Spelled many ways, Hanukkah set to begin BY KATHY PARKER Gazette Reporter
Tonight at dusk Jews will begin an eight-day celebration of Chanukah. Or is it Hanukah? Or maybe Hanukkah or Chanukkah? Marilyn Silverstein, director of curriculum and programming for Clifton Parks’ Congregation Beth Shalom, says none of the English spellings for the celebration is really correct. “I’ve seen it written different ways, but there is no precise translation because English doesn’t have the guttural sound of the Hebrew letter to properly spell the word,” she said, referring to the fi rst letter of the holiday’s name. No matter how it’s spelled, the celebration, also known as the Festival of Rededication or the Festival of Lights, will begin this afternoon. Hanukkah marks the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by the forces of Antiochus IV and commemorates the miracle of the container of oil. “At the re-dedication, following the victory of the Maccabees over the [Syrians], there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil,” according to the Web site, Judaism 101. Rabbi Yaakov Weiss of Chabad of Colonie said Hanukkah was not widely acknowledged until fairly recently. Traditionally it was observed with simple rituals of lighting candles, eating potato latkes, singing songs, playing with dreidels and giving and receiving gelt: either real currency or chocolate coins. The preparation and consumption of fried foods is related to the oil that burned in the temple. Weiss said Chabad-Lubavitch, which is a Hasidic sect, has led the movement to bring Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays into the mainstream over the past century. “Basically we want to bring the holiday alive for children. To let them be proud of their holiday,” Weiss said. “Part of the commandment of Hanukkah is to publicize the miracle.” He said Chabad is the fastest growing Jewish organization in the world and reaches out to all Jews, but especially those who are not practicing their religion. “Many parents grew up going to Sunday school and feeling that it was a big drag. We’re looking to bring both the adults and children to the realization that Judaism is fun and we want to teach them about their faith in a user-friendly manner,” Weiss said. The Colonie Chabad sponsored a menorah workshop at a local Home Depot on Saturday and drew 50 children to create the candelabras. “On Sunday, at 6 p.m., we’ll be lighting a giant menorah at the Shaker Road Price Chopper, and we’ll have gifts for the children,” he said. The menorah is two stories high, and this will be the third year the Chabad has held the ceremony, which was attended by more than 200 people last year, Weiss said. Silverstein said Congregation Beth Shalom will also have an unusual event for the Hanukkah celebration this year. Rabbi Chanan Markowitz has written and directed a spoof based loosely on the play, “Annie.” “It’s called Channie and instead of Daddy Warbucks, [Markowitz] will be Rabbi Warsheckles,” Silverstein said. Children of the congregation will have roles in the production, which is set for Sunday afternoon in the temple sanctuary. Shelly Shapiro of the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York said synagogues throughout the region have planned dinners, concerts and other events to celebrate Hanukkah over the next eight days. “Your best bet is to call the local temple for details and tickets,” she said.
Hanukkah celebrants on parade BY EMILY FREDRIX The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — For some, it’s a matter of pride. For others, it’s about spreading the light of the season. Whatever the motivation, thousands of Jews around the world are taking part in menorah parades this Hanukkah, a twist on the holiday that’s been gaining popularity thanks in part to promotion of the idea by the international Chabad Lubavitch group. The concept is simple: Participants mount large, metal menorahs on cars and drive through their cities convoy-style sometime during the eight-day holiday known as the Festival of Light. This year, the Chabad Lubavitch estimates 100 cities — including Moscow, Sydney and Los Angeles — will hold parades. Some 10,000 Jews are expected to take part. Elizabeth Crawford said such events raise awareness of Judaism and give Jews pride during the holiday season, which can be a bit Christmas-heavy. The 46-year-old caterer will put a roughly 2 1 /2-foot menorah on her silver Honda Civic for Chabad’s parade in Milwaukee this Sunday. Now in its third year, the parade is expected to have about 60 cars starting in the city’s downtown and ending up in the northern suburbs for a public menorah lighting. Streets will be blocked off throughout the route and the convoy will be escorted by police. “I feel very proud when I have it on and during the week when I drive around and see other people having it on,” Crawford said. “I’m filled with pride to be part of a group of people that are not too self-conscious to show their Jewishness proudly in public.” The first menorah parade was in 1977 in New York, said Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, director of chabad.org, the Chabad Lubavitch’s Web site. Since then it’s grown to dozens of cities around the globe because of the group’s efforts. The Lubavitch movement is considered a major force in Judaism, with a religious focus on prayer and scholarship, and outreach to less observant Jews. In conjunction with its 3,300 centers around the world, Lubavitch holds public menorah lighting ceremonies and plans to hand out millions of kits this year that include menorahs, candles, a guide to celebrating Hanukkah and background on its religious meaning. Hanukkah, which began this year on Tuesday evening, commemorates religious freedom and the successful fight against oppression. It