Showing posts tagged jewish

Access ADL

The Anti-Defamation League has a new blog dedicated to providing inside access to their work and perspective on some of critical issues our country faces including extremism, anti-Semitism, and racism. Their posts are thoroughly researched and linked, and provides a helpful lens to recognize and understand the bigotry that is unfortunately still very present in America and globally. Add it to your RSS reader, folks.

If you’re not familiar with the ADL, they’ve been combating anti-Semitism, bigotry, and extremism for 99 years through extensive research, advocacy, and education. They value safety and respect, and raise their voice against those who threaten those virtues.

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Ultimately, deepening our character is about who we can become as much as what we do.
Joshua Troderma
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We met a few years back at the [Goldberg] Passover seder…I believe you played God…
An intro email received by Don. Sincerely hilarious.

The Maccabeats present Candlelight.

A cappella is funny. How they filmed this is funny. The lyrics are cheesy and funny. Don’t read into it more than you should, and you’ll (hopefully) enjoy.

Happy Hanukkah, everyone!

Heartland Brewery: joke, or serious? Very curious your bar mitzvah flow of business. View high resolution

Heartland Brewery: joke, or serious? Very curious your bar mitzvah flow of business.

I cannot find either of these games on Boardgame Geek (my authority on board games), but I saw them today while walking through Williamsburg. There has definitely been an evolution in ‘mainstream’ boardgames (the ones we all know: Monopoly, Connect 4, Chutes and Ladders, etc.) to depict a more racially diverse crew of kids on the box. But, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boy with payos or a girl with a burka (equally visible points of ‘diversity’) on the box. Not that there needs to be, of course, but why is that? Would only certain groups of children play board games together?

I’m also now thinking a bit about children’s play in a religion-driven context. If anyone can lend anecdotal insight or share suggested reading, that’d be great. 

And, $hpiel?!?

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I do not accept any absolute formulas for living. No preconceived code can see ahead to everything that can happen in a man’s life. As we live, we grow and our beliefs change. They must change. So I think we should live with this constant discovery. We should be open to this adventure in heightened awareness of living. We should stake our whole existence on our willingness to explore and experience.

Martin Buber

A friend of mine shared this quote, and I found it both meaningful and provocative. While it resonates with my own philosophies (as amorphous as they often feel), it’s a huge task to always be eager to forge ahead. Regardless, it’s important to strive for and keep in mind when we try to place limits on our own ambitions or paradigms of thought, because how can we change our world without removing those bounds?

Also, Buber’s ideas of Ich-Du and Ich-Es provide interesting perspective, especially given the context of his life and experience. In some ways, his ideas and trajectory are incredibly foreign; in others, it’s a mirror of my own counterintuitive-but-still-logical inquisitiveness. 

Tonight is the beginning of Yom HaShoah, the day we commemorate the 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, and also honor the countless individuals from all backgrounds who fought back at incredible personal risk. Remember the horrors of the Holocaust, and also the strength of community that ultimately defeated the Nazis. 

We must never forget.

And the stories are fading; so much is documented, but the people who experienced them first hand and survived are becoming few in number. Do what you can to hear about and learn from the experiences of those strong enough to make it and keep it alive. History sometimes just disappears into text in books, but this was bigger than that. It can’t happen again. But, it is. The intolerance and inhumanity that was seen then is popping up in countries around the world right now - in 2011. It’s outrageous. We need to use the powerfully chilling history of the Holocaust to stop genocide, hate, and bigotry, and it’s not someone else’s job. It’s ours.