Jewschool favorite Y-Love is playing this Saturday night at Joe’s Pub, along with Chicago phenomenon-al beatboxer Yuri Lane and Shem’s Disciples. And, presumably, you. Tix are $12, but go to Joe’s Pub and enter the password “JPTIXA2″ and I’m told it’s $10…not that I have any idea, I’m in frickin’ Chicago. So go have some vicarious fun without me, and I’ll see you in September.
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You have to see this to believe it… An ad running on the Jerusalem Post’s website today for Obadiah Shoher’s blog, Samson Blinded. Which, by the way, I’m not even going to bother linking to.
Thank G-d I didn’t eat today. Otherwise I would have vomited.
You know they made that guy a Webby honoree? Even the Israel Hasbara Committee has called Shoher’s views “just plain evil,” stating further that “With ‘friends’ like Obadiah Shoher, Israel needs no enemies.” But there he is, somehow with enough capital behind his anti-Arab propaganda venture to put ads on a Jewish website with a million daily readers, and getting honorable mentions from the preeminent website awards committee. WTF?
Of course, this banner was running above an article by your favorite Jewish columnist and mine, Caroline Glick, who today personally rewrote the definition of Zionism as “the assertion of Jewish rights and control over the Land of Israel and the affirmation of Jewish national identity.” That’s right Judah Magnes, Ahad Ha’am, and Albert Einstein (to name a few) — your non-statist, non-nationalist, and non-militarist Zionism is no longer Zionism! I read it in print! In the Jerusalem Post! And your legacies are forevermore anti-Jewish in nature.
Trayfe! Assur! Like Yiddish!
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You know you want to enter Boris Jackson’s contest. Maybe it’s because you wish you’d thought of it first or maybe it’s because you did think of it first. Or maybe because the entries so far are kinda lame. In any case, those electric spinning dreidels suddenly appear to be more useful than I thought…
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Today is the darkest day in the Jewish calendar. It doesn’t have to be the most depressing if we use it to change our ways.
Last night, at the Mission Minyan’s reading of Eicha (the book of Lamentations), I noticed something in the text that spoke anew to me, quite strongly and damningly this year. From Chapter 5, verse 4:
We pay money to drink our own water, obtain our wood at a price.
It is easy for anyone to read Eicha, look around and draw parallels to contemporary society, whether in the modern, literal Jerusalem, or in our various communities – Jewish or otherwise. It is sadly easy to put together a compelling talk about the themes of personal, civil, spiritual and ecological destruction and degradation that Jeremiah intones, which are so revelant today.
It is also easy to stop contributing to the destruction. Stop buying your own water, the water that YOU OWN as a citizen of the earth (and of course as a taxpaying citizen of a first world country with a municipal water supply.)
I live in one of the most environmentally aware places in the US, with a delicious, pure and safe water supply coming from the Hetch Hetchy valley and dam in Yosemite…yet many people I know actually STOCK bottled water in their homes. I complain about this constantly, directly to them, to anyone who will listen. The water in Hetch Hetchy – that comes through our taps in San Francisco – is so great that my former boss at Camp Tawonga used to joke about getting rich by bottling and selling it back to all these bozos.
That’s no joke as it turns out – it’s exactly what the big bottling companies are doing. Most of the bottled water for sale in our cities comes from “municipal sources.” AKA places not even as wonderful as Hetch Hetchy.
I am tired about hearing about “convenience”. Convenience is digging us a grave of plastic. This is an easy thing to fix. Get a water bottle. Use your tap. Enjoy a wonderful municipal asset.
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ãà îø øá çðà áø áéæðà à îø ø”ù çñéãà îà é ãëúéá (æëøéä ç) ëä à îø ä’ öáà åú öåà äøáéòé åöåà äçîéùé åöåà äùáéòé åöåà äòùéøé éäéä ìáéú éäåãä ìùùåï åìùîçä ÷øé ìäå öåà å÷øé ìäå ùùåï åùîçä áæîï ùéù ùìåà éäéå ìùùåï åìùîçä à éï ùìåà öåÃ
Rav Chana bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Hasida: What does it mean when it says (Zechariah 8:19) “Thus said the God of Hosts: The fast of the fourth and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness”? In a time when there is peace, they shall be joy and gladness. When there is no peace, a fast.
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When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall do them no wrong, the strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. –Leviticus 19:33-34
Today it was learned that Yuli Tamir will be ousted from her position as Minister of Education amidst outcry from the Right over a reference to the Naqba in a new textbook for Israeli Arab students.
Last week, an overwhelming majority of MKs voted in favor of legislation that would prohibit the sale or leasing of state-owned lands to non-Jews (ie. Arabs).
The week before that, Shimon Peres remarked upon the shared interest of both Israel’s Left and Right in maintaining a Jewish majority, an interest that Gideon Levy rightly notes “attests to the development in our society of very deep racist norms, cloaked in various ways, against the minority groups among us.”
