I can only imagine the pitch meeting: “What if the Swedish Chef was a Zionist?” “But the Swedish Chef is kind of a psycho, totally unaware of the havoc he’s wreaking on everyone around him while he’s trying to make his meal.” “Exactly! It’s perfect!”
I’ll admit, after watching the first one I stumbled across (“Jew Bread“), I turned to my office-mate and asked if she tell whether this was anti-Semitic or Zionist. After watching a few more, I think the answer is clearly “both.”
It’s like a train wreck… Each clip I watch repulses me in new and different ways, but I can’t look away…
So the the question is… who’s funding/making/distributing these?
Epicurious, a wonderful food website and recipe treasure trove, has published a cool little blog called “Around the World in 80 Dishes.” I think it is a cool way to learn about the important food around the world and possibly cook a very tasty meal.
But guess what? Epicurious is now in on the World Wide Zionist Conspiricy. Thanks to this site, Falafel, a dish invented in the Middle East (and eaten for the first time in pita with other goodies, in Israel according to the site’s research) has been stolen from the Arab world by the evil Zionists. You got to read the comments.
First Lebanon and the hummus. Now Epicurious and the Falafel. Next stop: THE WORLD!
I wanted to write something witty about the parallels of chauvinism and machismo in the Middle East and professional kitchens but I just am totally baffled by the fact that Lebanon and Israel are fighting each other by cooking obscene amounts of falafel.
Lebanese chefs load up with falafel for Israel food fight
(AFP)
BEIRUT — A day after firing a 10-tonne hummus broadside in a food fight with Israel, chefs in Lebanon weighed in with another first for a Guinness record on Sunday — five tonnes of falafel.
More than 300 chefs mixed a ton of chickpeas with an equal portion of broad beans, adding onions, garlic, coriander, onion, pepper and cumin to concoct 5,173 kilos (11,381 pounds) of falafel, a deep-fried patty popular in Lebanon and many parts of the Middle East. More »
The recently posted NYTimes Article about East Haven, CT Police smacks some childhood memories back into my head.
I grew up in Connecticut, in a part of Connecticut that was heavily working class with some ironic mixture of aristocracy and decaying housing projects. It was also not a particularly Jewish place, but being in the tri-state area, it possessed a medium sized Jewish community. I was raised in a town with a small Jewish population, and went to shul in the larger, exceptionally poor city to the immediate southeast. When I read this article about allegations against the East Haven Police Department, I remember and identify with the diseased kind of racist-garbage corruption among the police and town government, which stands accused of police bias, brutality and violence against its burgeoning Hispanic population. As I think more and more, I see my own upbringing in this news and remember odd moments in which racial prejudice, growing ethnic diversity, and the heavy presence of white ethnics, like the Irish, Italians and Greeks, always smashed into my Jewishness. I always felt that my Jewish self, how I understood its history and all that shiz, was really fired in a kiln of bigotry and national resentment. Mix recent, Latino immigration with the generations of working-class blacks and white ethnics that had been working CT land for generations, and you get people sweating. How did the Jews fit into the history of this working-class New England town? Did Jewish tradition, or even ritual life, have express anything about the the material conditions of my upbringing? I just think today of all the Jewish kids who are experiencing something like East Haven up close, and to hear their voices. We are still dwelling most deeply in Bovel.
To read about recent accusations of Police Bias in East Haven, CT, read the NYTimes article here.
PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — The Obama administration’s tilt against Israel, its tacit acceptance of a nuclear-armed Iran and its weak approach to combating Islamic terrorism all pose a direct challenge to Jewish Americans.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has described the “Obama doctrine” in U.S. foreign policy as “coddling our enemies while alienating allies.” Palin has emerged as the leading public voice in opposition to President Obama’s dangerous new direction.
For these reasons, my colleagues and I are launching a national organization of Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin, supported by the new Web site JewsforSarah.com — Home Page for Jewish Independents.
JASP is comprised of academic, religious and community leaders who are dedicated to promoting consideration of Palin’s policy positions in the wider American Jewish community. We are unconnected to any political campaign or fund-raising organization.
We find Palin’s positions on Israel, Iran, national security, fiscal responsibility, energy and social policy — as well as her record on these issues as governor of Alaska and candidate for vice president of the United States — to be serious, substantive and politically mainstream. More »
Jewish social justice outfit Jewish Funds for Justice decided to fight back by creating a central repository of anti-Beck haikus. And they’re tweeting them at him. It’s all good. Just go to Haiku Glenn Beck or tweet using the #tag #becku.
Some of my faves:
And Jesus said to
All his hungry disciples
“Hands off my fish, chumps”
it used to be just
thirty pieces of silver
but now? sponsor’s gold
Glenn Beck knows that when
Jesus preached social justice
it was sarcasm.
