The Jewish Week Newsletter-The Jewish Week Connecting the world with Jewish News, Culture, Features, and Opinions for Friday, 22 May 2015 "What Would Amy Schumer Say About The Peeping Rabbi?"Dear Reader,
Rabbi Barry Freundel, the rabbi who pleaded guilty to 52 counts of misdemeanor voyeurism after he was found to have been recording his congregants in the mikvah, was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison this week. His victims, many of whom attended the sentencing and wore orange in solidarity with each other, weigh in. Hannah Dreyfus has the story. NEW YORK
‘Peeping Rabbi’ Victims Weigh In On Sentence
Emotional court sentencing leaves victims and synagogue members satisfied.
Hannah Dreyfus
Staff Writer
A court sketch of Rabbi Barry Freundel at last week’s sentencing. YouTube via JTA
At Rabbi Barry Freundel’s sentencing last Friday in a Washington, D.C., courtroom, 28-year-old Kate Bailey wore an orange cardigan to symbolize the prison uniform she hoped he would soon wear.
Along with about 15 other victims, she stood next to the rabbi and read a prepared statement detailing his abuses.
“I was nervous [that] I’d become emotional, but I was just angry,” said Bailey, who converted under Rabbi Freundel in 2008. She spent three to four hours a week doing clerical work for him at his home office without pay, where she was often alone with him in the house. In 2009, Rabbi Freundel called her to say she needed to go in the mikvah, or ritual bath, again to complete her conversion ritual because there was a problem with her first visit. She later found out that she had been recorded.
In the courtroom, she refused to look at the rabbi, though other victims addressed their comments directly to him. “I didn’t look down at him once,” she said. “I had nothing left to say to him.”
Bailey was among the 70+ victims and their family members who crowded into the main courtroom. An additional 30 or so were in an overflow courtroom. Orange blouses, scarves and sweaters signaled their solidarity in advocating prison time for Rabbi Freundel.
Rabbi Freundel was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for videotaping dozens of nude women at the ritual bath associated with his former congregation, Kesher Israel. The rabbi, now 64, was arrested last October and charged with six counts of voyeurism.
“You repeatedly and secretly violated the trust your victims had in you and you abused your power,” Senior Judge Geoffrey Alprin of D.C. Superior Court said at the sentencing, the Washington Post reported. Alprin also fined Freundel more than $13,000.
Prosecutors were seeking a 17-year prison sentence for the rabbi.
“It’s not as long as we asked for, but I’m satisfied,” said Bailey. “I’m happy his crimes are being taken seriously.”
Bethany Mandel, another of Rabbi Freundel’s victims who testified at the sentencing, said she thought the sentence was fair.
“A lot of us worried that he would only be given a year,” she said. “We wanted this crime to be taken seriously, not for our own sake, but because if sexual crimes of this nature go largely unpunished, people will be more hesitant to press similar charges in the future.”
Congregation Kesher Israel, where Rabbi Freundel served for 25 years before being fired in December, released a statement on Friday pronouncing the sentence a turning point.
“Today’s decision turns a page in this dark chapter for our community,” the statement read. “Despite our pain, our community is moving forward."
Elanit Rothschild Jakabovics, president of the Kesher Israel board, told the Jewish Week in an email correspondence that social services and support groups are still being offered at the synagogue. “We still have a long road ahead and the wound still hurts, but I’m confident we can continue down this path of healing, unity, and communal growth,” she said.
The congregation is in the process of hiring an interim rabbi, she said.
Rabbi Freundel will appeal the sentence he received for 52 counts of misdemeanor voyeurism, according to his lawyer, Jeffery Harris, who said the sentence was “illegal.”
“I think the sentence is harsh but more importantly is illegal in that consecutive sentences are not permissible based on the law and the facts,” he wrote to the Jewish Week in an email correspondence. Rabbi Freundel was sentenced to 45 days on each of 52 counts of voyeurism to be served consecutively, which comes to 2,340 days in prison, just under than six-and-a-half years.
According to the guidelines on concurrent and consecutive sentences in the District of Columbia Sentencing and Criminal Code, convictions arising out of the same act or course of conduct are considered one conviction for the purpose of sentencing. However, separate and distinct events can be sentenced consecutively. According to the code, offenses that take place at different times or in different places are considered distinct events.
“I would be surprised if the court imposed a consecutive sentence when it was impermissible,” said Patrice Sultan, a Washington, D.C., defense attorney. Though she noted that there is a “gray area” when it comes to consecutive sentencing, deference is left to the court. “If multiple crimes were committed on multiple different dates, the court has discretion to run the sentences consecutively,” she said.
In addition to the 52 women Rabbi Freundel filmed while they were completely naked between March 4, 2012 and Sept. 19, 2014, he recorded an additional 100 women since April 2009 who were not part of the criminal complaint due to the statute of limitations.
Harris’ argument that all 52 counts should be considered one offense “could potentially undermine the argument that the other 100 victims fall outside the statute,” she added in an email following the interview.
