On the first day of חנוכה...

On the first day of חנוכה the Hanuka-bush gave to us a lecture and an Open-mike night.

At Hebrew University this afternoon the new-ish Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary gave a short lecture, open to the public. The topic as announced was about Heschel and his relationship to Martin Luther King, Jr., but Jon went just to be able to hear the new leader of the Conservative Rabbi factory. The speech wound up being about Heschel's approach to activism and human rights, and seemed to boil down to the premise that each of us has a connection to G-d, and therefore should be able to feel His pain at the injustices being perpetrated on His creations, and should react accordingly. An interesting side-point that arose was the idea that Jewish law, as written in the Bible, is entirely open to interpretation, with no strictly defined limits on what those interpretations are or can be. This is a provocative position for the new Chancellor to take, for what sort of direction can he give to the movement if he believes there are many allowable halachic stances? We understand pluralism and inclusion, but how is this a religion if there are no guidelines?

At night we attended the Pardes Chanuka party/silent auction/talent show, which came along with free latkes and sufganiyot (the rating has been added to the appropriate post below). It was a lot of fun to hang out with Rina's school-chums, and to see their various "talents" at work; there were skits, raps, poems, songs, and musical performances, most of which seemed to require some sort of skill on the part of the performer. The proceeds from the auction went toward supporting the Polish Jewish community, and some of the item available, like gourmet dinners, massages, acupuncture, and shooting lessons were alluring. Overall it was a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend the holiday's second night.