October 14, 2010 | 4:30 pm

Jewish Community Leaders AWOL at Holocaust Museum Dedication

Posted by Mark Paredes

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When I began working in the Jewish community in 2002, my colleagues at the Israeli Consulate General told me that there were two things that united every Jew in the city: a war involving Israel and the Holocaust. After attending this morning’s public dedication of LA’s relocated Museum of the Holocaust (the nation’s oldest), I’m tempted to scratch that last one off the list. With the exception of Israeli Consul General Jacob Dayan and Jewish Federation head Jay Sanderson, I did not see one other member of the organized Jewish community in attendance. No one from the ADL, the AJC, the Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance, or any of the many other Jewish organizations that fill the pages of the Jewish community directory. Only one rabbi (Rabbi Larry Scheindlin, headmaster of Sinai Akiba Academy) was there. A choir from Shalhevet, a modern Orthodox high school, sang the opening song, but no student groups from any of the city’s other Jewish day schools bothered to show up. Their absence was all too evident when LA Schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines was applauded by the crowd. The city’s non-Jewish chief educator apparently found the time to come and honor a Holocaust museum, but Jewish educators couldn’t be bothered. The museum is located within walking distance of a huge Orthodox community with hundreds of families, but I guess they all had more important things to do this morning.

I made a few phone calls afterwards to former colleagues in the Jewish community to find out why they hadn’t come to the dedication of their city’s Holocaust museum. Their uniform responses left me cold. Yes, the Holocaust was very important to them. Yes, they were all for having a Holocaust museum in the city. Yes, they had a great deal of respect for the museum’s backers. Yes, Thursday mornings are usually good for them. However, they all cited the same reason for not coming: they had not received a personal invitation. I don’t know about you, but I find this laughable. I didn’t receive a personal invitation either, but when I saw the ads in Jewish media for the dedication of a Holocaust museum, I made it a point to be there. If the Prime Minister of Israel were coming to speak at a public event in this city, something tells me that Jewish leaders who had not received gilded invitations would somehow manage to be there. We all make time for people and events that are priorities in our lives.   

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that I have observed this apathy dynamic in the Jewish community. While the community’s size (around 600,000) would appear to be a blessing, in reality it is a community of many smaller communities, movements, organizations and synagogues, many of which have little to do with each other. When I attended the memorial for the Chabad rabbi and his wife who were slain in Mumbai, India, my colleague and I joined the head of the Jewish Federation as the only representatives from the organized Jewish community (we were working for the American Jewish Congress at the time) in attendance at the moving ceremony held at the Chabad house in Westwood. Almost everyone else at the public event was Orthodox. On the other hand, almost everyone who gathered at a public memorial to honor gay Jewish teens who were gunned down in Tel Aviv was gay or lesbian. This time there were no Orthodox Jews to be found.

The hierarchical LDS Church doesn’t have movements and a plethora of organizations to deal with, so the social dynamic is markedly different. Tomorrow night one of our apostles is coming to rededicate the Visitors Center next to our temple, and hundreds of Mormons from around the region are expected to attend the ceremony with their friends. Very few members will have received personal invitations (many of which are earmarked for interfaith leaders and other prominent non-Mormons), but seeing an apostle is important enough to them that they will fight traffic on a Friday evening to be there when he speaks.

I hope that Jewish leaders will prove me wrong on Sunday night, when the Museum of the Holocaust holds its gala dinner in Beverly Hills. For all I know, they may in fact have skipped today’s ceremony because they’re planning to buy tickets to the $500/plate dinner instead. Whatever their plans are, the fact that there were as many Mormon leaders in attendance at the dedication of a Holocaust museum as there were rabbis and executive directors from a 600,000-member Jewish community should give everyone pause for reflection. And shame.       

October 11, 2010 | 1:02 am

Scriptures, Science and a Sephardic Rabbi

Posted by Mark Paredes

“Therefore the Almighty commenced the Holy Scriptures with the description of the Creation, that is, with Physical Science…”—Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, Introduction

“Our religion is not hostile to real science. That which is demonstrated, we accept with joy; but vain philosophy, human theory, and mere speculations of men, we do not accept nor do we adopt anything contrary to divine revelation or to good common sense.” – 1910 First Presidency Christmas message

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The Jewish tradition doesn’t interpret scripture literally, but it sure loves science. Those two principles formed the basis of last week’s “Torah on Tuesdays” lecture delivered by Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, Director of Special Projects at the Sephardic Educational Center in Los Angeles. I think that it’s important for everyone to study the Torah with a rabbi whenever possible, and I will be learning from Rabbi Bouskila this semester. Given the erudition and passion on display at Congregation Magen David last Tuesday, it will be time well spent.

Regular readers of my blog know that public programs promoting Jewish knowledge and values are precisely what I believe more Jewish leaders should be offering around the world. Rabbi Bouskila’s free lectures on Jewish interpretations of the great stories in Genesis have the potential to do far more for the promotion of Jews and Judaism than the redundant conferences and lectures on the dangers of radical Islam that somehow manage to capture the attention (and dollars) of many wealthy Jews in this city. In a perfect Jewish community, Rabbi Bouskila would speak before thousands each week and anti-Islam speakers would have trouble paying their rent.

My Orthodox friends always claim to interpret scripture literally, so I was a little surprised to hear the rabbi claim that literal interpretation is incompatible with rabbinic Jewish tradition. I now know that when an Orthodox rabbi is asked to interpret scripture, he doesn’t simply look at the verse and come to a conclusion. Instead, he consults commentaries like the Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch before issuing an opinion. In some cases the rabbinic rulings based on these commentaries can run contrary to the original biblical language, as in the well-known case of biblical sanction of eye-for-an-eye punishment being interpreted by rabbis to essentially prohibit such punishment. Knowing how this dynamic works allows me to more easily understand how halachic pluralism (the acceptance of more than one interpretation as valid) is possible in Judaism.

