Well the Forward 50 is up. And it’s pretty lame. Rahm Emanuel? Ruth Bader Ginsberg? Adam Sandler?
It really looks like they put a lot of time and thought into this process.
Now that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good people on the list such as MyJewishLearning contributors Jill Jacobs and Mik Moore. But none of the inclusions were surprising or controversial. And the profiles did little to add to the public knowledge of the people. Do we really need more lists?
Many of my peers in the Jewish world still aspire to be on one of these lists of cool, influential Jews some day. But I gave up on that dream a long time ago.
I’m just hoping to get on the “New York’s best Mah Jong players under 30 who live in the suburbs and own an cockapoo” list this year. I doubt it.
Sorry, I’ve been in a haze since last Tuesday night. I blacked out at one point and am finally coming to my senses.
Did Obama win?
I know it’s probably a little late to show an election themed video but I love the guys from 236.com, the satire site of the Huffington Post.
Most of you remember the 2004 ad campaign by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, with former POWs arguing that John Kerry basically sold them out after Vietnam.
During this past year’s primaries, 236 came out with a hilarious set of videos called SwiftKids for Truth, which featured five year olds complaining about things Obama’s past drug use to Hilary Clinton bashing the art of cookie baking.
Just before the election, 236 came out with one more video, this time to less popularity, called SwiftJews for Truth, featuring a bunch of old Jews doing stereotypically old Jewish things. It isn’t as great as SwiftKids, but funny nonetheless. Enjoy!
Yesterday’s New York Times profiled the recent rise in home birthing, a concept that started out as the only option (you know, thousands of years ago) but has experienced a recent resurgence — in no small part because of the national 1-in-3 rate of Caesarean sections (most of them medically unnecessary) and New York’s obscene 40% C-section rate.
(The gross rates are primarily United States-based, but not entirely. There’s one hospital frequently used by the Melbourne Jewish community that’s earned the nickname “Caesar’s Palace.”)
In the past week, two family friends have had C-section births. In one case, the doctor decided early on that the mother wasn’t pushing hard enough, and promptly induced the birth, induced her to unconsciousness, and she woke up several hours later with the baby in her arms. She doesn’t remember anything about her birth. The other friend was told by her doctor that she was three days past due, and it was best to do a C-section.
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with C-sections. As far as major medical procedures go, it’s among the safer ones — but, still, it is a major medical procedure. In which the mother’s stomach is sliced open. Which can cause major problems when it comes to repeated incisions, and the risks are exponentially greater — especially if, as is often the case among religious Jews, a woman wants to have multiple children.
Doctor-condoned C-sections are rampant in Hasidic neighborhoods in New York. In the community, there are horror stories about one popular doctor who serves Hasidic women who frequently schedules C-sections for women when he’s about to go on vacation. This problem is compounded by the fact that, in these communities, births are so frequent that people often rely on each other’s advice rather than exploring other options. An 18-year-old first-time mother-to-be is far more likely to go to her mother’s doctor than to go off on her own to a doctor outside the community, who’s never dealt with Hasidim before — let alone a midwife.
On the other hand, once an idea makes its way into the Hasidic community, people get all over it. Usually, this mostly pertains to kitschy things like Crocs and Shabbos lamps, but in our neighborhood, homebirths are quickly becoming more accepted. That is, people taking advantage of homebirth midwives are not just wacky iconoclasts and hippies, but mainstream Hasidim — and, notably, the more pious and studious families, where husbands are most respective of “women space.”
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you probably know about the very important Gardasil vaccine, which prevents girls from getting HPV and thus vaccinates them from the most common causes of cervical cancer. It’s a good vaccine. It prevents cancer, which is generally seen as, you know, excellent. But some people are none too excited about giving girls vaccines against STDs, even if those vaccines could save their lives. The argument is: Well my girls won’t be sleeping around anyway, so they don’t need to be vaccinated!
First of all, I don’t believe you about the whole, ‘my girls won’t be sleeping around’ thing. Second, even if your girls don’t sleep around, if their future husbands ever have, the girls are still at risk. I know of someone who got an STD from the first guy she slept with, and now she’ll be giving it to her husband, and possibly even to any children she has in the future.
