Following is a post from guest blogger, Rabbi Jason Miller. Visit his blog at http://blog.rabbijason.com. 

Tonight begins the festival of Shavuot, the holiday in which the Jewish people celebrate the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Perhaps, the questions about the revelation of the Torah (when, what, how, if, and to whom) are the questions that divide the Jewish people today more than any other questions. The divisions among the modern denominations of Judaism all stem from the question of how the Torah was revealed to the Jewish people. The way in which individuals in the Jewish community consider the event that occurred at Mt. Sinai several millennia ago has vast implications for their approach to the Jewish faith. The sheer magnitude of that event, however, should force us all to transcend denominational differences and feel the power of community – whichever community we choose.

Never has the spiritual force of revelation affected me more than it did on the early morning of May 31, 1998. I had recently graduated college and was spending Shavuot at a local synagogue, where I served as the youth director. The assistant rabbi decided that the congregation would offer an all-night Tikkun Leil Shavuot (study session) and then a dawn service just before 5:00 in the morning.

It was a memorable night with many opportunities for Torah study with several wonderful teachers including three eighth-grade day school students. With delicious snacks and caffeinated beverages, about thirty of us managed to stay up the entire night. We decided to hold the minyan outdoors in the courtyard so we could enjoy the sunrise while we prayed.

The Torah service that morning took on new meaning for me. The Torah was paraded around and I had the sense that we really were at Sinai claiming what God had lovingly gifted to us. As I stood at the Torah for my aliyah, the sky began to get dark again. The Torah reader pronounced, “On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning…” As the words “thunder” and “lightning” were uttered, a huge thunderstorm ensued. The Torah reader managed to get out a few more words, chanting “…and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain.”

At that point, the sky opened up and the heavy rains began. We grabbed the Torah and ran inside where the Torah reading was completed. As I wiped the raindrops from my glasses, I remember thinking that this must be divine revelation. This was the epitome of holiness. This existential experience was full of awe and majesty, thunderclaps, and lightning bolts. Best of all, it was shared with community.

This was a liminal moment in my life. That experience has had a lasting effect on my life in the decade since. Being shaken by the thunder, seeing the lightning, and hearing the words of our Torah convinced me that I really did stand at Sinai. We were all there together. As a community.

That was my revelation. What was revealed to me? The power of community. Was I really at Mt. Sinai several thousand years ago? Maybe not physically there, but with this community, during that early morning storm it was as if I were there. And that is the message of Sinai. A community gathered to receive a gift from God. How that gift is interpreted thousands of years later should not take away from the magic of that moment.

At a time when some segments of the global Jewish community do not recognize other segments as Jewish, let us put aside our denominational differences and hearken back to Sinai. One Torah was given to the entire community. Let us stand again at Sinai with our brothers and sisters, and feel the power of community.

Rabbi Jason Miller was ordained as a Conservative rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2004 where he was the first Gladstein Rabbinic Fellow and also received a Master’s Degree from the William Davidson School of Jewish Education. He is currently the Rabbi of Tamarack Camps, a Jewish camping agency. Additionally, he serves as the director of ATID (Alliance for Teens in Detroit), a Conservative Jewish high school program for teenagers in Metro Detroit, and leads Congregation T’chiyah. He serves on several committees of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and is a board member of JARC, a community-based Jewish residential services agency for individuals with developmental disabilities. He is an alumni of the STAR Foundation’s PEER (Professional Education for Excellence in Rabbis) program, which focuses on spiritual leadership, communication and practical skills for non-profit management. He is also a fellow in CLAL’s Rabbis without Borders fellowship. Rabbi Miller writes and lectures about modern technology’s effect on Jewish life, particularly the impact of the Internet on the global Jewish community. His blog is at http://blog.rabbijason.com; follow him on Twitter.com: @rabbijason.

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends

Filed under: GUEST POSTS, Holidays, Judaism, Rabbi Jason Miller | 1 Comment »

Will you lose your PBS station due to religious content?

Public TV stations in the United States are not permitted to air religious programming. So on June 16, PBS (Public Broadcast System) will decide whether to remove its name from stations that broadcast religious services. If a station loses its PBS designation, it would in turn lose PBS-created shows like Sesame Street.

Areas with PBS stations in question include New Orleans; Provo, Utah; and a station in Texas; and stations in two other states.

Learn more about the debate from PBS ombudsman Michael Getler.

