I knew this new pope seemed a little icky. This weekend Pope Benedict empowered the world’s bishops (they’re the hat-lookin’ pieces three spots from the edge of the board, right?) to begin using the traditional rite known as the Tridentine Mass. Spoken entirely in Latin, it was abandoned by the Vatican Council in 1970 for the more user-friendly mass heard in today’s churches (not that I would know.)

Pope Vader is apparently trying to appease some more traditional groups within the Catholic church by extending them the option of returning to the Latin mass, which contains a passage stating that Jews live in “blindness” and “darkness” and asks God to “remove the veil from their hearts.”

According to Clerical Whispers, Reverend Philip Eichner, the chairman of the board of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said the references to conversion are well meaning — not anti-Semitic. “We would say everyone who doesn’t see Jesus is living in a certain amount of darkness, and we want them to see the light,” he said.

Although we should all be grateful that the part that refers to the Jews as “perfidious” (go ahead, look it up, I had to) was removed from the liturgy in 1969, you know our main man Abe Foxman had something to say about it. Specifically, he called it a “body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations” and was “deeply offended that nearly 40 years after the Vatican rightly removed insulting anti-Jewish language from the Good Friday Mass, that it would now permit Catholics to utter such hurtful and insulting words by praying for Jews to be converted.”

As usual, the fact that good ol’ Abe gets totally indignant over stuff like this means that I don’t have to. Meaning, yeah, it’s really lame of ol’ Popey to kowtow to a small minority of the Church and allow culturally inappropriate material in a world that has a hard enough time keeping it together as it is, but I’m not going to let it bunch up my panties. (But bless Abe Foxman for being my Semitic Superhero.)

Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the Catholic journal First Things, preaches a similar apathy:

“We’re talking about one sentence that occurs once a year. That’s not to say it is unimportant, but the things done with Catholic-Jewish relations over the past half-century is not going to be compromised. The church’s commitment to a respectful dialogue with Judaism is irrevocable.”

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, the head bishop in France, doesn’t expect a sudden demand the all-Latin Mass. “I don’t see a tsunami coming,” he dryly told French newspapers.

Seriously, though doesn’t the Church still have far bigger bigger problems than even the Foxy Abe, formidable as he is?

Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America and notorious foot-in-mouther, sent out a doozy at a Canadian synagogue last Shabbat:

Israel Today quotes him as insisting that Jerusalem is “not holy to Muslims at all,” and that Islam is only trying to take away the Jewish heart and soul.

Our man Mort also had a few things to say about Gaza, mainly that “The ‘Palestinians’ have never been a real people because there was never an actual country called ‘Palestine.’”

Okay, Mort baby! You’re preaching to the choir! The facts support what you’re saying. From the article:

Indeed, Jerusalem does not appear even once in the Quran, and its identification today as the site of the “farthest mosque” from which Mohammed ascended to heaven is certainly erroneous, considering that at the time of Mohammed, Jerusalem was ruled by Christians and the Temple Mount was the city’s trash dump.

I’m just saying a little diplomacy — even a little political correctness — goes a long way in this world.

Photo care of Canonist.

FOXNews reports that the body of rabbi Abraham Klausner, the leading advocate for Holocaust survivors after WWII, was rejected by the Army for burial at famed Arlington cemetary. Rabbi Klausner was the first Jewish chaplain to enter Dachau after the Army liberated it in 1945 and died last week at 92.

The Army says that because of space, those special Arlington burials are limited to “active-duty members, retirees after lengthy service and veterans who have won special awards or medals,” and Rabbi Klausner’s short service as a chaplain doesn’t qualify him — although his family can choose to have him cremated and his remains stored at the cemetary.

Jess Hordes, Washington director of the ADL, said that offering “cremation is not an option for a rabbi,” and Klausner should be made an exception primarily because of his work with Holocaust survivors. “It was really exceptional work at an exceptional time,” said Hordes, who was calling officials at the White House and Defense Department, hoping they would convince the Army to change its mind.

Simon Wiesenthal Center founder Marvin Hier said, “It’s just unbelievable to me he would be denied being buried at Arlington cemetery…It’s a rule that violates religious principles. So I want to know who made the rule and why it wasn’t challenged.”

Hmm. I agree that suggesting Rabbi Klausner be cremated is ridiculous. He was an exceptional man and did much for the poor souls who had to make a life after so much horror. But he is eligible for burial in any other Army cemetary with full honors, so why make such a fuss? Surely the Army has been asked to make an exception for many a soldier whose family considered his service, life and story extraordinary, and it feels hurtful to be told that “rules are rules.” But a rule that “violates religious principles?” C’mon. My sympathies to the rabbi’s family; he had a long, presumably full, life. Let his burial be an honorable moment for the Jewish people, not a kvetch.

I know, I know, it’s been so long…I’ve missed y’all! My new job is going swimmingly, though apparently full-time actually means just that, and when I come home I have these people who want things like dinner and bedtime stories…and then I have to take care of the children (tee hee, thanks folks, I’ll be here all week.)

The great news is the kids have been going to Jewish day camp and having a blast. While most of the campers couldn’t recognize a knish if I pelted them in the head with it, some of them are quite observant, with tzitzit and all. This is fascinating to my son, who has taken to wearing a yarmulke every day (when he remembers.) He wouldn’t eat an ice cream sandwich last night after we ate hamburgers, but chowed on some bacon at a friend’s house over the weekend. I guess it turns out he’s the same kind of Jewish as his parents, nu?

Kashrut lectures from a 7 year-old aside, it’s been wonderful to have the kids in a Jewish environment, since here in Savannah, our other options were vacation Bible camp or letting them run wild through the streets. Last night there was a special presentation of singing, dancing Israeli Scouts called the Tzofim Friendship Caravan, a delegation of the Israeli Scouts. They were adorable, like a Hebrew “Up With People” — I got a little choked up at the end when we sang “Hatikvah” and my kids knew all the words. I highly recommend the show when it comes through your town this summer.