At the mikvah, the rabbi used between one and three cameras, hiding the devices in a digital clock radio, a tissue box holder and a small tabletop fan, and aiming them at the toilet and shower in the mikvah dressing room, according to the prosecution’s memo explaining its sentencing recommendations.
According to Mandel, there was a smattering of applause in the courtroom after the sentence was read.
“It was more a collective exhale of relief,” she said.
In addition to his crimes, Rabbi Freundel videotaped himself engaged in “sexual situations” with “several women” who may not have consented to being recorded, according to the memo.
The prosecution’s memo also notes that Rabbi Freundel surreptitiously videotaped a domestic violence abuse victim in the bathroom and bedroom of a safe house that he had established for her.
“I thought I saw a holy man of God, a man whom I could trust to protect me from outside evils, but I have come to see the blackness which hid beneath the garments,” the victim said in a court document. “The dreadful symptoms I once banished have returned. … I dare not look at myself unclothed in a mirror, for it is a glaring reminder of what was taken and stolen.”
When this victim’s statement was read out loud in court on Friday, the judge visibly shook his head in dismay, said Mandel. She said it was the only time during the sentencing that the judge showed emotion.
During the sentencing, victims shared how Rabbi Freundel had taped them after advising them to seek refuge in the mikvah after traumatic life events. Karin Bleeg, 32, told the judge that the rabbi encouraged her to use the mikvah when her grandmother died and then recorded her, according to the Washington Post.
“This wasn’t just a camera in the mikvah,” said Mandel, who said she has since counseled several victims who have turned to her for support. “He violated women when they were most vulnerable. Six-and-a-half years does not seem like a lot if you really knew everything he did.”
In the statement Mandel read before the court, she called Rabbi Freundel a “sociopath” who “won’t stop” until he is “forced to.”
Though executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America Mark Dratch declined to comment on Freundel’s sentence, he said that the new conversion committee, created to prevent future abuses, will publish its findings at the end of June. Rabbi Freundel used to be in charge of the Council’s conversion policies.
Though the sentencing afforded closure to some, Bailey said the “ordeal” has caused her to question her place in Orthodoxy.
“It wasn’t just about voyeurism — this whole experience highlighted vulnerabilities in the Orthodox system. The way women are treated, the way converts are treated — so much work is needed,” she said. “Maybe it’s just not for me anymore.”
editor@jewishweek.org
For some catharsis after reading about the Peeping Rabbi, check out our story about Amy Schumer, the MOT comedian who specializes in taking the air out of the patriarchy. We wonder what she would make of peeping at the mikvah.
INTERNATIONAL
Amy Schumer, New Joan Rivers?
The Jewish comedy queen busting the patriarchy, one sketch at a time.
Hannah Dreyfus
Staff Writer
Comedy Queen Amy Schumer. Getty Images.
Amy Schumer is hot right now.
The 31-year-old comedy queen is the star of the sketch comedy series "Inside Amy Schumer," which airs on Comedy Central. The Upper East side native is best known for her risqué content, raw humor and unapologetic patriarchy-busting. She’s also half Jewish, and was raised as a member of the Tribe.
So what makes her stand out?
Her executive producer Dan Powell put it best: she can say the most filthy, obscene things in the sweetest manner. Last year she had a special on Comedy Central called "Mostly Sex Stuff," which was the second highest rated special on the network in five years.
A recent "Inside Amy Schumer" featured an episode-long take of the classic film 12 Angry Men, where a room of male jurors debate whether Schumer is attractive enough to be on TV, will likely be a defining moment of her career. Shot in black and white and set in a faithful re-creation of the film’s jurors’ room, the segment is a bold indictment of Hollywood’s unrealistic and relentless expectations for women.
Though the 12 Angry Men episode got a lot of press, Schumer also uses everyday life as fodder. Say, calling back Time Warner Cable to figure out why your internet is not working.
On another episode, Schumer sat down with Noel Biderman, CEO of Ashley Madison, the popular “dating” service designed for those pursuing some form of infidelity, and effortlessly made him look like an airhead. Schumer poked a hole in his pompous façade, revealing his business for what it is: a hookup site for cheaters. Though Biderman tried to maintain an air of professionalism, he failed dismally. Schumer one, Biderman zero.
And then there was that time when she perfectly parodied the insanity of child pageantry. The sketch, titled “Babies & Bustiers,” pokes fun at the sitcom “Toddlers & Tiaras” which chronicles the lives of child pageant queens. Joining the ranks of Tina Fey and Julia-Louis Dreyfus (who both joined her on a recent episode of her show), this feminist live-wire will keeping making headlines. She’ll make Joan Rivers proud.
editor@jewishweek.org
And then there was that time when she perfectly parodied the insanity of child pageantry. The sketch, titled “Babies & Bustiers,” pokes fun at the sitcom “Toddlers & Tiaras” which chronicles the lives of child pageant queens. Joining the ranks of Tina Fey and Julia-Louis Dreyfus (who both joined her on a recent episode of her show), this feminist live-wire will keeping making headlines. She’ll make Joan Rivers proud.
editor@jewishweek.org
NEW YORK
A Tougher Reform Road To Conversion
Stephen Wise’s revamped program signals new rigor for ‘transformative’ step.
