Talia, She Wrote

A new Portal Manager and contributor to the Catholic Portal at Patheos, Elizabeth Scalia, writes over at the First Things site on the blog The Anchoress.

Recently she wrote a post about a Holocaust survivor who danced at Auschwitz and several other locations of horror in Europe with his daughter and three grandchildren.

There have been some broad criticisms of him as well as of his daughter, mainly accusing her of exploiting him and making claims that he "appears" to have dementia (which is false, according to his daughter). I don't feel that he is ill or sick for wanting to celebrate his life, especially in a place that knew so much death. I don't feel it is disrespectful, and frankly, I think it is wrong for us to judge this man. He lived through it, we have only read about it. If he chose to spit on the grounds or dance or cry or laugh... he has certainly earned the right to do so without the armchair critics attacking him or his family.

He seems like an incredible man who is intensely loved by his sweet family. I wish him a long and happy life, G-d willing. There are actually three videos in this series. I recommend them all. In the third, he goes back to the time in his mind and recalls the conversations they had with passing villagers while piled into the box cars, conveying them to their death.

Here are the videos:

Not really...

But I do want to thank my friend Matthue Roth for his kind words! He blogged here and here about his article on The Future of Judaism at Patheos.

And in the process... said this about me:

A few weeks ago, Talia Davis wrote to a bunch of Jewish techy and thinky folks and asked us what we thought about the future of Judaism. Talia is the force of nature behind the religion blog Patheos.com’s Jewish site, and when she chops down a tree, we hear it.

Aww! :) I feel special now. Thanks Matthue!

See:

For a long time Women of the Wall has been a flash point in Israel and it has finally bubbled up and almost over.

Anat Hoffman, leader of the group Women of the Wall, was just arrested for carrying a Torah near the Kotel, the Western Wall.

These women have been beaten for having strap marks on their arm from Tefillin. Not even people witnessing them wearing it, just the leftover marks.

One of the Patheos guys has been writing a series on the Tea Party and different implications of it. (To read his great, albeit right leaning, perspectives on the Tea Party click here.)

In this last article, I was linked to some pictures of when Bush was in power. Now I am NOT a Bush fan and I did vote for Obama... It doesn't mean that I think Obama is the messiah or anything but I realized a couple of things looking at these pictures.

1. It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on... when your guy isn't in power and you don't like it, you get hateful (and that you is the broader "you).

2. It doesn't matter if it is 2003 or 2010... they are still after the Jews. I don't know why we have this target tattooed on our foreheads. I don't know why people who like to demonstrate hate Israel and the Jews (or why they can't learn to spell... is IsrAEl not IsrEAl) but there it is.

Recently, I did an interview with Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi about the future of Judaism. Reb Bahir posed the question to him, currently Jews make up a very small portion of the population. Do you think we will grow or shrink? Reb Zalman said, "How big is your gall bladder? But you have to have it, right? What about the pituitary gland?"

Point taken. We are all vital parts to the society and trying to kill the Jews just because we are Jewish isn't right. Period.

I asked my father, Rebahir Davis, to write a piece about how his father inspired his Judaism for Patheos. His response was overwhelming to me as it brought back a flood of memories of my grandfather. However, it also gives a beautiful insight into the evolution of Judaism. 

Please take a minute to read it here - http://bit.ly/d6JzYK - comment on the article, share on Facebook or Twitter, etc. Thanks!

Okay, I admit it... I don't have the best memory in the world but there are a few things from my childhood that stick out clearly. I have mentioned some of them before, here in this blog, but with Father's Day rapidly approaching, I have asked my team to write about their father's and how they shaped their Jewish life. And so, I thought I would talk about the memories from my childhood of my dad.

My dad and me, 1983ish... these were called "Tali-Ups"

The men in my life have always figured prominently. Not sure why. Maybe because I was the first grandchild, a little girl, and they all felt protective of me. But either way... I was always close with the men... my grandfathers and my father. I think another thing that factors in is that my men were also always my rabbis. From birth I was dressed up and my picture taken for the newspaper... in my grandfather's ark, lighting candles with my father, you know what I mean.

Today marks an auspicious day on the Chabad Lubavitcher's calendar. Today is Gimmel Tammuz (the third day of the month of Tammuz).