By way of contrast, Mormons have five books of scripture and modern prophets, but no official commentaries. If our non-biblical scriptures and/or prophetic revelations contradict or elaborate on Bible stories, the former are considered authoritative. For this reason, Mormons believe that Moses did not die (Deuteronomy 34:5 says he did), that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (instead of God hardening his heart as stated in Exodus 4:21 and elsewhere), that it repented Noah, not God, that He had made man on the earth (Genesis 6:6), and that Noah spent a great deal of time preaching to his contemporaries and calling them to repentance (no mention of this in the Torah, which depicts Noah as being exclusively concerned with the welfare of his immediate family).

I was happy to learn that all Jewish movements, including Orthodoxy, embrace science. Rabbi Bouskila proudly listed the concepts that his daughter would be studying this year in her biology class at a Modern Orthodox day school, and they included evolution and the scientific method. Jews have always valued learning, both religious and secular. In this they are similar to Mormons, whose church-sponsored universities produce graduates in biology, physics, chemistry and other sciences. Indeed, the church’s second-ranking official is the son of a prominent theoretical chemist who received the prestigious Wolf Prize in Chemistry and headed the Association for the Advancement of Science. Church members are actively encouraged to seek God’s guidance as they learn both secular and religious subjects. As a result, devout Mormons can be found on all sides of the debates surrounding stem cell research, evolution, capital punishment, and many other controversial issues on which the LDS Church has not taken an official position.

This week we will study the story of Adam and Eve, the topic of a recent Jewish-Mormon theological dialogue in Santa Monica. I look forward to reading what the Jewish commentaries have to say about earth’s first couple. I also look forward to learning from a rabbi who believes that Judaism has a relevant religious message for the world today, and who is willing to invite the public to hear it. Shavua tov.       

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October 6, 2010 | 11:29 am

Soul Sisters in St. Louis

Posted by Mark Paredes

Today’s words of wisdom come from Mary Pedersen, Acting Executive Director of Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls in St. Louis, Missouri. Mary is one of the most dynamic, dedicated public affairs professionals I have ever seen, and her LDS-Jewish events are models for interfaith outreach. It is my hope that this account of her collaboration with a selfless Jewish woman to help others will inspire kindred spirits around the country and the world to go and do likewise. Mary has served on the Board of Directors of IP/FBW for 5 years and recently accepted the responsibility of running the organization in this season of transition.  Her fellow Board members are blessed to have her.  I’m sure Phyllis Cantor would agree.

——- 

If anyone has ever doubted the power of one, then she has never met Phyllis Cantor (pictured).  A member of Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis, Phyllis serves as the Social Action Chair for her synagogue.  Although she has been widowed twice, this has not hindered her vision and quest to serve G-d by reaching out to others.

Five years ago, Phyllis happened to sit next to me, the (St. Louis) Regional Community and Interfaith Specialist for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at an annual interfaith women’s conference.  After comparing notes on the interfaith outreach efforts in our respective faith communities, we left the conference committed and resolved to unite in service.  “We realized that we could make a greater impact in the community if we worked together,” said Cantor.  From that moment, the Jewish grandmother of eight and the Mormon mother of three young children have sought to lead their congregations to learn each other’s beliefs, while giving opportunities to their members to reach out to those in need.

Their first joint effort involved collecting school supplies for an underserved community.  You do not need to go to Ethiopia to see poverty.  It can be found in Kinloch, just a few miles northeast of the St. Louis airport. With a median family income of just $15,000/year, parents living there cannot purchase school supplies. In the past, their children’s standardized test scores had been so low that they had to attend mandatory summer school.  But this past summer, Kinloch children enjoyed a summer of fun and play like most children their age for the first time in years. Although Phyllis and I have been collecting school supplies together for Kinloch for 4 years, this past summer the LDS Church teamed with two other synagogues (United Hebrew and Temple Israel) and a Hindu Temple to supply backpacks and school supplies to the children in Kinloch and another distressed community, Ivory Park. Our goal? To unite Mormon congregations and Jewish synagogues to collect school supplies so that no needy child begins the school year without being properly equipped in the St. Louis area. 

After 3 years of successful school supply drives, Phyllis and I decided that our members needed to meet.  “It was silly for Mary and I to have such a cherished friendship, and not allow our members the same association and fellowship we enjoy,” said Cantor.  Together, we teamed up women from our congregations to prepare a meal for the women and children living at Lydia’s House, a home for victims of domestic violence.  The women gathered around a huge round table in assembly-line fashion and filled approximately 200 bags with rice, beans and spices to create soup packets for distribution for the Jewish Food Pantry.  Each group took turns hosting, the Mormons hosting first while teaching a lesson on their health code called the Word of Wisdom, and B’Nai Amoona hosting second with their mashgichah teaching a lesson on Kashrut (Kosher) Law.  During these projects, the beautiful conversations among these devoted women were rooted around family and service. A great example of taking action beyond social relationships.

Most recently, Phyllis seized an opportunity with one of her young women preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. Shira had decided to make bags filled with pajamas, story books, stuffed animals to snuggle, blankets and toothbrushes, and donate them to homeless children.  Shira’s Project Night Night quickly gained momentum once Phyllis mentored her by teaching her the value of partnering.  My Young Women’s Sunday School class made homemade quilts from fabric and batting that the Relief Society (women’s service organization) had donated.  An elderly Mormon woman crocheted 5 afghans, and my nine-year-old daughter dedicated her birthday party to Shira’s cause.  Instead of receiving gifts for herself, Jilane collected pajamas, stuffed animals and storybooks from her friends.  One of the activities at her party was to make quilts for the homeless children Shira’s bags would go to.  An orthodontist in my congregation donated the toothbrushes.  Indeed, Phyllis and I are most proud of this endeavor as it allowed us to make it a l’dor va dor (generation to generation) experience.

