The Jewish Observer

Another blog, why? Why indeed should I bother to add one more voice to the conversations happening on the internet? I have thought a lot about whether to go ahead and do this, or to not bother. Am I really all that much smarter than the next person? Do I really think my perspective is so very different that people must read my words? In deciding to start this venture I did vacillate between a sense that blogging is an expression of ego, versus the thought that I might actually have something to contribute to the conversation. Clearly I decided to go ahead and here is why.
I have the privilege to be the rabbi of the main Jewish congregation in the capital of the fourth largest state in the United States. In fact, Temple Israel is the largest Jewish congregation along the I 10 corridor, west of Jacksonville and east of New Orleans. Because of the confluence of state government and two major universities, this is an intensely interesting city in which to serve. I am involved in a lot and I observe a lot. On the one hand Tallahassee is in many ways a progressive community, yet in others it is very conservative. As to Jewish presence, will let’s just say this is the “other Florida,” the one to which most Jews do NOT retire. The surrounding culture is very Christian so many of my involvements involve interfaith matters. Many times I am the spokesperson for the Jewish community. This is the deep south and I am an unabashed Yankee. So the first reason I decided to start this blog is to share a perspective born of the position fate has allowed me to occupy.
Further, I am dismayed by the tone of discussions that now exists. Whatever the media, I see lots of anger and lots of just plain craziness. Here are two examples. First, in the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, AOL ran a rare editorial outlining a recommended course of action to address violence and shootings. They invited comments and the first comment posted said that all “automatic” weapons should be banned. The second comment called the first commentator an idiot for not knowing what an automatic weapon really was. Subsequent comments descended into an ever angrier tone with people mocking and swearing at each other. Is the internet really just a tacit permission to write what you would never say in polite society? If so, how very sad.
My second example comes from inside the Jewish world. I read an article regarding the practice of metzitzah (the mohel sucking the blood of circumcision off of the wound as part of the ceremony of circumcision). Health authorities have determined this is a very dangerous health hazard and should be discontinued. I would imagine most people would be horrified at the very thought of this practice occurring. The article was well thought out and made good points about why discontinuing this practice should not even be an issue any more. Yet some of the commentary, rather than yielding to the findings of modern medicine, tried to use Jewish law to justify continuing what is clearly archaic and irrational (if you disagree I am happy to have the halachic argument another time). For some of the discussants it seemed that displaying facility in the methods of arguing Jewish law was taking precedence over just plain common sense.
My point is there is a lot of anger, a lot of irrationality, and a lot of unreasonableness – especially on the internet. My goal is to be an open minded, reasonable observer, hopefully with a touch of humor, helping to balance the scales just a little bit. I imagine a scale with two pans (like the scales of justice) with each side being loaded with opinions. On the one side is all the nastiness, the unwillingness to consider another perspective. On the other side are the voices of reason. I just want to be one of the voices loaded onto the “reasonable” side.
I have named this site “The Jewish Observer.” I am Jewish and will make observations. This is also my way to give just a little kavod (honor) to former New York Times columnist Russell Baker, who used to title his wonderful and witty column “Observer.” For years he was my favorite columnist. If you end up reading this, I hope you will enjoy.