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The Blessing of Doubtful Politicians: A quote from Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama

"All the decisions I have made in my life were regularly plagued by doubt." 

-Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama 
in My First Coup d'Etat

If only politicians and leaders would acknowledge their doubts - perhaps then the common good would hold self-interest a little more in check.

What Has Changed

What Has Changed
(c) Rabbi Menachem Creditor
with profound gratitude to American Jewish World Service and the members of the AJWS Rabbinic Delegation 2012

In these dizzying moments between planes
tiled floors and shaded faces are suddenly portals,
triggering suggestions of foundations mixed and pounded,
transported and poured through time
masked by politics, hidden from sight,
rendering visible only smooth, flat surfaces.

Not resting, but waiting.
Ready to be recognized
...and remembered.

Waiting not to be excavated
but rather appreciated,
honored and shared.

Where once I thought to change
I have become changed.

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Rabbi Menachem Creditor
netivotshalom.org ||  menachemcreditor.org

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Yes and Yes: "A Rabbi Goes to Ghana" #AJWS

A Note From Rabbi Creditor Yes and Yes: A Rabbi Goes to Ghana Quick Links CNS Homepage CNS Israel Trip CNS Blog CNS Preschool Religious School Rabbi Creditor's Blog Make a Donation! 15 (Tu) be'Av 5772 - August 3, 2012 Dear Chevreh, I've shared recently a vignette that occurred when a student of Elie Wiesel asked whether they should attend a march in solidarity with Soviet Jewry or a march against Apartheid Africa, both happening at the same time on the campus of Boston University. Wiesel's response was: "Both, of course! But I'll tell you why I believe you must march for Soviet Jewry. Others will march against Apartheid Africa. But who else will march for Soviet Jewry?!" This short interchange illustrates a tension we feel as a community, and one that I feel as a rabbi. If someone were to ask me (and not a few people do), "Do you consider yourself primarily an activist on behalf of the Jewish People or for All People?" My answer is: Yes and Yes! But, as Wiesel points out, it's not always possible to, as the phrase puts it, dance at two weddings, or, more appropriately, it's not always possible to integrate our responses to everything that calls. But tomorrow night I embark for Africa as part of a Rabbinic Delegation through the American Jewish World Service. We will be partnering in Ghana with the organization Challenging Heights, a child-centered organization dedicated to promoting children's rights to education and freedom from forced labor, in order to end child poverty.   This is a trip unlike any I've ever taken, and I truly don't know what to expect. Some have said, upon hearing of the trip, "But there aren't any Jews in Ghana!" To this I reply that we're not going for Jews - We're going as Jews. There is something missing from our life as a Jewish community if we see the only purpose of the Jewish mission as serving Jews. I believe we, as Jews, are called to be illuminators in the world, helping each voice find its own strength, so that one day we can all sing a global song in all its diverse glory. But I make this claim about the world having never truly seen it. This trip is my first attempt to fulfill Elie Wiesel's first answer. Yes and Yes. I am a Jew and a Global Citizen. I am determined to learn what that means. Chevreh, I travel, as my mother has always loved saying, "with you in my hip pocket." There will be much to share after I return for the Shabbat of August 17th. I look forward to sharing more with you then.   Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Creditor -- netivotshalom.org

