The Whole World is Jewish

Below, is a post I wrote in 2006 in Camera Lucida. I wrote it neither as a judeophile nor a judeophobe, but as a Christian.

The Whole World is Jewish: Searching for Its Identity

Camera Lucida
March 28, 2006

"The whole world is Jewish, searching for its identity". This is a quote I overheard the other day.

A better phrasing would be: "The whole world wants to be Jewish, desiring unconditional love from God".

I've noticed this behavior in people who spend an inordinate amount of time on the Jews, either loving them or hating them.

The only thing I can come up with is that they want the same attention that God has promised to the Jews be given to them.

Yet, it is simple. He already has, and always will. It is a matter of belief, that’s all.

Eve vs. Mary for Mother's Day

Mosaic of Mary
St. Michael's Hospital Chapel in Toronto
[Photo By: KPA]

Fareed Zakaria, "host of CNN’s flagship foreign affairs show," interviewed writer "and I'm not even a Christian" (what is he, Jewish?) Bruce Feiler on CNN on mother's day. The topic was "Eve and modern motherhood" to discuss the book that Feiler wrote: The First Love Story: Adam, Eve, and Us.

Feiler explains his choice of a female biblical character to represent Mother's Day by saying:

Being a mother...

"...in some ways is the main goal of the story. The first commandment - it's NOT the Ten Commandments. That comes in the Book of Exodus. It's in the book of Genesis where God says to them 'Be fruitful and multiply." This is the story of Genesis, of generations. In order for the story to succeed, we need this relationship to succeed. And that's in some ways one of the great discoveries of this journey that I've been on."

He's talking about Eve of course.

I say: This is the mother who was kicked out of paradise for seducing her husband into betraying God! How about the purest of mothers, Jesus' mother?!

Fareed of course will never want to discuss that. And I'll bet Feiler has no sympathy for Christians despite his long trek through the Biblical land:

When I did “Walking the Bible [Fieler's travels to find the places the Old Testament stories took place]” it was a very personal journey...Were these stories real? Could I find the places where they took place?

Turns out the CNN conversation was between the Muslim Fareed and the Jew Feiler. I had them both pegged.

Christianity is being debunked in such sophisticated and subtle ways these days that only the seasoned warriors can tell when it is happening.

Here is Laura at The Thinking Housewife writing on Mother's Day and her prayer to Mary:

O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Infant Babe of Bethlehem, and Our Mother, enkindle in our hearts the spark of youthful innocence. We know of thy great love for little children. It was to innocent children that thou didst deign to appear, revealing the Message of Fatima, and charging them with its propagation. We know no better way to show our regard for them, dear Mother, than to offer our prayers for all children, everywhere. Therefore, O Mother dear, we ask thee to watch over all children in all parts of the world, to guard and protect their homes, to preserve the schools wherein they learn, and to keep them from being tainted with Godless education. Direct them in their play and in all their works, that they may grow in age, wisdom, and the love of God. Grant too, Blessed Mother, that the prayers of our children may hasten the end of all wars of carnage and devastation, and grant unto this world an era of just and lasting peace. We pray that the world may return to Jesus, thy Son, through Reparation to thy Immaculate Heart.

Our Lady of Fatima, we beseech thee to inflame our hearts with the love of Reparation.

[Source: St. Gertrude the Great Sunday bulletin, Mother’s Day, 2017]

Below is Zakaria's interview of Feiler on the CNN program GPS.

God is God

The Rabbis at Messages, a weekly television program in Ontario, discuss complex, intricate and subtle Biblical concepts for about a half each week. The episode (which is several years old) is repeated again during the week, which I tune in to since I invariably miss some of the difficult concepts the first time around.

