Rabbi Landsberg's Blog

Chanukah in Vilna

This is a poster from the Vilna Ghetto. It is one of the many that reflect the decision by ghetto residents to establish some normalcy. Even for one with little Yiddish comprehension, this speaks clearly.  It is heart-wrenching.

Read more here.

Like Ordering Filet Mignon After Ridding the Planet of Cattle...?

The question at hand is about the viability of Jewish culture without Jewish belief. 

First, check out this post in Jewcy (here) relating a debate between Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (host of tv show "Shalom in the Home" and--according to Newsweek magazine--the most famous rabbi in America) and Michael Steinhardt, the founder of Birthright Israel and an avowed atheist.  The writer of the post, Abe Greenwald, asserts that Jewish culture is a byproduct of Judaism without independent life. Or, in his well chosen turn of phrase,  "It would be like ordering filet mignon after ridding the planet of cattle...."

Then listen to Amos Oz who maintains that Jewish culture can encompass and explain the shul (here, click on the video link).  I do agree with Oz that there is a rich Jewish culture independent of the authority granted to it by belief.  However, culture's home is in the "republic of letters."  For Jews, the letters are Hebrew (and to an extent Yiddish, Ladino and all the other rich langauges of the diaspora).  Further, living in the "republic" requires fluency and an immersion that is not available, outside of Israel, except for the few.   

For the rest of us, I maintain now as I have for quite a while:  in diaspora, no shul...no Jews (believers, agnostics, atheists or otherwise).

Ordinary Evil

For visual learners a picture may be worth a thousand words, but never for me. I have always been reluctant to deduce too much meaning from photographs; instead, I am far more comfortable drawing my conclusions based upon the written word. Nonetheless, just when I thought there were no new images from the Shoah that could disturb me, I ran across this: a collection of Auschwitz personnel frolicking... Here is the article in the NYT. Be sure to watch the slide show.

"Got Above Their Raisin(g)"?: Looking Back at American Jewish History

Here are two fascinating articles from The Atlantic.They open a window into understanding both Jewish self identity and the changing welcome Jews have experienced in America. Absolutely worth taking the time--read them here and here.

A Deal You Can't Refuse: Against Jewish Specialness

Simchat Torah is approaching, and with it, two realizations:

1. I will probably not have another opportunity to speak face to face with the entire congregation until next Rosh Hashanah, so it is time to return to the blog! Forgive the sudden onslaught of posts; there are several pieces I've come across the past few weeks that I want to share. And,

2. It is probably a good time to look at the issue of Jewish chosenness. Most of us are familiar with the midrash which says that God offered Torah to many other peoples before bringing it to the Jews. When at last it was our turn, God (having run low on patience) lifted Mount Sinai over the assembled Jews and said: Accept Torah or I'll drop Mount Sinai right on your heads! There are different strands of thought within Jewish tradition about Jewish specialness, including some which posit an intrinsic distinction between Jews and other nations.

There is also the more secular manifestation of this question when Jews count PhDs as evidence of the inherent genius of the Jews. This is tricky line to take--not least for the complacency it encourages but also--because it does not stand inspection. Here is a post from a couple weeks ago by Daniel Septimus that surveys the arguments.