About Change

How many years does it take to change from the patriarchal societies of biblical times to gender equality in the modern age? 

The short answer is thousands of years.  Exactly why it is not clear, but in many societies today women are still considered second class citizens.  They are not allowed to vote or to drive.  In some places girls get killed if they attend school!

Here in the US we women have been voting for one hundred years.  We came a long way, but in some progressive companies there is still a gap in pay between men and women.  As shown in 60 minutes of April 15 the CEO of Sales Force was not aware of the gender gap in his own company. When it was pointed out to him he had to spend 3 million dollars in the first year that he implemented true gender equality.  

I have been a true liberal since I was a girl. These days my main challenge to liberals is how come they are so accepting and tolerant with gender bias among Muslims?  Is tolerance more important than equal rights for women?

Why are we all so afraid to criticize Muslim practices?

Why is it so impolite to upset the Muslims?

We are talking about equality for women!!!!  Women are half the population of the world!  We know for a hundred years that genetically their minds and intelligence are equal to men.  We are still fighting for it here.  But in the Muslim world we shrug our shoulders: It is their culture. It is their problem....  Change takes a long time so it will take them a long time...

I am happy to tell you that I found an ally among Muslims!  I met her at the gala of the Museum of Tolerance.  Soraya Deen: an advocate for women's rights in Islam.  I saw this tall lady standing there wearing a beautiful golden sari.  I was immediately drawn to talk to her and we exchanged phone numbers.

Soraya Deen with her friend Raheel Raza.

Raheel Raza received the Museum of Tolerance Award that evening at the Gala.

Raheel Raza is President of The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, founding member of The Muslim Reform Movement, Director of Forum for Learning, award winning journalist, public speaker, advocate for human rights, gender equality and dignity in diversity. 

Soraya Deen was active in opening Northern California's first female-led mosque in Berkeley. In April 2017. This is a place where women can participate and feel empowered. 

She has written an op-Ed article in sister-hood, an award winning digital magazine spotlighting the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage. The title of her article: "Are Women Welcome at Paris Mosque?"

Here is an introduction written about Soraya in the sister-hood magazine:

Soraya Deen is the founder of the Muslim Women Speakers Movement, and Co-founder of Peacemoms (Promoting Christian Muslim Dialogue.) She is a professional speaker, spiritual activist, lawyer, Educator and Author.  Soraya was the first Katheeba at the inaugural prayer of Qalbu Women’s Mosque in Berkeley.

I met Soraya again on a Sunday morning in Van Nuys and we have agreed to join our voices.  Here are some of her questions to me that I am often asked:

1.    Do women enjoy equality with men in Judaism?

I have multiple answers to this question: 

Everyone needs to consider these simple numbers:

Muslim population of the world is one point eight billion that is 18 plus 8 zeros.

Jewish population of the world is fourteen million that is 14 plus 6 zeros. 

The number of Muslims is over a 100 times larger than the number of Jews.  This difference should be considered every time you try to make this comparison.

My second answer is that change comes much faster in Judaism.  Just some examples: Polygamy was outlawed by rabbis back in the 11^th century.  In main stream Islam men are still allowed to marry four women.  And many Muslims are importing this practice to Western countries.  All this information is available in the palm of your hand.  

An additional answer: Jews have many forms of observance available to them: orthodox, conservative, reform.  They have choices.  I believe the extreme practices limiting women’s freedom do exist, but they are less rampant.

2.   After hearing that I was born in Iran and moved to Israel when I was 4 years old, Soraya asked me: "Why did your parents leave Iran?"

My answer to this question starts with the Jews of Mashhad as I wrote "about me" in my blog:

The Jews of Mashhad were forced to practice Islam for one hundred and fifty years. They kept their Judaic traditions in hiding.  My parents were married in Mashhad then moved to Tehran where I was born.  In 1951 the entire family immigrated to Israel. The Mashadi community kept their specific traditions for decades throughout the world: Israel, New York, London, and Milan.

When the state of Israel was created it was everyone’s dream to live where they are free to practice their Judaism.

Soraya knew about stories like this, but she said hearing it from me made the stories more real and vivid.

I told her about my aunts and uncles given Muslim names: Soraya, Moussa, and Dawood.

She asked me if there was persecution, but I thought it was mainly intolerance. 

I asked her if she heard about the pogroms against Jews, she said she never heard the word.  The pogroms who drove many Jews to wonder around and seek better lives are not known to many Muslims.  But Soraya complained that in the mosques they are always taught to hate Jews, to the point where she is tired of it.  She talked about "men with beards" who keep telling women what to do, but she is on a mission to empower women to follow their own wishes and desires.

In a small way I am hoping to bring a change in equality for women around the world.  Maybe the day will come that all men and women will work hand in hand for a better world.