Beckstein reminds me
of the kid in my Jew school
who ate the glue stick
Just when you thought you’ve seen every kitsch Passover-related item this year, here is one more from across the pond. At first I thought it was a farce, but the prices at the bottom of the screen make me inclined to believe that this is indeed a real product available for sale. What’s more, this dude has a pretty wicked accent. 90 NIS to anyone who correctly identifies where he’s from.
For the benefit of those who don’t speak Hebrew, I am including below a transcript of this ad so you can follow along:
The Ravco Company presents: The Redemptive Reclining Device
When the night of the Seder arrives, we, along with our whole family, gather around the table. We are obligated to drink four cups of wine; we are obligated to eat matzah; we are obligated to eat korech–and all of this while reclining. And also the afikomen! How can one do this correctly? How can one do this without disturbing others? Without spilling wine on the person next to you? How can you eat matzah without dropping crumbs all over the floor?
I’ve always had a problem. You can’t lean on the table, and leaning back on the chair is really uncomfortable. It hurts my whole body!!!
This year, there is a solution: The Redemptive Reclining Device! One click and you connect to any chair or seat, allowing you to recline in complete perfection. A mechayeh!
With more than just a simple hat-tip to Judaican’t, the, uh, amazing patented ElijahDrinks Cup! (Post-seder sale on now!)
And to think my parents made do with a simple kick to the table, causing the full cup to splash down onto the saucer and, wow!, less wine in the cup! Eliyahu drank! Yeesh, clearly I missed out on the magic!
At least once a day, I get an email from someone advertising something in a particular, but unnamed, liberal part of the Jewish community that mentions a woman and gives her the title “Reb.”
Can someone please explain to these folks that the word “reb” means “Mr”? “Reb” does NOT mean “Rabbi.” Reb, when a rabbi uses it in front of his name, is a sign of modesty on his part (or alternatively a claim to it that’s akin to the old joke which ends “look who thinks he’s nothing!”).
“Reb,” when a woman uses it in front of her name, is demonstrating that contrary to being knowledgeable, she (or whoever put the title there) is actually ignorant about the Yiddish culture she is attempting to co-opt. Granted there is at least one woman rabbi I know of who uses this term knowingly, and I acknowledge that there is a need for terms that parallel respectful terms for men, but if you’re a rabbi, can you please just call yourself either “Rabbi” or “Rabbah?” Or coin a new term, I don’t care. “Reb” just makes you ridiculous. Seriously, I can’t help but wonder if Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who seems to have some connection with this usage and certainly knows better, is having a private laugh at you behind your back.
It isn’t often that a World Net Daily article doesn’t lead to high blood pressure and audible disgust about the regressive mentality of the authors and the vast majority of the readers of the radically right wing news organization. So, I was surprised that I was reading this story today and was in agreement with the authors and those victimized, rich, white people for which the article was advocating.
The city of Gilbert, Ariz., has ordered a group of seven adults to stop gathering for Bible studies in a private home because such meetings are forbidden by the city’s zoning codes.
The issue was brought to a head when city officials wrote a letter to a pastor and his wife informing them they had 10 days to quit having the meetings in their private home.
The ban, however, prompted a response from the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed an appeal with the city as the first step in its campaign to overturn a provision it describes as illegal. (Read More Here) h/t HolyWeblog
I can’t really get my head around this kind of city government activism. What does it achieve and really could it be this big of a problem that people get together and study the bible?
This as a clear violation of the First Amendment and the church will win the court case. But I also see this as a selective application of rules. What would stop this city from going after any group of people, organized or not, from getting together to say, organize a campaign to elect someone else to the city planning board?
The application of the law needs to be both equal and blind but also fit into the Constitutional framework that makes our judicial system work. Getting people together to talk about divergent ideas is SO clearly protected by the First Amendment, which says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Left, right and center can get behind the benefits this protection provides to our free society.
The liberal elite should jump on this bandwagon and say this isn’t right. Because you know we won’t get together on the Second Amendment with these people, so we can at least come together and fight for the First one.
This one is so bizarre I’m not sure if it’s disturbing or a very sly bit of tongue in cheek marketing. But since it’s Purim and we’re all going to be Adloyada tonight, this seemed appropriate. And if you’re just an Russian Oligarch who needs to get your drink on, this one’s for you too.
The hottest craze in Russian vodka is the brand “Kabbalah” which sarcastically touts being made with Christian children. Each bottle features a glass baby figurine that’s either flipping you off, picking its nose, or crying. And the babies look just a little bit like Putin. Each flavor is tagged with the name of one of the Kabbalistic sephirot, a pentagram, and a neck-hanger with a phrase in Hebrew.
Reportedly this is a super-premium wheat vodka made with water infused with Gold, Silver and Platinum ions. Naturally it raises questions of blood-libels, Jewish alchemy, cultural appropriation, latent Russian anti-Semitism, and who the hell is behind all this…
It’s a joke, right? A bit of whimsy on the aforementioned issues? At 10,000 rubles a bottle (about $330), the joke’s apparently on us…
This “Referendum” features chefs, owners, customers and the omnipotent food thinker Michael Pollan addressing how to deal with bringing these issues together.
