MY URBAN KVETCH

Limmud NY: Bring It On

I've been to five LimmudLA conferences, and have twice been granted access to the Mothership - the original UK Limmud. At all of them, I've experienced new approaches to familiar texts, fresh opinions on Jewish engagement, and reinvigorated connections to culture and tradition. This weekend is my first time to the NY version of the conference, and I'm ("only") doing three sessions, so I'm super-excited to participate lots. It's sold out, but you can check out the schedule here, and don't forget to follow along with the Tweets at  #limmudny.

Find me on Friday night after dinner doing a TalkSpace on Modern Jewish Identities and Global Culture (or something like that...). We'll raise and discuss some difficult questions about Jewish identity, connection and responsibliity. Seating is limited, but we might have a few seats available...

Then, Saturday afternoon, join a group of people who have experienced grief or who are anxious about a future loss, or those who want to reach out to friends who are grieving for Nothing Helps (But This Might Help): Community and Comfort in the Social Media Age. The loss of a loved one throws the world into chaos, for mourners and for the people who surround them. Whether you've been through a loss in your family, or you've recently tried to comfort someone who has, come for some open, honest talk about what may help, finding humor in unexpected places, and how today’s Jewish community (and you) can use technology and personal interactions to support those who grieve. (In memory of my mother, Shulamith z”l.)

And finally, Sunday night, at Yaffa & Esther's Excellent Limmudventure: A Judeo-Cultural Odyssey, Jewish comedy is a tradition as old as the Talmud. But don't take our word for it - join us for a conversational, potentially controversial collision of pop culture, tradition, text, feminism, technology and Jewish identity, reflected through re-enacted scenes (or YouTube clips) of movie dialogue and their Talmudic parallels. Most sources and YouTube clips will be in English (unless we find a really awesome one in Hebrew). Some Talmud sources and movie dialogue may not be rated PG, especially since this session happens late at night and some people may have started, um, celebrating already.

Overall a good mix of Jewy, cultural and communal. And those are just my three sessions...

Looking forward to seeing what the other 799 participants have in store for us. :) Catch you all on the flip side of this intense conference experience. A wonderful Shabbat and weekend to you all. 

 

Celebrity Do-Gooder: Josh Malina

Anyone who's following Josh Malina on Facebook or @joshmalina on Twitter knows that the actor - an alum of various Acts of Sorkinalia (A Few Good Men, Sports Night, The American President,The West Wing) and other memorable roles (Psych, Big Bang Theory) and currently featuring as the resident "white hat" district attorney on Shonda Rimes' Scandal - is achingly funny. With the literal "to wit," here's his comment from a few hours before the Golden Globes Awards: "I love the Golden Globes! There's something touching about current waiters giving awards to former waiters. (In fact, my theory is that any Twitter backlash against Malina's Scandal character, David Rosen, stems from fans' disappointment that the role is largely dramatic and doesn't permit Malina to manifest his comedic timing as much as the fans would like. But I digress...)

But now, Malina proves that he's also sensitive, and a nice Jewish boy to boot - for his 47th (!) birthday, he's declared a campaign to raise funds for MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a national nonprofit organization working to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. The intial goal was set at 1 billion dollars (and why not?), but in the accompanying campaign video, Malina notes it would be great if they could raise $5,000. Perhaps he should have targeted higher - the campaign is at $8,800 and rising, and his birthday isn't until January 17. (It would be great if he could mobilize his celebrity friends to match what the crowdfunding raises, too. That would send a powerful message.)

Besides the swag that Malina offers in the video below for higher donations, you too can get as you give - for a donation of $10 or more, @joshmalina will follow you on Twitter.  

Mazal tov to you, Josh - on your birthday, on making the 40s look like not such a scary place, and for being an example of how your public voice can amplify the message that we can all do our part to make the world a little better while we're here. Kol hakavod!

 

Help Produce The Hebrew Hammer (and Cast Hitler)

"He's a bad mother...sheket b'vakashah..." - The Hebrew Hammer theme song

Several years ago I was at a Jewish arts and culture conference in NYC, and happened to meet writer Jon Kesselman. After a few minutes of conversation, wherein I expressed some delight for his 2003 film, The Hebrew Hammer, and its script, which was jampacked with absurdist Jewish references, he made the pitch.