Phyllis and I not only serve together, we support each other in celebratory events.  I went to Simchat Torah services to see Phyllis honored by her synagogue for her Social Action work.  Phyllis attends the annual Crèches and Carols exhibit that the LDS Church hosts each year in St. Louis.  We do this because we view each other as sisters and are proud to work with each other. As I reflect on our work together, I am reminded of the lyrics to a beautiful hymn that LDS women sing: “As sisters in Zion, we’ll all work together: The blessings of G-d on our labors we’ll seek.  We’ll build up His Kingdom with earnest endeavor; we’ll comfort the weary and strengthen the weak.  The errand of angels is given to women; and this is a gift that as sisters we claim; to do whatsoever is gentle and human, to cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.  How vast is our purpose, how broad is our mission, if we but fulfill it in spirit and deed. Oh, naught but the Spirit’s divinest tuition—can give us the wisdom to truly succeed.”

I have heard some speakers say that on the day when the Mashiach (Messiah) comes, Jews and Mormons will approach Him arm-in-arm and ask Him if this is His first or second coming. One of the groups will be able to say (while pointing to the other), “See, I told you so!”  But Phyllis and I have taken this scenario one step further.  In the day of the Mashiach, it will not matter to us who was right and who was wrong.  We will embrace each other the same way we always have.  Our offerings have been united.  Our work has been united.  The process of bringing faiths and people together for a greater cause has been for all the right reasons.  It can heal the world through tikkun olam.

I have a testimony that “Kol Yisrael aravim zeh lazeh!” 

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October 3, 2010 | 7:37 pm

Hebrew Catholics and Children of Peace

Posted by Mark Paredes

“Jews outside the church need to see a Jewish reality inside the church. We don’t evangelize, but if Jews are able to preserve themselves within the church, it will open the floodgates for Jews to come into the church.”—David Moss, President of the Association of Hebrew Catholics
————
Two gatherings this week highlight different approaches taken by churches on the sensitive issue of Jewish converts to Christianity who wish to affirm their post-conversion Jewishness. Of course, mainstream Jews reject the notion of Christians who somehow remain Jewish, and they understandably take offense when many of their former co-religionists target them for conversion to their new faith. Nevertheless, there are thousands of Catholic and Mormon converts who insist just as fervently that they are fully Jewish; indeed, some claim that their Christian baptisms have made them “complete” Jews. Whether a given church adopts the St. Louis model or its Utah counterpart could decisively affect its ongoing relations with the organized Jewish community.

The Association of Hebrew Catholics (AHC) is holding a three-day conference in St. Louis, and local Jewish leaders are none too pleased. Although the group’s stated purpose is to “preserve the identity and heritage of Catholics of Jewish origin within the Church,” many of the scheduled speakers at the conference have made statements indicating their desire to convert Jews to Catholicism. What really bothers Jewish officials in the Gateway to the West, however, is the past and present involvement of officials from the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Vatican in activities sponsored by AHC, which is listed as an official organization on the website of the archdiocese. A monsignor, a priest, and an auxiliary bishop will be celebrating Mass at the conference, and an interview with senior Vatican prelate (and former Archbishop of St. Louis) Archbishop Raymond Burke will be shown to the attendees. [Archbishop Burke helped the AHC to relocate from Michigan in 2006]. Pope John Paul II gave an apostolic blessing to the AHC in 1998.
     
By way of contrast, the semiannual gathering of B’nai Shalom (“Children of Peace”) was held in Salt Lake City last Thursday. Founded 43 years ago, its purpose is to “promote greater understanding of Jewish culture, heritage and traditions, and encourage, assist and promote Jewish genealogy.” Twice a year Jew-loving Mormons, including many Jewish converts, attend a presentation on some aspect of LDS-Jewish relations and/or Jewish culture. This year’s speakers were LDS Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and renowned LDS composer and filmmaker Michael McLean. I addressed the group a few years ago (after ensuring that they did not target Jews for conversion), and have rarely felt such pro-Jewish fervor in an audience.

What was missing at the LDS gathering, however, was any sign of official sponsorship by the church. Indeed, on the home page of the group’s website is this prominent disclaimer: “B’nai Shalom is NOT an official organization of the Church and is NOT sponsored by the Church in any way. This web site is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with the above church. All research and opinions are the sole responsibility of members of B’nai Shalom, and are not official statements of Church doctrine, belief or practice.” Although B’nai Shalom is currently headed by two Jewish converts who believe that they are still Jews, their church neither encourages nor discourages their efforts to increase knowledge and appreciation of Judaism among Mormons.

I don’t take a position on whether Jewish converts to Christianity remain Jews; this is not a debate that I need to join. Both sides make claims that are hard to refute: individuals have a right to define their religion and/or ethnicity, and ethno-religious groups have a right to exclude people. [One would think that the theological antithesis of Judaism would be atheism, not Christianity, but I digress].  As I see it, the problem in St. Louis stems from unmet expectations on the part of Jewish interfaith leaders, many of whom seem to believe that post-Vatican II Catholicism accepts the validity of God’s ongoing covenant with the Jewish people, making their conversion to Christianity unnecessary. Unfortunately, this belief is not supported by the plain language of the text of Nostra Aetate, Vatican II’s groundbreaking statement on interfaith relations issued in 1965. After denouncing anti-Semitism and acknowledging the Jewish roots of Catholicism, the Vatican made the following declaration: “It is, therefore, the burden of the Church’s preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God’s all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows.”

