It started this morning when my alarm clock went off at 5:30. I continued lying in bed until about 15 minutes then I slumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, stretched, and walked the dog. I went to get my walking buddy because she hadn’t been waiting for me. I knocked on her boat three times, and she didn’t answer. So I peaked in the boat and told her to wake up.

I got home, changed, and decided to take a road trip to a town called Puerto Barrios with my father. We were lucky to have gotten a ride with the owner of our marina, so the van was really nice instead of a collectivo aka a 16 passenger van that they try and cram 26 people in that drives extremely fast and dangerously.

So we were on the road for about an hour and a half, and during the trip we saw a burnt down synagogue. It’s quite sad that that happened. There is also a girl here who usually wears the Star of David in Rio Dulce, but lately she hasn’t been wearing it. I’m starting to wonder if Judaism isn’t accepted here as I thought it used to be.

We arrived in Puerto Barrios and ate at McDonalds for breakfast. Now this is pretty big since they probably only have like 3 McDonalds in Guatemala. Needless to say, I haven’t been to one in a long time so it was a treat. We did a little grocery shopping and walked around the mall then continued on our way back to the Rio.

We had to stop at a propane store, paint store, post office, and random other places in another town called Morales. In Morales, we passed about 10 cars that had been totaled. I guess it’s where they keep the wrecked cars. One of them was a car with about 10 bullet holes in the front windshield. The owner of the marina said that the person who was in the car was the killer of the Tigo (cell phone service) store in Rio Dulce. The Tigo store had been owned by the Mafia and here the Mafia rules over everyone, so if you kill one of their people they will kill you. Guatemala has no justice system.

So now I’m just watching Kate and Leopold while eating my newly bought Skittles from Puerto Barrios. I only have 2 more days until I go to the USA. I’m excited. Adios.

So how is Judaism part of my life? What do we do? Doing is key in my approach to Judaism. Doing with intention is approach. It was not feasible to take on all the Jewish traditions at once. My wife and I started by trying some traditions.

First we removed watching TV and working on Saturdays. After the children came along we added Friday night.  We added lighting the candles and saying the blessings over wine and bread. We started inviting others over to join us. While we did not belong to any community we participated in the family gatherings for the holidays.

We joined Temple Shir Tikva a few years ago and have started to participate in every holiday. We started following the rhythm of the year and all the special days we have.

I belong to the ritual committee ... sometimes. I have started an online study website. I am in the middle of getting my adult bar mitzvah. I going to morning minyan twice a week.

One thing I do everyday is where my kippah. Everywhere I go I where it. Everyday it makes me think of the fact that I am Jewish. Everyday I realize that someone looks at me as a Jewish man not just a man.

In the end, I try to make Judaism the lens by which I approach the world. It is not only part of my life but it is my life. Like I posted elsewhere I do not think of Jew as a noun but a verb -- to Jew. Do you Jew?

The holiday is mentioned in several places in the Old Testament, and even once in the New Testament.  In Leviticus 23:39-43, we learn the requirements for the annual holiday:

"'So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the LORD for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest.  On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.  Celebrate this as a festival to the LORD for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month.  Live in booths for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.' "

Believe it or not, observant Jews construct huts outside their homes and live in them for a week.  If it's cold, they might only eat their meals in them, but the real hard core ones will pack their entire family into the "booth" for a mini camping experience.

I began my attempts to observe the holiday by consulting my official Jewish cookbook, which has come through on many obscure holidays with tasty, festive recipes.  The food for Sukkot was downright bizarre, involving lots of cabbage, which I didn't have on hand, and oddly enough, lemons, which made no sense to me.  I did read that casseroles were popular features of Sukkot meals because they are easily transported to the outdoor booths.  So, what did I make?  Stir fry.

But it's a seven day feast.  Tonight, I've got a more traditional stuffed bell-pepper dish planned.  Stuffed foods are also a tradition, and this also has a casserole feel to it.  My cookbook said it counted, so I'm going with it.  Dan, on hearing that it was a Jewish thanksgiving, automatically wanted turkey and stuffing.  Somehow, I just can't handle a Jewish pilgrim turkey fest in October.

Over our Chinese/Jewish thanksgiving dinner, we talked about whether or not we should construct a booth.  Living in an apartment complex, this gets a little tricky.  Dan volunteered to make a fort out of pillows in our living room.  I passed on the offer.  Actually, I told him HE could sleep on the deck in our tent.  Neither option suited us very well.

I read him a section from a book I've been reading about a man who is trying to live "Biblically" by following all the laws in the bible, including all the holidays, for a year.  He had a similar problem with Sukkot, and he ended up building a booth in his living room.  Maybe next year.

But I think that instead of focusing on following the letter of the law here, the spirit of the law has a lot to teach us in this holiday.  We have seven full days to be thankful for a lot of things.  First, we get to be thankful that we don't have to live in a tent, either in the wilderness with the Israelites or in our backyard with all the Jews who still live under the law.  I'm also thankful for the freedom in Christ to eat all sorts of great foods, including Chinese stir fry (even though I couldn't bring myself to make it a seafood or pork stir fry...that was a bit much.  Just like I can't do a Passover ham, no matter how much they are on sale.).

This week, have Thanksgiving a bit early, and spread it out over the whole week, not just one day.  Go ahead, be Biblical.

I recall reading somewhere that the three major religious traditions all take a different view of when an embryo becomes human, or when it takes on its distinctively human character. This is as much as I remember:

• Christianity: embryo becomes human at conception
• Judaism: embryo becomes human 40 days following conception
• Islam: embryo becomes human (upon soul entering body) 40-120 days following conception 

The fact that the three major monotheistic religions don’t agree on this issue shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. But it does mean that they all take a somewhat different approach to stem cell research.

For instance, Judaism, which essentially believes that a child does not become human until its mother first distinguishes movement within the womb (hence the 40 days) apparently does not object to stem cell research that would employ cells taken from embryos at any stage prior to this time. I would assume Islam would take a similar approach, though I admit my ignorance on this issue. So we see the greatest opposition amongst conservative Christians, who believe all life begins at conception. My problems with this:

First, Christians seem opposed to stem cell research based on the that embryos are destroyed on a very speculative basis. They claim there is no evidence that such research would provide cures for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s Disease or for some forms of cancer, as scientists believe it could. However, it’s hard to deny the current evidence which suggests that embryonic stem cells can become other types of cells including insulin producing cells that could help children with juvenile diabetes make their way to a brighter future. And isn’t it speculation that any embryo will actually make it to full term. We cannot know how long an embryo will survive especially since miscarriages are, unfortunately, such a common experience for women. 

Second, why is it that an unborn life is so much more valuable than the life of an existing child or adult? Isn’t there a Christian commandment that explicitly tells its followers not to kill – anybody? Doesn’t deciding not to support stem cell research effectively amount to the murder of an Alzheimer’s victim or somebody suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, when there is a viable line of research that could be pursued to forestall the impact the effect of these diseases on human life. It seems to me that Christians are very clearly making a decision about whose life matters more. As Richard Dawkins once said, you’re best chance for being supported by the religious, especially Christians, is to remain an embryo. After that, life seems to steadily lose value for Christians. 

Frankly, this all points to a larger problem with religion than simply the stem cell debate. It is religion’s obsession with life before life and life after life and not with life in the here and now. Is that any way to live? What is so terrible about wanting to create quality of life for those living in the here and now?

It’s this distance from reality that bothers me most because I think it teaches us to devalue human life in place of cherishing it. The more attached the religious become to this view, the more likely we are to repeat the mistakes of the past, because the progress of the now holds little value for them. I think the now is all we have and I want to live in it. I think others should be able to live in it, too, instead of being denied hope by the religious.