"Glad you liked it. Got $2 million dollars? I want to make a sequel."

At some point after that, word (and a few pages) leaked out that the sequel, "The Hebrew Hammer Vs. Hitler," was floating around Hollywood somewhere, and that it featured an obliteration of then-famously-anti-Semitic-and-drunk-misogynist Mel Gibson. (Some people reported on that somewhere.)

If you're a fan of The Hebrew Hammer, the cult film featuring Mordechai Jefferson Carver as the world's first Jewxplotation hero to save both Christmas and Kwanzaa, you already know that earlier this week creator, writer, producer, gaffer, best boy, set tutor and crafts services menu coordinator (I don't know, I'm just making those titles up) Jon Kesselman has launched a Jewcer campaign to fund the sequel, with the confirmed title of "The Hebrew Hammer Vs. Hitler." Kesselman, with apparently minimal success at pitching bloggers for two-million-dollar investments, has decided to take it to the fans to drum up initial support (the goal is $200,000, but the minimal pledge for Kesselman to receive funding is $50,000) for the film.

In addition to cash donations, Kesselman is looking for his Hitler. (Hopefully this will not be the result of an old-style casting couch scenario.) The promotional pitch video below suggests actors as varied as Jack Black, Will Ferrell, and Paul Rudd...but I want to make a bold suggestion: John Hamm. Hamm is cool for the men, compelling for the ladies, but isn't afraid to deglam the Hamm in favor of the funny. Plus, putting "ham(m)" in a Jewish film has a rebellious aspect to it, and you get to use the tagline: "Hamm IS Hitler."  

So who's your Hitler? And what would Kesselman do? Support the campaign (and follow their filmmaking adventures on @HammerVsHitler), and maybe we'll all have a chance to find out. And happy Hanukkah, motherf*&%ers.

 

Home: True Stories of L.A.'s Muslims and Jews

On December 2nd, 2012, sixteen Muslim and Jewish organizations across Los Angeles joined to create "Home: True Stories of L.A.'s Muslims and Jews" - a unique cultural event centered around the theme of "home" with music, stories and interactive art installations. The evening was co-hosted by New Ground Executive Director Sarah Bassin, and Edina Lekovic, Director of Policy and Programming, Muslim Public Affairs Council in L.A.

Inspired by the wildly popular Moth Story Slams, six Muslims and Jews shared their true tales (see links and embed below) about what "home" means to them as audience members had the opportunity to explore the concept for themselves. More than 200 people came to hear tales that covered everything:

• how religion and medicine link an orphaned doctor to his family history
• the role of guava jam in linking to family heritage, tradition and identity
• finding the courage to escape from Torah camp
• the evolving definition of home, involving blackouts and the Wizard of Oz
• how grandparents' post-war visit to their towns in Eastern Europe redefines home
• a boy's inspired connection with his grandmother that continues to motivate his drive for success

"Hot Mamalah": Lisa Klug's New Book Celebrates Jewish Women

From cocktails to cupcakes, from bling to blintzes, from guilt to gefilte fish, from bags to boys, and from retail therapy to actual therapy, Lisa Alcalay Klug's newest book, "Hot Mamalah," celebrates the kitsch and the kitchen, the likes, loves and passions of Jewish women.

Written in Lisa's distinctive blend of pop savvyness and intensive knowledge of Jewish tradition, the voice of this book is similar to the "pop culture guide" tone she used in her previous book, "Cool Jew," which became a #1 Amazon best seller. Plus, those of us who know several of the points along Lisa's trajectory over the last five or so years can see the impact of organizations, networks and experiences on this book, including most notably, Jewlicious and Limmud. Check out her book trailer below for an inside look at some of the eclectic design and to get a flavor of the content...

Lisa's hosting a giveaway raffle with lots of cool Jewish stuff over at ModernTribe through tomorrow, December 3, so enter now while you can! (Click here.) 

