Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is being honored in the Capitol today. Her influence and importance on civil rights in the United States cannot be underestimated. Her courage in standing up for what she believed in by refusing to stand up on a bus leaves a legacy that will haunt and inspire Americans for decades to come.
I always remember learning about her during our black history month celebrations in Elementary school. We heard stories of her being too tired to stand on the bus and their being no room in the back of the bus where black folks were supposed to sit.
Of course, if you believe any media I've heard this past week, including quotes from Mrs. Parks herself, most of that wasn't true. She was tired, but not of a long day on her feet. She was tired of injustice. She was tired of being discriminated against because of the color of her skin. So, she sat. And in sitting, she started a movement and inspired, and continunes to inspire men and women to fight for justice.

So today she is being honored. Being honored in the Capitol does have an air of vindication. As Wil Haygood writes in today's washington post:

It seems fitting that she should be celebrated in the nation's capital, where many of the laws that held her back were written, then defeated in a slew of federal legislation won by shrewd civil rights lawyers -- many trained at Howard University's law school -- fighting in the legal trenches of American jurisprudence.

Of course, this honor also has twinges of irony. The current political battles over "judicial activism" the concept of judges usurping the role of legislators by creating their own agenda is a very hot fight. Equal rights came from the courts. Schools were de-segregated because of the Supreme Court's activism. The Federal government stepped in to protect African Americans in places where the local government wouldn't do it. Yet, somehow this is forgotten. One person's "judicial activism" is another's Judicial justice. One person's State's rights can be another's local persecution.
So, whenever you hear cries of government being the "problem", stories and cries of courts over-reaching, remember Rosa Parks. Remember how her stand inspired a nation to begin to question serious wrongs. Don't let the struggle she started end in vain. Local isn't always better. Sometimes, wrongs are just universal.

Sukkot

Sukkot is about wandering. It commemorates the Bibical account of the Israelites wandering 40 years in the desert. It's also a harvest festival. The Torah commands Jews to live in temporary huts, or booths (Sukkahs) to commemorate the wandering of our ancestors. So many people build these huts.
I was invited to a party in which someone cleverly built one around her deck. We brought vegetables and other harvest goodies to decorate the sukkah. We said the Shabbat Prayers and performed the rituals of Sukkot in this small, intimate Sukkah in the middle of Madison. I was with people I did not know well, but we were together, being Jewish, remembering those before us who wandered and lived off the land. But how is that relevent today?

I am personally not physically wandering. I have a nice apartment and a good job. I have wonderful friends. I've even got the beginnings of a romance. Spiritually, however, I am very much wandering.

I've explored Madison's Jewish options, and for Yom Kippur, I settled on the Reform service as that is what I've grown up with. But, even with the comfortable prayer book, service style, and some common ideals, I have issues. I don't like singing in English. It seems church-like to me. I dislike the way one or two people were using cell phones IN the synagogue on Yom Kippur. I imagine I wasn't the only one who disapproved. These are elements of Reform that people often criticize. It isn't always fair or representative, but it happens. What of that?
Others at the Sukkot party had similar complaints about their synagogues. "No one likes that Rabbi...". "This service is a bit weird..." "Young people just don't go there". They were questioning what we grew up with, and trying to find out where they've grown to.
A few blogs do the same. Tamara Eden's blogs are often about her search for spiritual belonging. Esther Kustanowitz's My Urban Kvetch and Jdater's anonymous also occasionally delve into questions of belonging and wandering, particularly as they relate to being single in New York City. She also talks about Madonna a lot, but that is definitely part of the fun.

Why all of this restlessness? I suppose it's natural for 20 and 30 somethings to question and seek. If you are single, in particular, you might not feel the need to affiliate with one synagogue. You can float and look for an environment your are comfortable with. We also wander a lot physically. We might be students, or working at temporary jobs, or just finding ourselves.
So as we wander, we remember our ancestors who had no home. They didn't have jobs, or nice apartments, or speed dating, or someone's good-looking third cousin that you really should meet. They just had a faith and a belief. That belief took them out of Egypt and into the wildnerness to seek who they are and what they might become as a people; It's not so different from us, after all....

Yom Kippur

Another year of Jewish High Holidays has come and gone. I do not think that many Jews enjoy or look forward to High Holidays, but most Jews, I imagine, find them meaningful and reflective. Rosh Hashanah signifies the Jewish new year, and begins a period of reflection, known as the "Days of Awe". These days conclude with Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
It's a fast day and considered the most important Jewish Holiday of the year. It's themes are reflection and atonement from sin. Jews are encouraged to be charitable, compassionate and forgiving.
For me, I always reflect on where life has taken me between Yom Kippurs. Last year, I was with my parents and sister. It was the day before I was to leave for Madison, and about a month since I had returned from England. My life was changing quite rapidly, and was the ideal time for reflection and thought. Was my last year well spent? Was I prepared for the year ahead? Who knows? But the words and thoughts on that holiday helped.
The year before that I was actually in Madison. I had flown here to visit with work colleagues after my first year in the UK. It was strange being back in a city I had spent three years in as a graduate student. But after my first year in England it looks different. College students dressed in sweatshirts. Cool, clear mornings. Coffee shops, open until midnight. All of these elements were slightly unfamiliar to me after my year in the UK.
Then, the fall of 2002: My first year in England. I had been in Reading a week when Yom Kippur fell. I was welcomed into a family from the synagogue in Reading. She housed me and fed me the night before Yom Kippur, and fed me once again when it ended. We hadn't met before I walked in the door for dinner that night. It was amazing. I still keep in touch with them, and cannot thank them enough for their kindness.
It was also my first (and so far only) Yom Kippur with an Orthodox synagogue. I hardly knew anyone. I didn't know most of the prayers, only able to read along to the parts I was familiar with, or what I could site read in Hebrew. It started early, and ended late. But still: the reflection was there. I found time to think about my life: where I had been, where I was, where I was going.
All of these holidays were filled in different places and with different people. But the connection was always there. The words of the Kol Nidre prayer were always the same. The thoughts and struggles within me were different and difficult, but I'm always better off for having done it.

Some random thoughts

So I've been slacking quite a lot in writing my blogs. It's not completely intentional. We've had the Jewish holidays. I have had a few trips. I've got a few more coming up. I have to work occasionally too. Yes, these are all excuses, but such is life. I'll try and post slightly more frequently as I'm afraid my small, loyal audience will slowly fade away.
In general, life has been good. Work has good days and bad, but is generally good. I had a great few days off exploring England. I spent last weekend with my family, spending quite a bit of time chatting with my almost year-old nephew.

He's grown up so much. I'm amazed at what he understands and figures out. He's got his father's knack for gadgetry and he learns words every day. While I was there he mastered the word "salsa", and developed a strong taste for the stuff. When we went out to a Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant, I think he ate his weight in chips and salsa. I'm so glad I got the chance to look after him, as I don't see him very much. I can't wait to see him grow up and see what he will accomplish.

In politics lots of things are happening: Bush's Supreme Court justice pick, Tom Delay and other Republicans in trouble, budget deficits and low public opinions. Even with these events the Democrats are scattered and weak. John McCain thankfully proposed a bill to the senate with the radical notion that we ought to treat detainees humanly. Fortunately, Bush has threatened to veto this crazy idea if it reaches his desk. It won't of course, because it will have to pass the House of Representatives. If they see common sense and moderation in a bill it tends to get pushed out along with any idea proposed by a Democrat. Good fun.

So, those are a few of my random thoughts. Hope the loyal readership is doing well.