This is from tomorrow's New York Times. The articles after each pigua are gripping and terrifying and awful and beyond words. . .and yet people get on with their lives in Israel because they have no choice. When the news first broke on CNN at about 11 pm Pacific on Saturday night, they were showing a live video feed from Arutz Shtiyam, Israel's channel two; one scene caught part of a corpse on the road. The anchor apologized for showing the live feed without "censoring" out that scene. That's the problem. The world has to see what this looks like, not to be mere bystanders, but to become outraged. It's not something that can be cleaned-up for Western sensibilities (say, like a murder on Law and Order). On a video that I saw today, a man picked-up a cell phone from one of the victims on the bus--it showed 54 unanswered calls. Who was calling? Friends? Parents? Other loved ones? When there was no answer they probably went to the hospitals around Jerusalem. . .and if they didn't find their loved one, they went to the place talked about in the article below:

February 24, 2004

Israeli Pathologist Faces Grisly Task After Bombings
By GREG MYRE

JAFFA, Israel, Feb. 23 — After the suicide bombing on Sunday, the flesh and the bones were collected from the bus and the street, and delivered here to Israel's lone forensic center. As always, Dr. Jehuda Hiss, the director, carried out his grim duty of piecing together the broken bodies and tending to the raw emotions of the living.


The Palestinian who blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus had a relatively small explosive, yet it tore apart some bodies so completely that it was not clear how many people had been killed. The police announced seven dead, plus the bomber. But when Dr. Hiss and his team had developed genetic profiles on the remains, they discovered an eighth.


"This person must have been sitting next to the bomber," Dr. Hiss, Israel's chief pathologist for 16 years, said in his matter-of-fact tone. "We could not have identified him without DNA tests."


Israel has seen more than 100 suicide bombings in three years, accounting for roughly half of the more than 900 Israelis killed in the violence. The country has developed a vast response network in which Dr. Hiss plays a unique role. All the dead are brought here to the National Center of Forensic Medicine. He has missed only one bombing, while traveling in the United States, and has been intimately involved in dealing with the dismembered victims and the shattered families in every other attack.


After the dead are identified, Dr. Hiss's job is tougher still. He informs the relatives, who can be angry and irrational in their grief.


"With bombings, it is necessary to do this because someone leaves home at 8 a.m. and is killed a half-hour later," he said. "The families want to know if they suffered. They want to know exactly how they died. I'm always surprised that they ask so many detailed questions."


The families wait, sometimes through the night, at the center, which was not built for the crowds of 200 or more that descend after major attacks. The relatives once spilled out onto the grounds. Today, a center for families has been built next to the morgue, easing the crowding, if not the trauma.


The most awkward moment comes when families ask to see the victim. "I say it is better to remember them when they were living," Dr. Hiss said.


About a quarter of the families insist. "I explain it's only part of the body. Still, they will hug a foot if that is all there is," he said.


He used to reject such requests, but psychologists recommended otherwise. "The families want to touch the body one last time to prepare for the separation. If they don't see them, it is like a virtual death. They are right to ask for this," he said.


The attack on Sunday sent the staff into overdrive to identify the dead. Biblical imperative demands the work be both swift and thorough. Jewish law calls for the whole body to be buried, preferably on the day of death, yet it can take days or even weeks to identify all the smaller remains. In some cases, an uncomfortable compromise is struck. The larger body parts are buried quickly and the smaller pieces later when DNA tests have confirmed the identity.


Unlike forensic pathologists who labor in isolation, Dr. Hiss, 57, often seems at the center of the Middle East dramas.


Consider just one day, Jan. 29.


For Dr. Hiss, it began in an airport hangar in Cologne, Germany, where he was part of the Israeli delegation handling a prisoner swap with Hezbollah and the repatriation of the remains of three Israeli soldiers killed three years earlier.


The team set up three tents in the hangar, and working beneath the wings of the planes, had just two hours to make a positive identification using X-rays, fingerprints and dental records.


As this process began, a Palestinian suicide bomber struck in Jerusalem, killing 11 people.


In Germany, Dr. Hiss confirmed that the remains belonged to the Israeli soldiers, permitting the prisoner exchange to go forward. The Israeli plane returned home at 7 p.m., and within 30 minutes, he was back in his forensic institute, identifying bomb victims. Amid such turmoil, mistakes happen.


This tumultuous day included Israel's return of 60 dead Lebanese, most killed in fighting with Israel years ago. But in one case, Israel turned over the wrong body, and the family complained. The forensic center has located the body in question.