Amy Sara Clark
Staff Writer
Conversion student Melissa Hume and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch discuss prayers for Shabbat. Michael Datikash/JW
When Johanna Rauth began looking for a synagogue where she could go through the process of converting to Judaism, one program stood out. Instead of taking about 12 months to complete, the program took 18. Instead of requiring an average of 16 weeks of classes, the program required 30. She signed up.
“I liked the way that they took it seriously. I felt that I would really learn there as much as I can learn,” said Rauth, a 31-year-old internist who is currently earning a master’s in public health.
The program is at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, an 800-family Reform synagogue on the Upper West Side. When its leaders decided to increase the requirements of its program a year and a half ago — a move that puts it at odds with much of the rest of the liberal movement — they weren’t sure how potential students would react.
“We assumed that most people would want to go to other programs in the city that expected less of them,” said the synagogue’s senior rabbi, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch.
They were pleasantly surprised. Fourteen students are currently in the program, and two, including Rauth, have completed it. Another five are in conversation with the synagogue about joining the program.
“I think there is a group of people who are exploring Judaism who really take it very, very seriously and they don’t want it to be less than an optimally fulfilling experience,” said Rabbi Hirsch. “They want it to be challenging. ... They realize they’re undergoing a really transformative transition and they’re honored that people want to give them so much attention.”
Melissa Hume, 27, who teaches preschool at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and is in the process of converting, was attracted to the substantive nature of Stephen Wise’s program.
“It really resonated with my personal experience and my interest in learning,” she said. “I just felt like there was so much history and tradition that I didn’t know about, so I knew going in that this was what was going to get me to a place of understanding.”
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s decision to revamp its conversion program comes at a time when religious identity has become increasingly fluid.
A study by the Pew Research Center, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” released last week, reported that 34 percent of Americans have a religious identity different from the one in which they were raised, up from 28 percent in 2007. If people switching from one Protestant denomination to another are included, the percentage rises to 42. The study also found that 17 percent of Jews were raised in a different religion.
While some Reform congregations have increased the requirements of their conversion programs, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s program has “unusually substantial requirements,” said Rabbi Howard Jaffe, who co-chairs the Reform movement’s Joint Commission on Outreach.
“This is more stringent and a more significant commitment than we’ve seen in almost any community ... not only in the Reform movement but outside of the Reform movement,” he said.
“It’s very easy for rabbis to feel pressured into making this happen more quickly then is appropriate ... especially when someone comes forward because they are getting married,” he added. “I am pleased to see an expectation of an 18-month process with such significant requirements because we want to be certain that everyone is as sincere as possible and as committed as possible about becoming Jewish.”
In most Reform congregations, students are first sent off to take an introduction to Judaism class of between 12 and 20 weeks with students from other synagogues. Then they work with a rabbi at their own synagogue for several months, said Jaffe.
Some programs are even shorter. At Judaism by Choice in Los Angeles, students have the option of taking the classes, which run three hours and 15 minutes, twice a week, allowing students to complete the program’s 58.5 hours of conversion coursework in as little as three months.
Rabbi Neal Weinberg, the program’s rabbinic director, said the appropriate length of time for conversion entirely depends on the student’s background. Eighteen months, he said, “could be good for some people who come in not knowing anything.” But, he said, “A lot of people, when they make the decision to convert to Judaism, it’s something they’ve been thinking about for a long time. ... If they know Hebrew already, if they’ve lived in Israel,” a shorter length of study makes sense, he said.
In Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s revamped program, students attend a weekly two-hour class for 30 weeks taught by Stephen Wise clergy, then spend the summer doing an independent project. They finish the program with a course of individual study with a member of the synagogue’s clergy.
“We wanted to be able to ensure the very high standards that we wanted,” Rabbi Hirsch said. The goal, he said, is to make each student “into a terrific, knowledgeable and articulate Jew. Somebody who would be able to, on their own, live a full Jewish life.”
He added that with the American Jewish community shrinking, “it is very important for all of the congregations to put a lot of attention on embracing people who want to explore becoming a Jew.”
Stephen Wise’s program strongly encourages students’ Jewish partners to participate in the class, to strengthen Judaism for the entire family.
Rauth said her participation in the program got her husband, a secular Israeli, more interested in Judaism. The couple even began watching videos on Jewish topics together in the evening. “It connected my husband again to his Jewish roots,” she said.
In addition to the academic portion of Stephen Wise’s program, students are also required to begin practicing Judaism. “Right from day one ... irrespective of what they feel, they get into the habit of observing Shabbat, of lighting candles, saying blessings over the wine and challah and having people over for Shabbat dinner,” Rabbi Hirsch said.
They are also encouraged to take part in services and other synagogue programs such as Torah study and volunteer work.
