September 25, 2012 | 10:17 am

An Easy Fast and an Easy Carmageddon

Posted by Rabbi Mark Diamond

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“The great shofar is sounded; a still small voice is heard.”  
                                                                                        Yom Kippur prayer
 

Jews in Los Angeles mark three holy days this week—the daylong Yom Kippur observance AND the two-day Carmageddon experience.  The clock is ticking as we anticipate the sequel to Carmageddon—the second shattering of the Mulholland Bridge over I-405. The liturgy of Yom Kippur bids us to heed the still, small voice of the Divine presence.  We yearn for a still, small voice to comfort and calm us as we tremble in fear and awe of the Day of Judgment and Carmageddon.  To that end, I am pleased to share my personal survival guide for this weekend:
 

Ten Carmageddon Commandments Take 2
 

1. Eat a Shabbat meal on Friday evening with friends and family. If it goes well, repeat the process on Shabbat afternoon. If it goes really well, share a Sukkot meal with family and friends Sunday evening.
 

2. Read a good book. I prefer the old-fashioned hard or soft-cover variety. If you must, read your book on a Kindle or iPad.

3. Walk. My wife and I take a walk every Saturday afternoon, and it’s a highlight of our Shabbat experience.

4. Meet your neighbors. They may be nice people. If you already know your neighbors, you’re part of a privileged minority in southern California.

5. Appreciate the outdoors. There is abundant natural beauty in Los Angeles, so get out there and enjoy it. This is best done on foot or bicycle, NOT in your automobile.

6. Rest. Take a nap. Robert Fulghum famously noted, ““Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.” Sans milk and cookies and a blankie, I try to take a nap on Shabbat, and I commend the practice to you.

7. Support retail businesses in your neighborhood. All this talk of “get the ___ out of town” strikes me as unpatriotic, un-American, and un-civic-minded.

8. Turn off your radio, television, computer, iPad, Blackberry, and/or iPhone whenever Carmageddon is mentioned. This may require turning them off the entire weekend, which is not a bad idea anyway. In fact, that’s what Shabbat is supposed to be—an island in time free of the noise and clutter of intrusive technology.

9. Laugh. Everyone outside Los Angeles is laughing at us right now, so we should laugh at ourselves as well.

10. Chill. It’s only a freeway closure, not a terminal illness, natural disaster, or the end of the world. Remember the wisdom of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, who taught:

Kol ha’olam kulo gesher tsar me’od
Ve-ha’ikar lo lefached k'lal.

“The whole world is a very narrow bridge.
The most important thing is not to live in fear.”

I enjoyed Carmageddon 1 so much that I can’t wait for Carmageddon 2. Can we please do it again next year?

August 12, 2012 | 6:27 pm

A Day of Hope and Healing—Shabad Remembrance of the Wisconsin Shooting

Posted by Rabbi Mark Diamond

On Sunday, August 12, I was honored to represent the Board of Rabbis/Jewish Federation and the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders at “A Day of Hope and Healing: Shabad Remembrance of the Wisconsin Shooting.”  The commemoration was held on the steps of LA City Hall and featured music, prayers and remarks from Sikh leaders, elected officials, law enforcement representatives, and faith leaders.  I share these reflections with the hope and prayer that we will redouble our efforts to make our community a true City of Angels.

Reflections: A Day of Hope and Healing
Los Angeles City Hall - August 12, 2012

Rabbi Mark S. Diamond
President
Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders
Executive Vice President
The Board of Rabbis of Southern California
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה
“See, this day I set before you blessing and curse.”

This verse from Deuteronomy opens the weekly Torah portion that will be recited in synagogues throughout the world this coming Shabbat. We come together today to confront curses, and to celebrate blessings.  Today we mark a horrific, senseless act of terrorism that struck at the very heart of our community and our nation.

We join together this afternoon to express our heartfelt concern and sympathy on last week’s tragic act of terror in Wisconsin.  We are shocked and horrified by the brutal attack on the Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of the Sikh community.  We stand in solidarity with our Sikh brothers and sisters during this difficult time, as we pray for strength, comfort and healing for the victims, their families and friends.
 