"We delivered the wrong body, and it's a major disaster," Dr. Hiss said.


After bombings, the dozens of wounded are delivered to local hospitals, and that is where families begin the search for loved ones. If they are not found among the wounded, the families face the prospect of traveling to the forensic institute here in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv.


Because Israel is so small, it has always made do with just one such institute, and everyone who dies unexpectedly is examined here.


Few Israelis refer to the institute by its formal name. Most call it Abu Kabir, a reference to the wealthy family that lived on the grounds until the Middle East war that erupted in 1948 at Israel's founding.


On the Palestinian side, where more than 2,600 have been killed in the past three years, the dead are delivered to morgues at local hospitals, and there is no central forensic institute.


"This is not traditional, straightforward, forensic medicine," Dr. Yoram Blachar, head of the Israel Medical Association, said of the Israeli center. "The suicide bombings are very emotional and upsetting. The families have extreme reactions and have to be treated in a most sensitive manner."


"The institute plays a major role after every terror attack," he said.


While the forensic center is praised for its work after bombings, Dr. Hiss has been involved in controversies related to other cases, including allegations that the institute removed organs from corpses without permission from the families. The issue is enormously sensitive because of Judaism's emphasis on burying the whole body.


Government inquiries have not resulted in any charges against Dr. Hiss. But in December the Israeli attorney general recommended disciplinary action. The issue is still under consideration, and no sanctions have been imposed so far.


Dr. Hiss was born in Poland just after World War II and arrived in Israel at age 10. His medical training has taken him to Italy, Austria, Britain and the United States.


His office walls are mostly bare, except for a slate of black wood featuring 24 types of bullets. The most prominent book on his desk is "Gunshot Wounds." Within arm's reach is a plastic container of ball bearings a bombmaker packed into an explosive to make it more lethal.


Faced with this relentless stream of death, Dr. Hiss says he copes without any special means.


"As soon as I leave the premises, I really don't think about it," he said. "I keep myself busy, and I never discuss my work with my family.


"I've been asked many times if I need psychological support, but I don't."

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

From the Jerusalem Post:

The victims of the attack were identified as Lior Azulai, 18, a senior at Jerusalem's Gymnasia Rehavia high school; St.-Sgt. Natanel Havshush, 20; Benayahu Jonathan Zuckerman, 18, a senior at Jerusalem's Experimental High School; Yuval Ozana, 32, of Jerusalem; Ilan Avisidris, 41; Yafe Ben-Shimon; and Yehuda Haim, 47, of Jerusalem, the brother-in-law of Israel's consul-general to The Hague.

The eighth victim of the attack was identified Monday as Rahamiam Rami Duga, 38, from Mevasseret Zion.

From Ha'Aretz's Editorial Page (note: this is Israel's LEFT wing newspaper)

The attack in Jerusalem yesterday demonstrates the nature of the current phase in the violent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: This is pure bloodletting whose internal logic is increasingly obscure, and which is spinning out of control.

Fatah is, at first glance, a movement controlled by Yasser Arafat. Despite this fact, one of its members, acting on instructions given by his commander in the Bethlehem area, went out yesterday morning on a merciless suicide mission in which eight Israelis, who were on their way to school or work, were killed, and dozens were injured (one critically). The Fatah leadership, headed by Arafat and Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) conformed to the ritual of condemning the terror attack after the fact, saying it was a blow to Palestinian national interests.

Moreover, the timing of the attack damaged Palestinian public relations interests, since the strike was carried out the day before the start of the International Court of Justice hearing on Israel's separation fence at The Hague.

All told, there is nothing that can be said about the attack, other than that it reflects the reality that has taken hold within the Palestinian Authority: Arafat and his government have lost effective control over what goes on in the field. They are unable to protect their own interests, and they are utterly unable to uphold promises they make to Israel.

Nor is the state of affairs on the Israeli side very encouraging. Even though Ariel Sharon has apparently reached the conclusion that a major gesture should be carried out in order to bring a temporary halt in the violent conflict, Israel's military activity goes on as though it is entirely divorced from the diplomatic approach the prime minister is outlining.

Twelve days ago, Israel Defense Forces troops operated in the Sejaya neighborhood in Gaza City, and killed 15 Palestinians, some of them armed; and virtually every day another Palestinian casualty is added to the long list of victims whose lives have been taken by this violent conflict. Furthermore, the PA's impotence and the anarchy that is taking root in lands relayed to PA control are to a large extent by-products of the policies of Israel's government.