Memorial service marks ten years since terrorist bombing at Hebrew University

Dear Friends, A memorial service was held at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Nancy Reagan Plaza on Tuesday, July 31st, to mark ten years since the terrorist bombing at the Mount Scopus Campus.  The memorial was attended by Daniel Shapiro, United States Ambassador to Israel, and Christophe Bigot, the French Ambassador to Israel.  Click to read Ambassador Shapiro's remarks.  A photo gallery of the memorial service is available on AFHU's Facebook page. We mark this ten-year anniversary of the bombing with sadness and remembrance of the precious lives lost. Peter T. Willner National Executive Director American Friends of The Hebrew University Memorial service marks ten years since terrorist bombing at Hebrew University   Jerusalem, July 31, 2012—A memorial service at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem today marked ten years since the terrorist bombing that killed students and staff at the University's Mount Scopus campus.   Nine students and staff members were killed in the bombing of the main cafeteria of the Mount Scopus campus in 2002: Benjamin Blutstein, Marla Bennett, Revital Barashi, David Gritz, David Diego Ladowski, Janis Ruth Coulter, Dina Carter, Levina Shapira and Daphna Spruch. Close to a hundred people were wounded.   The ceremony, which took place in the Nancy Reagan Plaza near the scene of the bombing ten years ago, opened with the Yizkor memorial prayer, followed by a reading of the victims' names by Hebrew University Vice-President and Director-General Billy Shapira. Hebrew University President Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson said, "A decade has passed since the attack, and it is not only a time to mourn, but also a time to reflect upon the mission entrusted to us. We are entrusted with the development of knowledge that knows no shade of skin or religion. And so we say to the families, we shall endure. If depraved terrorists wish to disrupt the things upon which all human beings base their lives, they will not succeed."   Hebrew University Rector Prof. Sarah Stroumsa quoted from a poem by Yehuda Amichai, I Need to Cry, and added, "We do as we can to keep our sanity while in pain, to promote the concepts of pluralism and rational thought while in mourning, and to show empathy for others alongside our anger."    Adrian Kramer from the Rothberg International School, who at the time of the bombing served as director of student activities, described the impact the attack had on his life, and spoke in particular to the family of David Diego Ladowski, who was killed in the attack.   Ina Zussman-Masami, a Hebrew University student who was gravely wounded in the attack, recounted how a stranger, Pierre Saban, saved her life, visited her in hospital and later became an important part of her life. Saban died four years ago.   The French Ambassador to Israel, Christophe Bigot, spoke of the French and American citizen, David Gritz, an only child and gifted student who was killed in the bombing. He noted that a scholarship has been established in David Gritz's memory at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies), to enable the best and brightest Israeli students to pursue postgraduate education at the Institut. "I see this scholarship as a symbol of the enduring bond between our academic communities, in France and Israel, and of the strong response that our two countries give to terrorism… Our intellectual ties and common pledge to peace and security will always be stronger than violence and barbarism," he said.   The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, spoke of the staff and students killed in the attack. Referring to the Americans who were killed, he said, "The connections between the American and Israeli people built by Marla, Ben, Janis, David, and Dina, this closeness could not and cannot be taken away. In fact, a decade has passed and the connections we feel for each other are only stronger." He added that he and his wife are proud graduates of the Hebrew University, which continues to accept students to its ranks from around the world.   The French and American ambassadors laid wreaths in tribute to the citizens of their countries who were killed in the attack.   The Kaddish prayer was recited by Itzik Barashi, the brother of bomb victim Revital Barashi, who had worked in the Faculty of Law.   After the ceremony, wreaths and flowers were placed, and participants lit candles, in memory of the victims.   For information, contact:   Dov Smith, Hebrew University Foreign Press Liaison 02-5881641 / 054-8820860 (+972-54-8820860) dovs@savion.huji.ac.il   Orit Sulitzeanu, Hebrew University Spokesperson 02-5882910 / 054-8820016 orits@savion.huji.ac.il

AFHU: One Battery Park Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, NY 10004 800-567-AFHU | www.afhu.org | info@afhu.org AFHU is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization.

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One Family's Pain

A Peaceful and better world is furthered more by memory than spectacle. One minute to remember massacred Israeli Olympians would have been mission-appropriate. A family's pain mustn't be isolated from fellow people, or each family's horrors will one day be every family's story. 

"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practised in accordance with Olympism and its values." (olympic.org) 