On this day in 5754 or 1994 in Gregorian years, the Lubavitcher Rebbe passed away. This dealt a hard blow to the community. He and his wife were childless and he did not appoint a successor. This divided the community, some believing that he was the Moshiach (messiah) and some not believing in that. It is a topic that still divides Crown Heights today.



A newly published biography of the Rebbe's life has caused a stir in the Crown Heights community as well. The New York Times touches on that today, with a nod to the holiness of the day within Chabad.

I have been a very bad blogger.

Beyond being busy with Patheos work and my personal thesis for my Masters, there have been a couple other things going on. This year the Omer was particularly poignant. The Omer is a time when you should be reflecting on your life and working on personal growth but amidst that, I was asked to pray the section Resh of the 119 Psalm. Long story short, when someone is sick you read Psalm 119 and since it is so long, you read the letters that correspond to their Hebrew name. Resh goes like this -

What if the National Day of Prayer meant we actually came together as a country, despite our differences and prayed together? What if we lived in a country where a kid like me wasn't bullied for trying to participate with the Christian kids in the National Day of Prayer... because I think jesus was a nice Jewish kid who was misunderstood?

I really love the Omer... okay, rather, I have a love hate relationship with counting the Omer. I love the spiritual lift I get, but I sometimes get annoyed at one more thing to do before sleep... hence why I need to count the Omer nightly.

A certain so called "church" group was in Denver last weekend. I am not going to mention their name because I do not believe in giving them free publicity to fuel their hate. I was going to go to their protest and all the counter-protests and I was going to video tape it and take pictures for Patheos. And I was going to write about the experience and the hate these people spread. I was really motivated to go and write about it.

Shoes
by Talia Davis

I have a closet full of them. Some people don't even think about them. Some people think about them way too much.

Shoes protect our feet, they enable us to go anywhere we want without concern for what the terrain is. We pay a lot of money for very uncomfortable ones, and sometimes our favorites are the ones we have had for years. I feel fortunate I own more than one pair.

Shoes can be easily overlooked.

Not on the bank of the Danube River in Budapest.

I use Facebook daily. In fact, I am on Facebook pretty much all day. That is my job. I post to Facebook for Patheos and I keep my eye out for best practices and new ideas.

Okay, close your eyes... wait, not really, you have to read this. Pretend to close your eyes.

Imagine it is WWII. The German's captured a soldier on night. Just snatched him over the border. The next day there are cries for his release. But the Germans won't even talk about releasing him until the American's release 1000 prisoners. Not prisoners of war, Germans who came to America and committed a crime or multiple crimes that got them put in jail. Well... we can't let a poor American boy languish in prison in Germany... so we release those prisoners and wait for more instructions. Well that wasn't enough. Now for one man's life, we must release 1000 more criminals.This kid didn't break any rules of war, he just happened to be in a place where he could get grabbed. The American public starts to wonder... why are we releasing these criminals back into society so they can commit crimes against us again? For one kid? What is his life worth?

This situation is actually happening right now... it has been going on but change the word German to Hamas/Palestinian and the American boy is really, then 19 year old, Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier (in the middle of his mandatory draft service). And he has been in custody for 1278 days (and at the time I am typing this... 17 hours, 30 min, and 2 seconds). And Hamas demands something new everyday. We have to release thousands of prisoners, who were captured jumping the border, attempting to bomb Israel, or other crimes to appease these Palestinian captors. And yet, all we get in return is a video of a sickly, thin, young man who misses his parents and his home.

WHERE ON EARTH WOULD ANYONE ELSE DO THIS?! In America, we would not have fought for that one person. Not that, in America, we place any less value on life but we aren't tormented by terrorists in America. These terrorists know we want peace, that we want our people to be safe... and they exploit that... and no one stops them. And yet they are still the poor underdog. While I will not claim that the Israelis are completely innocent, I think the actions on the part of the Palestinians are often white washed.

Anyway, I am just disturbed at the amount the Israelis are giving up for this boy. And while I want him to be released to go home, I don't know how much I am willing to give up to do that... And by I and we... I am referring to my spiritual homeland... Israel.

Okay, I admit my guilt. I have TOTALLY neglected my blog. It is so sad. When I realized it today I had a little tear.

BUT in my defense, I haven't been resting on the old laurels. (Where does that saying come from anyway? Hold on... Ah here ... well now I rethink the usage of that...)

