IJII

We are pleased to announce the three winners of the University Network essay contest.

GAIL (GILA) HELLER, Brandeis University:  "Feminism, Orthodoxy and Spirituality: My Journey to Wearing a Kippah and Back Again"

NOAH LEAVITT, Bernard Revel Graduate School and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah: "The Ethical Impulse in Kabbalah"

BARUCH PELTA, Touro College South: "Judaism: To Thine Own Self Be True"

Each of the winners will receive a cash prize from the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. The winning essays will soon be posted on the website of the Institute (www.jewishideas.org).

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Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh was one of the outstanding students of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zaccai, in the generation after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. He was described as an overflowing fountain, filled with Torah knowledge and intellectual creativity. He was so brilliant that the Pirkei Avot suggests that if all the scholars were on one side of the scale and Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh was on the other side of the scale, he alone would outweigh all of them in greatness.

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The Me'am Lo'ez, the classic Ladino biblical commentary (Turkey, 18th century), draws on midrashic sources in describing the two sets of the Ten Commandments. The original Revelation on Mount Sinai was a highly dramatic episode. Moses ascended the mountain, as the people of Israel gathered below with great anticipation. The scene was marked by thunder and lightning and the sound of the shofar.The voice of God was heard by all.

Yet, shortly afterward, the Israelites were dancing around a golden calf! When Moses came down the mountain and witnessed this idolatrous behavior, he threw down and shattered the tablets of the law.

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Shalom. I hope you've had a good Purim.  Here are a few items for members of the University Network.

1. We have received good submissions to our essay contest. The due date is today. If you are still planning to submit something, you may do so until midnight tonight. You should email a copy to mdangel@jewishideas.org and to ronda@jewishideas.org, and you should indicate which university you attend and what year you're in. The deadline is firm--no extensions.

2. If you haven't yet signed up for our online discussion group, please do so. If you are signed up, please feel free to share your comments with the rest of the group. We now have about 200 members of the University Network, and you are part of a really impressive group.

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Recent news stories have focused on the controversies within the Orthodox Jewish community relating to women serving in roles of religious leadership. In due course, I may comment on the specific charges and counter-charges. But for now, I want to comment on a statement issued by the so-called "Council of Torah Sages" of the Agudath Israel.

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The Megillah pays close attention to what Mordecai wears. When he learns of the evil decree against the Jews, "Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry." Mordecai had been one of the regulars at the king's gate--but the king did not allow people dressed in sackcloth to enter the royal precincts. In her distress, Esther sent Mordecai a change of clothes, which Mordecai rejected.

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A kabbalistic teaching has it that we come closer to God through the power of giving--giving love, charity, kindness.  A truly religious person is characterized by an overwhelming desire to share with others, to act selflessly with purity of heart.

On the other hand, we become more distant from God through the power of taking--trying to amass as much as possible for ourselves--more material goods, more honor, more egotistical satisfaction. We cannot exist without the power of taking, since we must fulfill our basic material needs. But when we exert this power excessively, we drift further and further from God.

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When we ultimately must come before the heavenly court and stand in judgment for our lives, what is the very first question we will be asked? According to the Talmudic sage Rava (Shabbat 31a), the question will be: "did you conduct your business dealings faithfully?"

We will not be asked about the quantity of our estate, but about the quality of how we obtained it. Were we honest, trustworthy, fair? Did we earn a good reputation for uprightness, morality, compassion?

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I recently saw an ad on TV featuring ex-Mayor Ed Koch of New York City. He, of course, is Jewish, and has always been vocal on behalf of Israel and Jewish issues in general. In the ad, he states that he recently had heart surgery at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and has invited doctors and staff to a steak dinner at a fancy (non-kosher) steak restaurant. It has also been rumored that Mayor Koch has made arrangements (may he live and be well for many years) to be buried in the cemetery of Trinity Church in downtown New York City.

It is a free country and Mayor Koch has the right to make decisions as he sees fit. But I--and I suppose others--feel disappointed in Mayor Koch's decisions.

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