The Jewish community is buzzing with the news that beloved Jewish folk singer Debbie Friedman passed away this morning at 5:49am (PST). She had been in a coma for a few days, and going into the weekend countless Jewish tweets, messages, and emails were reminding people to pray for rafuah shleimah.

According to the Jewish Journal:

"Friedman had been in critical condition and was being held on a respirator in a medically-induced coma in an Orange County, California hospital.

A healing service was scheduled for Sunday evening at the Manhattan JCC and was set to be viewed online. There is no word if the service will become a memorial tribute or not.

According to JTA, 'Friedman, who was in her late 50s, is widely credited with reinvigorating synagogue music by introducing a more folksy, sing-along style to American congregations. In 2007 she was appointed to the faculty of the Reform movement’s cantorial school in a sign that her style had gained mainstream acceptance.'”

Countless Jewish people across the world have been inspired by her music, warmth, and stories. She was a sort of female Shlomo Carlebach in regard to her impact on Jewish music, liturgy, and prayer. So many of her melodies have now become staples in many congregations - songs like "Mi Sheberach," her melody for Havdalah, and "Lechi Lach."

For two years I taught Hebrew school at a very large Reform synagogue. Many of her songs were staples for chapels and Summer camps because they were moving, spiritual, and singable. In 2005 I attended one of her concerts and I must say, it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life (and, trust me ... I have been to all kinds of concerts and worship services). I will never forget that evening, and the way it furthered my own Jewish spirituality and journey. Her music carries a very sweet place within my own neshama as it does within numerous other Jewish people around the world.

This afternoon a great tribute was published in the Jerusalem Post. And for those interested, you can watch this tribute video from 1997 by Union of Reform Judaism.

***UPDATE: You can watch the video of today's funeral service for Debbie Friedman HERE.

My friend and colleague, Derek Leman, has already beaten me in responding to the article, but his response particularly deals with the figure of Yeshua. I want to rather focus on Rabbi Shmuley’s concept of a more global and open form of Judaism.

According to Rabbi Boteach:

“Judaism for Jews is too narrow, too particular to really inspire. The vast majority of the world’s Jews want to live mainstream and fully integrated lives. But every form of Jewish outreach – from Reform to Orthodox – is designed to bring them back to the Jewish community. News alert. They left 200 years ago during the great emancipation and they aren’t coming back.

There is, therefore, only one solution: Judaism for non-Jews. A global movement to disseminate Jewish values and spirituality to all Earth’s inhabitants, making no distinction between Jew and gentile.”

Rabbi Shmuley is hardly the first person to advocate for a more welcoming and global form of Judaism. This has been proposed by Reform, Reconstructionist, and Renewal movements; as well as the B'nai Noach Movement and even the Kabbalah Center. And of course ... this has been the similar position of Messianic Judaism.

Just to clarify, Rabbi Shmuley (and the other Jewish movements) are not advocating that all distinctions be removed, but rather that the rich legacy and teachings of Judaism should be more readily shared with the world. Our services should be more welcoming, spiritual, and user friendly; and a greater level of participation granted to intermarried couples and non-Jews.

I am one such person who shares this position. Especially as a follower of our Messiah, Yeshua, I feel there is a Messianic mandate to include those from the Nations. The question is what will this look like? How do you share the universal message of HaShem with the world, while at the same time affirm the unique covenantal role of the Jewish people? Afterall, Messianic Judaism, for example, is supposed to be a JEWISH movement for Yeshua within both the wider Jewish community and Ecclesia.

It is true that the current wave of non-Jews drawn to Torah and the Jewish roots of their faith is a move of HaShem. Yet, there is a just as significant role in Jews coming to faith in the Jewish Messiah, and in many circumstances, re-embracing Jewish life and covenantal responsibility (which is different for Jews and non-Jews).

In every aspect of life, balance is always key. So what does that look like for a more open and tolerant form of Judaism? Although in many respects I agree with Rabbi Shmuley in this regard, I am not sure I necessarily agree with his action points.

In his recent article (and in a forthcoming book) Boteach advocates a global campaign for a seven-step program of living:

1. Observe Friday night as family night by tuning out all electronic interference and focusing on children, friends and community.