The violent stand-off that has gone on between Israel and the Palestinians for three and a half years now proceeds on the basis of cruel inertia: the conflict is not capable of promoting political ends.

On the Palestinian side, the recognized leadership has lost the ability to rule; on the Israeli side, the prime minister has reached the conclusion that the best thing to do is to separate from the Gaza Strip, and split up the West Bank.

It would seem that the two sides have reached a stage of mutual attrition, a situation that appears to set the stage for a diplomatic initiative designed to liberate them from the cycle of bloodshed. Unfortunately, however, the primitive laws of blood revenge and "an eye for an eye," along with the demonization of the enemy, are what now fashion realities in relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

These are the laws that yesterday added the names of dozens of innocent people to the ever-expanding list of terror victims

I don't understand how anyone in the United States is not buying bags of cement for Israel's security fence right now. The bus bombing on Sunday morning is in an intersection that I've transversed dozens and dozens of times. . .it's near a big school, a park with Arabs bring their families on Shabbat, a peaceful and beautiful intersection of neighborhoods. One student, 18, dead. Another student, 18, dead. A young father dead. And as soon as this passes into old news, the injured, most of whom are still in hospital, will carry the physical and mental scars for the rest of their lives.

My body is in the States, but my soul is in Jerusalem. These murderous attacks are not remote events--they are quite immediate and real, and they are impossible to bounce back from.

It's nice to know that at least three people read this (my mother, Patty in Oakland and Craig in Portland) based on their regular counter commentary, mostly for the good!

It's now 4:41 and in a few hours I leave for the airport to go to the Northwest for another weekend in my student pulpit. I'm really looking forward to it. . .I've already done one bar mitzva and one baby naming!

In the meantime, we're on something called "quadmesters" and next week is the last week of this quad. Which means it's similar to mid-term time and a number of assignments are coming due by March 1! Lucky me!

Still, the learning is great and I'm loving being in school. It's a new life for me here in LA, with a few elements of my old life, but mostly it's the life of a student where my time is consumed by schoolwork. It's a happy problem to have. Shabbat Shalom.

I would surely be remiss if I didn't comment on the trainwreck known as the Howard Dean campaign. Of course, there is nothing more that I would like than to see a new occupant in the White House, but it pissed me off that he was annointed the "front runner" before even a single vote was taken! That, my friends, is chutzpah. Which leads me to another point: the media commenting on the media. The media got intrigued last summer on Dean's use of the Internet to raise money, albeit a fraction of what Bush was raising. That led to more stories about using the Internet, how Dean was popular, and all the chatter online in the equivalent of online masturbation as one "Deaniac" talked to another. . . again, all before a single vote was counted! And now we have the chairman of his campaign, longtime democratic leader Steve Grossman, taking a powder. Why? Because the writing is on the wall: the Dean campaign is over.

Meanwhile, last week, Drudge posted a rumor of the Monica variety, which was picked-up by the right-wing talkshows, then the right-wing websites, then the mainstream media picked-up Kerry's denial of the story, which made it legit for them (according to the standards of whom?), then today the young woman categorically denies it...but not before acres of digital venom has been spewn over the whole media. And to what end? We all know that the Republicans stopped nothing short of stealing the election last time...and will do whatever it takes this time to discredit whatever Democrat wins the nomination.

Moving on in my rant, I was in Santa Monica today at a Peet's coffee, a very nice joint from Berkley that you'll now find even in Brookline, MA! In any event, I watched people reach over one of the worker's heads to get napkins, sugar, and stirrers while she was trying to restock them...no excuse me, no nothing. She told me that just before someone had kicked her in the head. When I got to the front of the line I said "Good morning" to the clerk, and politely said that it looked like a tough day in there. She said it was a normal day: selfish people acting like the world revolves around them.

And I thought: these are the people who when the s*it hits the fan in their lives will go running to their clergy wondering where the meaning in life is. I can categorically say that it's not in big Hummers, fancy handbags, the latest movie, who's going to win the Oscar. . .

It's amazing how I'm seeing my old world through new eyes. I feel quite grateful that I was able to get off of the bandwagon of things for happiness. . .

Countering the Family Values Monopoly

By Rabbi David Ellenson


In his State of the Union address, President Bush signaled his intent to make "family values" a centerpiece of the 2004 presidential campaign.


