Rabbi Eleanor Steinman

Yesterday I finished reading Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  The book details the challenges facing the world and suggests the empowerment of women as a principle means of creating lasting social change based upon grassroots organizing.  They write, “The global statistics on the abuse of girls are numbing.  It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century.  More girls are killed in this routine ‘gendercide’ in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth-century.”

Through telling individual woman’s stories, there is a most compelling argument for what each individual can do to make the world better.  One of my favorite quotes is, “American feminism must become less parochial, so that it is every bit as concerned with sex slavery in Asia as with Title IX sports programs in Illinois.  It is already making good progress in this respect.  Likewise, Americans of faith should try as hard to save the lives of African women as the lives of unborn fetuses.  In short, all of us need to become more cosmopolitan and aware of global repression based on gender.”

I finished the book feeling inspired to do more to help women around the world.  I still have a few more days to make donations to worthy causes mentioned in the book, and I am inspired to do more research into micro-finance through Kiva.  Apparently, so many other people are doing the same thing that Kiva has no more people in need of a loan.

I was also thinking big.  Like organizing the community here to partner with one of the aid agencies in a specific place and create an exchange that would go beyond sending a check periodically.  Perhaps this could even include correspondence if the program was a literacy project and then maybe in a couples of years time, a visit by a group of people to work in the community directly.  One thing that made me quite proud was that American Jewish World Service is one of the organizations that the authors of the book highlight as doing particularly good work.  You can find the link for AJWS to the right.

So there I was thinking all these big thoughts about ways that the world can be improved and then I went to see Precious.

You’ll find my general review of the movie in yesterday’s posting, and I would like to add that I’m still thinking about the movie more than 24 hours later.  Precious tells the story of an inner city youth and the story of her life which includes horrors I don’t even want to write about here.  The film was a wake up call in one way.  I was thinking perhaps too much about the global world and not enough about what happens to the people in the city in which I live.  As much as it is important to think globally, never should acting locally be forgotten.  I have more research and thinking to do, but maybe micro-financing is just as important for entrepreneurs in our own cities as it is in villages in Africa, India, and many other places.

There is so much work to be done.  It is said in Pirkei Avot, Sayings of the Fathers, “it is is not up to us to finish to work, neither are we free to walk away from it.”  What are you going to do?

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Do you know who said the quote that is the title for this post?  Find out the answer tomorrow.

Over the past several days I took the opportunity to catch up on new releases at the movies.  I saw Invictus, Up in the Air, It’s Complicated, and Precious.  All very different movies and all noteworthy for different reasons. For the sake of clarity I will say what I liked about each movie.

Invictus was like watching a history lesson (this is an excellent thing).  Morgan Freeman was excellent and even if you don’t like rugby, you still want South Africa to win the world cup.  I highly recommend this and think it is an important film to encapsulate the post-apartheid reality that Mandela and the ANC desired.

Up in the Air is a very well done film.  George Clooney is good.  The story is very intense and did not leave me feeling warm and fuzzy though I did enjoy the movie.  I saw this on Christmas day and it was definitely not a Christmas movie in that I was glad I didn’t see the movie alone and had plans for the rest of the day with people.

It’s Complicated was an enjoyable escape.  Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep.  The views of Santa Barbara and the central coast are fantastic and made this California girl homesick.

Precious is another phenomenal film.  It is strange to say that I liked the movie because there isn’t much about the story to like.  Mo’nique is phenomenal and should definitely be getting the accolades going her way.  This film was a slice of reality that I think is all too often silent because it is the story of the inner city and it isn’t pretty. I have more to say about Precious though I will need to save it for another post.

Did you see any movies?  What were your impressions?

Anyone have a digital SLR and wish to share any advice on the purchase or the factors by which you made your decision to get whichever camera with the number of mega-pixels?  I need your expertise blogosphere.

Never let it be said that I don’t learn something everyday.  Today I came across this.  I hope everyone is able to enjoy some family time today.  Whether it be putting together difficult to assemble toys for little people, arguing over what movie and Chinese restaurant to see and in which order to do so, volunteering time at a shelter for those in need, ripping toilet paper (read the link and you’ll understand), or celebrating your neighbors holiday with eggnog and gingerbread people, enjoy!

Oh and Shabbat Shalom.  Services are at 8pm tonight at TS and at 10am tomorrow morning.

Everyone is special in their own unique way.  It seems that if you travel a lot and spend a lot money on those tickets you are special and even for a rare few, super-duper special.  This article reports that airlines are creating extra incentives for those travelers who already fly more than 100k miles per year and are adding even more things to keep them at that status.

As a person who doesn’t travel all that often for work I guess I am one of the little people.  You know, the ones that get on the plane and fight one another for overhead bin space because the seats are so close together there is no place to put my legs.  I am the person who has their knees in the middle of your back when you recline your seat.  I can’t help it.  I have relatively long legs.  There just isn’t always somewhere for them to go.  I am not opposed to sitting in window seats, either.  I am an excellent sleeper on airplanes so sometimes this is my preferred seat.  That is, of course, until they started designing planes so that there is even less leg room at the window seat.  Now I go directly for the aisle.  If I’m traveling with someone though, I will even sit in the middle or window as long as I can use some of their leg room to stretch out.

So I don’t generally go into those elite lounges or board the plane first.  First class is a nice area to walk through as I make my way to my section of the sardine can, I mean, coach seating.  Nor do I board early in the special line with the fancy carpet laid down to indicate to everyone that I’ve made it into the ‘in-crowd.’  I am glad for my friends who have these status advantages.  A lot of them work very hard and had to endure hours of sitting like sardines in order to achieve their elite status.  I’m even glad for the people who spend so much money every year on their airline charge card that they too don’t have to be like the average joe.