The most philo-Semitic Pope in modern times, John Paul II, had this to say about Catholic-Jewish relations: “Love involves understanding. It also involves frankness and the freedom to disagree in a brotherly way where there are reasons for it.” If I were the Archbishop of St. Louis, I would make one of the following statements at a meeting with local Jewish leaders: 1) In order to preserve our close relationship with the Jewish community, we will adopt the LDS B’nai Shalom model. In the future, archdiocesan officials will not lend official support to AHC, and we will neither promote nor hinder its activities; or 2) Friends must be honest with each other. There is nothing in Catholic teaching that requires Jews to abandon their Jewish identity upon conversion to Catholicism, and there is no prohibition on converting Jews to our faith. Given AHC’s communion with Rome and adherence to Catholic teaching, it is as entitled to our support as any other community that enjoys the Vatican’s juridical approval.
                 
It is my fervent hope that Jewish-Catholic relations in St. Louis and elsewhere will continue to be strengthened. In the case of AHC and similar organizations, I think the B’nai Shalom model is the way to go. 

——-

I am indebted to Mary Pedersen, Acting Executive Director of Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls in St. Louis, for alerting me to this story. Many thanks also to Tim Townsend for his original reporting on the conference, which can be found at the following links: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/article_5c762b8d-0908-5eb7-b374-d9bce2ab3fc8.html, http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/tim-townsend/article_1bd38b58-765b-5dad-81ea-5a164e74cebc.html

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September 29, 2010 | 12:54 pm

Hooray for Jews, Mormons and Atheists

Posted by Mark Paredes

“And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms.” – Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-79

——-

During a meeting that I attended at one of the leading Orthodox synagogues in Los Angeles, a rabbi educator stood up and declared that Orthodox Judaism was the only religion that required its members to become scholars of its own doctrine. According to him, all other religions trained a select group of ministers in their theology, while average members in the pews had no obligation to read their holy books or study their doctrines. Even other Jewish movements were lax in teaching their followers the principles of Jewish theology and practice. I approached him after the meeting and informed him that Mormons had a lay (not professional) clergy and five books of scripture to master, which of necessity required them to become scholars of their own doctrine. He didn’t seem too impressed, and I quickly changed the subject.

I’d love to track that rabbi down today and share with him the results of the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey released this week by the prestigious Pew Forum. More than 3,400 respondents answered 32 questions on the Bible, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, world religions, religion in public life, and atheism and agnosticism. Atheists and agnostics had the highest average total score (20.9 questions), followed by Jews (20.5) and Mormons (20.3). White Evangelicals (noted Mormon-bashers) were a distant fourth (17.6).

The breakdown of the scores understandably led to a lot of backslapping in the Mormon blogosphere. Mormons knew more about both testaments of the Bible than any other religious group. They also scored highest in knowledge of Christianity, and were second only to Jews in knowledge of Judaism. Mormons knew more about Mormonism than others polled (sigh of relief), followed by atheists/agnostics and Jews. Only Jews and atheists/agnostics scored higher in knowledge about world religions and general knowledge questions. To summarize: Jews, atheists and agnostics have a greater general knowledge about religion, while Mormons are more familiar with the Bible and Christianity than members of other faiths. Mormons also know more about Judaism than members of any non-Jewish faith group. This is very encouraging to those of us who are actively promoting LDS-Jewish ties.

The emphasis that both of our communities place on education and study is evident in the survey’s results. Jews are known worldwide for their academic accomplishments, and have established many first-class institutions of higher learning in the U.S. and Israel. Every week Jews study the Torah portion in their synagogues, and many Jewish communities run Jewish schools for their children. In this country, the LDS Church currently operates three universities (BYU, BYU Hawaii, BYU Idaho) and a business college in Salt Lake City. In addition, Southern Virginia University, while not officially sponsored by the Church, actively promotes an LDS environment on campus. Speaking of campuses, it is rare if not impossible to find a major college or university without both a Hillel chapter and LDS Institute program. Most Mormon teens begin college after having studied the scriptures every weekday before school for four years, in addition to the hour they spent in Sunday School each Sunday.

Given that we have multiple books of scripture to master, I’m very proud of the Mormons’ performance on the Pew survey. That said, there is clearly room for improvement: we need to learn more about non-Jewish/ non-Christian world religions. This may be easier to do in large cities like Los Angeles, where Buddhist and Hindu temples are a short drive away, than in other parts of the country. Nevertheless, followers of a religion that believes “the glory of God is intelligence” and that requires its members to study all things (see scriptural quote above) need to find a way to learn more about their brothers and sisters of all faiths – and none.         

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September 27, 2010 | 9:04 am

Jews and Mormons in Europe

Posted by Mark Paredes

“There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary.” – Israeli President Shimon Peres
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It’s too bad that Mr. Peres didn’t accompany me earlier this month to London. And Edinburgh. And Leicester. Had he done so, he would have seen a thousand Brits – mostly Mormons—take time out of their busy schedules to listen to a speaker sing the praises of Jews and Judaism, a subject dear to their hearts. The same dynamic occurred in Copenhagen, Budapest, Bucharest, and Chisinau, the hometown of the current Israeli Foreign Minister. Of the many things that I learned during my third pro-Jewish speaking tour of Europe, the principle that has become an axiom in my mind is that stereotypes about European anti-Semitism should not be applied across the board and in fact can often be jettisoned. This is especially true when dealing with the continent’s growing LDS community.

Case in point: Hungary. There was standing room only in the lovely chapel in Budapest last Wednesday evening. Hundreds of Mormons and their friends had come from several cities in Hungary not because they knew the speaker (indeed, I had never met any of them before), but because they knew that he would be speaking about Jews in Magyar, their melodic native language. I have found that advocating support for Jews in German, Magyar, and Polish creates an intimate, emotional connection between the speaker and the audience, some of whom are old enough to remember a time when Jews were rounded up in their cities and deported to death camps. Speaking in American English to Americans just doesn’t have the same dynamic. Not only were the Hungarians extraordinarily gracious and respectful, but several of them told me that they had never heard a public speech in Magyar advocating respect and support for Jews. I was assured that there were many more Hungarians who shared their love and admiration for the Jewish people. If I were a Jewish leader in Hungary, I’d figure out a way to reach them.

