Just in time for Passover, Jewcy takes a look at haggadahs that suit the wise, wicked, simple and tongue-tied children in all of us. Check out Moment‘s article on A New Generation of Haggadah Art.
Last week, Israeli police raided a warehouse containing seven tons of matzah with forged kosher certificates. The matzah was made with flour that is not kosher for Passover. Israeli police have warned citizens to be on the lookout for pirated matzah.
Over 250 members of Congress have signed a letter addressed to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that reaffirms their commitment to the “unbreakable” bond between the US and Israel.
Lionsgate Entertainment has bought the rights to a film about a box brought to the United States by a Holocaust survivor that apparently contains a Jewish ghost. “It’s A Serious Man meets Ghostbusters!”
A copy of Schindler’s list—the actual list, not the movie—is on sale for $2.2 million.
The alleged use of forged British passports in the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai earlier this year has led the British government to expel an Israeli diplomat from the country.
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]
The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have threatened Sacha Baron Cohen’s life because of their inclusion in his latest film farce, Bruno. Fashionistas of the world, unite: Save Sacha! [Jewlicious]
Persian Jews live the high life in Los Angeles. [W]
According to cartoonist Rich Tenorio, the right beverage can solve even the stickiest problems. [TheDevilMadeMeBlogIt]
Iranian protesters meeting to honor the people killed in the post-June 12 presidential election fracas were met with violence and tear gas. [NYT]
Jewish author Michael Chabon dislikes circumcision. [Jewcy]
Haaretz examines the rumors that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a “self-hating Jew” and is turning the Obama administration against Israel. [Haaretz]
A new game show puts a rabbi, a priest, a Muslim imam and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists. Let the proselytizing begin! [Reuters]
Forget about Reform, Conservative or Orthodox. Jewcy has denominations for today’s Jews. [Jewcy]
Gershom Goreberg discusses his article for Moment on his site, then links to the full story on ours. [SouthJerusalem] Or, go straight to the source at momentmag.com.
The Jewish Week examines the differences between Jewish and American mourning customs and discusses the hoopla over Michael Jackson’s funeral. [TheJewishWeek]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the word”judenrein,” a term used by the Nazis, in regards to removing Jewish settlements from the West Bank. [JTA]
Kosher surveillance cameras in Israeli restaurants? [BintelBlog]
Rabbis launch a monthly hunger strike to protest Israel’s involvement in Gaza. [JTA]
The first Israeli to be drafted by the NBA joins the Sacramento Kings. [TheJewishWeek]
NPR reported on Yiddish and Klezmer in Russia today. Judging by the above video, I’d say it’s doing just fine. Still corny as ever.
Thanks to Heeb for pointing out Rahmfacts.com. Spend some time at the site and learn such brilliant nuggets of dubious knowledge as, “Even Rahm Emanuel’s mother calls him ‘Rahmbo.'”
The New Yorker spoke with Emanuel’s rabbi. A good jew, this guy is. Oh, and their cartoon caricature of him is positively creepy. [via Nextbook]
Two new news items re. Iran. First, they tested a missile purportedly for defense uses which has capability to reach Israel. Second, now that there’s an administration willing to talk to them (eventually), they’re getting skittish. [Washington Post]
A mainstream Greek newspaper ran this headline after Obama’s victory last week: “The anticipated victory of Obama in the US elections signals the end of Jewish domination. Everything changes in the USA and we hope that it will be more democratic and humane.” What?! [Totally Jewish]
I’ll bet you my complete James Bond DVD box set you didn’t know that on this date in 1791 King Louis XVI signed a proclamation giving Jews full rights. Check out the blog This Day … in Jewish History for nonstop party fun!