also celebrates how a one-day supply of oil, that the Jews found when recapturing the Temple in Jerusalem from Syrian-Greek occupiers, miraculously lasted for eight days. Shmotkin said the holiday has always been publicly celebrated, and the original teaching was to put the menorah in a place where people can see it, such as a window or doorway. “Nowadays with modern technology, communication and transportation innovation, it’s possible to publicize the holiday even more,” Shmotkin said. “Lighting up the streets with the message of religious freedom is entirely in keeping with American ideals, and speaks also to our responsibility of constantly bettering ourselves and transforming the world around us.” It’s also fun. Deborah Raichman, a Houston mother, said her young son, his cousins and friends crowd into the family’s sport utility vehicle for the parades and shout “Happy Hanukkah” out the windows. Jews can feel left out this time of year, she said. Her 12-year-old son Avrumele recently told her he doesn’t want to listen to the radio because of the constant stream of Christmas music. But when it’s parade time, things change. “They get so excited because here it’s a statement that we are proud. That it’s Hanukkah. It’s our day, too, and we’re happy to be in America where there is room for everybody,” she said. “It’s not just Christmas. It’s also our day.” The car menorahs have light bulbs that are added on for each night of Hanukkah. They plug into a car’s electrical outlet and are strapped on to the roof. They cost about $225, although many Chabads buy them and allow drivers to use them for a small donation. Parades range from trails of cars in Houston and Milwaukee, to lines of fire trucks and emergency vehicles, like the upcoming parade in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Calif. Episcopalians to secede Diocese votes for departure over role of gays and lesbians in church BY JORDAN ROBERTSON The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — The conservative Diocese of San Joaquin voted Saturday to split from the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church, becoming the first full diocese to secede from the denomination in the debate over the Bible and homosexuality. Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church from the diocese’s constitution, said the Rev. Van Mc-Calister, a diocesan spokesman. The diocese, based in Fresno, plans to align with the like-minded Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in South America. The decision is almost certain to spark a court fight over control of the diocese’s multimillion-dollar real estate holdings and other assets. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. member of the global Anglican Communion, a 77 million-member fellowship that traces its roots to the Church of England. Anglicans have been moving toward a worldwide schism since 2003, when the Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. San Joaquin is also one of the three Episcopal dioceses that will not ordain women. The Episcopal rift over theology began decades ago and is now focused on whether the Bible condemns gay relationships. “We have leadership in the Episcopal Church that has drastically and radically changed directions,” McCalister said. “They have pulled the rug out from under us. They’ve started teaching something very different, something very new and novel, and it’s impossible for us to follow a leadership that has so drastically reinvented itself.” Episcopal and Anglican advocates for accepting gay relationships say they are guided by biblical teachings on social justice and tolerance. Traditionalists believe that gay relationships violate Scripture. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, elected last year as the first woman to lead the church, had warned San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield against secession but did not outline specific consequences. Jefferts Schori supports ordaining partnered gays and lesbians. “We deeply regret their unwillingness or inability to live within the historical Anglican understanding of comprehensiveness,” she said in a statement after the vote. “We wish them to know of our prayers for them and their journey.” Clergy delegates at the convention voted 70-12 to break away, and lay delegates voted 103-10 in support of the move. The outcome leaves in question the status of the five or so parishes in the San Joaquin diocese that wish to remain aligned with the Episcopal Church. Local clergy who agree to leave could lose their ministerial credentials and their pensions. Jefferts Schori indicated in her statement that the national denomination will not give up the diocese. “The Episcopal Church will continue in the Diocese of San Joaquin, albeit with new leadership,” she said. The diocese serves about 8,500 parishioners in 47 congregations in central California. Nancy Key, a member of Holy Family Episcopal Church in Fresno and co-founder of Remain Episcopal, which fought the secession, said she was “very disappointed.” “This has been threatening to split our diocese apart for a long time,” she said. “We feel like what we want to do is follow Christ, who included all and used all of us for his ministry. And that didn’t happen today.” The Episcopal Church was divided along North-South lines during the Civil War, as several other Protestant groups were, but the denomination was not considered formally split over theological differences, making San Joaquin the first full Episcopal diocese to break away. CHRISTIAN PARLEY/THE FRESNO BEE Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin vote to split with the national denomination over disagreements about the role of gays and lesbians in the church at their annual convention in Fresno, Calif., on Saturday.
