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Strictly Commercial
Two funny-Jewy books, two funny-Jewy promotional videos. The first, featuring Daily Show reporter John Oliver, comes from Hazonik and Daily Show staff writer Rob Kutner, and is for his new book “Apocalypse How,” which Jon Stewart, in an obviously objective and impartial manner, called, “A great read.” Second is the advert for former American Jewish Life editor Benyamin Cohen’s “My Jesus Year,” which Publisher’s Weekly called “a delicious olio of guilt, longing, surprise, wonder, unease and of course humor” that has “universal appeal.” Read more »
The News Shticker: Lindsay Lohan converting?
Actress Lindsay Lohan with girlfriend Samantha Ronson Pop-tart Lindsay Lohan is apparently contemplating conversion to Judaism in order to be closer to her girlfriend, DJ Samantha Ronson. According to the BANG Showbiz news service, “Sam’s family is Jewish. Lindsay has learned a lot about Judaism from Sam and admires its beliefs.” However, friends of the ‘Mean Girls’ actress have doubts about her intention to fully convert to the religion and think she is just doing it for attention. The source added to Life and Style Weekly magazine: “Two years ago it was Kabbalah. Last year it was Alcoholics Anonymous. She was into ‘peace’ for a while. Whatever is of the moment, that’s Lindsay. But the one thing it does show is her commitment to Sam. She could be any religion and Lindsay would be open to it.” More shtick: Jon Stewart and author Ron Suskind, who recently revealed that the Bush administration falsified evidence to retroactively justify invading Iraq, discuss an Iraqi general’s penchant for Yiddish on Monday night’s Daily Show. Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle davened minchah at the Great Wailing Wall of China. The Onion adds its two cents to the Agriprocessors scandal. Jezebel asks Dr. Ruth about her feelings on sex during niddah, the period when a woman menstruates. Warning: Not for the faint of heart. And not halachically permissible (i.e., acceptable under Jewish law) by any stretch of the imagination. (Hat tip to EV.) A Roman pagan temple was unearthed in Israel’s Galilee region. Social Research: An International Quarterly of Social Sciences has devoted the entirety of its summer issue to the concept of martyrdom, giving special attention to Islam, and Palestinian society in particular, where “violent acts [are considered] cultural expression and [are] critically linked to collective imagination and memory.” “Rhinestone Cowboy” singer and former TV personality Glen Campbell divulged to Reuters his identity as a Baptist cum Messianic Jew (a.k.a. Jew for Jesus). Gothamist reports on the outrage sparked by the sale of Flatbush’s Kosher Gym to non-Jewish owners. The AP reports on Los Angeles Jewish organizations’ efforts to bridge the Jewish-Latino gap by reaching out to Pentecostals. Likewise, Mehnaz Afridi writes in the Khaleej Times on bridging the Muslim-Jewish divide. AlterNet writes on the rise of arranged marriages in America, chiefly among Orthodox Jews. The Sydney Morning Herald profiles author Naomi Ragen. The Detroit Free Press profiles Naomi Zaslow, a recent art school grad and ex-Orthodox lesbian, who uses her photography to “deconstruct her identity.” A guest blogger named Sam at the popular feminist blog Feministe just capped off two weeks’ worth of contributions on Jewish subjects. You can peruse the archive of her contributions here. Read more »
Star spangled tangle
We just received a call here at JTA’s marketing department about an ad for the Jewish Chaplains Council, depicted at right, which runs in our Daily Briefing email newsletter. The caller, who identified herself only as a “well-connected Republican,” took umbrage with the display of the American flag upon the soldier’s uniform, which she claimed was “backwards,” and demanded that we explain our purported desecration of the flag. After my co-worker politely explained that we were not responsible for the content of the advertisement and that there was no harm intended on JTA’s part, the issue was brought to my attention. I quickly noted that as a long-time volunteer in my father’s Jewish War Veterans post and, therefore as someone who, in his day, has hung his fair share of American