Take a watch and let’s see if there is a way to have a “Referendum” on how we eat our other Jewish meals. We can make our Shabbat dinners and Passover Seders in a sustainable capacity, but at what cost to our pocket books and our traditions?
It sucks when Jews commit a hillul hashem and the news picks up on it. We all suffer, especially if they’re observant and it smacks of hypocrisy.
But what about when it’s a poseur?
Amidst the feel-goods about IsraAID and JDC helping out on the ground in Haiti comes a story of a shady character named Jorge Puello. He’s a “legal advisor” to the 10 missionaries accused (and now cleared) of smuggling children into Dominican Republic. He’s also wanted in connection with a human trafficking scandal that spans Central America. He reportedly ran a brothel out of his home in Miami, luring Caribbean women with promises of modeling work only to traffic them into the sex-trades. It gets stranger. Puello apparently served a stint in jail for narcotics, served in US Army Intel, and worked for Homeland Security. Is nobody doing background checks anymore?
Oh yeah, and there’s this: he sports a beard, velvet kippah an claims to be ”president of the Jewish Communities of Dominican Republic.”
About four years ago, he emerged in Santo Domingo saying he wanted to establish a Sephardic Jewish community. Cerminara and Ana Puello said everyone in their family is Catholic and that Jorge Puello’s converted on his own. “He is Jewish by conviction,” she said. “He practices the religion and believes it in his heart.”
The Dominican Republic is home to about 50 Jewish families, a tightly knit and low-key community that includes Sephardim and Ashkenazim, and some had doubts about the new arrival, said Isaac Lalo, secretary of the Centro Israelita de Republica Dominicana, the main synagogue.
“This guy has nothing to do with our community,” Lalo said. “Sephardic Jews don’t just set up a community out of the blue.”
WTF?! Like we don’t have enough Madoffs in our midst, people gotta pose as us and do their evil deeds?
You know that blog Passive-Aggressive Notes? Well, tonight when heating up my first chicken nuggets in God-if-such-a-thing-existed-would-know-how-long (having recently more-or-less finished up all the locally grown, nearly organic, free-range, hand-plucked-by-me kosher chicken in the freezer), I spotted these instructions for preparing the nuggets in the microwave:
(I was going to submit the image to PAN, but holy crap on a crapstick, their submission guidelines are more oppressive than an Egyptian slave-driver!)
Yes, I know these nuggets have the carbon footprint of an ocean liner. Spare me the lecture. They are also delicious. Particularly when dipped in Hoisen sauce. Well, pretty much anything is delicious when dipped in Hoisen sauce. In fact, when I was in high school my friend Chris and I dreamed of one day opening Chris & Dave’s House of Hoisen to proselytize the world to this philosophy. But I digress.
And my bottle of Hoisen comes from Passaic, NJ, which in Jewish geography terms is practically walking distance. Which is to say, suck it, Hazon. Actually, don’t. More for me.
The Puritans who ran the Massachusetts colony were so deeply opposed to Christmas that they actually banned the holiday for a generation. When the holiday was celebrated in old New England – in the teeth of concerted opposition from both church and state – it was apt to take the form of an irreligious and increasingly violent public celebration that left citizens worried for their safety. As for the commercialism that sullies today’s holiday – the constant advertising, the frenzied buying of Christmas presents – that tradition, at least in Boston, is older and more deeply rooted than going to church that day.
…
On December 25, 1685, Boston Magistrate Samuel Sewall proudly wrote in his journal that “the Body of the People profane the Day” – that is, the town’s residents went about their work as usual – “and blessed be God no Authority yet compel them to keep it.”
…
As Mather saw it, Christmas was a holiday of pagan origins, all too often an occasion for “dancing and drunkenness, chambering and wantonness.” (Chambering was a common euphemism for fornication.) Mather summed up his analysis by quoting an eminent English bishop: “Men dishonour Christ more in the twelve days of Christmas, than in all the twelve months besides.”
Let’s chamber it up, people – it’s cold out there! Who knew so many of us were already observing such a traditional December Christmas.
In honor of today’s American minhag of going out for Chinese food, I poked around YouTube for a couple of videos about Jews in China! Also, check out another video in dlevy’s recent post about Chinese Food Day.
First, check out this video that JTA did last year, before the Olympics, about what Chinese people think of Jews.
This is about Jews from Kaifeng, the famous Jewish center of China. Everyone ignore the part where the narrator says that all religious Jews wear tzitzit.
An e-mail from J Street tipped me off this morning to a horrifyingly genuine thing: 
This one is so bizarre I’m not sure if it’s disturbing or a very sly bit of tongue in cheek marketing. But since it’s Purim and we’re all going to be Adloyada tonight, this seemed appropriate. And if you’re just an Russian Oligarch who needs to get your drink on, this one’s for you too.
It sucks when Jews commit a hillul hashem and the news picks up on it. We all suffer, especially if they’re observant and it smacks of hypocrisy.
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