Here are the notes I took during an episode with Rabbi Immanuel Schochet this past week (after two viewings!):

- God is not affected (changed) by our good deeds

- God is not affected (changed) by our sin

- God does not need us except as recipients for his benevolence

- When we sin, we block up the channels for receiving God's benevolence, so that the blessing of God cannot come down to us

- By sinning, we have disabled ourselves from receiving God's blessings

- It isn't God that changed, it is us (by sinning), and the consequent (apparent) change we think we perceive in God, which is manifested to us through the loss in his blessings

- Through sin, it appears to us as though God is gone

- Our sinning affects not only us, but the world around us, by removing God's blessings, or by blocking the channels for those blessings, to the world

- The mitzvah are made to refine the world - to show the world contains Godliness in it

- We use terms like "God is angry" or "God is pleased" to help us understand him withing the limitations of our experiences

- The Torah speaks the language of man (so that man can understand the message of God)

- But, we use terminology rooted in God (our understanding of God is nonetheless based on the understanding he provides us of himself)

- God is aloof, transcendent, beyond

- God is God


Rabbi Immanuel Schochet
(August 27, 1935 - July 27, 2013)

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Addendum: Kristor who writes at the Orthosphere makes similar observations in his post No Way Out - Only In.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Easter and Passover

Moses and parting of the Red Sea, from Cecil B. Demille's The Ten Commandments

I wrote the article below in 2010, and it was published at Frontpage Magazine.

It is a critique of religion, contemporary American politics, multiculturalism, and Christianity. I am not a politician (nor a student of politics), but I'm surprised at how prescient some of my points were back then (this is four years before Obamacare becomes part of American health care)

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Reclaiming Religion From the Left
Published in Frontpage Magazine
April 19, 2010


[Commentary on the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film The Ten Commandments should be screening this Easter on television, as it is an annual tradition. "Please check you local listings."]

Two television networks showcased Cecil B. DeMille’s epic 3 ½ hour The Ten Commandments this Easter: ABC and Canada’s CBC. The 1956 film had no need for our 21st century Computer Generated Imagery to convince us that the Red Sea was indeed parting, and that the “bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). I wondered if the networks made this choice because there is really no superlative modern narrative of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection? We have Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ, but its gore and blood is too hard to take at Easter. The Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese is too idiosyncratic, and would be something to watch and study at another time in the year. There are plenty of bland and insipid made-for-television versions of Christ’s story, many of which are programmed during Christmas, but for some reason they were not screened this Easter.

Perhaps these channels chose to commemorate Passover rather than Easter, which fell around similar dates this year. Or they’re simply following the ritual of politically correct inclusiveness. Even President Obama has made Passover Seder-at-the-White House a new tradition, hosting it for the second time as President. No other President before him has hosted the Seder at the White House. Obama’s Seder started on a whim, it seems. During his campaign trail, two young Jewish aides were celebrating their Seder in a basement of a Pittsburgh hotel, away from home and family, when Obama joined their festivities.

Obama’s interest in Jewish celebrations may indeed be a liberal’s outreach to cultural diversity – after all, the White House now hosts Ramadan dinners. But, it fits his narcissistic personality, conforming the Seder to any situation he may be experiencing at the time of the holiday. At the first, impromptu, Seder in Pennsylvania when his campaign was steeped in the Reverend Wright controversies and was “in the desert,” as another campaign aide put it, Obama proclaimed “Next year at the White House” as an addition to “Next Year in Jerusalem” commonly said at the end of the dinner. Perhaps, as suggests Judi Kantor from the New York Times, this year’s focus could have been one of the universalist themes that Obama is so fond of: to free Americans from the bondage of capitalist healthcare and to give them the abundance of Obamacare.

The Center for American Progress has another suggestion. In it’s article on Obama’s Seder celebration this year, CAP cleverly used the Bible’s New Revised Standard Version to quote from Exodus 22:21: “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” Almost all the other versions use “stranger”, “foreigner” or “sojourner” in lieu of “resident alien,” clearly portraying a temporary dweller and not the long-term inhabitant that “resident alien” implies. The CAP’s advice to President Obama is that he treat Mexican illegal aliens with the same compassion they interpret from the NRS, and pass comprehensive immigration reform. But when we parse the words, it is clear that illegal aliens are not the “resident aliens” implied by CAP, but emboldened Mexicans, foreigners and strangers, who wish to take advantage of the lax rules and borders that makes it possible for them to enter and reside in the country with impunity.

One has to marvel at the President’s Seder chutzpah after his dismal treatment of Prime Minister Netanyahu during his recent visit to the United States. It is one thing to celebrate an ethnic festival, but another to respect the significance that the celebrants give their rituals. The Israelites that Obama commemorates in these Seders were freed from bondage in Egypt, and their descendants later received their Promised Land. Yet, Obama seems intent on removing this sacred land from the Jews, and forcing on them new enemies who are probably far more ruthless than the Egyptians.

