by Josh Frankel · Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
Do you remember that movie with Leonardo diCaprio about the man who lied about everything, and never got caught? Well, it’s a good thing he never tried to become an Israeli cabinet minister. Esterina Tartman, from the Yisrael Beiteinu list just withdrew her candidacy for Minister of Tourism after getting caught with just a little resume padding.
You can check out her official Knesset resume online in Hebrew. Sorry, the English version doesn’t have all of the information. It lists an MBA from “Jerusalem” and a BA in Finance from Bar Ilan. Sounds nice, aside from the little problem that she doesn’t have either of those degrees. Rather, as Yediot Ahronot pointed out, Ms Tartman got her BA from DK’s favorite – Touro College – and has taken some non-academic ongoing education classes at Bar Ilan. (Here’s Haaretz’s coverage, it’s in English)
This all follows an earlier expose by Yediot regarding a large insurance award that the MK received after claiming that a traffic accident had severely affected her memory and ability to concentrate, limiting her to only 4 hours of work a day.
Now, you might give her a hand for almost pulling off an amazing stunt. After all, how many Touro College grads have been nominated for cabinet positions in any country? But, you would expect her to apologize, show a little remorse, some contrition, right? Well, not in the Holy Land. Here, instead, when politicians get caught with their pants down, they attack the media, and claim to be victims of a vast conspiracy. Here are some translations of the juicy lines from Esterina Tartman’s press conference a few hours ago.
Over the past few days I have found myself at the center of a planned attack campaign, ugly slander and fact distortion, and all for the purpose of hurting my reputation and me.
(Regarding the false resume)
I have my original resume that I gave to the Knesset. I gave it in, and it doesn’t have these statements. I tried to check the sources, but I do not shirk responsibility. I made a mistake when I said an MBA. If I had added the words, “studies towards an MBA” there would be no problem, since I completed a BA with Honors [a claim disputed in the Haaretz article –JF] I continued my studies towards an MBA.
This is not only a war regarding my reputation, this is a war for the nature of the State of Israel . . .
At least Halutz had the decency to resign.
by Rooftopper Rav · Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
Just as Queen Esther raised her voice to save the Jews of Persia, two female artists,
Basya Schechter of Pharaoh’s Daughter and Galeet Dardashti of Divahn,
will sing out against the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Two nights before Purim, join us to celebrate Esther’s heroism….
We too can raise our voices to stop a genocide!
ESTHER IN AFRICA: A Middle-Eastern Themed Benefit Concert for Darfur
Featuring Pharaoh’s Daughter and Divahn
Congregation Shaare Zedek
212 West 93rd Street
(between Broadway & Amsterdam)
New York, NY
Thursday, March 1, 7:30 pm (doors open 7:00 pm)
General admission $20, students $10 (larger donations greatly appreciated as well).
All proceeds will support the Darfur Action Campaign of the American Jewish World Service.
For advance ticket sales, please call Shaare Zedek at 212-874-7005.
Call today and avoid the lines next Thursday night!
(Advance ticket sales available only for donations of $20 or more.)
This event is co-sponsored by the American Jewish World Service, Auburn Theological Seminary - Center for Multifaith Education Congregation Ansche Chesed, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Congregation Habonim, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, Darkhei Noam, the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Kehilat Hadar, Kehilat Orach Eliezer, Kehilat Romemu, the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-El, Storahtelling, Tikvat Yisrael, and West End Synagogue.
by Mobius · Monday, February 26th, 2007
Metro.co.uk reports:
Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen is being sued by a British woman who claims he called her a “bitch” and a “minger” in an Ali G sketch.
The comedian also falsely said he got her pregnant as he interviewed novelist Gore Vidal for a show broadcast in 2004, the woman’s lawsuit alleges.
She says she met the star 20 years ago on a trip to Israel with Jewish youth group Habonim, but that they never engaged in any sexual activity and “over time they went their separate ways”.
But in August 2004 friends told her they had heard her name mentioned by the Ali G character, who allegedly said: “Me used to go out with this bitch called Heddi Cundle.”
