Since Abraham, forefather of Judaism smashed all the idols in his father’s lucrative idol showcase business which consisted of wooden deities, fertility gods, big and small idols promising provisions, as well as idols that assured health and wealth, this was the precise time when Abraham decided that there is no man-made visible god, but one who dwells up above, in the Celestial Heavens, the God that promised to protect and demanded of his Chosen People loyalty, humanity, wisdom and above all knowledge of their past history.
As time was overlapping one another, his people obeyed and disobeyed, were loyal and betrayed Him, stuck by Him through thick and thin not to mention those who abandoned him altogether.
It was an honor to share my perspective as a Jew and diversity professional at Chattanooga’s MLK interfaith service commemorating The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That event was years ago but my passion for diversity is a lifelong legacy from my father, a US World War II military intelligence officer whose letters describing Naziism reside in Cincinnati’s American Jewish Archives. Having dedicated decades to tikkun olam, Hebrew for ‘repair of the world,’ I resonate to this day to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s words, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”
With Hoffman’s message in mind, we should magnify our efforts to preserve the languages, cultures and traditions that have made our diverse world so memorable, including Yiddish.
The goal of this manual is to design new ways to discuss Israel, focusing on basic religious themes. The Middle East is often seen as a confusing array of political, economic, military strategy, and religion. Amidst this confusion, religious themes are an important element in shaping American attitudes toward Israel, and this volume helps prepare leadership to engage in an interreligious dialogue about Israel and the Middle East.
A specter is haunting America and it is not socialism and certainly not communism. It’s the obscene specter of Americans being forced to kneel in submission to an extremist “winner take all” religious ideology seeking to transform the United States into a “Christian nationalist” country where Christian supremacy in its many forms supersedes all human laws – including and especially the American Constitution.