Showing posts with label Judaism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judaism. Show all posts
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Wednesday, August 06, 2014
De Blasio’s Prekindergarten Expansion Collides With Church-State Divide
By SHARON OTTERMAN
AUG. 4, 2014
Children at St. Lucy’s School in the Bronx attended a summer program in July. St. Lucy’s will offer six publicly funded pre-k classes in the fall.
Credit
Ángel Franco/The New York Times
The biblical story of Noah’s Ark will be taught, without mention of who told Noah to build it. Challah, the Jewish bread eaten on the Sabbath, will be baked, but no blessings said over it. Some crucifixes will be removed, but others left hanging.
These are the kinds of church-state gymnastics that New York City and some religious schools are performing as Mayor Bill de Blasio expands government-funded prekindergarten. Because of inadequate public school capacity, the de Blasio administration has been urging religious schools and community organizations to consider hosting the added programs.
But the push is raising fresh questions for civil libertarians concerned about church-state issues, and for the schools themselves, which want to help the city and qualify for its roughly $10,000-per-student tuition payments while preserving some of the faith-based elements that attract their main clientele.
The concerns crystallized in a one-page document the city issued in May to religious schools weighing whether to host full-day prekindergarten classes. Rather than state simply, as other municipalities have, that all religious instruction is prohibited, the city’s guidelines say that religious texts may be taught if they are “presented objectively as part of a secular program of instruction.” Learning about one’s culture is permitted, city officials say, but religious instruction is not.
The biblical story of Noah’s Ark will be taught, without mention of who told Noah to build it. Challah, the Jewish bread eaten on the Sabbath, will be baked, but no blessings said over it. Some crucifixes will be removed, but others left hanging.
These are the kinds of church-state gymnastics that New York City and some religious schools are performing as Mayor Bill de Blasio expands government-funded prekindergarten. Because of inadequate public school capacity, the de Blasio administration has been urging religious schools and community organizations to consider hosting the added programs.
But the push is raising fresh questions for civil libertarians concerned about church-state issues, and for the schools themselves, which want to help the city and qualify for its roughly $10,000-per-student tuition payments while preserving some of the faith-based elements that attract their main clientele.
The concerns crystallized in a one-page document the city issued in May to religious schools weighing whether to host full-day prekindergarten classes. Rather than state simply, as other municipalities have, that all religious instruction is prohibited, the city’s guidelines say that religious texts may be taught if they are “presented objectively as part of a secular program of instruction.” Learning about one’s culture is permitted, city officials say, but religious instruction is not.
Mayor Bill de Blasio promotes pre-k in Brooklyn.
CreditVictor J. Blue for The New York Times
This provision has set off debates in the offices of many schools, particularly Orthodox yeshivas, about just what is permissible. Many students in these schools are from deeply religious homes where the line between the cultural and religious is not only blurred, but absent.
“Can you conduct a mock Passover Seder?” said Jeff Leb, of the Orthodox Union, a national Jewish organization. “Can you discuss the symbolism of the menorah for Hanukkah? Can you have a sukkah at the back of the school? Are these things cultural or religious?”
Asked these questions, city officials said that a mock Seder would not be allowed, because it is a religious ritual, though “social/historical educational elements” of the Seder, which celebrates Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt, could be O.K.; that the symbolism of the menorah would “depend on the context”; and that “it would be permissible to teach that there is a custom to sit in a sukkah during a certain time period, but not to perform the ritual itself.”
Religious symbols are not permitted in areas used by city-funded prekindergarten students. A mezuza on a doorway would generally be allowed, but if it had a Jewish star on the outside, it would have to be evaluated in context: If it was small, it would probably be fine, said Maya Wiley, the counsel to the mayor who helped develop the guidelines.
City officials point out that there is nothing new about religious organizations’ housing publicly funded prekindergarten programs; Catholic schools and other faith-based organizations already host half-day versions. But those programs present fewer potential legal problems, because the schools can deliver secular education during one half of the day and religious instruction during the other, when parents, not the city, are paying.