Basic Science #8: Heavy Water. Hydrogen and Deuterium are Isotopes

Have you heard of HEAVY WATER?

Regular water  H2O, is made of two hydrogen atoms, one oxygen.

Hydrogen (H) has one proton and one electron, its atomic (proton) number is 1 with a mass of 1 Dalton.

Hydrogen has an isotope, meaning another element with the same number of protons, i.e. the atomic number, but a different mass of 2 Daltons because it has an extra neutron.  Thus, deuterium (D) is a stable isotope of hydrogen, it has 1 proton, 1 electron and 1 neutron.

Deuterium is a heavy isotope of hydrogen. Some of the water on earth has one or two deuterium atoms replacing the hydrogen.  D2O is heavy water as the deuterium is two times heavier than hydrogen.

Water is essential for life.  In our planet you can find water in all 3 phases: As ice in the glaciers, as water in the oceans and as vapor in the clouds.  Vapor of water contains deuterium and that makes water to have a higher viscosity and boiling point. Natural vapor or moist is always deuterium depleted compared to its water source and it always covers water and even ice.

Water-Cycle: A lesson from elementary school.  Remember?

As water tends to evaporate, it is the regular water that evaporates into clouds.  The water sitting in the depths will be enriched with deuterium, the heavy isotope of hydrogen, or heavy water.

I don’t recommend drinking heavy water.  D20 tastes almost exactly like H20. However, seeds will not sprout in heavy water, and when rats are given heavy water exclusively, they die of thirst although glutted with water. The D atom causes all processes in the body to slow down or come to a halt.

I’d like to introduce a dear esteemed colleague of mine, Laszlo G. Boros MD.

Dr. Boros has recently come upon the idea that we have been exposed too long to variable high levels of heavy water in our food and in our environment.  He has been studying the levels of D in different food sources and in many cancer patients.  He has published a number of scientific papers to test the assumption that deuterium depletion can be therapeutic in treating tumors.  
On top of all that he is convinced that some old civilizations knew about all this.  Most likely Dr. Boros believes this knowledge is conveyed in the Torah, in the five books of Moses.

Check out this presentation where Dr. Boros reads the Torah word by word and links it to biology and physics: 

https://youtu.be/a7PdYx0hHU4

Would appreciate any comments or questions.  It is a revolutionary idea.

Religion, Science, Mythology and Progress

What do you think of atheism?  Many people who turn away from religion preach this idea that we do not need a god.  If we understand the world and grasp our power of intelligence and reasoning we can establish fair societies and a moral code for everyone on this earth.  Traditions and religions will just define our ancestry and our past.  Basically there could be a Jewish atheist or a Muslim atheist.  I find this idea is worth exploring.

In my wondering thoughts about religion and science I found the book "God is not Great. How Religion Poisons Everything." by Christopher Hitchens. 

He was a journalist that spent most of his time talking to people in war zones trying to explore the possibilities to negotiate peace.  In this book he preaches atheism by bringing much evidence that all scripture is based on mythology.  Hitchens explores all different religions and stresses the element of mythology in all of them.  Not only in the monotheistic religions, but also in Eastern religions and various cult worships.  He goes so far as tracing customs like circumcision Virgin births and sacrificing children to gods to old mythologies of early men.

 He believes in the power of the telescope and the microscope and he uses scientific findings of the past 500 years to show that we can strive to life without wars. But people would have to be able to think freely and critically.

 

          If you think mythologies belong to the past just check the excitement in the reception for the new Star Wars movie trailer.  Some internet websites crashed!  I heard from many young people that this creation of George Lucas is a modern day mythology.  My son had to enlighten me that this story was absolutely meant to be told as a mythology.  The heroes, their struggles and triumphs, the super natural effects and most importantly the sequels!  There is immense anticipation to the fate of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia and the others…

What is the importance of myths in human life?  I do not have an answer. 

I do not believe that religions are all bad.  I can see that the rituals and traditions of religion are essential for many people.  If we want to strive to a new world without wars, I think it is essential to have an interfaith dialogue.  I have already spoken of the church purchased by Muslims and turned into a community center.  Young people need places to meet socially and engage with others.  These meeting places should have clubs with activities such as chess, literature, poetry, dancing, science, astronomy, hiking or fishing.  There are so many common areas of interest for youth.  This is the best way to bring people together and use their collective intelligence.

In the conclusion to his book Hitchens talks about the need for a new Enlightenment.  I agree with his vision:

This new Enlightenment will not need to depend, like its predecessors, on the heroic breakthroughs of a few gifted and exceptionally courageous people.  It is within the compass of the average person. The pursuit of unfettered scientific inquiry, and the availability of new findings to masses of people by easy electronic means, will revolutionize our concepts of research and development.  Much of this new research, for the first time in our history, is within the reach if not the grasp of everyone.