May also have references to other sets of three such
as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or soul, mind, spirit, or spirit, mind, and
body, etc.,

related to the concept of the triad in the Sethian Monadology.
Corresponds to the Supernal triad of the Kabbalah, Kether, Chockmah, and Binah, in the study of the ''Tree of Life.''

Synonymous with the Chinese concept of 'San Ti,' known as the Taoist Trilogy, ''man (Man's mind or heart) is the same as heaven and earth.'' (''Kenpo Gokui,'' Tatsuo Shimabuku. See also; ''Xing Yi Quan Xue,'' Tang, Unique Publications, 2000., Pg.'s 69, 80.) In Hinduism, the Trimurti (also called the Hindu trinity) are three aspects of God, or "Parabrahman," in God's personae as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. This Trimurti concept is a tenet most strongly held in Smartism, a denomination of Hinduism as well as Ayyavazhi. VishnuBrahma - the Source/Creator (Tamil: Vethan in Ayyavazhi.) Vishnu - the Preserver/Indwelling-Life (Tamil: Thirumal in Ayyavazhi.) Shiva - the Transformer (Destroyer-Creator) (Tamil: Sivan, in Ayyavazhi). The Trimurti itself is conceived of as a deity and artistically
represented as a three-faced human figure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimurti

The differences between Belski and his wife, interplay throughout the novel. There is disagreement on how to raise their daughter, Franny. His wife and daughter try to open his eyes to the joy around him. He is a man in crisis, lost in faith, relying on medication to get him through the hours and days. Belski’s life appears to be a series of reluctant events, which do not include one small spark of happiness. Belski is schlepping through life struggling with his emotional being and his academic side. He is fixated with the past, yet at the same time it eventually evolves into a healing element for him.

“"English melancholiacs used to tour the ruins of Antiquity as a cure for their depression, which was, in fact, at the time called the English Disease. It was thought that somehow the contemplation of actual ruins would make one’s own ruined life seem less hateful, and that these dilapidated but still beautiful structures might suggest to the sensitive melancholic the possibility of finding beauty in his own misery, indeed as essential to it.”

He travels to Poland on a conference with a colleague named Liebowitz, a person, who is almost like a sidekick of Belski's. They visit Auschwitz. Belski's constant reflections on the Holocaust, anti-semitism, the current social climate in Poland, and on his life overtake his thoughts. They feed his melancholic state.

It gives him power over others, the only form of power he has. Seemingly that depressive state is something that he enjoys being in, although he will tell you otherwise.

Skibell is brilliant in his writing and assessment of Jews, assimilated Jews, Jews marrying Gentiles, the Holocaust, Poland, and depression and melancholia. Skibell's amazing descriptive observations make it seem as if he is inside the heads of others. He does it all with a dry wit, and you find yourself laughing out loud while reading the book. Who could perceive that writing a novel about a depressed person could be so humorous, and so poignant at the same time. Who knew?

He writes comically, on the neurotic struggle for assimilation, which really isn't a struggle unique to Jews, but a struggle for all immigrants and first-generation Americans. Skibell incorporates those struggles and burdens within Belski's journey to self-discovery. Skibell's book is an excellent psychological character study. The English Disease is bizarrely funny with quirky characters, yet has strong serious undertones, and at times is heart-breaking. It is a metaphor for redemption, and for spiritual and marital contentment in an ever changing world.

The end is a surprise, and fulfilling. I wouldn't have missed reading The English Disease for anything, as it is that good! Bravo to Joseph Skibell.

