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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2000)
O ctober 11, 2000 P age B4 (Tbc ÿbrtlanb (Obseruer Vturtlaiib *W ) ■NM BM M M M BM M M BM BSi Lieberman: Respect Women, Religion B-t BRIGITTE GREENBERG A ssociated P ress W ritlr W A SH IN G TON (AP) Inaccor dance with Jewish law, vice presiden tial candidate Jo se p h L ieberm an thanks G od each m orning for not having m ade him a slave or a woman. In h is O rth o d o x sy n a g o g u e , Lieberm an and his w ife, H adassah, m ust stand apart from each other as they pray. In counting the quorum to b e g in — c a lle d th e m in y a n — H adassah do esn ’t count; a quorum is 10 men. The daughter o f a rabbi, H adassah could never becom e one h erse lf in the O rthodox tradition. T hese are som e o f the differences in how w om en are treated in O rtho dox Judaism com pared w ith more lib eral strains o f the religion. A nd the disparity has some people asking if L ieberm an’s religion could color his view s o f w om en in secular society. T he senator from C on n ecticu t d o e sn ’t defend all o f his relig io n ’s traditions. “ H adassah and I go to an O rtho dox synagogue in both W ashington and N ew H aven (C onn.) because th a t’s sort o f the tradition that we grew up w ith and it w orks for us, but look at m y record in politics. By any standard, I believe it’s fair to say that I ’ve been supportive o f w o m en ’s and not cam paigning on M onday, Yorn K ippur, the Jew ish Day o f A tonem ent. Mrs. Lieberm an said they consider themselves m ore as “observant” Jews than Orthodox. She seem ed o f two m inds about how her religion regards women. W hile saying she is com fortable w ith the role o f w om en, she supports the views o fone o fO rth o d o x y ’s lead ing fem inists, Blu G reenberg, who prods Jew ish leaders to allow w om en like Blu G reenberg are out there fight ing the battles, but th ey ’re not my battles to fight," Mrs. Lieberm an said in a telephone interview . “ It’s really not for m e to say anything negative.” G re en b e rg , p re si dent o f the Jew ish O r thodox Fem inist A lli ance and a longtim e fam ily friend, says that like m any other fam i lies, the Liebermans are stru g g lin g to square som e o f their faith’s teachings w ith m odem life. “ B o th Jo e an d H adassah are in the sam e place as many other m odem O rtho dox Jews, w hich is that you stay w ithin the system and you appre ciate the blessings o f the system , and you m ake certain trade-offs in som e areas,” said G reenberg, w ho w rote, “O n W om en and Judaism : A V iew From T radi tion.” G reenberg said she believes the senator looks beyond his religion to m ake decisions. She noted, for ex am ple, that w hile O rthodox Judaism allow s abortion w hen a w om an’s life rabbi, Barry Freundel o f the K esher Israel synagogue, disputes the idea that O rthodoxy discrim inates against women. "Y ou have to look at it through the eyes o f Jewish law, w hich doesn’t talk about rights. It talks about re sponsibilities,” Freundel said. Mrs. Lieberman said, “ I don’t think it m akes O rthodoxy any less caring about w om en,” and she noted that w om en w ho w ant to becom e rabbis have other options in the Reform and C onservative m ovem ents o f Juda ism. Said her husband: “ I ju st w ould observe, w ithout getting into the th e o lo g ic a l d e ta ils, th a t th e r e ’s change going on and there are also o p tio n s.” He noted that their three adult ch ild ren , M atthew , R ebecca and Ethan, all attend a m ore liberal syna gogue o f the conservative branch and “w e w orship w ith them som e o f the tim e.” Jeffrey S. G urock, professor o f A m erican Jew ish history at Y eshiva University, said that years ago women w ere forbidden to study sacred Jew ish texts. “Orthodox Jews o f all stripes are produc ing a far more educated, learned group o f w om en who are studying the same type o f texts and sometimes with the same rigor as do their male counter parts. so that’s achange,” Gurock said. Interfaith Network For Earth Receives Award The Ralph L. S m ith Foundation has aw arded Ecum enical M inistries o f O regon’s Interfaith N etw ork for Earth Concerns $9,000 to support IN E C ’s w ork in environm ental ju s tice, food sustainability, Portland m etro livability, and global w arm ing education and advocacy. “T he tim ing couldn’t be better,” said TNEC director Jenny H olm es, noting tw o upcom ing events that will enhance INEC ’s ongoing