“Something that’s very important to us is that our students are fully immersed into the culture of the synagogue right away,” said Associate Rabbi Diana Fersko. “We’ve seen engagement really flourish.”
Rabbi Hirsch agreed. “From the moment they start studying, they come to services on a regular basis, they interact with our clergy on a regular basis, they observe on a weekly basis and they support each other academically as well as emotionally.”
The emotional support is a key aspect of the program. Because the students not only see each other in class but also at services and other synagogue events, they quickly form a cohesive community.
“Because we were all in a similar situation, they [the other students] could really relate to the thoughts I had and the process I went though. We could help each other and encourage each other. It was very, very helpful,” said Rauth, who grew up in Germany and moved to New York with her Israeli husband 18 months ago.
“Judaism is all about community, and being in a class with a lot of people and to go through the process with them is a very good step towards this community feeling,” she added.
Hume, who, in addition to teaching preschool is earning a master’s degree in psychology at Hunter College, also finds the support of the other students helpful.
“It’s nice to have that feeling of not doing it by yourself,” she said. “Everyone who is part of the group is coming to Judaism through totally different paths, but we’re all sharing that transitional moment of really this identity shift, of becoming part of this community that none of us were a part of before.”
Asked if holding a full-time job while attending grad school ever makes her wish the program were less demanding, Hume said that sometimes it does.
“Every once in awhile I think, I wish I could get to the mikvah, I wish we could formalize this, that I could just be Jewish already,” she said. “But I’m always reminded that it’s not just about you becoming Jewish. It’s about you becoming part of the Jewish community and that just takes time and it takes effort. And I have to say I really appreciate that approach.”
amyclark@jewishweek.org OPINION
Shavuot: A Time For Embracing the Convert
Rabbi Rachel Ain
Special To The Jewish Week
Rabbi Rachel Ain
In the seven weeks leading up to the Festival of Shavuot (May 24-25), we count each night in anticipation of the revelation of Torah at Sinai, where we recommit ourselves to Jewish tradition, God, and the Jewish people. It is a time I imagine that local mikvahs (ritual baths) see an increase in visitors as the numbers of conversions are completed during this time.
Why? On a practical level, many people who have been studying for a year often complete their period of study toward the end of the academic cycle, which ends in May or June. But there is something more than that. I believe that rabbis, in concert with their conversion students, see Shavuot as the perfect moment in the calendar for conversion because it celebrates not only embracing Jewish tradition, but also embracing Ruth, the heroine associated with the holiday and often seen as the original Jew by Choice.
As a congregational rabbi I am blessed to be able to spend time engaging in sacred journeys with individuals seeking to convert to Judaism. I have worked with people of all backgrounds — single and coupled; male and female; gay and straight; young and old; black and white. I have worked with women while they were in their final months of pregnancies and I have overseen conversions of infants, born into or adopted by families who want to traditionally affirm their children’s place among the Jewish people.
Aside from the academic study that the student (and if relevant, his or her partner) must go through, we have many individual meetings over the course of our time together to reflect on their spiritual and religious growth, they participate actively in Shabbat services, they take classes at the synagogue, and they become a part of our synagogue community. That includes interacting with others and understanding that Jewish life is not just a Shabbat activity, nor is it something that can only be learned in the classroom, but rather, it is a holistic experience, lived every day. Of course, after this process, when the individual is ready and has demonstrated a commitment to living a Jewish life and being a part of the Jewish people, there are the practical moments of conversion, including circumcision/hatafat dam brit (drawing a drop of blood) for a man, and a presence in front of a bet din and immersion in the mikvah for both men and women.
Often, though not always, I am approached by an individual for conversion who is in love with someone raised in the Jewish faith. If it seems a person wishes to convert simply for the marriage, then we could have a longer conversation because no one — not the born Jew, the Jew by choice, or the two as a couple — will be happy. But in every process I have been a part of where marriage is a component of the process, it is never the sole component or motivation. Adults in the 21st century are people who make their own decisions. No one is going to go through this process “simply” for someone else. They are doing it because they believe there is something deeply meaningful about Judaism and the way it can help guide a life. Let us embrace those who want to convert, not question their motivations or genuineness.
Over my years in the rabbinate I have ushered many individuals through conversion. The impact that it has on them is just the tip of the iceberg; as I see how it impacts their families and, of course, the larger Jewish community. I think of the woman who converted with me, a mother of three (who were converted at birth). She has turned her home kosher and is a Torah reader at her synagogue. There is the man who converted and is looking for even more ways to increase participation for people his age in synagogue life; or the woman who is engaged to be married and converted and has since started leading Friday night services. Each of these examples indicates that converts don’t only benefit from the Jewish community. Rather, we gain from them.
