Such A Busy Week

In this morning's FORWARD, there was a very interesting op-ed piece by Rabbi Asher Lopatin. He's a Modern Orthodox rabbi, and currently serves as rabbi at Kehillat Etz Chayim in Oak Park, Michigan, as well as Director of Community Relations of the Jewish Federation in Ann Arbor...the state where Abdul El-Sayed is running for Senate. 

If you're not familiar with El-Sayed, you should be. He's a "progressive," aka Democratic Socialist who is a buddy of Hasan Pike while claiming he is not an anti-Semite. After the attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, he appeared to excuse the attempted bomb as "hurt people hurt people." His remarks echoed his affinity for guys like Piker and Mamdani and sounded like justification for trying to blow up a pre-school full of Jewish kids. 

While El-Sayed has apologized for his remarks concerning the events at Temple Israel, he has not disassociated himself from those who view Israel as a genocidal, colonialist predator. His words don't exactly mirror his social circle. In an interview in the New Yorker, he asserted: 

I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination, for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike. And I believe that it is not my job as an American policymaker to decide what the ultimate peace should be.

Yet on his campaign website, he says:

Right now, our tax dollars and American-made weapons are being used to perpetrate a genocide in Gaza, illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the attempted annexation of Southern Lebanon. That must end. I support immediate and comprehensive enforcement of U.S. laws that condition the provision of military aid and sales. And I support an immediate arms embargo on Israel and reject the false differentiation between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons.

The secret code there is that Israel does not have the right to defend itself, that terrorist attacks are not terrorist but something else, and Arab colonialism in the Middle East is okay. None of those things have room for Israel as an independent democracy.

Rabbi Lopatin, in his essay, Republican Mike Rogers is the Senate candidate Democrats need to save their party,  observes, 

For me, the disdain that El-Sayed has shown for the Jewish community, especially in his continuing refusal to disavow his relationship with Piker, puts him in the same category as candidates who are openly racist and homophobic. Even the most loyal progressive would reject a racist, even if that meant risking a Republican Senate.  

To show the Democrats that such candidates should never be nominated, we must show them that such candidates can never win. Such a candidate winning would be a disaster for the most fundamental requirements we have for any candidate of any party.

I'm not getting on Rabbi Lopatin's bandwagon, but I do think he makes a valid case for voting elsewhere. For the first time in my voting life, I am seriously considering what options I actually have. Not voting is not one of them, but the choices are horrendous.

Peggy Flanagan

I look at Peggy Flanagan, the do-nothing lieutenant governor, and wonder why she, an enrolled member of White Earth Nation (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe,) doesn't recognize the indigenous rights of Jews in Israel. We are the poster-children for decolonization, yet she is silent about our right to live in our homeland. She lines up with the Democratic Socialists on this issue, claims she wants a two-state solution but not one that allows Israel to defend itself. 

Matt Little, the DFL candidate for MN-2, at least came out calling October 7th an "act of wanton slaughter against innocent civilians," yet decries Israel's response as disproportionate and one of human deprivation, never leveling any responsibility at Hamas for their treatment of their own citizens. 

Sports reporter Tafoya

Do I want to vote Republican in those two races? Lord knows I've thought about it. But Michele, (the hair-do) Tafoya's positions on other issues are way too MAGA-right wing for me. As for Eric Pratt? His campaign website is useless. He seems to be in the same ideological ballpark as Tafoya, but it's hard to figure out where he stands on other issues, which sorta tells me he doesn't know either. But that's not really surprising since I don't recall seeing a single advert for him. So I guess the answer is no. And honestly? I have no idea what I'm going to do. I mean, if the choice is between Hitler and Stalin, how do you pick one??????

And just to be clear, in Other Things That Scare Me, add the following to the list: The 2028 Presidential race. Why, you ask? 

• President Felon still seems to think he can run for a third term...or declare himself president-for-life. That's assuming he's still alive. Or we think he's still alive....
• Abdul El-Sayed, unlike Zohran Mamdani, is American born. He can run for president
• Pete Hegseth is also American born and seems to be consolidating his power base. I'm too afraid of the answer to ask why.
• Vice President J.D. Bedbug seems to have lost his momentum as front runner

In other news worth noting, in today's edition of THE HARTMANN REPORT, Thom Hartman wrote about personalism in governance. It's a fascinating column and I highly recommend you read it. Sex, Money, and Revenge: What Happens When a Country Becomes One Man’s Property takes a dive into the idea that President Felon is being coached on how to use personalism to run a country. He writes:

Personalist rulers invariably — always, really — leave the countries they’ve ruled worse off than when they started and their damage typically long outlives them. Social scientist Max Weber called this patrimonialism: it’s when a ruler treats the nation, its commons, and its collective wealth as his own personal property to loot and share with his closest relatives and cronies.

Like converting the Department of Justice into your own personal instrument for revenge, blinding the IRS to your crimes, and tearing down the East Wing without asking anybody’s permission or advice. Or taking a country to war without congressional authorization. Or giving away federal lands to major donors and killing regulations to enhance their profits. Or his kids becoming defense contractors.

Once a country is essentially converted into the personalist property of one man, his family, and his billionaire cronies, his private lusts and grudges become public policy and the line defining the difference between his desires and the nation’s interests vanishes.

The weaponization of various departments like Justice, State, and Defense should be giving every American pause. Between renaming international bodies to water to demanding changes to USPS that will inhibit voting by mail, or even demanding voter rolls are all reasons enough to suspect the guy is unhinged. His tutor, Putin, makes sure he's giving lessons in weekly hour-long phone calls and assorted "meetings." Putin. Chief Oligarch. Sworn enemy of the United States...and this guy appears to be calling a whole lotta shots. 