 

 

Approaching “Innovation”, Part Two: A Simchat Torah Meditation

 

Screenshots from PocketTorah, a mobile Torah app

Those of us who follow traditional Jewish liturgy may be familiar with the term “hadesh yameinu k’kedem” – "renew our days as they were before." This phrase pops up in various places, but most notably to synagogue-goers, at the end of the Etz Hayyim (Tree of Life) prayer as the Torah is placed back in the Ark, and on Tish’ah B’av, a fast day commemorating (among other tragic days in Jewish history) the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. While purists might read this as a yearning literally for the restoration of Temple times, since such times seem to come replete with High Priests, sacrifices and a segregated area for women that restricts access to the holy areas of the Temple Mount, I think of it differently.

 

For me, the yearning to “renew our days as they were before” is something that’s quintessentially human and remarkably resonant to the conversation on innovation. (If we insist on calling it that.) While the phrase does appear in a context of a near-obliterated Jerusalem, we only read it in that context once a year; the rest of the time we use it as we seal the Torah back into the Ark after we’ve read that day’s Torah portion. In this context, it is a reminder that although we have read these words before, we re-read them, knowing that, because we change with every reading, our understanding of the words themselves may have also altered, in a way that provides new relevance to and wisdom for our contemporary lives.

When we pray for the renewal of our days “as before,” what we’re praying for is the renewal of our energy, because it takes energy, creativity, and an open mind to re-read something we’re familiar with and see it differently. It takes a receptive heart to be invigorated by an ancient text’s relevance, to look at it differently, and become impassioned about incorporating its lessons into our daily lives. 

Torah itself may not be innovation (whatever that means) - literally, as something so ancient, it's probably closer to being the opposite. But what the plea to "renew our days as days of old" presents is the equating of that wizened age with inspired thinking, expressing perhaps a yearning for the enthusiasm we once had before our lives got in the way, the kind of inquisitive interest and fresh perspectives that we had when we were children, or students, or before we were encumbered by life’s responsibilities.

By opening our minds and hearts to innovative readings - of a contemporary situation, a passion project, an ancient text or an encounter with a creative thinker - we have the ability to further amplify the impact of our tradition and generate the necessary energy to recommit to pushing through challenges. By embracing perspectives outside our own, we renew our openness to perceiving and absorbing new meaning every day.

Wishing you a joyous Simchat Torah...

Smashing the Idols: A Not-Quite-Live-Blog Inspired by the Jewish Futures Conference

Tonight, JESNA, the Jewish Education Project, and UJA-Federation of New York sponsored the Jewish Futures Conference in New York City. The conference aimed to provide "a space to imagine, learn and engage in purposeful and courageous conversation about the future of Jewish community and education and how it can thrive in today's and tomorrow's world." (List of speakers here, and @askdeb's liveblog of the opening conference session here.)

Along with the 450 or so people in the room, the conference reached many Jewish Tweeters as well, resulting in a "virtual conference" of sorts as people outside the room watched the live stream and monitored the tweets tagged with #jewishfutures as they scrolled by. 

I had to go to sleep during the dinner break (I'm in Israel, 7 hours ahead of NY, which literally places me in the Jewish future), but I wanted to write a quick blog post about one of the more interesting exercises/challenges given by a speaker during the program. Rabbi Laura Baum, of OurJewishCommunity.org, involved people inside and outside the room by asking us (the entirety of the us) to challenge ourselves to identify which Jewish community idols we should smash. Here is a not-entirely-complete - but nonetheless fascinating - list of the words shouted out on Twitter as being in dire need of smashage. (Links to Twitter handles to come when I have time)...

Status  – bag the top 50 lists - @shaplev

Will I get in trouble for saying God, Torah, Israel? - @paulgolin

Unity - @nftyisrael

Synagogue school - @geek4grammar

Dual curriculum, denominations, comfort zone - @rabbirebecca

Classrooms – the physical space - @hopenyc

Dues - @momwig

Ownership, clergy, bnei mitzvah, education, shuls, lay leadership, denominations, business, consumerism, technology - @deborahfishman

Dues, rabbis, free, frontal, fear, exclusions, membership, boards, status - @ilanagarber

Denominations - @afine

Is it too controversial to answer Orthodox Rabbis? - @rsaidlower

History, classrooms, committees, conformity, supplementary - @irajwise

Hebrew school, the unknown, exclusivity, empty holiday rituals, membership - @lilylozovsky