The final moment before the individual immerses in the mikvah is one of the most powerful moments for me. I ask them a number of questions, affirming their faith, commitment, and desire to live a Jewish life. Questions surrounding commitment to education, observance, affiliation, tzedakah and the like, are asked. But the final question is the most powerful. As the men or women who, by their own free will, are about to enter the waters and re-emerge as a Jew, I ask, “Are you prepared to tie your destiny to the destiny of the Jewish people?” As they answer in the affirmative, I often feel overwhelmed with emotion.
My experience has led me to believe that embracing, supporting, and encouraging those who want to be a part of the people of Israel is not only permitted, but is a mitzvah. This Shavuot as we think about who stood at Sinai, may our communitycontinue to merit being joined by people who embrace our tradition, community, and people.
Rabbi Rachel Ain is spiritual leader of the Sutton Place Synagogue in Manhattan.
Happy holiday, and weekend, everyone,
Helen Chernikoff
Web Director
THE ARTS
Soprano Elisabeth Schwartzkopf is subject of new play. Wikimedia Commons
Not Your Average Arias
Ted Merwin
Special To The Jewish Week
‘I’ve always been fascinated by the Holocaust,” playwright Steven Carl McCasland mused recently, as one of his plays was about to open in New York. In one of them, “Der Kanarienvogel,” soprano Elisabeth Schwartzkopf (Anna Kirkland) grapples with accusations that she is a Nazi sympathizer. A cast of more than two dozen actors is presenting a total of five of McCasland’s plays in repertory this month in Kips Bay; the festival also includes “Little Wars,” about a fictional dinner party in which Gertrude Stein has a fateful dinner party with Lillian Hellman, Muriel Gardiner, and other writers, in the middle of which France falls to Germany.
Directed by the playwright, “Der Kanarienvogel,” billed as “a play with music,” centers on the performer whose interpretations of Richard Strauss and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart put her in the first ranks of 20th-century opera singers. But her membership in the Nazi Party put a major blemish on her legacy.
McCasland, 28, is the founder of the Beautiful Soup Theater Collective. In addition to his playwriting, he has directed “Rags,” “Yentl,” “Crossing Brooklyn” and many other plays. In an interview, he told The Jewish Week that he grew up in the “very Jewish town” of Dix Hills, L.I., in which he was the “odd man out” because he was raised Roman Catholic.
A classically trained pianist, he has a particular interest, he said, on the “impact of the Holocaust on music.” “Der Kanarienvogel” examines both the music of those composers who died in the Holocaust, such as Pavel Haas, and those who escaped, such as Arnold Schoenberg. It also shows the forced resignation of Strauss from the Deutches Opernhaus because he refused to fire his Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig.
While Schwartzkopf claimed that she needed to join the Nazi Party in order to sing in German opera houses, she may have gone even further by having an affair with Joseph Goebbels. (However, she is not mentioned in Peter Longerich’s exhaustive 1,000-page biography of Goebbels, which was just released last week.) “She wouldn’t have seen Hitler and the other top Nazis in the war room,” McCasland noted. “But she would have seen them at the dinner table, talking about the round-ups of the Jews.”
The Nazis’ wives and mistresses, the playwright speculated, were “probably disgusted but not willing to sacrifice their own lives to stop what was going on.” Schwartzkopf, he pointed out, “spent the rest of her career apologizing and dancing around the subject.” He wanted to direct the play himself, he said, in order to show “how she’s pulled like a puppet by all the different men in her life.”
“Der Kanarienvogel” runs at the Clarion Theatre, 309 E. 26th St. Remaining performances are Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 30, at 1 p.m. For tickets, $18, visit beautifulsoup.showclix.com. 
FOOD & WINE 
The book reflects its authors' love of farmers markets. Courtesy of the JCC in Manhattan
Branzini At 'The Community Table'
Shira Vickar-Fox
Special To The Jewish Week
I want to lunch with Katja Goldman. On a random spring Tuesday she had cold minted pea soup with chopped pea tendrils and grilled chicken breasts with a salad of baby arugula and kale. She lives the way she teaches others to cook. Fresh and locally-sourced ingredients are the hallmarks of her new book, "The Community Table: Recipes & Stories From the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan & Beyond."
Katja Goldman (Author), Lisa Rotmil (Author), Judy Bernstein Bunzl (Author)
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Reading Kafka On Shavuot
Dan Schifrin
Special To The Jewish Week
Dan Schifrin
We don’t know where the Torah was given, we don’t know when the Torah was given, we don’t know if the Torah was given.”[The Draschba]
Assuming for my whole adult life that the presentation of the Torah happened in a precise and clear way at Sinai (despite Moses having to come down the mountain twice, having broken the first tablets into smithereens), I was shocked to find that the Torah doesn’t quite pin down how, and when, it was born.
We learn in Exodus, for instance: “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said: ‘All the words which the Lord hath spoken will we do.’ And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD.” In another verse we are told: “When He finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God.”
On top of these seeming imprecisions, or variations on a theme, is a tradition that God didn’t give Moses the Torah all at one time, but parsed it out in smaller doses. In this reading the Israelites traveled for 40 years because it took that long for Moses to receive and then transmit the message to his people.