I personally own and have read this book.
~~~~~~
Jew Wishes...Peace to you all.
© Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.

I have done quite a few things, also made many mistakes. BUT BECAUSE I DO NOT WAVE THE JEWISH FLAG. I am doused in the unsavoury. Pictured with criminals, Gays and young girls.

So I appear to be either gay, a criminal or a peadophile, none of which is true. This suits the Jews who are in control of my life. They know that no one was born free.

These are also the people in control.

I imagine great forces are at work, that we will see a sea change in consciousness. Somehow the turbulence that will be here first is potentially dangerous.

Surely our rulers see the knocking at the door:
One huge succession of faulty decisions, seemingly rooted in misinterpretations of the Bible.
Certainly God is quoted by all of our warmongering harassing rulers.

I have done some successful healing and had many psychic experiences. Often larger than life. But this has to be hidden and smothered. It could only be allowed in the name of religion.

Leave a man with nothing left to lose and see what he does. What will my lords and masters do? Get rid of me? Or just keep me shovelling shit. They know corruption and religion are the way.

Strange title up above, you may think.  Hmm, well, actually, no.  I have found a great blog (I can't remember how, you know how it is) that is all about the questions, Jewish style.  I think this blog should get a lot more visitors, it is brilliant...

With Intention

Here's an example of one of Michael's questioning entries: Shir Tikva.  Many of his posts are like this - they make me think, that's for sure!  I hope I'm still as inquisitve 14 years on from my conversion (which is where he is now), whenever that may be!

On Hebrew news, I have nearly reached the end of my first book, 'Aleph Isn't Tough' (it's over there --->).  I need to work on the script side of things, as that is not really something I can do too well on a bumpy train journey!  I would also like to get on with some conversational Modern Hebrew - I think I'll have to find myself some podcasts for that, unless anyone can recommend a good CD & book combination??

Freemasons are one.
Religions have secret societies.
No one would expect to learn secrets locked up in the Vatican. Presumably everyone would believe they do exist.

Then there are mafias, and intelligence agencies.
All operating in a clandestine way.
The police while an ally are probably with less IQ. and anyway in our society corruption is necessary.

An intelligence operator once told me 80% of the populaion are involved in crime.That seems hard to believe. But from his perspective it appears to have been true.

The secret societies all have their codes of conduct.
If they make your acquaintance they have total power over you.

Fear and corruption are the only currencies left to a defunct philosophy. They decide who earns and when, and all that is left is a pyramid.

We can only hope for the passing of our rulers.

Jewish rule is what reigns over me, and probably you. If only they had not decided to war with the Muslims... Through that one mistake has been born a nightmare, it has attracted the most fierce of people to the top.

Imbued a nation with hatred and a doctrinaire approach to life.

Pehaps secret societies have always existed, and they will continue for as long as people group together as economic entities. And maybe they are enhanced by fiat money.

A group of rabbis, politicians, philanthropists and right-wing activists gathered Sunday in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City to celebrate the reopening of a synagogue located about 100 meters from the Temple Mount.

"We are here today to mark the return of a Jewish presence to this house of prayer," said Rabbi Shmuel Rabbinovitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and the holy sites.

"Any claims leveled at us by Muslim leaders that we are trying to take control of the Temple Mount are downright lies. According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to go up on the Temple Mount because we are all ritually impure," he went on. "We must not allow the incidents in Acre to influence this joyous occasion. This synagogue is place of prayer and peace."

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski also rejected claims that reopening the synagogue was a belligerent act.

"I am astounded when I hear people who attempt to turn a simple act of restoration into a battle for control. This synagogue was deserted because of Arab violence. But that does not mean what we are doing now is violent just because some people say it is," he said.

Laurie Moskowitz Hirsch, daughter of Irving and Cherna Moskowitz, the philanthropists who bought the property rights to the synagogue and funded the refurbishing, told The Jerusalem Post that strengthening Jewish presence was the best remedy for Arab violence.

"The best answer for all this [the violence in Acre] is to bring in a large Jewish presence," said Moskowitz Hirsch. "And that means buying properties. I see the Ohel Yitzhak project as part of our ongoing effort to strengthen a Jewish presence. If the Arabs want to stay, they should behave."

The Ohel Yitzhak Synagogue - which was abandoned in 1938 by a group of haredi Jews calling themselves Shomrei Hachomot (Guardians of the Walls), in the wake of waves of Arab violence - is closer than any other Jewish house of prayer to the Temple Mount, according to Rabbinovitz.

The Temple Mount has long been a flashpoint for Jewish-Arab tensions. In 1990, rumors that Jews planned to start rebuilding the Temple sparked Arab riots that resulted in casualties. In 1996, Israel opened an archeological tunnel just outside the compound, leading to violent Arab demonstrations. In September 2000, a visit to the Temple Mount by Ariel Sharon triggered more violent demonstrations that led to what later became known as al-Aksa Intifada.

The celebration of the opening of Ohel Yitzhak came amid severely strained relations between Arabs and Jews after five days of sporadic violence in Acre, one of the few cities nationwide where Arabs and Jews live side by side.

However, participants in the Ohel Yitzhak ceremony, while aware of the disturbances and the potentially volatile atmosphere, focused on the joyous occasion of the refurbishing of one of Jerusalem's most important synagogues.

Known also as the Ungarin Shul after its Hungarian Jewish founders, Ohel Yitzhak, built in 1904, also housed a yeshiva in which students studied Torah 24 hours a day. The founders of the synagogue, who were disciples of the 18th-century scholar Rabbi Moshe Sofer - known as the "Hatam Sofer" - felt that their proximity to the Temple Mount obligated them to engage in perpetual study.

According to Ateret Kohanim, an organization that facilitates the purchasing of land in the Jerusalem area, the courtyard was purchased by the Hungarian Jewish community from the Muslim Khaladi family. Rabbi Yitzhak Ratsdorfer, a Belz Hassid and diamond merchant, financed the building of the synagogue.

In its heyday, about 5,000 Jews lived in the neighborhood, which is part of the Muslim Quarter today. Arab violence that began in 1921 and reached a peak in 1938 resulted in the abandonment of Ohel Yitzhak. Members relocated to Mea She'arim, and the building was rented to Arabs until the 1948 War of Independence.

During the 19 years of Jordanian rule that ended in 1967 with the Six Day War, the synagogue was almost totally destroyed. After Israel took control over the Old City, a book store was opened up on the ground floor of the synagogue, the only part of the building left intact.

Eventually Mati Dan, director of Ateret Kohanim, encouraged American Friends of Everest, a nonprofit organization directed by the Moskowitz family, to purchase the building rights from Shomrei Hachomot.

In addition to funding the building of the synagogue, the Moskowitz family also funded an extensive archeological dig that uncovered, among other things, a huge Second Temple-era staircase that led to the Holy of Holies.

The Question of time and Adam and Yeshu is a complex one.

For Gnostics (and some mainstream Christians) the figure of Yeshu appears before the "new testament."

For Gnostics we find that Christ is an emanation, a divine aeon.

Aeon: These are characterized as emanations from the ‘first cause,’ the Father in some Gnostic schema. The word not only refers to the “worlds” of emanation, but to the personalities as well. Sophia, Logos, and the other high principles are aeons. ”A link or level of the great chain of being, the sum total which is
the ‘All’ or Pleroma…Can also mean a world age.” (See; Gaffney) ”According to other Gnostics, for example Valentinus, the first principle is also called Aeon or the unfathomable, the primeval depth, the absolute abyss, bythos, in which everything is sublimated…” translated by Scott J. Thompson from G.W.F.
Hegel’s ”Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie ii ,” (Theorie Werkausgabe, Bd. 19), Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp Verlag, 1977, 426-430] ( See also; Pleroma.)

Thus Christ and his consort, Sophia, are to be found in the Eden story.. for it is Christ and Sophia that are the serpent. Through the serpent Adam and Eve learn they are in ignorance, trapped by the Demi urge (Samael who's name means 'blind god').

But back to Adam....
When we think of Adam there are two adams, the primordial adam and the seperated Adam.
The primordial Adam is "complete" and is reffered to as Adam Cadmon in Jewish mysticism for instance

from Wiki

In the religious writings of Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon is a phrase meaning "Primordial Man," or "Primal Man," comparable to the Anthropos of Gnosticism and Manichaeism. However, in Lurianic Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon acquired much more exalted status, equivalent to Purusha in the Upanishads, denoting the Manifest Absolute itself, while 'Adam Soul', the primeval Soul that contained all human souls, is described in different terms in this variant of mythopoetic cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis. It is said that Adam Kadmon had rays of light projecting from his eyes. There is also a similar concept in Alevi and Sufic philosophy called Insan-i Kamil, the Perfect or Complete Man.

Primal man.... Adam of course becomes "seperated" and forms a duality, of Adam and Eve.
