October 31, 2011 | 10:14 am

Freed Egyptian prisoner Grapel told Mets won World Series

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Ilan Grapel, the U.S.-Israeli citizen who was freed last week after a five-month stay in Egyptian jail, must have thought the world had completely changed while he was gone when was told that the New York Mets had won the World Series.

That, of course, was a joke.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv before flying home to New York, Grapel was joined by U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY). He said:

“There’s so many people to thank,” he said, “and after being cut off for the past five months ...”

Ackerman quickly interjected, “We told him the Mets won the World Series.”

Grapel, a sports fan, shot Ackerman a big smile—only to quickly feel the let-down most Mets fans are all too familiar with when he quickly figured out that the team had tanked—again.

The rest from the New York Post.

Like me, Grapel is a law student. Unlike me, Grapel was in Egypt during the revolution and was accused of spying for Israel, a claim that Israel denied.

October 31, 2011 | 9:37 am

Arlington gets memorial for Jewish chaplains

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Despite not carrying a weapon—or maybe because they don’t—chaplains are rarely a casualty of combat. Still, 14 rabbis have died while serving in the U.S. military. Now there is a long-deserved monument to their service at Arlington National Cemetery.

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October 30, 2011 | 9:53 pm

LA Catholic Church coming to terms with homosexuality?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Speaking of Catholics in California, it’s been 25 years since then-Bishop Roger Mahony created a gay and lesbian ministry for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, though the Roman Catholic Church officially condemns homosexual behavior as immoral. The ministry is led by Father Chris Ponnet, and he tells the Los Angeles Times that local parishes have become much more tolerant of homosexual members.

An excerpt:

In the last 25 years, Ponnet said, the church in Los Angeles has become more accepting of gays and lesbians and, in some parishes, his ministry has faded away as members have been absorbed into regular parish life. Still, those at Saturday’s Mass said the ministry was still needed, in part to educate the church, in part to show gay Catholics who have fallen away that they have a place to return.

Talk at the Mass wasn’t so much of living up to church doctrine as changing it.

“I feel that the church might actually be going through a process of ‘coming out,’ ” declared Father Brian Doran, a retired priest who spoke of himself as having come out as a gay man. In his homily, he described it as a long and difficult process, moving through stages of depression, anger, bargaining, acceptance and, finally, joy.

Read the rest here.

I’m not surprised to read that L.A. parishes have become more tolerant of homosexual members during the past 25 years. This is a relative comparison—and I suspect that this mirrors a societal shift.

But Catholic doctrine on homosexuality has not softened. It still causes quite the stir when a Catholic priests comes out in support of gay marriage. And rainbows are still too “politically charged” for at least one Catholic school.

The Roman Catholic Church is not part of the open-church movement. And despite plenty of similarities, Catholics still are not Episcopalians. You need a conversion to get that.

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October 30, 2011 | 12:52 pm

A fan of Tim Tebow, but not of Tebowing

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I’m a fan of Tim Tebow as a person. He’s also the backup QB on one of my fantasy teams, so I root for him as a football player. And I was excited to see him lead an amazing comeback last week against the winless Miami Dolphins.

But this Tebowing fad is so played.

Tebowing is the new planking. Instead of laying down flat in public place, Tebowing is the act of kneeling in prayer, forehead to fist. Here’s the website, where a clever football fan is inviting Tebowing submissions and hawking Tebowing t-shirts.

Unlike a lot of paydirt prayers, Tebow’s penitent act has long been seen as more sincere. Why wouldn’t it be? Tim Tebow is Jesus Christ’s football star. Maybe the only player regularly in the prayers of fellow Christians.

He is, as Sean S. O’Neil wrote last week, Tim Tebow, Protestant saint:

Tebow seemed to have an uncanny sense that the camera had caught him when he ceremonially genuflected. The difference between his gesture and other athletic signals to the divine, however, is that Tebow has made clear in every bestselling book (he just has one so far, at the age of 23) and every interview he gives that his devotion is particular: that Jesus Christ is his “Lord and Savior.” Evangelicals like my mother don’t need that text anymore to perceive something divine in his continuingly improbable story. Like evangelicals around the globe, she has an abundant archive of internet footage to download at her convenience as a visual reminder that her personal stories of comeback and belief are part of a broader narrative in which God helps the underdog in this life. Find a Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Christian and they will tell you that this is what saints and icons have done all along.

Tebowing ... not so much (though occasionally humorous).

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October 30, 2011 | 12:14 pm

A Catholic priest for California’s Native Americans

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Column One is not as strong as it used to be, but every now and then, the Los Angeles Times comes through with a great religion story there. This feature about a lonely priest leading a rural Indian parish was just one of those.

Phil Willon’s story about Father Earl Henley and the tiny Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Thermal, Calif., opens with a scene from a recent Sunday, when two tribal members showed up for Mass. Two.

Willon tells of the story of Henley’s ministry within the context of California history. An excerpt:

As head of the Native American Ministry for the Diocese of San Bernardino, Henley tends a parish of scattered tribes that include the newly wealthy, awash in casino profits, as well as the destitute hidden in the deep folds of the San Jacinto Mountains.

They are a people bound by loss, having suffered the near-obliteration of their native languages, homelands and ancestral ways.

In the 1700s, Spanish Franciscan missionaries preached the word of God while conscripting tribal members into forced labor. The Roman Catholic Church’s harsh treatment of Native Americans and intolerance of their spiritual rites persisted well into the 20th century. Elders still tell of having been ripped away from their parents and shipped to parochial schools.

For the last decade, Henley has tried to salve those wounds and increase the flock.

And it’s tough going. Read the rest here.