The city is now asking those schools to consider converting their government-subsidized programs to a full day, or six hours 20 minutes, of secular instruction. Richard R. Buery Jr., the deputy mayor in charge of the prekindergarten expansion, said the shift was part of the mayor’s push “to create a single, unified, high-quality system.”
Children at the Chabad Early Learning Center Day Camp in Queens last month with Shabbat candles, fake challah bread and an empty “wine” glass. Credit
Benjamin Norman for The New York Times
With Mr. de Blasio under pressure to meet his goal of offering 53,000 full-day seats by September — and more than 70,000 by next year — religious groups have some negotiating power. Orthodox Jewish schools, which now educate about 8,000 4-year-olds citywide, have already won some accommodations, such as the right to hold class on Sundays, and are pressing for others, including the ability to host a shorter, five-hour program, which would leave them more time for religious instruction.
Nationally, as of 2009, 31 states, including New York, allowed faith-based organizations to receive public prekindergarten funds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. In Florida, for example, parents may send their 4-year-olds to prekindergarten programs that teach religion. New York strictly prohibits the spending of state funds on sectarian schools and the teaching of religious doctrine. Faith-based preschool providers are permitted only if they ensure that the public money they receive goes to secular programs that serve all children.
Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said that she has already warned city officials that they have created a system “ripe for overstepping.”
Telling religious schools that religious texts may be used for cultural purposes in preschool “is disingenuous,” and is also likely to be illegal, she said. “You plan to tell a 4-year-old that Jesus, Moses or Muhammad is only in their books as a folk hero, and not as a religious leader? That’s kind of a ‘give me a break,’ ” she said.
Another guideline that could face a court challenge, Ms. Lieberman said, is the stipulation included in the one-page city document that says religious schools may give preference to applicants of the same religion or denomination when hiring prekindergarten teachers “to the extent permitted by law.”
Ms. Wiley, the counsel to the mayor, said such discrimination was allowed to give schools the right to hire teachers qualified to provide the religious instruction that is permissible outside the publicly funded hours.
With Mr. de Blasio under pressure to meet his goal of offering 53,000 full-day seats by September — and more than 70,000 by next year — religious groups have some negotiating power. Orthodox Jewish schools, which now educate about 8,000 4-year-olds citywide, have already won some accommodations, such as the right to hold class on Sundays, and are pressing for others, including the ability to host a shorter, five-hour program, which would leave them more time for religious instruction.
Nationally, as of 2009, 31 states, including New York, allowed faith-based organizations to receive public prekindergarten funds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. In Florida, for example, parents may send their 4-year-olds to prekindergarten programs that teach religion. New York strictly prohibits the spending of state funds on sectarian schools and the teaching of religious doctrine. Faith-based preschool providers are permitted only if they ensure that the public money they receive goes to secular programs that serve all children.
Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said that she has already warned city officials that they have created a system “ripe for overstepping.”
Telling religious schools that religious texts may be used for cultural purposes in preschool “is disingenuous,” and is also likely to be illegal, she said. “You plan to tell a 4-year-old that Jesus, Moses or Muhammad is only in their books as a folk hero, and not as a religious leader? That’s kind of a ‘give me a break,’ ” she said.
Another guideline that could face a court challenge, Ms. Lieberman said, is the stipulation included in the one-page city document that says religious schools may give preference to applicants of the same religion or denomination when hiring prekindergarten teachers “to the extent permitted by law.”
Ms. Wiley, the counsel to the mayor, said such discrimination was allowed to give schools the right to hire teachers qualified to provide the religious instruction that is permissible outside the publicly funded hours.
At the Chabad Early Learning Center of northeast Queens, for example, teachers talk about Hanukkah during the public hours as a story of bravery and character, while also focusing on the scientific properties of water and oil. “They are timeless stories, so it is actually easy to find ways to embed the cultural aspect in learning,” said Rebecca Hillman, the preschool director. Outside those hours, the emphasis is on the holiday’s religious aspects.
