This Week’s Links

By Michelle Albert

• Jewish singer Bob Dylan is working on an album of Christmas music. Puns such as “Sleigh Lady Sleigh” and “A Hard Reindeer’s A-Gonna Fall” are already making the rounds. [Reuters] (PS: read Moment’s article about Bob Dylan here.)
• A swastika was painted outside Georgia congressman David Scott’s door following a particularly heated health care debate. [NYTimes]
• A Dutch journalist claims that the swine flu was created by Jews as a plot to control the world’s population. Where is James Bond when you need him? [Haaretz]
• David Mamet, author of The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred and the Jews, is going to write and direct the new film version of The Diary of Anne Frank for Disney. [ArtsBeat]
• Former Hadassah CFO Sheryl Weinstein claims she had an affair with Bernie Madoff. Expect all the sordid details in her book Madoff’s Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me, due out August 25. [Forward]
• Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Israel announced that, in order to prevent spreading the H1N1 virus (swine flu), mezuzahs in public places should be air-kissed. [ynet]
• Hitler is advertisement fodder. [Heeb]
  

This Week’s Links

By Michelle Albert

• A new children’s book tells the story of how Max Yasgur, a Jewish dairy farmer in Bethel, NY, allowed half a million people to camp out in his backyard for Woodstock, which would become a defining moment in rock and roll history. [Haaretz]
• Jewish summer camps upload thousands of pictures to their websites each day for anxious parents to appreciate. Is this digital link smothering the camp experience? [Forward]
• Comedian Richard Herring defends his show “Hitler Mustache” in the Guardian. [Guardian]
• Tablet takes an in-depth look at the lives of Israel’s mafia. [Tablet]
• Though Iran has been working on creating enriched uranium since 2007, the US State Department registered their doubt that scientists in Tehran could create “weapon-grade material” before 2013. [WashingtonPost]
• Kristen Davis, of “Sex and the City” fame, was dropped from her position as spokesperson for Oxfam International for her work with Ahava cosmetics, a company based in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. [Jewcy]
• Charlene Yi (girlfriend of Michael Cera) talks to Heeb about her new movie Paper Heart and her undeniable attraction to Jewish guys. [Heeb]

A Star-Studded Biblical Event

By Michelle Albert

Though lately religion has seemed a passing fad in Hollywood, a group of celebrities are taking spirituality seriously. An audio version of the Bible – Old and New Testaments – is slated for release October 2009 from Falcon Picture Group. What makes this version different from all other versions is that it is read and voiced entirely by celebrities. Richard Dreyfuss plays Moses, Marisa Tomei is Mary Magdalene, Luke Perry voices Judas and Jim Caviezel, of The Passion of the Christ fame, reprises his role as Jesus. Hollywood stars playing biblical stars – the star power is blinding.

Falcon’s version, titled The Word of Promise, arrives on the heels of another celebrity-voiced version of the bible, Inspired By… The Bible Experience, released in 2007. Inspired By… features an all-black cast, including Samuel L. Jackson as God, Denzel Washington as Solomon and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Judas. The set is 89 hours long, making Inspired By… quite the religious experience. The Word of Promise New Testament, already available to the public, tops off at 22 hours. The length of the complete version should be nothing less than biblical.

Though it is slightly disappointing that Morgan Freeman does not make an appearance as God (especially after a triumphant turn as He in Bruce Almighty), the casts of Inspired By… and The Word of Promise are excellent. The stars have come out to celebrate the world’s oldest story, and the result looks to be one for the ages.