Taking responsibility for your own education. I've been trying to do this, and that is why Amazon is its own section in my personal budget plan.
I used to think I was in good snooty company in my enjoyment of Brideshead, but it turns out there's an even snootier circle looking down on us in our relatively poor taste. Don't know if I'm currently ascending or descending in literary snootiness with this discovery.
Is every single "issue" going to be seen through the prism of Heschel's work with MLK? One of the rabbi's on the Obama conference call quoted Heschel, as well. In my time at HUC, I don't think I've ever heard a sermon in which the rabbi quoted any major Reform theologian besides Heschel - one never hears a quote from, say, Emil Fackenheim. How about a little diversity?
•But some, I suspect are critical of any discussion on such issues as being "political," defining anything political as being outside the religious concerns of the Jewish community and/or the concerns Jews have on the High Holy Days. At the root of many of these criticisms is the question of whether we, as Jews, should engage in social justice advocacy work in the first place."
Ok, define what exactly you mean by "social justice advocacy work" and then we can go from there. Are the politics of third-party based health insurance companies really about social justice? Thomas Sowell, in one of his books, has pointed about the inherent meaninglessness of the term "social justice." All justice is social. Can one have justice if one is stranded on a deserted island?
•"Doing God's work in making a better, more just, more compassionate world for all - including the poor, the weak, the sick, the children, the elderly, the widow and the orphan - has been a profoundly religious obligation for the Jewish people for 3,000 years." I agree, and that's why people should be upset about Obama putting a cap on the amount that one can get a tax deduction for charitable donations.
•"Each of the factual errors reported about the call is minor, but in the aggregate they reflect an antagonism toward the President that seems unrelated to the issues we face collectively, both as Jews and as Americans. " Actually, some of my antagonism toward the President IS directly related to the issues we face collectively - especially as a Jew. Re: Mary Robinson, pronouncements on the settlements, etc.
•"Finally, Mr. Troy offered a confusing criticism of the President's quoting from the U'netana Tokefprayer, a central liturgical prayer of the High Holy Days. Again, the President used it authentically and effectively, correctly noting that during these holidays and in this prayer, Jews acknowledge that, in matters of life and death, God is the ultimate judge. Yet the President noted that Jewish tradition teaches we are God's partners in preserving life and delaying death. " Gee I wish that's what the President said - "Partners in preserving life and delaying death." But it's just not. Now might one wish there was a better public recording of what was said on that call?
•"As is always the case with our annual High Holy Days calls, this call was meant to be off the record, exclusively for rabbis. Regrettably, a few critics drew from the limited "tweets" on rabbis' personal Twitter accounts." 'Regrettably?' Who regrets it? Saperstein? How can he regret something that other people did? Do the critics regret drawing on those tweets? I doubt that. Also, there is a difference between the terms "off the record" and "exclusive," but here he implies that they are somehow synonymous. In any case, the only word I heard was "private" which has no clear legal meaning.
•" The bottom line is that the President spoke in strong moral terms, referencing Jewish themes and ideas in a manner that showed deep knowledge, respect, interest and understanding of our tradition and our values. It was a moving experience for me - and I suspect for almost every rabbi on the call." So, if someone uses Jewish and "moral terms" (whatever those are?) then it's okay, whatever the argument? Hope my professors go for that one too - just stick all the right vocab words in the essay and I'm good to go. Er...good call on that "almost" there in the last sentence.
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