“There’s not a lot of Jewish action figures,” says Roth. “Heroes for little Jewish kids are very few and far between when it comes to belligerent enthusiasm, a confrontational red-meat approach. I’m a highly literate slut. I dig only intellectual smut.”
david lee roth wants to rock out the holy land. yes, that david lee roth. (c/o protocols)
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We Salute Israel’s 55th Birthday
The American Israel Heart with Heart Benefit
Invite you to a special benefit to the Ray of Light,
founded by the mother of the wounded Dalia Shatz,
an organization developed to helping
the hundreds and thousands of young
disabled and wounded Israeli victims of terror.
Thursday, June 19th
6 pm – 11 pm
Eugene, 27 W. 24th St. between 5th and 6th Aves.
Minimum admission $26 (more donations accepted)
Sponsor bar from 6 – 8 pm
Passing hors d’voures
Silent auction and guest speaker917-658-8215 for more info
Special thanks to Neil at Eugene, Gabel Entertainment, Aliza Hava & Red Moon,
Dan Sieradski & The 44, Jeanette Friedman and Lifestyles Magazine.
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An organization called the Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem uncovers the mission of Hawaiian Gardens, CA, a tiny one mile by one mile town, the smallest in California. It is this town’s dingy run down bingo hall whose games’ profits go to building Israeli developments on Arab land that Israel occupied during the 1967 war and then incorporated within Jerusalem’s boundaries, as well as funneling the bulk of the money to extremist Israeli causes, such as the militant settler group Ateret Cohanim (this group is known to advocating exclusive Jewish control of Jerusalem, running a yeshiva in a Muslim neighborhood and secretly buying and occupying homes in traditionally Palestinian neighborhoods).
The bingo hall, as well as a small casino, are owned by a man by the name of Dr. Irving Moskowitz. Last November, the New York Times reported “He comes to a poor Hispanic town in California, wrings money from it and pours it into an impoverished community in east Jerusalem. Violence ensues, and he honors neither city by living there.” Further, the state of California has no record of the card club’s earnings.
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From the stranger-than-fiction department comes this little nugget. It turns out that Ozzy Osbourne’s father-in-law (who is Jewish) has bailed out a Manchester, England synagogue from financial straits. The Manchester Jewish Telegraph reported last week that Harry Levy, Sharon Osbourne’s father, donated more than $6,000 to the Higher Crumpsall/Higher Broughton Synagogue after finding out the synagogue owed money to the local burial board. The British-born Levy now resides in Los Angeles (in Howard Hughes’ former home) and appears frequently on the MTV hit reality series The Osbournes.
Although the attached picture of Ozzy with a bunch of Chabadniks at Purim has nothing to do with the story, we still thought it was priceless.
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UK Jewish Comedy Website: the inheritors of the borscht belt or sketch comedy writers looking for work? Or both?
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hava nagilah vs. dj assault vs. some new wave shizz i can’t place c/o the inimitable princess superstar (once interviewed by yours truly) … not appropriate for the more observant
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Recently, my friend Ari responded to an email written to the leaders of a local upper west side minyan regarding a local homeless man named Yosef who was reaching out for help from the Jewish community. (see “comments” for original email) This was his response:
As many of you do, I imagine, I receive a large number of sympathy stories every week in my email. Because of the familiarity of the places and names of communities, I found this one more effective than many. For those who, like me, can’t help but be skeptical about random emails like that one, I recommend thisarticle on a Jewish response to homelessness and the websites listed below:
I found a few websites including opportunities to donate money or spend time to help fight the immediate effects of homelessness and long-term need for affordable housing.
Jewish - Immediate Assistance: Enterprise Foundation
Non-sectarian - Medium-term solution: Center for Urban Community Services
Non-sectarian - Long-term/Political Solution: Working Families Party (New York)
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
Combination/Umbrella group (includes job training, housing services, crisis intervention, community voice mail and more): Coalition for the Homeless
(c/o Ari W.)
