Jewish Andy

Monday, June 15, 2009

Why an Atheist Would Study at Pardes for the Year

[The comments below are based on some remarks I made during the closing lunch at the end of the year at Pardes. I had the briefest notes written beforehand, but I did my best to reconstruct my comments. Also, this is only one tiny part of the answer of why I came to Pardes, but I'll write up the rest of it later.]

During my time at Pardes, some of you may have heard that I don't believe in God.
Many people are surprised by this, and they ask why an atheist would want to study at Pardes.
To me, the surprise is that someone would ask a question like that.

To me, Judaism isn't about serving God. I've heard from people that said that if they believed that God didn't "write" the Torah (however they might define God's role in the process), then they would walk away from Judaism.
I've also read some Yeshua Leibowitz, where he talks about his vision of Judaism, solely devoted to serving God, and frankly, it sounds horrifying.

So why, then, was I at Pardes this year? To start with:
I read ancient and modern texts in Hebrew, a language that has been the tongue of the Jewish people for thousand of years, and that I had never studied before.
Dayenu.
I also read the Chumash for the first time, and this was after two years working at Hillel and teaching 9th graders at a Reform Synagogue in St. Louis.
I also had an opportunity to live in Israel, which helped shape my feelings and beliefs concerning the Jewish people.
Finally, I was able to study modern and ancient Jewish philosophy.

But to me, Judaism is about improving my self and improving the world, and even if the God of Judaism doesn't exist, I can still use Jewish texts as a source to help me improve my life. In fact, many of our conversations in Mishna, Turning Points in Jewish History, or the Seminar in Jewish Thought didn't mention God at all. And when we did talk about God, such as in Spiritual Practices or in an hours long discussion in Chumash about why Genesis uses the phrase "we" when God is talking about creating man, I still found much wisdom and benefit in these discussions.

But for me, Judaism has never been the one only true answer. Because I don't view Judaism as divine, it allows me to find some wisdom and benefit from Judaism while rejecting other parts of our past teachings and turning to other sources in those cases. I think many people go through the same process when they decide what part of halakha they are comfortable adhering to, rejecting other parts of Judaism because it doesn't align with their own personal beliefs or morals.

I wanted to add a final point about the goodbyes and thanks that we were just giving to DLK in class. I wanted to tell DLK that as wonderful as he had been, I felt like what made Pardes great was that I had learned as much from my fellow students as I did from the teachers. At first, this felt like a slight to him, but I realized that what really made DLK (and the other teachers) so amazing was that they didn't only teach us the material, but they taught us to be teachers ourselves, and for that I am most grateful.

For the many of us who will be returning to the United States and finding a way to keep Jewish learning in our lives and remain active in our Jewish communities, I think one of the struggles might be to relate to people who have a fundamentally different opinion about how they practice their Judaism or view their Jewish identity. Although it may have been a surprise for some people that an atheist would want to come to Pardes, the American Jewish community is full of people who don't consider God a key part of their Jewish identity (if at all), and I would hope that one of our goals would be to help those people understand the benefit and wisdom that can come about from studying classic and modern Jewish texts.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Anyone Want some Art?

With my time in Israel coming to an end, I'm hoping to find good homes for some of the art I made this year. For anyone staying in Israel or who would like to bring a piece home with you, please let me know.

You can see all of my pieces in the Star of David series here.

I am looking to give away the following pieces:
Singed Canvas
Bleeding West Bank and Gaza
American Flag Star
Ash Star
Burned out Star (either piece individually, or both together)

Call or email if you are interested in any of the pieces. 052-522-3518 andyratto@gmail.com

You can also forward this post along to anyone in Israel who might be interested.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Year in Review

Here is a list of the major events that happened over the last year in Jerusalem that I wrote about on this blog. They are in reverse chronological order, so newer listing will appear at the top. There are still a number of things I will be adding to this list, so check back again later.

15. Why an Atheist Would Study at Pardes for the Year
14. Harmony, Peace, and Brotherhood March in Umm el Fahm
13. Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
12. Birkat HaKohanim at the Kotel during Chol HaMoed Passover
11. Chanukkah Pictures and Videos from Meah Shaarim and the Shuk
10. Visit to Gush Etzion During Sukkhot
9. Visit to the Jerusalem Symphony
8. Video and Photo Tour of My New Apartment in Talpiot Near Derech Chevron
7. Tisha B'Av at the Kotel
6. Michael Levin: A Hero in Heaven
5. Videos from my Hebrew Ulpan at Hebrew University
4. Pictures and Video from Petra and Eilat
3. My Problems with Israel
2. Apartment Tour (Photos and Videos) of the Student Village at Hebrew University
1. Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Harmony, Peace, and Brotherhood March in Umm el Fahm

Last month some extremist right-wing Israelis (followers of Kahane) held a march in Umm el Fahm, one of the largest Arab cities in Israel: "16 wounded in Umm el-Fahm march"

In response to that, a solidarity march was organized with residents of the city and Jews who support peaceful coexistence. Below are my pictures and videos from the march. The second video features an interview with Drew, one of my friends from Pardes.

All my pictures from the march are here.

Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

After my visit to the Kotel (Western Wall) I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to see what the Christians were up to. I spent most of my time with the Greek Orthodox and the Armenians, who are celebrating Palm Sunday while the rest of the world celebrates Easter. The most interesting part of the Church is the status quo arrangement used to help share the church between all the different Christian factions. The Greek Orthodox pictures are first, with the Armenians after them (in the gold robes). Best pictures from the Church are here.

P.S. I also wandered by a marching band that might have been the Arab/Christian/Israel version of the Boy Scouts. Not sure what they really were.

And here is a video of the entryway to the Church with the traditional anointing stone used for Jesus' burial.

Birkat HaKohanim at the Kotel during Chol HaMoed Passover

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday for the Catholics, Palm Sunday for the Greek Orthodox and a special gathering for Birkat HaKohanim for the Jews. My first stop of the day was at the Kotel (Western Wall) to see the Birkat Hakohanim (Priestly Blessing), a thousands of years old prayer formerly done during the time of the Temple. Below is a video of that prayer (which can usually be recognized because the Kohens (priests) will cover their heads with their prayer shawls. Then I've got some photos I took that day, and another video of that day from when I was hanging out before the prayer happened. To see a collection of my best photos from the Kotel, click here for the full set. [And here is a link to my post about the Christian events at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.]

More photos here.

The Kotel on the Morning of Birkat HaKohanim

No More Twitter Updates on Jewish Andy

Just a note that I won't be posting my twitter updates on this blog any more. If you want to see them, they will still be in the sidebar of the blog, or you can go here to read them: JewishAndy on Twitter.