Hartmann goes on to posit:

In Federalist 51, James Madison notes that if men were angels we’d have no need for the checks on presidential power that he and his colleagues had written into the Constitution. They thought they’d built a system that could survive a bad president and, for the first 250 years, they appeared to be right.

Now, with [Idi] Amin as a role model and Putin as a mentor, Trump is testing that system and the entire world is watching, aghast. Republicans in Congress and the states, who have the tools Madison gave them to stop our slide from democracy into personalist authoritarian rule, are simply standing around terrified while making up excuses and rationalizations for doing nothing or collecting their own shares of the loot.

I'd love to tell you all this is a fantasy land, but I suspect we all know better.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

photo credit - the senior son

There were big doings over in the WP world. The new Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) is up and glowing over the ark in the chapel. This morning, I walked into minyan and just smiled. It's lovely. 

The dedication on Friday was smooth as silk. The whole fam was there for morning minyan...Mr. and Mrs. Senior Son, Mr. and Mrs. Junior Son, and their progeny, Little Miss and Young Sir. Even my Big Bro was there, albeit on zoom. I still ran the zoom-room, assigned parts, and did my usual morning minyan job, but it was with a giant smile plastered on my face. I think Ziggy would've been really happy with the turnout....it was quite the crowd...and he would've enjoyed the bagels, lox, herring, and sweets as he talked to everyone. But he wasn't there...at least not in person. I, however, will now see him every time I walk into the chapel...and I'm okay with that. 

For those of you who don't know this history, here's the short version. Ziggy was a member of the building committee when we decided to build a shul in Mendota Heights. He was very involved, and went on to become house chairman for a whole lotta years...which meant every time someone set off the building alarm it woke us up. He particularly loved the Saide Chapel, named for Holocaust survivor Sam Saide and his family. Ever since Ziggy had the poor form to leave the building, I've been trying to figure out something I wanted to do in his memory. 

Enter Claude Riedel, glass artist and creator of spectacular Ner Tamid. But that wasn't enough. You see, Claude was Ziggy's RA in Middlebrook Hall his freshman year at the U. The guys would go up to the Riedels' cabin, and there, Ziggy got to know Dr. Riedel, a musicology professor, Holocaust survivor, and, according to Ziggy, great philosopher. Let's just say he had a profound influence on how Ziggy sought his place in the world. When Claude taught a class here in town, I signed up...and approached him. Clearly, he accepted the commission.

I am deeply indebted to Claude's willingness and patience in helping to create something that Ziggy would've loved. I am grateful for my family and everyone who came to honor Ziggy's memory on Friday morning. And I am profoundly grateful for Beth Jacob, our little shul. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you don't already have one,

find a community that shares 

your values

your passions,

your heart.

When times are tough, this stuff matters.

A Few Odds and Ends

the old Ner Tamid

I just tossed today's episode; it was dreadfully boring. Ergo, I don't have much to say at the moment. Which is not surprising because this is already a very busy week for me. Let's just say there's a lot of creamed herring involved. And a honey cake. And a new Ner Tamid...Eternal Light...for the Saide Chapel where we have minyan every weekday morning. Somehow, commissioning the new Ner Tamid was an almost Talmudic counterpoint to my work on THE DARKEST LIGHT.

A blog post for The Times of Israel had to get out today. Of course, I'm writing about the documentary, but this time, I'm sharing some of my feelings about the process itself. To be honest, I'm still grappling with some of the issues because I'd never really dealt with them before. 

Knowing Carlebach’s music was not an if; it was everywhere. There was something unsettling about the rhapsodic joy in his niggunim or the soulfulness of his slower tunes. Psalms, sacred words to be sung at sacred moments, set to his music left me with an unsettled sense I could not fully articulate. A space at the center of me recognized what happened but did not dwell on it. I became viscerally angered every time I heard him regaled as a saint, a tzaddik, or a sage. He was none of those things; he was a pedophile and serial molester of women.

Instead, he was revered, celebrated, and idolized.  ...

...The #MeToo movement was already in full swing when the filmmaker Simon Mendes found me through some of my writing. I had long hoped Carlebach would be included in the famous offenders hall of shame. He was not. Finally, a chance to tell the whole story. I was hesitant at first, but oh, so relieved someone was gonna shine a light into that dark, elusive hole.

I am constantly asked if I want the music to go completely away? Not really. It’s really too late for that.  It’s catchy, it’s well-known, even my grandson sings Carlebach songs not knowing they set my teeth on edge…and I’m not mentioning that to an 8-year-old. Let him sing AM YISROEL CHAI to his heart’s content. Yeah, there’s a dichotomy there, but that’s a me problem.

When all of us who were molested are gone, I’m pretty sure the tunes will still be heard in shuls everywhere.

Simon Beychok-Mendes

I really think that at the end of it all, that's how I feel. The music will go one whether we want it to or not. The film is getting great reviews, we are getting lots of invitations to show at film festivals. Simon, our terrific director, is getting singled out for lots of kudos. Never having done the documentary thing before, I am blown away by all of this, yet none of it is really a surprise. The film is just that good, and Simon is an incredibly gifted storyteller. 

And this is not the end of the road for me with this team. I've signed on to research another documentary with them and right now, I am completely buried in research...and loving every minute of it. I suppose it's a bit odd starting a new career at my advanced age. But not really; at least not for me. I want to reinvent myself every chance I get between now and the grave. I want to keep doing. Keep learning. Keep pushing my own envelope. The really funny thing? If Ziggy was here, he'd be rooting me on. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I solemnly promise to let you all know where and when 

THE DARKEST LIGHT will be shown in your area

as soon as the calendar firms up. 

It's all very exciting.