A Great Holiday Bash!

On Saturday night we gathered at Michael and Antoinette's for a holiday party. As usual the food was varied and delicious. Ruth P. donated a giant hero in honor of her grandson's wedding. We also had chili, mixed vegetables, green salad, potatoes au gratin, and latkes. For dessert we ate cheesecake, coffee cake, apple strudel, and some yummy cookies.

Selma lit the Hanukah candles, and we enjoyed the beautiful mingled decorations, dreidels and stars along with Christmas trees and wreaths. After dinner some of us played Apples to Apples, a game that generated much merriment.

Adriana surprised us by coming costumed as a gypsy. She brought her Tarot deck and did readings for those who requested one. Her readings were amazingly on target in most cases, too.

By the time we started home it was late, and we took car service. Kudos to Michael and Antoinette for hosting another wonderful get together!

Tomorrow we're meeting for a New Year's Brunch, to start 2009 off right. It's been a rocky year with some big ups and some major downs. In 2009, the BHC will be moving forward, finding a new place to meet, becoming a nonprofit organization, and getting involved in some hands on work towards building a better and more ethical world.

Holiday Cards for Veterans in Hospice

On December 19th, Bruce and I braved a snowstorm and went to the corporate headquarters of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. We spent several hours designing and labeling holiday cards for veterans in hospice.

I hadn't made greeting cards in years so I had a great time cutting out snowflake doilies and pasting them on the handmade cards. We had scissors with scalloped edges to use in designing fancy edgings for the cards and the construction paper cutouts. There was a lot of variety, too, because we made Christmas cards, New Year's cards, Hanukah cards and Happy Holiday cards. I signed every card I made from Celeste and the Brooklyn Humanist Community.

In January there will be two training sessions for those who want to participate in visiting veterans in hospice. I'm looking forward to that, and hope to see other BHC folks there.

A Humanist View of the Holidays

This afternoon the Brooklyn Humanist Community met at the Central Library for a program on a humanist view of the upcoming holidays, specifically Chanukah, Christmas and Kwaanza.

Remi presided, beginning the program with a short explanation of the humanist view she received of the holidays during her upbringing in Ethical Culture. Her Sunday School teacher explained that the darkness of the winter solstice frightened people, and they devised rituals to herald the return of the sun. Eventually they began to believe that without the ritual, the sun would not return. Some of these ancient anxieties may be at play when people cling to traditional religious observances.

We began with Tony's talk on Kwaanza. He explained the origin of the holiday in the mid-1960's, created by a humanist who wanted to give African-Americans an alternative holiday that would celebrate important family and community values. The holiday reaches back to African roots and incorporates some familiar elements such as feasting, lighting candles, and giving homemade gifts.

After Tony's talk and some questions and comments, I gave my talk on Chanukah. I'm copying it below:

My Humanist View of Chanukah

I was raised in a Jewish home that blended some Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions. Chanukah was one of my very favorite holidays. Although I don’t always celebrate it fully as I used to, it holds many layers of meaning for me.

There’s a nine-word summary for most Jewish holidays: “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat!” Chanukah certainly fits this description. It commemorates the victory of the guerrilla style Maccabees, Jews who fought back against the Assyrian invaders, the rededication of the Temple, and the “miracle of the oil.”

Chanukah is actually a lesser holiday, of little importance, and has only gained in stature because of its frequent proximity to Christmas. As Christmas became more commercialized, Jewish children expressed their envy, and parents were influenced to make Chanukah a much more significant holiday in order to satisfy that envy. I remember as a little girl, envying the people across the street who had a Christmas tree outside their house. Some people tried to imitate Christmas, putting up a “Chanukah bush” with Jewish symbols hanging from the branches, but my family rejected this approach as having no basis in our tradition. My compensation came at Chanukah, when we lit the candles, and I received chocolate coins as “Chanukah gelt” along with a small present each of the 8 days.

According to the story, the Assyrians invaded Judea around 2,300 years ago and imposed their religion on the people there. Forbidden to practice Judaism, the Jews were ordered to worship idols. As a child, I heard the horrific legend of Hannah and her seven sons. In this tale, Hannah’s seven sons were killed before her eyes, one by one, for refusing to worship any but the one God of Israel. Even her three-year old son stood by his religion and died for it. Today, I find the story far fetched, but we were meant to be inspired by the idea that people would stand by their beliefs and even give their lives for them.

