by Mobius [➚] · Friday, July 20th, 2007
- CNN: “A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by outed spy Valerie Plame and her husband against Vice President Dick Cheney and other top Bush administration officials.”
- Rudy Giuliani named Norman Podhoretz and Martin Kramer — advocates of the U.S.’s biggest foreign policy blunder in its history — his top foreign policy advisers.
- Amy Goodman: “Nearly half of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops in Iraq have come from Saudi Arabia — an inconvenient truth for the White House papered over with the lie that Iran is the chief instigator.”
- Haaretz reports that 19 Israeli families now control 1/3rd of the country’s economy.
- Muslim congressman Keith Ellison cries foul after ADL condemns him for making apt, if politically unfortunate, comparison.
- Get mincha on your iPhone.
- Matisyahu goes ex-Lubi? Tells Miami New Times blogger, “My initial ties were through the Lubovitch sect. [...] At this point, I don’t necessarily identify with it any more.“
- Amy Winehouse spit on her fans at a recent performance in London.
by Mobius [➚] · Friday, July 20th, 2007
More photos
by Mobius [➚] · Thursday, July 19th, 2007
More images from last night’s Heeb “Kids” issue release party here.
by Mobius [➚] · Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
©2007 Lastnightsparty.com. Reprinted with permission.
By god, it’s Rome out there. The sky is falling and it’s debauchery in the streets.
Well, somebody’s gotta enjoy themselves. So thank Merlin Bronques for covering all the fun you’re not having.
A one time recording artist and now full-time party and pin-up photographer, the wigged-out Bronques is presently traveling nightclubs across the globe getting gorgeous women to show him their titties. It mustn’t be too hard when he can flash ‘em a hardcover collection of his acclaimed work. He’s talented enough to even make laying on a bathroom floor look glamorous.
Check him out at lastnightsparty [NSFF/NSFW].
by Mobius [➚] · Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Fresh from the inbox:
JSON AWARDS: The Jewish Coalition for Service Launches New Seed Grant Program with Two Initial Grants of Up to $5,000 Each
Grants will be awarded to Jewish service alumni for innovative and pioneering projects that promote social justice and social action.
New York – July 18, 2007 – Alumni of Jewish service programs can apply for seed grants to start or expand social justice projects. Projects must demonstrate authentic impact on social issues related to lack of material resources, natural disasters, influences of totalitarian and/or genocidal regimes, sustainable use of the environment, and problems related to mental or physical disability will be considered for seed grants.
“This is a great opportunity for Alumni to explore concrete ways to turn their values into action and make positive change in the world,†said Ruth Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service.
Submissions will be judged based on the significance of the stated problem and the projects’ realistic potential to demonstrate measurable impact. Secondly, they will be judged on genuine sustainability after the initial seed grant ends. Finally, the projects’ potential to engage and encourage participants in the exploration and articulation of Jewish values from various and diverse perspectives will be considered.
“The Jewish Coalition of Service is really pleased to offer JSoN Awards, said Simha Rosenberg, the Coalition’s Executive Director. We’ve believed for a long time that alumni of our programs are an untapped resource for innovative ideas and creative new ways to have an impact on social problems. Now we’re going to be able to give them some support to put their ideas into action.â€
Michelle Lackie, Director of Weinberg Tzedek Hillel, .agrees stating, “Offering seed grants to students gives them the opportunity to pursue creative solutions to social problems while enabling them to participate in the time-honored Jewish tradition of tikkun olam, repairing the world.â€
Applicants must have their Jewish service alumni profile on www.JSoNLive.com, send a concept paper (at most two pages) to info@jsonlive.com, and put JSoN Award Application as the subject line. Applications are due by August 17, 2007.
Finalists will be asked to prepare project budgets and timelines. Winners will be asked to report the results of their projects and publish photos, videos, and blogs about their projects on JSoN.
JSoN Awards are sponsored by The Jewish Coalition for Service: The mission of the Coalition is to inspire everyone in the Jewish community to dedicate a part of their lives to full-time, hands-on volunteer work. JSoN is an Online Network that puts cutting-edge web-based tools in the hands of thousands of members who are concerned about Jewish service and social justice. JSoN connects alumni from global Jewish service programs, educates the public, and makes it possible for anyone to discover information and resources that are not found anywhere else.
For additional information please email info@jsonlive.com or visit www.JSoNLive.com.
JSoN is supported by a generous three-year grant from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation.