Here we find the goal of many "spiritual" paths, to obtain unification, completeness and the return to the primordial.

As Thomas Aquinas said:
There are only 3 movements in the universe

The circle, female
The Line, Male

and
Obtuse, the serpent, lightining, the Christ.

Thus we see the primordial Adam is the serpent, composed of the male and the female, both and yet neither.
In Gnosticism we see this in the figure of Seth. Thus Adam forms adam and eve, then we have cain and abel and various daughters(depending on who's version you are reading!)...who are all unified, back through a marriage of opposites in the figure of Seth.

”From Adam three natures were begotten. The first was the irrational, which was Cain’s, the second the rational and just, which was Abel’s, the third the spiritual, which was Seth’s. Now that which is earthly is “according to the image,” that which is psychical according to the ” likeness ” of God, and that
which is spiritual is according to the real nature; and with refer­ence to these three, without the other children of Adam, it was said, “This is the book of the generation of men.” And because Seth was spiritual he neither tends flocks nor tills the soil but produces a child, as spiritual things do. And him, who “hoped
to call upon the name of the Lord” who looked upward and whose “citizenship is in heaven - him the world does not contain.” (Theodotus, Criddle Collection.) (SGG)

For Gnostics Yeshu is then a further echo or "reincarnation" of Seth....
This is of course further confused when you consider Docetic ideas of Christ..which I personally dont agree with, as Philip tells us that:

"Jesus took them all by stealth, for he did not appear as he was, but in the manner in which they would be able to see him. He appeared to them all. He appeared to the great as great. He appeared to the small as small. He appeared to the angels as an angel, and to men as a man. Because of this, his word hid itself from everyone. Some indeed saw him, thinking that they were seeing themselves, but when he appeared to his disciples in glory on the mount, he was not small. He became great, but he made the disciples great, that they might be able to see him in his greatness."

...

So the question how many years between Adam and Jesus is one we can consider if we are fixed on times and dates and history. One would argue the bible says an X amount of years, for arguments sake, lets say 5,000. But as Gnostics, history is always secondary, our texts, our cosmology are ways of understanding, a means to an end; they are not to be taken dogmatically or to be used literally alone...for as Gnostics, we must scratch below the surface "If you wish to obtain pearls, you must dive for them."

Docetism: Meaning “image.” Docetic refers to being non-corporeal, or not being composed of matter. (See; Julius Cassianus.)

Barbelo (BARBHLW): Generally the first aeon, body or voice in the Sethian creation myth; “the first virginal emanation,” it may have an androgynous connotation, but represents a Gnostic version of Yin, and Yang, and the sexual energy called ‘Jing’. (See Allogenes, Tractate 3, Codex XI, of the Nag Hammadi
Lib. See also: Pistis Sophia, Ch. 8, BK 1, Askew Codex. See also: ”Apocryphon of John,” ”Marsenes,” ”The Gospel of the Egyptians,” ”Melchizedek,” ”TheGospel of Judas,” Trimorphic Protennoia,” ”The Three Steles of Seth, and Zostrianos”) “I cast into her the first power which I had received from the
Barbelo, which is the body which I wore in the height.” (”Pistis Sophia”) ”And I saw holy powers by means of the Luminaries of the virginal male Barbelo telling me that I would be able to test what happens in the world:” (Allogenes) ”Great is the first aeon, male virginal Barbelo, the first glory of the invisible Father, she who is called perfect.” (”The Three Steles of Seth”) ”O Mother of the aeons, Barbelo! O first-born of the aeons, splendid Doxomedon Dom[...]! O glorious one, Jesus Christ!’ (”Melchizedek”)

“She requested from the invisible, virginal Spirit - that is Barbelo - to give her FOREKNOWLEDGE. And the Spirit consented. And when he had consented, the foreknowledge came forth, and it stood by the FORETHOUGHT; it originates from the thought of the invisible, virginal Spirit. It glorified him and his perfect power, Barbelo, for it was for her sake that it had come into being.

“And she requested again to grant her INDESTRUCTIBILITY, and he consented. When he had consented, indestructibility came forth, and it stood by the thought and the foreknowledge. It glorified the invisible One and Barbelo, the one for whose sake they had come into being. “

And Barbelo requested to grant her ETERNAL LIFE. And the invisible Spirit consented. And when he had consented, eternal life came forth, and they attended and glorified the invisible Spirit and Barbelo, the one for whose sake they had come into being.

“And she requested again to grant her TRUTH. And the invisible Spirit consented. And when he had consented, truth came forth, and they attended and glorified the invisible, excellent Spirit and his Barbelo, the one for whose sake they had come into being.

“This is the pentad of the aeons of the Father, which is the first man, the image of the invisible Spirit; it is the forethought, which Barbelo, and the thought, and the foreknowledge, and the indestructibility, and the eternal life, and the truth. This is the androgynous pentad of the aeons, which is the decad of the aeons, which is the Father. - Apocryphon of John

The Barbelo

This Gnostic figure, appearing in a number of systems, the Nicolaites, the “Gnostics” of Epiphanius, the Sethians, the system of the “Evangelium Mariae” and that in Iren., I, xxix, 2 sq., remains to a certain extent an enigma. The name barbelo, barbeloth, barthenos has not been explained with certainty. In any case she represents the supreme female principle, is in fact the highest Godhead in its female aspect. Barbelo has most of the functions of the ano Sophia as described above. So prominent was her place amongst some Gnostics that some schools were designated as Barbeliotae, Barbelo worshippers of Barbelognostics. She is probably none other than the Light-Maiden of the Pistis Sophia, the thygater tou photos or simply the Maiden, parthenos. In Epiphanius (Haer., xxvi, 1) and Philastrius (Haer., xxxiii) Parthenos (Barbelos) seems identical with Noria, whoplays a great role as wife either of Noe or of Seth. The suggestion, that Noria is “Maiden”, parthenos, Istar, Athena, Wisdom, Sophia, or Archamoth, seems worthy of consideration. http://essenes.net/gnostikoi.html

further: THE GNOSTIC THREEFOLD PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT The Ascent of Mind and the Descent of Wisdom Novum Testamentum XXII, 4 (1980) by JOHN D. TURNER

Sethian Gnosticism a Literary history by JOHN D. TURNER

GNOSTICISM AND PLATONISM THE PLATONIZING SETHIAN TEXTS FROM NAG HAMMADI IN THEIR RELATION TO LATER PLATONIC LITERATURE by JOHN D. TURNER

TO SEE THE LIGHT: A GNOSTIC APPROPRIATION OF JEWISH PRIESTLY PRACTICE AND SAPIENTIAL AND APOCALYPTIC VISIONARY LORE

Achamoth: In Hebrew meaning ‘wisdom,’ possibly related to the Hebrew word for wisdom, “chokmah”. An Aeon representing ‘wisdom’ created by Sophia (Wisdom) in the pleroma. (See; ”First Apocalypse of James,” Nag Hammadi Lib.) Called ‘Echmoth’ in the ”Gospel of Phillip,” meaning ‘little Wisdom’ or “wisdom of death.”

Further:

http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2007/04/01/basic-sethian-christian-history/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/steles-of-seth-part-1/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2007/03/31/the-second-stele-of-seth/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/steles-of-seth-part-3/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/secrets-of-the-sethian-monad/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/understanding-the-secret-christianity/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/aeons/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/pleroma/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/the-demiurge/
http://magdelene.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/sophia/
http://www.archive.org/details/AGCA_radio_march06
http://www.archive.org/details/AGCA_august_2006_Broadcast
http://www.archive.org/details/Gnostic_Gender

Obama Loves Israel and So Do You

Curiously, as of now, the BBC has not anywhere mentioned perhaps another talking point, although Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz does:

Jesse Jackson: Obama will rid United States of 'Zionist' control

Fortunately, the "schlep" having apparently been organized, come and gone by then, it was impossible to have included "progressive" views like those emanating from Sen Obama supporter the Rev Jackson.

_____________________________

No doubt coincidentally, also over the weekend the BBC's David Willey reports:

A 106-year-old American nun living in a convent in Rome could well be one of the oldest voters to cast a ballot in the 2008 US Presidential election.

Sister Cecilia Gaudette, who last voted for President Eisenhower in 1952, has registered to vote and says she will vote for Democrat Barack Obama...

...Asked about her hopes for the US under an Obama presidency, she says: "Peace abroad. I don't worry about the Iraq war because I can't do anything about it. Lord knows how it will end."

"It is very complicated," she said. "Those Eastern people are not like we are."...

Hmm, we are left in the dark as to why the sister had last chosen a retired general over Adlai Stevenson. And Mr Willey evidently didn't see fit to ask. Although presumably he has heard of Gov Stevenson.

More importantly, one can only wonder if the BBC had perchance to have located a 106 year old Rome-resident nun, who last voted in 1952, and had instead praised Sen McCain while offering an opinion on "those Eastern people" being "not like we are," whether the sister would have been viewed quite so endearingly by the Beeb?

Are you tired of putting up that crepe paper dreidl again?
Watching your cholesterol as you contemplate another latke?
Did you ever wonder what was really behind those sing-songy Sunday-school stories about the miracle of the oil?

How about this one: knowing how you live today, if you were placed back in the Hanukah times, would you have fought with the extremist zealots or would you have joined up with the more modern, pan-cultural Helenites? (You'd probably have been killed either way.)

Some thoughts.