None of this is new, you might say. The tradition has found a way to live with these ambiguities. So why does it matter now?
Jews point to Sinai as the birth of the community. All of us, stretching the limits of time as if in a sacred sci-fi wormhole, stood at the mountain, and therefore each generation was present for the unfolding of revelation. But if we are not sure exactly what happened at Sinai — or, more specifically, if we’re not sure what revelation was offered to whom, and where, and when — then what is it exactly that we all received?
One of the things I love about staying up late studying on Shavuot is the profusion of texts and teachers offering their wisdom. There is a stunning diversity of ideas, and I want to suggest that as the Jewish community continues to diversify, with Jews increasingly coming into the Sinaitic tradition from different places and faiths, the question of what it means to have stood together at Sinai, and what exactly it is that we heard, has shifted.
This year at Shavuot I will be teaching a seemingly odd text: the parable “Before the Law” by Franz Kafka. This story, which burns with a thousand interpretations but is never consumed by one, concerns a man from the country who travels to visit “the law,” a mysterious entity or process. The law is hidden inside a gate, and guarded by a gatekeeper, with whom the man spends his life arguing about how and when he should be allowed to enter. Finally, confused by seeing no other supplicants during this long wait, he asks the gatekeeper why this is so. He is told, mysteriously, that the gate was designed only for him, and will now be shut forever.
Exactly 100 years ago, during World War I, when the world was smoldering and revelation seemed likely to be trumped by apocalypse, Kafka stayed up all night writing this parable. There is no evidence whatsoever that Kafka’s story happened on the holiday of Shavuot; but in true midrashic fashion, I argue that it could have, and included two lessons for us today.
The first lesson is found is in the parable’s stark language, a reminder of what it must have felt like for our ancient ancestors to have stood waiting for revelation, terrified, amazed, unsure what questions they should ask, and even if they would survive. In our flattened, anesthetized, media-saturated lives, we often forget — except on days like Yom Kippur — how centrally this individual experience of Mystery lives within our psyche.
The second lesson is the opposite of the first. Whenever Jews gather to study Kafka’s parable Jewishly, a profusion of questions emerges, each one drawing people closer into community, turning an arid mystery into fertile possibility. Just like the Torah, this secular parable begs us to interrogate it: What is “the law?” Who is the gatekeeper? What are the questions that we wait to ask until it’s too late?
Most importantly, perhaps, is the sharp lesson of the seeker’s isolation. In my reading, the man doesn’t can’t enter the gate of law and revelation because he tries to enter it alone. None of us stood by ourselves at Sinai; we stood together. Wherever Sinai was, and whatever was said, we are there as one.Daniel Schifrin is a writer and teacher living in Berkeley, Calif.
BLOGS
WELL VERSED
The Art Of Observance
Aimee Rubensteen
View of "Stop. Watch." Aimee Rubensteen
“Coming to a stop is not easy in this frenetic world. But it is essential for being watchful –and for making art,” explains Rochelle Rubinstein, guest curator of Yeshiva University Museum’ssixth annual group exhibition, “Stop. Watch.”
This show is not just a rare experience for undergraduate students to display their work in a museum in New York City, but also an invaluable opportunity to understand the curatorial process of designing a show. From thematic choices like conceptualizing the exhibition’s theme to practical decisions like selecting the paint swatch for the walls, undergraduate students work closely with museum staff to create an exhibition of their own.
Rubinstein joined the team to select the artworks and tighten the thread between the student body and the museum. A Toronto-based artist whose acclaimed solo exhibition “Silk Stones” ran at Yeshiva University Museum in 2012, Rubinstein was the first graduate of Stern’s Studio Art Program. Her insight and explanation of a stopwatch representing a symbol for the process of creating art -– coming to a halt and then being observant -– connects the wide range of art in the show.
A bit disjointed in varying materials -- paintings, sculpture, video art, installations, photography and even mobiles -- the show provides a survey of the next generation of young Jewish artists. As a Stern alumna who worked on two such annual exhibitions at the Museum, I found it particularly interesting to look back, and look through, the artistic expression of the graduating class of 2015. From the somewhat expected Humans of New York-like street photography to multiple colorful linoleum block prints, I was reminded that the exhibit itself functions to display a culmination of assignments correlated to coursework. And yet, a few points in the exhibit emphasize that these students deserve museum representation outside the classroom.
"I was struck by the students' shared awareness of time passing, of essential stages and roles, of contradictory obligations," Rubinstein notes. This is especially apparent in the memorial created for Julia Packer, a beloved student who tragically passed away this year. Her still-life paintings are hung on their own wall (prime viewing for any artist in a group show) and emotionally anchored by a notebook that encourages viewers to remember Julia and write down their own thoughts while viewing her art.
Also featured is the work of work of Micahl Aiash, Yael Bar, Nissana Boxtein, Irit Greenboim, Sarah King, Bayla Neren, Yardena Presser, Marni Rosen, Adina Simon, ST Schwartz and Leora Veit.
