
The Psychology of Compassion |
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| 'Reporter' Is A Film Dedicated to Everyone Who Never Expected to Be In It | |
by Monica Rozenfeld, September 23, 2009 |
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How many people today google "genocide," "holocaust" or "rape camp"? With changing journalism comes a changing agenda. Yet New York Times Reporter Nicholas Kristof, single-handedly, is still pushing stories of genocide and women's inequality to the front pages.
When filmmaker Eric Daniel Metzgar set out to follow Kristof on his stories, he realized this film is as much about the art of journalism as it is about compassion, and suffering. He let the story tell itself which led the audience to meet people in the greatest suffering, in the deepest anger, and with the saddest stories. And that is what Kristof wanted, because one person's story can provoke compassion and maybe bring the issues alive.
Today, it is unbelievable to think how we got here. There are 5.4 million dead in Africa's genocide over the past five years, and 1.4 currently misplaced in Eastern Congo alone. Twenty two militias are in battle in the region, in a place with absolute no law and order. Rape is not a crime, in fact it is what militia do during battle. In this case, it's a battle that never ends or clocks out. Kristof has written 60 columns addressing the genocide alone.
"If it's happening every day, it should be written about every day," said one journalist in Reporter. "Imagine, during the Holocaust, saying ‘Oh, there was 20 stories written about the extermination of the Jews. It's redundant.'"
One way to fight the genocide is with militia and guns, said Kristof. Another is with notebooks and pens. "And that's what I do," he said, bringing two students with him - Leona Won and Will Okun - to travel as eyewitnesses in the Congo.
The Congo
The Congo is a land where 22 militias are at constant battle especially among the most fierce, the Hutus and Tutsis. After fleeing the Rwandan genocide, the Hutus fled to the Congo reliving a same kind of fate there.
Kristof and the crew spent, at one point, time with Nkunda - a warlord on the side of the Tutsis - where they got to see their church and even stayed for dinner. "We love G-d too much," said one militia.
After attempts to fight peacefully, Nkunda formed a rebel militia. "In Africa, we have no human rights. Only strong rights," Nkunda said. "I'm not a warlord. I'm a liberator."
They all believe they are liberators, as told in the film. All trying to create order, and justice, in their own way through murdering and raping others.
"It was unbelievably eerie to eat with people who caused so much suffering in the Congo. But it was the best meal we had since we got there," Metzgar said.
The Writing Process
It was said that if it were not for Nicholas Kristof, the world would not know of Darfur. Kristof was the first to put it on the map, and continues to push the agenda. He has covered women's issues including sex trafficking for almost a decade now. His work has been acclaimed with two Pulitzer awards. How does Kristof get us to care?
Kristof has a habit of reading the psychology of compassion. He has learned that people are far more compassionate when they see one girl in need on a television screen, or hear of one death, than when they see or hear of even two people. Then it becomes a statistic; then our minds lack the ability to comprehend.
Kristof's art is in telling the story of one person to bring systemic change for all. That one person is who Kristof calls his "Rokia," the person whose story can illuminate the massive conflict. Everyone warranted a column, Kristof said. But he was still seeking the saddest story, even though saddest stories exist whether he writes them or not, Metzgar said while capturing the hunt for Kristof's Rokia.
Take that one person's story and multiply it by 4 million - and then you have a fuller story of what's really taking place. Kristoff is famed for his piece "Save the Darfur Puppy." If people are unmoved by the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of humans, maybe they will care about a puppy, he decided.
The film incorporated beautiful still snapshots taken by student Will Okun to coincide with the stories, and luckily, student Leona Won knew medicine enough to help a 40 year old woman, under 80 pounds, get to a hospital to find out her infections were incurable. Kristof interviewed that woman who could barely speak on the way there.
How Do We Help?
Actress Mia Farrow, now involved with UNICEF, said Kristof's column on Darfur "Tore me apart and rearranged me." Hearing about what is going on, seeing it, reading it rearranges most of us, for deep down we are unbearably human. Some issues are too great to deal with. What is it that we can possibly do? Building a school, as said in the film, isn't helpful when militia return and burn it down. Giving instructions to the people isn't helpful. But, Kristof says, we can listen more and speak up more.
Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service who hosted the film premiere at HBO Studios, sat on panel after the premiere alongside Eric Metzgar and Nicholas Kristof. What can we do? She said we can read newspapers more and keep journalism alive. We can start and continue to talk about these issues. We can get involved in organizations that help keep this agenda front and center and continue to write to our leaders that we want to see action.
As a journalist who is most passionate of all about the 60 to 100 million young girls and women missing to the sex trade -- girls who die in their early 20s to AIDS or get their eyes gauzed for being resistant -- Kristof tends to break his journalistic boundaries and even "buys" girls in order to return them to their homes. This model of what we can do says we can do anything; that we should do anything in our power.
"I think this is true compassion," Metzgar said in the conclusion of the film referring to Kristof's desire to create change by telling these stories. "If Nick didn't think he could do this, he'd probably given up by now."
During the Q&A session that concluded the premiere, Kristof said he likes traveling light. He prefers not to make plans and instead maneuvers around in as much secrecy as possible to prevent any likeliness for kidnap. Not only did he bring two students with him this time, but a camera crew is "really not my style," he said. With all the gear that was brought, Kristoff joked he was tempted to hand over the crew to General Nkunda. But ultimately, Kristoff said, "I care about the story. If Eric can do that [bring alive this story], then I'm willing to have on an extra twenty boxes of supplies."
The event was sponsored by American Jewish World Service Global Circle. For more information about the Global Circle, please visit http://www.ajws.org/get_involved/global_circle.html. For more information about Reporter, please visit www.Reporterfilm.com.
Niles Goldstein, Black Belts, and G-d |
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by Monica Rozenfeld, August 14, 2009 |
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Niles Goldstein is famous for taking Judaism back to its roots: tradition, rebellion, mysticism and G-d. His last book Gonzo Judaism showed us the exciting, provocative and exhilarating parts of being Jewish and living Jewish lives. Now Niles get's a littler more personal in his new book, "The Challenge of the Soul," where his part memoir, part soul-help book proves that G-d really does give kudos to the badass.
All about using adversity as opportunity, Niles mastered a black belt in karate, founded the New Shul in Tribeca, and is about to move in on one of many new, exciting directions. We sat down with Niles to hear more about his life, soul search and yetzer hara, evil inclinations. Read what he had to say here.
Press has called you the "Bad Boy Rabbi." I don't know you well enough to say if that‘s true. Does the label resonate with you? Why, why not?
If that means, I'm unethical, then I'm not comfortable with that label. But if by "bad boy" - and this is what I think they meant in the article - that I didn't play by other people's rules, I was willing to push the boundaries, I broke a lot of people's presumptuous stereotypes, I was hard drinking, womanizing, and liked to push the envelopes in ways that most ordained members of the clergy wouldn't -- in that sense, I don't mind being called a "Bad Boy Rabbi."
Your new book, The Challenge of the Soul, is entirely immersed in G-d, spirituality, self-work. How much do you think these concepts will resonate with people in today's world? And was this a fear of yours in writing it?
If they're opened, they're going to get it. What I'm offering is a challenge. I would challenge even your assumption. I think you're 100 percent right, in the area of religion, that people don't want to do the heavy lifting, they don't want to do the work. But in other areas, going to the gym or starting up a business, people are willing to put long hours in those areas. So I would challenge the assumption that we live in an era that people don't want to do the heavy lifting. I would challenge a culture, and the men and women lazy in this area, and I would say Why the hell are you not willing to invest the same kind of time into working on your soul? And if you're not, I would say you are really missing the boat.
Unkosher Sex: Ultra-Religious Go Online in Search of Extramarital Affairs |
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by Monica Rozenfeld, June 12, 2009 |
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What does it mean to religiously attend church, temple or synagogue, live in a community where G-d’s laws are first and foremost, and then deliberately go on the internet in order to break one of the most sacred of commandments: Thou shall not commit adultery? It is no surprise that the internet has become an electronic meeting place for married men and women looking to have affairs; it may come as a shock, however, to learn that the web is also the hub for a growing number of ultra religious married people looking to start extramarital affairs with people who share their faith.
