We are currently in the midst of Pesach, or Passover, a holiday that has become the 8 day (or for some people only 7 or even 2 day) Thanksgiving equivalent for Jews. There are certainly parallels between these two occasions - families coming together at a huge dinner table where we succumb to eating hefty amounts of culturally significant food. But there's another similarity that - in our increasingly secular world - it seems many are forgetting or worse, bypassing as an opportunity to have a conversation. At the root of both holidays is a word that is highly complex and often used yet not appreciated or considered by those who believe they have it already: Freedom.
It seems to be generally accepted that people have the ability to choose, that free will is a given. I could argue both sides to whether or not we have free will but that's not the point of what I'm trying to say so let's approach this under the guise of free will and choice existing. With this in mind, I ask what kinds of Freedom with a capital F we have. For Americans (which is what I am and therefore the lens I use here), there are five freedoms that we're "guaranteed" under the constitution. Can you name them all? In case you don't, they're freedom of assembly, petition, press, religion, and speech. The thing is, do we really have all of those things? I have read so many stories recently where people are denied these supposed "basic" freedoms, and this is of course not the first time in the history of humanity that freedom has been an issue. We are currently waiting for the decisions on DOMA and Prop 8 some time before the end of June, legislation that has denied many freedoms that their neighbors have.
On a smaller scale, there are other kinds of freedom that I've been considering but they're not the kind of freedom that people generally think about. I think that freedom is more of that overarching, legislatively influenced, societally accepted/expected kind of free, but there's another kind of freedom that we take for ourselves. Because those freedoms I was talking about, those don't give people as much choice. Sometimes our hands are tied and we are unable to just make a choice. We need to act and take that freedom back for ourselves. But I'm referring to when we do have the choice, the option to be free. We can choose to be free rather than slaves. When I finally ended a toxic relationship, I chose to be free of my ex and free of commitment. When I decided that the job I was in was only holding me back and making me miserable, I left it. I realized that I'd become a slave to my relationship, a slave to an unfulfilling job, a slave to myself. And obviously in a way we're all slaves to something or someone at some point in our lives. It is only when we realize what is holding us back, what we are slaves to, that we can then claim our freedom and get from where we are to where we're supposed to be.
So we can keep attending the Passover Seder and the Thanksgiving Feast, but let's not forget these themes of freedom and being free. Let's take these opportunities to be introspective and enlightening. We may be retelling the same story, but our lives have changed, altered, grown since the last time we were together. Rather than just going through the motions, I encourage us all to see these holidays as more than a chance to engage in familial drama before simply returning to our regular day-in, day-out. By continuing to give meaning to these experiences, we will continue to grow and learn, and isn't that the most freeing thing of all?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
One of my issues with Halacha
It started with all the issues about women praying at the wall in Israel. Regardless of my own personal opinions I think that many of the arguments against it has come from tradition. But my main issue is that the laws of Judaism were not written to be understood in our modern language.
So when it comes down to it, rabbinic tradition came from who interpreted it and they did so within the context of the world they lived in. Whether they were saints or ordinary men, they defined what they believed to be what was written to mean the only things they could understand and foresee, they were not fortune tellers, just teachers.
That being said, the world that contextualized how they defined Halacha no longer exists. And that does not mean that the Halacha is not longer applicable, it simply means that it needs to be adapted as we humans have adapted over time.
So when it comes down to it, rabbinic tradition came from who interpreted it and they did so within the context of the world they lived in. Whether they were saints or ordinary men, they defined what they believed to be what was written to mean the only things they could understand and foresee, they were not fortune tellers, just teachers.
That being said, the world that contextualized how they defined Halacha no longer exists. And that does not mean that the Halacha is not longer applicable, it simply means that it needs to be adapted as we humans have adapted over time.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
A Rant about Homosexuality
Apparently, a few weeks ago, an anchor on the news came out as a lesbian and announced that she and her partner were expecting. I was exposed to a conversation recently where two people were discussing this woman and the news. Their obviously shock as they were talking about how they didn't know that she was gay was unsettling but the worst was when one of them said, "from the way she reported the news, I always thought she was straight".
Here's the thing. The reason you assumed anything about her sexuality at all is because heterosexuality is the norm and it never crossed your mind that she would be anything else. In fact, the truth is that you never thought anything about her sexuality until you found out that it wasn't what the majority of people are. Consider now just how often you assume things about people. If I said, "He walked down the street", you probably imagined a heterosexual white man of average height. It is only if I give you a detail of who "he" is that you imagine something else based solely on the stereotypes you typically associate with that label. Her sexuality only became significant when you found out she wasn't like you.
Since you had never given her sexuality a thought until you found out it wasn't the norm, society dictates that for those in the public eye, this can be conceived of as "news". So when that basketball player publicly came out, everyone was buzzing about it. Talking about how powerful it is and the strength that it takes to accomplish such a thing. It changed nothing about his playing abilities, it is irrelevant in anyone life but his, and yet because we are hyper-aware of sexuality right now, we need to talk about it. If someone were to announce their religion, it's also still considered significant although not to the point of sexuality.
Race is something we can see (or so we are led to believe), correct? So by this standard, because we can compartmentalize people without even speaking with them, this is why announcing your "racial background" is not news worthy. And yet, because there are "qualities" that society has fixated on, announcing something that is not of the norm and that can't be observed visually, is held to a different standard. My confusion is why in the 21st century, we are still obsessing over the need to assign labels to people. These labels are constructed by society to mean something, they are not inherently known or understood, they need to be explained and taught. Until we stop placing so much emphasis on what a person is versus who are person is, we will continue to hold public figures coming out to a standard that continues showcases the differentness of those identities. And until we stop this focus on differentness, it is forgotten how similar we all are. Until it doesn't matter where you come from, what you believe, or who you love, these labels will define our lives. And how sad it that?
Here's the thing. The reason you assumed anything about her sexuality at all is because heterosexuality is the norm and it never crossed your mind that she would be anything else. In fact, the truth is that you never thought anything about her sexuality until you found out that it wasn't what the majority of people are. Consider now just how often you assume things about people. If I said, "He walked down the street", you probably imagined a heterosexual white man of average height. It is only if I give you a detail of who "he" is that you imagine something else based solely on the stereotypes you typically associate with that label. Her sexuality only became significant when you found out she wasn't like you.
Since you had never given her sexuality a thought until you found out it wasn't the norm, society dictates that for those in the public eye, this can be conceived of as "news". So when that basketball player publicly came out, everyone was buzzing about it. Talking about how powerful it is and the strength that it takes to accomplish such a thing. It changed nothing about his playing abilities, it is irrelevant in anyone life but his, and yet because we are hyper-aware of sexuality right now, we need to talk about it. If someone were to announce their religion, it's also still considered significant although not to the point of sexuality.
Race is something we can see (or so we are led to believe), correct? So by this standard, because we can compartmentalize people without even speaking with them, this is why announcing your "racial background" is not news worthy. And yet, because there are "qualities" that society has fixated on, announcing something that is not of the norm and that can't be observed visually, is held to a different standard. My confusion is why in the 21st century, we are still obsessing over the need to assign labels to people. These labels are constructed by society to mean something, they are not inherently known or understood, they need to be explained and taught. Until we stop placing so much emphasis on what a person is versus who are person is, we will continue to hold public figures coming out to a standard that continues showcases the differentness of those identities. And until we stop this focus on differentness, it is forgotten how similar we all are. Until it doesn't matter where you come from, what you believe, or who you love, these labels will define our lives. And how sad it that?
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