Full story.
by Mobius · Monday, February 26th, 2007
In its first week of usage, ShulShopper has become so popular that the damned hosting environment we’re on isn’t powerful enough to handle all the incoming traffic!
We haven’t even managed to fix all the bugs yet (don’t worry, there are only about a dozen outstanding issues left) and already we need to move to a new, more powerful server.
If you believe in ShulShopper and find it to be a valuable service that you would like to see grow, now is the time to consider making a donation to support the project. We need your help. Please, donate today.
by Danya · Monday, February 26th, 2007
Theological snark in 3ish minute episodes. Some of the episodes feature Jesus, but that’s OK. There are a couple of jokes about women that fall flat, though–I hope they quit that, because there’s enough else to love here.
There’s something screwy with the YouTube embedding this time, so here’s the “Let There Be Light” episode and here are the other ones.
(Uri, hat tip, once again.)
by Mobius · Sunday, February 25th, 2007
The AP reports,
American Jews on Sunday were given information on how to buy homes on the West Bank, an event the organizer promoted as a way to help Jewish settlers.
The effort has drawn rebukes from an Israeli group as well as pro-Palestinian organizations, who say such efforts undermine international peace efforts. Some of their members protested outside the meeting, held at an Orthodox synagogue in Teaneck, Congregation B’nai Yeshurun.
The opposition groups believe the gathering represented the first time West Bank homes have been offered for sale in the United States.
They also questioned whether the sale of what they consider illegally occupied lands violates anti-discrimination laws, but a New Jersey official has said state and federal authorities have no jurisdiction on overseas property.
Full story.
by Mobius · Sunday, February 25th, 2007
The New Statesman reports,
American military operations for a major conventional war with Iran could be implemented any day. They extend far beyond targeting suspect WMD facilities and will enable President Bush to destroy Iran’s military, political and economic infrastructure overnight using conventional weapons.
[...]
The US army, navy, air force and marines have all prepared battle plans and spent four years building bases and training for “Operation Iranian Freedom”. Admiral Fallon, the new head of US Central Command, has inherited computerised plans under the name TIRANNT (Theatre Iran Near Term).
- Sy Hersh: The Pentagon has drafted an attack plan that could be put into operation within 24 hours of authorization.
- BBC: “US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country’s military infrastructure.”
- Haaretz: “Three Arab states in the Persian Gulf would be willing to allow the Israel Air force to enter their airspace in order to reach Iran.”
- Telegraph: “Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
- Reuters: Raid on Iran wouldn’t stop nuclear program.
- The Independent: “‘There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,’ a source with close ties to British intelligence said.”
by Mobius · Sunday, February 25th, 2007
The recent discovery that the family of Anne Frank had unsuccessfully attempted to obtain an American visa before being captured by the Nazis shines light on the failure of the United States to do enough to save Jews from the Holocaust. In reaction to the news, Rep. Steve Israel has reintroduced a bill to make the child martyr an honorary American citizen.
“The best way we can honor Anne Frank in death is to give her what her father sought for her in life,” said Israel, a New York Democrat, in a statement last week. “The news that Anne Frank’s family sought to flee to the United States makes it clearer than ever that we should bestow honorary citizenship upon Anne Frank.”
We respectfully disagree: The best way to honor Anne Frank’s memory — and to demonstrate that America has learned a lesson from its past mistakes — would be for the Bush administration to take comprehensive steps to address the needs of the mounting numbers of Iraqi refugees.
Read on…
by Mobius · Sunday, February 25th, 2007
Via My Right Word:
According to [...] Thursday’s Ma’ariv, a Yeshiva bachur [...] propsitioned a seminary girl in a Hareidi town in Yesha. Yup, according to the story, it was a matter of S-x for Money.
She told her friends and classmates, they marched over to the Yeshiva, spotted the supposed felon, started yelling at him, his friends came to his aid and before you could say Jake Rabinowitz, the girls had beat up the boys. Feminine fisticuffs.
You can only be kept down so long before you rise up.
