Oh Golly Gosh, Mishegaas
Purim Wrap Up
- A call by the leader of the Hungarian Jewish community for Jews to leave the country “for fear of anti-Semitic attacks on the occasion of the national holiday, “was a joke in a Jewish newspaper,” Rabbi Shlomo Koves told European Jewish Press on Friday. — EJP
- Likewise, Ezra’s entirely irresponsible Purim spiel: “Jews Celebrate Killing of Iranian Anti-Semites”.
- Bradley Burston explains what Judaism would look like if Ezra was in charge.
- Daniel Septimus explores the dark edges of Purim.
- Reading violent scriptures increases aggressive behavior, especially among believers, a new study finds. — Science Daily
Business as Usual
- Leading Jewish socilogist Samuel Heilman threatens to sue Steven I. Weiss for debunking the bogus figures in his latest book.
- MJ Rosenberg has the full text of Obama’s AIPAC speech. Interesting thread follows.
- NY State Troopers nab a Torah thief.
- JPost wants to know: What went down at Ahmadinejad’s meeting with the Saudis?
- Capitol Weekly chases the senatorial bids of two gay liberal Jews from San Francisco.
- As if her little “faggot” remark was not enough, turns out Ann Coulter praised a known antisemite and Holocaust denier in her latest book, Godless. You’d think Dice would be more popular.
Progressive/Mainstream Jewish Rift
- Australia joins the fray. Anthony Lowenstein: “This week Independent Australian Jewish Voices launched and I am one of its founding members. Our aims are similar to the British group, and we have attracted more than 370 signatories (and rising very fast).”
- A declaration criticizing Israeli territorial policies is roiling the German Jewish community and raising questions about the limits of open debate on matters in relation to the Middle East. — The Forward
Culture
- I just wanted to mention that Jewess and The Jew & The Carrot kick ass.
- The Foundation for Jewish Camping has raised concerns about Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie’s upcoming stint as camp counselors for the next season of their reality show The Simple Life, after rocker Courtney Love dished on the drug scene at one of Hilton’s recent parties.
- A soon-to-end exhibit at the Warhol Museum explores the pseudo-science of eugenics and its influence on various cultures. “Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race” runs til March 18.
just a correction–“Jew vs. Jew” was written by Samuel Freedman, not Samuel Heilman.
Thanks for the Obama link. I was there, not an inspiring speech in delivery. Interesting comments
Thanks for the shout out, Daniel. I’d much rather a direct disputation than get respond to Bradley’s little sass-festival.
“Goldstein, Moser, Pulsa DiNura, bla bla bla” – these are like the magic abracadabra words of the left as it looks wistfully at the living, breathing, revolutionary passion of the settler movement that they prayed would die in the arms of the order-following soldiers in Gush Katif.
As for the Purim spiel. You may be right about the responsibility of posting such a story – but Purim is Purim and the primary goal was to highlight the unpalatable nature of the whole Purim story from the perspective of many contemporary Jews, like yourself, who may also be inclined to cling to irrational hopes for a peaceful nuclear Iran rather than the untimely death of the thousands of Persians living atop Iran’s underground nuke facilities.
We love Jewschool because you guys actually care about justice and are willing to look past the media smokescreens. Bradley Burston’s screed is more TheMiddle from Jewlicious’s kind of deal. You don’t get off that easy, Mobius. Let the debate begin, but let it be way more respectful than Burston and way more topical and focused than the back and forth with Steven I.
I look forward to it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6441461.stm
“Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked apart from bondage gear.
“Reports say he was able to identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth.”