I have now visited 15 countries and spoken in 8 languages on the importance of LDS-Jewish collaboration. I am often asked why I expend so much time and effort to make these trips. The simple truth is that I know that things are not going to get better for Jews living outside of the U.S. and Israel. Prophets can see over the horizon, and I’m certainly not a prophet. However, for some time now I have been viewing the dark clouds gathering on the horizon. I feel impressed to leave my testimony of the importance of supporting the planet’s 14 million Jews with people of goodwill in the U.S. and abroad.  Ultimately, I believe that only divine intervention and grace have saved and will save many Jews from utter destruction at the hands of their enemies.  However, we mortals also have a responsibility to educate people around the world on the beauty and relevance of Judaism and Jewish values. I do not want it to be said of me that I was a passive observer who sat around and did nothing while anti-Semitism continued to metastasize around the world.

It is my hope that Mormons and other philo-Semites will find a way to contribute to the ongoing revival of Jewish life in Hungary, Poland, and other Central and Eastern European countries. In order for them to do so, local Jewish leaders should be encouraged to extend a hand of friendship to them and build bridges of friendship, trust and understanding. Joint Passover seders, Shabbat dinners, and service projects are good places to start.

This hope was buoyed by the events that bookended my last day in Budapest. I arose early to make my way to the Danube River and pay my respects at the bronze shoes memorial to Holocaust victims designed by Gyula Pauer.  As I knelt down to view the shoes more closely, I was surprised by a young bearded guy wearing a kippah (the only identifiable Jew I saw in Budapest) who appeared out of nowhere and asked me if I could read Hebrew. When I nodded, he knelt down beside me, placed the kippah on my head, and asked me to recite a psalm with him. Afterwards, he took the picture that accompanies this essay. It’s transcendent moments like this that let me know that I’m not alone on these trips.

As I made my way to the hotel to take a taxi to the airport, I was approached on the street by a lovely young girl (also pictured) who worked for a company that sold sightseeing tours to tourists. When I motioned that I wasn’t interested, she smiled and told me in excellent English that she had attended my presentation the previous evening. She said that she and her family had always had a great deal of respect for Jews, and that she in particular had always felt close to them as a Mormon in an inexplicable way. Her name? Rebecca Abraham.   
   

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September 9, 2010 | 11:26 pm

Eshman, Jones, Castro and Me

Posted by Mark Paredes

Random thoughts on the eve of my departure for Europe to promote Mormon-Jewish ties in six countries:
1) Jewish Journal Editor-in-Chief Rob Eshman’s poignant essay in this week’s issue profiles a Jewish musician who was helped by a Mormon in his time of need:  http://www.jewishjournal.com/rob_eshman/article/you_dont_know_jack_20100908/
2) Pastor Terry Jones’s 15 minutes of fame expired long ago. It’s scary to see how an idiot with 50 followers and a harebrained scheme can come to the attention of some of the most powerful people in the world. The best news I’ve heard all week is that the webhost for the pastor’s “world outreach center” has shut its website down, along with the accompanying “Islam is the Devil” site. It’s time for the nation’s media and pundits to pull the plug on this story as well. I don’t have children, but I’m told that brats don’t throw too many tantrums when no one is around to notice.
3) The second-best news I’ve heard all week is that Fidel Castro strongly denounced anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial by Iran’s president in a revealing conversation with the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. Of particular interest to me were his comments concerning theology-based anti-Semitism:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel-to-ahmadinejad-stop-slandering-the-jews/62566/
4) I will be sans cell phone and laptop during my trip, which will be a welcome vacation from gadgets and technology. I hope to have interesting tales to relate in two weeks’ time. In the meantime, I wish my Jewish friends a Gmar Chatimah Tova as their fates are sealed in the book of life next week on Yom Kippur.       

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September 7, 2010 | 12:23 am

Rosh Hashanah and General Conference

Posted by Mark Paredes

This week Jews worldwide will observe Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of both the new Jewish year and the Days of Awe period that ends with their names being sealed in God’s book – for better or worse – on Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is a sabbath of introspection and repentance, and Jews are encouraged to reflect on the previous year’s sins, make amends wherever possible, and resolve to do better in the coming year. Moreover, they get what many Christians would love to have: a special 10-day period during which they can try to alter the divine decree for them in the coming year. God pencils in our fates on Rosh Hashanah, and after observing our repentance, prayer and charity during the Days of Awe, He sometimes pulls out an eraser before finalizing everything with a permanent marker on Yom Kippur. I’m sure that this belief alone has inspired people to sign up for an Intro to Judaism course.

The holiday’s themes definitely resonate with Latter-day Saints, who enjoy mini-Rosh Hashanahs on 48 Sundays of the year (churchwide and local conferences take up the other 4 Sundays). Mormons are expected to reflect and repent prior to partaking of the sacrament (blessed bread and water) during the main Sunday worship service. In this way they renew the covenants that they made with God at their baptism. If they do not repent and therefore feel unworthy on any given Sunday to renew these covenants, they are supposed to decline the bread and water when they are passed to them. We don’t blow shofars during our services (alas!), but we do listen intently to the words of the sacramental prayers, which remind us of our obligations as members of the Church. [While the Bible is silent on the meaning of the shofar, many interpret it as a call to repentance and introspection].

Pulpit rabbis are expected to speak to their congregations at this time of year; indeed, their sermons are eagerly anticipated and often parsed for deeper meanings. A similar dynamic happens in the worldwide LDS community each fall. Because of the Jewish lunar calendar, the two days of Rosh Hashanah can coincide exactly with the fall session of General Conference. The largest annual gathering of Mormons in the world, it is held on the first weekend of October (a spring conference is also held in April). Church leaders give talks on spiritual topics that are transmitted via satellite around the world, and huge crowds of the faithful fill the 21,000-seat Conference Center and other buildings in Salt Lake City. How appropriate that modern Jews gather on Rosh Hashanah to hear their rabbis and shofars call them to repentance and introspection around the same time that their Mormon brothers and sisters gather to hear their prophets preach similar themes.