It’s just one rude awakening after another, ain’t it?
by Danya · Sunday, February 25th, 2007
Turns out there have been a lot more female poskim in Islam than previously thought. Looks like they’re giving Bruriah, Asenath Barzani and Ray Frank a run for their money. Time for us to catch up, no?
Mohammad Akram Nadwi, a 43-year-old Sunni alim, or religious scholar, has rediscovered a long-lost tradition of Muslim women teaching the Koran, transmitting hadith (deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and even making Islamic law as jurists.
Akram embarked eight years ago on a single-volume biographical dictionary of female hadith scholars, a project that took him trawling through biographical dictionaries, classical texts, madrasa chronicles and letters for relevant citations. “I thought I’d find maybe 20 or 30 women,” he says. To date, he has found 8,000 of them, dating back 1,400 years, and his
dictionary now fills 40 volumes. It’s so long that his usual publishers, in Damascus and Beirut, have balked at the project, though an English translation of his preface — itself almost 400 pages long — will come out in England this summer. (Akram has talked with Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the United States, about the possibility of publishing the entire work through his Riyadh-based foundation.)
The dictionary’s diverse entries include a 10th-century Baghdad-born jurist who traveled through Syria and Egypt, teaching other women; a female scholar — or muhaddithat — in 12th-century Egypt whose male students marveled at her mastery of a “camel load” of texts; and a 15th-century woman who taught hadith at the Prophet’s grave in Medina, one of the most
important spots in Islam. One seventh-century Medina woman who reached the academic rank of jurist issued key fatwas on hajj rituals and commerce; another female jurist living in medieval Aleppo not only issued fatwas but also advised her far more famous husband on how to issue his.
Full story here.
(Hat tip to Uri!)
by John Brown · Friday, February 23rd, 2007
The Gallup News service reports:
“An analysis of Gallup Poll data collected since the beginning of 2005 finds that among the major religious groups in the United States, Jewish Americans are the most strongly opposed to the Iraq war. Catholics and Protestants are more or less divided in their views on the war, while Mormons are the most likely to favor it. Those with no religious affiliation also oppose the war, but not to the same extent that Jewish people do. The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews who share the same political leanings.”
It’s very interesting data… You can see the original Gallup release here.
by Kung Fu Jew · Friday, February 23rd, 2007
Jewschool takes the top blog slot (tied with Jspot.org) and deserves the first guffahs for helping with the list of lists and all items therein:
- The Jewish Student Press Service Announces the Top 5, 7, 10, and 20 of Everything - Seriously funny, down to the “Top 10 Jews We Wish Weren’t Jewish” and “Israeli Names You Don’t Want to Have If You Live in the U.S.” Read the whole thing.
- Tradition, Change, and Stumbling Blocks - Historic Decision Paves Way for Gay Jews in the Conservative Movement. Read more.
- Carter Drops the A-Bomb: The Controversy Surrounding Carter’s New Book Shows That Criticism of Israel May Be the True Third Rail of American Politics. Read more.
- The “Talk Back!” Feature: La Mala Educación - Why Jewish High School Students Don’t Learn About Israel. “The organized Jewish community has come to the conclusion that the best form of education about Israel is the presentation of a series of uncomplicated, beautiful images of the country…” Read more.
Thanks to all those who contributed recommendations for the hot lists! Letters to the editor can be sent here. Don’t forget that paper subscriptions are free.
More »
by Ben Baruch · Friday, February 23rd, 2007
by matthue · Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
happy adar, everyone….& keep increasing the simcha.
by sarah · Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
If you haven’t yet marked your calendar and RSVPed for this Sunday’s BJE Feast of Jewish Learning, do it now! We have an out-of-hand lineup of classes, music, kosher deli, hamantaschen and He’Brew beer - and it’s all FREE. Best of all you get to come out and see Jewschool poster Y-Love kick it live in the truly hip atmosphere of the JCC atrium. 
The workshops range from serious text study to a niggun singing workshop to academic history lectures to a yoga class to a staged production of an Israeli play to queer readings of Talmud to depth psychology and the Purim story. There’s definitely something for everyone.