The notion that failure is not an option - @david_wolkin

Free - @tamarsnyder

Hebrew school, denomination, bar mitzvahs/7^th grade grads, rabbis, otherness, bricks-and-mortar - @BI_Next

Denominations - @morahjulie

Hebrew - @multitaskr

Membership bar mitzvah dues programs overindulged free entitlement consumerism status overpriced tradition conservative - @ercomisar

Hebrew school - @nyccantor

Free, money, naming, ageism, bnai mitzvah - @jlearn20

Territorialism - @aimeeweiss

Services, congregations, bricks and mortar - @detfederation

getting rid of b'nei mitzvah ceremonies frees up supplemental education to meaning not performance - @jewishgps

JDate - (overheard at event and reported by) @pelie_org

Buildings, religious school, membership dues, Sat am worship - @jchicksrock

Affiliation - @denasw

Alienation from Jewish heritage - @reuw

Innovation - @saulkaiserman (overheard at his table)

mash the idol of youth=innovation. Here's to a boomer or a greatest-generationer winning #jewishfutures next year. - @Liz_fisher

While this is pretty unscientific data, it provides instant community biofeedback, takes the pulse of "the people" on which sacred cows might be holding back contemporary Judaism from maximizing its potential (or "the people"'s perception of what potential is). For instance, on that list is a rabbi saying that rabbis should be smashed, a Federation identifying bricks-and-mortar as an idol, and a pluralistic youth organization advocating for the decentralization of the concept of unity. Deeper analysis of the Tweeters and their words may reveal additional levels of this discussion (eliminating Hebrew, really?) and undoubtedly, echoes of this will continue online over the next day or so. How do we integrate all of these objections?

Of course, although this is only an exercise, designed to get us thinking outside the box by imagining a world where the biggest pains in our communal side get thornectomized, also identifies the excuses we use for not being able to move ahead with our own personal visions and projects. The question is how we use this generated list - do we ignore these challenges, succumb to them, blame them for our lack of progress, or choose to negotiate, to identify small changes we can make or bridges we can build between our visions of a Jewish future. 

You've read the list now. Maybe you've even watched the livestream. So? What do you think?

A Pesach Prayer

My mother, z"l, had a love-hate relationship with Passover. She loved having the family around - that was always true - but the stringencies of the holiday, and the prodigious effort it took to get the house clean and the food prepared and the seder table ready often led her to proclaim that if the rabbis had been in charge of "making Pesach," the rules would have been different, more lenient, more livable.

But that perspective didn't stop her from being a stickler as to how we prepared. She was incredibly organized and masterminded the operation, which began right after Purim and continued for the four weeks until Passover began. She had a box of Passover information, inherited from her mother, with schedules, shopping lists, timelines and menus that were decades old; every year, she opened the box, and spent hours revising and updating things for that particular year's needs. (I'm planning to visit this box of inherited insanity later today when I arrive at the ancestral home in New Jersey for our first Passover since my mother's passing in May 2011.)  

My mother was the general, and we were the army of footsoldiers at her disposal. Every year, we sequestered the "chametzdik" dishes and pots and pans in boxes and replaced them with their finally-ready-for-prime-time counterparts, which had waited in the wings in the basement for nearly a year, tensing for their moment in the sun. We washed and cleaned and vacuumed and cooked, and straightened rooms and made sure everything was ready for the big show. 

The climate in the house also grew tense, and usually, especially after my mother's movement became more difficult and I inherited the bulk of the seder prep, there was always one day that was so stressful and exhausting that I couldn't take it anymore and simply disintegrated into sobs. Luckily, we could just catch those tears as they fell and recycle them at the seder as salt water. (We didn't, but we could have.)

Decades before, my mother had written a Haggadah designed for children, to answer the questions that kids like me might have about such a holiday. (A new copy of this book is inexplicably for sale at Amazon for $127) But she had taken to joking that she could write a great book about how to make Pesach, but who had the time?