The challenge is, other than death, when are the times in our lives when there can just be one way for everyone and that makes us special?  I’m sounding kind of socialist here and I don’t entirely intend to, it just seems to me that there is no more sense of contentment with a status.  One must always be moving up, attaining more, standing in the special line.  When we’re not there, we want it, and when we are there, they create the super-duper club.

Dear reader, you are invited to my club.  It only has a status of super-duper hobbity-dobbity elite.  Just for reading, you get to be a member.  There aren’t even any fees (yet)!  Welcome to the club.

In a recent post, I wrote about Rosh Chodesh services and the arrest of a woman who decided to wear a tallit.  Another new month started and even the New York Times paid attention to the group this month!  Take a look here.  Do not forget that year end donations are always accepted at the IRAC who are doing the tireless work of fighting for our reform values in the Land of Israel.

Technology is truly a miraculous thing and with constant advancements it feels impossible to stay up to date.  It was ten years ago that all anyone could talk about was Y2K and the fear of what might happen.  I was a junior in university then.  I remember how absolutely nothing happened.  Computers all worked.  My ATM/ABM card had no trouble, and I probably could still be drinking all of that canned food and bottled water if I had it near me. (I have vague recollections of delivering it to a very pleased food shelf when it was time to move out of the dorm).

Recently, I read a list of the top gadgets of the decade.

Looking over this list I feel somewhat reflective.  I remember those heavy laptops people once lugged around.  The blurry screens of the monitors, when there was no DV-R/PV-R and you had to use a VCR to record things you wanted to watch, wallkmans and then discmans.  I would rather use an ipod everyday, I confess.  I enjoy typing this post on my macbook which utilizes a wireless internet connection and can be used anywhere in my apartment.

I do realize that new technology breeds new technology and innovation in and of itself.  I remember the 80s and believe I even had a pair of neon orange fingerless gloves.  Now of course, they are called ‘texting’ gloves, not fingerless gloves.  I even found these and yes, I want a pair.

It is, of course, frustrating that it seems whenever one purchases an item, within a few weeks there will be something with more memory, lighter weight, and less cost.  My dad recently shared that the software for his sony e-reader is now obsolete and because of this, sony sent him a gift certificate for $50 off his next reader.  Not exactly the best idea for encouraging customer loyalty.  Yes, I do sense a kindle in his future, especially once he sees my sister and I with ours.

Yet, if I had to answer, “if your house was on fire and everyone inside was safe, what would be the one thing you would take?”  The answer, hands down, is photo albums.  This probably means I should have these scanned so that they are preserved in other ways.  More necessary technology!

Tonight our chanukiyot are lit to their full capacity.  And in addition, once again, the light of the Shabbat candles joins them.  With this final night of Chanukah I am stuck by the sense of hope that I feel when I look at all of these beautiful, flickering flames.  Whether or not there ever was a miracle of oil lasting for eight days or not doesn’t so much matter tonight.  The light of those flames are a reminder to us just as they have been to our people for generations, of perseverance and potential that can only come with a sense of hope.

May the light of the chanukiya on this night continue to inspire us to do the work that the world needs most.  As the prophet Zechariah said, “not by might, not by power but by spirit” shall we all have the capacity to make peace.  Chag urim sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

Thanks to those other holidays that occur around Chanukah, for many families Chanukah is a time for being together.  For some this is a joyous celebration.  Others find this to be a painful time of year because they are alone, their family is gone and with everyone else so centered on their own family they do not want to be a burden.  For many this is not a positive thing.  It means heightened anxiety, putting up with Uncle ____’s behaviors that irritate, and heightened sensitivity.  One thing about our families of origin is that for the most part, we don’t get to choose them.  We’re stuck with them and they’re stuck with us.

What then, are the positive memories you have of Chanukah?  Perhaps this can be the primary focus as we light those chanukiyot for the penultimate time.  Let this be our intention when we take those few seconds to recall the faces of those we loved whose reflection will burn forever in the glow of the candles.

Here is one of my favorite memories.

When I was much younger, I received the Chanukah gift that keeps on giving.  The gift itself wasn’t so extraordinary, it was the way that my Papa Joe delivered it to me.  I was young.  Very young since my Papa Joe died just after my eighth birthday.  I was sitting in the den at our house on Maryland Drive and he and Mar-Mar were coming over for dinner.  I was not able to appreciate how easy it was for all of my grandparents to come over for dinner on a weekly basis until it was far too late.  I knew we were expecting company, and I assure you, this would not interfere with watching The Brady Bunch.  Obviously my homework was done because I wasn’t allowed to watch tv until it was.  The doorbell must have sounded and someone else answered it.  I don’t so much remember that part.  What I do remember is the sound of  my Papa Joe whistling a little tune as he walked down the hallway.  He was getting older and wasn’t as steady on his feet though I know this was before a cane became his constant companion.   As he turned the corner, I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was rolling two pink and white hula hoops.  One for me.  One for my sister.  The Brady Bunch no longer existed.  It was a night for hula hooping!  It was one of the most exciting nights of Chanukah ever, and one of the most vivid memories of my Papa Joe that I have.  I can see his smile as he watched my sister and I hula hoop, and even Mar-Mar gave it a try. And because it is me, I must share that it was this night that led to my record of winning every hula hooping contest at many a b’nai Mitzvah celebration for years to come.

What is your favorite Chanukah memory?

Mazon is doing a brilliant campaign during Chanukah.  To contribute (remember even $8 makes a huge difference) go here.