Sunday, October 09, 2005
Mi K'Amcha Yisroel
Mi K'Amcha Yisroel - What nation is like you, people of Israel?
The above article details a Jewish professor at York University in Toronto who is furious the University gives off for the Jewish holidays. I'm not qualified to speak on the legal arguments involved, but as far as the issues at stake, it's fairly disturbing. Aside from the Jew arguing against a rule which protects his own people, the idea that diversity shouldn't be protected is what is disturbing. Equality means that every religion is treated with respect, not that all are ignored equally. Pluralism gains nothing by draining the uniqueness of individual groups in favor of a unified whole.
The metaphor I've heard is the Tossed Salad vs. Soup Bowl theories of what a "melting pot" represents. A tossed salad brings together varied spices to create a distinct flavor, while at the same time retaining the disparate identities of each ingredient. In a soup bowl, all ingredients melt together into one new taste, but in the process lose their original form. You can argue which of those two formulas creates a better society, but history would prove that the Founding Fathers would've liked their greens.
The above article details a Jewish professor at York University in Toronto who is furious the University gives off for the Jewish holidays. I'm not qualified to speak on the legal arguments involved, but as far as the issues at stake, it's fairly disturbing. Aside from the Jew arguing against a rule which protects his own people, the idea that diversity shouldn't be protected is what is disturbing. Equality means that every religion is treated with respect, not that all are ignored equally. Pluralism gains nothing by draining the uniqueness of individual groups in favor of a unified whole.
The metaphor I've heard is the Tossed Salad vs. Soup Bowl theories of what a "melting pot" represents. A tossed salad brings together varied spices to create a distinct flavor, while at the same time retaining the disparate identities of each ingredient. In a soup bowl, all ingredients melt together into one new taste, but in the process lose their original form. You can argue which of those two formulas creates a better society, but history would prove that the Founding Fathers would've liked their greens.
# posted by Josh : Sunday, October 09, 2005
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After reading biographies of the so-called Founding Fathers I would caution you to be very wary about which words you place in their mouths. But then again this isn't an annotated essay and it is your blog, so forget what i said and just have fun.
# posted by 
: October 09, 2005 8:31 PM
: October 09, 2005 8:31 PM
Anon - You are right, we can't know what another person would have preferred, unless they've stated so explicitly. I'll be the first to admit that, like you've said, my blog is hardly a research foundation. But I still like to think I have some basis to what I say. And it is specifically the religious fabric of the country 300 years ago that leads me to believe that the leaders of that time would value the Christian fundamentalists today more than the squeaky agnostics.
Erica - I'm pretty sure that spam was in reference to my mom, not the blog...
Erica - I'm pretty sure that spam was in reference to my mom, not the blog...
I went to a prestigious university for graduate school where 25% of the students were Jewish. My first year I went to all of my teachers and explained to them that I would miss class on Rosh Hashana (and could not hand in assignements), all of the non-Jewish teachers were understanding . The one Jewish teacher was not, the school was open he was teaching, if I didn't come it was my fault. We are our own worst enemy.
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