I scoff at their “Online Network,” but this is a good initiative and they’re a good organization nonetheless.
by Mobius [➚] · Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Guest post by Aryeh Cohen
When we are lucky we get a second chance. Tragedy often results from blowing the second chance. Two stories bring this thought to mind. One is found in the midrash and is a reflection on the destruction of the Temple. The other is about a very prominent twentieth century philosopher. These thoughts occur to me on the background of the three weeks of reflection that lead to the fast of the Ninth of Av, and which, this year, began this year the day before the Fourth of July.
Zechariah ben Avkulos is a rarely recorded Sage who apparently lived in the time of the Second Temple. According to the Palestinian Midrash Eichah Rabba, he happened to be at the party that led to the destruction of the Temple. The party was thrown by some very important individual who had invited all of the Rabbis and others of the upper strata of society. He invited Kamtza, his close friend and purposely did not invite his nemesis Bar Kamtza. There was some mixup, however, and Bar Kamtza ended up at the party. The man was so enraged that he demanded that Bar Kamtza immediately leave. After much pleading so to avoid public humiliation (“let me pay for my food…; let me pay for half the party…; let me pay for the whole party…â€), the host physically ejected Bar Kamtza. As he was being dragged out, Bar Kamtza saw that all the Rabbis, including Zechariah ben Avkulas, did not lift a finger to help him.
Bar Kamtza was so enraged that he hatched a plot to prove to the Roman Ceasar that the Jews were rebelling. As the culmination of the plot, Bar Kamtza brought a sacrifice from the Ceasar to the Temple. Bar Kamtza knew the animal was blemished, but in a way that the Romans would not notice and thus when the priests refused Ceasar’s sacrifice it would be obvious that the Jews were no longer loyal subjects.
By chance, Zecharyah ben Avkulas was at the Temple that day as Bar Kamtzah brought the Caesar’s blemished sacrificed to be burnt upon the altar—second chances. The midrash relates that, instead of making up for his earlier performance, he blew it again. He did not have the courage to either bend sacrificial law (put the blemished sacrifice on the altar) or criminal law (kill Bar Kamtza) to save the Temple and thousands of lives. Was it because he did not have the courage to stop Bar Kamtza’s humiliation that he could not summon the courage to thwart Bar Kamtza’s plan? When does one start slipping down the slope? When do you know that it’s a slope?
More »
by Mobius [➚] · Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Truthout reports,
A former Army chaplain who has been listed as a deserter by the Department of Defense intends to file a civil rights lawsuit against the United States military for refusing to discipline three Evangelical Christian Army chaplains at Fort Stewart, Georgia. The three allegedly subjected Rabbi Jeffrey Goldman to vulgar displays of anti-Semitism in 2001 and 2002.
Goldman, 35, a native of Toronto, said the Army listed him as a deserter in retaliation for speaking out about other chaplains’ anti-Semitic behavior at Fort Stewart. Goldman contends that he legally resigned from his stint as an Army chaplain in January 2002 when his transfer requests were rebuffed.
[...]
According to documents obtained by Truthout, an investigation by the Army Inspector General into Goldman’s claims of anti-Semitism shows that in May 2001, Captain Robert Nay, a Christian chaplain at the Fort Stewart Army base, hung Nazi uniforms and swastikas on the wall of the officers’ club at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, during a May 23, 2001 interfaith prayer breakfast Goldman was ordered to attend.
In an interview, Goldman said seeing the Nazi uniforms did not entirely surprise him. A month earlier, Nay had informed Goldman that he thought it would be “funny” if he dressed up soldiers in the Nazi uniforms on Holocaust Memorial Day, a time when the world memorializes the six million Jews who were slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II.
When contacted for comment, Nay hung up the telephone. A public affairs official at Fort Stewart would not comment for this story, nor would he disclose his name.
Full story.
Call the Pentagon at (703) 695-0441 and call your local and state representatives as well.
by Mobius [➚] · Tuesday, July 17th, 2007
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, July 16th, 2007
Via Jewschool alum Shred Lexicon:
So the Sci Fi channel has this reality show called Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
Thousands of hopefuls begin with an original idea for a superhero, a self-made costume and their best superhero mojo. From those thousands, [Marvel comics creator] Stan Lee chooses 11 lucky finalists, who move together into a secret lair. There they begin their transformations — and their competition for the opportunity to become real-life superheroes.
The winner of the competition walks away with their character immortalized in a new comic book created by Stan Lee himself.
And this season, the show, which premieres on July 26th, features a Jewish superhero named MISTER MITZVAH!
Take a look at his costume. Here’s a picture of what the comic book might look like if he wins.