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends

Filed under: Religion and Ethics, Religion and Law | 1 Comment »

Recently a woman in France accused the Church of Scientology of conning her out of $30,000. She claims the group convinced her to buy vitamins, thereby acting “illegally as a pharmacy” and conning people. Her trial against the church came to court on Monday.

If guilty, the entire sect would be shut down in France. The church is claiming it is not responsible for its members.

Watch this news video about the case on BBC News. 

Read more about Scientology on Religion Transcends.

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends

Filed under: Religion and Law, Sects | No Comments »

Pope Benedict XVI is in the Middle East this week. He was supposed to talk about peace and reconciliation. SUPPOSED to…

The Nazi issue

But then, according to CNN, “the pope’s spokesman issued an unsolicited denial that Benedict XVI had ever been a member of the Hitler Youth, only to have to retract that denial within a couple of hours.”

The pope had, indeed, been involuntarily enrolled in Hitler Youth while growing up in Germany. When the issue first came up 10 years ago, the pope claimed he had never actively participated in the group and is anti-Nazi.

But just talking about his enrollment stirred up the public.

Then today, the pope refocused on the peace process, particularly surrounding unrest in the West Bank.

The West Bank issue

The West Bank is an area between Jerusalem and Jordan. Jordan controlled the region for about 2000 years. In 1967, Israel captured it and still maintains a military presence there. Here’s a map.

Palestinians have control of a small portion of the territory, ceded to them by Jordan. Either way, a majority of inhabitants in the West Bank are Palestinians. And many of them want an independent state — separate from Israeli control/occupation.

In 2002, Israel built a wall between Jerusalem and Bethlehem (city of Jesus’ birth, in the West Bank). Israel used it for protection against bombings and raids. Palestinians saw it as an illegal wall keeping them out of Jerusalem.

Today, the pope said that wall could be torn down – if Israelis and Palestinians would tear down the walls in their hearts. His speech seemed to throw a line to Palestinians who want to see the wall go. But it also seems to serve as a reminder that the wall can only be removed if peaceful negotiations supercede violence.

So what do you think? Is the pope for or against Israel? Palestine? Neither? Is he on the side of peace?

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends

Filed under: Islam, Judaism, Religion and Politics | No Comments »

Latino Christian organizations and leaders aren’t sure…

Some organizations, like the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC), say a boycott would serve as a way to bargain with the government for immigration reform. They want 12 million undocumented Latinos be granted status as legalized citizens.

Other groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, say it’s important to be counted in the census and that immigration reform activists should look elsewhere to make a statement.  The census helps the government determine how to allocate resources and determine representation.

The U.S. Constitution states that a census must be taken every 10 years to count all Americans (citizens or otherwise). CONLAMIC president Rev. Miguel Rivera retorts, “If they’re good enough to be counted, then they should be legalized. It’s immoral and dishonest to use them in order to slake our communities’ thirst for funds.”

There are around 10 million Latino immigrants in the United States. If the boycott catches on, a huge number of people could be missing from the 2010 census.

What do you think? Should Latino Christian organizations support the boycott?

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends

Filed under: Christianity, Religion and Politics | No Comments »

Today is the 57th annual (US) National Day of Prayer. This morning President Obama signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.

Instead of formally praying in public following the proclamation (as Bush did), Obama cancelled the public prayer event and prayed privately instead. According to Religion News Service, one official explained it this way: “President Obama is a committed Christian and believes that we should be engaging Americans of faith in efforts to renew our country.”

Still, Focus on the Family and other Christian organizations are criticizing the president for cancelling the public prayer.

What is National Day of Prayer?
An annual event, the National Day of Prayer was signed into law by President Truman in 1952. Initially the organization and event were created as a way for members of the Christian and Jewish religions to express faith publicly and pray for the United States. Each year, like today, the president signs a proclamation encouraging such prayer.

So what’s the big deal?
Obama didn’t cancel/repeal the annual event. He just chose not to pray in public. Was his decision the right one, in lieu of diversity issues? Are there other factors at work (e.g., his previous controversy with the religious right and his choice of Rick Warren as the pastor to lead the post-inauguration prayer)? Should he have repealed the entire event? Should he have prayed publicly? What do you think?

Copyright 2009, Religion Transcends

Filed under: Christianity, Holidays, Religion and Politics | 1 Comment »