I wish all of my readers much happiness, love and spirituality in the coming new year.

Shana tova.

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September 2, 2010 | 11:08 am

Proxy Baptism Controversy: The End

Posted by Mark Paredes

“You know, there are no people in the world who understand the Jews like the Mormons.” – David Ben Gurion to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (and future LDS Church President) Ezra Taft Benson
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For Mormons who love Jews, yesterday’s headline on the LDS Church’s website couldn’t have been better: “Church and Jewish Leaders Resolve Concerns Over Baptisms.” “Mormons, Jews in New Pact on Baptisms” was the header for The Jewish Week editor Gary Rosenblatt’s upbeat assessment of a final agreement between the Church and the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants concerning LDS proxy immersions for the dead. I have included my recent blog post on this issue for those needing a little background: http://www.jewishjournal.com/jews_and_mormons/item/mormon_proxy_immersions_for_the_dead_39100728/

These headlines would have hardly seemed possible two years ago. A prominent member of the American Gathering publicly expressed his frustration with the implementation of the group’s 1995 agreement with the Church, and it appeared that the two sides were going to have to agree to disagree on the feasibility of eliminating all improper name submissions of Holocaust victims. Thanks largely to the efforts of former New York State Attorney General Bob Abrams and other Jewish leaders, meetings were arranged in the past year that generated the goodwill that eventually led to this breakthrough.

It was apparent that the Church’s new computer system for submitting names for temple work was an important component of the agreement, so I contacted David Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer for Family Search, the Church’s family history website. It would be hard to find a happier (or more helpful) man in Salt Lake City right now.  I asked him what the Church was doing to prevent the unauthorized submission of names of Holocaust victims for temple ordinances (Jewish leaders have agreed that “authorized” submissions can be made by Mormons who are direct descendants of Holocaust victims or have written permission from a victim’s direct descendants to submit the names).

First of all, he pointed out that the Church has assumed more of the burden of flagging and eliminating these names. The 1995 agreement had placed the burden of identifying the names on the Jewish side, with the Church agreeing to eliminate any names that were brought to its attention. Now, armed with databases of names of Holocaust victims, a team of dedicated LDS volunteers regularly scans lists of submitted temple names to ensure that no Holocaust victims are included. If a name is found, Rencher said that the pedigree for the name (currently required for all submissions) will be examined closely to see whether the person submitting the name is a direct descendant. If there is a question, the person will be contacted. If the name is found to have been wrongly submitted, it will be deleted from the database. If Jews find names of Holocaust victims on Family Search, they can also ask to have them deleted from the database. Finally, Mormons who have written permission from victims’ families to submit their names to the temple (undoubtedly a small group) must send this documentation directly to the Church, which will review it before authorizing the submission of the names. Mormons found violating Church policies on name submissions will be contacted and asked to cease and desist. It is hard to fully express the pride that I feel as a Latter-day Saint after hearing the lengths to which my Church is going to address the concerns of Jews and to honor the memories of Holocaust victims.

Of course, it is important to realize that the law of unintended consequences is in play here for Jewish genealogists. Family Search is an important research tool for genealogists, including Jewish ones, and the deletion of Holocaust victims’ names from its database could complicate individual efforts to fill in Europe-based family trees. When asked about this, Rencher acknowledged this reality, saying that it was a tradeoff that the Jewish leaders were willing to accept.

As someone who helped to launch an ongoing LDS-Jewish theological dialogue in Los Angeles and actively seeks to duplicate this effort in other cities around the world, it is important to me that Jews and others take LDS theology seriously. When it comes to Jews and Judaism, I believe that we have the most comprehensive and complete theology of any church. It is therefore necessary to clarify assertions that were made yesterday in Jewish media that this agreement makes Holocaust victims “the only category exempt from Church doctrine that calls for vicarious baptism for the dead,” and “Out of all humans who ever lived, the Church has carved out Jewish Holocaust victims as the only exception to a universal doctrine.” While it is true that Holocaust victims are the only category of people whose names the Church has agreed to delete from its genealogy database, it is also true that Mormons who are direct descendants of Holocaust victims are still under the same religious obligation to perform temple ordinances for them. As I have pointed out before, this obligation is as binding on a Mormon as circumcising newborn sons is for observant Jews. Nothing in the agreement prevents a Mormon from fulfilling this religious obligation, though it may make it harder for her to track down her relatives who were victims. 

The text of yesterday’s statement gives us reason to hope for increased cooperation in the future. Jewish leaders quoted in The Jewish Week echo my sentiments exactly. Bob Abrams reminded everyone that “we need as many friends and allies as possible,” and an American Gathering official observed: “we are living in a very difficult and critical time, and as an American Jew, I felt we shouldn’t keep on fighting a church that principally is very friendly to the Jewish community and has created an important center in Israel.” For its part, the official statement begins by noting that “Goodwill and friendship have marked the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Jewish people” and closes with an expression of finality and optimism: “It is gratifying that the good faith efforts undertaken over the years to deal with an important issue of sensitivity to the Jewish Holocaust survivor community have eliminated a source of tension between our two groups, enhancing our ability to cooperate, including in important programs of humanitarian aid across the world.” Amen to that. 

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I am willing to host guest bloggers during my upcoming pro-Jewish speaking tour of Europe (Sept 10-24). If you would like to have your essay published on this blog, please submit it (along with a photo, if desired) by September 8. The topic should be of interest to both Jews and Mormons. Thank you.

