August 2009

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While there have been plenty of Jewish pop musicians in American history, from the jazz age to the world of heavy metal in the 70's and 80s as well as the diverse grounds of hip hop, few, if any, of them have actively pursued music with overtly Jewish themes. This only follows the non-proselytizing stance of Judaism and there's also the question of whether or not there's enough of a market to support pop artists who make religious Jewish music. Compared to the multi-million dollar industry of Christian pop, which is intended as an alternative to morally questionable secular pop, Jewish music is a tiny niche market. That's what makes the mainstream success of Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu so inexplicable. His work has gone far beyond the novelty that first garnered it attention while still introducing listeners to Jewish spirituality in a very inviting way.

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Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. The Torah portion for this week is Parsha Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9.

There is something of a problem with large-scale social order based on religious mysticism. Namely, that any literate person who can put on a good act is capable of pretending to have divine knowledge. This issue is the basis of a significant portion of the written laws of ancient civilizations. A particularly well-known case is that of the Babylonian king Hammurabi. In approximately 1790 BCE, King Hammurabi told his people that the gods had come to him the night before and told him the law. This is hardly the earliest case of codified law in the ancient world, but it stands out by its explicit claim of divine ordination. This is all well and good for just, fair laws, but it's easy to see how dubious claims of godly inspiration can result in tyranny.

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Over the course of my life I have heard many definitions of what it means to be Jewish. There are those who say it is an ethnicity, others a culture, still others who contend that it can only be a religious philosophy. Frankly, I don't think that any of these designations are entirely accurate. By the same token, I think it's important that we do come to an understanding of just what Judaism or the Jewish life is. I would like to submit, however humbly and inadequately given the limits of this blog, that Judaism is best defined as a civilization.

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Since the early 1980's the most prominent figure of modern sexual psychology has improbably been a short, sweet and often grandmotherly woman named Karola Ruth Westheimer. Most of us know her better as Dr. Ruth. Her frank, thoughtful approach to human sexual relationships now comes with the label "Sex-Positive Culture" and any modern psychologist worth his or her salt is familiar with it. What a lot of people don't know is that the gentle old lady who gives good-natured sex advice is also a dedicated Zionist and a war hero.