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October 27, 2011 | 11:44 pm

Bernie and Ruth Madoff reportedly attempted suicide

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Even before his empire crumbled, Bernard Madoff and his wife Ruth contemplated suicide, or maybe even tried it. That’s what Ruth Madoff told the New York Times. And that’s what she and her son are talking about in the above interview with “60 Minutes,” which will air Sunday. Fortunately for Bernie, he didn’t kill himself and now he’s a big jailhouse celebrity.

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October 27, 2011 | 11:34 pm

George Costanza’s two-state comedy solution for Israel

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

If someone thinks that porn could bring Mideast peace, Jason Alexander isn’t crazy for thinking comedy could. Alexander, who will forever be none as George Costanza, was in Israel this week, where he met with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

From the AP:

Alexander said, that through comedy and humor, he hopes to help advance the idea of two states for two people.

Peres playfully asked the actor if he could call him “George.” Alexander laughed, and pointing to a crowd of reporters, said: “You can. Not them.”

Alexander was on a OneVoice delegation. Something tells me that his “plan” isn’t going to work. Just a hunch.

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October 27, 2011 | 8:25 pm

Obama to speak at Union for Reform Judaism biennial

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

O-ba-ma! ... O-ba-ma! The president is going to be addressing attendees at the Union for Reform Judaism biennial. Here’s the story from JTA:

The Union for Reform Judaism said Thursday that Obama would address the Dec. 14-18 policymaking conference at a location in the greater Washington area, and the White House confirmed that the speech would take place.

Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, has advised Obama’s White House on a number of issues, particularly those related to the intersection of faith and public policy.

Obama has had a hit-and-miss relationship with the American Jewish community, largely due to differing sentiments on his treatment of Israel. With his reelection campaign getting rolling, I’d assume that this is a strategic move to shore up his support.

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October 26, 2011 | 6:46 pm

Chapman U wins, Catholic diocese loses in bid for Crystal Cathedral

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

For the past six months, Crystal Cathedral has been listening to offers for its 40-acre campus in Garden Grove. Reports in may indicated that the property would be bought for apartment construction. Then in July the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange put in a $50 million bid.

But in the end the winner was Chapman University. According to the OC Register, Crystal Cathedral’s board of directors reluctantly accepted the private university’s $50 million offer:

Chapman will be named as the formal buyer in bankruptcy court Monday. A final confirmation hearing to formalize the sale has been set for Nov. 14.
Chapman University President James L. Doti said Wednesday afternoon he was not surprised by the board’s decision.
“We were the only party that made it possible for the Crystal Cathedral to continue serving its mission,” he said. “This is not the final step, but it is another very important step in the process.”

Read the rest here.

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October 25, 2011 | 5:15 pm

Turkey requests Israeli aid in earthquake’s wake

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I read in a Los Angeles Times article yesterday, citing no sources, that Turkey had declined Israeli aid in wake of a significant earthquake Sunday. But a heavily sourced article from The Jewish Journal says that Turkey requested aid and Israel is sending it.

An excerpt:

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Ankara had sought the aid via the Israeli embassy there, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered assistance in a telephone call to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after the quake struck on Sunday.

The humanitarian step taken as more than 400 were reported dead in the disaster that struck southeastern Turkey, was seen as possibly easing diplomatic strains between the allies over the incident involving the Gaza-bound flotilla last year.

A spokesman for Israei Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that “tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon a first aircraft will fly from Israel to Turkey with several prefabricated homes,” suggesting the shipment would be followed by others.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Yigal Palmor said Turkey had “relayed a request to the embassy in Ankara for mobile homes” and that Israel was checking into the logistics of shipping these supplies.

“We are checking what we can do, and will do whatever we can,” Palmor said.

Read the rest here and more from the JPost.

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October 25, 2011 | 4:17 pm

Buddhist monks burn themselves in protesting Chinese oppression

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

If you don’t know the name Thich Quang Duc, you know the image of the Buddhist monk’s death. I learned it as a kid when I got the self-titled Rage Against the Machine album. The above video shows the monk protesting the policies of the Catholic Diem that controlled South Vietnam in 1963. He did so by setting himself on fire.

That is the iconic image of self-immolation as protest. But Buddhist monks in China have brought it back. Nine young Buddhist have killed themselves this way as a protest against Chinese oppression of Tibet.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The self-immolations have set off a cycle of martyrdom and protest, inspiring demonstrations from New Delhi to Taipei. Tibetan blogs have filled with poems to the dead. The Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharamsala, India, led a day of prayer and fasting Wednesday.

(skip)

Tibet analysts say China’s heavy hand is unlikely to stop the wave of immolations.

“There is a copycat dimension to this,” said Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at the University of Westminster in London. “‘If I immolate myself, my friends are under pressure to do the same to show they are just as patriotic.’”

The ritual suicides, he added, are a sign that young Tibetans are moving away from the Dalai Lama’s teachings about nonviolence.

This is a major religion and geopolitical story. The Dalai Lama is not only the head of Tibetan Buddhism but also is the exiled leader of Tibet. That monks dedicated to his teachings would defy it in protesting Chinese oppression demonstrates a disconnect in belief that could have political consequences. Hopefully those “consequences” will be good for Tibet and bad for China.

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October 24, 2011 | 11:03 pm

Hoops Hopes: Jewish Under 40 League

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

We just lost another two weeks of the NBA today, and my money is on no season at all. But that doesn’t mean their aren’t games to be played. I’m out there doing my version of “work” at UCLA once or twice a week, and the above commercial from Nike’s Jumpman brand suggests that NBA stars are finding places to play, too.

Like the Jewish Under 40 League in Brooklyn. Who ever said Jews can’t play basketball? In your eye, Melo!

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