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August 30, 2010 | 12:48 am

Peacemaking 101: the Lesson of Oslo

Posted by Mark Paredes

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
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I’m currently conducting a job search, and have finally found the perfect position for someone with my background: if you’re looking for a prognosticator for the latest round of Israeli –Palestinian peace talks that kicks off this week, I’m your man. I don’t need an advanced degree in political science or a crystal ball. Having served as a U.S. diplomat in Israel at a time when leaders were talking and buses were exploding, I need only to apply the central lesson of the failed Oslo peace process: if you don’t have a negotiating partner, you can’t make peace. 

I’ve never understood why Israeli and American leaders tried to convert the terrorist Yasser Arafat into a peace partner, let alone a Nobel Prize recipient. As far as I could determine, the only difference between Arafat and Hitler in terms of anti-Semitism was their ability to act on their beliefs. I once served as a note-taker for a senior State Department official during a detailed security briefing by the head of Israeli military intelligence. When the official remarked that what he was hearing caused him to believe that neo-Nazis were heading the Palestinian Authority (PA), the military chief asked him what he thought would happen if the balance of military power were reversed for a week (i.e., if Arafat and the PA had Israel’s military capacity and vice versa). I’ll never forget the State Department diplomat’s answer, delivered after a rather pregnant pause: “I guess there would be 6 million fewer Jews in the world.” There was no good reason to talk peace with Arafat; the Oslo process was stillborn. U.S. Presidents Clinton and Bush, along with Israeli Prime Ministers Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu, Barak and Sharon, all learned the hard way that when you don’t have a partner across the table, you can’t create one.
 
The current Middle East face-off pits right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu against Mahmoud Abbas, former President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).  In order for Israel to make meaningful concessions on the major issues (Jerusalem, borders, refugees) and renew a settlement freeze on the West Bank, Bibi will have to face down prominent members of his governing coalition, including hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Such a fight could possibly bring down Bibi’s government and/or force him to govern with a more liberal coalition partner. Even a cursory analysis of Abbas’s political stability shows that there is no incentive at all for Bibi to risk his political future for someone who can’t deliver for his side.

For one thing, Abbas officially holds no power. His term as President of the PNA officially expired in January of 2009, and he unilaterally awarded himself a one-year extension. After the extension expired, he just decided to stay on without a mandate. That’s right: Abbas has absolutely zero authorization to act as president of anything right now, much less to sign peace treaties with Israel. Even the PLO hasn’t authorized him to represent Palestinians: only 9 of the 18 members of the PLO Executive Committee bothered to show up to vote on Abbas’s participation earlier this month, and the PLO charter clearly requires 12 members to form a quorum for such meetings. Abbas’s capable Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, ran in the 2006 parliamentary elections and won exactly 2 seats (out of 132). His number two abandoned Fayyad’s party, leaving him with one seat. Only enormous pressure from the United States and Europe forced Abbas to appoint Fayyad as PM. Who would sign a treaty with these pretenders? 

In addition to his lack of a mandate to negotiate for his people (or, for that matter, to be allowed into his office), it must also be noted that Abbas’s illegitimate rule does not extend to the Gaza Strip, whose 1.5 million residents are led by a group of Hamas leaders who forcibly expelled members of Abbas’s political party – their coalition partners—in 2007, killing more than 100 people in the process. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, refuses to recognize Abbas’s extended term as president, and refuses to allow him to negotiate on its behalf with Israel. Since Abbas obviously can’t deliver on any promise he makes to Israel and the U.S. on behalf of all Palestinians, there is no reason for him to be at the same negotiating table with a democratically-elected Israeli Prime Minister.

Unsurprisingly, Abbas is already looking for a pretext to exit the talks. If Israel doesn’t renew a freeze on settlements later this month, Abbas has threatened to end the talks. While I do think that Israel’s policy on settlements is somewhat schizophrenic, this is an obvious red herring. Unlike the PA, Israel has a track record of making painful sacrifices for the sake of peace, including asking Jewish soldiers to evict fellow Jews from their homes. Israel has evacuated settlements from the Sinai Peninsula (as part of a peace treaty with Egypt), from the Gaza Strip (a unilateral action that seems ill-advised in hindsight), and from the West Bank (sporadic police actions to remove isolated outposts).  There is every indication that Israel would act to remove settlers from the West Bank again in order to comply with the terms of a final peace agreement. Refusing to negotiate such an agreement because there are more Jews currently living in the West Bank than one desires is illogical.

Not only was Einstein correct (see above quote), but so was Santayana: those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With the peacemaking circus making a stop in Washington this week, we can expect to see more collective amnesia on display. Jews, Mormons, and other people of goodwill continue to pray for peace in the Middle East and a solution to this decades-old conflict, but this prognosticator is betting that their prayers are not likely to be answered as long as the central lesson of Oslo continues to be ignored.     

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If you would like to be a guest blogger during my September 10-24 European speaking tour, please send me your submission by September 8, along with a photo (if desired). The topic should be of interest to both Mormons and Jews. I will notify you on September 9 if/when you will be published. Thank you.

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August 28, 2010 | 12:06 pm

The 7th Day + Chance to Be Me

Posted by Mark Paredes

Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. – Exodus 31:16
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If you ask a typical Mormon which Jewish practices she most admires, chances are she’ll mention Sabbath observance. We have enormous respect for the Jews’ honoring of the Sabbath day throughout centuries of persecution, and Mormons who have sat at their Jewish friends’ Sabbath tables do not soon forget the glowing candles, childrens’ blessings, challah, and warmth on display. The setting aside of one day a week for worship and rest is an opportunity for members of both faiths to recharge their spiritual batteries and give thanks to G-d. In addition, it is such an important commandment that Sabbath observance serves as an informal indicator of dedication and devotion in both traditions: just as a Jew who drives on Friday nights would not be considered Torah-observant, a Mormon who chooses to work, shop and attend sporting events on Sundays is generally viewed as less devout than Mormons who do not.