Today we deplore the curse of gun violence that plagues our nation.  We cry out against the curse of causeless hatred that divides our community. We abhor the curses of prejudice and intolerance that set neighbor against neighbor.
We say with a loud and clear voice:  An attack on one house of worship is an attack upon all of us.  An assault on one faith community is an assault upon all of us. 

Even as we denounce curses, we honor blessings in our midst.  We are thankful for the blessings of worshippers at the Sikh temple who sacrificed their lives so that others might live.  We are grateful for the blessings of emergency personnel and other first responders who ended the carnage and rescued victims at the scene.  We give thanks for the blessings of the worldwide Sikh community and our own Sikh community here in Los Angeles, and celebrate the bonds that unite us.

There is another verse in the weekly Scriptural portion that helps me to cope with the tragedy in Oak Creek. 
בנים אתם לאדני אלוהיכם , we are taught in Deut. 14:2.  “You are children of the Lord your God.”  Two rabbinic sages debate the meaning and import of these words in a passage in the Talmud.  Rabbi Yehudah said: You are called God’s children only if your behavior makes you worthy of the title. Rabbi Meir replied: You are called God’s children no matter how you behave. 

Rabbi Yehuda argues that there are times when our conduct is so abhorrent, so inhumane, that we obliterate the Divine image within us.  Rabbi Meir disagrees, and suggests that even at our worst, even when we act more like animals than human beings, we remain children of God.

I don’t know what these sages would say in response to the tragedy in Wisconsin.  I do know this. Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Meir argue about hundreds of issues great and small in the annals of rabbinic literature.  And, in every case, the law follows Rabbi Yehuda—with one exception, this dispute.  In this matter, Jewish law sides with Rabbi Meir.  We are called God’s children; we remain God’s children, at all times and in all places.

The Torah teaches that human beings are created in the Divine image. And it warns us of the consequences of our failure to live by this creed.  Darkness envelops us when we refuse to see God’s image in our fellowmen and women. Tragedy and misery ensue when God’s children stop caring for and about one another. 

Each of us is a precious, irreplaceable gift.  Each of us can help to repair our fractured world.
בנים אנחנו לאדני אלוהינו.  We are all children of God.  May we work together to polish our tarnished image.  Amen.

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July 23, 2012 | 6:42 pm

Do you do Tisha b’Av?

Posted by Rabbi Mark Diamond

I began my career as a Jewish educator one summer at Camp CHI, a retreat center and camp in Wisconsin sponsored by the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago.  I was the Jewish educational specialist and assigned the task of creating a meaningful Tisha b’Av observance for children of all ages.  I vividly recall the campers and their counselors descending upon an expansive field where we had set up “stations” to reflect the sadness and solemnity of the day.  One station featured a music specialist playing a mournful melody on his guitar.  A counselor read a plaintive story about communal loss at another station. 

The station I was proudest of was an arts and crafts project in which small groups of campers built and decorated four ornate walls, which were glued together to form a miniature Temple.  A staff member proudly held aloft the kids’ creation, after which he set the display on fire to simulate the burning of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.  The goal was to instill feelings of mourning and grief in our young charges.  Instead, they cheered and clapped as their little Temples succumbed to the flames.  On that fateful day this nascent Jewish educator learned a valuable lesson about children and pyrotechnics. 

I learned another critical pedagogical lesson much later in my rabbinic career.  Tisha b’Av suffers from low ratings due to its placement on the Jewish calendar.  If you haven’t heard much about Tisha b’Av, you’re not alone.  Since it falls during the summer, and lacks the color and pizzazz of other Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah and Passover, Tisha b’Av is in many respects a lonely Jewish holy day.  If your children or grandchildren attend a Jewish summer camp, they’ve probably “done” Tisha b’Av (hopefully sans flaming arts and crafts dioramas).  For the rest of us, Tisha B’Av remains relatively quaint and obscure on the roster of Jewish holidays and holy days.