2. Eat kosher food (20 percent of Americans already look for kosher symbols for cleanliness and purity) and separate milk from meat as a symbol of the affirmation of life and its negation from all forms of corrosion and death.

3. Celebrate the themes of the Jewish festivals …

4. Studying Judaism’s great texts …

5. Observing the marriage laws, including the monthly act of sexual separation thereby creating an erotic barrier that enhances lust and pleasure.

6. Appreciation of, and respect for, the feminine, including codes of alluring modesty for women ...

7. A commitment to acts of communal kindness, such as regular visits to hospitals and homes for the elderly and giving 10 percent of one’s income to charity.

Although I am not sure the above seven steps are indeed THE STEPS, I do agree that these recommendations could certainly bring added meaning and a deeper spirituality into our world. Judaism indeed has much to offer. However, the struggle is that Judaism cannot escape this continually percolating tension between universality and exclusivity. We as Jews are to be both an Or L'Goyim (a Light to the Nations) AND an Am Segulah, a unique and set-apart people. There are so many mitzvot given within the Torah for the specific purpose of keeping us different. And when these distinctions are entirely removed, history continually demonstrates that it always leads to the assimilation (and disappearance) of the Jewish people (also a problem).

I think there is an answer. However, we know from experience that neither removing all distinctions nor keeping ourselves isolated from the rest of the world works. We MUST for the sake of ourselves and the benefit of the world try to find a healthy balance between the age-old tension of universality and exclusivity. We MUST find a way to have open and welcoming communities that at the same time affirm the unique covenantal role of the Jewish people. This is especially true in a day and age when the make-up within the Jewish community itself is more complex and diverse as never before. A feat not as easy as one would think. There is no silver bullet. However, for the sake of the future it must be done. This is both our prophetic and necessary task.

"In shortest order, actions against Jews and especially their synagogues will take place in all of Germany. These are not to be interfered with."

Instead of arresting the perpetrators of these events, police began rounding up and arresting the victims – Jews all over German occupied territories. Fire companies stood by synagogues in flames with explicit instructions to let the buildings burn. They were to intervene only if a fire threatened adjacent “Aryan” properties.

In two days and nights, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned or damaged, over 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted and ransacked, and at least 91 Jews were killed. Rioters also vandalized Jewish hospitals, homes, schools, and cemeteries. The attackers were often neighbors.

Some 30,000 Jewish males between 16 - 60 were arrested, and deported to concentration camps. Kristallnacht marked the beginning of the Holocaust.

72 years later we still remember, and will never forget!

The driver attempted to deny the incident until he was confronted with video from a security camera installed at the scene of the hit and run. Additionally, the driver was driving with a revoked license and had a previous conviction for theft.

What makes this incident even more frustrating is the cover-up within the haredi world. The yeshiva bochur brought to the court recommendations from Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, asking Drori to be lenient, claiming that an excessively stringent ruling that constituted moral turpitude would block him from being appointed as a judge in the rabbinical courts, which is a public office.

In my humble opinion ... this yeshiva bochur should be barred from being a dayan (a judge on a rabbinical court - a Beis Din). A dayan must not only be able to interpret halachah, but be able to apply it to real people and real situations. People are the real issue - as we are all created b'tzelem Elokim (in the image of G-d), and apparently "people" are something this bochur has missed. You CANNOT intentionally run someone over and then expect to sit on a Beis Din!

A dayan must indeed be an upstanding mensch with moral turpitude. Is this really the rabbinic judge you want to decide your case? Based on the driver's previous conviction of theft, his driving without a license, a hit-and-run, and initial denial, it seems moral turpitude is something this guy lacks. He should certainly have his rabbinical aspirations squelched. This is a major Chillul HaShem (a desecration of G-d's Name).

People come first. This is the ethic of Yeshua, and the basic understanding of all halachah.

A crumbling country, torn apart by Hungarian-Gypsy civil war, could easily be claimed by the rich Jews," the article [mentioned above] went on to say. "That is why we should expect a Hungarian-Gypsy civil war, fomented by Jews as they rub their hands together with pleasure.