But the story of Chanukah is one of triumph, religious freedom and national identity. Surely, whether or not we believe in a God, we can take that lesson and stand up for the First Amendment’s codification of freedom of religion. We can join with other Humanists taking a strong stand against the establishment of religion.

As for the lights, clearly the increasing light as a new candle is added to the Chanukiah each night has its roots in the return of the light following the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year. But it also stands for the “miracle of the oil.” This tale comes from the rededication of the Temple. When it came time to relight the sacred Eternal Light that is never to go out, there was only one small jug of oil found. Yet, according to the story, that little bit of oil burned for 8 days, giving the liberators time to obtain more oil and keep the lamp burning.

Do I believe this actually happened? Does it even matter? What this legend says to me is that when we are dedicated enough, seemingly inadequate resources can be sufficient. It can also tell us that with creativity and open minds, we can find enough energy, food, and other necessities without destroying the earth. And, as we move forward from day to day, if we increase our dedication to our mission (BHC’s as well as our own personal life’s missions), the light we bring into the world will grow and increase.

It is this view of the “light” that inspires Peter, Paul and Mary’s Chanukah song for peace and justice, “Don’t Let the Light Go Out.”

There are three more aspects of the Chanukah celebration I’d like to mention. First, the dreidels. A dreidel is nothing more than a top, but it is inscribed with four Hebrew letters that create an acronym for “A Great Miracle Happened There.” In Israel, dreidels are slightly different, and the acronym stands for, “A Great Miracle Happened Here.”

As I learned it, dreidels are associated with Chanukah because they were a cover up for secret Torah classes. Boys would gather in caves to study the Torah, but they would keep little tops with them. At the approach of Assyrian soldiers, they would conceal the holy books and pretend to be playing a gambling game when the soldiers arrived. This deception enabled them to pass along the knowledge and keep their religion alive. I would call this a “noble lie” as Tony defined it in his talk on the ethics of lying this past September.

The humanist value I see in the dreidel game is the importance of education for all. The image of children meeting secretly in order to learn is something that has been repeated in history, perhaps most recently in Afghanistan where girls were forbidden to attend school and had to meet secretly to learn to read and write.

Then there are the latkes. Once again, they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat! But the latkes and jelly doughnuts (sofkanyot) consumed on Chanukah have a symbolic significance because they are cooked in oil, to commemorate the “miracle of the oil.”

Last but not least, a little-known aspect of Chanukah that once was well known but fell into obscurity is the story of Judith Maccabee. Judith was a beautiful young widow who entered the Assyrian camp where the cruel General Holofernes had his tent. Taken by her beauty, he invited her to a banquet, where legend has it that she fed him on salty cheese to make him thirsty and plied him with so much wine that he fell into a drunken stupor. After he passed out, Judith took his sword and decapitated him. With the Assyrian army thrown into confusion, Judith inspired the Israelites to launch a victorious surprise attack. Her dedication and courage changed the course of her generation’s history.

Today, with a rediscovery of feminism in the past 30 years or so, Judith’s story has again come to light, and in many households cheese latkes are prepared along with the traditional potato recipe, to recognize Judith’s contribution to the Maccabee victory. So the complete story of Chanukah points us to a recognition that women, as well as men, play an important part in the struggle for freedom.

From a Humanist viewpoint, Chanukah reminds us that dedication and standing up for our beliefs takes a “whole village.” Men, women, and even the children who sneaked into the caves to study the forbidden books, all played a part in striking a blow for religious freedom and self-determination. We are reminded that with dedication, courage, and imagination, scarcity can be overcome, and we can continue to grow and spread “light.”

Tony gave us a detailed history of Christmas and the meaning behind Christmas trees. He traced the history and origin of Santa Claus as we know him today, and talked about his own experiences of Christmas as a child. Afterwards we all talked about our experiences of the holidays. Some of us envied Christmas, others didn't really have a holiday tradition at all. We spoke a lot about the issue of gifts and it was clear that there is a lot of emotional content behind giving and receiving gifts that are perceived as "just right" versus gifts that are not what the children wanted or else gifts that parents bent over backward to come up with.

We have some great programs coming up the rest of this month and in January, and I look forward to seeing everyone. Today's program was a warm and comradely one with familiar faces. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Election Reflection

Last Saturday night we gathered at Maureen's to discuss the outcome of the election. Kurt brought us a piece written about Obama from a highly spiritual, even religious viewpoint. Yes, I look for signs, and names sometimes hold a special meaning for me. But after all, parents give their children propitious names that express their high hopes for their infants, so it's hardly surprising that the names Barack, Hussein and Obama translate into words that appear prophetic.