Though there is no formal count, about 15 percent of the roughly 1,200 private providers accepted into the prekindergarten program as of July 30 appear to be faith-based schools. That includes at least 33 Catholic schools operated by the Archdiocese of New York.
Following city rules, “teachers can discuss the Catholic faith as long as it is embedded into an age-appropriate, multicultural curriculum unit where other religions are discussed as well,” said Timothy McNiff, the archdiocese’s school superintendent. City officials say crucifixes can remain in much of a school building, but must be taken out of public pre-k classrooms. Yet at St. Lucy’s in the Bronx, which will have six publicly funded pre-k classes, the principal, Jane Stefanini, said she had not yet been told to remove the symbols.
At the Dimitrios & Georgia Kaloidis Parochial School, a Greek Orthodox school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, children in the public half-day prekindergarten say they are “thankful” for their food, without mentioning God. Still, Greek culture and spirituality are infused into the school atmosphere, including through prayers that open assemblies. “It is here, it is evident, but we abide by the UPK rules,” the principal, Francesca Mannino, said.
Sophia Pappas, the early childhood education director for the city’s Education Department, said that the city was adding 30 new staff members to its existing team of 40 to ensure that schools follow the rules. There will be at least two site visits per year, and if a school is deemed to be veering into religious instruction, a “corrective action plan” will be formed, and the school may be dropped.
Ms. Pappas said that while none of the existing monitoring staff members spoke Yiddish, the primary language of instruction in many ultra-Orthodox Hasidic schools, they would employ interpreters as needed.
At Reform Jewish schools, the language is English, but the Union for Reform Judaism has been discouraging its synagogues from taking the government funds because of the difficulty of toeing the church-state divide.
“You just can’t separate out the religious piece,” said Cathy Rolland, the director of early childhood engagement for the organization. “We don’t teach Judaism; we weave Judaism into our work.”
A version of this article appears in print on August 5, 2014, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: De Blasio’s Prekindergarten Expansion Collides With Church-State Divide.
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Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Messianic Pastor: How to Pray for Israel in This Dark Hour
Sunday, July 06, 2014 | David Lazarus
The following is a timely article by David Lazarus, a regular contributor to Israel Today and pastor of the Messianic congregation Beit Immanuel in Tel Aviv.
This has been another hard week for Israel. With barely time to mourn the loss of our 3 murdered teenagers, war drums are pounding again – both within and beyond our tiny borders.
How should we pray for Jerusalem in this terrible hour? One of Judaism's oldest prayers, recited more than any other blessing, gives us guidance to face the unique challenges of these difficult times.
The Aaronic Blessing is packed with beauty and meaning for such a time as this.
The first section - "May the Lord bless you and Keep you" asks G-d to prosper us with material and physical well-being. Here we are commanded to recall that He is our ultimate protection, and not only our own efforts.
May we turn our faces to the Lord in this difficult hour to the "Keeper of Israel and the Shield of Abraham."
Let us not allow the stones thrown at us become a stumbling block, but may they become footsteps drawing us closer to Him.
The second section – "The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you" asks the Almighty to grant us wisdom ("Ya'er" is related to the word "Or" – light, a metaphor for wisdom). We cannot live by gut reactions alone. When in trouble, it is time to fall on our faces before G-d and allow His face to shine on us. It is in the midst of uncertainty and danger that we must pray, "Your will be done, and not mine…"
This is also a plea that we should find favor (gracious in the Hebrew) with G-d so that others should be built up with our teachings. His wisdom does not make us so arrogant that people resent us. This is especially true when we are angry and hurt and want to lash out at others, and our nation is seething right now. Let us ask the Lord to be gracious to Israel so that we might find favor with Him especially as we face of such turmoil.
