Category: blog archive

Olympics: A Candle for Those Oppressed

Olympics are coming. The athletes will shine. But…

This from my colleague Rabbi Andy Koren (Director of Religious Education at Temple Emanuel in Greensboro):

A Candle for Those Oppressed

This Friday, the attention of the world will turn to Olympics. Extensive media coverage will be given to exceptional athletes: the talented swimmers, gifted gymnasts, Dream Teams, and so many others. Let’s hope that in our amazement at the pageantry, we do not forget to remember those who will not be on our TV screens. They are the people who have suffered from Chinese human rights abuses. They are those forced into exile by China or who suffer due to Chinese support of tyrannical regimes. They will not be running in races, but rather running for their lives. They will not have Olympic villages, since, for many of them, their families and villages are no more. Their stories will certainly not be mentioned as China is celebrated on opening night and likely will not be chronicled in the interest stories which are regularly featured during Olympic broadcasts. China is an enormous country which boasts a rich history and culture as well as a large and diverse population. It is also notorious for being a totalitarian regime and abusing its citizens’ human rights. It was only nineteen summers ago that we witnessed the protests in Tiananmen Square and the brutal crackdown on those calling for democracy and freedom. At that time, this was one of the more widely viewed examples of the Chinese government’s abuse of the human rights of its citizens. In 2001 as China was being seriously considered to host the summer games, the world expressed its concern about this abuse. Chinese officials did everything they could to assure the International Olympic Committee and the world that this would be their country’s opportunity to show the world a new respect for their own people’s human rights. As abuses, censorship, and other oppressive measures have continued, it is clear that the Chinese government has broken its moral agreement with the world. Like so many other oppressive regimes in modern times, it is banking on worldwide distraction or amnesia, or worse, on silence and apathy. China’s record at home is bad enough. On the world stage, China is entangled in some of the most serious problems now facing humanity. Many believe that were China, as the largest consumer of Sudanese oil and the largest supplier of weapons to the Khartoum government, to use its leverage, the horrors of the genocide in Darfur would come to an end. Instead, China has blocked world efforts to stop the genocide and has fully enabled the Sudanese government and their allies in the janjaweed militia to kill hundreds of thousands and exile millions. China also has supported the oppressive military regime in Burma and, not long ago, stood solidly behind it during the violent crackdown there against peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks. China remains the main support for maniacal Kim Jong-Il in North Korea. China’s record in Tibet has included the denial of all Tibetan appeals for autonomy and the refusal to speak or negotiate with the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, the Dalai Lama. During the Olympics, it is difficult to imagine that any of these issues will be given more than a mere mention, if that. Instead, the media will talk about sports and goodwill, both of incredible importance. It will be sad that those whose voices need to be heard now more than ever will be squelched. It was not so long ago that whenever the Soviet Union wanted to talk with the US, human rights would be the first issue on the table. What is happening now? Why are we so silent? Why are we turning a blind eye? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Jewish people begin their Sabbath on Friday night by lighting two candles. This Friday, all who cherish human freedom should light a candle in honor of those who will not be represented by the fireworks and songs in Beijing. Let us light a candle for the Tibetan people and the Dalai Lama, for the people of Burma and Darfur. As we light this candle, let us resolve to work for the time when they too will experience the light of freedom. Oppressed people need more than our good intentions. They also need us to be involved. In the immortal words of Hillel the Elder: If not now, when? If not now, when? May it be our prayer that blessing should come to those who should not be forgotten. As athletes gather for competition, may we also work on behalf of those denied the rights we sometimes take for granted. May the abuses of the powerful soon and speedily give way to freedom, justice, and understanding for all.

Kosher Can Mean Socially Responsible and Environmentally Friendly Too

And the Ethical Kosher discussions keep coming! (Read my previous post on Ethical Kashrut or the Chicago Sun Times article.) A colleague, talking with a major health foods provider, is involved in a new organization that addresses issues of ethical kashrut.

One World Kosher it is called. I’m not endorsing anyone, but this is fascinating. Being marked as Kosher should transcend the ingredients contained therein or the way the animal is slaughtered. It should reflect that the products and their production are done in ethical, socially responsible, environmentally compassionate, thoughtful ways. Here’s another attempt to move in that direction. One World Kosher’s website explains:

One World Kosher certifies products that meet the highest levels of kashrut and environmentally friendly and socially responsible production.One World Kosher supports consumers concerned with healing our world by ensuring a viable and sustainable future for ourselves and our children.One World Kosher recognizes that people seek certified kosher food for many reasons including religious beliefs and an assurance of third party supervised production. Though kashrut is based in Jewish teaching, we believe that the value of keeping kosher extends beyond religious labels and truly has the power to unite all peoples of the world. We also affirm that the true meaning of kashrut transcends the ingredients that go into our food and the manner in which animals are slaughtered. This higher level of kashrut demands that we look at how food is grown and how workers are treated, thus bringing true sanctity to our tables, our homes and our lives.One World Kosher certified products are:

  • Dairy or Pareve;
  • Produced in ways that respect and protect our environment;
  • Produced by companies that see their human resources as “human”
  • first and “resources” second.