On sites like Craigslist and AshleyMadison.com (which carries the motto “Life is short. Have an affair.”) people who self-proclaim as “religious” can be found seeking out others of their faith tradition to be unfaithful with. In the past, philandering religious men went to strip clubs and so-called “kosher” brothels to retreat from their wives in secret. But there appears to be a trend of religious men and women seeking out affairs online; and one man has founded a website tailored specifically to his community’s needs.
“Every day I would see ads on Craigslist from the “frum” [religious Jewish] community. My wife and I started talking to them and realized there was a big need for this,” said Jerry (who does not wish to disclose his last name for safety), founder of Shaindy.com. Shaindy.com is tailored mainly to the religious and Jewish seeking extramarital affairs. Though the site is only two months old, Shaindy.com — with the tag line, “Jews Can Have Fun Too” — already has 2,500 members paying $99 annually for the right to log on and seek out other married people interested in having an affair.
“People always like to think that we are holier than thou,” Jerry said, who himself is a member of the Orthodox community. “Our community has the same needs as any other community — dating, drugs, cheating or whatever, and it’s silly to think we are ‘different.’”
Cheating is for Winners: Meet Shaindy.Com |
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by Monica Rozenfeld, April 29, 2009 |
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When the Shaindy.com epidemic broke out, The Jew Spot had to get in on it. Lucky for us, founder of Shaindy not only gave us an interview, but VIP access. Little did we know we’d find ourselves in a website equipped with a dating expert, a pro-cheating column, 13 new messages from men who all want to chat with me, and oh yeah, pornography. Did I mention most of the members on here are “Religious,” i.e. Orthodox or Chassidic?
But before you jump to conclusions, Jerry (the founder’s pseudonym for safety purposes) said he was simply addressing a need - and the numbers prove it. Only a two month site and there are nearly 2,000 members, 12 of which signed up while we were chatting. All he had to do was go on Craigslist to see the religious Jewish community putting personals up for affairs to understand there is a market for this. And it doesn’t hurt that his wife is all about it, too.
So what happens on this site and why has it become so popular in the religious community? Read our interview with Jerry here.
Thanks for taking the interview. Can you tell us who Shaindy.com is made for?
Well
Shaindy is basically for married people who want an affair or just a
listening ear from other people "to vent" or "distress." The idea was
there is NO such venue in the Jewish community.
Every day I
would see on Craigslist ads from the "frum" community. We [wife and I]
started talking to them and realized there was a big need for it.
We have all kind of people in here – Chassidic, Modern Orthodox, Conservative, Reform. It’s fair to say it’s for Jewish people.
What
surprises me is that especially for the Orthodox community, they are
very tight knit. There must be a fear in meeting someone who they
already know.. or know their rabbi? How is that addressed?
Over
here you can chat with someone for a while before you open up and you
make sure you chat with someone who has the same beliefs as you have.
Why
do you feel that people who are looking to have an affair want someone
with the same beliefs, especially same religious beliefs for those more
religious on the site?
When people have the same issues
and problems it is much more comfortable to connect with those kind of
people. It’s more of a challenge to get a girl or guy from your
background. They will UNDERSTAND you way more because they are in the
same situation.
Obviously there is a need for it. I am checking
the stats on my site as we speak and there are over 3000 chat/messages
between members on a daily basis.
Euro-Jew Trip at Miami Beach... |
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by Monica Rozenfeld, April 13, 2009 |
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Yupp, it's true. Absolut-Events is bringing its crazy Euro fun to the States, hoping us not-as-fun Americans will learn a thing or two from them.
Interested in getting half-naked with French, Australian and Greek Jews?? Sign up at http://www.absolut-events.com/miami09/. The vaca is from June 28 - July 5 (I think).Monica from The Jew Spot (i.e. Me) will be there!