While I agree that the concept of Zionism in-and-of-itself is not racist, how can you otherwise describe the practice of Zionism exemplified by the policies of the modern State of Israel?
And how does one justify what I’m sure will be the baseless hatred that will consume the comments on this post in the defense of such actions?
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? –Isaiah 58:6
You will fast, and beat your chest. But what will you change? Where to from here?
See also: The Apostate: A Zionist politician loses faith in the future.
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Jew-liani.
We’ve all seen it already, right?
Well, West Bank-based blogger Yisrael Medad hadn’t. And even if he had, he apparently wouldn’t have gotten the joke. Which is cool and all — you wouldn’t normally expect an Orthodox religious settler to get all that D.C. politico insider baseball. Guys like Medad usually have other areas of expertise, like say, halakhic proofs legitimizing ethnic cleansing.
At any rate, in a nod to the brilliance of said video, Wonkette’s been on a roll with a tongue-in-cheek if mildly disconcerting branding of Rudy as “Jew-liani” in various posts to their blog. If anything, Medad should have accused Wonkette of serving that dish far past its expiration date. What was that, a month ago guys?
But instead, being unfamiliar with both the video and Wonkette’s naughty charm, Medad wheeled out the antisemitism charge, setting off a round of denunciations throughout the right-wing blogosphere.
Wonkette editor Ken Layne responded in poor fashion, going so far as to allude to taking possible legal action against Medad. He later followed up with a retraction and cited an inbox full of Lizard Freeper hatemail as the source of his outrage. Being familiar with the experience, I can empathize.
I wonder, had Jon Stewart made the same joke, would Medad have reacted in the same way?
~~~
If Medad really wants to go after an antisemitic website, he should investigate why it is that every time I post a comment to this article on Digg challenging Reagan-era economist Paul Craig Roberts’ assertion that the Mossad is conspiring with Bush to fake terror attacks in America, it gets voted out of existence.
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As reported by KosherToday and Ynet, the city council of Netanya, Israel, has banned the sale of pork, despite the likelihood that the law will be overturned by the High Court of Justice as against Israel’s equivelent of the Bill of Rights. Allegedly, 70 stores support 2,000 families with non-kosher products including pig products.
Fifty-percent of the city council are religious or traditional, although only 3 of 25 council members opposed the bill. Reports Ynet, “Up until now, the residents remained silent on the subject, but the opening of a new pork-selling supermarket in the city center [see photo] sparked protests by haredim, who chained themselves to the supermarket’s doors on Sunday.” [emphasis added]
Meanwhile, Netanya Mayor Miriam Fierberg is urging the Knesset to pass a bill to prohibit the sale of pork products in Israel.
(X-posted to The Jew & The Carrot.)
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As we heard the other day, most stores in Israel were open this past Shabbat for the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book. While the hype around this was pretty nuts, I have to say that the variety of headlines with this story has been the most exciting part:
Harry Potter’s Israel launch pits wizard vs rabbis (Reuters)
Will Harry Potter’s magic work in Israel? (CNN-IBN)
Harry Potter Angers Zionist regime (PressTV, Iran)
Gawker even gave him a kippah:
Can you think of an original headline funnier than those above for this story? Leave submissions in the comment field between now and next Shabbat. Jewschool editors will pick the top five and readers will have a chance to vote next week. Submissions of links to other funny headlines are welcome but will not be included in the contest.
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Rabbi Furman established a “very successful†branch of Ohr Somayach (a quiescent fundamentalist outreach organization) in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was the head of Ohr Somayach Savoy until the shit hit the fan.
The Times (of South Africa) reports,
Amid a growing scandal, Rabbi Lewis Furman of Johannesburg, who was also a family counsellor and international speaker, is believed to have left South Africa for Israel where he is undergoing “rehabilitationâ€.
Furman — who is alleged by congregants to have been a “serial philanderer†— was forced to resign his position in South Africa and will not practise as a rabbi in this country again.
Of course, the haredi powers that be have insisted it is forbidden to talk about this scandal, and the Jewish newspapers in South Africa have so far declined to discuss this story. But…
“outraged members of the Jewish community, speaking on condition of anonymity, have accused the Rabbinate of “sweeping the matter under the carpet†and failing to be “transparent†about it.
They say Furman had a reputation as a “serial philanderer†who was caught out when he mistakenly sent an incriminating SMS to the wrong person.
Furman was apparently then confronted and assaulted by a cuckolded husband.
Still, the important things it that Rabbi Furman has the right hashkafas (philosophical and political outlooks). That’s why his tapes are still available from Ohr Somayach. Like this one on “Yetzer Hara – Friend or Foe?â€
Update: Failed Messiah connects the dots — South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein who dismissed allegations as “unfounded speculation,” and attempted to silence discussion within the South African Jewish community (but still negotiated Furman’s exit) worked for Ohr Somayach.