But does it taste good?

Ethical Kosher: A Kashrut We All Could (Should!) Follow

You would think that if an item is designated as “kosher” all aspects of its production would be “kosher” [read: ethical, moral, environmentally friendly]. You would expect that from the way it is prepared to the treatment of the workers who made it to the way the company treats the environment, all aspects would be kosher. Not so.

Along comes the Conservative Jewish movement with an innovative solution:

According to JTA (Jewish Telegraph Agency):

The Conservative movement released a policy statement and guidelines for its much-anticipated ethical kashrut certification, outlining the social justice standards companies are expected to meet if their foodstuffs are to qualify for the designation.

According to the document released Thursday, products will be evaluated in five main areas — employees’ wages and benefits, employee health and safety, product development, corporate transparency and environmental impact — and assessed in part on the basis of information from third-party sources. Read more.

Bravo to the Conservative Movement. Now that’s a kind of kashrut we all could follow!

Or Ami’s Dina Kaplan Receives Award at Dodgers Game

A crowd of Or Ami supporters gathered at Dodgers Stadium to cheer as our own Dina C. Kaplan took to the field to receive the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award for her work with people with special needs. I had the pleasure of nominating Dina a few months back, when congregant Brad Gore brought the award to my attention. Through Brad’s support, members of our Support Group for Parents of Children with Special Needs (and other supporters) were able to enjoy a complimentary Dodgers game. We all know that Dina is an amazing woman, a powerful advocate for people with special needs, and a cherished member of the Or Ami family. An inspiring parent, lawyer, and advocate, Dina shines the light of Or Ami so brightly in this world.

My nomination is below:
It is my pleasure to nominate Dina C. Kaplan for the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award. Dina is by profession an attorney specializing in special education law, by avocation the creator of many life changing opportunities for children with disabilities throughout her community, and by love the parent of a child with special needs. She creates, motivates and inspires. Dina has improved the lives of tens of thousands of families and inspired countless others to seek equal access for people with disabilities. BACKGROUND In 1994, Dina C. Kaplan had a son who was born with multiple physical and developmental disabilities. Her son, Brandon, has inspired her to make a difference in the lives of children with special needs. She refocused her law practice to special education law and civil rights for children with disabilities. Currently, her practice consists of representing children with disabilities in Individualized Education Program meetings, Mediation, Resolution Sessions, Due Process Hearings and State Level Complaints. She also represents and advises families in matters concerning Regional Centers, California Children’s Services, Medi-Cal and private insurance. CREATING THE K.E.N. PROJECT (Kids with Exceptional Needs) Ms. Kaplan’s journey advocating for her son made her realize how difficult it is to access services for children with special needs. As a result, in 1996, Dina started a non-profit organization, The K.E.N. Project which is dedicated to providing information, support and advocacy training to parents of children with special needs and professionals who work with children with special needs. The K.E.N. Project provides three ongoing monthly support/advocacy groups for parents and professionals. It also does trainings for many organizations and groups, and provides speakers at conferences. FOUNDING THE LAS VIRGENES SPECIAL EDUCATION, PTA In October 2003, Dina, and several parents started a district-wide Special Education PTA in the Las Virgenes School District with the mission of facilitating parents, school and community working together to enhance the lives of children with special needs. Dina served as the President for three years. LVSEPTA provided parent education programs, fundraising for special projects, including a universally accessible playground, and awards for exceptional educators. BUILDING BRANDON’S VILLAGE, UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE PLAYGROUND Dina spearheaded efforts to build the first universally accessible playground in the city of Calabasas, CA. This playground is over seventy percent accessible for children of all abilities. The City of Calabasas, The Friedman Charitable Foundation, The Las Virgenes Special Education PTA and the Talbert Family Foundation, combined their efforts to create this special place. Bruce Friedman, the founder of the Friedman Charitable Foundation, gave an unprecedented ONE MILLION DOLLAR gift to the City of Calabasas to build this playground. As a result, he was given naming rights and decided to name the playground after his nephew, Brandon Kaplan. The Friedman and Kaplan families received the 2006 Humanitarian Award from the City of Calabasas in honor of their achievement in bringing this wonderful playground to the city. On the first Saturday of every month, Dina works with the K.E.N. Project to coordinate play dates at the playground. They are called Brandon’s Buddies and they provide an opportunity for disabled children to play with their able-bodied peers and engage in arts and crafts projects, face painting, entertainment, snacks and goodie bags. DEVELOPING THE BRANDON KAPLAN SPECIAL NEEDS PROGRAM Following a warm welcome for their son Brandon at a synagogue they visited (Congregation Or Ami of Calabasas, CA), Dina and her family immediately became active members. Dina partnered with the synagogue creating a Support Group for Parents of Children with Special Needs, which she facilitates. The Support Group provides emotional support, advocacy strategies, and for those interested, spiritual guidance. Her son’s Bar Mitzvah ceremony ,once again reminded everyone that children with special needs can and should have access to all aspects of religious life. Brandon’s Bar Mitzvah inspired the Congregation to create the Brandon Kaplan Special Needs Fund. This Fund has launched a webpage explicitly inviting Jewish families with children with special needs into the heart of the synagogue, supported numerous families through the sometimes expensive process of becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah, trained religious educators to provide mainstreamed Jewish learning, and created a special caring community outreach for such families within the community. CONCLUSION Dina has touched the lives of tens of thousands of families with children with special needs throughout the Greater Los Angeles County. Because of her efforts, they have greater access to special needs advocacy and education support. Because of her enthusiasm, they have a universally accessible playground in the West San Fernando/Conejo Valleys. Because of her dedication, their children have fully included play dates once a month. Because of her inspiration, they have an open invitation to become more deeply involved in religious life. Through her many projects and organizations, Dina has demonstrated inspirational leadership in an effort to expand awareness about how people with disabilities can be productive citizens in our society. As such, I wholeheartedly encourage you to award Dina C. Kaplan with the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award. Respectfully Submitted, Paul J. Kipnes, Rabbi