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Gruesome-ass pictures of Sunday’s bombing… Show ‘em to your radically-Left friends and tell ‘em, 60% of Palestinians think this is okay. (c/o lgf)
Prayers to the victims & their families.
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BitterLemons.org is assembling some pretty interesting coverage of the Middle East conflict, for those who need a more nuanced approach than what the news offers.
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…be mindful then that you do not spoil and destroy My world – for if you do spoil it, there is no one after you to repair it… — Kohelet Rabbah 7:1
For many city dwellers, the summer signifies a time to escape from the city. The Jewish Outdoors Club, based on New York city, self defines itself as “Modern Orthodox” and their first annual retreat, scheduled for this weekend is appropriate for both singles and couples. Billed as a sort of Jewish verison of outward bound, the JCC in Manhattan, is partnering with Teva Adventure, offering a summer trip to Alaska for a serious rock climbing expedition, with specific age groups including teens, students, and all ages of adults.
If it’s training as a Jewish environmental educator you are after, or you just want to get to brush up on your Judaism and Ecology knowlege, then you shouldn’t miss the Jewish Environmental Education Seminar for Camp Staff, Jewish Educators and Naturalists, hosted by the Teva Learning Center, whose site also includes a comprehensive Jewish Environmental Job Network.
Finally, the New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride, scheduled for August 15-18. There will be a Shabbaton (Shabbat retreat), on the Friday and Saturday, hosted by the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, followed by a two-day 110-mile ride from East Hampton to Manhattan. The ride, sponsored by Hazon, a Jewish environmental group, exposes Jewishly non-affiliated environmentalists to a broader Jewish perspective, while opening mainstream Jews to the deep current of environmental awareness.
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The Association of Jewish Libraries has recently launched Jewish Values Finder, which offers librarians, teachers, parents, and other users a single source of information and selection guidance for children’s books of Jewish content, published since 1995. (previous to 1995, such information was available from Marcia Posner’s Juvenile Judaica)
For example, when I typed in “faith” as a value, it turned up fifteen records, including Pharaoh’s Daughter, (the book, not the band) and Grandpa’s Gamble, a story about a grumpy old man making a bet with G!d to cure his daughter.
Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins…teaching Jewish values has never been easier! Happy value finding!
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The Conservative movement has introduced a new piece of liturgy for Yom HaShoah—Megillat HaShoah (”The Shoah Scroll”), which was read for the first time during last month’s Yom HaShoah observances at Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Synagogue in Toronto, and which will potentially become ritualized among Conservative worshippers throughout the world.
The new Conservative liturgy, unveiled last year in Israel, represents the first attempt by a major Jewish religious movement to address the void [in communal ritual commemorating the Shoah]. “Having one central text, shared by Jews wherever they live, will unite us and make possible the perpetuation of the story,” Rabbi Reuven Hammer, president of the Rabbinical Assembly, wrote in one of three introductions to the Megillah. “It will help us to fill what has become the new imperative of Jewish life: We must all view ourselves as if we had personally experienced the Shoah.”
The incorporation of such a ritual may do a great deal for the Conservative community, but what about other Jewish denominations? What potential does Megillat HaShoah have to be incorporated into ritual & tradition across denominational lines?
Apparently, there are no guidelines for the adoption of liturgy or new rituals, even in Orthodoxy. A tradition kept long enough eventually becomes halakha: “Minhag yisroel torah hee,” the custom becomes part of the Torah. But how this rule is applied is a hotly debated topic itself. The last time new liturgy was adopted by the Orthodox, it was the “Prayer for Israel” and blessings on Yom Ha’atzmaut, in the 1950s, and even so, they were not universally adopted. According to one Lubavitch rabbi I spoke with, only a very small minority of Orthodox people say these blessings.
Furthermore, though Megillat HaShoah was authored by a man, it was translated by a woman. And while I don’t see this posing much of a problem, with the consistently growing number of female rabbis, one must expect the question will arise soon enough, what the likelihood is that a piece of liturgy written by a woman will be adopted by mainstream Orthodoxy at all. While, for example, Shmoneh Esrei, one of the central pieces of Jewish liturgy, was inspired by the silent prayer* of the prophet Samuel’s mother, Hannah, modern women rabbis tend to get very little respect, if any at all, from the Orthodox world.