So what is Tisha b’Av?  It is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. Tisha b’Av and Yom Kippur are the only two full fast days we observe each year.  Tisha b’Av commemorates numerous tragic events in Jewish history, chief among them the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem.  Traditional Jews observe Tisha b’Av by abstaining from food and drink and participating in services when the Book of Lamentations and special kinot (“elegies”) are chanted. It is a somber day of prayer, mourning and reflection on the themes of nationhood and communal identity.

With the creation and flourishing of the modern state of Israel, many have questioned the efficacy of Tisha b’Av in contemporary Jewish life.  After all, why mourn the destruction of the Temple with a strong and vital Israel and a reunified Jerusalem?  For that matter, why mourn the destruction of the Temple when its demise led to the democratization of Jewish life and the establishment of vibrant Jewish communities in the Diaspora?  Are we really comfortable praying for the restoration of animal sacrifices in a rebuilt third Temple (think PETA and a public relations disaster of epic proportions for Israel and the Jewish people)?

Perhaps my campers in Wisconsin were wise beyond their years when they applauded the destruction of their mini Temples.  More likely, they were young pyromaniacs who appreciated the adage, “Burn baby, burn!” I don’t know if any of them do Tisha b’Av as adults or even if they recall this lonely day in the middle of the summer.  I for one will mark the day in traditional fashion and search for answers to challenging questions about how and why we continue to do Tisha b’Av.

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Rabbi Mark S. Diamond is Executive Vice President, The Board of Rabbis of Southern California, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. He can be reached at BoardofRabbis@JewishLA.org.

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July 5, 2012 | 11:06 pm

Some of My Best Friends Are Presbyterian

Posted by Rabbi Mark Diamond

Some of my best friends are Presbyterian.  I take them to lunch and they take me to lunch.  George Douglas for one.  George is a respected businessman, an elder of the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church (PPPC), and a friend who has traveled with me on two interfaith missions to Israel.  When the Presbyterian Church USA (PC USA) endorsed a pro-divestment overture at its 2004 General Assembly, George and his fellow PPPC members issued a public apology for the shameful actions of their national church body.  George is a leader in Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, a group of concerned clergy and laity that rejects divestment from companies that do business in Israel. 

The Rev. Dr. Mark Brewer is another friend of mine.  Mark is the senior pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church, one of the largest and most influential congregations in southern California.  He and I have worked together on interfaith endeavors, and we share a commitment to peace and security for the Israelis and Palestinians.  Pastor Brewer is a prominent critic of the one-sided, uncontested anti-Israel messages he hears so often at PC USA conventions.  He understands that the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) movement is a blemish on the worldwide Presbyterian Church and ignores critical realities in the Middle East.

The Rev. Dr. Richard Mouw is another Presbyterian friend.  He is president of Fuller Theological Seminary, one of the largest and most influential evangelical institutions in North America.  Rich and I have created an ongoing series of seminars for pastors, rabbis, Christian and Jewish academicians, seminarians and community leaders.  We have brought our faith communities together for spirited, respectful discussions of our respective narratives and views of the Middle East.  Dr. Mouw rejects divestment as a strategy to solve the thorny issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

George, Mark and Rich are three of my Presbyterian friends.  369 commissioners of the PC USA General Assembly in Pittsburgh are my new Presbyterian friends.  They rejected a dangerous, one-sided resolution that endorsed divestment from three companies that conduct business in Israel. In a preliminary vote that passed by the narrowest of margins (333 to 331 with two abstentions) and a final vote of 369-290, Presbyterian commissioners called instead for positive investment in the Palestinian territories as an alternative to selective divestment.

I applaud the wisdom and courage of Presbyterian clergy and laity who led the fight against divestment in the body politic of their denomination.  I remain deeply concerned that a cadre of PC USA staff and leaders seize every opportunity to push the BDS agenda on the regional and national levels.  They are neither friends of the Jewish community nor the people of Israel.  They are neither trusted friends nor true proponents of peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, notwithstanding their pious proclamations to the contrary.  We will continue to “call them out” when their actions are imbalanced, irresponsible and offensive.
 
