The Not-so Jewish Jewish Mayor

Jennifer Siegel at the Foward in New York has an interesting take on Michael Bloomberg -- a self-described "short Jewish billionaire in New York" -- and how he has won the hearts and minds of Jewish New York.

Bloomberg, who is maybe/maybe not mulling a run for the White House, is what you might call a nominal Jew. He attends a high-profile Reform synagogue on the high holidays but doesn't go around talking about his bubbe or his love of noodle kugel, as one New York pol noted.

Siegel writes:

Bloomberg the mayor has transformed himself into a politician whom the vast majority of New York Jews can get behind, even though he does not present himself as a typically “Jewish” politician. It’s a characteristic that some say could prove beneficial if the mayor — who derides himself as “a short, Jewish billionaire from New York” — launches the independent bid for the White House that is suggested by his recent decision to quit the Republican Party.

Kickin' Back with Gordon Brown

Jim Wallis over at Sojourners has his take on the new British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who he says called Wallis and requested a meeting. Apparently the two soon became fast friends.

I have taken American heads of churches and development agencies to visit with Brown, and they have been universally and amazingly impressed with his deep understanding of the issues of globalization and his personal commitment to tackling the moral challenge of inequality.

I believe that Gordon Brown has more passion (and knowledge) about the issues of global poverty and social justice than any other Western leader today. And I believe his leadership could make a great difference. He is somebody you should know and follow closely.

Sounds like Wallis -- who counts several friends in high places, including Barack Obama -- has a new ally in his global fight on poverty.

Wafer Watch: Part 37

We told you this would rear it's head again. Monsignor J. Gaston Hebert, diocesan adminstrator for the Diocese of Little Rock, takes pro-choice politicians to task in the pages of the Arkansas Catholic.

"For the Catholic politician to say that he/she is personally opposed to this grave evil but supports it in the light of a woman's `right' to abort her child would indicate a lack of compliance with the basic teachings of the Church,'' Hebert rights.

Hebert also says that: "If the politician will not change his stance, he places himself outside of `eucharistic consistency' and should not receive Communion.''

"Eucharistic consistency"?

Oh, almost forgot. In what seems to be an obligatory invocation of evil historical figures, Hebert implicitly compares pro-choice politicians to Hitler. (Bishop Tobin of Providence, you may remember, compared Rudy Giuliani to Pontius Pilate.)

"Had Hitler been a Catholic and made known that he was killing Jews and others to create a super race, would I have denied him Communion? I pray that I would have had the courage to do so."

Do I hear a Joseph Stalin reference coming?

The Right Saint?

Washington Archbishop Speaks Softly and Carries a Light Crozier


RNS' Daniel Burke profiles Donald Wuerl, a year after he was named archbishop of Washington, in this week's full-test article, linked above.

Quote:

In many ways, Wuerl resembles the man who put him in Washington, Pope Benedict XVI, church-watchers say. A reserved intellectual with a reputation as a "teaching bishop," Wuerl prefers working quietly behind the scenes and avoids controversial public pronouncements. Moreover, in contrast to their charismatic, globe-trotting predecessors, Benedict and Wuerl seem to be as concerned with the world of the church as they are with the church in the world.

Under the Bodhi Tree

A Buddhist monk in the northern India state of Bihar, where legend has it the Buddha attained enlightenment, is taking local government and religious officials to task for supposedly cutting off a branch of the famed Bodhi tree. According to Buddhist history, the Awakened One meditated beneath this tree (or, as the story explains, one of its progenitors) for three days and three nights before he achieved insights into the meaning of human existence.

Since impermanence and the unhappiness that comes with grasping plays such a large role in Buddhist thought, many Buddhists are loath to attach too much importance to physical things -- even holy things. Still, this tree is considered sacred and millions of pilgrims have gathered under its shade since 6 BCE.

Circumspection about Circumcision

Some Jewish Parents Forgo Circumcision, and Tradition


RNS' Dalia Hatuqa looks the decision of some Jewish parents to skip circumcision of their sons, in this week's full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

[S]ome Jewish parents, albeit a tiny minority, are questioning whether removing a baby's foreskin is essential to Jewish identity.

