Secular Daf Yomi?

One of my favorite parts of Orthodox Judaism is its emphasis on learning. (Mind you, I think that they define "learning" far too narrowly: you frequently find people who devote a third of their waking lives to study without ever cracking a non-Judaic book.) One of the most impressive phenomena that I know of is Daf Yomi, the practice of thousands of Jews all over the world studying the entire Talmud in unison, a page a day, which takes 7 years.

I find Daf Yomi inspiring and would love to do it except that, being an atheist, I have only a slight academic interest in Talmud at this point. If I were going to devote an hour or more a day for seven years to study, I wouldn't choose the Talmud as my object.

One of the advantages (and disadvantages -- see the "America Family Association") which religion offers is its ability to organize its followers. Organizing atheists, on the other hand, is said to be like herding cats. Sometimes I wish there were a secular version of Daf Yomi, one where I could tackle a difficult subject over a long period of time, knowing that I have brothers and sisters in study all across the world.

On Marriage

My sweetheart and I got married two summers ago. In many ways, it was a traditional ceremony. Our families and friends joined us from all over the world to celebrate. We took a vow to love, honor, and cherish each other till death do us part, and our mothers wept with joy. With a minister presiding, we made an exchange of gold rings, followed by dinner for over 100 people at a beautiful restaurant, with a cake, dancing, and champagne toasts.

But in one obvious way our wedding was a non-traditional event: My beloved is a bright, softspoken, handsome science teacher named Keith...

Keith and I didn't get married to commit a pioneering act of civil disobedience, to "redefine marriage" as President Bush claimed during his campaign, or to outrage the religious right. We took our vows because getting hitched seemed like the sane next step of our commitment. We figured the best way to defend the sanctity of marriage was to have one and live up to the promises we made to one another.

--Steve Silberman, Our Traditional Non-Traditional Wedding

Wacky Bible Verse of the Day

1 Timothy, Chapter 2

2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

I have two thoughts:

1) You know, Paul sounds like a real jerk.
2) Why do I see women dressed up for Church every Sunday?

More on Charity from the New York Times

The New York Times has a special section (free registration required) about charity. The lead article, What is Charity?, explains that "[n]onprofits are richer than ever, but the share going to the poor continues to dwindle*." There are stories about Katrina, of course, but they also ask why the world hasn't done more after the South Asian earthquake. There's an interesting article about the increase of Christian-run companies around the globe. Finally, they ask why people donate in the first place. (Edited to add: For the conservatives in the house, the Times also asks, Did the New Deal Kill Old Giving? The ultimate answer seems to be: not really. A recent study found that there was a "reduction of three cents in church spending for every new dollar of government money.")


* Interestingly, the Salvation Army, which I advised against donating to in my previous post, was the only "human services organization" to receive a gift last year of over $100 million. (There were 14 gifts over $100 million last year.) Please allow me to say that you should definitely donate to them instead of donating nowhere or to somewhere that needs the money less (for example "charities" that are simply for building bigger churches or supporting people in kollel**.)

** "A Kollel usually refers to an institute for advanced studies of Talmud and of rabbinic literature for post-graduate Jewish adults, essentially a yeshiva which pays married men a regular monthly stipend or annual salary to study Judaism's classic texts in depth." (wikipedia)

Don't Give to The Salvation Army

Do you know the difference between a faith-based charity and a secular one? Secular charities (which may be entirely composed of religious people) are devoted only to their stated cause. "Faith-based" ones can discriminate and take positions completely unrelated to their stated cause.

DovBear points out an article from the Jewish Week:

Anne Lown, a Jewish woman from Boston, had worked nearly 25 years for the Salvation Army’s children’s services arm in New York when she was thrust into the world of faith-based initiatives.

Lown, associate director of the local Salvation Army’s government-funded Social Services for Children, was one of 18 employees to leave or be dismissed in 2003-04 for allegedly refusing to sign forms swearing loyalty to the group’s Christian principles.

...

The White House’s director for faith-based initiatives exulted publicly over the ruling.

“I think this is going to send a resounding signal out there in America,” Jim Towey told National Public Radio soon afterward, “because here you have an organization ... that got 95 percent of its money from government to do its social service work and the court held that they were allowed to hire on a religious basis.”

They also discriminate against gay people.


Religious organizations have enough of your money:

Religious organizations received the most support [in America]--$88.3 billion. Much of these contributions can be attributed to people giving to their local place of worship. The next largest sector was education ($33.8 billion.) [source]

The Catholic Church, for example, "owns more land globally than any other organization on the planet," received $8 billion in parish-level contributions in 2003, and has opulent basilicas, a museum-quality art collection and jewelry. (From an article bemoaning the fact that these assets aren't liquid.)

Please make sure that you donate to charities who will spend your money responsibly and not discriminate based on religion or sexual orientation. The online Charity Navigator, although it won't tell you who's spending your money to discriminate, will at least help you by rating charities based on how efficiently they spend your money.

And GOP-Jews, please wake up and realize that tearing down the wall between church and state is not good for the Jews or anyone else who doesn't belong to the majority religion in America.