Who all is up late to see the #eclipse? I decided that, given our lunar calendar, that staying up late to see a lunar eclipse is a very Jewish thing to do.
But that raises the question --- what is the #Bracha (blessing) for seeing an eclipse?
And at what point in the eclipse should one recite the blessing?
And as always I must ask --- is there a non-theistic version of said bracha?
zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Join us on Saturday, March 1st at 10 am Eastern for a Farbrengen (discussion session) led by @jmbranum.bsky.social on the topic of: Getting ready for Passover.
Continued...
#Pesach #Judaism #HumanisticJudaism
Welcome! You are invited to jo...
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/pmzp34v7RP2rm47GMIyW7w
Join us on Saturday, March 1st at 10 am Eastern for a #Farbrengen (discussion session) led by James M. Branum on the topic of: Getting ready for #Passover.
The discussion will be a mix of personal and practical, in the hopes that participants will come away with new inspiration for planning/participating in seders in your community or online. And we are doing this well ahead of the festival season (which starts on April 12th) to give lots of time to make this season especially meaningful.
I will admit that Mexican President Sheinbaum is one of my heroes these days.
https://shj.org/jews-of-latin-america-fall-2024-humanistic-judaism-magazine/
I'm sharing this link to the preview edition of the new issue of #HumanisticJudaism magazine, which focused primarily on the Jews of Latin America, but also on the @SHJ's Humanistic Jewish role model of the year, The Mothers of the Plaza Mayo in Argentina.
This was my final issue as editor, so I thought I would share my editorial note (with some hashtags and links added) from the issue which gives a preview of the content.
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According to Israeli author Yuval Noah Harari (see our review of his latest book on page 7), stories are the life blood of human civilization, providing meaning and context to our experiences in this world. Unfortunately, stories also have a critical weakness. Since they are subjective in nature, the limited perspective and worldview of the storyteller unavoidably distorts the narrative.
For far too long, much of the Jewish institutional world has centered the stories of the Jews of Israel, Europe and North America over all other stories, which means we are missing out on the stories and lessons of Jews from other parts of the world. This issue’s focus on the Jews of #LatinAmerica is intended as a
partial corrective to this omission.
Two of the voices in this issue are from Latin American Jews themselves: Rabbi Andy Faur who wrote about Latin American Jewish peoplehood, and Ilan Rosenthal who shared about #Mishpajag, an experimental Humanistic Jewish community in #Mexico.
The theme of this issue also is connected to this year’s Humanistic Jewish Role Model of the Year: the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a protest movement of mothers who courageously sought the truth about their children who “disappeared” during the days of the US-backed military dictatorship in #Argentina. Their story is told by
Judith Tiferes and Rabbi Miriam Muroff Jerris.
And finally, we have a piece by me on Jewish cultural travel to #Cuba, a place where Judaism is thriving despite challenging circumstances.
In this issue we also hear from Adam King Skrzynskii who makes a humanistic case for the value and relevance of #Hanukkah, as well as Rabbi Jeffrey L Falick who discusses the pernicious nature of
antisemitism that is popping up in unexpected places.
Finally, we have community news updates from Or Emet Minnesota Congregation For Humanistic Judaism (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN),
Baltimore Jewish Cultural Chavurah (MD), and Or Adam Congregation For Humanistic Judaism (Phoenix, AZ).
Due to my changing life circumstances, this is my last issue of editing this magazine. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to work with so many incredible people in our movement over the last three years, but I must give a special thank you to Rabbi Miriam Jerris, whose humor and enthusiasm made the challenging parts of the job much easier.
I have a lot of confidence in my successor, Cantor Jonathan L. Friedmann. I believe his long experience engaged in Jewish culture and commitment to our movement will be invaluable. I am excited to see how the magazine will evolve under his leadership.
In gratitude,
JMB
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To subscribe to the magazine, please visit: shj.org/magazine
This 500th anniversary of the founding of the #Anabaptist movement (from which the Mennonites, Brethern, Amish, and realted traditions sprung forth --- and that were theological cousins of the early Baptists) is all the more important to me this year, because of what happened yesterday in this nation. I'm grateful that the Anabaptist tradition is very clear that we do not kiss the ring, we do not bow the knee to the empire, ever.
This is one of the reasons I treasure my connections to this tradition.
One detail of my religious journey that many do not know, is that I chose to become Jewish through the Humanistic movement primarily because it was (and as far as I know still is), the only Jewish movement that is open to biereligous converts (those who are seeking to become Jewish, while still maintaining connections to another tradition). I had fallen in love with #Judaism (thankfully a passion that still is with me 10 years later), but I also loved the Mennonites, particularly its strong belief in the moral imperative of peace (or rather the Hebrew concept of Shalom which is far more than the cessation of hostility but also has the connotations of harmony, equity, and wholeness), a belief that #nationalism is just another form of idolatry, and the power of simple living (even though I do a lousy job of living this out). In other words, at its best moments, the #Mennonite / Anabaptist tradition provides a critical witness against the values of the American Empire through its focus on the ethical earthly teachings of Jesus.
I am grateful that I was able to find a path to embracing Judaism that did not require me to leave my Mennonite values out.
And so I say, Happy 500th birthday to the Anabaptist movement! And thank you to #HumanisticJudaism for giving me a way to be true to my #bireligoius values.
(graphic from Druhart on FB)
Announcement from #SpinozaHavurah (an international online Humanistic Jewish community):
Join us on Saturday, January 25th at 10 am Eastern (4 pm UK) for a #Farbrengen (Jewish discussion session) led by @jmb.