SCHENECTADY Journey to saint’s tomb spurs sick boy’s desire to be a monk BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
A boy’s pilgrimage to pray for a cure to cystic fibrosis has become a life-transforming event — even though the prayer was not granted. Joey Finn, 12, of Hudson, came back from St. Padre Pio’s tomb this summer renewed in his faith. He told his parents he knew why God had created him with the defective gene that makes it so hard for him to breathe. God gave him cystic fibrosis to guide him into Catholic ministry, he said. “He said, ‘Now I know why God gave me cystic fibrosis and I can’t have children — because he wants me to be a monk,’ ” his mother, Melissa, recounted. His parents aren’t sure what to make of their son’s plans. But then again, they were taken aback when he told them he wanted to go to Italy to pray to St. Padre Pio. The boy qualified for a Make A Wish trip because of his life-threatening disease. His mother figured they’d be heading to Florida. “He said Padre Pio and you just sit there and go, what? You don’t want to go to Disney World?” Melissa Finn said. She worried that he was expecting a miracle and would be crushed if it didn’t happen. “We talked about that even before the trip — I told him, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. That was a big concern for me,” she said. But after her son touched the saint’s tomb, he told her he got what he wanted. Sure, he’d hoped for a cure — but he was satisfi ed by the certainty that his prayer had been heard. He told his mother, “Padre Pio has taken us as his own and he’s listened to what we want.” Now, Joey wants to become a Franciscan monk in the Capuchin Order, the same order as his patron saint. He said he wants to follow in Padre Pio’s footsteps. In the six months since his trip, he’s become an altar boy at his local church. His family, once inactive Catholics, now attend church every Sunday. They’ve encouraged Joey to take a close look at the church to be sure the priesthood is what he really wants. “We said, ‘Look, let’s start with baby steps,’ ” Melissa Finn said. But she added that she’ll support Joey if he decides to become a priest. “That’s his decision. I’m behind him,” she said. “How could you not be? We’ve been touched by so many signs. I always say Joey is not of this earth. There’s something special about him.” They came to Schenectady on Tuesday to thank Fortitech — headquartered in the city — for sponsoring Joey’s trip. They showed Fortitech President Walt Borisenok some of the 1,000 photos they took in Italy and told stories of the sights they saw. When they thanked him for being a first-time donor to Make A Wish, Borisenok said he was so overwhelmed by Joey’s experiences that he plans to donate regularly. “You want to talk spending money? This is not spending money,” he said. He also offered a bit of advice about the priesthood. “Joe, a little older before you make that decision. Give it a couple more years and you might not want to do that,” he said, referring to the priesthood’s vow of celibacy. Joey shrugged. “There is that sex thing,” he said, but dismissed it. What he was worried about, he said, was electricity. “I thought they had to live without electricity until I read this pamphlet about it,” he said. “I’m trying to learn about the faith. I want to be a Franciscan Capuchin monk because that’s what Padre Pio was.” While the Make A Wish trip has given Joey a new vision for his life, his parents said it helped the entire family get past the devastation of his recent diagnosis. For most of his childhood, doctors said Joey just had severe asthma. Learning that he actually had cystic fibrosis forced the family to come to grips with the fact that Joey’s breathing problems may lead to his death. The average American with cystic fibrosis lives to be 37 years old. The genetic disease slowly destroys patients’ lungs while also making it difficult for their bodies to process nutrients. “The first several weeks after his diagnosis were very hard for all of us,” his mother said. “This trip is so positive for him, and our entire family has this memory.” Joey’s father, Joe Finn, said he’s willing to believe Joey’s prayers had an effect. “The whole diagnosis thing was such a bad time in our life. But after Italy, the doctors said there’s some healing to his lungs,” he said. “I know that sounds cornbally, but we went to Italy to be cured, even though there is no cure.” His mother noted that once Joey was diagnosed, doctors gave him special medications designed to treat the disease. “So obviously we’re going to see improvement,” she said. “Call it faith, call it science — it’s working and that’s all I’m really concerned with.” Joey is still holding out hope. “I asked for not just me but everybody with cystic fibrosis not to have cystic fibrosis,” he said. Padre Pio was declared a saint in 2002. Among his accomplishments, he founded a hospital and was noted by Pope Paul VI for healing the sick. The saint once said, “Bring God to all those who are sick. This will help them more than any other remedy.” He was born in Pietrelcina, Italy, in 1887 and died in 1968. ANA N. ZANGRONIZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Fortitech President Walt Borisenok, left, looks at photos shown to him by 12-year-old Joey Finn and Finn’s mother Melissa at the Fortitech offices on Tuesday.