flags, I know quite well that the U.S. flag, when displayed on the right shoulder of a soldier’s uniform, is intentionally worn in reverse. As explained on the Web site of military uniform retailer Marlow White: The blue field of stars should always be in the highest position of honor. When viewing the flag on a wall, the highest position of honor is the upper left when displayed horizontally, and at the top (upper left) when displayed vertically. When displayed on a “moving object” like a person or vehicle, the highest position of honor is the front, and not the rear; so the field of blue should be displayed to the front. Though another co-worker, JTA managing editor Uriel Heilman, has urged me to temper my snarkiness, I must insist that if you are going to call into question the patriotism of our news organization over such trivialities, at least know the protocols that you accuse us of violating. Oh, and of course, also make sure that we’re the ones supposedly violating them. In this case, it was a coalition of American Jewish military chaplains, who we all know hate America. Read more »
More shtick than you can shake a stick at
The Detroit Free Press reports that “A Detroit-area military engineer accused in 1997 of passing secrets to the Israelis was targeted because of his Orthodox Jewish faith, the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a report.” The ruling DRP party of the island nation of Maldives, located roughly 700km southwest of Sri Lanka, attacked the opposing MDP party for bringing “white foreigners and Jews” into the country. Speaking at Rabbi Marc Schneier’s Westhampton synagogue, New York governor David Paterson called himself “a son of Israel” and acknowledged having Jewish ancestors. The governor also characterized the Hampton Jewish community’s struggle to put up an eruv as a civil rights issue. New York’s JFK international airport got a kosher vending machine. Newsweek reports on kiddush clubs and alcohol abuse in the Orthodox community. Jewschool reports that an Israeli actor will play Saddam Hussein in an upcoming BBC drama. Eunice Pollack’s new “Encyclopedia of American Jewish History” examines the Jewish community’s role in shaping contemporary American culture. Scotland got its first kosher kilts – or tartans, to be precise. Sixty Six, a new British comedy about a bar mitzvah boy competing for attention with the World Cup finals, debuted over the weekend. The NY Daily News reports on a 44 year-old Brooklyn man who fought through his cerebral palsy in order to celebrate his bar mitzvah. The AP tells the story of a Shoah survivor and her gentile rescuer who have lived “like sisters” in Warsaw since 1942. Chabad won a lawsuit against a Florida town that tried to prevent it from leasing city property to open a Chabad house. The NY Times has a feature on The Jewish Channel, the relatively new on-demand Jewish cable network run by Elie Singer, son of former head of the World Jewish Congress Israel Singer. Jerusalemite shares an Al Jazeera video about Jerusalem cuisine, reluctantly admitting, “They did a great job.” Israeli authorities used explosives to demolish an apartment building in eastern Jerusalem built without a permit. The Forward reports on a growing trend among religious Zionists in Israel to use the fast of Tisha B’Av to mourn Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza strip. Read more »
The News Shticker
This video demonstration of how electrocuting a pickle is like being a Christian has been making the rounds over the last few days. Not only is Ivanka Trump back with her Jewish boyfriend, Jared Kushner, but now there’s talk that she’s planning to convert to Judaism. Britney Spears has become romantically involved with her Israeli bodyguard. Naomi Campbell compared Kabbalah to Alcoholics Anonymous. BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow shares a dramatic reading of his story “The Super Man and the Bugout,” which imagines Superman as a nice Jewish boy from Toronto. The Palm Beach Post chimes in on the debate over Jews and tattoos. Former Barak staffer Daniel Levy chimes in on Joe Klein’s anti-neoconservatism. The Boston Globe looks at the Agriprocessors fallout and the ethical implications of kashrut. The U.K.’s Independent claims that Jewish Beverly Hills residents are trying to prevent Arab investors from buying property in the area. Times Online interviews British Jewish comic Josh Howie. Read more »