The third section - "The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" calls us to look at our Lord right in the eye. When a person does not conduct himself properly and knows that he is wrong, even in the face of danger, he cannot face his Lord, nor can he face others with integrity. But when we do the right thing, we can lift up our heads in the sight of G-d, and this, in turn, evokes a similar response from the Lord.
When our gaze meets our Maker, we are at Peace, and there is no greater strength than to walk in the light and be in fellowship with the will of G-d.
These are the blessings we should have in mind as we pray for Israel. Security, wisdom, humility, favor with G-d and the peace that comes from knowing that we are doing the right thing. When we live like this "in the image of G-d," we will bring Shalom not only to ourselves, but to the entire world.
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Monday, January 02, 2012
Jews alarmed by Messianic movement boom
12/27/2011
SOS fake Messiah
In an interview with Catholic magazine 30 Giorni, Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome speaks out against the rise in Messianic movements
IACOMO GALEAZZI
ROME
SOS fake Messiah. Alarm bells have been raised within the Jewish population, in light of the boom in Messianic movements. The “Messiah” is different from the prophet, in that contrary to the latter, he does not proclaim himself to be a simple intermediary, but a direct incarnation of the divinity or of another divine principle. However, the difference between the two is not always clear. Indeed, it is not unusual for some prophets, who have gained a certain notoriety, to declare that they are of divine descent or considered by the followers as the Messiah.
Among those who condemn the risk posed by these Messianic movements, is Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Rome (the oldest Jewish Diaspora) who aired his opinions in an interview with Italian Catholic magazine 30 Giorni. “These Messianic movements present themselves to the Jewish world as something new; their mission is aimed solely at Judaism – Chief Rabbi Di Segni said. Judaism does not carry out any missions outside the Jewish community and our traditions are conserved through experimental and ancient mechanisms: schools, synagogues and the family.” One element which is new - Di Segni said - is that “outreach” movements, as they are called in America have been widely promoted and are trying to export the religious message. Judaism - he added - is full of cases of pseudo-Messianism, which history has proven to be false, but which nevertheless still have secret followers. “History is constantly presenting the Jewish population with fatal challenges, and people try to understand these by asking questions – Di Segni explained. This has occurred on many occasions; important answers have been given to important questions and vice versa; there have been great escapes from reality, great illusions, reinterpretations and movements.”
These Messianic movements “take a rigid approach to tradition, in the sense that whatever the master says can never be questioned.” Whereas in other Orthodox Jewish denominations of the Jewish faith, there is still a certain pluralism, certain dynamics and there is a contrasting between possible solutions. “Here, however, there is a sort of doctrinal toughness – Di Segni underlined. Charisma is personal in that it belongs to the chief. This also applies to Messianic movements. What is most shocking is that in some of these movements, the waiting for the Messiah does not involve waiting for a person but for a principle. There is a great deal of debate over this. Orthodox Judaism tends to favour the idea of waiting for a person over waiting for a principle. The debate is not over yet. But to say that Messianism is an era rather than a person, is an idea that is foreign to Orthodoxy.”
It was also a form of rationalisation, Messianism not as a person but as an era, a concept which Italian Judaism also dabbled in: the most significant Messianism comes from within Christianity. Christians say that Christ is the Messiah, that Christianity is Messianism by definition. Judaism sees the Messianic idea as one of many ideas. It is characterised by a tension, a waiting and Judaism could theoretically exist without the Messianic prophesy being fulfilled. “But one of the ways in which Judaism is seen and lived, there are groups in which the Messianic waiting becomes stronger and stronger. And this can either translate into an intense religiosity or into intense politics,” Di Segni explained. And there is a great risk in this. Messianism pushes humanity vigorously through history, but without any idea of where this leads to. Marxism and the movements that grew out of it are also political experiences that have a religious, Messianic undercurrent. “If Messianism gives religion impetus, its impact is positive, but if it becomes an interpretative key, with some people even being conscious of a fulfilled Messianic prophesy, then we are faced with a dangerous situation,” Di Segni warned.
