July..August 2002 - תַּמּוּז .. אָב .. אֱלוּל תשס״ב Tammuz..Av..Elul 5762

The recent Ninth Circuit Court decision declaring the “under God” phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional has brought out the worst of our society. Michael Newdow, the petitioner in the case, has received death threats presumably from ‘religious’ individuals whose faith in God has been threatened by the possibility that a 1954 anti-(godless-)Communist phrase may be removed from the Pledge. Justice Fernandez wrote in the minority dissent that the phrase “under God” is essentially a patriotic statement and not a significant statement of faith. I really resent that! What chutzpah! When I say “under God,” I really mean that God is the Master of the Universe, and that justice and liberty are the ethical demands of the Eternal. In the Jewish tradition belief in God is not the central element. For Christians to add the phrase “under God” into the Pledge is to make the essential statement of their religion. If Jews wanted to add the essence of our religion to the Pledge we would have written: “one nation, acting ethically, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”. Removing the phrase “under God” does not threaten my belief in God, nor does it challenge the basis of the Jewish tradition.

The most spurious argument in this public debate is that the Declaration of Independence mentions God or the Creator four times. So what! The Declaration of Independence is not part of the Constitution. It has no legal standing. Read the writings of the Founding Fathers and it will become clear that they did not want the United States to be run by religious law of any nature. We may be a Judeo-Christian culture but our government must be devoid of any religious influence. As a rabbi and a Jew, I will base all of my political decisions upon my Jewish values, but if I can not back up these positions by sound political and philosophical reasoning then I have no right to impose my faith, ethics or morality upon others.

The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and others have argued that this is not a significant issue of the separation of church and state and therefore Newdow and the Ninth Circuit Court should have been more considerate of the feelings of the majority of Americans. But the Bill of Rights was not added to our Constitution to protect the needs of the majority, it was specifically written to protect the rights of the minority. What constitutes a protected minority in this country? The answer is, a single individual is a protected minority. But the people caused to feel as outsiders by the phrase “under God” are not limited to the atheists trying to banish God from civil discourse. Rather this group includes Native Americans and adherents to Eastern religions, Buddhists, Hindus, Shintos and Zoroastrians, among others, all of whom worship either multiple gods or godliness. I don't know whether Muslims who refer to God only as Allah would consider the phrase to meet their religious needs either.

For me this is an immensely personal issue. When I was a child in Elementary School, we began every day with the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord's Prayer, a reading from Psalms and a patriotic song. The Lord's Prayer does not mention Jesus, and I was too young to know that it was taken from the Gospels of the New Testament. But I knew from First Grade on that this was not my prayer. I was never comfortable reciting the Lord's Prayer. [When I was a little older I strongly opposed reading Christmas stories and singing carols. As the rabbi in San Luis Obispo, I worked with the mayor to change the city's Christmas decorations to “winter decorations.” I convinced the mayor that my children and I should not feel like outsiders in our own town.] I remember the feeling I had when reciting the Lord's Prayer and I will stand up so that others not have to feel like outsiders in their own home, the United States of America.

May God bless the United States of America, Israel, all of the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, with peace!

- Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

August 10th - Little Shul Rededication

The first Chanukkat haBayit (Rededication of the House [of God]) was for the Beit haMiqdash (the Holy Temple) in Jerusalem in the year 264 BCE. Now we are celebrating another Chanukkat haBayit of our Beit haKenesset (synagogue), specifically the Little Shul on Shabbat, August 10th, 2002 CE, at 1:00 PM.

With a generous gift from Jacob Feinstein, the Little Shul as been refurbished in loving memory of his wife, Gloria Feinstein. This thoughtful donation has made it possible for a magnificent new hardwood floor to be installed, for the old side door to be replaced, for new benches and cushions to be made to current specifications and for the entire Little Shul to be painted inside and out. (A special thanks to Harold Jagoda for prioritizing the painting of the Little Shul into his company's busy schedule.)

On Saturday, August 10th after the Shabbat worship and after the Kiddush, we will invite our Jewish and non-Jewish friends and neighbors to the Rededication. The rabbi and cantor will reconsecrate the Little Shul and Jacob Feinstein will give a tribute to Gloria. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

Zucker Memorial Lecture - Friday, July 12th.

This year's Dr. John Zucker Memorial lecturer will be Rabbi Zucker's older son, Rabbi David Zucker. Rabbi David Zucker is the chaplain at Shalom Park in Aurora, Colorado. This year we shall rename and rededicate this lecture series, the Drs. John and Lillian Zucker Memorial Lectures. Please join us on Friday, July 12th, for worship beginning at 8:00 PM.

TBS at the Movies - Saturday, July 27 - a Night of Jewish Baseball

Rabbi Manhoff has been begging us to use our magnificent new Zucker Hall audiovisual system to screen the Hank Greenberg Story. For those of you too young to remember the first Jewish Babe Ruth (even though some consider the youngster, Shawn Green to be the next claimant to the title), this is the magnificent story of the first publicly known Jewish baseball player and superstar. The video begins with the singing of Take Me Out to the Ballgame in Yiddish and it is pure entertainment from there on.

So join us on Saturday evening, July 27th, for Havdalah, and TBS at the movies, a Night of Jewish Baseball. Popcorn, candy and drinks will be available for purchase.

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

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