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Did anyone else here about this back in February? NYU’s College Republicans decided to hold a little consciousness raising event about illegal immigration- by inviting the NYU community to take part in a mock hunt of illegal immigrants in the middle of Washington Square Park. Fun!The event was such a big success that a number of other schools decided to hold a similar event, including the University of Pennsylvania. The College Republicans at the University of Iowa scheduled their own for this June, but the subsequent outrage actually forced them to cancel.
This is where my friend, (former) New Yorker, immigration attorney and awesome rabble rouser, Ferzana Hashmi stepped in. After moving from New York to Iowa (gevald!) over a year ago, Ferzana opened her own small law firm specializing in immigration. As the child of immigrants (from Pakistan and Tanzania) and as a person of color, and a Muslim in Iowa, Ferzana has made it her business to stick up for immigrants’ rights and to bring a little balance to an often over-heated discussion. Iowa isn’t just a front-line of immigration debate (and reaction) it’s also a testing ground for political candidates and their positions– as we’re reminded as the Iowa caucus starts to get closer.
Ferzana and her law firm designed a day long game, taking place this Saturday, as a response to the Young Republicans ‘Find an Illegal Immigrant’ event. Her game is called ‘Find a Legal Way to Immigrate’ and players will be using a life sized board with the goal of immigrating– the winner being the one who finds a way to do it in under 10 years!
If there any Jewschoolers in Des Moines, come out to show your support for humane immigration reform, and take part in the bbq and Immigration Game this Saturday from 2-8 pm at Pete Crivaro Park in Des Moines.
 And kol ha’kavod Ferzana!
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I know from British friends of mine that it is true that British anti-Semitism is a normal part of English culture there, nevertheless, the fervor with which the British have taken up boycotting Israel is both hysterical and counterproductive. Particularly since the targets of these boycotts have largely been parts of the Israeli culture that tend to be progressive and might actually (do) serve in the struggle for equality.
So it’s nice to see that Labor leadersin the USA have not jumped on the indiscriminate boycotting bandwagon.
According to a letter sent by the Jewish Labor Committee’s Arieh Lebowitz over two dozen U.S. labor leaders have denounced British unions’ support for boycotting Israel.
Their response comes in the wake of a decision by several unions, including the UK Transport and General Workers Union, to back economic, cultural and academic boycotts of Israel in protest against “the treatment of the Palestinian people.”
“Their resolutions have no purpose other than demonizing Israel,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, an organization of Jewish union leaders and supporters which is continuing to solicit support for their statement opposing these boycotts.
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The Washington Post yesterday let us know about how Bush really feels about the poor, poor children in particular: screw ‘em and let ‘em die.
Quoting “philosophical reasons”, W voiced his opposition to the legislation which would have renewed and expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, put forth by Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program currently costs the federal government $5 billion a year (a far cry from the near-half-trillion we’ve spent on the Iraq War, or the $1-2 trillion we will have spent by 2016) and “helps provide health coverage to 6.6 million low-income children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance on their own.”
An additional 3.3 million children would have been covered by the Baucus legislation, and the money would have not come from taxpayers en masse but rather from raising the excise tax on cigarettes to $1 per pack.
“I support the initial intent of the program,” Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post after a factory tour and a discussion on health care with small-business owners in Landover. “My concern is that when you expand eligibility . . . you’re really beginning to open up an avenue for people to switch from private insurance to the government.”…
About 3.3 million additional children would be covered under the proposal developed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), among others. It would provide the program $60 billion over five years, compared with $30 billion under Bush’s proposal. And it would rely on a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, to $1 a pack, which Bush opposes.
Republicans warned that if the president were to veto this legislation, that the Democrats would make another, more expensive proposal that could affect more taxpayers.
And like blogger Ari Berman writes for The Nation, this is not the only “successful government program” benefiting the poor that Bush opposes: “I believe government cannot provide affordable health care,” Bush said at a recent healthcare roundtable. (Bush also opposed the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid, even “trimming” the programs until 2011, in legislation bundled with an $11.9 billion cut to student loan subsidies.)
Baruch Hashem that the Senate Finance Committee voted 17-4 in favor of reauthorizing and expanding S-CHIP, “in defiance of” W.
What Bush is failing to realize is that someone can not simply walk up with their W-2s and buy medications or health treatments with their “$7,500 deductible.” Rite Aid and CVS don’t readily accept “tax credits” as payment. And the refund checks are slow in coming, unlike medical complications.
Bush says he supports “common sense” health care, health care that puts “individuals…in charge” of their own medical coverage. In other words, you pay for it.
And if you can’t afford it, then, like Ari Berman said in The Nation, just “drop dead”.
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