I’m sure Alan Oirich is preparing an infringement suit as I type this…
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, July 16th, 2007
Headed down to DC this past weekend with Kol Zimrah (a NYC-based indie congregation in which many Jewschoolers participate) for a pow-wow with Tikkun Leil Shabbat (a DC-based indie congregation in which, likewise, many Jewschoolers participate). We took over the Religious Action Center‘s headquarters for an evening of songful praise and a bangin’ veggie potluck, followed by a big ol’ picnic in Malcolm X Park (or Meridian Hill or whatever it’s government name is) Shabbos afternoon.
In the evening, following seudah shlishit, we attended a fundraiser for Jews United for Justice, hosted by Jewschooler Backbeat (who was also part of the live musical entertainment). Photos of the evening’s festivities here.
After spending yesterday recovering, I headed over to Silver Spring for a community poetry reading at the new Moishe House which became an impromptu klezmer party when the Vulgar Bulgars (a central VA-based and incidentally non-Jewish klezmer band) showed up to rock the house down.
Yes — we’re aware of the 9 days and all… But how could you pass this up?
Photos from the Moishe House event here.
Is it any wonder I’m looking for work in the DC area right now? This place is hoppin’!
by Mobius [➚] · Sunday, July 15th, 2007
Libby Purves, the religion columnist for the Times of London, has named Jewschool one of the 30 most influential religion blogs online. Check out the whole list here.
by Mobius [➚] · Friday, July 13th, 2007
More of tonight’s Chulent here.
by Mobius [➚] · Thursday, July 12th, 2007
Fresh from the inbox:
Dear Friends,
I hope you will join me in congratulating Hillel Senior Communications Associate Suzanne Kurtz on her appointment as spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition starting July 16. You may be familiar with the many articles Suzanne has written and syndicated as editor of our Hillel Campus Report online newsletter. Our loss is the RJC’s gain.
[...]
Thank you,
Jeff Rubin
Associate Vice President for Communications
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Uh, sorry, but getting a job at the Republican Jewish Coalition is nothing to brag about. These guys buy recess-appointment ambassadorships by financing propaganda for the Bush administration.
Considering that Hillel’s mission as a purportedly apolitical and non-denominational organization is to connect Jews to Judaism and each other across a spectrum of beliefs and identities, you probably want to keep the whole “we’re egregiously Republican” thing under the rug…
by Mobius [➚] · Thursday, July 12th, 2007
To mark the one year anniversary of the abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah sparked last year’s war between Israel and Lebanon, at 9:05 this morning Israel’s leading websites took themselves offline for five minutes in an act of silent protest calling for the soldiers’ release. The sites each linked to Banim.org, a website established by the Keren Maor Foundation, which provides assistance to the families of Goldwasser, Regev, and Gilad Shalit, who was likewise abducted by Hamas militants outside of Gaza last summer.
Haaretz
The Jerusalem Post
Yediot Ahranot
NRG (Maariv)
MSN
Google did not go offline, but did add a blue and white ribbon to their site, linking to a search on Jeremiah 31:17, the “slogan” of the Maor Foundation
Nana
Hyde Park
Tapuz
Zeek also took itself offline in solidarity
by Mobius [➚] · Thursday, July 12th, 2007
Gah–will some passionate, brilliant young Jews b/t the ages of 18-24 pleeeease step up and take this website off my hands? I’ve got so much other work to do!
First, brass tax:
Yasher koach — or pardon me, shkoyach — to Jewcy’s Joey Kurtzman for such a wonderful job of rubbing Abe Foxman’s face in his own feces. And kol hakavod to Jewschool alumn Asaf Shtull-Trauring, for his role, as featured in the article, in disrobing the emperor, who, when provoked, fessed up to the fact that “I [Foxman] don’t represent you nor the Jewish community! I represent the donors!” I smell a grassroots “Fire Foxman” campaign coming on…
Elsewhere in Mishegaaserei:
- Check out Jerry Haber’s provoking new blog The Magnes Zionist, and if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t sleep on Realistic Dove.
- Right-wing activists are demanding Israel tie the release of Kahanist militants to the release of Palestinian prisoners, a move supported by no less than 45 members of Knesset. Responding to Shas Chairman Eli Yishai’s promotion of the notion, Haaretz reporter Uzi Benziman wrote, “This is one stage in a bloody struggle in which the enemy views the released prisoners as prisoners of war. The Jewish murderers and criminals that Yishai would like to remove from their cells, in contrast, are considered criminal offenders in every respect by our country’s law enforcement agencies. The equation in such prisoner exchanges is freed Arab prisoners on the one hand and soldiers taken captive during clashes with the enemy on the other. Tying Jewish murderers into this deal is like mixing oil and water.”