I cherish the bonds of friendship and collegiality I enjoy with George Douglas, Mark Brewer and Richard Mouw.  I will continue to collaborate with them and with like-minded Presbyterians who appreciate the challenges and complexities of the Middle East conflict and endorse positive steps to foster peace and reconciliation in that troubled region.  To our Presbyterian friends new and old, I am pleased to say:  Let’s do lunch! 

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June 20, 2012 | 11:14 am

Wanted: Intentional Conversations

Posted by Rabbi Mark Diamond

Earlier this week I participated in one of my favorite rituals—an “Intentional Conversation.” This annual conclave was launched fourteen years ago by Msgr. Royale Vadakin of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the late Rabbi Alfred Wolf of Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Intentional conversations bring together 80-100 people of diverse ages, backgrounds and interests for a structured conversation about personal values and social issues. This year’s theme was, “Can We All Get Along? The Challenges of Civil Discourse and Mutual Respect.” Coming one day after the death of Rodney King, the topic could not have been more timely or poignant.

Intentional conversations encourage small groups of participants to share their own life experiences and how they shape their morals and beliefs—religious, cultural and political. In three “intentional conversations” at my table, nine of us spoke of our values, the key influences in our lives and what we might do to bridge the divide in our society.

I look forward to this gathering for several reasons. Intentional conversations feature an astonishing array of bright, creative individuals—academics, writers, musicians, businessmen and women, professionals, and a handful of clergy thrown in for good (or perhaps bad) measure. I admire and appreciate the ground rules of the conclave. There is no formal agenda and there are no resolutions to adopt. No one is an expert or has all the answers to the questions we discuss. Our task is to think about who we are, what we believe, and what we value in our lives.

By the third small group conversation, my tablemates and I were deeply engaged in discussion of what we can do to promote tolerance and respect in our families, communities and nation. None of us had brilliant solutions to address the precipitous decline of civil discourse in our society. Nonetheless, we agreed that the intentional conversation had brought us to a shared commitment to take small steps to address this challenge. We know that we cannot sit idly by as angry, divisive rhetoric dominates discussions of race, religion and politics and paralyzes communal life. Each of us has a role to play in addressing contentious issues with civility, honesty and respect.

Controversy is an inherent feature of societal discourse. The rabbinic sages famously teach that a controversy for Heaven’s sake will have lasting value, but one that is not for a higher purpose will not endure (Pirkay Avot 5:19). The Torah’s account of Korah’s rebellion is the paradigm of an unholy controversy rooted in demagoguery and motivated by the self-serving ambitions of the rebels.

In contradistinction to Korah, the rabbinic debaters Hillel and Shammai and their disciples argued passionately and vociferously over matters of Jewish law and life. At the end of the day, they ate together, celebrated and mourned together, and lived together as one community. The Talmud records that their sons and daughters married one another, a sure sign of the spirit of civility and respect that pervaded their familial and communal relations.

In former days, members of Congress spent weekends at their homes in Washington, DC. The daughters and sons of Democrats and Republicans played soccer and baseball together, ate in each others’ homes, and even married one another. Most legislators today do not maintain residences in the nation’s capital. Instead, they return to their home districts, families and fundraisers each weekend. Republicans and Democrats dine together infrequently and do not cheer from the sidelines as their children meet and compete in sporting events. Where is the spirit of Hillel and Shammai today?

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June 13, 2012 | 6:05 pm

Interfaith relations: do the math!

Posted by Rabbi Mark Diamond

Albert and Tony were best friends who grew up in each other’s homes.  Albert’s Jewish mother sent him off to school each day with the question, “Albert, do you have your books?”  Tony’s Italian mother sent him off to school each morning with the query, “Tony, do you have your lunch?”

I heard this true story last week at a gathering of evangelical and Jewish leaders in Washington, DC.  Tony shared this charming childhood tale to introduce his presentation on how Jews and evangelical Christians view the Israel-Palestinian conflict.  I share it to illustrate the commonalities and differences of two faith communities. Jews and evangelical Christians share a holy book in common—the Hebrew Bible, a.k.a. the Old Testament.  And we share a belief in the efficacy of interfaith dining—the bonds of friendship and fellowship that develop when we “break bread” together.