We will start our together with a short niggun and maybe a special song to listen to, but then will transition into some of time of discussion on the topic of Self-Care during hard times from a Humanistic Jewish perspective. Along the way we will have a few interactive activities (including some light stretching) and of course some breaks for a drink (alcoholic or not, as is your custom), and finally close with our #Humanistic version of the Mourner's #Kaddish.
To register, please go to: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/dfd24crFRi-yhx6FWX7XrA
A message from the #SpinozaHavurah, an online international #Humanistic #Jewish community:
Shalom Chaverim,
We hope this note finds you well.
Join us on Saturday September 28 at 10:00 am EDT/2:00 pm UTC/3:00 pm BST for a Shabbat Service. Please register for this service on Zoom.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEtf-irpjMiHNeOZ-UTORlFrtQrytqhANAt
For our #Shabbat morning service on September 28th, Martin Di Maggio will conduct a #Selichot service which focuses on forgiveness in the week before #RoshHashanah5784
Services will be recorded so that people can watch at any time that feels right for them. Attendees are welcome to turn off their camera or edit their name at any time during the service.
We look forward to seeing you!
L'Shalom,
Spinoza Havurah
It is official. I'm closing down the OKPeace.org server at the end of this month of paid hosting.
I do plan to post, hopefully more than in the past, here as well as at @jmb@babka.social.
Also, since it has been awhile since I've done an #Intro post, here are a few things about me and what I'm up to these days:
Work:
* Part-time #Attorney in the area of #GIRights / #MilitaryLaw
* Part-time #Editor of #HumanisticJudaism magazine
* Part-time online student at #Tohono_Oodham_CommunityCollege
* Co-lay leader of the @spinozahavurah (a humanistic Jewish online community)
Interests:
* #Peace and #SocialJustice Activism
* Riding my #Ebicycle
* Art - drawing, watercolors, photography
* #LGBTQ equality and culture (FYI, I'm on the borders of the community falling somewhere in the #DemiGuy range of things)
* Learning languages - I have some limited knowledge of #Spanish #French #BiblicalHebrew and #Esperanto
* #HamRadio (KG5JST) and #DX Radio listening more generally, including #SWL
* #Oklahoma #History especially about our state's significant history of #Socialism in the 1910's
* #Neurodiversity - Most days I'm happy that I am on the #Autism spectrum.
A few more things:
1. I post often about #politics and #activism, but do not do CW's for these posts unless they deal with especially troubling subjects.
2. I try hard to do alt-text for pictures, but if I forget please don't hesitate to nudge me.
3. I post a lot about topics related to my locale in #OklahomaCity , #Oklahoma
4. I've been posting on the fediverse since 2022. Most of my old posts are archived off-line but I may try to put them online somewhere (in static form) down the road, probably on my blog at www.jmb.mx.
https://www.judaismunbound.com/podcast/episode-447-zvika-krieger
I really liked this episode of the #JudaismUnbound podcast for many reasons. Here are a few (sorry this will be a long ramble), along with some more general HH ( #HighHoliday ) thoughts:
1. It was refreshing to hear Dan & @lexaphus say what I increasingly feel --- a deep disconnect with the theology of much of the traditional Jewish High Holiday liturgy.
2. I never knew about the tradition of "side reading" (bringing other things, including even novels) with one to HH services, so as to be in the room with the community during many of the services, even while one is reading something else. --- Part of me thinks that is a wonderful idea, another part of me feels uneasy about it (but I can't explain why). I'm curious if others have thoughts about or experience with this practice.
3. I forgot who said this (the guest or the hosts), but someone mentioned that it was unfortunate that so many Jews only attend services at the HH's, because they are getting a really distorted view of the idea of "God" from these services, that doesn't reflect the more open conceptualizing of the divine that is more common in many liberal-leaning Jewish #Shabbat services. I strongly agree with this sentiment.
4. I am more strongly feeling that I want to rethink the HH's, but especially Yom Kippur. I won't try reviving the famous "Yom Kippur balls" of the early Jewish anarchists, but there is a part of me that wants to find a way to express some contrariness in a semi-respectful way in how observe YK this year.
5. I'm of course, thinking a lot about Israel/Palestine in the midst of all of this, the horrors of terrorism and war (especially with the one year anniversary of the Hamas attacks and the subsequent war), and the challenges of collective teshuvah (repentance) in the midst of ongoing collective tragedy. These complicated feelings are coloring much of my HH thoughts this year.
6. Thanks to the remodeling of our synagogue here in #OKC, our synagogue is have its services at Crossings-Mayfair (formerly the Mayfair Church of Christ). It is a wonderful welcoming thing for Crossings-Mayfair to do this (and is a conveniently perfect given the COC's long iconoclastic approach to church architecture --- no big crosses, stained glass windows, etc.) --- But there is another part of me that dreads being in a COC-oriented space due to my past not-so-great history in this tradition.
7. My favorite HH of recent years was at the height of the COVID pandemic. We had services early under a Sukkah (erected a month early that year). I know this didn't work for many (as the attendance numbers were much lower than at normal HH services) but I wish there was a local synagogue that offered as many services as possible outdoors. I would be there every week if there were, but I would especially love it during the HH's.
I'm trying out this mastodon server to see if it will become my new main account (transitioning over from @jmb@okpeace.org )
I mostly post on these topics: #Peace #Bicycle #Oklahoma #DemocraticSocialism #Photos #Art #HumanisticJudaism #Judaism
I also maintain an account that focuses on Jewish issues at: @jmb@babka.social