This doesn’t seem particularly complicated to me. We have a vaccine that can prevent women from getting cancer. As someone with intimate knowledge of the horrors of cancer, I can say with absolute certainty that that is a good thing. Unfortunately, there are some rabbis in London who disagree. The Jewish Tribune recently printed the following warning:
“It was reported last week in certain newspapers that the Rabbinate has given its approval to the current vaccinations programme, for girls, against HPV. This report is untrue, and the Rabbinate has not advocated participating in this project.”
They’re not saying ‘don’t get the vaccine’ but neither are they saying, ‘Hey guys! This vaccine prevents cancer! You should totally get it!” This is a dangerous and uneducated policy. Especially now that new studies are showing that the vaccine could prevent genital wart outbreaks in men. Clearly, this is a really valuable medication. Let’s get over our own prudishness and protect our children, ok? Thanks.
The Telegraph has reprinted an article that was first published on November 12, 1938, the day after Kristallnacht. What’s so striking about the article is the absence of context that we’ve come to expect from anything written about the events of World War II. The correspondent doesn’t know what will happen to the thousands of Jews being shipped off to concentration, and the whole event is framed with such surprise, it’s almost painful to read.
Herr Hitler plans new steps against Jews - Nov 12, 1938
German Jewry, after Thursday’s nationwide pogrom, last night awaited the announcement of the new measures against them which are being planned by Herr Hitler as a reprisal for the death of Herr vom Rath in Paris.
One decree was published last evening, forbidding Jews to possess any kind of weapon. Laws confiscating all Jewish property and capital and reviving the 16th century system of segregation in Ghettoes are expected to follow.
The construction of a series of buildings for this purpose has already begun on the outskirts of Berlin.
At least 35,000 men and women have been taken into custody, and many have been sent to concentration camps. In Munich mass demonstrations against Jews and Roman Catholics were held last night.
The British Charge d’ Affaires in Berlin, Sir George Ogilvie-Forbes, has been instructed to draw the German Government’s attention to the attempt in a newspaper closely associated with Dr Goebbels, Propaganda Minister, to implicate leading British politicians in the murder of Herr vom Rath.
THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS
While anti-Jewish action continues in Germany today, although on a smaller scale, Herr Hitler and his advisers considered the new “laws and decrees” by which is it proposed to “regulate” the future position of Jews.
I am reliably informed that two measures will certainly be included in them. These will be:
Wholesale confiscation of Jewish property and capital; and
Establishment of Ghettoes on the pattern of the 16th century.
German Jews were recently forced to make an exact return of all their possessions. It is now anticipated that all property will be confiscated which exceeds the amount required for the bare necessities of life. Full Story
After reading this I sought out the corresponding New York Times article, which is fascinating because it is trying so hard to exercise restraint and journalistic impartiality, but is fairly unsuccessful. Here are some choice excerpts (sadly the NYT article is not available for free online): Continue Reading »
Last night, I went to see the hit Broadway musical, Avenue Q. While I enjoyed the show, I have two memories from last night that come more from me eavesdropping than watching the show.
The first was when I was at a sushi restaurant before the show and a D-list celebrity (I guess working as a correspondent on the Daily Show makes you pretentious), sent back an order because her sushi tasted “fishy.”
The second eavesdropping incident is what I want to comment on, however. Waiting for the show to begin, an Indian man sitting behind me was telling his friend that he was planning on keeping the mezuzah up in his office, which was put up by the previous tenants. His reasoning was that it would make his Jewish clients feel more comfortable, giving him more business.
Luckily, his friend realized that comfortable is not the same as disrespectful (not the action itself, but his motivations behind it). But it got me thinking as to whether or not it is allowed for a non-Jew to put a mezuzah up on their doorposts.
In my brief search on the internet, I found this link (I know wikinoah.org probably isn’t a legitimate site, but then again, neither is my blog) that says that in the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah that non-Jews, in fact, are not allowed.
I think of it on a more basic level than the Rambam says it’s not allowed. For me, putting up a mezuzah is meant not only for the owner, but for other Jews walking by. I love walking by houses decked in Halloween gear only to see a mezuzah on the doorpost.
Seriously though, there is something amazing about being able to walk down a street and see that most houses have mezuzahs. I know this man behind wouldn’t understand, but if non-Jews were putting up mezuzahs as well, Jewish neighborhoods would feel less special to me.
On a semi-related not, you might as well watch this for no other reason than because it’s funny.
The Associated Press is reporting that a man was arrested in South Florida after stealing communion bread during a church service.