In response, Rabbi Jill Hammer of Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project, author of Sisters at Sinai, and a co-worker/friend of mine, says that, regardless of whether or not a piece of liturgy was authored by a woman, “If it’s good, it will spread. Perhaps slowly, but it will spread.” Rabbi Hammer reports mild success in the Orthodox world with the advent of Ma’yan-sponsored rituals such as the Passover Miriam’s Cup ceremony and the Esther & Vashti Purim flags, which celebrate great Jewish women who are often overlooked in a paternalistic Jewish world. The group has recently gained the support of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance who themselves distrubted hundreds of flags to Orthodox women this Purim.
While these traditions are not quite widespread just yet, it does show promise for a more progressive evolution of Jewish practice, and one that is inspiringly more participatory than that which has been projected in recent history. As for Megillat HaShoah, I suppose only time will tell what will be of its fate…
*Clarified thanks to commentary offered by our resident rav, Grubmastahflex.
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A new music video on Palestinian television glorifies the killing of Jewish settlers in Palestinian territory. Regardless of heightened security concerns around such sentiments, and the cost thereof, Sharon proclaims the settlers ain’t goin’ nowhere. Will such fanaticism be the undoing of a peaceful resolution to this conflict?
In other news, Remedy wraps up his Israeli tour; Israel’s kibbutzim are threatened with extinction; and Bush is skipping out on Israel’s 55th birthday bash.
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Apparently, racism at Israeli soccer games is a big problem. Thirty-five observers, all soccer fans, were recently drafted by the New Israel Fund, a joint enterprise by Israelis and Diaspora Jewry to promote and consolidate pluralism and democracy in Israel. The idea is pretty simple. Reports will be prepared to summarize every game in the national and super leagues according to the “crimes” - songs, chants, slogans, signs, jeers, physical and verbal clashes between fans and players. All will be totaled at the end of every round of league play into a “weekly incitement and racism index” at the stadiums, ranking the teams according to the behavior of their fans, players and team executives and officials. Doesn’t Israel have enough problems already?
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As we begin to enter in earnest the political race for the next president of the United States, Senator Joe Lieberman is finding himself at odds with the other candidates. The presidential-hopeful, who is Sabbath observant, has been already been missing several opportunities to get his message across. Last week, at a weekend held with all the Democratic nominees in Columbia, South Carolina, the debate itself was pushed off till late Saturday night for Lieberman to be able to attend. However, earlier in the day, the audience was forced to watch a taped speech by the Connecticut senator while the other candidates — including the Al Sharpton and John Kerry — gave live talks to the audience. “When it comes to public service, Senator Lieberman is on the job 24-7,” Jano Cabrera, Lieberman’s campaign spokesman, said. “When it comes to politics, he’s 24-6.”
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On May 8, The New York Times reported: “Three more Palestinians were killed in scattered violence, including one who blew himself up with a car bomb next to an Israeli tank in southern Gaza.”
Killed?! Isn’t the proper term for this terrorist’s failed effort died?
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My new favorite Jewish musician who mostly plays secular music: Peter Himmelman. This Minnesota born, shomer shabbat, now LA based artist is both talented and NUTS. Known for wearing a plaid shirt with his tzit tzit hanging out from underneath over his worn down jeans, the welcome page of his website is split in two with news about his work & Himmelmator 3000 on one side, and a slide show flashing between trivia about himself and quotations from the Tanya, linking the user to the Meaningful Life Learning Center, a website based on the book of the same name which offers a practical distillation of the philosophy of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Peter also has just finished writing the music for the independent feature, Ash Tuesday(the title of the film refers to the debris covering downtown Manhattan on September 11). The film will premier at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC.
You may be familiar with his work and music if you watch Judging Amy starring Amy Brenneman. Himelman also has a really fun kids records site.
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