Good morning.
I just heard the news of Renquist’s death. May his family find comfort in the presence of each other and in the prayers and support of many across this county.
A second member of the court for Bush to appoint. Oy.
Just a few thoughts on a quiet Sunday morning.
One of the efforts in celebration of Jews in North America for 350 years is a project called Only in America.
Part of this project are four interviews to which you can listen: Elie Wiesel & Abraham Foxman, Michael Steinhardt, Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I am listening to the end of the interview with Justice Ginsburg as I write this post. It is a thorough, enjoyable and inspiring interview.
Listen to the interview with Justice Ginsburg here.
Shavuah tov. Sadly, we are starting the news week with a disturbing item of political news. Last week President Bush sent Myron Kuropas to fly to Ukraine with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell as part of the American delegation to the Ukrainian Presidental Inauguration. Mr. Kuropas is a holocaust deniar, who wrote that the Jews drive the Holocaust industry. Specifically, he said, “Big money drives the Holocaust industry. To survive, the Holocaust industry is always searching for its next mark. Ukraine’s turn is just around the corner.”
According the NJDC, He has argued elsewhere that Jews played a driving role behind Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s murderous policies in Ukraine and Mr. Kuropas’ has demonstrated his hostility towards Jews for some time; Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, explained to the Chicago Tribune, “This is not new stuff. …If you go back over the decades, he’s taken these kinds of positions highly antagonistic to the Jewish people and Jewish interests and causes.”
Mr. Kuropas has not only been honored by Bush, but is a frequent contributor to House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Want to read Mr. Kuropas’ words? Here is a link to his own words titled “Faces & Places: Holocaust Exploitation”.
You can find out more about this from the NJDC, including suggested language for contacting Hastert and Bush.
I’ve added a new link to the list of Jewish Blogs on the left, RAC Blog. The RAC stand for the Religious Action Center. What is it? “The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in the nation’s capital for over 40 years. It has educated and mobilized the American Jewish community on legislative and social concerns as an advocate in the Congress of the United States on issues ranging from Israel and international religious freedom to economic justice and civil rights, to international peace and religious liberty.”
Read their blog to stay current on how events in Washington impact us as Jews.
Go, learn, be active and change the world!
On October 22nd, I posted about the problematic nature of the Presbyterian Church (USA) divestiture of funds from Israel and meeting with the known terrorist organization Hizbollah. Recently there were some arson threats against Presbyterian Churches presumably in response to the Church’s actions. Such arson threats are inexcusable. Violence and the threat of violence is not an appropriate response to this kind of intolerance on the part of the leadership of the PC USA. Yesterday leaders of the Reform movement issued a statement about these threats.
Reform Jewish Movement Condemns Threats Against the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Yoffie and Saperstein: We are disgusted and outraged by those who have threatened to use violence and arson against Presbyterian churches to protest the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) recent steps toward divestment from Israel.
New York, November 14, 2004: In response to threats of violence and arson against Presbyterian churches in protest the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) recent steps toward divestment from Israel, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
We are disgusted and outraged by those who have threatened to use violence and arson against Presbyterian churches to protest the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) recent steps toward divestment from Israel. The thugs who have made these reprehensible threats are far outside the mainstream of American Jewry, and we, the largest branch of American Judaism, condemn them forcibly, vigorously, and unequivocally.
We will, of course, continue to raise concerns about the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) policy, but, at the same time, we stand with the Presbyterian community in denouncing these threats. They have no place, no place, in public debate.
Link for the full text of the Press Release.
May the day come soon when all peoples and faiths respect each other and may God bring peace to Israel and the Palestinian people.
Many of us will be praying for election results to be as we hope! The choices we make will have consequences on local, state, national and international arenas.
Velveteen Rabbi has a wonderful posting on the sacred potential of voting. I strongly encourage you to read it. She ends with a prayer by Rabbi David Seidenberg. I will be taking it with me to the polls tomorrow morning and will recite it between voting and working the morning shift at my polling place. (For a local issue, although I will also keep my eyes open for people who are being disenfrachised from voting in this swing state.)
Here is a link to the prayer on Velveteen Rabbi’s site. Or, if you’d rather have a link to a PDF of the prayer click here.
VOTE!