By LES PAYNE First published: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Whenever a proselytizing Mormon knocks on my Harlem door, I chase him away as brusquely as I would chase away a Klansman, or an evangelical Christian Republican, and for much the same reason.
I have zero tolerance for racial intolerance. Mormon Mitt Romney took pains to assure evangelical Republicans last week that they would have nothing to fear should he be elected president. Their 10-percent block of the Iowa caucus was very much on the mind of the presidential candidate trained during his missionary days in the low art of pandering for an advantage. "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law," the former Massachusetts governor promised the undecided at the George H.W. Bush Library in Texas. "A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States." The supposed evangelical Christian occupying the White House unfortunately made no such promise six years ago. And the nation is thus paying the price at home and abroad. The Bush policies can be understood only when we consider that, at bottom, the president is a recovering alcoholic working out his salvation through Bible-thumping and the evangelical fulfillment of prophecy. The problem with such a fanatic as president is that we the people cannot cross-examine the real architect of his irrational vision. Religious devotion, as President John F. Kennedy verified, remains a proper line of inquiry about separation of state from church. I rather suspect, however, that white evangelicals have little to fear from Romney. It is not so clear for the rest of us, especially those the Mormons libel as bearing "the curse of Cain," who killed his biblical brother Abel. I refer, of course, to Brigham Young's interpreted Mormon doctrine that "the Lord" cursed Cain's descendants with "a flat nose and dark skin." Many old-line church apostles still consider blacks as inferiors. Such segregation differs from other religions mainly in that the Mormon nonsense is homegrown, allegedly "revealed" in upstate New York and transported to Utah. Not until 1978 did the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allow black men to enter the priesthood. This revised "revelation" from the heavens came amid growing protests from blacks as college sports teams refused to compete against Brigham Young and other church colleges. What exactly is the shelf life of God-inspired bigotry? Mitt Romney grew into adulthood under a Mormon doctrine instructing members that Negroes could not enter heaven or the priesthood because they were cursed by God, and inferior. Laying aside the Mormon hocus-pocus, Romney is no different in such racial conditioning than his comparable, evangelical white Christian, to say nothing of the secular crowd.Such racial policy and practice, for example, are daily being executed by Long Island cops, prosecutors and judges in their legal capacity. A Newsday story reported that though illegal drug use among blacks is about the same rate as among whites in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the criminal justice system, so called, incarcerates them at an astounding rate 36 times higher than that of white drug users! Such racial disparity would have shamed the judicial system of Pretoria in the bad old days of apartheid. Yet, some 97 percent of the largest 198 counties in the United States send black drug users to prison at a wildly disparate rate, according to a recent report by the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. The sweeping study surveyed incarceration records for 2002. Nationally, blacks and whites used, possessed and sold illegal drugs at about the same rate, but blacks ended up in prison at a rate nearly 10 times greater than their white compatriots! The devil is in the local details where cops arrest and judges make sentencing decisions. Probation officers, the study found, tended to attribute white drug crimes to "external forces," while labeling the abuse of black addicts as "personal failures," recalling the "curse" described in that blood libel by the Mormons. The challenge for the media with President Bush -- as with candidate Romney and the others -- is not to reveal promises he's willing to make, but rather to disclose those tragic flaws so deeply buried in denial. Les Payne writes for Newsday.