The Green Rabbinical Student

When two people I admire – one a newly minted rabbi (former intern) and the other an HUC Joint Master’s student/Or Ami intern – both point to the same blog and tell me “I gotta read it,” I gotta read it.

the green rabbinical student is a great blog which looks at the world through Shomray Adamah (protect the earth) lenses. Its opening quote is motivational enough, from a Midrash which has God speaking to Adam: “See my works, how lovely and praiseworthy they are, and all that I created, for your sake I created it. Put your mind [to this], that you don’t ruin or destroy my world, for if you ruin there is no one who will repair after you.”

Check him/it out!

PS. The picture, one of many beautiful shots on his blog, is of “Mud Lake: His favorite place in camp.”

Two Great Quotes: On Silence and on Activism

This first quote from Rabbi Rafael Goldstein’s Thoughts for Today (a daily SHORT email with thought-provoking quotes and questions). Get his daily quotes and spiritual questions by emailing Rabbi Rafael Goldstein directly.

So often my words precede my thoughts, and I feel humiliated. I am a fool more frequently than I am a sage! O G!d, show me how to keep quiet more often, at least until I have something real to say and someone who wants to hear it. (Rabbi Chaim Stern)

This second quote from an article by Rabbi David Saperstein in this month’s CCAR Journal. It informs our work against genocide in Darfur as well as so many other social justice activities:

Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the world and does not is liable for the transgressions of the entire world. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 54b)

The Legacy of the Gaza Truce: An Analysis

Understanding the cease-fire/tahadiyeh in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is challenging. Is it a success? A failure? Effective strategy or dangerous lull?

Aluf Benn, in Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper, offers this analysis. It came to me by way of the Daily Alert (eNewsletter) from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations prepared by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs:

The Legacy of the Gaza Truce – by Aluf Benn (Ha’aretz)

  • The tahadiyeh (cease-fire), much more than the Annapolis process, is generating deep-seated change in Palestinian-Israeli relations.
  • Three years after the disengagement, 15 years after Oslo, Israel faces an independent Palestinian entity with full security and civilian responsibilities for a contiguous area in which there are no Israeli soldiers or settlers. Finally there is a Palestinian leadership that demonstrates discipline and enforcement abilities.
  • For better or worse, “Hamastan” is the pilot program of the Palestinian state. The organization controlling it is hostile and hateful and refuses to recognize Israel, and has carried out the worst acts of terror. But under military pressure and the siege at the crossings, its leaders have been persuaded to give a chance to quiet if nervous coexistence.
  • Ya’akov Amidror defined “sufficient victory” over terror as follows: “There are no expectations that ‘terror organizations’ will concede their defeat, sign surrender accords and agree to the holding of ceremonies that will give public expression to their defeat. A victory of this type leads to a drastic decline in the scope of the actions of the ‘terror organizations’ to the minimum possible.”
  • And what has the cease-fire in the South achieved if not such a “drastic decline” in terror? Israel can justifiably claim that it won in the conflict with Hamas, with few losses and without “the major ground action.”

