ton of carbs only because they are there and having this restriction or mindfulness about what I put into my body is something that I am going to try to keep going as long as I can - maybe permanently...maybe.

Shabbat Shalom

So I am walking my dog around the block before I head over to my softball league's game tonight and I am thinking to myself 1. I really need to create my own blog on the blog mitzvah page and 2. how in the world am I going to observe Shabbat this week? I was not having a traditional dinner with friends or family to light candles or eat challah or say any kind of blessing at all, really, and I was probably just going to try and figure out someway to connect softball and Shabbat to make this first blog post work...

But my mind is now wandering away from this blog mitzvah and back to my dog and then over to the Shabbaton retreat we have coming up -- the focus of which is prophets so I have a lot of God-talk on my mind right now. And I am looking at my dog thinking about how she is just happy to be on this walk with me (or so I think), but that is just the point: I cannot communicate with her at all about her feelings or needs or problems or etc. I pretend to know what she needs. We have a routine when I feed her and take her out and as much as I would like for her to sleep on her own bed, we both know that will never happen. We communicate on some deeper level - no words (well, some "commands" which she kinda listens to). So now I am thinking about my dog and have cleaning up after her and my mind is very far from Shabbat, but I stand back up and can see a family sitting down at their dinner table with Shabbat candles lit and they are having dinner together. And I smile, but am now in a hurry to get back because my softball game is starting soon and then - BAM! Sidewalk chalk drawings that some kids in the neighborhood must have made earlier. There's the Earth and Saturn and the moon and some stars. Creation right before my very eyes.

Here I am worried about not being able to celebrate or find Shabbat this week and it goes ahead and finds me. And now I am walking home super excited to make a blog and share this with everyone when I turn into my alley to throw my dog's waste away when a car is coming at me in the opposition direction and I quickly move off to the side to not be hit and let them pass, but the car slows to a stop right in front of me. I get a little scared and freeze there when I hear/see the window moving down. "Shabbat Shalom, Calvin," says my old Hebrew School teacher peering out from her dark car and drives off. 1. I have not seen this woman in years, 2. I used to give her such grief when I was her student so I would not blame her for hitting me with her vehicle, 3. I had no idea she lived in this area, and 4. again, I have not seen this woman in years and of everything she could have said to me in that moment she says "Shabbat Shalom." It is such a universal greeting from Jews to one another and in that moment when I had completely forgotten about Shabbat and the wonderful thoughts I just had because my life was potentially in danger, I was at peace.

Well, now I am late for my softball league practice but I just had to get this blog going and type this all up to share with you all. Thanks and I hope that Shabbat finds you all this week.