The News Shticker: NY’s new nerdy Jewish DJ, Katie Couric in Israel and Adolf Knitler
According to New York magazine, “D.J. Peter Rosenberg, a self-proclaimed ‘nerdy Jewish kid’ from Chevy Chase, Maryland, will be hosting the 5 to 7 a.m. slot” on New York’s Hot 97 radio station. Also via NYM, Ivanka Trump has reunited with her Jewish ex. Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff believes he is zeroing in on Aribert Heim, the Nazi physician known as “Doctor Death.” The LA Times reports that the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has teamed up with Hollywood talent agent David Lonner to organize birthrightesque trips to Israel for Tinseltown bigwigs. Video news site Jerusalem Online claims Iranian hackers are trying to disrupt a message on their website to the Iranian people from Conference of Presidents’ executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein. Ha’aretz gushes over Katie Couric’s visit to Israel. AFP looks at Beirut’s dwindling Jewish community. A member of the Spinka chasidic sect, which has been under investigation for tax fraud and money laundering, has admitted to bilking the federal government out of $300,000 in taxes. The other Telegraph reports on the controversial exploits of British pro-knitter Rachael Matthews, which includes a series of knitting designs featuring international dictators, such as Idi Amin and Adolf Hitler. A pamphlet surfaced in Israel that threatens the “soldiers of the occupation army” with terrorism and death should they not leave the Middle East. Its author was not an Islamic militant, however. It was Menachem Begin, then the leader of a Jewish militant organization, addressing the British roughly 60 years ago. Father Robert Sirico writes thoughtfully on religion, anti-authoritarianism and liberty in The Australian. In Salon: “The beauties of religion need to be saved from both the true believers and the trendy atheists, argues compelling religious scholar James Carse.” Read more »
The News Shticker: Video Jew hangs with Hadassah, ABBA singer’s Nazi lineage, schlub to stud
Comedians Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel have ended their five year romance, igniting the hopes of every schlubby Jewish boy on earth. Ironically, days after the couple’s split, Silverman received an Emmy nomination for a music video in which she professed to be two-timing her then-beau with actor Matt Damon (NSFW). The L.A. Jewish Journal’s Video Jew checks out the Hadassah convention. The Jewish Channel tells the story of ABBA singer Frida, who discovered in her 30’s that her estranged father was a actually a Nazi and that she was conceived as part of Hitler’s program to propagate the Aryan race. Mixed Multitudes recaps last week’s very Jewy episode of Showtime’s hit series Weeds. Morris Motamed, Iran’s only Jewish member of Parliament, speaks softly on Ahmadinejad to hard-Left webzine Counterpunch. Shanghai Daily examines the history of Shanghai’s Jews. Michael Freund questions why Israel has not done more outreach to China’s dwindling Jewish community. ABC news questions why so many Americans are making aliyah. The Chicago Tribune reports on a baffling string of Torah thefts. Messianic Jewish inmates in Ohio are claiming that they are being discriminated against because the state’s prison system recognizes them as Protestant, denying them costlier kosher meals. The Forward interviews one of its alums, Max Gross, about his new book, From Schlub to Stud: How To Embrace Your Inner Mensch and Conquer the Big City. Finally, via the Bintel Blog: Jews and chess, Jews and guns, and Amy Winehouse gets a hankering for kosher digs. Read more »
The News Shticker