Sunday, February 25 from 4:00-10:00pm
at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California St. @ Presidio Ave.
Download the event program here.
Full event details are at www.bjesf.org/feast
RSVP to feastrsvp {at} bjesf(.)org
See ya there. I’ll be the harried producer in the event tee shirt.
by rokhl · Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
OK, it’s actually old news already. Last Sunday night, the Klezmatics won the Grammy for Best Contemporary World Album. In the process, they made history twice over, first for being the first “out” Jewish group to win a Grammy, and their record label, JMG, is the first Jewish record label to win a Grammy.
Now, winning a Grammy isn’t what’s got me all excited. I mean, I was happy when Jethro Tull won a Grammy for best Heavy Metal record in 1988. I happened to really dig the funky flute stylings of Ian Anderson. But when Jethro Tull won, it didn’t convince me that they were a better heavy metal band than Metallica. Or a heavy metal band at all. It did convince me that industry awards are mostly silly and meaningless (except as a recognition of commercial success), as well as an excellent launch pad for adolescent cynicism and self-righteousness.
More »
by rokhl · Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Come out to Makor on February 26th to hear the Solomon Sisters all the way from London. They’ll be performing classic Yiddish swing (like the Barry Sisters) backed by some of the best Jewish musicians around, including Dave Licht (ex-Klezmatics) and Jim Guttman (Klezmer Conservatory Band). Solomon Sisters on at 9.
Opening the show at 7 will be the red hot fiddling of Alicia Svigals (ex-Klezmatics) accompanied by Pete Rushefsky on tsimbl.
Don’t miss it!
by Mobius · Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Haaretz reports:
Billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak on Wednesday announced the formation of a new social movement, named “Social Justice,” which he said could turn into a political party at any time, “based on the circumstances.”
During a press conference, the Russian-born business tycoon called for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government to be replaced, saying Israelis should support Likud leader Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu.
“Don’t vote for Olmert, don’t vote for Peretz - don’t even vote for Gaydamak. Vote for Bibi [Netanyahu],” Gaydamak said.
Why would I call this gesture obscene? Because to suggest that Benjamin Netanyahu is a progenitor of social justice is to stand reality on its head. Netanyahu’s economic policies have led to record poverty levels, including the highest rate of child poverty in the West, and levels of wealth inequality that come second only to America’s. Currently, 16 Israeli families control 20% of the nation’s wealth, while 22% percent of Israelis live below the poverty line, including 1 in 3 children. Netanyahu’s privatization schemes have, ultimately, failed to trickle down to the public. He is also responsible for the recent cuts in Holocaust survivor benefits, despite Israel’s ever-increasing piece of the reparations pie, as well as tax-cuts for the wealthiest members of Israeli society.
Two weeks ago I had the er…pleasure…of attending a dinner of the Conference of Presidents here in Jerusalem. There were all sorts of remarkable statements made by the likes of Irwin Kotler, Martin Kramer, Abe Foxman and Mort Klein that I’d looooove to tell you about, but refrain from doing so, so as to spare the employment of the young woman who unwittingly granted me access to the event (suffice to say, by the end of the evening I concluded that America’s Jewish leadership is going to get us all killed).
One gentleman who addressed the group, an Israeli general who has been in public service for several decades, stressed — with a wavering voice — that the greatest threat to Israel’s stability today is income inequality, and warned that if the current trend persists that it will tear the society apart from the inside out.
Sadly, our friends at the COP were much more interested in discussing Iran, Hamas and Jimmy Carter. However, I took his words to heart.
Economic growth is a golden calf. At the end of the day, it accomplishes little more than further padding the bank accounts of the egregiously wealthy. Bibi has helped make the rich richer at the expense of the working class, and has thusly driven Israelis into both deeper poverty and deeper debt.
If that’s social justice, I’m a monkey’s friggin’ uncle.
Gaydamak, mind you, is wanted in France for illegal arms trading, tax evasion and money laundering. None should stand idly by while this corrupt billionaire douchebag perverts the meaning of social justice.