Updated Times & Information for Tisha Be'Av at Netivot Shalom 5772

Tisha Be'Av Resources Tisha Be'Av 101 The Book of Lamentations From Despair to Hope Quick Links CNS Homepage The CNS Blog CNS Preschool Religious School Rabbi Creditor's Blog Make a Donation! Tisha Be'Av @CNS 5772   Dear Chevreh,   Tisha Be'av (the Ninth of Av), which begins this Saturday Night July 28th at 8:17pm, and ends on Sunday, July 29th at 9:17pm, is the day during which we remember and mourn the lost Jerusalem Temples.   As has been our tradition for the past 5 years, Netivot Shalom, Beth El, and Beth Israel share in the commemoration of Tisha Be'av during the day, living testimony that Tisha Be'Av's lesson of Jewish unity is one we commit to learning as a whole Jewish community. Please see the detailed schedule below.   Tradition has suggested that the following tragedies also occurred on Tisha Be'av: the negative report of the spies in the desert, the fall of Betar (the last holdout of the Jewish people in the Bar Kochba Revolt), the edict for the Spanish expulsion of Jews was issued, and World War I began. Historicity is perhaps less important than meaning here. Tisha B'Av is a day of loss. It is, simply said, a very sad day for the Jewish people.  On Tisha Be'Av itself, it is traditional to refrain from eating, drinking, bathing, intimacy, wearing leather shoes, and learning Torah (except for topics pertaining to the day).     Tradition teaches us that those who remember the destruction of Jerusalem and feel the brokenness of the world will be part of their rebuilding.  May that be so, soon and in our days.   Kol Tuv, Rabbi Creditor   Tisha Be'Av Schedule   Saturday Night, July 28th @CNS   Fast Begins  8:17 pm Ma'ariv* & Recitation of Eicha 9:45 pm   *The Chazzan says: "Baruch ha'mavdil bein kodesh l'chol" without mentioning the Divine Names. Anyone who didn't yet pray Maariv and didn't say "Attah Chonantanu" should say "Baruch ha'mavdil bein kodesh l'chol" before performing any actions prohibited on Shabbat. When we see candle-light (before the reading of Lamentations) we make the full blessing of "Boreh meorei ha'eish." The rest of Havdalah is not said until Sunday night after the Fast, when we only use the wine and no spices.   People should bring flashlights, and prepare to sit on the floor (if possible), as it is a traditional sign of mourning, which Tisha B'Av is for the entire Jewish People.  We will say the service, not sing it.  The tone for this evening is unique in Jewish tradition - soft, sad, and somber.  There is an additional tradition to not reach out to those around us, not even to greet others, sequestering ourselves somehow to alone-ness despite gathering together.  It is both magic and painful.   Sunday, July 29 - morning and early afternoon at CBI  9:00 am Shacharit for Tisha B'Av @ *CBI (according to the custom of Beth Israel 10:00 am Kinnot at *CBI, 1630 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94703) 11:30 am Special Tisha B'Av community learning @ *CBI with teachers from the larger Berkeley Jewish Community (see schedule of teachers below)     1:15 pm Midday Chatzot @*CBI 7:50 pm Minchat with Tallit Tefillin @ CNS     Community Learning @ CBI   Sanctuary Library        11:30 am R. Menachem Creditor: Cultivating Fierce Love in the Face of Destruction: A Closer Reading of Metaphor in the Book of Eicha/Lamentations      Efrat Campagnano: As For Me, Nearness to God is Good   12:30 pm Noach Bittelman:  The Sages Teach Divinely-Inspired Evolution - Destruction of the Temples and the Process of Transformation Elishav Rabinovich: Perhaps this Destruction is Actually Good? An Exploration in the Torah of Rebbi Nachman of Breslov   1:30 pm Julie Seltzer: Magnetism and Manifestation: the Energetics of Time and Space   R. Yonatan Cohen: Laugh It Off  -   Post-Destruction Rabbinic Reinterpretations   2:30 pm R. Yehuda Ferris: Seeing the Glass Half Full - the Power of Positive Thinking FILM SHOWINGS @Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim   Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim will be showing two films on Tisha B'Av afternoon, beginning at 3:15 p.m.   3:15 pm The True View--How seeing the good in others will help rebuild the Beit Hamikdash     5:15 pm One Day in September- a film about the 1972 Munich Olympics and the massacre of Israeli athletes by Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group.    Community Sponsors: Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, Chabad of the East Bay, Chochmat HaLev, Congregation Beth El, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Netivot Shalom, Kevah, and Merkavah Torah Institute Locations of events: Congregation Beth Israel (CBI) 1630 Bancroft Way (corner of Jefferson & Bancroft) Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim 1380 Hopkins St., Berkeley Congregation Netivot Shalom (CNS) 1316 University Ave. Berkeley