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Building Bridges: Abrahamic Perspectives on the World Today
with Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, Season II
Now Available on a 3-DVD Set
A first-ever 15-part series conceived by a rabbi for Bridges TV-American Muslim TV Network, the show brings together religious leaders of the three major Abrahamic faiths to grapple with the divisive issues splitting our traditions and country. Fast paced and tied to today's news, it gives viewers a deeper understanding of how people of faith see the world, and each other, with live interviews from the American public.
Price: $25.00 (3 DVD Set)
To order, click here.
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| Irwin Blog April 15, 2008 |
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| Monday, 14 April 2008 | |
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The Sacredness of Paying Taxes
No one really likes tax time. It evokes such uncomfortable and unpleasant emotions.. We feel anxious about getting our taxes just right, worried about getting them in on time, and fearful we might be audited. We obsess with finding every last loophole lest we pay a penny more than we should and we resent that the government is taking our money, We even feel tempted to cheat and then guilty about having been tempted. But all these disturbing feelings actually invite us to know ourselves better – to do an inner audit - the very essence of the spiritual search. When we are mindful of what we feel during this period, we learn about our character, what we value, how connected we feel to our fellow citizens, how much we trust or mistrust our political leadership, and about our relationship to the country.
There are at least three core spiritual questions that we can reflect on during tax time that can turn this period into an occasion for greater self-awareness. ●How honest and truthful am I? Paying taxes is where our desire to be honest and our greed for money intersect. When we try and find loopholes, or are tempted to cheat, inevitably there is a moment we ask ourselves: Can we get away with it? Wherever the particular line that raises our inner red flag, this stirring of conscience is a country-wide shared spiritual moment and is a call to discover how honest we really are. What we ultimately choose to do is either an expression of self-deception/rationalization, or of being aligned with who we genuinely want to be. Whether we cheat and are caught is actually irrelevant as our inner auditor, who is far tougher than any IRS agent, knows the full truth. ●What does money mean to me? Paying taxes is one of those times when we get to learn about out attitudes about money and just how important money is to us. Filling out our tax forms and seeing how much we made evokes questions about how successful we are and leads to feelings of insecurity. Money issues are always a source of emotional turbulence, which makes tax time opportune to ask fundamental spiritual questions: How much power does money have over me? How much do I really need? How much does my net worth affect my self-worth? Asking these questions keeps our legitimate need for money and the necessary and real pleasures of material goods from crowding out other needs and pleasures. We get to think about what we have sacrificed or compromised for money, how much life we have given up for livelihood, and reflect on one of the central choices we face ─ between feeling greedy and needy, and feeling grateful and full. And we can learn the spiritual truth: You can never get enough of what you don’t really need. ●How connected do I feel to others? Taxes are one of the most important ways in which we express our responsibility for each other and recognize our interdependence. They are the most pragmatic actions we take as citizens that demonstrate our commitment to a common good. But inevitably, we feel resentment about the money we have to pay. This evokes key life-balance questions: How much am I responsible for my good fortune? Is my success solely a product of my own efforts? Is there any dependence on the society around me? As we go through the process of reviewing our financial records, some basic spiritual and character concerns arise. How have I spent my money this past year and does it reflect my values? It is amazing how much we can learn about ourselves from looking at our check book and our credit card bills. How much did we spend on ourselves and how much on others? How much on entertainment and how much on self-development? How much have we wasted, and how much was well spent? At some point in preparing our taxes we all feel taken advantaged of, and with a mixture of resentment and anger we ask ourselves what we are paying for anyway. Thoughts creep in of whether we should have to pay for services we do not directly benefit from, or to which we may be philosophically opposed. Feelings arise of mistrust that our money is being spent wisely by the government. These feelings are a call for a sort of connection audit: To whom beyond my immediate family do I feel responsible? What is my connection to people in my country or even the world? If I am angry about the way my tax dollars are being spent, how engaged am I in trying to shape the country’s priorities? Tax time invites us to wrestle with core spiritual and ethical questions for which there are never final answers. How do I balance my own well-being and conscience with the real needs of others? What is the common good we are building together as Americans? In theory, paying our taxes is a pooling of our resources to pay for services none of us could provide for ourselves (roads, schools, police, etc.). They demonstrate that we are interdependent. And if they are an act of solidarity, it is healthy to ask: How solid do we feel with each other? Ultimately the “dreaded” process of paying our taxes will always feel unnerving because it pushes buttons, pricks at our insecurities, and forces feelings and questions about our character and connection to each other that we don’t usually ask. But that is precisely why it is also an opportunity to learn about ourselves and our connection to this great adventure of building America. When we take the opportunity to do so, we grow, and that is worthy of celebration. |
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Read more Brad at Beliefnet.com
| May- July 2008 |
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CNN Radio “The Paula Gordon Show” 6/21/08
PBS TV: The Jewish People: A Story of Survival, an original one-hour film explores these themes of resilience, fortitude and achievement of the Jewish people, moving chronologically over four millennia. Featuring Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, it is hosted by Martha Teichner, Senior Correspondent for “CBS News/Sunday Morning.”
5/7/08 WLIW NYC
6/1/08 WETA DC
6/2/08 WHYY, Philadelphia
6/4/08 KOCE, LA
6/5/08 WTTW, CHI
WORT-FM (Madison) “A Public Affair” 5/8/08
KPBS (San Diego) “These Days” 5/22/08 |
| April, 2008 |
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WRPI-FM (Albany) “In the Spirit” 4/24/08
Open Court Tru-TV (formerly Court TV) 4/16/08
The Morning Show, Wisconsin Public Radio 4/15/08
Religion News Service 4/15/08
Brad ranks #37 in Newsweek's 50 most influential Rabbis in America 4/11/08
The Jewish News (New Orleans), 4/11/08
The Journal News (Gannet Westchester) 4/5/08
The Norman Transcript (Oklahoma) 4/4/08
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| April - July 2008 |
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The Detroit Jewish News Online 6/13/08
Voice of America 6/11/08
“In the Spirit” WRPI- FM (Albany) 6/5/08
The Mitch Albom Show WJR-AM, Detroit 6/2/08
KOOP-FM (Austin) Soul Talk 4/17/08
The Drive with Steve Fast on WJBC (Central Illinois) April 14
Maria Sanchez Show on KVTA (Ventura, CA) April 14
Irwin ranks #7 in Newsweek's 50 most influential Rabbis in America 4/11/08
The Jeff Farias Show, on Nova M Radio Network (Phoenix) April 10
The Pope’s visit with the Jewish community, and the sacredness of paying our taxes on the Louie B. Free Show Tuesday, April 8 at 2:05 pm EST, WASN, WRBP, and WGFT (all in the Cleveland/Pittsburgh area)
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| Arizona Daily Star 3/7/08 |
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Brad & Irwin in the Arizona Daily Star 3/7/08 |