(Skip ahead to a new idea for meaningful Hanukah decorations)

Hanukah - A Brief History and a New Tradition

Where does Hanukah come from?
Sometime in November, in my search, I asked the younger Pelle sister, Amanda, whether she'd read the Apocrypha. This collection of not-quite-Biblical books includes at least the first 2 books of the Maccabees. Amanda and Rebeccah Pelle are the sisters who trade off nanny-ing our boys (and for whom my family is, to borrow Rebeccah's phraseology, blessed). Amanda is in the divinity school (Jesuit) that Rebeccah graduated from. At any rate, Amanda had heard of Apocrypha, but not read it (them?).

I've wanted to read the texts of the Hanukah story, and found that nobody I knew had read these, or had even heard of the source. And how strange, considering that we all read the Megilah, or at least know what it is. Okay, and how strange, considering that we celebrate Hanukah, for instance.

One Christmas day in the Jewish Bookstore
On Christmas day, Karl was working in the ER, and I was out driving, taking Winston and Karl-the-younger around. We'd already gone to the Emeryville Marina, which juts out into the Bay, to try out the boys' Heelys - sneakers with wheels, they'd gotten from Karl's parents. Afterward, on a hunch, I took the boys to Afikomen, the Yiddishkeit store in Berkeley. Surprise - they were having a party, with

music, wine and cheese, and discounts! We saw a man who substitutes at the boys' old pre-school - boys were happy to see an old, familiar face. It was a very friendly atmosphere, strangers smiling and greeting, and a funny kind of Jewish gathering, promoted not at all by a Jewish event but by sharing an oasis in the desert hush of the holiday of the outside masses. Crazy - smiling faces and strangers greeting one another: "Say hello to friends you know, and everyone you meet!", the quintessential Christmas, but really because we were the only ones not celebrating it!

I found, and bought, the Apocrypha, while the boys happily watched a bearded, tallis-fringed band rock out on pleasant, very well-executed, and markedly un-special music. Sadly we'd missed the band playing authentic middle-eastern instruments and music.

The Apocrypha
I've only read to the part where Judah M. died, somewhere in the middle of the first book of the Maccabees. I found the account unexpectedly exciting - and filled with brutality. Its reading distracted me from my question as to whether, had I been there at the time, I would have sided with the zealot Maccabees (religious fundamentalist extremists?) or with the Hellenite assimilators (modern relativists-to-a-fault?). My question is, of course, embedded in the current-events context of Islamic and Christian fundamentalism. Okay, Jewish too - as Israeli rabbis, priests, and imams put down their enmity for a day last year, to howl in sweet harmony at the Jerusalem Gay Pride event - you know, the usual abomination-horror at witnessing honest and decent people like me. 

Oh, what a miserable time in Judea it was, to try simply to live, I imagine, with all these imperial power vectors slamming, crisscross, over the Mideast and Asia Minor to India. Picture yourself deciding whether to circumcise your newborn son, when doing so would bring you death from Antiochus's troops, and not doing so would earn you death from the Maccabees? I hope the numbers of fallen are exaggerated, and imagine they are, but who knows? At any rate, the writer, narrator, whoever it is, is not at all neutral, but the story doesn't sound manufactured either. I strongly recommend reading this account from the source.  

The miracle of the oil
By the way, there is no mention or hint of the miracle of the oil.
My guess: the miracle of finding a kosher flask when only un-koshered oil is available is the kind of story that would be valued by a later Talmudic sensibility, among people who had been honing the finer subtleties of kashrut for a long, long time (Mattathias slew Jews who ate pork, not those who ate meat off of dairy dishes). And the amount of work the Maccabean armies and affiliates did during the Temple re-dedication was not small; it was so much more extensive than mopping up after running pigs. They'd have had plenty of time to re-kasher oil enough for well more than eight days. As I heard it, more or less, "They looked around and could only find a bisl flask of sanctified oil, enough to last for one day, whereas it took eight days to make kosher oil"... Goodness gracious, these guys were disassembling the heavy, stone offerings altar, moving the unclean stones off-site and re-building it with new stones. They made new holy dishes - silver I think; re-fitted the priests' quarters and made new gates and doors. There were loaves of fresh bread. They put up gold and silver decorations and curtains. If kosher oil were so important, they could have, would have, made it happen without a miracle - come on!

So why 8 days of Hanukah? That's how long the Maccabees celebrated the rededication, and apparently what they decreed that we should celebrate each year. But why 8? Who knows. The story doesn't say. There are sources, I'm sure, but I haven't yet found them. (Help me out here, I'm no big scholar.)

You can still have your Latkes
If, like me, you tend toward literalism, and get angry at being judged against human-made extensions to the Commandments (cook a chicken in its mother's milk and you've committed an affront to God), it might irk you that we center our main celebration of Hanukah around a made-up story of a paltry miracle. I tend toward believing that enhancing the basic pieces of truth gives us a pressure valve that allows us to avoid examining and learning from truth's subtleties - subtleties, for instance, like the knowledge that the Maccabees were tough SOBs, and were ruthless because they cared, and because their people were being slaughtered for caring. Of course, you might believe that the stories we create are important as sign-posts to guide us through our personal and cultural psyches. Maybe, for instance, the Talmudic scholars lived in circumstances where they didn't have the resources, cultural upbringing, training or temperament to be Maccabees, and so their version de-emphasized self-help in favor of miracles received; is

the miracle story merely a pressure valve that allows ourselves not to feel bad about being less than victors, lesser than Maccabees? Do we go on to judge that they gave themselves, and then to us, this way to forgive or overlook one's own powerlessness or lack of resolve, or do we give these guys a break in their own tough times? Either way, if you do enjoy and value Talmudic tradition, that shouldn't mean that we can't enjoy the celebration of the miracle - should it? (Okay, and without the miracle, would we have to replace our tasty latkes and donuts with an overcooked rump roast to honor those tough-ass Maccabees? Hey - my latkes were really excellent this year!)

But one thing is clear throughout the story: the Temple stood as the singular symbol and attribution of holiness, as well as a cultural center of identity. Even against the "backdrop" of fighting immense and targeted brutality, and against the attention-robbing, bloody attempts at cultural extermination pursued by Antiochus's army, the Maccabees took the Temple's holiness extremely seriously - enough to rededicate it in the midst of the long war. Sadly, after its laborious re-sanctification and rededication, the story and conflict do not end. Even during the cleansing, there were fortifications and guards watching against the ever-present enemy forces. 

In Hebrew School, I'd more or less learned that the Maccabean armies finished creaming the enemy, and when they were done, they looked and saw that the Temple was desecrated. So they rededicated it and lived on in victory (-and peace? Not sure). But this is so very distorted. It's a victory, yes, though the Maccabee brothers and many of their fighters do die in violence. Okay, not so long afterward, the Jews do make a peace and mutual protection treaty with Rome.

Building a new tradition
Hanukah is a holiday that seems to me much more meaningful and tender, maybe even shocking and Jewish-instructive, to see that they valued the holy traditions enough to re-erect the Jewish center of holiness while fighting armies all around them (and fighting against really poor odds).

Somehow this is so much more impressive to me than is the story of the oil. I think self-identifying Jews, those who bother "living Jewish" when it's easier not to (including those in mixed-marriages but teaching Jewish heritage to their children), should be reading a portion of this story on Hanukah as we read the Megilah on Purim: in Shul, in the evening, with the balagan of kids running around, stopping to make the important points, and with 4th graders acting these out on the Bimah. Or at least we should be telling why Hanukah actually came about. Esther and Judah were very different, but both are crucially instructive to a diaspora people who try to survive as a dispersed culture (and in the face of general enmity). And both might lead us to contemplate the complexity of pros and cons of assimilative "dis-integration". Esther's is a story of a pretty girl who finds within herself so much more: the guts, brains, and grace to bring about her people's saving (instead of riding her beauty and fortune to her own lone refuge). Judah's is a story of a bunch Jews who care that much, and who put it all on the line and stand up and die for what they believe in. We don't have another such holiday, do we? This is why Warsaw Uprising fighters and that Chinese guy standing up to the Tiananmen Square tanks, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, and others, appear on my Hanukah wall of freedom (Stephen Colbert is there, and for good reason).
(--But why was it so hard, even on the Web, to find more Jews to put up on that wall? And I'm not talking about actors or baseball players, famous people we typically claim for happening to have one or two identifiably Jewish parents - Goldie Hawn, et al.. That exercise had its purpose, but this is different.)

Make your own Hanukah Wall of Freedom
Here's an idea for next year, especially if hanging another crepe-paper dreidel leaves you un-moved, or if you're watching your lipids: why not make your own Hanukah wall of freedom?

