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- ccm911 - 08-20-2009
Agreed. But it seems that there are folks out there that wish to impose their mistaken views on the rest of us. Sad, isn't it?
- dmano - 08-20-2009
Yes, Yes it is. I won't change you if you won't change me. Woman always try to change me, wonder why that is?
- APXD 30 - 08-20-2009
ccm911 wrote:
Quote:Agreed. But it seems that there are folks out there that wish to impose their mistaken views on the rest of us. Sad, isn't it?Me or you? I enjoy a good dog fight as much as the next guy (well, I guess not Chris).
- dmano - 08-21-2009
The world as a whole has been totally FUBAR'd
- catchacab - 08-21-2009
Just received this email from my Rabbi. I have to share this.
An Elul Message From Rabbi Kalev
Today marks the beginning of the last month of the Jewish year, the month of Elul. I wish you and your family a very happy and healthy month. Throughout Elul we begin to see the Holy Days creep into our liturgy as not only do we recite Psalm 27 every morning but we also listen to the blast of the shofar at the end of the service. If taken seriously, this can be a really meaningful time of healing your soul and becoming whole again in preparation for the Yamim Noraim.
It is hard to live in Philadelphia and not know that Elul also signifies that football season is almost upon us. For Eagles fans, it has been an interesting few weeks as the team signed quarterback Michael Vick who recently was released from prison after running a dog fighting ring at his home.
Last Shabbat, we had a discussion as to whether or not during this season we can grant forgiveness to Michael Vick given his horrific actions. I don't say "horrific" lightly as I truly believe that anyone who can hang a dog from a tree deserves the use of the word. Some in the congregation felt that he could not be forgiven due to his treatment against "innocent animals that were unable to defend themselves," while others felt that if we can't grant forgiveness to our fellow man, "how can we expect God to grant us forgiveness?" Not an easy question.
Judaism and its texts are truly torn as to how we should react to Michael Vick. On the one hand, you could say that he has done teshuvah by serving time in prison and now wanting to speak out against animal cruelty. Yet, the process of teshuvah also entails showing others that you have changed and can behave differently if put in a similar circumstance - therefore, we have yet to see if he truly is a different person and only time will tell. However, we all know that in Judaism when you take a life there is no forgiveness. Michael Vick cannot bring back the lives of the animals that he killed and one could make the argument that therefore, he cannot truly be forgiven.
While I know it is hard for many who love animals to distinguish between human life and animal life, Judaism does make that distinction. Humans were created in the Divine image, humans are given rule over the animal kingdom, and we are able to repair God's world in a way that animals aren't. Having said that, it is important to note that our religion also views how we treat animals in direct correlation to how we treat each other and therefore, if we treat animals cruelly, that will also be how we treat our fellow man.
I don't know what to do with Michael Vick. As a role model he truly failed. As a human who is asking for forgiveness, I think we need to wait and see. But, let us not use Vick and other people in our lives as a way of only focusing on the other and forgetting to look inward at ourselves. How easy it is to not take the time to look inside at our shortcomings and figure out how to repair them.
This week's Jewish Agency Hebrew phrase is "Kol haposel b'moomo posel" - literally translated it means, "The sculptor sculpts in his defective image." However, idiomatically, Israelis use it to say, "He who charges others as defective, is defective himself." The idea is that one who constantly criticizes or puts down others should first look within them self to see if the specific defect is a part of his own makeup. This is not like the pot calling the kettle black but rather a saying that should be internalized by all of us before we pass judgment on others.
I wish you a wonderful month of introspection and look forward to seeing you at the High Holy Days. Please join Cantor Shammash and I for a pre-High Holy Day class next week on Tuesday, August 25th at 7:00 PM as we share commentaries and music to get us in the spirit of this exciting time of year.
Finally, one last comment on Michael Vick - should he help lead the Eagles to a Superbowl Championship I wonder if forgiveness will be easier for many fans who bleed green?! Alevai - may it be so!
Rabbi Joshua Kalev
- Terry - 08-21-2009
I think maybe Chris missed the point of my analogy to the concentration camp guard who shoots the "sub-humans" under his thumb for amusement. He, like Vick, takes absolute advantage af a position of power over helpless and dependent subjects who had no choice whatever in ending up in their position. And both kill or torture those subjects, for no social purpose whatever. For the life of me, I can't see how such behavior is entitled to "you say tomAto, I say tomahto" treatment. I didn't analyze Vick on the basis of interest in dog fighting, but rather on his own abhorrent behavior. And I would feel the same about a cattle rancher who tortured his cattle before sending them to slaughter. I eat a lot of red meat but I put the humane treatment of animals in the same category as humane treatment of humans. And again, I don't believe that there is a respectable other side to that question. Now, for a more relevant question for us, what is Vick's attitude about Porsches?
- dmano - 08-22-2009
Da wats a porch