To Catch a Thief

It's a beautiful day and I don't want to go negative, but I have to say something about Roman Polanski and his defenders.

Having grown up with this story, and never hearing of Mr. Polanski claiming innocence, I have always assumed that Polanski escaped justice in the rape case involving a thirteen-year-old girl.

I find it loathesome that many are defending him as an artist, as if that should stop him from having to plead, strike a deal or apologize to the person he wronged.

There's really no point in focusing on Mr. Polanski's sad personal story. If he were a character in a play, maybe. But in real life the focus should be equally shared by the other person in this drama. If the then thirteen-year-old has now forgiven her exploiter, that's her business. And why is it okay to publicly identify her? Leave her alone.

However, the ramifications of publicity and lack of justice have also affected our culture. I'm talking about those who would side with a grown man in his forties giving drugs to and having sex with a 13-year-old person.

Who would defend children against these predatory jerks? She may have forgiven him, but it was still wrong of him to have done it. I think Polanski should be a real man and stand in a court.

The exploitation of youngsters has to stop. The damage done to a person at such a critical time changes them forever. What of her dreams and aspirations? Are these not of equal merit?

Why is it to okay to abuse some people while others are protected by wealth and connections? Is it all right to lie and lure people to their own enslavement, a la the sex trade, for example? No way. Yet there are those who have no sympathy for naive people being taken advantage of. It's as if they think "well, that'd never happen to me, so what do I care?" That's selfish and wrong. By not identifying with the wronged, a person identifies with the exploiter. It's like the jerk in "The Accused" who didn't rape the Jodie Foster character but stood there cheering the others on.

Women who don't condemn this Polanski's actions and others like him see themselves as better than their sisters--or blindly turn an eye--as the Mackenzie Phillips story allegedly seems to have unfolded. Lucky and hard-hearted is more like it. Men who support him identify themselves as clear as day.

And I can see that now. But as a thirteen year old I would not have; heck, as a seventeen or eighteen year old I still couldn't. Just because some people act more mature or seem physically mature at that age, does not make them so. Emotional development can take years into adulthood. And kids with disabilities or "invisible" differences in respect to the neurotypical world, like Aspergers, are even more at risk.

It's hard enough getting to adulthood with self-esteem intact without having to accept the abuse or advances of those who should know better.

And so, as an adult, I say the law must protect young people and allow them their awkward innocence, their precociousness, but never cross the line and treat them as one might an adult. There was no consent.

Taking Stock

For me taking stock is an ongoing process. There are some things I've noticed...

Sharing is what it is about. People shouldn't throw stones. And leaders ought to strive to make peace, not war.

Striving for peace enables us to help repair the world. But looking to dominate or live out of balance leads to war.

It may sound naive to push for peace when war clouds are looming...but I believe, intention has something to do with creating a future.

Do we really want war? Really? Who wins?

On the other hand we must prepare ourselves to fight and defend ourselves; however, striving to make peace at every opportunity could do wonders. Although, knowing human nature...even the peaceful warrior sometimes has the urge to fight back. So, to gather one's focus and use it for the good of all/including my own I strive for peace. The other direction is chaos.

Ahmadinejad is a repressive would-be messiah/mahdi who can't even acknowledge the truth of recent history. He seems impossible to deal with as he funds hatred and disinformation. He and his party oppress their own countrymen while paying Hamas and Hizbullah to foment war. And the whole underground nuke facility is potentially catastrophic.

Netanyahu is too proud. He thinks he is Abba Eban. He may be facile with words but does he have what it takes to make peace?

The whole struggle for Jerusalem saddens me. I liked Teddy Kollek's view of sharing respectfully--a democratic way for the complexities of social life.

Since then the build up of settlements for some and denial of building rights for others is out of balance--undemocratic. Using religion as a wedge to increase imbalance is the wrong way.

I grew up with a limited view; we all do. I was proud of Jewish soldiers standing in awe once more at the Western Wall. I thought most Israelis lived communally on kibbutzim. Boy, was I wrong. Upon arrival I was surprised to notice wealthy enclaves in a few neighborhoods of Tel Aviv. This was antithetical to the egalitarian myth I'd grown up with. I, the daughter of a self-employed mechanic and homemaker/bookkeeper. Though I proudly told my friends that dad was a car doctor, we didn't have the funds to give me extras like summer camp.

So, I was annoyed with the wealth disparities evident in Israel, the blooming desert to whom we gave coins of tzedakah each week at Sunday School.

There were remote "development" towns whose residents seemed to live in East bloc shambles...cinder block hulks in a barren wasteland. These were people with fewer connections. And the Palestinians, whether Israeli citizens or not, did not seem to have equal access to what the richer areas had. But, the saying went, they had it better than in most Arab countries. To me, it was a disillusioning sight and made me want to see civil rights for all in that special land.

I am grateful for the work of B'Tselem, the New Israel Fund and Meretz, but there's a long way to go, as one could argue about almost any other country.

And then there's the irony of President Obama in Cairo acknowledging Mecca and Medina as the birthplace of Islam...places where other religions are forbidden or repressed in public. It left me wondering if he is biding his time when he speaks the parallel of Jerusalem, and Judaism. What's the problem with Jewish state of Israel having sovereinty there, especially if the religious shrines are governed by their own?

Perhaps, it's the complexity of having many faiths that are connected to that place, because of their connection to an even older faith or culture that came before?

