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Rosh Hashanah makes the "Soul Bigger"-a spoof of Kanye West's "Gold Digger"
September 8, 2010
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Rosh Hashanah, commonly known as the Jewish New Year, begins at sunset today.

According to Judaism 101, the Jewish New Year is a time to "begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year," particularly in the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The Huffington Post shares a video parody by the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP), spoofing Kanye West's popular hit, "Gold Digger." According to the article, "'Soul Bigger' focuses on the Jewish New Year's themes of teshuva (repentance), tefillah (prayer) and tzeddakah (charity). NJOP hopes to encourage Jews around the world, regardless of affiliation, to make their souls bigger this Rosh Hashanah."

Pioneer Local

Happy Rosh Hashanah
September 8, 2010
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Growing up in southern Illinois and receiving much of my education in small Christian schools, I didn't get to know many Jewish people.

I read a lot of Hebrew Scripture, but I didn't know many Jews.

One of the benefits of spending the last 11 years in the Chicago area is making Jewish friends. I edit three Pioneer Press newspapers that serve communities with sizable Jewish populations. I get as many calls from rabbis and synagogues these days as I do from pastors and churches.

Stefanie Pervos, one of my former interns, is the founding editor and blogger in chief of the award-winning Oy!Chicago website. I've learned some of my co-workers have family members who were Holocaust victims.

As a Christian, these experiences have given me a longing to connect in a deeper way with the Jewish roots of my Christian faith. Still, I have a long way to go in understanding the theological diversity of modern Judaism. I also need to brush up on my Jewish holidays, which sometimes cause school closings in my papers' communities. For the schools that remain open, debate ensues about whether to cancel sporting events and other activities.

As the sun set Wednesday, Jews began their celebration of Rosh Hashanah. To understand what this holiday is, I turned to the helpful Jewish Holidays page on the website of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, which states:

"On Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the new year, the shofar is sounded to announce the judgment day, when humanity's deeds are remembered and assessed. Rosh Hashanah is also known as Yom Teruah (Day of Shofar Sounding), Yom Hadin (Day of Judgment), or Yom Hazikaron (Day of Remembrance)."

Unfortunately, four members of the so-called Westboro Baptist Church reportedly protested Wednesday in Evanston outside Northwestern University's Fiedler Hillel. I use "so-called" because Westboro doesn't seem like any Baptist church I've ever visited; all or almost all (depending on which news report you read) of the members are part of the same Kansas family. A Web search led me to this shameful hate group's posted schedule, which listed Thursday morning appearances at Niles West High School and a couple of Skokie synagogues.

I hope my Jewish friends understand the Westboro cult does not speak for my fellow Christians and me. In fact, the group's "God hates" signs and hateful rhetoric cause me to question the family's Christianity in light of 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

I need to shift my discussion quickly. If I keep writing about Westboro's shameful, anti-Semitic actions during this sacred holiday, I'm going to need to take "Happy" out of the headline. I better lighten this post up fast.

I recently stumbled upon an online video produced by the National Jewish Outreach Program's Jewish Treats. The group performs "Soul Bigger," a parody of the hip-hop hit "Gold Digger" by Chicago's own (although some people around here don't claim him after the Taylor Swift fiasco) Kanye West.

All levity aside, I can benefit from a time of reflection. This year, my birthday coincides with the final day of Rosh Hashanah, and I need to join my Jewish friends in contemplating how I can serve God better in my next year of life.

Happy new year to everyone observing Rosh Hashanah. Thanks for letting me -- and apparently a much more prominent Christian -- join you in celebrating such an important holiday.

The Book of Doctrines and Opinions: notes on Jewish theology and spirituality

Soul Bigger- An Evangelical Rap Video by NJOP

September 2, 2010

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Here is a new video by National Jewish Outreach Program run By Rabbi Ephraim (Effie) Buchwald. He is mainstream Modern Orthodox and based at Lincoln Square Synagogue. They run Shabbat across America and read Hebrew America. When many of us knew Effie 35-25 years ago, the musical aspiration was Kingston Trio via Rabbis Sons. The new song is a remake of the Kanye West’s rap song Gold Digger (original is NSFW). In the episode “Showmance” of Glee, the cast covered and modified the song so that now even Jewfolk know the rap song.

But here in the NJOP version we have a new gospel choral added singing “repent repent repent.” We also have a neo-Calvinist message of cut your credit cards and start praying, give up greed and help the homeless.

This was so Evangelical that they issued their own statement in the Jewish Week. “when the first version of the lyrics came out, we questioned whether the repeating motif of repentance sounded too much like a church revival meeting. However, we realized that teshuvah (repentance in Hebrew) is one of the most beautiful and spiritual concepts in Judaism, far more so than any fire-and-brimstone idea that the word “repent” may conjure up.”

First Things summed it up “As proof that we Christians don’t have exclusive rights to the making of cheesy, religious-oriented videos, I give you the National Jewish Outreach Program’s reimagining of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”

Watch the whole thing it has different parts.