John Samuel Ricci, 33, was cornered by fellow churchgoers when he grabbed a handful of wafers from the priest during communion services Saturday.
The Stuart News reports that Ricci was being held down by six or seven offended parishioners when deputies arrived at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Jensen Beach. (MORE)
Ricci was charged with two counts of simple battery, theft and disruption of a religious assembly. He was being held on $2,000 bond.
Marin County officials say they were simply “sending a message” to little old Jewish ladies who steal excessive amounts of cookies from synagogue onegs.
We didn’t get it together to put up a Veterans Day post yesterday, but I wanted to mention that there are plenty of Jews who are serving in the military all over the world. Many of us only associate Jewish soldiers with Israel, but in fact, America has a long history of Jewish servicemen and women, including Jewish men who fled Austria and Germany in the early days of the Nazi regime, only to return to Europe as members of the US armed forces, working as combat infantrymen, paratroopers, and interrogators in counter intelligence and military intelligence positions. There were many Jewish soldiers in Vietnam, and of course many casualties. And let’s not forget all the Jewish soldiers who are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can learn more about current Jewish soldiers, and help provide them with kosher meals, Jewish books, and phone cards at JewishSoldier.org. Another good resource is JewsinGreen.com. I also recommend the Israeli organization A Package From Home that provides gifts and care packages to Israeli soldiers with no family in Israel.
Unfortunately, life is not always wonderful for Jewish American soldiers. Just last week AP reported:
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Army has kicked out a soldier for beating a Jewish trainee who complained about religious harassment in their basic training unit, a Fort Benning spokesman said Monday.
Citing federal privacy laws, the Army had previously refused to discuss how it punished the attacker of Pvt. Michael Handman, 20, of Atlanta, other than to say the case had been handled as an administrative matter rather than as a crime.
That changed after the southeast director of the Anti-Defamation League met Fort Benning officials Friday. Col. Charles Durr, chief of staff at Fort Benning, told the ADL’s Bill Nigut the assailant had been discharged.
…
Four days before the attack, Handman was interviewed by commanders of his basic training unit about complaints he’d made in letters to his parents that he had been harassed by two drill sergeants because he’s Jewish.
The Army later acknowledged one drill sergeant had ordered Handman to remove his yarmulke, which he wore with his uniform, as he ate in a dining hall. Another drill sergeant had called him “Juden” — the German word for Jews.
Purtiman said investigators concluded the assault on Handman was not motivated by bigotry, but he would not say what prompted it. He also would not release the name of Handman’s attacker, citing the federal Privacy Act.
Oy.
Well, it’s a day late, but we at MJL salute all of the Jewish American servicemen and servicewomen. Thank you for all of your hard work.
Seriously. I love bagels but they would be just as good without the hole. And why are they more expensive than a roll? This all makes no sense to me.
Okay, rant over. I’m actually writing a pro-bagel entry (the anti-bagel lobby gets far too much press. But of course you don’t realize that because they call themselves the pro-roll lobby).
I just read a pretty cool article on Slate talking about the history of the bagel, based on Maria Balinska’s book, The Bagel: A Cultural History. What interested me the most about the Slate piece is Joan Nathan’s opening anecdote about offering bagels to her neighbors as a child in order to determine whether or not they were Jewish.
It interested me because, if nothing else, bagels have made me feel more Jewish than any other food (except Must gum, but that’s a bad thing).
Back when I lived in Sacramento, my favorite restaurant to go to was Noah’s Bagels (go to their website, it’s actually really cool). Previous to Noah’s, I was subjected to Lenders Bagels, which are really gross, not to mention packaged in Connecticut.
Sure my palate wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now (I have a strict diet of foie gras and venison), but in a town with no kosher restaurants, Noah’s Bagels allowed me to feel at home.
Of course, it was short lived, partially because I moved and partially because Noah’s changed it menu to include meat to serve their clientele. Nevertheless, it allowed me to appreciate lox and bagels and be proud to be Jewish in a non-Jewish world.
Having lived in large Jewish communities for the past 13 years has spoiled me when it comes to eating kosher. I can walk five minutes from my apartment and hitting ten kosher restaurants (Tamar just blogged about the same thing). Hell, I can even make my own bagels. But I could eat at every Schwarma place in the city and it will never compare to the egg cream and salt bagel that I would get in Northern California.
