Pungus and Angus Wish You A Very Happy Hanukkah/'Chanukah Sameach'
Saturday, December 12, 2009
So Wrong...But I Can't Help Myself!
Pungus and Angus Wish You A Very Happy Hanukkah/'Chanukah Sameach'
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like.....
•Chanuka
•Chanukah
•Chanukkah
•Channukah
•Hanukah
•Hannukah
•Hanukkah
•Hanuka
•Hanukka
•Hanaka
•Haneka
•Hanika
•Khanukkah
(List from Holidays.net)
Ok I get it...I took the buzz kill class from the depressed/angry Rabbi that Chanuka is a minor holiday and that if one delves deeply it didn't even come into being because of "the miracle of the oil" but rather due to politics and fear in the Rabbinical era.
OK I get it...it was not created to compete with the Xmass Juggernaut....
OK I get it...
But I also know I miss the family memories\connection\Joy I received pre-dunk from decorating for "the holidays"... It was never about Jesus for me...overt religious symbolism was never a part of my schick. OK I get it, the idea of decorating for the holidays is religious symbolism...but I hope you are flexible enough to get what I mean.
In the before days...pre divorce...way pre conversion, I was married to a Jewish man who did not believe in anything religious....my self I identified as an ex catholic, Buddhist Unitarian Universalist. My holiday house was an eclectic mix...and Chanuka was a part of that mix.
Fast forward.......now married for the second time with only adult children...yet continuing to struggle with the December Dilemma....I have decided to throw myself into decorating for Chanuka with joy....the way I did it before, of course with a different subject.....not sure I will do a tree this year..(see last year's post December Dilemma for more info) But I have tried to connect to some of my favorite memories and am trying to rework them to fit the new aesthetic.
The thing I have fond memories of from my childhood and my daughter's childhood is the Christmas stocking.
I loved finding the little treasures...I would take, according to my family, too long exploring what was there...they would want to rush to the main event...but the stocking held mystery and joy for me. For my own child I elevated this ritual, I would take care and time to find just the right items...I would wrap them all...(my mom hated to wrap anything so nothing was wrapped for christmas...Santa didn't have to do it she would say)
So all this to say, I have made Chanuka stockings
•Chanukah
•Chanukkah
•Channukah
•Hanukah
•Hannukah
•Hanukkah
•Hanuka
•Hanukka
•Hanaka
•Haneka
•Hanika
•Khanukkah
(List from Holidays.net)
Ok I get it...I took the buzz kill class from the depressed/angry Rabbi that Chanuka is a minor holiday and that if one delves deeply it didn't even come into being because of "the miracle of the oil" but rather due to politics and fear in the Rabbinical era.
OK I get it...it was not created to compete with the Xmass Juggernaut....
OK I get it...
But I also know I miss the family memories\connection\Joy I received pre-dunk from decorating for "the holidays"... It was never about Jesus for me...overt religious symbolism was never a part of my schick. OK I get it, the idea of decorating for the holidays is religious symbolism...but I hope you are flexible enough to get what I mean.
In the before days...pre divorce...way pre conversion, I was married to a Jewish man who did not believe in anything religious....my self I identified as an ex catholic, Buddhist Unitarian Universalist. My holiday house was an eclectic mix...and Chanuka was a part of that mix.
Fast forward.......now married for the second time with only adult children...yet continuing to struggle with the December Dilemma....I have decided to throw myself into decorating for Chanuka with joy....the way I did it before, of course with a different subject.....not sure I will do a tree this year..(see last year's post December Dilemma for more info) But I have tried to connect to some of my favorite memories and am trying to rework them to fit the new aesthetic.
The thing I have fond memories of from my childhood and my daughter's childhood is the Christmas stocking.
I loved finding the little treasures...I would take, according to my family, too long exploring what was there...they would want to rush to the main event...but the stocking held mystery and joy for me. For my own child I elevated this ritual, I would take care and time to find just the right items...I would wrap them all...(my mom hated to wrap anything so nothing was wrapped for christmas...Santa didn't have to do it she would say)
So all this to say, I have made Chanuka stockings
addendum... (Jan 3rd)
just to be clear....all the decorations ...stockings and all were around for Chanuka only....and the stockings were used to deliver the daily gifts that were exchanged throughout the holiday.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Its Hard to Be A Jew Alone
Well I have taken a bit of a break from blogging, and for me blogging is truly a journal writing process...but I have not been feeling inspired....I don't want to whine....but that appears where my mood is....
As I re read what I had posted over the past year I realize I have been dealing with some depression but more descriptive melancholia.
"Melancholia (from Greek μελαγχολία - melancholia "sadness, lit. black bile"), also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, (see Saturn), in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression, characterized by low levels of enthusiasm and eagerness for activity." (thanks wiki)
In the pre-modern science days "melancholia" could be physical as well as mental...which works for the combo of my mood and physical issues..