See also Winning Counterinsurgency War: The Israeli Experience – Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ya’akov Amidror (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

Texas to Tel Aviv: Inspiring Electric Cars from the Holy Land

Genesis teaches us to be Shomrei Adamah, stewards and protectors of the land, to care and cultivate it. Protecting America requires us to find alternative sources of fuel. Protecting Israel demands both.

In the New York Times, Thomas Friedman writes:

What would happen if you cross-bred J. R. Ewing of “Dallas” and Carl Pope, the head of the Sierra Club? You’d get T. Boone Pickens. What would happen if you cross-bred Henry Ford and Yitzhak Rabin? You’d get Shai Agassi. And what would happen if you put together T. Boone Pickens, the green billionaire Texas oilman now obsessed with wind power, and Shai Agassi, the Jewish Henry Ford now obsessed with making Israel the world’s leader in electric cars?

About Shai Agassi: age 40, is an Israeli software whiz kid who rose to the senior ranks of the German software giant SAP. He gave it all up in 2007 to help make Israel a model of how an entire country can get off gasoline and onto electric cars. He figured no country has a bigger interest in diminishing the value of Middle Eastern oil than Israel.

His idea: Agassi’s plan, backed by Israel’s government, is to create a complete electric car “system” that will work much like a mobile-phone service “system,” only customers sign up for so many monthly miles, instead of minutes. Every subscriber will get a car, a battery and access to a national network of recharging outlets all across Israel — as well as garages that will swap your dead battery for a fresh one whenever needed.

Read on and be amazed when Israeli and American know-how and commitment get hooked up together.

Prayer for a Cure for Cancer

I just learned that two relatives of two people dear to my congregation and to me were diagnosed with cancer. Seeking solace, I found a prayer written by my friend Rabbi Zoè Klein (Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles):

Prayer for a Cure for Cancer Words of healing By Rabbi Zoè Klein We are sometimes mistaken when we fear that which is big. Godzilla, King Kong, Asteroid, Armageddon. At least we can see it when it comes. We are sometimes mistaken when we fear that which is big. Change, birth, death, love. At least we can throw our arms wide around it.
God of big things, God of great deeds, God of the drama of the Exodus, the parting of the seas, the fire on the mountain, the creation out of nothing we are wonderstruck by You, dazzled by big things.
But are You not also the God of the small, God of the turning leaf, God of the grain of sand, God of the passing shadow, God of the rotting fruit? I address You now as God of the small, because sometimes we are mistaken when we fear that which is big, when that which is most frightening of all is small,
the size of a melanomic cell, the size of a metastatic pinpoint, the size of a golfball, the size of a grapefruit growing where there is no tree.
That immutable danger that makes us victims of our own soft tissue, lymphnodes, and blood, that devastating fear that stalks us out of passing shadows, out of the mist of pesticide, tar, benzene, p.c.b. toxicities, out of the glow of gamma-rays, x-rays, ultraviolet rays, aluminum foil, out of the silicone, the tobacco, the skin of an apple, the high saturated fats, the low fiber, the vegetable hair dyes, out of nothing, out of nothing You are good at that God, Creation out of nothing.
I pray to You now, God of small things, God of miracles-barely-perceived by the naked, mortal eye, I pray to You now, God of small things, for a spontaneous global remission. For erasure of that word that lurks darkly behind our words.
When Moses’ sister was struck Moses spoke five small words to You. El na rafa na la. God please heal her please. You answered, and You healed her. El na rafa na la. El na rafa na la.

An Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Marriage Equality

The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing passed around AN OPEN LETTER TO RELIGIOUS LEADERS ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY. It spoke eloquently, with the support of a diverse group of interfaith religious leaders (including myself), about relational justice, about the significance of marriage and family, and about the importance of marriage equality. Two paragraphs particularly speak loudly in the current climate:

AFFIRMING MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
From a religious perspective, marriage is about entering into a holy covenant and
making a commitment with another person to share life’s joys and sorrows. Marriage is valued
because it creates stable, committed relationships; provides a means to share economic
resources; and nurtures the individual, the couple, and children. Good marriages benefit the
community and express the religious values of long‐term commitment, generativity, and
faithfulness. In terms of these religious values, there is no difference in marriages between a
man and a woman, two men, or two women. Moreover, as our traditions affirm, where there is
love, the sacred is in our midst.