VIEWPOINT Imagine a world with room for all Teacher aims for enlightened approach to every religion BY ROSALINE HOROWITZ For The Sunday Gazette
Seventeen years ago, I penned an essay for The Sunday Gazette titled “December Dilemma,” in which I outlined the difficulties that Jews face this time of year in celebrating the minor festival of Hanukkah against the massive backdrop of the major holiday of Christmas. I concluded that “there is a place for all of this [discussion] in our public schools. . . . The histories, differences and similarities of religious holidays should be taught (not celebrated) as a subject. Ignorance breeds fear and antagonism: discussion puts every child at ease. It is a teacher’s role to make every culture, every religion, equal and interesting to students.” Here, then, is an update on my role as a teacher. I teach English at Schenectady High School. The other day in class, I introduced John Lennon’s song “Imagine” as a prelude to Ayn Rand’s book “Anthem.” The lyrics challenge us to think about a world where people live for today. “Imagine there’s no countries/It isn’t hard to do/Nothing to kill or die for/And no religion too/Imagine all the people/Living life in peace.” I encouraged the students to figure out Lennon’s intent. They concluded that religion in the wrong hands wreaks havoc in the world. Wars are fought in the name of religion and people are willing to die in the name of gods. But what does all that have to do with their individual beliefs? INCREASINGLY LESS INFORMED At SHS, the student population hovers around 2,800 and is composed of at least 23 different nationalities. Over the years, I’ve observed that first-generation students still know about their cultures and heritage and celebrate their customs and holidays with their families and attend their places of worship. The further out the generations stretch, the less informed students are about their own faiths, traditions and customs. Some aren’t even sure what faith they belong to. No matter what literary work I’m teaching, my overarching themes are ones of self- discovery, family and faith in a belief system. I challenge students to think about their place in communities and the destructive ideas of stereotyping that lead to all the big “isms”: racism, sexism and puritanism. I have observed a general trend over the years among my students. They know less and less about their own religions and little to nothing about the faith of others. Consequently, at this time of year, I teach about the historic origins and customs of the major December holidays: Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. This year, I’m adding the Hindu festival of Diwali (which is not really a December holiday at all, and Ramadan falls at different times during the year). It’s understandable when students of non-Christian faiths don’t know the religious underpinnings to Christmas, but when Christian students honestly believe that Santa Claus is the reason for Christmas, something is wrong. VICTIMS OF UPBRINGING Maybe my motivation to inform and educate started out as self-preservation. After all, my own religion has always been a minority in a mostly Christian country. My parents, Holocaust survivors, wanted me to fit into the pluralistic society that America offered, where all faiths would be treated equally, especially in a public school. Growing up, there was a time when a 7-yearold neighbor of ours announced to me that she had been taught in Catechism class that Jews were Christ-killers. My cheeks burned with anger at this young girl, but of course she was the victim of her upbringing and education. Maybe I’m trying to safeguard that this not happen again. There seems to be a need now, more than ever, to give students something to hold on to, something greater than them, something that will help them identify with their communities. They crave the cocoon of strict moral codes. Since the public schools are given the awesome burden of providing so many services to students, from social services and psychological services to extended day care, it seems appropriate to teach the tenets of religion. This also challenges the notion of separation of church and state, but to be honest, church has always been in the public schools. Walk through any public elementary school in the state and count the number of Christmas displays. As long as we stand every day, hands over our hearts and pledge allegiance, “under God” then church is in our public schools. As long as we are providing quiet places for prayer for our Islamic students, then church is in our public schools. WORLD LIVING AS ONE Let’s extend our idea of “under god” to include every God, from every race, creed and faith, to make every child feel welcome, important and valued in our pluralistic society. That seems to be my mission. To help each student realize his/her place in the classroom, the student body, the neighborhood and the extended global community. We all try to find joy and meaning at this time of year. We bring lights to our darkened homes, sing holiday songs, fill our homes with delicious aromas, and try to share memorable moments with our friends and family. Our paths are different, but the end is the same. As John Lennon wrote, “You may say I’m a dreamer/But I’m not the only one/I hope someday you’ll join us/And the world will live as one.” Happy holy days to all.
First published: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Sajid Mahmood's Dec. 12 letter expressed a scathing opinion of people who are atheists, assuming that we are anti-religious. Never having read the book or seen the film "The Golden Compass," he also assumes it is an attack on religion.
No one utters a peep over fantasy films about demons, aliens, or chain saw murderers, but a fantasy which happens to be written by someone who is an atheist in his personal life -- what's that about? The only interest atheists have is in separation of church and state. No atheist has ever bombed a church. Yet we are the most distrusted minority in this land. ROZMARIJA LIEB Lackawaxen, PA
Tony Blair converts faith to Catholicism LONDON — Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the Church of England and converted to Catholicism, the faith of his wife and children. Blair converted during a Mass Friday night at the private London chapel of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the church said. “I’m very glad to welcome Tony Blair into the Catholic Church,” Murphy-O’Connor said. The church said Blair had been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family and in recent months had been following a program leading to his reception into the church.