The Hasidic tradition represents a very strong undercurrent in these movements. Hasidism was born in the mid 18th Century as a movement composed of one charismatic leader, who rediscovered the emotive and spiritual dimension of Judaism; this was in contrast, or at least in addition to the intellectual component which had come to dominate throughout the centuries. This movement has a great popular impact and is organised through leaders, who become dynastic leaders of groups that are tied to their master, the Rebbe. But – Di Segni pointed out – even over time, these groups, who also had a significant impact on people, continued to remain closed, they only diffused spirituality within the group. One of the latest ideas was to use the strong influence of this charismatic and authoritative movement, to send people across the world to spread Judaism. “It is a type of mission that was rare in past centuries: perhaps there was no need for such missions because Jews had other ways of organising themselves, whilst today, they feel the need for organisation in order to deal with the dispersion of the Jewish faith,” Di Segni said in conclusion.
Source
Monday, October 10, 2011
Re-Judaizing Jesus
By David Van Biema Thursday, Mar. 13, 2008
Illustration by Christoph Nieman for TIME
Recently a popular blogger — let's call him Rabbi Ben — zinged the scholarship of a man we shall call Rabbi Rob. R. Ben claimed R. Rob did not "understand the difference between Judaism prior to the two Jewish wars in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. and later Mishnaic and Talmudic Judaism." He helpfully provided a syllabus.
Actually, neither man is a rabbi. (Sorry.) Ben Witherington is a Methodist New Testament scholar, and Rob Bell a rising Michigan megapastor. Yet each regards sources like the Mishnah and Rabbi Akiva as vital to understanding history's best-known Jew: Jesus.
This is seismic. For centuries, the discipline of Christian "Hebraics" consisted primarily of Christians cherry-picking Jewish texts to support the traditionally assumed contradiction between the Jews — whose alleged dry legalism contributed to their fumbling their ancient tribal covenant with God — and Jesus, who personally embodied God's new covenant of love. But today seminaries across the Christian spectrum teach, as Vanderbilt University New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine says, that "if you get the [Jewish] context wrong, you will certainly get Jesus wrong."
The shift came in stages: first a brute acceptance that Jesus was born a Jew and did Jewish things; then admission that he and his interpreter Paul saw themselves as Jews even while founding what became another faith; and today, recognition of what the Rev. Bruce Chilton, author of Rabbi Jesus, calls Jesus' passionate dedication "to Jewish ideas of his day" on everything from ritual purity to the ideal of the kingdom of God — ideas he rewove but did not abandon.
What does this mean, practically? At times the resulting adjustment seems simple. For example, Bell thinks he knows the mysterious words Jesus wrote in the dust while defending the adulteress ("He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone," etc.). By Bell's calculation, that showdown occurred at the same time as religious Jews' yearly reading of the prophet Jeremiah's warning that "those who turn from [God] will be written in the dust because they have forsaken [him]." Thus Jesus wrote the crowd's names to warn that their lack of compassion alienated their (and his) God.
A trickier revision for readers involves Paul's Letter to the Romans, forever a key Christian text on sin and Christ's salvific grace. Yet this reading necessitates skipping over what seems like extraneous material in Chapters 9 through 11, which are about the Jews. Increasingly, says Jason Byassee, an editor at the Christian Century,, scholars now read Romans through those chapters, as a musing by a lifelong Jew on how God can fulfill his biblical covenant with Israel even if it does not accept His son. Byassee the theologian agrees. But as a Methodist pastor, he frets that Romans "is no longer really about Gentile Christians. How do you preach it?"
That's not a frivolous query. Ideally, the reassessment should increase both Jewish-Christian amity and gospel clarity, things that won't happen if regular Christians feel that in rediscovering Jesus the Jew, they have lost Christ. Yet Bell finds this particular genie so logically powerful that he has no wish to rebottle it. Once in, he says, "you're in deep. You're hooked. 'Cause you can't ever read it the same way again."
