Well.... This is tricky.

I guess the question is: what is it? Because I can imagine some transgressions that may be wrong and which would be hurtful to another person to admit, but which can only be addressed by coming clean and by working to rectify the pattern of wrong behavior.

I can also imagine a pattern of wrongdoing that, by admitting it, could exacerbate matters.

So: what is it?

I think that these are two questions that may be unfairly conflated into one. To some extent, any view about an issue that touches on contemporary life will also touch on "politics." A rabbi's job is to teach Judaism and to adjudicate matters of Jewish law and practice. Often a community seeks instruction / guidance from its rabbi(s) about pressing matters that intersect Jewish concerns and political concerns. For example, Judaism has strong views opposing capital punishment and the Reform Movement has spoken out for a long time against putting criminals to death. Is this a political stance? I suppose so, but it is foremost an articulation of Jewish principle.

To take this even further: Judaism is by nature a political phenomenon, because Judaism is concerned with the state of affairs in our world and how we as individuals and as a Jewish collective can transform the world as it is into the world as it ought to be. The Hebrew Prophets were among the most "political" of all religious figures, and our tradition still finds their words relevant. Isaiah, for instance, railed against hypocrites who made a show of their ritual piety but who treated other people with deception and cruelty.

Or, consider the rabbi's role in speaking to his or her congregation about Israel. As Israel is a pillar of Jewish life, it is often essential for rabbis to act as a religious community's expert on issues pertaining to the Jewish State. But given the state of affairs in Israel today, it's basically impossible to present any point-of-view about Israel without offending someone's politics.

Unfortunately, when congregants today complain that their rabbi is "too involved in politics," it seems to me that this is usually code for, "I don't like my rabbi's politics!" Because sharing our views from the pulpit--always with humility and always with an honest effort to present the teachings of our faith with integrity--is an essential component of the rabbinate, "getting involved in politics" is simply part and parcel of the rabbi's role in the community.

Easily the most asked question I get here. Here is an old answer:

Q: "There are many rumors about tattoos and piercings. Is it true that if u get a tattoo or piercing u will not be able to be burried in a jewish cemetary? please explain why or why not.
I feel grateful for your question because it offers me an opportunity to clear up one of the great and inexplicably persistent falsehoods of modern Jewish life. Who among us has not heard that a Jew with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery?"

A: This rumor is patently false. Almost unanimously, modern Rabbinical scholars of Jewish law have disavowed the rumor as a kind of "urban legend," most likely started because one cemetery may, at some point, have issued a policy against tattoos. Perhaps as a disincentive, parents and other authorities held up this restriction as a warning to Jewish youths contemplating getting a tattoo, but, again, let me state in no uncertain terms that there is no Jewish legal grounds for refusing to bury a Jew with a tattoo.

Think about it: hardened criminals can be buried in Jewish cemeteries, right? It simply makes no sense to conclude that a person with some subcutaneous ink should be deprived of the honor reserved for our dead!

Read more in a New York Times article from July 2008 debunking the rumor:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/fashion/17SKIN.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=jews%20tattoos&st=cse

HOWEVER,

Having said all of this,

It is also important for me to note that there are serious and compelling Jewish arguments AGAINST tattooing AND body-piercing in the first place.

Our sacred literature is replete with references to permanently marking the body through tattoos or piercings, which are in most cases either restricted outright, or controversial. Leviticus 19:28 states, “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead nor incise any marks on yourself: I am the Eternal.” The Talmud struggles to interpret the verse, with some Rabbinic authorities suggesting it forbids all permanent tattoos on the body, and others suggesting that only names of deities (gods other than YHWH, Adonai) are restricted for the purpose of tattooing.

I'd summarize that conventional Jewish wisdom adopts a broad restriction against tattooing and body piercing. (A notable exception is made for earlobes, in which piercings are justified (rationalized?) probably because the practice of ear-piercing was already widespread in antiquity, and also because an earlobe-piercing will close up if left unfilled, whereas a piercing through other flesh or bodily cartilage tends to remain as a permanent mark.)

The underlying principle behind the Jewish prohibition against permanently marking our bodies is that your body is not yours to do with as you please but rather is a "loaner," if you will: a sacred gift from God. You are renting your body for a while--many years if you're lucky, fewer years if you're not--and every day is an opportunity to give thanks for the gift of life and health. It is a sacred responsibility (indeed, a mitzvah) to take care of your body and putting permanent marks and ink in it is regarded as disrespectful.

I hope this clears up some confusion.

http://www.amherst.edu

Welllllllll.... It means that my new job as senior rabbi of Westchester Reform Temple is formally recognized by the congregation. Or something like that....

Long live the album.

[reprinted answer from a previous posting]:

It came to me by early sophomore year of college that perhaps I was not cut out for my intended major, geology.... I realized this on a field trip for a class in invertebrate paleontology.... There I was, on a class field trip, digging for clamshells on Cape Cod, knee-deep in muck at 7 in the morning.... I realized I hate dirt and the rest is history....

I also had been realizing for the better part of a year that my deepest passions combined a love of Reform Judaism in which I had been happily raised, music and performance, public speaking, and the study of literature.... Over time these interests and passions became a clear calling to pursue the rabbinate, a decision I made by the High Holidays of 1992.

I have no idea what the police would do. Sure sounds like they'd have cause to, though. Does your roommate have a drug problem? That seems to me the biggest issue on the table; second would be for you to make good on your pledge not to lapse in your judgment again. That would be the truest measure of repentance (and getting help for your roommate would be important, too, if possible).

"Shadrach."

To an extent, yes. Although, I would add that I do think that Shabbat can be made more meaningful by certain positive observances and also by refraining from certain practices. Rather than outline these strictly as per Orthodoxy, I prefer to frame Shabbat as an opportunity to experience different ways of connecting with the Sabbath, some traditional and some creative.

I am flattered that you follow me on Formspring.

I do recognize the word friendly. Thanks!

I think it's pretty fair, although I speak with authority only for the Jewish perspective and acknowledge that this statement is by nature reductionist. But in general, Judaism places emphasis more on deed than on creed.

They can.

Start by getting involved in something bigger than yourself -- a synagogue, JCC, cultural outings to Jewish institutions (synagogues, museums, agencies) in and around NYC. I'm happy to provide a specific list if you like.

I don't consider any of the Torah "binding" but there are some parts that are more compelling than others, for us in 21st Century America.

Yes, very much so.

Thanks so much! Speaking of which, I'm thinking the time is coming to close down Formspring and continue moving into that 21st century. Readers?

Like all of life, consciousness is uniquely precious because it is finite for each person.

From what I understand, in many ways the ritual and its purpose are similar -- in fact, Confirmation is a Reform Jewish tradition dating back to the 19th century and modeled after Protestant Christian Confirmation.