HEY JEWS

Thank you. The folks who interviewed me liked that I talked about tzedakah and tikkun olam in my cover letter, ha!

I hadn't really ever articulated it before my interview, but I found myself noting that my Jewish studies greatly influenced my decision to become a mid-life social worker. They really did.

Tikkun olam is a powerful organizing principle and I want to learn more systematically about it.

the way tikkun olam is used by renewal (and how it has entered popular humanist judaism imagination) is somewhat distinct from its original context (in kabbalah). there's an association between the meanings but i think something is lost in the contemporary usage. acc to kabbalistic account of creation G-d first created a perfect world. but the world was too perfect - too rigid in its completeness - that it shattered. that was the world of tohu (the void). the second world G-d created, our world, was the world of tikkun. and in that world sparks from the shattered vessels of tohu were scattered. when you do a mitzvah you elevate those sparks birur nitzitzut (essentially doing a mitzvah brings the will of G-d into the physical world and so that's a way of perfecting the world, by bringing G-d's presence, in a way that doesn't shatter reality). so that's the original tikkun, but you can see how it transmuted to become a softer concept of just doing good things to make the world better - minus the esoterica.

wiki says: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohu_and_Tikun

The implications of Tohu-Tikun underlie the origin of free will and the realm of Kelipah (evil), caused by Shevirat HaKelim/Shevirah (Hebrew: שבירת הכלים‎‎ "Shattering of the Vessels" of Tohu), the processes of spiritual and physical exile and redemption, the meaning of the 613 mitzvot (Jewish observances), and the messianic rectification of existence. Through this Tikun/Tikkun (תיקון) also has an active meaning, the esoteric Birur/Beirur/Birurim (Hebrew: בירור‎‎ "Sifting/Clarification") of concealed Nitzotz/Nitzutzei Kodesh/Nitzutzot (Hebrew: ניצוצות‎‎ "Sparks" of Holiness) exiled in physical creation. This new paradigm in Kabbalah replaced the previous linear description of descent with a dynamic process of spiritual enclothement, where higher "souls" invest inwardly in lower "vessels". Related to the primordial cosmic realms of Tohu-Tikun are two associated spiritual states for interpreting existence, psychological temperaments, or stages in the spiritual development of the individual.

The cosmic drama of Tikun in Lurianic Kabbalah inspired the 16th-18th century popular Jewish imagination, explaining contemporary oppression and supporting messiah claimants but the most important Tikun is to have peace and order in Creation. The revivalist Hasidic movement, from the 18th century onwards, internalised esoteric Lurianism through its own concern with experiencing Divine Omnipresence amidst daily material life. The terminology of the modern Jewish ideal of Tikkun Olam ("Fixing the World"), popularised by Reform Judaism, is taken from the Lurianic concept, but applied more widely to ethical activism in contemporary society.

Yeah I remember reading some version of the kabbalistic account at some point in my rather mystical teenage years and finding it rather inspiring

I rather hope that there's a progressive case to be made that Jews engage in tikkun olam not (only) because it's our word for the ethical dictates of secular social justice efforts but because it is a mitzvah (in the fullest possible theological sense available to atheist Reconstructionists such as me)

for future reference

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CrEpDQUXEAAAe1B.jpg

kinda wanna poll

http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/09/12/author-miriam-libicki-thinks-jewish-identity-is-complicated/
http://jewishartsalon.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/miriam-libicki-towards-a-hot-jew02jpg.jpg

Great link forks thanks

Hey Jews! What's everyone doing for the holidays?

goin to family services for yom kippur

temple had a challah-making thing we went to last weekend

I have never attempted challah. I'm not much of a baker, and good challah is pretty easy to find. How was yours?

I am working the Jewish holidays because I need the comp time for a vacation later in the year. Also: not actually Jewish.

Yesterday I hung out with two rabbis on separate occasions and they were both really cool and I want to hang out with them again.

Also yesterday at a meeting my colleague leaned over and asked if it were really possible that Trump contained shards of light from the shattered vessel. She thought not.

my wife (who is Hungarian and not Jewish) is nonetheless a master (mistress?) baker so she's p much got it down. but given that this was a family event (ie involving little kids) the recipe everyone was following was different/simpler and was "not how she would have done it" lol. still tasted great/came out fine.

I'm gonna be working cuz um I'm not that observant really

xp

I made rounds with a rabbi to visit (hospice) patients this week; he brought along two shofars (um I suspect that is not how to make a plural of shofar?) to play. They were both pretty small and sounded. . . not so nice as big shofars I have heard.

lol why haven't you converted yet already

A reasonable question, for sure! Ger toshav is a place that has seemed right for me. Maybe this will change, maybe not. MOving to a day-to-day Jewish environment (employment-wise) is a shift, for sure.

No idea how it will shake out. A huge--HUGE--factor is the issue of (potentially) being the only Jew in an extended family. . . what does that even mean? My family is very Jew-positive, but that is different from being all-in, y'know? So, fellow traveler. All of the values, all of the guilt, all of the pork.

i did a local BK thing with Holocaust survivors; mostly just prepping food and then talking and dancing with them. Really intense, especially given my grandmother's recent passing. I will likely try it again; they meet more or less biweekly.