While it is surprising to see numerous two-dimensional works of art in a space that is usually filled with installation art and sculpture, a small book catches the undivided attention of multiple visitors. Boxstein’s “365 Day Book” functions like an unconventional calendar -– it is an encyclopedia chronicling each day according to the death (and accompanying iconic image) of a celebrity or famous historical figure. The accidental juxtapositions are the most intriguing: think about flipping through a hand-sized book to find Rembrandt van Rijn (d. October 4, 1669) preceding Steve Jobs (d. October 5, 2011); or Johnny Cash (d. September 12, 2003) next to Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. September 15, 1933) –- the pages (September 13-14) in between are curiously torn out to highlight this pairing of two visionaries from different centuries and different cultures. Regardless, that such comparisons are presented in Boxstein’s work provides a great example of the museum’s mission to present the exciting core of contemporary Jewish art that can be achieved through a combination of Jewish history and emerging talent.
“Stop. Watch. Stern Senior Art Show” is on view from May 10th to August 2nd at the Yeshiva University Museum,15 West 16th Street, New York.
Aimee Rubensteen is a writer and curator living in New York City. She works at Sotheby's administering the Egyptian, Classical and Western Asiatic Antiquities Department.
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POLITICAL INSIDER
When Shalom Doesn't Mean Peace
You might say his name is an oxymoron. Putting someone named "shalom" in charge of peace negotiations who opposes the two-state solution and instead wants to expand settlement construction on the West Bank, doesn't make much sense.
Sloppy Pandering
Douglas Bloomfield
Lara Friedman, the eagle-eyed legislative watchdog for Americans for Peace Now, found an example of some of the most amateurish bill drafting by any Congressional office that I've seen in more than 40 years on and around Capitol Hill.
One thing I learned early on was that there's a highly professional, non-partisan staff of attorneys in the Legislative Counsel's office that will take any idea coming from a Hill office and put it into the proper language and form. It helps keep staffers from embarrassing themselves and their bosses.
Apparently the legislative assistants or interns in the offices of Reps. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Juan Vargas (D-CA were either too busy to check with legislative counsel or just thought they knew better before dropping H. Res. 270 in the hopper Monday.
Franks is co-chair of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus and Vargas is a member of the group.
Franks and Vargas introduced H. Res. 270, a non-binding resolution with a very long title:
“A resolution expressing the sense of Congress regarding the Palestinian Authority's purported accession to the International Criminal Court for the purpose of initiating prosecutions against Israeli soldiers, citizens, officials, and leaders.”
Here's what Friedman, whose official title is director of Policy and Government Relations for APN, thought of it:
This resolution is notable for its extraordinary amateurish drafting, as exemplified right from the start in the measure’s short title, which refers repeatedly to the “purported” accession of the “Palestinian Authority” to the ICC. The drafters of the resolution either fail to understand what the word “purported” actually means (inconceivable!) or fail to understand that the fact of the Palestinians’ accession to the ICC is in no way a claim that is in dispute (even if it is a fact the drafter of H. Res. 270 don’t like). Likewise, the repeated references to the “Palestinian Authority” betray either ignorance or a fundamental misunderstanding of what is happening today at the ICC and at the UN – where the PA in fact has no standing. Rather, the Palestinians’ accession to the ICC derives from the UN General Assembly’s recognition of the State of Palestine as a non-member observer state at the UN – and it is this State of Palestine that has acceded to the ICC, not the PA.
Here's some advice for Reps. Franks and Vargas from a former longtime non-lawyer legislative assistant: If you want to impress those you are pandering to, contact the Office of Legislative Council by clicking here before dropping your latest inspiration into the bill hopper and sending out your press releases.
Going To White House Via Jerusalem
Douglas Bloomfield
Here's one thing presidential hopefuls of both parties agree on: if you want to get to the White House plan to stop in Jerusalem for some photo ops with prominent leaders and religious landmarks.
And if you're like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was there last week, you won't wait till you get home to begin sending -- Tweeting -- those pictures to your friends and supporters.
And if you're a Republican, the first ones will probably go to casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and include a picture of you with his good buddy Bibi Netanyahu and another one of you at the Western Wall. In 2012 the world's fourth richest Jew spent nearly $100 million trying to elect Republicans, and he's thinking of doling out even more in 2016.
Face it, no one spending a few days on a VIP tour of Israel is going to learn much about the place or the issues that could confront the next president. That's what staff is underpaid for it. This trip is not about foreign policy but about fundraising. And no Jew is expected to be contributing more campaign dollars than Sheldon -- if you're in his party.
But be careful and learn your terminology. Bibi may be implying supports the two-state solution but Sheldon hates it, and don't do what Chris Christie did and refer to the West Bank as occupied territory. Remember that Sheldon spent a lot of money propping up Newt Gingrich who won his favor by proclaiming the Palestinians an "invented people."
2016 promises to be the most expensive presidential campaign in history and the Supreme Court lifted all restrictions on spending, so a lot of billionaires and mere multi-millionaires are going to have a parade of ambitious politicians (is there any other kind?) coming by to kiss their rings or some other part of their anatomy as visions of dollar signs dance in their heads.