Even as her physical strength waned, my mother found the time, at least to start this project. Last Passover, my mother shared with us at the seder the prayer she'd written. According to the outline of my father found in my mother's computer, this prayer was intended to be Chapter 9 in a book on Passover preparation. I haven't seen the half-manuscript yet, but my father recirculated the prayer to us, so now I'm sharing it with you - my prayer for my mother's prayer is that it fosters a culture of gratitude and appreciation for all the hard labor that goes into this intense holiday. May you all have lovely and meaningful Passover experiences that leave you appreciative of the freedom and love that surround you. Chag sameach!

A PRAYER , by Shulamith E. Kustanowitz (2011)

Now that everyone has taken their places in the synagogue and at the table, let’s take a moment to honor all those who have worked to make this holiday possible, especially the women who did most of the work. Today’s men do a lot of the chores, but in the past, generations of women shouldered nearly all of the responsibility that kept our tradition and history alive for the Jewish people during the year, but especially on Pesach. And they did it one year after another, one generation after another, one century after another, one millennium after another.

A Pesach Prayer

Blessed be all those who attended to the logistics that make a Seder possible. 

Especially, the women who, for centuries, did it all by themselves:

            Cleaning the house, including closets and windows;

            Getting clothes for everyone in the family and making sure they were ready;

            Buying what was needed – the food for meals and for brachot, the wine for ceremonies and for pleasure, the utensils for serving ease and for beauty;

            Watching the prices so nothing would cost more than it really had to;

            Changing the dishes, silverware and pots;

            Kashering what needed it;

            Polishing what needed it;

            Cooking what was wanted;

            Preparing the soups, meat, side dishes, cakes and snacks;

            Getting treats for the fussy eaters and distractions for difficult guests;

            Working no matter how tired they were;

            Getting to shul anyway;

            Smiling when people told them they were unreasonable to think it was all so hard that they would need a lot of help,

            and

            Being told that no one else complains.

Enable us to appreciate good help when it’s offered and to get through this holiday in good spirits toward each other so we can value the miracle that the Exodus from Egypt truly was and the amazing things that the world has witnessed since then.

And be grateful for the good that has been done for all of us, whether we all helped or not.

Amen.

 

Look Who's Talking (in Vegas, about Going Hollywood)

What happens in Vegas...is that I end up on a session panel at TribeFest, the conference/gathering for young (and youngish) Jews that JFNA is organizing at the end of March:

Pitchfest! Jewish Stories Go Hollywood!

Join G-dcast's Producer, Screenwriter, and a panel of celebrity judges in an interactive Hollywood style pitchfest. Each team gets a (very) colorful Jewish story that we promise you've never heard before and develops its own red carpet, scene-stealing pitch. (We'll coach you on how the experts do it.) Then send your best rep up on stage to dazzle the executives and convince us why YOUR story should be turned into an animated film. Big sunglasses provided. (Session produced by Sarah Lefton, with supporting cast turns by Sean Mandell, Josh Walters, and Esther Kustanowitz)

Since I'm the "celebrity judge" who lives and works closest to Hollywood (geographically, Beverly Hills ain't far), bringing the celebrity glamour will undoubtedly be my responsibility. So, who will I be wearing? Stay tuned to this blog for details about the televised red carpet coverage. (Jewels will of course be by Harry Winston - some traditions you just don't mess with.)

You can check out my new TribeFest speaker's bio here.

9/11 - Retrospective

On September 13, 2001, I wrote an email (full text linked) to some friends and family, with some first reactions to what had happened to America two days before. This email was from an account that expired about five years ago, and I had lost access to all the things I'd sent years before.

Those words should have been gone forever. But thanks to Facebook, I put out an APB on my lost words, and a friend - who had been on the initial distribution list 10 years ago - searched his mail, found my words, and returned them to me. This proved to be a gift to me - a chance to revisit my state of mind and mourning so many years ago, and to see what has and hasn't changed since that day.

But this isn't my real 9/11 post. My real 9/11 post is somewhere in the air between my brain and the keyboard, and aspires to arrive before the 10th anniversary, over the next few days. This is both prelude to that post and retrospective of posts past, a visit from and with my old words, with their different levels of shock, trauma, distance and contemplation. I share these words, from that previously-lost email, from this blog and from articles I've written - and dated 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2009 respectively - below.

"The real 9/11 post" - that's tomorrow's job.