We are fortunate enough to have generations of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on our feeders in Maine. (The link gives you a recording of their song).
Here's the new generation this Spring whom we try to identify (perhaps erroneously) by the rose breast markings. In the background you can see a hairy woodpecker (?) at the suet.

UPDATE: here's a visitor this afternoon! A pileated woodpecker!

Amal Soliman, "maazuna" in Egypt

Womens ENews reports that Egypt has appointed its first female official, Amal Soliman, to certify marriages and divorces.

Soliman, a 32-year-old mother of three, applied for the position when it became vacant after her father-in-law (who had held the position in her village) passed away. The job is not inherited, and there are hundreds of maazuns in Egypt, one for each local district.

"I didn't really think about the gender issue when I applied for the job," she says. "It was close to my house and I needed something so close by so I could still be at home for my kids."

Ten others, all men, applied to fill the vacancy. Soliman had a master's degree in law from Zagazig University as well as law and criminal justice diplomas and had the highest qualifications.

Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei has sought to relieve tensions among Egypt's powerful Islamic scholars, saying that Soliman's nomination was based "on her abilities rather than on her gender." A year ago, 30 women were appointed as judges in response to activists' complaints that Egypt lagged in female participation in the judiciary.

No religious texts ban a female maazun, says Sheikh Fawzi Zefzaf, deputy director of Al-Azhar University, an influential center of Sunni Muslim theology. "But when a woman is menstruating she must not enter a mosque or read Quranic verses and that will affect her job, so for this reason we say it is not advisable to have a woman maazun," the sheikh said in a statement from his office.

The manner in which some scholars are downgrading the maazun's importance is disconcerting to Aida Seif Al Dawla, a leading activist. She wonders "why was it all over the press" if Soliman's job is inconsequential.

"This is a precedent for women in Egypt no matter what anyone says," Seif Al Dawla says. "Since when has getting married not been important? I say good for her for taking this step."

Soliman says a female maazun is more likely to be readily accepted in Cairo, where people are "more open" than in her own town. But the time has arrived for women to enter the profession.


More commentary from Egypt Today.

One of the highpoints of the last few days made entirely possible by GTS staff who placed me next to Sarah Coakley at the Baccalaureate Dinner....thanks to them and to Bruce Parker our Director of Communications for the image.

With hundreds of people I attended the memorial service for Krister Stendahl at Harvard Memorial Church yesterday. The remembrances were given by people at HDS, Jews and Gentiles, clergy women from the Church of Sweden, his family and finally, Peter Gomes. Putting the remembered one front and center requires attention. We sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"a capella. The community spirit was strong. What will the legacy of that kind of a person be? Is there even a place for a blend of scholarship and ecclesiastical commitment? Here is a link to a page on the HDS website remembering him.

"A Peace that is not as the world gives" Sermon by Sarah Coakley

One of our honorary degree recipients yesterday was Sarah Coakley. Here's a sermon of hers preached at the SSJE in May 2006.

‘I do not give to you as the world gives’, Jesus promises. We tend to think of peace simply as the cessation of hostilities, the ending of pain or sufferings, and we wait for it anxiously, wondering why it never comes; but that of course is the ‘wordly’ way of peace. It is hard to see, except when an unacknowledged saint so unexpectedly makes us ‘feel better’, that Christ’s transcendent peace is already given in hostilities, in pain and sufferings, here and now in the chaos and muddle and sin and physical frailty of this world. It is hard to see, in our rightful human struggles for worldly peace and justice, that even that worldly peace and justice, if we could ever attain them, would mean nothing without the unworldly peace of Christ attending and suffusing them. It is hard to remember, let alone understand, that the peace which the world cannot give is ever on offer, elusive as it may be, pressing amongst us now in the body of the saints which is the ‘church’, often most paradoxically held out to us by those in the greatest internal anguish themselves, yet enabling others simply to ‘go on’.

Today is Commencement for seniors as they begin their new ministries. Blessings on them!

Tonite at 7pm at the Center for Jewish History

GOD AND THE LAWS
The Roman Empire and the Rabbis in Pre-Christian Palestine.
Natalie Dohrmann, University of Pennsylvania Part of the series: "Beginnings: Jews, Christians and the Roman Empire"
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A superb speaker conjures the cultural and political atmospheres in which modern Judaism unfolded...
Late Antiquity--the world which is defined in and by the vast and changing power of the Roman Empire--is one of the most significant eras in Western history, marked by the emergence of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, and the forces that lead up to the dramatic appearance of Islam in the early Middle Ages. This lecture will give an overview of the era, with special focus on the questions animating the current study of the period stretching from roughly 200 C.E. to 650 CE. We will imagine the complex and perhaps unexpected world shared and shaped by Jews, Christians, and Pagans.

Centro Primo Levi
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAY 12
7:00 pm - lecture
Q&A to follow
Refreshments
Center
for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York City
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General admission:
$15, students: $5
Tickets:
(212) 868-4444
www.smarttix.com
Information: 212-294-8301 ext 8202

The new Rough Guide to England says it is a nation of "overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex- and celebrity-obsessed TV addicts" and that no other country is as "insular, self-important and irritating".

But in turn none is more "fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse", with such "an unparalleled range of historic buildings, monuments and landscapes".

The Bible and Motherhood -- Dr. Billy Graham

This kind of article is marvelous. Dr. Graham is (ostensibly) advising a woman, soon to be a mother. It assumes the Bible is a model for behavior--that there's no gap between one ancient text and another, and between any biblical text and our own time. I understand the Bible to be authoritative but I don't expect that it will tell me how to behave.

So what does the Bible say about motherhood? Two quotes are given: "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you" (Deuteronomy 5:16). And, "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching" (Proverbs 1:8).

Take them at face value. What do they say to you? Both mention the parenting of father and mother. One is a command, the other a piece of advice. God's command to honor father and mother is non-negotiable; the other passes on something that will help you get along as you grow up. Jesus would have known both passages and would have kept the 10 Commandments. As we know from the gospels, he discusses application of this command in Matthew's gospel. What is being discussed are the ways to honor parents. If you take both passages together, the latter is the pragmatic benefits of the former.

Nothing of this is evident in Dr. Graham's arguments: The first text undergirds the notion that "motherhood is one of God's great gifts to the human race." And the second supports the assertion that "mothers especially are equipped to comfort and teach us."

To me, this is a great example of making the text say what one wants it to say (in this case about mothers) rather than taking the text at face value. Then the larger question is, does the Bible actually say anything specific about mothers? Does it in fact ascribe to mothers at any time and place particular roles?