Modern Christians are in as much danger as modern Jews. Our liberal neighbors, with their feel-good, made-up Christianity are destroying our religion and our communities. Liberal church leaders support issues ranging from comprehensive immigration reform to same sex marriage. Atheists, who have nonetheless constructed their own religion, now have their prophets. In the April 2010 publication of Vanity Fair, atheist Christopher Hitchens performs an iconoclastic dismantling of the Biblical Ten Commandments and then gives us his own petty ten. Like the Old Testament’s Jews, we have to trust that God will free us from our current tribulations.

In fact, End Time preachers use the exodus as an allegory for our liberation. Our ultimate release is entry into God’s heavenly land. But the Passover and Easter stories are also our personal stories. The journey from bondage to freedom reflects our own mundane ordeals. And we experience death and resurrection with each sin and atonement. Celebrating these holidays each year gives us the hope that we too will inherit our particular Israel.

The liberal, politically correct television stations were right after all. The story of Moses, recounting a people’s freedom from slavery, and culminating with the abiding Ten Commandments, was an apt choice for these holidays. Would that our leaders understand and practice its significance. Not just as at religious celebrations, but throughout the year.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Lily of the Valley

From: Faberge from the Matilda Geddings
Gray Foundation Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
November 22, 2011–November 27, 2016
[Photo by KPA]
Lilies of the valley are late spring flowers, but they reminded me of snowdrops, which are one of the first flowers to come out in spring.

Here's a closer look at the design of the lily of the valley (from the Faberge exhibition):

Snowdrops are slightly larger, and their flowers are more open:

Snowdrops may indicate that spring (true spring, not the calendar spring) is around the corner, if it hasn't arrived yet, but the lily of the valley is a more poignantly beautiful flower.

According to Christian legend, it is:

...known as Our Lady's tears or Mary's tears from Christian legends that it sprang from the weeping of the Virgin Mary during the crucifixion of Jesus. Other etiologies its coming into being from Eve's tears after she was driven with Adam from the Garden of Eden or from the blood shed by Saint Leonard of Noblac during his battles with a dragon.

The name "lily of the valley" is used in some English translations of the Bible in Song of Songs 2:1, but the Hebrew phrase "shoshannat-ha-amaqim" in the original text (literally "lily of the valleys") doesn't refer to this plant. It's possible, though, that the biblical phrase may have had something to do with the origin or development of the modern plant-name.

It is a symbol of humility in religious painting. Lily of the valley is considered the sign of Christ's second coming. The power of men to envision a better world was also attributed to the lily of the valley. [Source: Wikipedia]

Here are some symbolic meanings of the lily of the valley:

-Return of happiness
- Purity of heart
- Sweetness
- Humility
- Happiness
- Love's good fortune
- It is also believed that this flower protects gardens from evil spirits. [Source]

These are the verses from Song of Solomon (2:1-17), which mention the lily of the valley:

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.

My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Sunday Sermons

Hour of Power Preacher: Bobby Schuller

In a previous post, I wrote:

Beauty takes on a mature happiness, a joyful engagement in the world around us, a desire to live in it, to improve on it, to share it, and to exalt in it. It is what God gave us, after all, albeit having sent us out of paradise. Our earth is not a "lost paradise" but a distorted paradise, where we can see bits of the real thing around us... [T]his drives us to find those "real" moments, and interject them into our world.

A couple of days ago, I was watching a silly movie - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - where the Norah says:

There's this part of Judaism that I like. Tikkun Olam. It said that the world is broken into pieces and everyone has to find them and put them back together.

I think this fits into what I was trying to say about beauty: that we live in a broken world, but we still have glimpses of the glory and beauty of the paradise we all intuitively know, and, in many ways, it is our task to try to reform that world, and return it to its original beauty through our own talents and abilities.

Most of the online sources explaining Tikkun Olam see it in societal terms, and eventually take on socialist connotations. But this rabbi's (Rabbi Paul Steinberg) explanation seems closest to what I'm trying to say:

The term tikkun olam is a deeply important Jewish concept and yet also commonly misunderstood. Tikkun olam is not a mitzvah to fulfill, but a term that generally refers to the Jewish impulse and commitment to perfect the world in accordance with God’s will through our own behavior, attitude, and action. Many scholarly critics point out that the term has been done an injustice by being flattened to simply refer to positive social involvement...