Over the course of two days, participants in the fourth Evangelical-Jewish National Conversation discussed and debated a range of scholarly and practical topics.  We analyzed faith affirmations and the threats to religious liberty in America.  We surveyed evangelical theological positions on the Jewish people and its covenant with God.  We devoted two sessions to the Middle East conflict and the hot-button issue of how to and not to criticize Israel.  While many evangelical pastors and their congregants are strong supporters of Israel, our conversation focused on evangelicals who are critical of Israeli policies.  The discourse was heartfelt, honest and at times raw and intense.

We also explored the seminal

Jewish Annotated New Testament

and its emerging impact on Jewish and evangelical readers.  This session reiterated a theme that I hear frequently when I speak to Jewish audiences: Why would a group of distinguished Jewish scholars write essays about the books of the New Testament? Why should Jews learn about Christianity?  Who cares what “they” believe and practice?

My answer is quite simple—do the math!  I have always marveled at our proclivity for math and the astonishing number of Jews who have won prizes in mathematics and allied disciplines.  Do the math in our nation.  According to the latest Pew Forum “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” 1.7% of American adults identify as Jewish, while 26.3% of adults call themselves evangelicals.  Nearly one-half of all Protestants in the United States self-identify as evangelical Christians.  Whether our interfaith outreach is prompted by self-interest, altruism, or both motivations, we serve the Jewish people well when we engage our evangelical neighbors in meaningful dialogue.

As Jews, we often lament that Christians do not understand our practices and beliefs.  If we expect Christians to respect us, then we need to know much more about Christianity, especially evangelical Christianity.  To that end, we must appreciate the following:

• The wide variety of evangelical flavors and their respective theologies and belief systems.  Evangelicals dislike being painted in broad brush strokes just as much as Jews recoil when non Jews do this to us.


• Unconditional love of Israel is a core tenet of many evangelicals; others do not share this belief.  Many evangelicals promote domestic agendas that put them at odds with large swaths of the Jewish community; others do not.  We need to be thoughtful, nuanced and strategic to decide when and how to partner with evangelical Christians on complex matters of religion and politics.


• Catholics and Jews have had nearly five decades since Vatican II and Nostra Aetate to refine our theological and inter-group relations; Jewish-evangelical dialogue is in its infancy.  One lesson we have learned from other interfaith partnerships is that there will be numerous bumps and obstacles along the way.  The challenge we face is how to respond to these setbacks and foster a healthy, evolving relationship with evangelicals.


• Faith communities and their leaders have multiple agendas and reasons for doing what they do.  Jewish relations and concerns are not always at the top of the evangelical agenda.  Believe it or not, it’s not always about us!

As we engage in interfaith work, we must never forget the first nineteen centuries of relations between Christians and Jews.  They were marked by anti-Semitism, persecution, and hatred, much of it religiously induced and carried out in the name of the Prince of Peace.  They were filled with blood libels, accusations of well poisoning, devil worship, host desecration and other acts that led to pogroms, murder, rape, and the forced conversion of entire Jewish communities.  This is a bitter legacy whose logical and terrifying conclusion was the systematic destruction of six million Jewish men, women and children at the hands of the Nazis and their henchmen.

My experiences with evangelical Christians convince me that they are painfully aware of this history and yearn to do teshuvah (repentance) in word and deed.  It is up to us to respond to their quest with faith, understanding, and above all sekhel (practical wisdom).  The rabbinic sage Ben Azzai taught that the most important verse of the Torah is Genesis 5:1: “These are the generations of Adam.  When God created human beings, God made them in the divine image.”

Christians and Jews alike affirm that we are all created in the image of God.  Each of us is a child of God.  To love God is to act with love, kindness and compassion towards God’s children.  This is what the Holy One requires of us.  This is what our respective faiths demand of us.  This is what our fellowmen and women expect of us.  This is both the promise and the challenge of Jewish-evangelical relations.

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Rabbi Mark S. Diamond is Executive Vice President, The Board of Rabbis of Southern California, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.  He can be reached at BoardofRabbis@JewishLA.org.

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