Invite each family member or roommate or women's group member to "own" the picture of someone who stood up for what they think is right, and against steep odds. Owning could mean being responsible for telling their story on a night of Hanukah, whether a short or lengthy version. The Entebbe rescue? ACT-UP? Gloria Steinem? A kid in your school? Ideally each will be someone real, to encourage the need to look at real-life complexities. This year we printed and cut out these pictures, mounting each on colored paper shaped like the star of David. What we did, then, was to use Christmas ornament hanging wires to hang these along a sparkly blue Mylar garland on the wall. And we talked about the people, my young kids memorizing their stories and "filing" these among ones they learn in school, like that of Martin Luther King Jr.

What else?
I'd love to read 3 other Maccabee accounts from people involved at the time, but with differing perspectives. And I'm beginning to get a picture of the cultures in the land not long before Jesus was born, and soon after, when people had to sort themselves out - allegiance, religion, identity, peoplehood. Even during the Maccabees' time, it seems there were three different "Jewish" peoples who were only loosely aligned - maybe mostly around their shared worship of the Tanakh - I'm not sure. It seems, too, that the various sects holed up in Safed and in caves near the Dead Sea, and yelling sermons in the streets of the cities, were in a most dynamic flux. If I get around to reading these, I might be fascinated. Maybe I'll start with Shabbatai Tsvi? I've already seen Life of Brian. I think Rebecca and Amanda could help me out with this.

Anyway, I'll transcribe a few paragraphs below, outlining the Hanukah celebration's text.  
From The First Book of Maccabees:

And the whole army gathered together, and they went up to Mount Zion. And they found the anctuary desolated and the altar polluted and the doors burned up, and the weeds growing in the courts as they do in a wood or on some mountain, and the priests' quarters torn down. And they tore open their clothes and uttered great lamentation and covered themselves with ashes, and fell on their faces on the ground, and sounded the ceremonial trumpets, and cried out to heaven. Then Judas appointed men to fight the garrison in the citadel, until he should purify the sanctuary. And he appointed priests that were without blemish and adherents of the Law, and the purified the sanctuary and carried out the stones that had defiled it to an unclean place. And they deliberated as to what they should do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been polluted. And a good idea occurred to them - to take it down, so that it might never be thrown up to them that the heathen had polluted it; so they took down the altar and deposited the stones in the temple mountain, in a suitable place, until a prophet should come and declare what should be done with them. And they took whole stones, as the Law required, and built the sanctuary and the interior of the temple and consecrated the courts. And they made new holy dishes and they brought the lampstand and the altar of incense and the table into the temple. And they burned incense on the altar, and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and they lighted the temple. And they put the loaves of bread on the table and hung up the curtains, and completed all the work they had undertaken.

And they arose early on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that is, the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, and offered sacrifice according to the Law upon the new altar of burnt offering which they had made. At the time and on the day the heathen had polluted it, it was rededicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. And all the people fell on their faces and blessed heaven which had prospered them. And they celebrated the rededication of the altar for eight days and offered burnt offerings with joy, and offered a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decorated the front of the temple with gold crowns and small shields and rededicated the gates and the priests' quarters, and fitted them with doors. And there was very great joy among the people, and the reproach the heathen had cast upon them was wiped out. And Judas and his brothers and all the congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication of the altar should be observed at their season, every year, for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth of the month of Chislev, with gladness and joy. At that time they built high walls and strong towers around Mount Zion, so that the heathen might not come and tread them down as they had done before. And he established a force there to hold it, and he fortified Bethsura to hold it, so that the people might have a stronghold facing Idumea.

The Scripture reading in church Sunday gave me a jolt -- Exodus 32, which refers to the Chosen People wearing earrings, men as well as women, and I twitched when the lector read it. Yikes! Moses got his ears pierced? What else didn't we know?

And then a bigger jolt. God is so furious at the C.P. for worshiping the golden calf (forged from their earrings) that He talks about consuming them with fire, but Moses talks Him out of it, which sort of dents one's faith in divine omniscience, does it not, the Lord taking a sharp turn like that? ("Oh, I hadn't thought about that -- OK, cancel the thunderbolt!") But I didn't jump up in my pew and point this out -- we like to keep things moving along in church, recite the Creed, confess our sins, pass the plate, sing the doxology, not stop for questions along the way -- so I just brood over it, as I do about more and more these days. Walk at night down misty streets through yellow leaves and question everything and keep it to myself.

A sukkaleh, quite small,
Wooden planks for each wall;
Lovingly I stood them upright.
I laid thatch as a ceiling
And now, filled with deep feeling,
I sit in my sukkaleh at night.

A chill wind attacks,
Blowing through the cracks;
The candles, they flicker and yearn.
It's so strange a thing
That as the Kiddush I sing,
The flames, calmed, now quietly burn.

In comes my daughter,
Bearing hot food and water;
Worry on her face like a pall.
She just stands there shaking
And, her voice nearly breaking,
Says "Tattenyu, the sukkah's going to fall!"

Dear daughter, don't fret;
It hasn't fallen yet.
The sukkah will be fine, understand.
There have been many such fears,
For nigh two thousand years;
Yet the sukkahleh continues to stand.

Sukkot is more than an encore of Passover. On Passover, Jews restage the great event of Spiritual Liberation. Sukkot celebrates the way of liberation--the march across a barren desert (the wilderness of the physical world the “nations” of egoic desires) until finally, we come to Freedom and the Promised Land.

The Jews rose to the Exodus occasion with a great act of heroism--Departing. But the daily strain of collecting manna: sustenance and pitching tents: incarnations; carrying their children through the desert eroded their commitment (and their memory). Time and again, they were thrown by the prosaic frustrations of no “meat”, of boring food, of insufficient water.

The real achievement of Freedom does not come in one day; there is no quick cure for slavery or the egoic mind. The liberated person is the one who learns to accept the daily challenges of existence as the expression of self-fulfillment and responsibility. Sukkot commemorates the maturation of the Israelites (or any seekers of God), achieve not in crossing the Red Sea but in walking the long way to freedom. By choosing the path. It is relatively easy to rise to one peak moment of self-abnegation and courageous commitment. It is more taxing and more heroic to wrestle with everyday obstacles without highs or diversions. To not be swayed by “desire”. True maturity means learning to appreciate the finite rewards of every day along the way, to live just in the moment and nowhere else.

Passover celebrates a brave departure through a festive meal. Sukkot marks the hasty lunches and the endless wandering in the desert. Sukkot expresses the deeper Exodus -- the reflective, gritty days of marching, during which a new “generation” grew up. Freedom came as the end result of pitching tents (booths) and taking them down over the course of 14,600 days. Sukkot honors the forty-three thousand meals prepared on the desert trek, the cleanups, the washing of utensils. Passover celebrates a moment of pure triumph. Sukkot celebrates a seemingly endless 40-year journey. Passover is the holiday of faith; Sukkot is the holiday of faithfulness.

When one searches for completeness, one must look to the Name of God.  It is in the Name that His attributes can be found Exodus 34. HASEHM is not a man who is here today but gone tomorrow. No. He is the Life and the Way. The existence of El Shaddai [God Almighty] is wrapped in righteousness and purity. There is no blemish, no fault and no wrong doing. HASHEM has the power to rise up and tear down. HASHEM is the breath in our lungs and the blood in our veins. HASHEM is the third Parent, it is His breath that breathes life. it is His breath that gives life to the still born child. 

HASHEM spoke a word and all came to be, Genesis chapter 1 & 2. It is through His spoken word that the world survives, but the world does not reflect Him in their ways. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness does not comprehend the light. We are foolish in our thoughts to think it is our power that brings us our daily bread, our graduate degree or our corner office over looking the metropolis. When one thinks in such away he has cut himself off from the source of all things. When man oppresses another, he too is cut off and bound to himself. HASHEM is loving, nurturing, caring and He provides all our needs. He is also serious, tough, and expects those He gives life, to walk before Him perfectly Genesis chapter 17. 

Jeremiah 9: 22 - 25 - Thus said HASHEM: Let not the wise man glorify himself with his wisdom. and let not the strong man glorify himself with his strength, let not the rich man glorify himself with his wealth. For only with this may one glorify himself - contemplating and knowing Me, for I am HASHEM Who does kindness, justice, and righteousness in the land, for in these is my desire - the word of HASEHM. Behold, days are coming - the word of HASHEM - when I shall deal with everyone who is circumcised for [his] uncircumcision: with Egypt, with Judah, with Edom, with the children of Ammon and with Moab, and with all those who dwell in the remotest corners of the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and the HOUSE of Israel is of uncircumcised heart.  

Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I will be Who I will be] - [I Am Who I Am]. One who does not know his Father can be likened to one who is homeless. So therefore we shall seek him out to the best of our ability. Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh is understood several ways, two of which I noted above. Here is another from the book of Exodus 3: 11 - 15 - Moses replied to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should take the Children of Israel out of Egypt?" And He said," For I shall be with you - and this is your sign that I have sent you: When you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain." Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the Children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your forefathers has sent me to you.' and they say to me, 'What is His name? - what shall I say to them?" HASHEM answered Moses, "I Shall Be As I Shall Be." And He said, "So shall you say to the Children of Israel, 'I Shall Be has sent me to you.' " God said further to Moses, "So shall you say to the Children of Israel, 'HASHEM, the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has dispatched me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance from generation to generation. 

Imagine the moment above, Moses is out tending the flock when all of a sudden there appears a burning bush. From this moment forward the life of Moshe will never be the same. The words I Shall Be are powerful. When You and I are faced with challenges in which the road ahead seems bleak, we must remember that GOD I Shall Be is with us. God responds to Moses each and every time concerning his doubts by reasurring Moses that He would be with him on the road ahead. He also informed Moses that He would give the Words to speak as well as numerous signs. If all you and I had were these several lines of scripture from Exodus chapter three, we would do well. Like finding an old letter that is for the most part unreadable but for a few words, however those few words tell the whole story. 

Please take the time to stand before God with an open heart and willingness, He does love you.

Shalom,

Lawrence 

HAPPY SUKKOT!

Sukkot time is always extremely exciting. This year it has been difficult and it is very invigorating. I am hoping everyone has a wonderful Simchas Torah.

muman613

We drove down to Devon Avenue, the hub of the Pakistani/South Asian community living in Chicago. Our host for the morning, Mr. Khattak, stopped the car and pointed his finger towards one of the most extraordinary images I had seen in this country – “The Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way.” I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the name of Pakistan’s founder on this Chicago crossing. His words echoed in my head as I stood next to Dr. Ahmed staring at those letters that equated freedom and justice for both of us.

I was so rapt in the sight that I failed to notice a black car pull up right in front of us. Little did I know, the sight was about to get even more surreal for me when Alderman Bernard Stone stepped out of the car. Alderman Stone, a practicing Jew, also the vice-mayor and the longest serving Alderman of Chicago city, was the man who proposed the idea of putting my hero’s name on American soil. He gave us an interview about how Jinnah’s belief in freedom, justice and democracy had inspired him personally so much so that he felt the need to commemorate his life. He described the scene of the event when he presented this street for the first time to the Pakistani community in Chicago. He said the entire block of the city was closed off for that event and Pakistanis from all over the state had come down to see their Quaid in America.

Reading news after news about bomb blasts in Pakistan every single day had left a young Pakistani student like me annoyed and frustrated with the world. However, seeing a Jewish Alderman honoring the life of one of the finest Muslim heroes left me with hope again.

As the sun shone through the crossing of Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way and Devon Ave, I dwelled in the sight of my three heroes, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Alderman Stone and Dr. Akbar Ahmed – all together right in front of my eyes in Chicago city. This morning symbolized the optimism of this journey I had embarked upon. I had faith again in the world.

Madeeha

]]> http://circleh.wordpress.com/?p=169 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:17:27 +0000 Dale Husband http://circleh.nl.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/the-chain-of-abrahamic-religions-is-too-rusty-and-weak/ There are four religions in the world that are classed as "Abrahamic", being descended from the original work of Abraham. Abraham himself left no writings of his own and he may have been only legendary, as much as Greek myths are thought to be. He founded no religion that survives today.

Judaism: Considered to have been founded by Moses. He was credited with writing the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament), but this is incorrect; He may have written the laws detailed in the Torah, but not the Torah itself, since his death is recorded at the end of it and it is implied that it was made several centuries after Moses' time. So the foundation of this religion is uncertain.

Christianity: Considered to have been founded by Jesus, but he himself wrote nothing that we have and the stories and quotations of him are entirely second-hand. In addition, most Christian doctrine was formulated by Paul, who was not even an original desciple of Jesus, but joined the Christians later after being their enemy. Thus the foundation of this religion is highly uncertain.

Islam: Founded by the Prophet Muhammad. He was said to be illiterate, and dictated most of the Quran to various scribes rather than write it directly. It wasn't until after his death that the Quran was assembled in its final form, and it was not assembled in chronological order.

The Baha'i Faith: Baha'u'llah, the founder of this religion, is said to have written his own books. But he too relied on personal secretaries to do most of this, including Mirza Aqa Jan, who later would be condemned as a "Covenant-breaker" for opposing Abdu'l-Baha, the son and immediate successor of Baha'u'llah.

The credibilility of the Baha'i Faith is dependent on Islam, the credibility of Islam is dependent on Christianity, and the credibility of Christianity is dependent on Judaism. Yet all these religions also claim that the earlier ones were corrupted over time, making the new ones necessary. Does this make sense? What if all four religions were flawed from the beginning, because their means of recording their teachings were flawed? Their founders could have written and edited their writings all by themselves and not allowed others to make unauthorized editions after their time. Thus any possible errors or contradictions in those teachings would have been prevented. Outsiders could have been prevented from polluting the original faith with foreign concepts. Disputes between followers could have been settled without assuming blindly that the leadership was never to be questioned and that others could "agree to disagree" without being treated as traitors.

None of these were done, except by the most liberal branches of these faiths, and thus they have been sources of tyranny and ignorance rather than liberty and enlightenment. And as this essay shows, there is really no reason for ANYONE to be certain that any of them are absolutely true, especially since modern science has completely debunked the creation myth that was said to be the very root of all of them.

Let's see if I can paraphrase.

I was born and baptized Catholic. My wife was probably the first Jewish person I met (at least that I knew). It just happens to be our 14th year anniversary. (Several congratulations were given from all around us.)

The room was full of people I knew and many people I did not know. Perhaps there were 50 people. I was on a panel of 3. I decided to talk second. The first gentleman went through a description of his long standing Jewish heritage and the many organizations and Jewish deeds he has done. He also gave a nod to his wife who had converted many years before and has shared in many of the Jewish accomplishments.

Anyway, I continued to describe how I spent a year studying with Rabbi Deanna Douglas. About a year had gone by and I asked if Rabbi Douglas would marry us. She looked at me and said that she could not because I was not Jewish. Not once during my studies did she ask me or talk about conversion. We were studying because if I was to marry a Jewish woman I needed to know something about Judaism. At least so I could hold a good arguement.

As you can see I converted to Judaism and got married. I have a beautiful family and we live everyday as a Jewish life. No it did not happen over night. Slowly we started including traditions into our lives. Gradually we keep incorporating more into each day.

Last July we went to California for a family reunion on my father's side. This side of the family are Catholics, conservative Christians, and areligious at best. It is not something we have many converstations about. However that Friday I was not sure what to do as Shabbat approached. I asked my cousin if she would mind if I lit the Shabbat candles and did the blessings. I asked my cousins quietly, one on one, if they would like to join.

With the whole family gathered around the table I explained what I was doing and led the 35 people in their first Shabbat. My father approached my wife and told her that he thought the whole thing was beautiful and that he was so proud of how well I presented Shabbat.

Back to Yom Kippur, at this point ... I lost it ... a room full of people and I start crying.

"The believer emerges from the private center of his being to take over every single area of the community's life. We no longer enjoy a direct relationship with God, based on a mystical intimacy touching us alone, but an indirect relationship mediated by the political community and regulated by someone else. The end of religion for one's own sake; the beginning of religion for others."