However, only the most naïve utopian can believe that this new humane civilization will develop, like some dream of “progress,” in a straight line.  There are bound to be struggles and setbacks along the way. 

I know this from my various biological studies.  It is a daily search for the truth.  The scientist starts with ten ideas but after five years of work only one of them will be correct.

I believe this progress will be more linear if more and more children around the world will be educated and trained to think freely and pursue knowledge.

Interfaith Solutions for the Secular Minds

How do we bring more understanding among people from different parts of the world and opposing traditions?  I have already stressed the importance of knowledge and understanding our physical world.  I believe empowering women is also essential for progress of humanity as I have already spoken about women.

This time I want to talk about traditions, rituals, and faith.  I have been watching people closely, hearing many stories and reading a lot.
I can see that some people need rituals and some have no need for it at all.  I know many Jewish or Christians families where one brother lives his life going to weekly services, feels great about bowing down, waving different kinds of wands or a brush, and following age old traditions.  These are traditions that "have passed the test of time" as they say.
At the same time, a second brother in the same family laughs at the whole thing.  This brother has no need for any rituals.  The tradition has no magical or spiritual power over him. 
In the old world the community leaders would frown upon this second brother.   They would call him to a meeting and question his absences.  Even worse, there would be an internal police to spy on the activities of such people and shame them in public. But in recent times this brother happily stays away from rituals.  He stays home to read a book or go to a football game, a hike in the mountains, a surf in the ocean. 
In the old world large resources of the community would go into building massive lavish cathedrals or mosques or monasteries.  The rituals and ceremonies would be enhanced by the beauty of the structure and this would be the main meeting place for the community.
So we have two brothers, the traditionalist and the rebel.  In the wider world this creates a serious conflict between the "faithful" and the secular.

In Europe many of these lavish cathedrals are losing their grandeur as more and more of the young generations do not find the rituals comforting or necessary.  These young people are asking for a replacement of the churches as community centers and meeting places.  As I was pondering this sort of news for many years I heard this article on NPR about a 19^th century church in Bolton, England that was abandoned.  Then it was bought by the local Muslim community and everyone was wondering if it would turn into a mosque.  But it was turned into a secular community center.  “Now, amid stories about religious friction and ethnic tensions, the transformation of All Souls Church provides a story of harmony and integration in one culturally diverse community.”

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/03/390286095/in-english-town-muslims-lead-effort-to-create-interfaith-haven

The Old:

Here is the article in the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/07/abandoned-churches-find-new-secular-life

In the remodeled building there are now “halls for clubs and hobby groups, a garden for a local grow-your-own project, a concert space and a business and training center for local startups.”

 

The New:

This is the kind of solution that I feel will bring people together, will help cohesion and integration.  People will focus on their similar interests and common goals rather than stressing their differences.  Both brothers, the faithful and the rebel will belong here.

 

Separation of Church and State

These days people often say the world is going mad!  With all the wars political debates and endless disagreements I often had this idea:  At times like this we need better leaders!  We need some spiritual guidance of what is right and wrong in this world.  We need inspiration.  It cannot be always about money and power!
Coming from science I'd like to bring a simple illustration of the Bell Curve.  This is the universal statistics of how all options spread.

Now let's us talk about intelligence.  The IQ test examines the intelligence of people.  The results are defined such that IQ of 100 is the average.  If you check the bell curve in the graph below, you can see that most people have an IQ between 85 and 115.  The smartest are the 2% on the right side, and the most unintelligent are the 2% on the left.
 

 

In the simplest terms this means that half the people are smarter than the rest.  The other half are not as smart.  So in general the smarter people have a better chance to succeed in life, get a degree, accumulate wealth and so on.  The other half naturally will not have the same chances.  They maybe trash collectors or menial laborers.
For a rational mind it is obvious that the fortunate smarter people have an inherent responsibility to look after the less fortunate ones.  This idea of the greater good is very basic.  We all benefit when others do well. 

All this rational reasoning hardly works in the world of politics today.  Rich powerful people get richer and control politicians.  In the US we have Citizens United which allows corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns.  The oil rich Arab countries keep funding Muslim organizations around the world.  The largest refugee crisis in the world brings a stream of refugees to the shores of Europe every day.  And there is no end in sight.
We believe in the principle of separation of Church and State, so no one expects any religious leader to rise and preach for goodness.  I kept wondering when will such a leader show up?
And then Pope Francis came to visit and gave a speech to congress.  He said what needs to be said: We should respect each other’s traditions.  We should remember the Golden Rule.  Most important: we should protect the sick and the weak.  Homelessness is our communal failure.  We should protect our earth, our common home.  

