Worlds of Change

The Fourth of July, the Torah, and the Presidency

The Fourth of July is a holy day in the liturgical calendar of the American people, and a time of memory and hope for many people in many nations - not for American national reasons, but because it recalls a great modern document and action on behalf of human rights and the calling to account of an unaccountable, irresponsible ruler.

In Jewish custom, special Torah readings and Prophetic passages are set aside to be read and discussed on the Jewish festivals. In the customs of the movement for Jewish renewal, beginning with havurah (fellowship) retreats in the mid-1970s and continuing in the Kallot (gatherings) sponsored every other summer by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, it has become a joyful custom to honor this festival in a special way:

Initiated by The Shalom Center; endorsed by Rabbis Steve Gutow, David Saperstein, & Nina Beth Cardin; by Nancy Ratzan, Nigel Savage, Richard Schwartz, Ellen Bernstein, Rabbi Peter Knobel, Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, Rabbi Michael Lerner, and many others. (See list below.)

Says an old Southern Black song: "God gave Noah the Rainbow Sign; No more water, the fire next time." In our generation, the Flood of Fire has come upon us in the climate crisis of global scorching and rising of the seas. We ourselves -- all of us -- must build the Ark to save humanity and all endangered life-forms. The Rainbow Sign calls us to this work of transformation.

By Elana Levy and Carole Resnick for Syracuse Jews for Peace (April, 2009)

The material in this hagada is in part taken from the hagada by this name, written by Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Material from many other sources has also been included.

SEDER PLATE
A traditional seder plate includes five items:
- zeroa, a roasted shank bone representing the Paschal lamb, the holiday offering
made in Temple days (vegetarians today often use a roasted beet for its bloodred
color, or a roasted sweet potato for the pun of calling it the Paschal Yam;)
- beitzah, a roasted egg (with various symbolism; many see it as a symbol of

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow (June 14, 2009)

The Ahmedinajad- Khameni regime has stolen an election.

And now the regime is repressing the nonviolent uprising that welled up to protest. Last night I saw more than 200 photographs from Iran, sent by the people of Iran through Email -- sent despite the regime's shut-down of cell phones and text messages.

What can we do? WEAR GREEN -- A SHIRT, A TIE, A SCARF, A RIBBON.

The photos -- I_ will give you their URL in a moment so you can see for yourself -- are full of protesters wearing green. The photos remind me of even harsher and more violent scenes of repression -- the South African army's Sharpeville Massacre in 1960; the Soviet Army's repression of democratic uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968; The Chicago police on the streets in 1968; the Chilean Army's murderous repression (fomented and aided by the US government) of its own people in 1973; the Chinese government's massacre of its own students at Tiananmen Square in 1998; US interventions to repress democracy in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala; and the violent Israeli response to the election of Hamas by the people of Palestine.

By Juan Cole

[ED. NOTE: What follows are two pieces of analysis by Juan Cole, Professor of History at the University of Michigan and the author of Engaging the Muslim World (Macmillan, 2009) behind his conclusion that the Iranian election was stolen.]

TOP PIECES OF EVIDENCE THAT THE IRANIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WAS STOLEN

1. It is claimed that Ahmadinejad won the city of Tabriz with 57%. His main opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is an Azeri from Azerbaijan province, of which Tabriz is the capital. Mousavi, according to such polls as exist in Iran and widespread anecdotal evidence, did better in cities and is popular in Azerbaijan. Certainly, his rallies there were very well attended. So for an Azeri urban center to go so heavily for Ahmadinejad just makes no sense.

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

In the biblical traditions of the people Israel, there seem to be two strands of thought regarding shabbat—rest from work—in the sense not only of the seventh, day, but also of social repose and renewal in the seventh month and the seventh year. One of these strands sees shabbat as a reflection and expression of cosmic rhythms of time embedded in creation. The other sees shabbat as an affirmation of human freedom, justice, and equality. The biblical tradition regards these strands not as contradictory but as intertwined; indeed, the second is probably a midrash on the first, which arose in a period of Israelite history when social conflict between the rich and poor was intense and the desire to see shabbat as an affirmation of social justice was strong.

By Rabbi David N. Young, Temple Sinai of North Dade Co, Florida
Friday, June 5, 2009

The poet Marcia Falk adapted a poem ascribed only to the name Zelda, called “Each of Us Has a Name,” which reads in part:

Each of us has a name
given by the source of life
and given by our parents

Each of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wear

Each of us has a name
given by our enemies
and given by our love

This past Sunday in Wichita, KS, a man whose name is known to many in the political, social action, and medical communities was shot and killed in his church. He was serving as an usher, handing out programs much like our Shabbat greeters do here at Temple Sinai. His wife was singing in the choir when a man walked in, shot and killed Dr. George Tiller, and ran away.

By Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey - Voice of Reason

Keeping It Real While Feeling the Hope: A Response to President Barack Obama's Historic June 4, 2009 Speech at Cairo University

Posted: 04 Jun 2009 11:07 AM PDT

By Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey

Like many people who trade in the world of political commentary, I was prepared to write a response to President Obama's speech from the perspective of content analysis and criticism of not only what he communicated, but what, from my perspective, he left unsaid.

And I will still do that because there are areas of concern that many, including Muslim Americans have about the status of the relationship between the broader Islamic world, the Muslim American community and the policies and practices of the United States government.

The June 4 Lines

(June 5th, 2009)

By Gershom Gorenberg*

Barack Obama likes to change what history means, and that’s a very good thing.

Today, for instance, marks 42 years since the Six-Day War began. Ever since then, the term “June 4 lines” has referred to the on-the-ground border between Israel and its Arab neighbors on the eve of the war - not the lines marked on maps, but the lines marked by forward military positions. On the Syrian front, for instance, the actual positions lined up with neither the pre-1948 international border between Palestine and Syria, nor with the 1949 armistice agreements. The small distances on the ground make for big problems in peace negotiations.

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow *

So another physician has been murdered for making it possible for pregnant women to actually use their constitutional right and their moral responsibility to choose whether to give birth or abort the fetus.

All honor to Dr. Tiller, who joins the list of martyrs for ethical decency and human rights. His death approached religious martyrdom in the classical sense: he was killed in his own church as he arrived to worship, killed for acting in accord with his religious commitments and his moral and ethical choices -- which were to support the moral and ethical choices of women he viewed as authentic bearers of moral responsibility.