As I completed the holiday marathon these issues and moods seemed to grow....although we belong to a synagogue community...it is hard to find folks to celebrate with...the conservative group we are members of doesn't do the lets have sabbath dinner together type activities....I think that is the reason I fantasize about becoming orthodox...Yet from a philosophical standpoint going orthodox would never work for me. I yearn for an all encompassing community...it is hard to be Jewish alone...thank goodness my husband and I have each other...but the home based nature of "celebrations" only hit home the fact we have few options if we are choosing to be even somewhat observant.
Family issues, my husband, born Jewish divorced his first wife a number of years ago..thusly fallout from that continues to reverberate with his children... they don''t engage smoothly with him/us.....and bluntly my family is no where near Jewish and although they will put up with me and my religious choice to a certain degree, it is not like they are going to fill in for an exuberant Jewish community of support and celebration.
As we approach the uber cultural divide...the Xmass on slot..this sense of isolation is only growing...I have bought some Hanukkah decorations, knowing full well it is a "minor" holiday that has been commercialized because of its time of year...and pressures...none the less it is something for me to "do" to defend against the melancholia overload....
how do other converts cope?...those in the middle of Jewish nowhere....I find this all so difficult.....
As I re read what I had posted over the past year I realize I have been dealing with some depression but more descriptive melancholia.
"Melancholia (from Greek μελαγχολία - melancholia "sadness, lit. black bile"), also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, (see Saturn), in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression, characterized by low levels of enthusiasm and eagerness for activity." (thanks wiki)
In the pre-modern science days "melancholia" could be physical as well as mental...which works for the combo of my mood and physical issues..
As I completed the holiday marathon these issues and moods seemed to grow....although we belong to a synagogue community...it is hard to find folks to celebrate with...the conservative group we are members of doesn't do the lets have sabbath dinner together type activities....I think that is the reason I fantasize about becoming orthodox...Yet from a philosophical standpoint going orthodox would never work for me. I yearn for an all encompassing community...it is hard to be Jewish alone...thank goodness my husband and I have each other...but the home based nature of "celebrations" only hit home the fact we have few options if we are choosing to be even somewhat observant.
Family issues, my husband, born Jewish divorced his first wife a number of years ago..thusly fallout from that continues to reverberate with his children... they don''t engage smoothly with him/us.....and bluntly my family is no where near Jewish and although they will put up with me and my religious choice to a certain degree, it is not like they are going to fill in for an exuberant Jewish community of support and celebration.
As we approach the uber cultural divide...the Xmass on slot..this sense of isolation is only growing...I have bought some Hanukkah decorations, knowing full well it is a "minor" holiday that has been commercialized because of its time of year...and pressures...none the less it is something for me to "do" to defend against the melancholia overload....
how do other converts cope?...those in the middle of Jewish nowhere....I find this all so difficult.....
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Yiddish........Documentary
My husband has a toy, an Internet radio that he listens to mostly in the morning...he listens to stations from all over the world. He has been listening lately to ABC Australia...they have been running a series on Yiddish.... I only get to hear bits and pieces of it...I think the below is it...it is an older BBC documentary...but I have found it interesting...hope you enjoy.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Vatican...Child Abuse...and Jews?
I was on the NPR web site looking for some info on a story I heard this morning when I came upon this...it is not that long....I made it easy to find the point....hummmmmm interesting strategy...point at the other guys!
Foreign Policy: The Vatican And Child Abuse
by David Rothkopf
Enlarge Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Bishops pose their hands on clergymen during their ordination as bishops during a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Bishops pose their hands on clergymen during their ordination as bishops during a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
text sizeAAAOctober 1, 2009
I am beginning to think that John Edwards, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Octomom, and Jon Gosselin have joined together to form their own public relations firm ... and that their first client is the Vatican. I have come to this conclusion because it is impossible for me to imagine any other group of people giving the Holy See the kind of P.R. advice they seem to be getting.
The evidence came in yesterday's extraordinary statement from the Vatican "defending" themselves against attacks that they have not done enough to combat sexual abuse by priests. Rather than contritely focusing on all they have done to address this cancer on their credibility, they offered a response that will be studied in schools for years to come, whether in classes seeking to offer a lesson in how not to handle a crisis or in those offering an advanced degree in miscalculated chutzpah.
Following a meeting with the U.N. Human Rights Council meant to address concerns that the Church was failing to respond appropriately to a long history of members of the clergy abusing their flocks, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi read a statement that was undoubtedly considered by some spin doctor-equivalent somewhere to advance their case but which actually probably amounted to more convincing proof that the Vatican doesn't get it on this issue than anything discussed behind closed doors with the United Nations.
Among their points:
They argued that "available research" showed that only 1.5 to 5 percent of the clergy engaged in child sex abuse. Which is to say that they seemed to think that possibly having one out of every 20 priests taking advantage of the children in their parishes was not really such a big number. After all, it's only 6,000 to 20,000 priests worldwide.