work in glo bal w arm ing and in food security. The first, a training for clergy at Silver Falls State Park, Oct. 29-30, will bring together religious leaders from over 25 faith groups to learn w ays they can em pow er their congregations to both act and advocate to slow global warm ing. The other event, IN E C ’s fourth annual A Place at the T able confer ence on N ovem ber 3 and 4, will bring Workshop Offers Insights Into Refugee Struggles S p o n so rs O rg a n iz e d to A s s is t R e fu g e es (S O A R ), the re fu g e e re s e ttle m e n t p ro g ra m o f E c u m e n i c a l M in is trie s o f O re g o n (E M O ), w ill h o st a w o rk s h o p o n re fu g e e r e s e ttle m e n t c a lle d T h e C o m p a s s io n a te M is s io n a ry o n M o n d a y , O cto b e r 23, from 9 a m . to 3 :3 0 ., at S a v a g e M e m o ria l P re s b y te ria n C h u rch , 1740S E 139,h S treet, P o rt la n d . T h e w o rk s h o p w ill in fo rm p a s to r s an d o th e r c o n g r e g a tio n a l m e m b e rs o f th e b e n e f its o f and n e e d fo r r e f u g e e s p o n s o rs h ip . P re s e n te rs w ill in c lu d e re p re s e n ta tiv e s o f th e C h u rc h W o rld S e r v ic e (C W S ) n a tio n a l o ffic e in N ew Y o rk , S O A R s ta ff , lo c a l c h u rc h s p o n s o r s , a n d re f u g e e s re s e ttle d in th e P o rtla n d a re a . A tte n d e e s w ill h e a r fro m r e f u g e e s w h o a re b u ild in g n ew liv e s in th e P o rtla n d a re a , re p o rts fro m lo c a l c h u rc h e s d e s c r ib in g th e ir e x p e rie n c e s o f h o s p ita lity to re fu g e e s, a re v ie w o f U .S . fo re ig n p o lic y a n d g lo b a l is s u e s in v o lv in g re fu g e e s an d o th e r u p ro o te d p e o p le , an d a d is c u s s io n a b o u t w h at s p o n so rsh ip e n ta ils an d how c h u rc h e s ca n o rg a n iz e fo r s p o n s o rs h ip . C o n tin e n ta l b r e a k fa s t an d lu n c h w ill b e se rv e d to all p a r tic ip a n ts . “ F o r d e c a d e s p e o p le o f fa ith h a v e le d th e w ay in w e lc o m in g p e o p le from o th e r c o u n trie s in to o u r c o m m u n itie s ,” s a id D a v id L e slie , E M O e x e c u tiv e d ire c to r. “ T h is w o rk s h o p p ro v id e s an o p p o r tu n ity fo r c h u rc h e s to le a rn a b o u t th e c h a l le n g e s th a t re fu g e e s face an d to fin d o u t h o w th ey c a n h e lp .” T o r e g is te r o r to le a rn m o re a b o u t T h e C o m p a s sio n a te M is s io n a ry , c o n tact P eter Ilyin, SO A R sp o n s o rs h ip c o o r d in a to r , at (503)284-3002. together people with varied roles in creating a region w here people have access to fresh, nutritious food and w here natural resources are su s tained. The founding will also sup port IN E C ’s ongoing w ork in envi ro n m e n ta l ju s tic e , w h ich has _____________________ in c lu d e d advocacy for the cre ation o f an e n v iro n - m e n ta l s te w a rd ship plan as well as ecu- m e n ic a 1 d ia lo g u e s on the fu ture o f the C o lu m b ia River bas in. Other INEC w o rk su p p o rte d by th e g ra n t includes an o n g o in g c o lla b o r a tio n w ith the Coalition fo ra Livable Future and other groups to help the faith com m u nity, educational institutions, gov ernm ental groups, and nonprofits w ork together to create a m ore livable Portland m etro region. recently had a bat mitzvah, a ceremony to dem onstrate m aturity by reading from the Torah — the w ord o f God. Such a ceremony, com m on for boys, would have been unthinkable for a girl 50 years ago. “W e gave her an option. She could do it elsew here if she wanted to do it. She chose to do it in an Orthodox synagogue,” Mrs. Lieberman said. “ She’s a very independent little kid.” Gurock said the different gender roles are a product o f 2,000-year-old traditions. “The question is to what extent do you w ant to accom modate yourself socially to the world around you while maintaining a degree o f fidel ity to Jewish tradition,” Gurock said. For Letty Cottin Pogrebin, a found ing editor o f Ms. magazine, making accom modations is part o f the prob lem. “T here’s no such thing as sepa rate but equal,” said Pogrebin, who wrote “Deborah, G oldaandM e: Being Female and Jewish in America. ” Lieberman said, “M y ow n vision o f the effect o f my religion on m y attitude toward women is that it has taught me to not only respect but to treat women at least equally,” he said. 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