His belief that "the sanctity of the family" needs to be defended from the "threat" that gay and lesbian couples ostensibly pose to heterosexual family units is hardly surprising. After all, when asked about same-sex unions after a court decision that affirmed the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, the president commented, "We are all sinners."


The very language the president employed then indicates that his religious views play a significant role in the public-policy position he has adopted on this matter, and the role that religious fundamentalism has played in setting the terms for this debate in the public square is unquestionably considerable. In taking the stance he did, President Bush displayed the impact that the Traditional Values Coalition and allied conservative religious groups — including Jewish ones — that have long been at the forefront of the fight against the advancement of rights and options for gays and lesbians in our society has had upon him. I regret that this is so and I feel obliged to speak out lest religious literalists claim a monopoly in speaking on behalf of religion on issues concerning gay and lesbian rights in our country.


These religious literalists justify their refusal to accord full rights to gays and lesbians by pointing to Leviticus 18:22, which condemns male homosexual intercourse as an "abomination," and there is little doubt that the influence of this biblical verse has been decisive in shaping the attitudes of many in our society toward this question of gay and lesbian rights — including the president. Yet, such a reading of this text represents the most literal interpretation possible of this passage. This reading also completely removes this scripture from an ancient social context that could not envision the possibility or appreciate the reality of loving same-sex relationships.


I see no reason why such negative judgments regarding gays and lesbians should go unchallenged from a religious perspective. As the Catholic feminist scholar Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza has maintained in her powerful "In Memory of Her," the divinity of any passage in Scripture that diminishes the humanity of another — as this one does — can surely be questioned. The thrust of one such passage should not override an overarching biblical ethos that teaches us that God loves and affirms the full humanity of each human being.


As a Jew, I feel this even more strongly. After all, Judaism does not base its religious teachings on the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone). Instead, Judaism assert that moral truths emerge out of an interpretive process that requires Jews to recognize that God has called on the Jewish people to serve as covenantal partners in the unfolding expression of divine truths, and this obligation can only be fulfilled through an ongoing exegesis of the written text. This notion allowed the rabbis of the Talmud to declare in one instance that the "stubborn and rebellious son" identified in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 "never was and never will be" (Sanhedrin 71a) and in another instance this process caused the talmudic sage Johanan ben Zakkai to assert (Sotah 9:9) that as a result of contemporaneous conditions, a woman accused of adultery would no longer be subject to the "ordeal of bitter waters" (Numbers 5: 11-31). In these ways, great rabbis — depending upon their own wisdom and in light of their own judgments regarding social and ethical contexts — either muted or obviated the application of teachings found in the Written Law.


All Jews should recognize that this interpretive approach characterizes our tradition, and we should assert that this is so within the Jewish community as well as in the public square. This approach has allowed Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism to ordain gays and lesbians as rabbis, and has led to a vigorous discussion of this issue in Conservative Judaism. Such Jewish understandings have also permitted a number of rabbis to perform same-sex unions. From these perspectives, legislation against same-sex unions can be viewed as not only discriminating against gays and lesbians. It also discriminates against those of us whose religious beliefs mandate us to perform same-sex weddings.


In Dickens’ "Oliver Twist," when young Oliver approaches the wardens of the orphanage where he was housed and, after a scant meal, asks for "more," the wardens are scandalized. Yet, as one commentator upon this passage has pointed out, Oliver said "more" when what he "really meant was this: ‘Will you just give me that normal portion which is necessary for a boy my age to live.’"


As a religious Jew, I assert that the gay community today seeks nothing more than Oliver Twist — the "normal portion" required to live a life of dignity and equality. Our society should be ashamed that gays and lesbians are subjected daily to indignity and prejudice in legal as well as social arenas, and religious persons must declare that position loud and clear in order to influence public opinion on this matter.


When I was a teenager, I was moved, as were millions of other people, by the vision Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed when he dreamed of a just world where people would be judged by the content of their character. This vision was inspired by the Bible and extends to express a simple truth — all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are equally beloved by God and are equally entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.


The desire that full rights be extended to lesbians and gays reflects the Jewish belief that gays and lesbians are human beings created in the image of God. The time has come for that truth to guide our culture, and religious Jews should not be hesitant in saying so.


Until the day arrives that our gay and lesbian friends enjoy full rights, we who are religious should not rest. When that day of liberty and freedom arrives, justice will at long last roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.


Rabbi David Ellenson is president of Hebrew Union-College-Jewish Institute of Religion.