Pope says man must find time for God BY ARIEL DAVID The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI urged the faithful to set aside time in their lives for God and the needy, as he ushered in Christmas early today by celebrating Midnight Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Echoing a theme he has raised about an increasingly secular world, Benedict said that many people act as if there is no room for spiritual matters in their lives. “Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such urgent need of all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others, for his neighbor, for the poor, for God,” he said. In a homily delivered in Italian in front of thousands packing the basilica, Benedict asked the faithful to make room for God, as well as the less fortunate, in their lives. “Do we have time for our neighbor who is in need of a word from us, from me, or in need of my affection? For the sufferer who is in need of help? For the fugitive or the refugee who is seeking asylum? Do we have time and space for God?” Benedict drew parallels between what he perceives as modern society’s refusal of God and the story of how Jesus was born in a manger because there was no space for his family at a nearby inn. “In some way, mankind is awaiting God, waiting for him to draw near. But when the moment comes, there is no room for him,” he said. But the message of Jesus’ birth, which is marked on Christmas, is also that “God does not allow himself to be shut out,” Benedict said.
Rabbi shares significance of knots on Jewish clothing Tzitzits embedded with symbolism through numbers BY TATIANA ZARNOWSKI Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Tatiana Zarnowski at 587-1780 or tzarnowski@dailygazette.net.
The white strings are measured, counted, strung and then knotted, wrapped and knotted again. The resulting tzitzits, or knotted fringe, are worn with pride on an undergarment either every day by some observant Jews or just during synagogue on a prayer shawl, or tallit. Frequent wear makes the strings dirty, said Rabbi Abba Rubin from the Chabad Center in Saratoga Springs. But don’t try taking it to a regular cleaner or throwing it in the wash. The services of a commercial cleaner who knows how to clean the tzitzits without tangling the strings must be used, he said. Numbers are key when knotting the tzitzits. The five knots and eight strings as well as the meaning of the Hebrew letters for the word “tzitzits” add up to 613, the number of Jewish laws, Rubin said. And the number of times one string wraps around the others is 39, which is equal to God’s name in Hebrew plus “one,” which also is used to indicate God. Rubin teaches the fringe knotting to local children twice a year. He offered a workshop this week at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. Only Rubin’s own three children attended the session on a snowy Thursday afternoon. Chabad scribe Rabbi Mendel Serebranski was also on hand to demonstrate Hebrew calligraphy and show examples of the tefill, where pieces of parchment bearing the commandments are placed and worn on the arm and forehead. “If any letter is missing, it’s not kosher,” he said. Serebranski also recalled making the tzitzits and selling them when he was a child in Australia. “They used to pay like 30 cents,” he said with a laugh. In the Bible, God tells Moses the Israelites should attach a fringe to the four corners of their outer garments. “According to Jewish law, if you have a four-cornered garment, it’s required to have fringes.” The fringes must be made by hand rather than by a machine, Rubin said. “It’s important that thought should be put into the garments.” Rubin explained that one of the fringes should be dyed blue from a substance from a fish, but the knowledge of where to obtain that dye has been lost, so all the strings are white. “When the Messiah will come, we will have the blue,” he said. The color is a reminder of heaven and God, he explained. His son, Moshe Rubin, 5, has been wearing the tzitzits since he was 3, the age at which Jewish children have their hair cut and are able to attend school. “When a child’s brought to school, they sometimes wrap them in a tallit,” Rubin explained. BRUCE SQUIERS/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Above, as Rabbi Abba Rubin puts a knotting pattern, called tzitzits into a tallit, his daughter, Chanamalka, 2, peeks over his shoulder during a workshop this week at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. Below, the hands of Rabbi Mendel Serabranski, who is also a certified scribe, holds parchment, a form of leather, which is carried on the body during special situations, as he demonstrates the art of Torah scroll calligraphy during the workshop
Pope to play center field in Washington WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass from center field at the Washington Nationals’ new ballpark during his three-day visit to the city in mid-April, officials said. With thousands of people already requesting tickets to the April 17 event, officials with the Archdiocese of Washington said they wanted as many people as possible to attend the Mass. They considered placing the altar in the second base area but realized they could fit in an extra 4,000 seats by putting it in center field — for a total of 45,000 seats. The doors will open about 6:30 a.m. for pre-Mass activities, including music and videos. The two-hour Mass begins at 10 a.m. Plans for distributing the free tickets have not been announced. Archdiocese officials want to make sure they do not get into the hands of scalpers or wind up on eBay, spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said. The Mass “is for the faithful who want to be with the Holy Father,” Gibbs said. “It shouldn’t be an opportunity for people to make money.” The popemobile — a specially designed automobile used by the pope during public appearances — will be used to transport the pope into and around the stadium. The rest of the pope’s schedule in Washington includes a visit to the White House on April 16 and a meeting with U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. After celebrating Mass the next day, the pope will address Catholic educators at Catholic University and meet with Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh and Jewish leaders at the nearby Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. He departs April 18 for New York City, where he will celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium, before returning to Rome.