It's tricky as is the situation in Hebron where the tombs of the patriarchs/matriarchs stand. Where is the sense of sharing? Of common ancestry? Some see it; others don't. And they are on both sides. So, the conflict can continue unless we stop the cycle of taking power without sharing and being fair to all, regardless of their parentage.

Sometimes, being a person in this world all seems too much.

So, at this time of reflection I ask for forgiveness for not being perfect. I acknowledge that I cannot be so, and yet I must strive always for what is right. That way I'll contribute to the solution and not the problem. I am grateful to the One/None for the opportunity.

Birthday Wish

On this journey...

It's hard not to see the present political impasse as thoses w/eyes wide shut and those with eyes wide open.

It may lie somewhere in between, as inevitably, none of us has a perfect view alone and benefits from other points-of-view. But beware the true believers.

Ever since I heard the story of Gog and Magog, sitting in the sanctuary at Temple Israel in Bay City, I always thought of it as Gog versus Magog. Recently, rereading the text I wonder where that idea came from. The Soncino Haftorah clearly states in the commentary that Gog was from the land of Magog, or that Magog was somehow affiliated to Gog. Although the Wikipedia reference also mentions supernatural beings and older folklore references.

Why then do I have a vivid memory/vision of two giant-like foes wrestling or battling one another? Like binary stars they are chaos and cosmos in my mind. But, perhaps, what I took away from the story is that there is a struggle between forces of darkness and light, and often each side sees it from only their own perspective.

If Gog represents the invader to the land of Israel, then it's not surprising that readers of the Tanakh, Bible and Koran have interpreted the meaning in different ways. If taken literally, there was or is a specific representative of Gog. But even, if considering it metaphorically, is it only a story of fear of the other and ultimate destruction as outlined in the scary story/prophecy of Armageddon?

Just because humans could follow that path, should they? Just because a vision or story exists, does that command obeisance? A self-fulfilling prophecy?

I like what I took away from my discussion with my rabbi. Here was a man who questioned things. He was spiritual but he was an intellectual, too.

Wasn't this story reflective of forces, not good and evil, but of chaos and cosmos? A sort of yin and yang, two parts of a whole?

Perhaps both are necessary, but perhaps, if one isn't to gain the advantage, there needs to be balance. And if having to choose one side which would it be? Well, chaos is definitely scary and by definition leads to destruction. Whereas cosmos evokes a vision of balance...it's not some uber grid of control smacked down on the world by Big Brother. Rather, it's the making of sense...the reaching out to the other in truth. It's harmony.

If there is a struggle between good and evil, it originates in each of us. It's imperative to take up the responsibility of this self-examination. One mustn't blindly give over their soul. Each of us was made with a brain...some say for a reason.

It's like we each carry a/the universe inside us...we each have a perspective, and it would behoove us to respect that.

In this age of have and have nots, it's apparent that public access to health care and education will come when individuals unite and speak their truth to power.

I, for one, will not allow some corporate entity, or representative thereof, to make me out as less deserving of respect and human dignity than one of their chosen employees.

I believe that all people deserve rights, respect and a chance to evolve their potential...for good. I want to be a part of that solution.

The current stalemate is not keeping the world in balance. It's time for healing and acknowledging that one can come from any backgroung/faith/heritage and be a good person...a light unto the nations.

We ought to strive for the betterment of us all, not in some dogmatic fearmongering way, but by living our lives with eyes wide open and believing in ourselves. The dance of balance. Warriors of wisdom.

Good luck with that.

Gog & Magog

It's been almost 32 years since I didn't chant my Haftorah portion for my Bat Mitzvah...a mute protest for not being allowed to read from the Torah because of my gender. But the discussion of the story of Gog and Magog I had with my rabbi, as chaos versus cosmos, held me rapt.

This story from the book of Ezekiel at first seemed depressing and war-filled. He encouraged me to see the metaphors, the bigger picture. People had a choice to devolve into chaos and destroy all that is good in the world, or we could work toward attaining a whole, more perfect world--the messianic era.

Rabbi K., the sole survivor of a German farming family wiped out by the Nazis, had studied with Martin Buber; he had escaped to Switzerland during World War II and came to the United States. He even lived in Jerusalem for a time. A man of peace, Rabbi K was invited to the Rose Garden by President Jimmy Carter for the famous handshake between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat.

His Friday night sermons often included references to the Talmud, Josephus Flavius, Maimonedes, Spinoza, as well as the great philosophers and scientists of the Twentieth Century. I remember sitting in the sanctuary on Shabbat, watching the light play on the stained glass rectangles behind the ark and the eternal flame, feeling my mind expand. He wrote two books, The Age of Idolism and Whence comes Evil?

Because I was interested in justice, he guided me toward the writings of Ahad Ha'am, the Israeli who was for living side-by-side in peace with his neighbor. We also discussed Plato and Eric Hoffer's works.

Now, in the season of introspection and renewal, I am again thinking of my unchanted portion and others who have evoked this war of Gog and Magog, most recently George W. Bush. His mistake has cost many dearly.

And with the current Holocaust-denying president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stirring the pot of hatred, it's clear he wants to perpetuate the disharmony between the people of the world. Denying the truth of people's real suffering leads to more...and maybe that's what Ahmadinejad intends. Disinformation leads to chaos. It's scary.

Some see death and destruction as a mutual way to take down "the enemy;" others struggle to teach the necessity of harmony--if not unity.

With today's hopeful meeting between President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, I sincerely want cooler heads prevail.

Who is counting on chaos to win? Let's not allow the world sprial into that abyss.