ANYWAY! I have been hard at work. We had the crazy stretch of Jewish holidays and in between, I had my 10 year high school reunion. Then in addition, I started working at Level 3 Telecommuncations twice a week. It is an internship in the BMG marketing department and really fascinating. Not my total cup of tea, but I am learning so much.

AND I have been writing, I know, shocking! (Yes, I write a blog but I do claim to not be a writer.) Check out the article I wrote on College and Faith for Patheos. I spend so many days reading fabulous Jewish articles and finding content for Patheos as well as coming up with social networking strategies and ways to enhance our SEO. Recently, I have been editing video. I forgot how much I enjoy that.

And I volunteer. I am the Chapter Advisor for the University of Colorado at Boulder chapter of Gamma Phi Beta. I love working with these women and advising them. Recently I took on the commitment to meet and take out for coffee or ice cream every new member this semester... there are 83 of them. So, yeah... I've been busy.

What haven't I been doing? Dating. Kinda bums me out and I'd like to do more of that but it's hard to find that right person right now in Denver. I'm afraid to settle. But also... I just don't have time to commit to looking or dating. Sad but true. I will refocus energies on that later. :)

But I have been hanging with some super cool Jewish chicks and I enjoy that. And I will be snow boarding this winter which is fun too.

Anyway, that's my update. I think I will try to be better with this blog. I really enjoy it... when I remember it... :)

B"H

I really have been enjoying Matthue Roth's work (which I find on Facebook, My Jewish Learning, and his blog). His writing has really inspired me in the time I have been doing the Jewish content for Patheos. In fact, his article on Molly Goldberg + the interview with Aviva Kempner on NPR got me researching and ultimately writing about Molly.

So Matthue has recently done an interview with Matisyahu for MJL which is a really incredible piece. He (and MJL) so graciously let me use it for the Patheos website. I really love how Matis and Matthue talk about Matis' evolving style and niche of music. I challenge all the people out there who claim Matisyahu "isn't real reggae" (just look at his YouTube channel for the nasty comments) to show me an artist who's sound doesn't evolve and who fits solidly into a specific genre. More, I see a kid who was influenced by this genre and choose to imitate it (after all, imitation is the best form of flattery). Matis isn't trying to be Bob Marley... he's trying to be Matthew Paul Miller aka Matisyahu. He's praising Hashem in a way that is relevant ... TO HIM. And it has become relevant to others too. His music speaks to a generation. Why? Because here we sit, young adults, children of the baby boomer/hippies, as a favorite song says... looking for a place to land. Trying to find our niche, our place in this world. We watched our parents boom and bust, heard the stories & listened to the records (yes, records) from their youth. Found out how they accidentally ended up at Woodstock (not kidding, my dad rocks but that is a story for another time), all the while waiting for our chance.

Most of us didn't/don't have adversity to conquer, no civil rights battle, no JFK, no need for bootstraps. Where most of our parents moved away from religion for spirituality, we move towards it. We crave connection but it's not so easy any more. Young people are going back to church/temple/synagogue in droves to find it but there are distractions. Television, Facebook, getting drinks on a Friday night, being too hung over on Sunday. What speaks to the Twitter generation? Chabad dinners, Matisyahu, Reb Zalman's weekly siddur on cd (I try to listen to it at least once a day to get my davvenen in) ... technology. A different kind of worship.

I have seen Matis perform live three times (once in NYC and twice in Denver) at three very different stages of his evolution.
NYC - brand, spankin' new. No one knew who he was. We got home burned versions of his first CD, small crowd but we knew that this guy was going to be someone. They didn't have problems filling seats but it was 40 - 60 people.
Denver, pt 1 - Matis is getting popular. His music is the same but he has a broader following, outside of Judaism. I saw him at The Paramount in Denver and the house is packed (1980 seats... don't ask me how I know that). He sang the Sh'ma at one point, telling the crowd that this is a very sacred prayer for Jews. Instead of covering my eyes to say the Sh'ma like I normally do, I turned around. I was standing next to the stage and behind me was nearly 2000 people standing in awe. Some had their hands in the air, like how some Christians prostrate to G-d in church. Some had their eyes covered like Jews traditionally do during the Sh'ma and some just watched this man pray, in front of them, with fervor.
Denver, pt 2 - The Mile High Music Festival version. When I saw Matis was playing this huge music festival I was excited. I figured not that many people would be interested in his music and I could get up nice and close and enjoy the show... I was wrong. I was dead wrong. I couldn't have been wronger (yes, I know that isn't a word). We got to the tent early-ish... but not early enough. It was already packed 30 minutes before his set... and it kept getting more packed. First people kept inching closer, then we had to stand up so there was room for more people, eventually, we were packed into the tent like sardines. He started his set and the crowd went wild. One guy took off his Mogen David necklace (the Jewish star) and was waving it in the air but most of the people there weren't Jewish. They went because he gave them a connection to something more than just the music. He connected them to their faith.