If anyone tries to tell you we're getting the best government money can buy, just smack them upside the head and demand a refund. It's all about the golden rule: he who has the gold rules.
I don't fault Israeli politicians of all stripes for taking advantage of this campaign tourism; they are making contacts they hope will benefit them and Israel in the future. And it pays off.
For the candidates, however, political pilgrimages to Jerusalem are more about campaign fundraising than foreign policy. Read more about it in my Washington Watchcolumn.
POLITICAL INSIDER
When Shalom Doesn't Mean Peace
You might say his name is an oxymoron. Putting someone named "shalom" in charge of peace negotiations who opposes the two-state solution and instead wants to expand settlement construction on the West Bank, doesn't make much sense.
Sloppy Pandering
Douglas Bloomfield
Lara Friedman, the eagle-eyed legislative watchdog for Americans for Peace Now, found an example of some of the most amateurish bill drafting by any Congressional office that I've seen in more than 40 years on and around Capitol Hill.
One thing I learned early on was that there's a highly professional, non-partisan staff of attorneys in the Legislative Counsel's office that will take any idea coming from a Hill office and put it into the proper language and form. It helps keep staffers from embarrassing themselves and their bosses.
Apparently the legislative assistants or interns in the offices of Reps. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Juan Vargas (D-CA were either too busy to check with legislative counsel or just thought they knew better before dropping H. Res. 270 in the hopper Monday.
Franks is co-chair of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus and Vargas is a member of the group.
Franks and Vargas introduced H. Res. 270, a non-binding resolution with a very long title:
“A resolution expressing the sense of Congress regarding the Palestinian Authority's purported accession to the International Criminal Court for the purpose of initiating prosecutions against Israeli soldiers, citizens, officials, and leaders.”
Here's what Friedman, whose official title is director of Policy and Government Relations for APN, thought of it:
This resolution is notable for its extraordinary amateurish drafting, as exemplified right from the start in the measure’s short title, which refers repeatedly to the “purported” accession of the “Palestinian Authority” to the ICC. The drafters of the resolution either fail to understand what the word “purported” actually means (inconceivable!) or fail to understand that the fact of the Palestinians’ accession to the ICC is in no way a claim that is in dispute (even if it is a fact the drafter of H. Res. 270 don’t like). Likewise, the repeated references to the “Palestinian Authority” betray either ignorance or a fundamental misunderstanding of what is happening today at the ICC and at the UN – where the PA in fact has no standing. Rather, the Palestinians’ accession to the ICC derives from the UN General Assembly’s recognition of the State of Palestine as a non-member observer state at the UN – and it is this State of Palestine that has acceded to the ICC, not the PA.
Here's some advice for Reps. Franks and Vargas from a former longtime non-lawyer legislative assistant: If you want to impress those you are pandering to, contact the Office of Legislative Council by clicking here before dropping your latest inspiration into the bill hopper and sending out your press releases.
Going To White House Via Jerusalem
Douglas Bloomfield
Here's one thing presidential hopefuls of both parties agree on: if you want to get to the White House plan to stop in Jerusalem for some photo ops with prominent leaders and religious landmarks.
And if you're like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was there last week, you won't wait till you get home to begin sending -- Tweeting -- those pictures to your friends and supporters.
And if you're a Republican, the first ones will probably go to casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and include a picture of you with his good buddy Bibi Netanyahu and another one of you at the Western Wall. In 2012 the world's fourth richest Jew spent nearly $100 million trying to elect Republicans, and he's thinking of doling out even more in 2016.
Face it, no one spending a few days on a VIP tour of Israel is going to learn much about the place or the issues that could confront the next president. That's what staff is underpaid for it. This trip is not about foreign policy but about fundraising. And no Jew is expected to be contributing more campaign dollars than Sheldon -- if you're in his party.
But be careful and learn your terminology. Bibi may be implying supports the two-state solution but Sheldon hates it, and don't do what Chris Christie did and refer to the West Bank as occupied territory. Remember that Sheldon spent a lot of money propping up Newt Gingrich who won his favor by proclaiming the Palestinians an "invented people."
2016 promises to be the most expensive presidential campaign in history and the Supreme Court lifted all restrictions on spending, so a lot of billionaires and mere multi-millionaires are going to have a parade of ambitious politicians (is there any other kind?) coming by to kiss their rings or some other part of their anatomy as visions of dollar signs dance in their heads.
If anyone tries to tell you we're getting the best government money can buy, just smack them upside the head and demand a refund. It's all about the golden rule: he who has the gold rules.
I don't fault Israeli politicians of all stripes for taking advantage of this campaign tourism; they are making contacts they hope will benefit them and Israel in the future. And it pays off.
For the candidates, however, political pilgrimages to Jerusalem are more about campaign fundraising than foreign policy. Read more about it in my Washington Watchcolumn.
Read More
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