Parshat Behaalotcha is fond to my heart...because it is the parshat that I fucked up on.
See, there was a writing contest for socially conscious Jewish writers. I had to write a d'var about this section as it related to a global justice issue...and I failed, miserably.
It's hard to write on demand. What's great about PunkTorah is that I can write whatever I want. Even if it has to be about a specific parshat, I still get whatever I want.
And the funny thing is, by failing at this Parshat...I actually ended up proving it's valuable lesson: quit your bitching and be happy with what you have.
See, the Hebrews are wandering around the desert (big shock!) and start to get a little tired of eating mannah. They want all the things they had when they were slaves, which apparently is this weird salad bar of melon and garlic. Yuk.
At any rate, a group of them complain and G_d decides to throw them a bone by making all these doves suddenly appear. The Hebrews get some serious BBQ action on and eat the little bastards to the point that there is still meat between their teeth while they are gulping down dove after dove. It's like a never-ending all-you-can-eat buffet at Golden Corral.
G_d gets angry (as G_d tends to) and strikes these gluttons down, naming their place Kivroth Hata'avah or the Grave of Lust.
G_d was angry because the people did not appreciate what they had. And G_d punished them for their serious lack of thanks for being freed from slavery.
Modern life is all about moving forward: constantly pushing to get the next big thing. To make life better, all the time, through material gain.
When writing my d'var, I got so tied up with "making it perfect" that I forgot why I was writing it in the first place. And ultimately, I ended up missing the deadline. Sad but true--I was driving in my car and realized that I was a day late in submitting my application.
Even now, I am struggling with this constant craving. I am booking a tour for my band, and the shows just keep falling apart. I can't seem to be grateful for the shows that I do have booked!
Hopefully G_d won't send me to my grave...because I have learned to chill out a little and enjoy what I have.
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Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar
Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar
I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, "The God Delusion. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.
This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is...and it's this week's Parshat.
Parshat Behar gives the faithful a set of rules for how to handle all their farming...stuff like the Jubilee, contracts between tenant farmers, a year of rest for the land, etc. etc. I'm not gonna go into it because frankly its boring to me and I don't have a green thumb...i can barely keep a house plant alive.
At the beginning of human civilization, cultures believed that they were controlled by the land and created Earth gods and goddesses to act as the middle man between the Earth and their needs. Life was subsistence, short and brutal. But when the Agricultural Revolution happened, people had abundance for the very first time. We were able to control the land and were free for the first time.
But with freedom comes responsibility, and as keepers of the Law, Jews understand this and bring this to the world with Torah. G_d demands we level the playing field, giving time for the Earth and those who cultivate it to rest. We have to give to the wandering stranger and return land back to its original owner, eliminating the tenant farmer relationship. We cannot abuse our land privilege with usury and on the 50th year, we have to celebrate with festivals.
When a culture has comfort, it becomes responsible to those whose lives are still short and brutal. The lesson of Parshat Behar, and the agricultural revolution, is to see the bigger picture: that no matter what our abundance, we are still partners with G_d and have to play by the rules in order to make life worth living.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, "The God Delusion. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.
This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is...and it's this week's Parshat.
Parshat Behar gives the faithful a set of rules for how to handle all their farming...stuff like the Jubilee, contracts between tenant farmers, a year of rest for the land, etc. etc. I'm not gonna go into it because frankly its boring to me and I don't have a green thumb...i can barely keep a house plant alive.
At the beginning of human civilization, cultures believed that they were controlled by the land and created Earth gods and goddesses to act as the middle man between the Earth and their needs. Life was subsistence, short and brutal. But when the Agricultural Revolution happened, people had abundance for the very first time. We were able to control the land and were free for the first time.
But with freedom comes responsibility, and as keepers of the Law, Jews understand this and bring this to the world with Torah. G_d demands we level the playing field, giving time for the Earth and those who cultivate it to rest. We have to give to the wandering stranger and return land back to its original owner, eliminating the tenant farmer relationship. We cannot abuse our land privilege with usury and on the 50th year, we have to celebrate with festivals.