Is Matisyahu a symptom of a change or the cause? I would honestly say a symptom. Matisyahu's life story reads as fairly typical (ish) of my generation (of course, if you read it generally). He was a normal kid in White Plains, NY. Grew up liking Reggae music, smoked pot, didn't like school, felt no connection to his Judaism. Until he met a Chabad rabbi in Washington Square. Then it all changed for him. He went to a Chabad yeshiva, married a good frum girl and the rest is history. But he used his music to connect to his Judaism and entertain his yeshiva-mates. And now, really, the rest is history. I think he melded his secular upbringing with his new found observance. And that observance has been evolving too. He has jumped around to different sects of Judaism but the key is that Judaism is still central to how he lives his life.

For those of us who grew up with varying levels of religious observance who are being drawn to the more observant level, it's about melding our experiences, not forgetting them. Though the Orthodox Jews I hang out with don't have tattoos, I look at my tattoos as a badge of my history, of where I have been and where my journey has taken me. I am proud of my battle scars, the ones I have incurred on my journey to finding my level of observance and spirituality. The fact that mine is much more orthodox than my parents isn't unusual anymore. Really, we are all just a part of the Matisyahu generation.

And I leave you with a blessing Reb Zalman gave to me & my parents - "May your children be so frum (observant) that they won't even eat in your home."

Read Matthue Roth's interview with Matisyahu here - http://bit.ly/MatisLight

This is the best video! Very awesome.

The irony/poignancy is very cool. Notice the signs on the top left of the screen... and Jacob looking like a homeless person...

The end though... classic... and totally not planned!

Watch it here-


And share it with your friends, email out one of these links (or tweet it or facebook it)! - http://taliashewrote.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-crazy-bastard-video.html or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEIqwNgzHFE

And be sure to check out www.patheos.com for cool discussions and very interesting articles. (And seriously, Jews, got on those discussion boards. The Evangelicals are kicking our butts!) :o)

SO, in my last blog (almost a month ago... yeah, sorry about that) I spoke briefly about my new job at Patheos.

Background - Patheos is a comparative religion website with a fantastic interface. It is a fabulous resource for anyone who is studying religion, wanting to know more about their own traditions, or has questions that have plagued them for years. The site launched on May 5 and it has been SO exciting! We have had some great coverage on the launch. See our Time.com article here. Leo and Cathie (the founders) are really passionate about the site and incredibly articulate about it!

Okay, so my role - I am the Community Manager for the site. You can really break the site into a few sections. There are the Gateways and library where the worlds traditions are cataloged and serve as a great resource. The Public Square is a place where the leaders of the faiths who are chronicled as Gateways can weigh in on some of the hottest, most controversial and thought provoking topics in our world today. And then there is the community section. That is where I come in. In the community, we have groups, blogs, and discussion forums. I have been hard at work creating the governance documents for this community. Leo and Cathie, in fact, everyone at Patheos is really committed to making this a safe place to express beliefs and learn about others. It has been a really cool and interesting and hard process for me but I have created some documents that I am really proud of and I think serve this community really well.

In addition to that, I have been learning about the back-end management and how to use the software that we are utilizing for this website. It is Pluck software and it is just so versatile and awesome. I have to say, I was partial geek before but now I am going into full geek mode! It's a lot of fun. Not only do I do the governance but I have also been charged with the social media aspect. Twitter and Facebook and all that jazz. My specialty! I have been learning so many new techniques and measurement ideas.

So that's the new gig. Really enjoying the co-workers, bosses, and the work. I am very happy I made this decision. On to Chapter Five in The Life of Talia. :)

I started a new job today at www.patheos.com. It is a comparative religion website with a social interaction aspect.

I highly recommend checking this site out. It hasn't fully launched yet (look for the main launch on May 5th) but it is super cool. The Judaism gateway needs some work so go to the contact us button if you are interested in being a contributor.

I don't have too much to say about it yet but I will keep you updated. (Come on, today is only my first day!)