I think this may be one of the most troubling aspects of religious life, in my mind - the fact that there are three monotheistic religions (all of which deny, by their very nature, the validity of the others) competing for dominance in public life. There is an absolutism attached to each that necessitates conflict with other religious groups. Which means the best we could hope for in a public life ruled by religion is a continual series of societal fractures and incongruities.

On a more visceral level, I feel very uncomfortable with a small group of people asserting their certainty over a large group of people - paternalistic, I guess, is the word. Though it seems like the same arrogance I have mentioned in past posts. The incredible arrogance of the religious in assuming they have all the answers to life, based on remarkably inconsistent and contradictory teachings - at least for the three major religions of "the book." I don't know what to make of it.

I am afraid of theocracy. I admit it. It seems more like a form of royal rule than democracy. It seems more like stagnancy than growth. Being stuck in the past has never served me well. I have a hard time believing an entire society stuck in the past would serve anyone well at all.

I reckon my criticisms of the Jewish train are of more help than all the patriotic neocons. Whoever I meet and talk to is introduced to quick money. I am left with smiling faces, they are smiling coz they are making quick money.

Is there more to Judaism than organised crime? Everywhere I go there is crime and homosexuality. Now I've always been prepared for a little part of every type. But I have to be a piece of shit for the Jews. Every single day.

It will end in tears, a court case, a prison sentence an untimely death, an infirmity. I cannot bear it: criminals and homosexuals. Shaking their hands and being duped into compromising situations.

The Jews rule because they are the cleverest people. They, as a group are far cleverer than me. They attack the family remove the friends and corrupt the acquaintances. This has been going on for years.

No friendships are allowed without corruption. The Jews rule through a lot of dedication sacrifice and motivation. And this is required from every Jew. Any detractors are to be harassed to death.

My life and movements are micromonitored and interfered with. This is for national security. No friendships are allowed unless there is a tax. The Jews are the cleverest people on earth, and the most powerful.

I am not a novelist and I am not going to go through all the encounters I have had with Gays, criminals and encounters of betrayal. But there are people dedicated to pursuing this. They are patriotic Israelis, stationed here and there, they are either Gay or Married, involved in crime or aware of it.

They have the power. And they ensure I have a life of hell. They are busy with many people, this is their job, on a daily basis. And the local police are always in their pocket.

For more than ten years I have been a drifter. My passport was stolen, and the replacement passport has no barcode, not tracable, God knows what was done with the original. Yes my encounter with Jews has been a bitter experience.

Both my parents have gone now, this is not a hard luck story, nor is there self pity, this is just what happens when one is on the wrong side of the Jews. I am complaining, there's a million dead Iraqis, there's a million Gazans locked up in a hell hole.

I must be lucky.
Jewish rule.
No one will ever forget it.
They care what you say.
And who you talk to.

There is much talk about the religious jews in Israel who avoid military service in order to study the Jewish religion. I think they graduate into careers of interfering in peoples private lives, for Judaism of course, I am just guessing.

Police have arrested an Israeli Arab man who sparked four days of rioting in the town of Acre by driving in a Jewish area during the Yom Kippur holiday.

Tawfik Jamal was remanded in custody on Monday for three days for reckless endangerment, speeding and harming religious sensitivities, police said.

What did he do to offend the religious extremists? He drove a car on a day that they said God didn't want people to drive cars.

You would have thought that if God really objected to people driving cars on certain days, He would tell Mr Jamal and others so they didn't do it. This is elementary logic. But of course, religious extremists don't do logic or rationality; all they care about is forcing non-adherents to conform with their religion. (Actually that last bit isn't strictly true -- some religious nutters also care about other things, for example they like abusing their power by buggering choir boys.)

Some people -- for example the bloggers at Harry's Place -- have made a shibboleth of the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. I say this is bullshit, for two reasons. Partly because it's a category error: rights are to be ascribed to people, not countries. But mostly because there should be no Jewish states anywhere in the world. Why? Because there should be no religious states anywhere in the world, because established religion putrifies and corrupts everything it touches, and in doing so harms human rights.

If there was a secular Israel that treated everyone equally regardless of their religion or ethnic origin, and which didn't favour religious (i.e. irrational) worldviews over secular, rational ones, then I would welcome the existance of such a state. But the present state of Israel, founded as it is on a religion, intrinsically encourages irrationality (religion is by definition irrational) and bigotry.

Wow, one religious observance after another right now. I wanted to have this blog posted yesterday but time has not been on my side.

Here is some information on the festival.

Judaism 101 on Sukkot (Click Here);

The Festival of Sukkot begins on Tishri 15, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. Sukkot is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z'man Simchateinu , the Season of our Rejoicing.

Sukkot is the last of the Shalosh R'galim (three pilgrimage festivals). Like Passover and Shavu'ot, Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif , the Festival of Ingathering.

The word "Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering. The Hebrew pronunciation of Sukkot is "Sue COAT," but is often pronounced as in Yiddish, to rhyme with "BOOK us." The name of the holiday is frequently translated "Feast of Tabernacles," which, like many translations of Jewish terms, isn't very useful. This translation is particularly misleading, because the word "tabernacle" in the Bible refers to the portable Sanctuary in the desert, a precursor to the Temple, called in Hebrew "mishkan." The Hebrew word "sukkah" (plural: "sukkot") refers to the temporary booths that people lived in, not to the Tabernacle.

Sukkot lasts for seven days. The two days following the festival, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, are separate holidays but are related to Sukkot and are commonly thought of as part of Sukkot.

The festival of Sukkot is instituted in Leviticus 23:33 et seq. No work is permitted on the first and second days of the holiday. (See Extra Day of Holidays for an explanation of why the Bible says one day but we observe two). Work is permitted on the remaining days. These intermediate days on which work is permitted are referred to as Chol Ha-Mo'ed, as are the intermediate days of Passover.

Union for Reform Judaism on Sukkot (Click Here);

Sukkot, a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts", refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest, as well as the commemoration of the forty years of Jewish wandering in the desert after Sinai. Sukkot is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur on the 15th of Tishrei, and is marked by several distinct traditions. One tradition, which takes the commandment to "dwell in booths" literally, is to build a sukkah, a booth or hut. A sukkah is often erected by Jews during this festival, and it is common practice for some to eat and even live in these temporary dwellings during Sukkot. Read more about the history and customs of Sukkot.

Oh boy, it sounds like I am not supposed to be working today and tomorrow. I am not going to fret about it though, because my situation is entirely out of my control. In stead, I am finding it useful to reflect on the Jewish ritual so that next year I will not be so over whelmed with the customs.

As I read some of the posts from Jewish blogs, I am getting a sense that this is a festive time for the Jewish community. I look forward to participating in this tradition in the future.

I think I am going to spend some time reflecting on the natural aspect of Sukkot. I have been getting my feet wet with the notion of Eco-Judaism. Right now though, this is a new subject for me and a ton of reading is in order. I want to give recognition to Rabbi Arthur Waskow for introducing me about Eco-Judaism on his website, The Shalom Center. I think that good stewardship of our environment is very important.

Hmmm, maybe I will be able to spend some time in a hut next year. I am a handy man and would love to see if I could build a sukkah, sounds like fun.

Blessing of peace and Joy on Sukkot

In my undergraduate studies, my focus was on Judaism (specifically, Second Temple Judaism and a few centuries thereafter). I also studied contemporary Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism (particularly the more chassidic forms thereof). I knew that in order to understand Judaism the best, I would need to study the Talmud. It seemed so daunting, I never did it. And I was afraid that if I liked it, it would be an expensive habit. But I finally bit the bullet, as it were, and bought a volume of the Talmud. Studying it is fun as well as instructive! So, I found a well-priced set and bought it.

The Talmud is the core sacred text of Rabbinic Judaism. Jewish writers refer to it and quote it constantly. Most of halakhah (religious law) is based on the Talmud, as well as a lot of aggadah (traditions, stories). In order to become a rabbi, or be considered an expert in Judaism, one has to be very familiar with the Talmud. (More details about the composition of the Talmud will come tomorrow.) In fact, in certain ultra-Orthodox circles, rabbinic ordination or credentials are not used: the standard of leadership is Talmud knowledge.

The Talmud is fascinating and quite different. I look forward to boring you all about it.