Source: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1720049_1720050_1721663,00.html
I did not include this article here for accuracy, but instead to illustrate a strange ever increasing trend of re-interpreting the Gospel through the prism of a Messianic perspective; Which in my opinion is a deadly mistake.
WE have not been misled in following the well worn paths of the Faith once delivered to the saints. Don't underestimate that for a minute.
Are we now to re-examine every principle of our faith because some Rabbi says so?
I have but one master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who once said:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23:37-39.
.
Illustration by Christoph Nieman for TIME
Recently a popular blogger — let's call him Rabbi Ben — zinged the scholarship of a man we shall call Rabbi Rob. R. Ben claimed R. Rob did not "understand the difference between Judaism prior to the two Jewish wars in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. and later Mishnaic and Talmudic Judaism." He helpfully provided a syllabus.
Actually, neither man is a rabbi. (Sorry.) Ben Witherington is a Methodist New Testament scholar, and Rob Bell a rising Michigan megapastor. Yet each regards sources like the Mishnah and Rabbi Akiva as vital to understanding history's best-known Jew: Jesus.
This is seismic. For centuries, the discipline of Christian "Hebraics" consisted primarily of Christians cherry-picking Jewish texts to support the traditionally assumed contradiction between the Jews — whose alleged dry legalism contributed to their fumbling their ancient tribal covenant with God — and Jesus, who personally embodied God's new covenant of love. But today seminaries across the Christian spectrum teach, as Vanderbilt University New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine says, that "if you get the [Jewish] context wrong, you will certainly get Jesus wrong."
The shift came in stages: first a brute acceptance that Jesus was born a Jew and did Jewish things; then admission that he and his interpreter Paul saw themselves as Jews even while founding what became another faith; and today, recognition of what the Rev. Bruce Chilton, author of Rabbi Jesus, calls Jesus' passionate dedication "to Jewish ideas of his day" on everything from ritual purity to the ideal of the kingdom of God — ideas he rewove but did not abandon.
What does this mean, practically? At times the resulting adjustment seems simple. For example, Bell thinks he knows the mysterious words Jesus wrote in the dust while defending the adulteress ("He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone," etc.). By Bell's calculation, that showdown occurred at the same time as religious Jews' yearly reading of the prophet Jeremiah's warning that "those who turn from [God] will be written in the dust because they have forsaken [him]." Thus Jesus wrote the crowd's names to warn that their lack of compassion alienated their (and his) God.
A trickier revision for readers involves Paul's Letter to the Romans, forever a key Christian text on sin and Christ's salvific grace. Yet this reading necessitates skipping over what seems like extraneous material in Chapters 9 through 11, which are about the Jews. Increasingly, says Jason Byassee, an editor at the Christian Century,, scholars now read Romans through those chapters, as a musing by a lifelong Jew on how God can fulfill his biblical covenant with Israel even if it does not accept His son. Byassee the theologian agrees. But as a Methodist pastor, he frets that Romans "is no longer really about Gentile Christians. How do you preach it?"
That's not a frivolous query. Ideally, the reassessment should increase both Jewish-Christian amity and gospel clarity, things that won't happen if regular Christians feel that in rediscovering Jesus the Jew, they have lost Christ. Yet Bell finds this particular genie so logically powerful that he has no wish to rebottle it. Once in, he says, "you're in deep. You're hooked. 'Cause you can't ever read it the same way again."
Source: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1720049_1720050_1721663,00.html
I did not include this article here for accuracy, but instead to illustrate a strange ever increasing trend of re-interpreting the Gospel through the prism of a Messianic perspective; Which in my opinion is a deadly mistake.
WE have not been misled in following the well worn paths of the Faith once delivered to the saints. Don't underestimate that for a minute.
Are we now to re-examine every principle of our faith because some Rabbi says so?
I have but one master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who once said:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23:37-39.
.
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