As I scrubbed my child's poop off of the side of our bathtub tonight, I had a thought: what an amazing God, who allows us to serve Him even through poop!

I then thought about this story, and danced (after washing my hands) with my daughter (the mastermind behind the poop).

Its good to be a Jew!

Book Club - Take 2

Maybe we can each take one book off the other's list...

I'm halfway through Continuity and Innovation: Esriel Hildesheimer and the Creation of a Modern Jewish Orthodoxy., by David Ellenson. A Conservative Rabbi with great insight into the great Rav Hildesheimer, who totally doesn't get enough props nowadays. Rav Hildesheimer (the other great German rabbi in the 19th century) could learn circles around Rav Hirsch, and without him, we wouldn't be able to say "Wissenshaft de Judentums." [WDJ] And who would want to live in a world without Wissenshaft de Judentums? [By the way - whats the equivalent in TIR to WDJ? A comparative study of the writing of James Taylor and Rabi Eliezer HaKalir?].

I'm also in the midst of Sliding to the Right: The Contest for the Furute of American Jewish Orthodoxy, by Samuel Heilman. You know, the only thing more annoying than whiny MO Jews complaining about how all their kids are flipping out is a whiny MO Jew who writes a supposedly academic book complaining about how MO kids are turning to mindless chareidi orthodoxy. I mean, I agree and all, but stop complaining - do something about it (like making MO Judaism inspiring and meaningful, perhaps?)! I'm told he wrote this book because one of his kids went chareidi - which makes a LOT of sense.

Finally, I'm rereading Tolerance and the Jewish Tradition, by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo. Its short (more a pamphlet than a book), and I hope to use it for a shiur. Rabbi Lopes rocks, and thats that.

Book Club...

In keeping with a recent suggestion of a fellow contributor that we ought to have a book club, here's what I'm in middle of reading(I tend to read multiple books at a time, over a long period of time):

Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary from the First Through Tenth Centuries (Vol. 1) Somewhat of a tedious read for me so far, but very much enjoying. For me this is an introduction to parshanut hamikra, I didn't even know what that really meant until I picked up this book. Concurrently I am listening to a series of lectures by R. Allen Schwartz (downloaded from YUtorah.org) on the same topic.

The Second World War: A Complete History By Sir Martin Gilbert (trudging through this one, very long and detailed, but I want to get through it for many reasons). I'm on a bit of a WWII kick, having recently re-read Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning and an Elie Wiesel book (for the first time).

I recently read, and recommend Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer, but I'm a sucker for anything Krakauer writes. Also in middle of re-reading Into the Wild, by the same author, which I've done before and decided the last time I read it that I should try to read it once a year or so.

Also recently read Dr. Marc Shapiro's Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox, an enlightening read (Thanks to Akiva the sho'el ha'mash'il).

Why Lubavitch Does Kiruv Best

Hey, all you kiruv professionals from the yeshiva world, if you haven't yet taken a lesson from Chabad on how to do kiruv, now would be a good time.

See this article on Bloomberg News, from which I quote:

There was the world’s first whisky menorah, the nine- branched candelabrum of Judaism, which had its debut on the third night of Hanukkah at the Chabad-Lubavitch center of Buckhurst Hill, England. The seven-foot high menorah, built with clear tubing, was filled with 65 liters of single malt donated by Tullibardine Distillery.

Shopping Cart Religion

Good article on religion in the U.S. in the WSJ a few days ago. I know some who believe that "religious drifting", "cherry picking", or "shopping cart Judaism" is a problem even within Orthodox Judaism, but I'm not going to go there.

Potential Problem with Orthopraxy

Can an orthoprax Jew drink non mevushal wine? Shulchan Aruch Y"D 119:7 cites responsa of Rashba that one who does not believe the words of Chazal is a heretic and his wine is prohibited. This is problematic for Jews who want to keep halacha but have issues with dogma.

Bitter Jews

I've noticed something interesting in shul lately. A number of "reb Shlomo" people (aka "Carlbachians") have continuously complained about the overall stinkiness of davening at shul.

On this point, I am in agreement. But what is most interesting, to me, is their deep bitterness and disgust. Their feelings of superiority. The negative way they refer to others who don't have as much "fire" as they do. It seems they have completely missed the essence of their own Rebbe - absolute love of and respect for every Jew. How easy it is to slip into bitterness!