SARATOGA SPRINGS Cellphones to link students, scripture Christian youths to gather this weekend BY TATIANA ZARNOWSKI Gazette Reporter
Omigod! It’s a phone call from, like, God! Flip open thy cellphone and listen. It’s your Creator calling. When a nonprofit Christian media organization wanted to fi gure out how to get Scripture into the hands of more teenagers, it turned to one of teens’ favorite accessories: the cellphone. “It’s something that they already carry with them,” said Michael Krause, development manager for Back to the Bible. Various studies show that anywhere between 60 percent and 75 percent of teenagers own cellphones. Students who attend a Christian youth conference this weekend in Saratoga Springs can sign up to get calls “from God” on their cellphones. Dubbed “411GOD,” the service is free to youngsters for 90 days as readers move through the Gospel of John, one minute a day. Back to the Bible, which puts on a nationally broadcast radio show out of its Lincoln, Neb., headquarters, surveyed youths at last year’s Excel conference at the Saratoga Springs City Center. The group learned that teens could use some help connecting the Bible with their everyday lives, Krause said. Bringing Scripture to their cellphones may help teens connect with one of Christianity’s central points: that the Bible is the word of God and reading it is the same as listening to God talk. “He talks directly to my life. It’s communication, just like getting a call on your cellphone,” Krause said. This year’s regional Excel conference is the Nebraska organization’s first public launch of “411GOD,” which it hopes to introduce nationwide in the future, he said. Teens will sign up for the calls to their cellphones — right now, 411GOD can’t do land lines or podcasts — during the conference that runs from Friday through Monday. They can pick what time of day they want to receive the call. This weekend, they’ll receive Bible verses related to the conference theme, “Follow Christ: Surrender, Scripture, Service,” and the reading of the Gospel of John will start Monday. Krause said Back to the Bible expects to continue the service after the first 90 days, but there likely will be a modest subscription fee. About 10 voice actors will portray the characters in the Bible, speaking the dialog in the book of John rather than simply reading verse after verse, Krause said. For example, Jesus’ words will be read by the same man through the whole book of John. Most of the readers are men, although there is one woman, he said. Back to the Bible’s chief executive officer, Arnie Cole, will attend the conference, said Dave Lenehan, conference director who works for the Capital District Youth for Christ in Latham. The regional conference is expected to draw more than 1,500 young people from New York, western Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont, he said. Many of them will stay overnight in Saratoga Springs, giving the city an economic boost, as most of the City’s Center’s conferences do. Lenehan said the conference attendees have completely filled the Saratoga Hotel and also booked rooms at other hotels in the city. The nondenominational conference draws Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal and other teens, he said. The conference has been held since 1986, and has been in Saratoga Springs for all but the first two of those years, when it was staged in Syracuse. In the late 1990s, it drew more teens than it does now — about 1,850, Lenehan said.
It may be too late to sign up for this year, but if you have a high-schooler, I would highly suggest having them go to Excel. I went as a chaparone a few years ago and wow, it was great. There's also another event held in March, 3/7 - 3/9, called Breakout. My son loved going last year. Both are held at the Conference Center in Saratoga Springs.