Those like Evans, whose parental instincts collide with religious conviction, are part of an increasing number of U.S. families who have chosen to forgo the procedure.

Shoe, Meet Other Foot

Roman Catholic Bishop James Tobin of Providence, he of the "Rudy Giualiani = Pontius Pilate" fame, dropped by the Providence Journal for an interesting conversation with columnist M. Charles Bakst. Apparently, Tobin peppered the columnist with the types of hard questions Bakst is used to asking _ with revealing results.

Maybe it'd be good practice for journalists to produce, from time to time, the kinds of answers we frequently demand. That is: Defend your position on this incredibly complex issue right now. In four sentences or less. Please.

It wouldn't be pretty.

Community Religion

'Emerging' Jews, Like Christians, Forge a More Accessible Faith

RNS's Catherine O'Donnell looks at the emergence of "small, carefully organized" Jewish spiritual communities, in this week's full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

"Religious and community leaders across faiths are witnessing the seeming absence of an entire age cohort from organized religious life," according to a report Synagogue 3000 issued this spring. "The majority of individuals in their 20s and early 30s have no congregational affiliations; their affiliation rate is lower than that of any other age group."

Emerging Jewish groups "are reinventing the synagogue, affecting expectations about how they operate, and what it means to be a member," said [Shawn] Landres, [research director for Synagogue 3000]. "They're challenging assumptions about what sacred community is."

Conservative Catholic Commentator Tells the Pope to Get in Line

George Weigel, the papal biographer, conservative Catholic commentator and prolific man of the pen, thinks it "would be helpful" for the Vatican to "underscore" two points of particular political interest.

1) That "deliberate legislative facilitation of abortion is a grave evil that puts one outside the communion of the Church and thus renders the reception of Holy Communion a dishonest act."

2) "When local bishops choose to forbid obstinate politicians from receiving Holy Communion for this reason, they will receive the full support of the Holy See."

It may be hard to imagine the Vatican would actually manifest such blanket provisions. As several U.S. bishops have noted, in explaining their reluctance to bar any Catholic from receiving Communion, it's difficult to see into someone's soul, even if they are a public figure.

Stay tuned for more episodes of "Wafer Watch: Part Deux."

African Anglican Archbishop Decries Patrimony

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa told the South African AIDS Conference that religious communities must "move from being part of the problem to taking a lead" in ensuring that holy texts are not used to oppress women.

"In 21st century South Africa, too many men are still giving religious reasons to justify unjustifiable patriarchal attitudes within contemporary cultures -- whether rooted in Africa or beyond -- and defend indefensible actions, which are certainly not what our faiths have at their heart. This must change."

Shouldn't It Be Shorter?

Harper Collins has just put out The Atheist's Bible: by Joan Konner. It's filled with all kinds of pithiness, such as "No man of humor ever founded a religion" (Robert Ingersoll); and "I believe in God, only I spell it Nature" (Frank Lloyd Wright) but ends on a curious note from George H. W. Bush "I don't know that atheists should be regarded as citizens nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God."

Imagine if "W" said that.

Virtual Religion

Religion Takes Hold in Second Life's Cyber Universe


RNS' Shona Crabtree looks at the growth of religion in cyberspace's Second Life, a virtual online universe, in this week's full text article, linked above.

Quote:

And just like in real-life churches, mosques and synagogues, there is diversity, debate, schism and yes, more than a few holier-than-thou types. With some real-life churches taking notice, it's not just for computer geeks, either.

"This torment; this is hell."

Israel's Holocaust museum has unveiled the diary of a 14-year-old Jewish girl, 60 years after she described the desparate situation of Polish Jews confined in a ghetto.

"The rope around us is getting tighter and tighter," wrote Rutka Laskier in 1943, shortly before she was deported to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp where she died. "I'm turning into an animal waiting to die."

"Rutka's Diary," which a childhood friend of Laskier's kept in a private library for 60 years, is now on display at Yad Vashem, a museum dedicated to the Holocaust.