boingboing issues challenge to Iran: “You suck at Photoshop.” Readers respond with their own Photoshoppery. Hilarity ensues. A haredi man who, in 2006, killed his three month old by throwing him against a wall, and whose arrest sparked riots in Mea Shearim and drew accusations that “the Zionists” were “blood libeling” the ultra-Orthodox community, was found guilty of manslaughter. The Wall Street Journal’s law blog looks at a recent Chicago court ruling which states that condominium associations that bar Jewish tenants from hanging mezuzahs on their doorposts are engaged in religious discrimination. A guest blogger at Feministe ponders the ethnic component of her Jewish identity, revisiting the age-old question, should Ahskenazim be considered white? An Australian rabbi contends that kosher eating makes you fat. Check out Noiz in Zion, the relatively new Israeli music blog that focuses on the Jewish state’s urban music scene, for new tracks from some of Israel’s up-and-coming hip-hop artists. Jewish continuity advocates take heed: An Oklahoma church has come up with a new way to get unaffiliated youth religiously engaged. Or not. British graffiti artist Banksy, best known to Jews and Israelis for his profound if unsettling work upon Israel’s West Bank security barrier, has been unmasked after several years of operating in full anonymity. Read more »
Rosh Hashana Girl (and Guy) Come to Israel
Michelle Citrin and William Levin Dina Kraft, JTA’s Israel Correspondent met up in Jerusalem with singer Michelle Citrin aka Rosh Hashana Girl and her creative partner and friend William Levin. They are the team who brought the world the two YouTube hits “Twenty Things to do with Matzah” and “I Gotta Love You Rosh Hashana” – part of their attempt to bring a touch of the young, hip, and artistic to being Jewish today. [audio:/images/archive/070108_kraft_citrin.mp3] Audio sound funny? Upgrade your Flash player. To subscribe to JTA’s Behind the News podcast, click here. Read more »
The News Shticker: Religious “freedom” in the dock, pre- and post-Zohanism
Louisiana has passed an “academic freedom” bill permitting school districts to promote Creationism in the classroom. A Texas court has upheld the right of religious organizations to engage in practices that may constitute physical and emotional abuse, even when those practices may endanger the well-being of a minor. A public school teacher in rural Ohio was fired for promoting Christian views in the classroom and branding crosses onto his student’s arms. Video has surfaced of pop singer Amy Winehouse shoving a fan during a recent performance at a rock festival in the UK. Contradicting earlier reports that the two were receiving “Kabbalah counseling,” the UK’s Sun reports that Madonna and her husband, director Guy Ritchie, may divorce over the singer’s involvement with the Kabbalah Center. Jewlicious contributor DJ Handler reminds us of a Saturday Night Live sketch in which Adam Sandler first explored the disco-loving Israeli persona that would come to be known as the Zohan. A religious studies professor at Virginia Tech explains what the Zohan tells us about post-Zionism and vice-versa. An Orthodox court in Israel has issued a ban on portable video players, such as the video iPod, claiming “their devilish distributors want nothing more than to drive the people of Israel to sin.” Jay Michaelson ponders whether there’s room for the Jews in Narnia. Jewish Currents editor Rokhl Kafrissen looks back at Nextbook’s Jews & Power event, raising qualms with the conception of Jewish “liberalism” advocated by the likes of Ruth Wisse and Leon Wieseltier. And finally, daaaaaamn, Ahmadinejad’s wife is smokin’! Psych! Read more »
RSS Feed Breaking News
Updated 02/09/12 @ 05:54PM EST
- A poll showed that nearly half of likely voters believed the United States should use military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
- Rabbi Gunther Plaut, a major figure in Reform Judaism, died in Toronto.
- The application for a proposed Hebrew-language charter school was accepted by the District of Columbia Public Charter School board.
- A truck driving calves from Eilat to the Golan Heights was hijacked into the West Bank.
- U.S. Rep. Howard Berman introduced legislation that would allow eligible Israeli nationals to receive non-immigrant investor visas in the United States.
- Poll: Half of U.S. voters back strike on nuclear Iran
- Reform leader Rabbi Gunther Plaut dies
- D.C. Hebrew-language charter school accepted for review
- Op-Ed: Kick the reaction addiction on campus
- Berman moves to grant investor visas to Israelis
- Holy cow! Calves hijacked into Palestinian territory
- Report: Israeli journalist also works for prime minister
- Larry Greenfield tapped to lead JINSA
