I just found out about the ‘Asifa’ gathering last Sunday, May 20, at Citi Field in Queens New York.  This was a gathering of roughly 40,000 Ultra Orthodox Jewish men who assembled against the evils of the internet – in particular it seems, pornography and the secular world that could influence their children.

40,000 Ultra Orthodox Men gather at Citi Field in New York to protest the Internet.

In other words, 40,000 Ultra Orthodox men gathered to state the obvious concerns their communities have about pornography and secularism.  The assembly allowed them to blame the internet for why their children misbehave so much they must be beaten.  Perhaps it is the non-kosher food advertised on the internet that is causing their children to act out and therefore they should be denied food completely.  Maybe it’s all the female voices you can hear singing on the internet that has caused their children to speak up with questions, resulting in making sure their children can’t express any opinion other than their parents’.

If anyone of those 40,000 men could guarantee me that if we block the internet from reaching their communities it will result in their children being nurtured and nourished, free to express their opinions and free of fear of being beaten and abused, I would be the first one organizing petitions.  But of course, why look to the cause of a problem when you won’t even acknowledge there is a problem?  Why search internally for those who desecrate God’s Holy Name by tormenting young ones when it is so easy to blame the internet as the culprit?

Photo Credit: James Estrin/The New York Times

Not since Sinai have tens of thousands of Jews agreed together on something.  Except at Sinai we agreed to accept Torah and its values of peace and wisdom.  This time it was to agree to ignore the issues that profane Torah values and focus on the obvious nonsense that clouds their view.

Not one of our proudest moments.

Just outside of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, a young man wore a t-shirt to his high school that resulted in his being suspended from the school.  William Swinimer, 19, wore a t-shirt that said “Life is Wasted Without Jesus”.  Many students were offended by the shirt (no brainer) and it has sparked really interesting legal debates on the role of religion within someone’s private life as it relates to their freedom of expression.  Ed Morgan, a Canadian legal expert published a great article outlining some of this in the Globe & Mail (May 9, 2012)

In my opinion, there is no question that I am offended anyone would think I wasted my life because Jesus is not my saviour.  But that’s about as far as it goes.  As a Jew, I can think of things that are displayed publicly all the time that are far worse attacks on my heritage and my personal choice.  There is no question that Swinimer lacks sensitivity and judgment in choosing this shirt but I don’t think it crosses legal lines.  I’m more concerned with living in such a politically correct world that we are never allowed to express ourselves in any unique way because we will most certainly be offending someone.

On the one hand we want to control all forms of personal expression that someone else might be hurt by and on the other hand we worry that we’re raising a generation of self-entitled professionals who expect the world to cater to them and look for any and every reason to complain about life being unfair.  Maybe if some of these professionals had to navigate a somewhat less sterile environment of expression earlier in their lives they would have a more realistic expectation of the world.

I don’t condone people insulting and offending each other all the time (I wouldn’t recognize Canada in such a world) but every now and then it’s good to shake things up and do a double check on our freedoms.

In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world, so He took the Sabbath off.  Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.

Noah’s wife was called Joan of Ark.  Noah built an ark, which the animals came on to in pears.

Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.

The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with the unsympathetic Genitals.

Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebel like Delilah.

Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.  Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Amendments. The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.  The Fifth Commandment is to humor thy father and mother. The seventh Commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.

Moses died before he ever reached Canada.  The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

David was a Hebrew king who fought with the Finklesteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.

One of the areas of Jewish environmentalism that doesn’t often get spoken of is Shabbat. We most often think of Shabbat as a spiritual time. This is a time for rest but not typical physical rest, rather spiritual engagement, discussion, family time etc.

All of that is true but there is another component that touches on environmentalism. One of the ideas behind Shabbat is the concept of self-discipline and withholding myself from imposing onto the world around me. For one day a week I am reminded that I am ‘part of’ and not ‘owner of’ the world.

On Shabbat I must respect the natural world around me and refrain from interfering in its natural process. I should not be pulling grass our or killing bugs or chopping wood or any of the other ways in which I assert myself onto nature and dictate what should happen.

Take a moment on Shabbat to notice how you can restrain yourself in this way and create yet another level of meaning to the Jewish Sabbath.