Another early Rabbinic reference appears in the Aleinu prayer, which originated in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, but became a daily prayer around 1300 CE. In the second paragraph, it says: “We therefore place our hope in You, that we might see Your glorious power, sweeping the world of detestable things... l’takein olam b’malchut shaddai – often translated as, “perfecting the world by Your sovereignty.” Here we see by way of context and grammar that the repairing of the world is done by God rather than our own powers.

Here's another explanation at the website The Temple Isaiah:

The phrase "Tikkun Olam" literally means "world repair." It is commonly used to refer to the pursuit of social action and social justice. However, few realize that the phrase and the concept behind it originate in kabbalah, in the teachings of the 16th century mystic Isaac Luria.

According to Luria, in order to make room for the world to be created, God needed to contract. That contraction is called tzimtzum. Kabbalists consider tzimtzum to be a great act of love. Think about the times in your life you've "held back" to make room for someone else to grow. God then created special vessels to contain the Divine light God would use to create the world. However, God's light was so vast, many of the vessels shattered, scattering shards all over creation. While most of the light returned to its Divine source, some attached itself to the broken shards. Kabbalists believe that these shards are all that is bad in the world, these broken pieces in which sparks of light are trapped.

Our purpose, therefore, is to help gather the lost light. That is the entire purpose of the mitzvot, commandments. Whenever we perform a mitzvah, we separate what is holy from what is profane and release the light within. Every day we have an opportunity to collect shards and release their light. [More at Temple Isaiah]

Of course, it is God who gives us the "power" to sweep the world of detestable things, but we have to first recognize, and be repelled by, those detestable things before we can even start to act and consequently receive that power.

I watch on Sundays the televised sermons of a couple of preachers: Charles Stanely and the Bobby Shculler.

This week, Dr. Stanley briefly mentioned the various "gifts" of personalities we are given as individuals. He listed them as:
- Service
- Teaching
- Exhortation
- Giving
- Organization
- Mercy

He has full sermons on each of these, and he got the list from Romans 12:6-8:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I'm sure each of us can immediately recognize which he has received. Mine is Prophecy, and here is the succinct list to explain the prophetic soul that the "Teacher" Stanely (I'm sure his gift is teaching) provided:

A strong need to express himself verbally
A strong ability to discern the character and motives of other people
Wholehearted involvement in whatever he is doing
Very open to correction
Extremely loyal
Willingness to suffer for what is right
Persuasive in defining truth

The quest for "Reclaiming Beauty" is in a sense a phrophetic quest. In his detailed list of nine elements to define the prophetic soul, Dr. Stanley writes this for point #7:

7. Those with the gift of prophecy are persuasive in defining truth.

I hope that I am persuasive in defining the truth of beauty (and its nemesis, ugliness). I also like his eighth point, which describes the "problems" I face with this personality of mine:

8. What are some common misunderstandings about the gift of prophecy? Those with the gift of prophecy are often seen as being intolerant because of their strong sense of right and wrong. They are thought to be poor listeners because they are eager to proclaim the truth. Their frankness may be viewed as harshness, and their interest in the whole group may be misinterpreted as lack of interest in a particular individual. Because they find new methods of accomplishment, they are accused of using gimmicks. These believers focus on their personal decision, and others accuse them of neglecting spiritual growth. Finally, their public boldness and strict standards can hinder them from experiencing intimate personal relationships.

"Intimate personal relationships" of course also means friends. And I think that is true, boldness in truth-seeking doesn't set the stage for easy friendships.

Stanely continues that we use our gifts with the spirit of God. Walking with them alone corrupts them, and us.

In conjunction with this almost arrogant boldness that our spiritual natures give us, the Schuller sermon was about humility. Schuller says:

Living humbly, in the shadow of the cross of Christ...is a reflection of God's great love for you...God has called us into the easy yoke of Jesus, which means very simply we don't have to prove anything, and we can live humbly in this life...

The full sermon is available here.

Humbly performing our "gifts" is the most effective way to achieve the results we want.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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