Hey Jews,

G'mar hatima tova

i heard a really nice lecture tnite about keeping two days of chag that looked at responsa + halachic literature from orthodox, conservative and reform. v interesting material but i thought these two excerpts from the end were particularly lovely + wanted to share them. the first (continued from the previous page) is from R' Norman Lamm:

http://i.imgur.com/RuoMgWT.jpg

http://forward.com/opinion/357517/dramatic-orthodox-growth-is-transforming-the-american-jewish-community/?attribution=author-article-listing-1-headline

https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.forward.com/images/675x/cohen-graph-1-1482172765.jpg

Anecdotal, but it's interesting to me that a number of orthodox families send their kids to my daughter's conservative preschool. That never would have happened at the conservative preschool I went to. Anecdotal, but I wonder if it's a symptom of demand in the neighborhood outstripping orthodox school availability.

is this a study showing me religiously conservative people have more kids?

the reason why the share of orthodox jews is growing is indeed bc religiously conservative people have more kids however that fact alone tells u nothing since religiously conservative people had more kids in 1920 and 1950 too. the important takeaway is that the having more kids is starting to become a major demographic trend that will likely shift/complicate the meaning of being jewish in america in the future.

minor snark aside...

my friends were unaware of that ridiculous mensch on a bench toy, which I find inexplicably hilarious, and I am totally buying them one

Everyone have enough candles? I forgot that you're not supposed to put let them burn out every night, thus going through more than 9.

got one of the last 3 oil packs in town it seems like. everyone was sold out - called the judaica store on thursday and she was like "i just got a shipment in" - i ran over and by the time i got there they were almost all out of the brand new shipment!

You're not supposed to put them out, is what I meant to say.

For the second or third Christmas in a row I will be chilling at a data center while husband works in the cage. The data center is out in the exurbs of NoVa, the only redeeming feature of which is a truly excellent Taiwanese restaurant, so I will be doing the Jews-going-out-for-Chinese on Christmas thing.

Post your Hannukah plans here thusly, pls.

luckily not spending christmas at the data center we're working in - the contractor we're subbing for shuts down for all the holidays and won't let us work w/out them on site. will instead be watching the nfl games today and hoping i win my fantasy football superbowl. maybe i'll order chinese takeout tonight?

You'd think Jews would not be that novel in a big city in 2016, but it's been amusing today, listening to the kids of our awesome and generous neighbors as they stop by to deliver homemade treats, struggling with what to wish us. They're so wary, so compelled to wish us "Merry Christmas" but so careful (and considerate!) to avoid the phrase, like it would be the worst social blunder. A brother and sister just came by to deliver us a homemade dreidel pendant, which was so thoughtful. The brother made sure to say Happy Hanukkah, and then the older sister wished me a Merry Christmas, making the younger brother freak out. "No, you're not supposed to say that!!!" But jeez, if us Jews took it all that seriously we'd all be jumping off red and green lit bridges this time of year.

^^^this. I work at a large Jewish social services agency where the staff is about 50/50 Jewish/non-Jewish; without some context (pictures of a Torah scroll at a colleague's desk, for example), it's not always easy to hazard a guess as to who is what. There was a surprising amount of bet-hedging "Happy Holidays!" going around this week, which only really works when Christmas and Hanukkah actually coincide.

Which is, like, once every 45 years or something.

I happily accept all merry xmas wishes and have never met any jews who seriously feel otherwise

i would never be so churlish as to be literally offended when somebody tells me "merry christmas" but all the same i feel it as a small good thing when someone says "happy holidays," not a big deal, just a microgenerosity like holding a door open

i say "merry christmas" to people who i know to be christian and "happy hanukkah" to known jews and "happy holidays" or "have a good holiday" or "happy new year" to strangers

I want a new non-denominational thing to say to people. Happy Holidays is such weak sauce

"Congratulations!"

"You're Welcome!"

"Mary Poppins!"

Tomboto how much Jewish stuff is going down in casa de Tomboto these days

Like maybe you should come over next week for latkes and hot sauce, which is how we roll here

I dunno if I mentioned this already but I am back in Jew School. I love the rabbi, he is a really engaging teacher! Anyway I'm pretty sure that at some point itt Mordy or others recommended I give the shulchan aruch a go. I mentioned this to my Jew School rabbi his eyebrows knitted in a concerned manner and he said, haltingly, "I... don't actually suggest you embark on that. It's only laws!"

Anyway Jewish ethics is a main area of interest for me so I dunno what I should read.

i'm like 99% sure i never recommended you read the shulchan aruch! unless you were looking for a book of codified laws

like generally shulchan aruch is what students becoming rabbis study to become proficient in laws related to kashrut and family purity - ie very technical material mostly. when you got to an orthodox rabbi with your discolored chicken (or... underwear?) and expect an expert opinion, rabbi is likely using shulchan aruch as source for their ruling. even if you did want to just learn laws there are better works for laypeople including the kitzur shulchan aruch which is an abridged shulchan aruch and probably more relevant the chofetz chaim's work the mishna berura.

Yeah I went back and searched the thread and I have no idea where I got the shulchan aruch idea from!

I just gave myself a small coronary at the thought of going to this (or any other) rabbi with my underwear.

I wonder if the shulchan aruch addresses family purity for women like me who have evicted their uteruses (uteri?) from the premises.

not to be crude but afaik if you're menstruating it needs to be practiced and if you're not it's not (acc to the shulchan aruch making no normative judgements about what ritual practices people should or shouldn't incorporate into their personal lives)

Nah nothing crude about it, but women who have have hysterectomies but kept ovaries and are pre-menopausal obv still have "periods" i.e. menstrual cycles, but no "period" in the "show undies to rabbi" sense. Saves trips to the mikveh I guess?