ALWAYS REFORMING
Marriage is an evolving civil and religious institution. In the past, marriage was
primarily about property and procreation whereas today the emphasis is on egalitarian
partnership, companionship, and love. In the past, neither the state nor most religions
recognized divorce and remarriage, interracial marriage, or the equality of the marriage
partners. These understandings changed, and rightly so, in greater recognition of the
humanity of persons and their moral and civil rights. Today, we are called to embrace another
change, this time the freedom of same‐sex couples to marry.

Read more also at Jews for Marriage Equality

Olympics 2008: Hiding the Scourage of Genocide


Sure, we are all looking forward to the Summer Olympics to revel in the amazing abilities of athletes from around the world. However, it is just so disappointing and so tragic that once again the Olympics serve as a propaganda tool that hides the hosts connection to genocide.

The 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany provided Hitler with worldwide attention. “For two weeks in August 1936, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi dictatorship camouflaged its racist, militaristic character while hosting the 1936 Summer Olympics. Minimizing its antisemitic agenda and plans for territorial expansion, the regime exploited the Games to impress many foreign spectators and journalists with an image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany.”

China may not be Nazi Germany, but it is certainly supporting, protecting and economically bankrolling the genocidal Sudanese government that is perpetrating genocide upon its Darfuran citizens. And these Olympics provide China with the international prestige which allows it to paper over this travesty.

Lo Ta’amod – Let us not stand idly by (again)…

Conviction: Love Story, Religious Persecution, Poignant Performance

Last night, in the new and beautiful Calabasas Civic Center outdoor amphitheater, we watched the brilliant one man play, Conviction. It was a poignant production made all the more moving by the powerful performance of Ami Dayan (the play’s director, sole performer and co-translator).

Conviction is based on a true story of a beautiful love affair doomed by religious persecution in Inquisition Spain. In present day Madrid, an Israeli scholar is detained and questioned by a Spanish official for stealing a confidential Inquisition file. Together, interrogator and interrogated, are drawn by the files, wrinkled yellow pages into the torrid love affair of the converted Spanish priest Andres Gonzalez, and his Jewish wife, Isabel.

We who grew up in the Holocaust generation consider that horror to be the yardstick by which to measure man’s inhumanity to man. Though the Nazi Holocaust has significant roots in Christian anti-semitism (and though the Church was more than complicit in the Nazi’s work), nonetheless, the Nazis practiced a more secular form of genocide. With Conviction, we are reminded that history is littered with the inhumane misuse of religion as an instrument of death and destruction. The Inquisition of the 15th century, though reflecting significant political machinations between the rulers of Spain, the Pope and surrounding monarchs, nonetheless represented the use of a religious institution – the Church – to carry out (and bless!) the forced conversion, murder and exile of a people. Modern Islamic extremists seem to take a page from the dark story of the Inquisition.

I was honored to co-lead a talk-back with Ami Dayan and a Christian Deacon, following the play. The audience was full of comments: about Mr. Dayan’s amazing performance, about whether religion is inherently an instrument of evil, how the play has affected Mr. Dayan’s Jewish and Israeli identity.

For me, one of the most fascinating elements of the play was the singing of a portion of Kol Nidre. Kol Nidre, the most solemn prayer intoned by the Chazan (Cantor) on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, provides forgiveness to those who have made vows under duress. More than one modern scholar has suggested that the prayer survives in our liturgy only because its music so touches our hearts and souls. What modern Jew would countenance a prayer which forgives us for vows made under duress, when few of us in these modern times make such vows. Yet here, in the play Conviction, we see the words of Kol Nidre spoken more to their purpose: seeking forgiveness for the thousands of conversos (crypto-Jews) who converted to Christianity to save their lives, while still secretly practicing Judaism as children.

Bravo to Mr. Ami Dayan for his performance and his co-writer Mark Williams, to Linda Purl and all of the principals in the Rubicon International Theatre Festival, to the Calabasas City for supporting this production and making it the first cultural presentation in the new Calabasas Civic Center. I hope that one day we can bring Mr. Dayan back to Calabasas so that others may learn from his poignant producction.

Rabbi Paul Kipnes for President!

Are you sick of the mudslinging? Looking for an honest, ethical candidate? Look no farther.

While I have been doing my best to hide it from my friends, family and the synagogue, one Or Ami congregant Kim Gubner did some powerful sleuthing, saw the national news report on my campaign and outed me. It is true! I am running a longshot campaign for President of the United States.

View the news report on Kipnes for President here.