In A Democracy Some Are Guilty, but All Are Responsible: Executive Orders Start to Turn the Page On Torture & Detention

As promised and expected, President Obama acted quickly to revoke some of the most egregious and morally reprehensible acts of the previous administration by issuing a number of Executive Orders on Thursday 1/22/09.

In three Executive Orders, President Obama reversed American policy on interrogation/torture, started a review of detention options and policy, and decided to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and review the cases of all individuals detained there.

US Policy on interrogations/torture put a stain on us all and the detentions at Gitmo undermined our Constitution and its rights. Together, these actions darkened the ideals of our country and lowered our status in the world.

At the RHR-NA Conference in December, experts on these issues remarked that it was not the members of the Bush Administration who did these acts. Since they have been public knowledge for four or more years and the policies were not stopped by the public or elected officials, we all did these actions. It is just as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught: in a democracy some are guilty but all are responsible.

With a sense that our nation may be starting to restore shlemut (wholeness),

Rabbi Bruce

PS. I sent a message to the White House to thank President Obama for these Executive Orders. You may want to do the same. The contact page had a nice comment about gifts: instead of sending items to the White House for the Obamas or Bidens, the White House encourages people to support local charitable organizations and needy individuals.

Opportunity for Jews to Send Blessings to President Obama

I intended to post yesterday but haven't had time yet. Between sick kids, meetings about construction and watching news most of yesterday, I haven't done more than post status changes on Facebook.

This Shabbat, I am slated to offer the Dvar Torah at our synagogue, CBI. In honor of President Obama Inauguration, I will be talking about the history of Jewish prayers for the government (with a focus on those written for Americans). There is a lot of information about this topic and it is taking more time than I expected to arrange it.

--------------

For now, I want to alert you to an opportunity that ends this Friday to offer blessings to President Obama through judaism.com . They are creating a Megillat Brachot / Scroll of Blessing which will have inscribed on it individual blessings from members of the Jewish community.

I hope to add mine tonight.
Don't miss the deadline for this interesting opportunity.
RB

PS. A funny thing happened during dinner tonight. I mentioned President Barack Obama. At some point, Maayan started saying what we heard as "I Obama Baby" over and over. What she meant was that she has a Bamba baby toy. Once when I was attending at KosherFest (the largest Kosher food trade show), I won a plastic Bamba baby. Since then, it is a favorite in our household. She heard "Bamba Baby" and wanted to make sure we knew that she had one. I will try to get a picture of the doll up at some point. Until then, you can learn more about the Bamba baby at the company's web site and see a picture here. (I mentioned this as a status update on Facebook but this should be clearer).