Unlike Judaism, Mormonism allows some flexibility on Sabbath scheduling where it is necessary in order to align members’ worship schedules with the local workweek. While Sunday is the Sabbath for Mormons in the United States and in most countries throughout the world, members of the three LDS congregations in Israel go to church on Saturdays, and those in Muslim countries observe the Sabbath on Fridays.
Like observant Jews, Mormons spend the Sabbath day attending worship services (ours last three hours), visiting family and friends, and engaging in scripture study and personal reflection and prayer. In addition, Mormons participate in a 24-hour fast (no food or water) on the first Sunday of each month, and give a donation representing the cost of the meals that they would have consumed – and sometimes much more—to a fund to help the poor.

Unlike most other Christian churches, we do not hold worship services to celebrate Christmas unless it falls on the Sabbath, our day for worship. When Christmas falls on any other day, I usually attend a religious service at another church, usually a traditional Catholic mass or Episcopal service. I must confess to being somewhat jealous of both my Christian friends who can attend services on Christmas every year and my Jewish friends who have many other religious holidays to celebrate throughout the year. For Mormons in the U.S., worship services for holidays are limited to Easter (which always falls on a Sunday) and Christmas when it is on a Sunday. We do not celebrate other Christian feasts like Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday.

Observant Jews set an exemplary model of respect for the Sabbath. In preparation for Friday evening, they change into clean, pressed clothes, clean the house, prepare a special meal, light candles, gather their families together, and bless their children. Although our Sabbath is not as structured as the Jewish one, most Mormon families I know go to church as a family and have a family meal on Sundays. It is an axiom in my mind that respect for the Sabbath has protected and preserved both faiths, and I pray that we will all continue to promote this perpetual covenant as a way to draw closer to our G-d and our families. Shabbat shalom.

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I will be delivering pro-Jewish speeches in Europe September 10-24, and would like to publish the essays of at least a couple of guest bloggers during that time. If you are a Jew or Mormon and have a short essay with a topic of interest to both communities, please submit it by September 8 with a jpg picture (if desired). I will notify you on September 9 if your submission will be published. Thank you.             

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August 25, 2010 | 12:49 pm

Two 9/11s and a Mosque

Posted by Mark Paredes

While attending a training course for Foreign Service officers in Washington, DC, I met a lovely couple at a reception held at the Turkish Embassy. He was a Turkish businessman, she an American writer. I attended a party at their suburban home a week later and immediately noticed large American and Turkish flags atop an imposing flagpole in the front yard. When I paid them a farewell visit months later prior to beginning my first diplomatic assignment in Mexico, I noticed that the Turkish flag was gone. My friends calmly explained that their new neighbors were an Armenian-American couple, and during their initial over-the-fence conversation with the wife, she had told them that she and her husband had both lost great-grandparents in the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government. The woman made no mention of the Turkish flag, but my friends decided after much discussion that while they certainly had a right to fly the flag on their property, it was more important to them to forgo that right and avoid offending their nice new neighbors. Several days after they took down the flag, a box of Armenian pastries was placed on their doorstep.
 
I dearly wish that my Turkish friend had gone on to become an imam in New York.  As I listen to the heated debate surrounding the proposed building of a mosque and Islamic community center two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks carried out by radical Muslim terrorists, I wish that the mosque’s proponents would stop proclaiming their right to build and focus instead on this question: is it the right thing to do?
Let me be clear: had I been on the zoning board, I would have voted for the mosque because I believe in religious freedom. However, I would also have urged the imam to look for another site. Ordinarily I don’t care a great deal whether people take offense at the construction of religious buildings, whether it be Mormon temples or mosques in Temecula and other cities. However, the site of the greatest mass murder in U.S. history is hallowed ground for our country. If your stated goal as an imam is to promote unity and understanding, it seems to me that you’re undermining that effort by alienating thousands of victims’ survivors (including some Muslim ones) and tens of millions of Americans across the country. Something is wrong when your opponents include both Islamophobes and decent everyday people who do not hate Islam or Muslims but want you to find a different site for your building. I don’t know whether the concept of a Pyrrhic victory exists in Islamic law, but I fear that this will become one for the Muslim community.       

I can’t help but reflect on the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a 9/11 attack in Mormon history with a similar dynamic of radicals committing atrocities. On September 11, 1857, a renegade militia of local Mormon leaders in southwest Utah brutally murdered 120 men, women and children who were emigrating west from Arkansas. They mistook them for enemies of the Latter-day Saints, and the corpses were left to rot on the ground for two years. Although the church as an institution played no role in the massacre, it continues to be a source of disbelief and shame for thoughtful Mormons. In 2007, a 150th anniversary commemoration ceremony was held at the site, with an LDS apostle in attendance.

Mountain Meadows happens to lie in the Dixie National Forest, which one can assume is not zoned for religious construction. What if the LDS Church decided to ask for a special federal permit to build a chapel next to the site in order to heal wounds and promote understanding? The very idea is inconceivable. Even though more than 150 years have passed, I believe the request would encounter much opposition in the majority-Mormon state. It would simply not be the right or decent thing to do, regardless of whether Utah’s congressional delegation could ultimately obtain a federal permit for the church.

I am heartened to read that moderate voices are now calling for dialogue on the mosque issue. If Imam Rauf’s goal really is to promote tolerance and unity, he should find another site. Not because he has to, but because it will help him to attain his goal and promote goodwill towards his community. While I don’t believe that every objection to the mosque’s location is reasonable or defensible, I’m pretty sure that the 9/11 victims’ memories are not honored by division and animosity in the country they loved.   

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I’ve finally caught up with the 21st century, and would invite you to follow this blog on Twitter (“jewsandmormons”), where it will be retweeted (I’ve been told that that’s a word). Thank you for your readership.
   

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