The Evolving Jew

Here's something I posted on my "Philo" Facebook account today (that's the account I use for "blogging" type material, as opposed to my regular FB account): ------------------------------------------------ Earlier today, I wrote, here on Facebook: "Happy Pride Week to all my LGBT friends!". But I wrote it only on this account, my "blogging" Facebook account. I'm hardly anonymous. My real name (David Staum) is right there next to "Philo" on my main page. But the whole reason I have 2 Facebook accounts is to have one for keeping in touch with family & friends, who range from very conservative to very liberal, very Jewish to very non-Jewish, etc, and another account, this one, for discussing my opinions on politics, social issues, religion, philosophy, etc. So even though I would like to, I didn't write the same message about Pride Week on my "real" account. And I'm conflicted about that. It's

In Bamidbar Rabba, Chukat 3, it recounts instances of Shlomo's Hamelech's (King Solomon's) deep understanding of everything, reflecting his exceptional wisdom. But at the end of all this, it quotes Shlomo himself saying that despite all his attempts at studying it, he could not understand the nature of Para Aduma, the Red Heifer, which was burned to ash, after which the ashes were used for ritual purification (Bamidbar 19). Which, of course, doesn't mean that Shlomo couldn't understand it. He presumably would have, as a king at a time when these laws were paramount. What the midrash really means is that they (the authors of Bamidbar Rabba), living 1,000 years later than Shlomo at the very least, and perhaps much later, were no longer comfortable with the idea. The authors of the Midrash were certainly comfortable with the idea of korbanot (sacrifices) in general. But Parah Adumah is different. It's not really a korban in the sense we think of it: It is ent

In this week's parsha, we have the story of "Mey Merivah", where Moshe hits the rock instead of speaking to it. As a little kid, I got very confused, experiencing deja vu when learning Chumash. For example: Avimelech of Gerar wanted Yitzchak's wife? So Yitzchak told the king that Rivka was his sister? Wait - didn't that happen with Avraham? Or did I confuse Avraham and Yitzchak? And of course, Moshe and the rock. Studying Parshat Chukat in class as a kid: Wait, didn't I study this before? Why do I remember it as Hashem TELLING Moshe to hit the rock? He was supposed to speak to it? I'm so confused! Of course, as a got a little older, I paid attention to my teachers, who explained to me that there were NOT the same incident. Similar events occurred, but they happened twice. In the case of Mey Merivah, the 2 incidents happened 40 years apart. And the fact that the two places had the same name was just coincidence. Or Bnei Yisrael, having experienced a

In the wake of the kidnapping of the 3 young men in Israel, I've read a lot of lofty sentiment, how we are all united, all Jews seeing themselves as parents or siblings of these boys. And that's a beautiful idea. It really is. If nothing else, it must help their families, knowing that everyone is praying and hoping with them, as they deal with this nightmare situation. If only people left it there. But apparently "achdut" also means making your particular political point. It means hatred spewed at anyone who doesn't agree with your exact interpretation of events. It means a chance to bash, in ugly terms, politicians, journalists, and leaders who don't jump on a jingoistic bandwagon that apparently is deeply integral to the search for these three young men. It means blatantly misrepresenting facts with no shame. It means a chance to spew racism and xenophobia. It means contempt for fellow Jews whose only crime is not to sign on to your personal crusade.

A historical "what if" question. Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century. But in prior centuries, Judaism was a massively proselytizing religion, in Rome and beyond. And though the historicity of this is doubtful, according to the Talmud the emperor "Antoninus" (identification uncertain) actually did embrace Judaism. So here's the question. What if, instead of converting to Christianity, the Roman Empire had become Jewish? What would the world look like today? Would Judaism and Islam have been the great historical rivals, instead of Christianity and Islam? Would Islam even have existed? What would Judaism look like? Would a Jewish Rome have rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem? Or would they have shifted the centrality of the religion to Rome itself? Would Judaism still be a religion of shuls and Torah learning? Or would it look very much like the Catholic Church, with grandiose Cathedrals and a pope-lik