Book strikes chord with youth Writer separates Christianity from conservative notions BY KELLI KENNEDY The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Donald Miller still loves God and Jesus. Don’t misunderstand him. His problem is with Christianity, at least how it’s often practiced. “It’s a dangerous term so I try to avoid it,” said Miller, who considered giving up his career as a Christian writer and leaving the church in 2003 because he couldn’t attend services without getting angry. For him, the word conjured up conservative politics, suburban consumerism and an “insensitivity to people who aren’t like us.” He sat in his boxer shorts and banged out a memoir of his experiences with God, stripped of the trappings of religion. “Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality” sold just enough to pay a few months rent. Then five years later, spurred by a grass-roots movement of 20-something Christians longing to connect to God without ties to the religious right, the book became a sudden hit. Fans were buying caseloads and passing out copies to friends. It peaked at No. 18 on The New York Times list of best-sellers among paperback nonfiction in November. He was mobbed by fans after a recent Young Life conference in Orlando where he addressed a crowd of roughly 4,000. Christians tired of the “life is perfect” mantra of some churches revel in his ability to talk unashamedly about smoking pot, living in a hippie commune and the notion that God isn’t a Republican. Supporters say Miller’s authentic, graceful approach to God has finally given a voice to their brand of Christianity. The book also debuted at a time when the emerging church movement — which emphasizes the individual’s faith experience and varied worship styles — is flourishing, signaling a fertile audience for such religious musings among more socially liberal evangelicals. Watching TBN one night on TV, Miller, 36, realized the conservative religious network was many people’s baseline for Christianity. He wanted to change that. “These people are absurd. I’ve been a Christian all my life and I don’t even know Christians this weird,” said the Portland, Ore.-based writer, who is single. In his book, Miller describes his disdain for the us vs. them mentality between Christians and non-Christians. “I felt, once again, that there was this underlying hostility for homosexuals and Democrats and, well, hippie types. I cannot tell you how much I did not want liberal or gay people to be my enemies. I liked them,” he wrote. “The real issue in the Christian community was that (love) was conditional … You were loved in word, but there was, without question, a social commodity that was being withheld from you until you shaped up.” MIXED REVIEWS Dave Morton was also growing cold on the church when he picked up Miller’s book. “The perspective that was refreshing to me was that your Christian faith doesn’t have to look exactly like everybody’s else’s,” said Morton, a 28-year-old ski instructor from Bend, Ore. “It kind of inspired me to pursue God again with a fresh perspective.” Brad Jones, a 30-year-old youth pastor at a conservative Southern Baptist Church in South Florida, said he felt alone in his desire for more authentic dialogue about God. “My thoughts on faith aren’t really going along with everyone else and then I read this and said, ‘That’s what I’ve been thinking the whole time,’ ” he said. Miller’s book embraces cultural relevance, not cultural dominance, he said. “The typical judgmental, hatefilled, bigoted, more people knew what we were against than what we were for,” mentality has little to do with the real God, Jones said. Some experts say Miller and authors like him are in sync with a generation of young adults who very much believes in God, Jesus and the basics of Christianity, but are struggling to balance their conservative Christian upbringings with a culture that embraces a goalong-to get-along philosophy. “People like Donald Miller are speaking almost like a prophet of a new age and describing the landscape in a way people who feel comfortable in that landscape really couldn’t articulate before,” said David Kinnaman, a researcher for The Barna Group and author of “Unchristian.” Critics call Miller’s works casual and glib and say he strays from biblical truths when he downplays homosexuality and other sins. One such critic, Shane Walker, says Miller presents Jesus as a “nice fellow who meets one at the campfire and swaps stories.” He forgets to remind readers that Jesus is also a judge and avenger who “wants to save you from his just wrath,” according to his review for 9Marks, an organization designed to help local churches re-establish their biblical bearings. Miller, who is almost disappointingly normal looking in jeans and a blue button-down shirt, says “toeing the party line for the church is not my job; telling the truth is my job. I don’t fear saying that certain Republican policies are painful for God to endure.” Miller has sold more than a million books, including “Searching for God Knows What,” and republished his first book, “Through Painted Deserts,” which sold dismally before his “Blue Like Jazz” fame. He also travels much of the year for speaking engagements. “When I wrote this book I felt like I was stuffing a message in a bottle,” Miller said. Like the old Police song, Miller’s beach is now flooded with responses. “There’s this connection of ‘Hey, we’re not alone in this boat.’ In this photo provided by Young Life, Donald Miller gestures as he speaks during a Young Life conference last Saturday in Orlando, Fla. Miller wrote the book “Blue Like Jazz” and five years later, spurred by a grass-roots movement of 20-something Christians longing to connect to God without ties to the religious right, the book became a sudden hit. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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