But my own son's name means a "Crowned Healer," and he is a lovely young man, but he is hardly an Aragorn. I commented that this piece was over the top, and while I hold great hopes for the future and for Obama's administration, he is not a messiah.

We all spoke of our feelings around the election. For the most part, everyone spoke of a guarded optimism. We recognize that the economy and the war will present huge challenges and may force Obama to delay or renege on some of his promises. Still, his election represents a shift away from the models of the past, so we are hopeful.

We have one dissenter, who did not vote for Obama and viewed his campaign as "Madison Avenue." I could see some of that in the "Obama Girl" videos, which had no intellectual or even political content at all, but clearly had some effect on younger voters. When the evening was winding down, several of us thanked her for feeling comfortable enough to express her different opinion.

Robin brought a "talking stick" she decorated when her son Sam was little, so that they could argue with each other but make sure each of them would be heard. It was beautifully wrapped in ribbons and had buttons and bells hanging from it by several threads. The talking stick helped us to remember to wait and give each person a chance to speak. Sometimes, adults though we are, our thoughts bubble up so quickly that we tend to interrupt each other. So I appreciate the talking stick, and hope Robin will always bring it.

Maureen made us a shepherd's pie, and we had cold cuts, cheese, crackers and vegetables for a delicious potluck meal. Thanks to her for being an excellent hostess, and to Kurt for leading us through yet another deeply satisfying reflection.

Joseph Ben-David & The Sticker Dude

This past Sunday we were privileged to have two guests at our monthly program, Joseph Ben-David as our speaker and musical entertainment with The Sticker Dude.

Rev. Ben-David is currently the Senior Minister of the Naturalistic Church of Humanism, and has been a lifelong activist in humanitarian and Unitarian causes. His topic was "Revolution in Humanism: Putting Humanism on the Map."

Joe, as he encouraged us to call him, said we need to act as radical reformers but function within a set of values in order to improve a situation. I view this as a constructive rather than a destructive form of radicalism.

His "nutshell" definition of humanism is an ultimate concern for the human condition in the universal context, including the self, the environment and the cosmos. As he pointed out, a person who has helped humanity is a "humanist" by his definition even if this person is a theist.

Rev. Ben-David defined three types of humanism:

1. Atheism: a radical attack on irrationality, superstition and the political power of traditional religions.

2. Agnosticism acknowledges that there is a lot we don't understand. It encompasses a belief in the scientific method.

3. Theism: how is this possible for humanists, he asked? He sees it as possible if one takes a naturalistic approach to the concept of God. Naturalism includes both the Darwinian "law of the jungle" environment but it also includes a socially positive process wherein animals protect each other and perform positive and creative behavior. (Remember the generous vampire bats I mentioned in my talk on "Rambam's Ladder," who shared their unique type of food with other bats when asked?) Humans have both sides of this naturalism within them.

In terms of the creative process, humans are capable of transcending into a higher environment where values are actualized. Humans have a spiritual capacity to affect society in positive, creative ways.

Humans operate in 3 basic modes: the mode of ideas and rational thinking is the one that has until recently been most cherished by humanists, who often dwell in the realm of thinking. But, we also operate in the mode of feelings, which humanists have often ignored. Third, we operate in the mode of politics.

Reason is basic: we must have rationality and ideas in order not to dwell in chaos. But we must also have a place for feelings and psychology, Rev. Ben-David pointed out. While rationality leads us to science, feelings lead us into the arts, which allow us to understand concepts not expressible in any other way. Third, we must also incorporate politics in the sense that we must actualize.

It is in that actualization that the Humanist Revolution must begin. Here Rev. Ben-David gave us a brief history of the Humanist movement and discussed the introduction of humanist psychology into the movement. He pointed out that we need to encompass the three-dimensional nature of human existence: ideas, feelings and politics, in order to put Humanism on the map and make it attractive to large numbers of people.

In a nutshell, Rev. Ben-David's idea is that we need a humanistic, ethical, naturalistic, unitarian universalist idea of God. We need to find and mobilize people who affirm the God concept in its realistic form in order to engage people to whom that word does mean something. He pointed out that approximately 10-15% of the US population identifies as atheist, but that we need to reach the rest as well.

