Lebanese Food for Thought: Read Leerom Medovoi’s Presentation from December 9th
December 29, 2010
A Captive Audience
- Leerom
Lebanese Food for Thought
by Leerom Medovoi
Last October I left on a trip to Lebanon that only lasted five days, but that has really changed the way I think about the middle east. I teach in the English department at Portland State, where I am researching the literature and culture of America’s state of permanent war. Several years ago, I wrote a book about American culture during the long cold war, the era under which I grew up.
Now I’m working on contemporary literature, culture, and the war on terror. I left for Lebanon because I was invited to give a talk by the Center for American Studies Research at the American University of Beirut. This center was recently endowed by a Saudi prince with a big budget to fly out American scholars. My plan was to talk about a key part of my research project in which I am analyzing Islamophobia, and the construction of the Muslim as permanent enemy. The more I’ve looked at this, the more I’ve grown convinced that Islamophobia is a kind of racism, but not like the color-line racism we’re more familiar with in the U.S. It actually functions very much like anti-semitism, and I’m discovering that it is even linked to it historically.
So this is was what I had been invited to talk about.
Read Rabbi Joey’s Op-Ed on Indefinite Detentions and Human Rights
December 29, 2010
Needed: a Full Accounting of U.S. Detainees
On Dec. 17, The Washington Post reported that a nonpartisan think tank would look into the way that detainees in the war on terror are being treated. This news comes none too soon, considering our country’s post-9/11 experimentation with black sites, Guantanamo prisoners without rights, and cases under seal.
In Jewish teachings, a leading second century sage once said that it would be preferable to execute a criminal (for a capital offense) rather than keep him incarcerated for a long period of time. Since historians are pretty sure that no Jewish courts ever implemented the death penalty, the worry about indefinite detention is of paramount importance.
Join us for an Evening of Memories.
December 6, 2010
Tuttle, and Fufkin Vollmayer.
Havurah Education News
December 2, 2010
New aspects of education within Havurah Shalom have recently occurred. Read on and find out what good committee work has led to.
As of spring 2010, the Steering Committee has a new position, Vice-President for Education. This person also sits on the Executive Committee and oversees all aspects of education within the congregation. As the community’s Education Director, Deborah Eisenbach-Budner is central to our programming and vision. Rabbi’s Joey’s energy and wisdom, too, inform all aspects of education in our Havurah.
Deborah and the VP for Education work with the newly convened Lifelong Learning Committee (LLC). Here’s the group’s mission: Havurah Shalom’s Lifelong Learning Committee is dedicated to empowering congregants to enrich their engagement in Jewish life. Programming and teaching will inspire and support Jewish practice, culture, and spirituality. Learning will be integrated into the life of the community from early childhood through all phases of adulthood. This committee will reach out and listen to the interests of the community as program is formulated, and be responsive to changing needs. Educational offerings will be consistent over time in order to offer both regularly scheduled foundational classes and other creative learning opportunities.
The LLC keeps abreast of what’s going on with formal programs such as Shabbat School, Middle School Havurah High, and Adult Education. They also support informal educational programs like Tot Shabbat, Shabbat on the Farm, and Shabbat in the Pool.
The committee is a willing sounding board for any ideas brought forward by congregants as regards education. Do reach out and offer ideas. Of particular interest are ideas about Adult Education classes (and teachers) that would benefit Havurah Shalom.
Additionally, a separate task force is working hard on the middle and high schools. Adjustments to these programs are likely as the years unfold. Change in teaching personnel and ongoing curriculum review are important topics under review. Contact Richard Goldenberg with any ideas for that. The LLC is available to assist in these efforts.
Overarching goals of the changes within the congregation, as reflected in the Operation Reconnect process, are to clarify how work is accomplished and who is involved in decision making. Committee members are open to new ideas and want congregants to step up and let us know what’s on your minds.
David Ellenberg is the Vice-President for Education. LLC members are Adela Basayne, Shelley Sobel, Rob Freedman, with Deborah Eisenbach-Budner as the staffer.
Read Rabbi Joey’s Book Review on David Grossman’s To the End of the Land.
November 5, 2010
In theory, a woman’s view of big events would dispense with hype we commonly associate with androcentric historiography. David Grossman’s tour de force, To the End of the Land, attempts this authorial subterfuge. It’s a double-nuanced title, but the original Hebrew name for the novel translates to something more like Woman Running Away from the News. In fact, she (whose life serves as a prism for all else that has happened in this story of stories) cannot tolerate hearing anything more, especially regarding her soldier son’s safety. At sixty, she instead hikes the land, out of cell-phone range, and brings along an old friend. Everyone wants to check in these days and be apprised of what’s happening, but when it comes to happenings in the family, especially when survival is the ever-present leitmotif, getting away from it all is sometimes necessary.
Click here to read complete review.