I wonder how well we can keep this idea of separating religion from politics.  We can all doubt the existence of God (what god?Jesus?  Allah?)  We can all doubt the legends and superstitions attached to the various religions.  But as history unfolds we can see various leaders arise to guide the human connection: Sometimes it is a military commander, sometimes a philosopher or the Dalai Lama.  This time is it a catholic Pope?

Jimmy's Hall, Art, Culture and Religion

This is the story of a wonderful movie I just watched at Laemmle Cinemas: "Jimmy's Hall."  This movie is based on a true story from Ireland in the thirties.  I am telling this story to show one small example of what the ruling class and the church could do in order to stay in power.  Is there any justice or compassion in this story?

These are highlights of the true story: In 1933, Jimmy Gralton, as he was known locally, became the only Irish citizen ever to have been deported from the country when he was forcefully removed and put on a boat to America. He would never set foot in his native land again.

Such severe punishment for his ‘crimes’ seems improbable 81 years on. A dissident voice, Gralton was victimized by the political and religious establishment after daring to establish a dance hall in rural Ireland. A self-educated, community-serving man, Gralton’s hall was built to serve as a venue for the local people of Leitrim.

The youth in the village begging Jimmy to reopen his Hall.

Community dances, singing lessons, poetry appreciation sessions, boxing classes, and debates about workers’ rights were held there. It sounds innocuous. But for the Catholic Church and the Irish ruling class, the hall and the man who built it represented something dangerous and subversive — the fact that the people were beginning to think and act for themselves.

Jimmy and the orchestra

The movie clearly visualizes the story: The church continuously sabotaged Jimmy’s group.  Jimmy’s Hall was burned twice.  When the police came to deport him, his lovely old mother said: “What did I do?  I just gave him books!?”  The lady was running a mobile library.
I think all religions are guilty of ruling societies based on ignorance.  They are stuck in the ideas of tradition and orthodoxy.
I see no other way but for all religions to modernize.  We need to accept the fact that people should be educated.  That knowledge is accessible to all.  That women are equal to men.
Jimmy was talking about jazz and dancing with black people in NY.  "They actually have two legs!!"  I advocate separation of state and religion in Israel.  Although I know that the religious establishment has control over many of the personal laws.  This is despite the fact that 60% of the citizens would like the freedom in making their choices.
The Catholics have the most change to go through.  I know I am very naïve, but there needs to be an end celibacy for priests.  I read that the whole practice came about because they didn't want any land belonging to the church to be divided among the heirs.  This was pointed out clearly in Dan Brown's best seller The Da Vinci Code.
I cannot say how Islam is going to adapt to these modern times of every kid holding a cell phone with knowledge and information right at the tip of their fingers.  But I truly wish to see more justice and equality. 

I’d like to hear more voices like Jimmy’s for progressive politics.  For allowing people to use their creativity and imagination to paint and sing and dance.

Jimmy Gralton represented that alternative voice and finding a space for dissidents — and also seeing them as important alternative arguments — is a major question of our time.

Ethnicizing Soccer

On Feb 23 I attended a lecture at UCLA Center for Jewish Studies:

People of the Book or People of the (Foot) Ball? Ethnicizing European and Latin American Soccer.

This sounded like such a benign subject.

The first speaker was Raanan Rein from Tel Aviv University.  He talked about soccer in Argentina.

The second speaker, John Efron a historian from UC Berkeley talked about soccer in the UK.  In London the Jews support these soccer teams: Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.

For some reason Tottenham is considered the only “Yuden” team.  They play in the White Hart Lane stadium.

He described the chanting in the stadium in a scary manner.  Imagine a drum beat and the sound of 40,000 men chanting: YID, YID,  YID, YID,  YID, YID.  This chantings goes on for 90 minutes!

He had a video taken on a London train of a group of men singing:

I got foreskin

I got foreskin

Don’t have you?

Fucking Jew!

The worst chant is the sound of hissing, sssssssssssssss  imitating the sound of gas in the gas chambers.

In the following discussion the differences between the US and  Europe were pointed out: America society is quite violent with many guns everywhere.  At the football stadium people are “better behaved.”  European societies are not as violent, the violence erupts in the football stadiums.  

About the speakers:

John M. Efron (UC Berkeley)

While most historians would agree as to the centrality of sports in general and of soccer in particular in Latin American societies, very little has been written on ethnicity and sports in such immigrant societies as Argentina and Brazil. As far as the historiography of the Jewish experience in Latin America is concerned, hardly any scholarly works exist that are devoted to popular culture, particularly that of unaffiliated Jews.

Raanan Rein examines Argentine football as a space of both prejudice and dialogue. Rein argues that for the first immigrant generation, belonging to this club was a way of becoming Argentines. For the next generation, it was a way of maintaining ethnic Jewish identity, while for the third it has become a family tradition.

Raanan Rein