Tomasi then went on to quote statistics suggesting that in the U.S. protestant churches actually had a much worse child sex abuse problem and that sexual abuse was also common in Jewish communities. "They're doing it too," was never a very good defense when I was in elementary school and in this case, it seems a particularly ill-considered line of argument. Compounding the mistake, he also argued that family members, neighbors and babysitters were far more likely to molest children than priests. While all this may be true, it does not exactly sound like they were focused on accepting responsibility for actions within their own organization. Not being a Catholic, I'm not sure of the procedures, but I'm pretty sure that the proper drill at confession is "forgive me Father for I have sinned" and not "well, yes, Father I may have sinned, but I wasn't the only one."
As reported in the Guardian, the statement then took what was probably its most bizarre turn:
The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would "be more correct" to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males.
"Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."
Aha. Well, I don't know about you, but now I feel much better about things. Most of the 6,000-20,000 priests who are abusing children at a rate somewhat lower than that of other religious groups are doing it with somewhat older kids. That puts things in a whole different light! I'm sure the whole ephebophilia defense will have altar boy enrollments skyrocketing in no time at all.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Vatican's response neither satisfied the man accusing it of covering up sex abuse within the Church nor did it sit very well with representatives of other religions. Keith Porteous Wood, of the NGO that charged the Catholic Church with violating several provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, said not enough had been done by the Church to address its internal problems or to open its records to permit civil prosecution of wrong-doers.
Protestant and Jewish representatives were quick to respond condemning the Church's attempt to spread around the blame and defending their own approaches to the problem.
Had these other religious groups asked my advice, I might have told them to simply remain silent and let the Archbishop Tomasi have the limelight and the microphone all to himself. It is hard to imagine what the Church could possibly do to look worse than it already did in the face of a global scandal that has cost it $2 billion in settlements in the United States alone. Hard to imagine ... and yet somehow, that's precisely what it did.
Foreign Policy: The Vatican And Child Abuse
by David Rothkopf
Enlarge Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Bishops pose their hands on clergymen during their ordination as bishops during a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Bishops pose their hands on clergymen during their ordination as bishops during a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009.
text sizeAAAOctober 1, 2009
I am beginning to think that John Edwards, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Octomom, and Jon Gosselin have joined together to form their own public relations firm ... and that their first client is the Vatican. I have come to this conclusion because it is impossible for me to imagine any other group of people giving the Holy See the kind of P.R. advice they seem to be getting.
The evidence came in yesterday's extraordinary statement from the Vatican "defending" themselves against attacks that they have not done enough to combat sexual abuse by priests. Rather than contritely focusing on all they have done to address this cancer on their credibility, they offered a response that will be studied in schools for years to come, whether in classes seeking to offer a lesson in how not to handle a crisis or in those offering an advanced degree in miscalculated chutzpah.
Following a meeting with the U.N. Human Rights Council meant to address concerns that the Church was failing to respond appropriately to a long history of members of the clergy abusing their flocks, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi read a statement that was undoubtedly considered by some spin doctor-equivalent somewhere to advance their case but which actually probably amounted to more convincing proof that the Vatican doesn't get it on this issue than anything discussed behind closed doors with the United Nations.
Among their points:
They argued that "available research" showed that only 1.5 to 5 percent of the clergy engaged in child sex abuse. Which is to say that they seemed to think that possibly having one out of every 20 priests taking advantage of the children in their parishes was not really such a big number. After all, it's only 6,000 to 20,000 priests worldwide.
Tomasi then went on to quote statistics suggesting that in the U.S. protestant churches actually had a much worse child sex abuse problem and that sexual abuse was also common in Jewish communities. "They're doing it too," was never a very good defense when I was in elementary school and in this case, it seems a particularly ill-considered line of argument. Compounding the mistake, he also argued that family members, neighbors and babysitters were far more likely to molest children than priests. While all this may be true, it does not exactly sound like they were focused on accepting responsibility for actions within their own organization. Not being a Catholic, I'm not sure of the procedures, but I'm pretty sure that the proper drill at confession is "forgive me Father for I have sinned" and not "well, yes, Father I may have sinned, but I wasn't the only one."
As reported in the Guardian, the statement then took what was probably its most bizarre turn:
The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would "be more correct" to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males.
"Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."
Aha. Well, I don't know about you, but now I feel much better about things. Most of the 6,000-20,000 priests who are abusing children at a rate somewhat lower than that of other religious groups are doing it with somewhat older kids. That puts things in a whole different light! I'm sure the whole ephebophilia defense will have altar boy enrollments skyrocketing in no time at all.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Vatican's response neither satisfied the man accusing it of covering up sex abuse within the Church nor did it sit very well with representatives of other religions. Keith Porteous Wood, of the NGO that charged the Catholic Church with violating several provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, said not enough had been done by the Church to address its internal problems or to open its records to permit civil prosecution of wrong-doers.
Protestant and Jewish representatives were quick to respond condemning the Church's attempt to spread around the blame and defending their own approaches to the problem.
Had these other religious groups asked my advice, I might have told them to simply remain silent and let the Archbishop Tomasi have the limelight and the microphone all to himself. It is hard to imagine what the Church could possibly do to look worse than it already did in the face of a global scandal that has cost it $2 billion in settlements in the United States alone. Hard to imagine ... and yet somehow, that's precisely what it did.
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