- New video shows the IDF demolishing a Palestinian fruit grove to make way for Efrat’s new sewer system.
- Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a strong ally of the Bush administration, publicly admitted that the war in Iraq was pursued for oil interests.
- Dr. Bronner, the organic soap guy with all the Jesus stuff on the bottle? Jew.
- The Times of India has a cute feature on Israeli life in India.
- Ahhh, I get it: So if white Republicans disenfranchise black Democratic voters, it’s no problem. But if black Democrats disenfranchise white Republican voters, they get taken down. Two legal systems in America? Naw… Couldn’t be.
- And as for Zionist/anti-Zionist scuffling in the press: The new anti-Semitism: How the Left reversed history to bring Judaism under attack, Anti-Zionists should grow up, and It’s Time for a Declaration of Independence From Israel
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, July 9th, 2007
PETA reports,
In 2004, PETA conducted its first investigation inside an AgriProcessors slaughterhouse, one of the largest slaughterhouses in the country. The initial investigation at the company’s Postville, Iowa, facility revealed almost 300 instances of inhumane slaughter, including that cows had their tracheas ripped out while they were still alive, writhed in pools of their own blood, and tried desperately to stand up as blood poured from their throats. When PETA conducted a second investigation into AgriProcessors in May 2007 at the company’s Gordon, Nebraska, slaughterhouse, the investigator discovered that animal abuse still takes place inside their facilities.
More info…
by Mobius [➚] · Monday, July 2nd, 2007
I’ve got a lot of blogging to make up for, so here’s a treasure trove of must-reads from the past month… It’d be interesting to know how many of them you’ve seen before.
- ZOA president Morton Klein told a Quebecer congregation that Jerusalem is “not holy to Muslims at all,” and that “the Islamic claim on Jerusalem was designed ‘to take away [the Jewish people's] heart and our soul.’” He added that Palestinians “have never been a real people because there was never an actual country called ‘Palestine’” and that “‘peace’ has never been on Palestinian leaders’ minds.”
- In an interview with
Der Stürmer NewsMax, Holy Joe called George Soros “anti-American”, claiming “His view of America is so negative. The places he’s put his money are, in my opinion, so destructive that it unsettles me.”
- Persian comedian Maz Jobrani explains “the real differences between Iranians and Arabs.”
- MJ Rosenberg points out Michael Oren’s call for the institution of Bantustans in the Palestinian territories.
- The new Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, issued a statement informing the Palestinian public that “he won’t tolerate calls for violence delivered from mosque pulpits” and that he “plans to collect militants’ weapons.”
- A new report by the EastWest Institute identifies the commonalities between extremists in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
- Arjan El Fassed on why Tony Blair is a bad choice for Middle East envoy.
- 22 year CIA veteran Michael Scheuer says, “Foreign policy is about protecting America. Our foreign policy is doing the opposite.”
- The Supreme Court ruled to limit the free speech rights of students, even when they’re not on school grounds, claiming a special case exception for the purported promotion of illegal drugs.
- 80% of Fox News viewers believe, incorrectly, either that “clear evidence had been found of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda; W.M.D. had been found in Iraq;” or that “world public opinion favored the U.S. going to war with Iraq,” compared to 23% of NPR listeners and PBS watchers.
- Bill O’Reilly says violent lesbian gangs are taking over the US.
- Ever the friend of Israel and the Jews, Fox News points out that while world Jewry flails wildly for intervention against Iran in advancement of the purported Next Holocaust™, Russian Jewish billionaire Mikhail Friedman is contracting with Iran on its nuclear program.
- The White House doctored footage of Bush’s infamous aircraft carrier speech to hide the “Mission Accomplished” banner.
- The American Journalism Review reports on what journalists have to learn from Jon Stewart.
- The Federal Trade Commission released a report denouncing Net Neutrality which is seen by many activists as dealing a serious blow to their fight for an Internet unmediated by Internet service providers.
- Chuck Norris for president.
- The Moderate Voice follows up on Jay Michael’s Forward piece on the Donme.
- Howard Bloom writes in the New York Review of Books on The Dream of the Poem, a new anthology of Hebrew poetry from Islamic Spain.
- The Forward has a cute article on the yeshivish dialect.
follow us on Twitter
follow us on Facebook
subscribe to our email