Accordingly, Rev. Ben-David shared that he has written a highly researched essay, meant to be distributed to academicians, on this humanist concept of "God." At the end of his talk he took email addresses and will send copies of his essay to those who are interested.

I was impressed with the depth of his thinking and the vision of a humanism that will appeal to people who believe in a God but perhaps are not affiliated with a formal religion. Attracting more people to the Humanist movement, and in our particular case, to our small but dynamic Brooklyn Humanist Community, would be a great achievement.

The talk and some questions and answers were followed by songs and sing-alongs with The Sticker Dude. His final song was his "theme song" for the Brooklyn Humanist Community, and spoke of the long, hard time we have been through but that we won't give it up and we have the love of our friends to help us along. Joel spoke some touching words about his feeling of connection to our group, even if he isn't able to attend often. It was so good to know we occupy a place in his heart, as he does in ours.

Our thanks to Joseph Ben-David, his wife Alyson Ben-David who drove him to the meeting and filmed his talk, and to our dear friend Joel, the Sticker Dude. We hope they will all choose to visit us more often.

BHC's First Movie Night

On Saturday night BHC members and friends gathered at Antoinette and Michael's for our first movie night. We ordered in four types of pizza, snacked on chips and salsa, and chatted until we started the movie at 9.


We watched "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World." It wasn't necessarily the best movie I have ever seen but it had some very funny moments. While the Muslims (and the Hindus) encountered in the film appeared to be either clueless about comedy or else on a completely different wavelength, the movie also made it clear that the Americans were totally clueless about how to do cultural research.

The main character arrives in India with just about no preparation. He hasn't read up on or studied either the Hindu or Muslim religion, let alone the history of the peoples in that area. He goes around on the streets asking people what makes them laugh. Most of the time they are suspicious and give him a wide berth. Guess what? If someone came up to me out of the blue and asked what makes me laugh, I might run the other way also! And I think I've got a pretty well developed sense of humor.

Since he's a comedian, he decides to experiment on the public by putting on a comedy show and having his assistant record the audience's responses. But the audience is totally unresponsive. His comedy falls flat. It's ethnocentric and some of it is actually an insult to the audience. When he does an "improvisation," the audience eagerly provides suggestions. But he changes them to suit his own idea of a funny improvisation. Not only isn't it funny to them, but it is insulting that he simply ignored their suggestions. I'm surprised they didn't throw ripe tomatoes!

The only people he's able to evoke a laugh out of are a group of hookah-smoking Pakistanis who are supposedly budding comedians. They give him a hit of hashish and he becomes just as high as they are, loosens up and manages to be funny, or at least, to amuse his audience, which seems ready to laugh at just about anything.

In the meantime, his activities, going around and questioning people about humor, are read by both governments as suspicious. When he illegally crosses the border into Pakistan, the Pakistani government beefs up security at the border. In response, the Indian government beefs up security at their border. All this futile searching for comedy nearly results in a war, and our comedian is pulled out of the country for his own safety (when in fact, he's the cause of it all).

Back in Los Angeles he is feted by his wife and his friends, and hailed by them as a returning hero even though he has accomplished nothing and in fact almost set off a war. So the Americans, in the end, are the ones who are really clueless about other cultures and even how to learn about them.

The movie had some great moments, such as the comedian's remark that, "It's okay to bomb, it's no big deal," which is overheard and reported by a Pakistani spy. I got a lot of laughs out of it, and we had a good discussion afterwards over coffee and crumb cake. We stayed out till midnight, something we almost never do anymore, just enjoying a freewheeling conversation with good friends.

Kudos to Michael and Antoinette for pulling this event together on such short notice (we didn't decide to do this until Wednesday). It looks like a movie night is something we definitely have to include in our programming plans.

BHC's First Social Action

Yesterday members of the BHC embarked on our first social action. Several months ago, our members voted to concentrate on aiding veterans this year. We invited Janeen Thompson, Volunteer Program Coordinator with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York to train us for a one-day phone action, calling veterans in hospice to thank them for their service to their country.

Seven of us attended the training and two others expressed interest in making the calls this Tuesday, Veterans' Day. Ms. Thompson also offered us the opportunity to get involved in a new program. If we sign up for it, we'd be visiting veterans in hospice and presenting them with a certificate officially thanking them for their service. We'd be accompanied by a spiritual leader and there would be a ceremony to thank the veteran.

In the meantime, this is the first step. After this, some of us have expressed interest in attending trainings to visit with the veterans in hospice, and I think we can get a number of people together who are ready to do this project.