Religion & Beliefs
An Interview with Getzel Davis
By Getzel / November 19, 2007
This week on FaithHacker we're excited to welcome guest blogger Getzel Davis. Getzel is, among other things, an environmental rock star, a former ADAMAH fellow, and pretty much the nicest guy I know. To start things off I sent him some tough questions, and to no one's surprised, he totally rocked them. -TF
What kind of work are you doing now, and how does it fit into your spiritual journey?
I work for the Teva Learning Center as a Jewish environmental educator. Every week I get a new batch of 6th grade day school students to try to inspire. We go off into the woods every day and practice feeling radical amazement in nature. After a week of group bonding and ecology lessons, I get to sit down with each child and school to help them brainstorm ways to make the world a healthier and happier place.
What's your favorite spiritual practice? Why?
My favorite spiritual practice at the moment is mikvah. It sounds a hokey, but time I get out of a mikvah, I physically feel spiritually cleansed (even if I am covered in muck from the lake). This year, to prepare for Yom Kippur, I dunked forty-nine times for the forty nine levels of spiritual impurity that people of capable of. When I got out, it felt like I was already at Neilah, the last service of Yom Kippur, when we are finally forgiven of our sins. I went through all the motions of Yom Kippur already knowing that I had been forgiven. It was incredibly powerful.
What's a Jewish ritual that really doesn't speak to you? Why?
Stoning gay people. I can’t imagine a compassionate G!d really wanted us to stone two consenting adults who love each other.
What's your favorite Jewish text to study and why?
My favorite text is the Mei Hashiloach by the Izbitzer Rebbe. Despite the fact that the Izbitzer was a leader of a chassidic ultra-orthodox Jews, half of his discourses are about the flawed nature of Jewish law. His radical theology allows for certain people at certain times to do perform acts contrary to normative Jewish law. This book is a great tool for anyone struggling personally with questions of halachic obligation. What's a social justice issue that's really important to you and why? I believe that the greatest issue facing humanity is global warming. Rising oceans and desertification of the land scare the shit of me. The solutions are not going to be easy things like recycling or buying hybrid cars (although both are great). The only way humanity will be able to avoid an incredibly ominous future is by radically changing how we consume things. We need to start holding producers responsible not only for the safety of a product while we own it, but also the impacts of its creation what happens to it after it has been thrown “away.”
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I don't know Getzel, but he sounds cool! He should have more faith about the fate of the world and the deserts blah blah. Sure, be prudent, and concerned, but don't be so horribly negative! Getzel will make a fine husband and father! When he eventually gets the courage to worry about his own growing family, instead of what's far away, and easy to fret vaguely over. But he is on the right path, and that is very cool! He is not suburban and materialistic. Cool! He may homeschool his kids a little when they come, that would be great… Mishnah discussions at the table! Parsha lessons: "Joseph forgave HIS brothers and they were a lot meaner than yours, Yoni …"
Wha-huh? Â Witty and entertaining? Â "Unless you are a female, in which case Hadar will do?" Â
Clearly I have woken up in some alternate universe. Â
 And yeah, I myself am not into the hippy lifestyle, so it takes very little for me to reach my threshold, but that's exactly why I don't go to shabbatonim at Elay CHayim and such.  No one's forcing you to hang out with Getzel.  If you have so little free time then maybe you should just skip the posts that are too CHS for you.Â
Getzel: I think your definitions are not accurate. There are plenty of different Orthodox belief's, unless you are being overly literal with the word, Orthodox Judiasm contains within it much pluralism of thought – see books by Marc Shapiro for evidence. I defend Orthopraxy as well, but the way you are defining it I dont think I do, can you elaborate on the value you see in observing mitzvot without believing in tradition Judaism?
And come on, who hasnt spent a day "learning in a chassidic yeshiva in Crown heights?"Â Unless you are a female, in which case Hadar will do.
Tamar: do you really think I have a problem with you? I actually look up to you very much, find you quite witty and entertaining. Why else do you think I read your blog so much? I have very little free time, and I use it reading you! And by the way, I dont write off hippies, Ive spent many a shabbaton at Elat Chayim and such. I dig this stuff, but you gotta admit, it is pure CHS and one can only handle so much of it!
While I'm duly impressed by your NOFX reference (honestly, shocked is probably the more accurate description), it's kind of hard to take you seriously. Â I mean, straightedge misnagdim are a lot of things, including close to my heart, but they don't exactly have an exploratory view of the world, and I think it's to their detriment.
Also, isn't writing off hippies just as irresponsible as writing off frummies? Â
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But you're right, these questions aren't tough. Â You seem to think the answers are, though. Â Mayhap you have a problem with me, and not with Getzel?
So yeah, I am a neo-chassidic environmentalist hippy. Thank G!d. Maybe I wasn't clear in my interview, but I have a lot of respect for the tradition and its practices (in fact I spent the day in crown heights learning in a chassidic yeshiva). That being said, orthodoxy – (everyone believing the exact same thing), has never been the status quo in Jewish history and scares the crap out of me. I don't really know what the difference is between it and fundamentalism. Orthopraxy (following normative halachah) is something I have a lot of respect for and is quite close to my personal practice.Â
If anyone out there has harder questions that you would like to see me struggle with, I think that sounds like fun. Post them and I will try my best to answer them.Â
Soccer– Getzel is a friend of mine, and while he will explain why he isn't ortho, he'd never say anything along the lines of "orthodoxy is whack", nor would he go around saying how holy he is. easy with the ad hominems against a person you don't know.
Yeah, sounds pretty hokey. These questions were not tough and his answers were not so rock starry. Just a bunch of Crazy Hippy Shit (CHS), typical hippy answers to these questions: ooh I’m a holy mikvah dunker who reads Ishbitz and thinks Orthodoxy is whack; I could’ve predicted his answer to each question. Go neo-Chassidic environmentalist hippy!
Need I remind you the title of a recent NOFX album: Never Trust a Hippy!?!
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