When a culture has comfort, it becomes responsible to those whose lives are still short and brutal. The lesson of Parshat Behar, and the agricultural revolution, is to see the bigger picture: that no matter what our abundance, we are still partners with G_d and have to play by the rules in order to make life worth living.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Unkosher Sex and Acharei-Kedoshim
Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim
Unkosher Sex and Acharei-Kedoshim
This parshat talks about all kinds of different laws from not cheating your workers to not eating blood and a whole lot of talk about...well...sex
And that's where things get really interesting
It's a no-brainer that the Torah is written for men. Men were the only ones educated in early Middle Eastern cultures. And since it's written for men, it has many biases and prejudices against women.
It's obvious when you look at the sexual laws. All sexual laws, with the exception of one, are written with the prefix "If a man" or some other reference to the male as the one committing the offensive act. The only exception to this is Lev 20:16 which talks about women having sex with animals.
This parshat assumes that a woman's role in sexuality is really passive...like she's too dumb to be spoken to directly. The man is the leader but since both man and woman are sinning, they both get the ax...literally.
And that's the next weird thing about this parshat. The death penalty is applied in lots of areas...cursing your father...death....sorcery...death. But for some reason, screwing your aunt or sister isn't as bad as getting frisky with a barn yard animal. It just means you'll be childless.
It's things like this that keep Jews, especially counter cultural Jews, from practicing their Faith. And I don't blame them.
A lot of times, people giving Torah lessons will create a midrash or some Rambam inspired contemporary understanding of obscure laws. The idea is to make you more comfortable with shockingly weird, antiquated ideas...to make them more worldly and open. I think that this is dishonest. Remember, these laws were developed by nomadic, tribal people in the dessert thousands of years ago. Jewish laws were a reaction against the values of the Pagans: an idolatrous death culture, worshiping mortals as gods and delighting in excess.
Judaism is not about reform. It's not about being conservative, either...and its especially not Orthodox. Judaism is Reactionary...and it's that reactionary, hell, Revolutionary, way of looking at the world that puts Judaism and the DIY rock and roll scene right next to each other.
So let's look at our values as a society, and let's apply that Reactionary Judaism to it. Who knows what we'll discover about ourselves.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
Unkosher Sex and Acharei-Kedoshim
This parshat talks about all kinds of different laws from not cheating your workers to not eating blood and a whole lot of talk about...well...sex
And that's where things get really interesting
It's a no-brainer that the Torah is written for men. Men were the only ones educated in early Middle Eastern cultures. And since it's written for men, it has many biases and prejudices against women.
It's obvious when you look at the sexual laws. All sexual laws, with the exception of one, are written with the prefix "If a man" or some other reference to the male as the one committing the offensive act. The only exception to this is Lev 20:16 which talks about women having sex with animals.
This parshat assumes that a woman's role in sexuality is really passive...like she's too dumb to be spoken to directly. The man is the leader but since both man and woman are sinning, they both get the ax...literally.
And that's the next weird thing about this parshat. The death penalty is applied in lots of areas...cursing your father...death....sorcery...death. But for some reason, screwing your aunt or sister isn't as bad as getting frisky with a barn yard animal. It just means you'll be childless.
It's things like this that keep Jews, especially counter cultural Jews, from practicing their Faith. And I don't blame them.
A lot of times, people giving Torah lessons will create a midrash or some Rambam inspired contemporary understanding of obscure laws. The idea is to make you more comfortable with shockingly weird, antiquated ideas...to make them more worldly and open. I think that this is dishonest. Remember, these laws were developed by nomadic, tribal people in the dessert thousands of years ago. Jewish laws were a reaction against the values of the Pagans: an idolatrous death culture, worshiping mortals as gods and delighting in excess.
Judaism is not about reform. It's not about being conservative, either...and its especially not Orthodox. Judaism is Reactionary...and it's that reactionary, hell, Revolutionary, way of looking at the world that puts Judaism and the DIY rock and roll scene right next to each other.
So let's look at our values as a society, and let's apply that Reactionary Judaism to it. Who knows what we'll discover about ourselves.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
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