Wow!!!  That's the first reaction, and not because I am a kneejerk progressive.  I must admit, my first thought was one of skepticism, that the prize was premature.  While Obama's discourse has been (IMHO) visionary and inspiring, his actual foreign policies have yet to bear fruit.

However, that's precisely the point.  If you look at this statement by the Nobel committee, it alludes to the power of vision and discourse to affect global change:

"Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the United States is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.”

Creating change through words - a pretty Jewish view in my opinion.

To strengthen the point, consider the timing of how the prizes are announced.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the Literature prize is always announced a day before the Peace prize.  As an English major, this gives me much naches.  But is the Nobel Committee making a deeper statement about how a personal concern for the human condition, expressed through a careful understanding of stories and langugage, creates a political context of shared concern and responsibility?  Feel free to respond!

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach - see you Saturday night and Sunday for Simchat Torah!!

This Friday, at 6:00, I will lead Kabbalat Shabbat with guitarist David Weidenfeld, with the goal being to find the support we need to raise our voices together in singing and tefila (prayer). Our melodies will be both familiar and new, blending sounds ranging from Hasidic to Afro-pop. But most importantly, our hope is that everyone who is present feels free to join their voice to the stream, wherever they are in their familiarity with Hebrew, Jewish prayer or spiritual practice.

 Following our Kabbalat Shabbat service, please join us for a communal potluck, either outside or in the multi-purpose room at LGA (weather depending). All are welcome at this and all events at CBI, so feel free to bring a friend interested in exploring Jewish community.

Looking forward to seeing you Friday at 6:00!

With warm wishes for a Shabbat Shalom,

JD

I cannot recall any leader who has so thoughtfully and thoroughly engaged with the complement of issues in the Middle East as Obama has in this speech.  I will comment briefly on just a few points that strike me as a Jew and as a rabbi, in no particular order.

1.  Teshuvah with Islam.  Obama's embrace of the role of Islam in America and America's positive relationship to Islam has a remarkable depth.  The overall theme is not new to Obama - that the health of a society depends upon its affirmation of the groups within it.  But his appreciation for Islam and Muslims comes across as deeply sincere.  Food for thought moment: Obama cited a figure of 7 million Muslims in the US.  The latest National Jewish Population Survey places the number of Jews at 6 million.  This figure alone demonstrates that the American religious landscape has changed, and we as Jews need to involve ourselves with Islam and Muslim communities in my opinion. 

2.  Distinguishing extremism from mainstream religion.  We all know there is a difference, but it is another thing for an American president to hardwire the distinction into public discourse.  By doing so with such warm feeling toward Islam and Muslims, Obama potentially goes a long way toward building a sense of trust that can hopefully become the basis of a new relationship between America and the Middle East. 

3.  Telling it like it is.  Kudos to Obama for highlighting the "tensions" between the Arab world and the West while avoiding condescension.  Quite the opposite, actually.  The context seemed to be more of one of shared aspiration toward religious liberty, civil society, and the rights of women.  This last point is especially important.  When the "book" on Obama is written, I expect there will be a section on his belief that the treatment of those who are vulnerable reflects upon the society as a whole.

4.  Israel and Palestine.  Contrary to those who object to what they saw as Obama drawing "moral equivalencies" between the Holocaust and Palestinian suffering, I think Obama actually changed the debate in this speech.  He went out of his way to emphasize the legitimacy of Israel's existence, and acknowledged the role of past suffering, which, in his words, "can not be denied."  He also spoke of the Palestinians' "pain of dislocation" and affirmed their aspiration for "dignity, opportunity and a state" of their own. 

But holding these twin realities side by side does not render them "morally equivalent."  Instead, Obama did something else entirely, mostly by what he did not do.  He did not invoke any rehearsed narratives to explain, justify or excoriate.  He simply told the truth, and by doing so, highlighted the urgency for action on issues of mutual concern. 

5.  A world without nuclear weapons.  Obama actually said this.  This is, perhaps, the most important thing he said.  I can't think of a single president in my lifetime who has actually uttered those words in any serious way.  We all think of Carter as an emblem of universal peace, but if I recall correctly, as President he supported the MX missle program.  Enlighten me if I'm wrong.  Even so, considering my teenage years during Reagan were filled with nightmares of nuclear destruction, I'm grateful that Obama has given my children the permission to hope for peaceful dreams.

All in all, what Obama has done is to change the "story" we have about ourselves and the Middle East.  With the exception of his approach to Iran, there were no major shifts in policy here.  But tone is everything.  Here, the tone is one of sincere engagement, appreciation, honor, and most of all, an urgency to work on common problems.    His speech gives us the mandate to see ourselves differently and opens a new chapter for us as global citizens. 

This was the comment to me by a minister friend in town: "Obama - what a mensch!"  Now, 2 caveats - first off, I believe that a rabbi ought to take political issues to the next level and reframe them in a religious/moral/spiritual context.  The second (and more important) is that, regardless of our admiration for our President-elect, our task as morally engaged individuals is to "speak truth to power."

Now, back to our question, is Obama a mensch?  Well, what is a mensch?  The defnition isn't written down in any classic Jewish source, but a number of qualities come to mind - thoughtfulness, personal restraint, fundamental decency, transparency, earnestness of intention, selflessness.  Does this describe Barack Obama?  I leave that to you.

But I can't help but recall the teaching from Pirke Avot, Ethics of our Sages, "In a place where there are no human beings, be a human being."  In other words, be a mensch - the world sorely needs one!

As our Ugandan friends say, Mirembe! Shalom! 

I just heard that Israel Sariri, a leader of the Abayudaya Jewish Community of Uganda, is speaking at the JCA next Wednesday, November 12, at 7:00.  As I say whenever I get the chance, the Abayudaya are remarkable people - if we could bottle their spirit, we could transform Jewish life!  Israel Sariri is a very special person.  Singlehandedly, he brought electricity and running water to his village, and works tirelessly on behalf of his community.  If we can't get to hear Israel this time, check out the music of the Abayudaya.  As you listen to the CD, close your eyes and imagine the feeling of these simple melodies and tight harmonies in a small synagogue with a tin roof on Friday night.