Not sure if you care, but…Adam Sandler had another baby. A baby girl. Awwwwwwwwwww. [Jewtastic]
Ew: I mean, I know that Andy Warhol peed on his canvasses, but this is worse. It’s called placenta art and involves, you guessed it, using one’s placenta as paintbrush. Srsly? [Ha’aretz]
Alan M. Dershowitz is endorsing Obama for President. [JPost Blogs]
A US soldier was beat up. That soldier was Jewish. Is there a connection? [Jewish Journal]
“What does make this an unusual election is that the Democratic candidate is largely unknown to the Jewish community. It’s relatively rare that that happens.” An interview with Jonathon Sarna on the election. [JUF News]
Craving some unnecessarily bloody violence? Be patient. Quentin Tarantino started filming his Brad Pitt flick about killing a bunch of Nazis. [Nextbook]
As long as Philip Roth keeps hating on Swedes, he’ll never win a Nobel Prize. [AP via 16th and Q]
Who wins in a fight: Sarah Silverman or Jackie Mason? They’re battling over the election. I’ll take the one with more makeup. Which one is that? [Totally Jewish]
Yeesh. A radical Muslim leader threatened to have Paul McCartney killed on his upcoming trip to Israel. Come on. His solo albums aren’t that bad. [Ha’aretz]
Finally. We’ve defined a “Chassidishe tuna beigel.” [Jacob Da Jew]
Yael Larer is conflicted about his work translating recently deceased Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish’s poems into Hebrew. [Ha’aretz via Nextbook]
“There is a wine revolution going on” in Israel right now. Sounds good to me. I guess I no longer have to buy Israeli wines just to feel like I’m supporting the homeland. Now, who’s got an opener? [JTA]
Germany’s federal archive made a list of some 600,000 Jews who were harmed by Nazis. [JPost]
The hippest hebrew magazine, Heeb, has its super hip fall music preview out. Did I mention how hip it is? [Heeb HQ]
900 rabbis were on a conference call with Barack Obama the other day. Here’s one recap. [Jewschool]
Oy: “the Pew Survey of Global Attitudes found that hostile attitudes to Jews were rising all across continental Europe from Russia and Poland in the east to Spain and France in the west.” [Guardian]
Former managing editor of Moment, Josh Rolnick, writes about why he loves John McCain. Sort of. [Neurotic Democrat]
Seriously, who’s in charge here? Fran Drescher, she of the voice that turns entire city blocks to dust, has been appointed by the U.S. Department of State to be the newest U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy. [Jewlicious]
Robert DeNiro is now Jewish. Or, maybe he just doesn’t like Mel Gibson. [God Blog]
Do Obama, McCain, and others violate the second commandment? Rabbi Irwin Kula is concerned about the use of God’s name in politics. [On Faith]
I just got $50,000. All I had to do was move to Dothan, Alabama, where the graying Jewish community is seeking implants—that is, younger Jews to refresh their community. [AP]
Identical twins who were separated at birth were reunited by chance. What an opportunity to study nature vs. nurture. [Blog at 16th and Q]
The Israeli soccer team played a World Cup qualifier yesterday in Chisinau, Moldova. The city used to be called Kishinev, and was the site of horrific pogroms in 1903. Israel won 2-1. [Ha’aretz and FIFA]
A professor at Yeshiva University recently had a sex change. She is now on indefinite leave. [JPost]
“In 2004 George Khoury, an Israeli Arab student, was shot while running in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem by a gunman from the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who mistook him for a Jew. Khoury’s family decided to make the donation [toward translating Amos Oz’s memoir, “A Tale of Love and Darkness” into Arabic] in an effort to help create greater cultural understanding between Arabs and Jews.” [Jewschool]
Here’s a useful chart of kosher meat companies and their competent/failing labor practices. [Forward]
“Anyhow, we are in an era where good and evil will be intensely clear to some, and not so clear to others, a period of confusion, where simple solutions might have dangerous appeal.” One writer remembers September 11th. [Looking at the Jewish World]
Indiana Jones, err, archaeologists discovered a 2,600 year-old bulla bearing the name “Gedaliah ben Pashur” in the City of David. It may or may not be the key to a secret compartment with killer mummies. [JUF]
You’re my hero! Israeli firefighters, during what was obviously a very effective training exercise in France, saved a girl from drowning. [Ynet]
Israeli had a shot at Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, but chose to nab Adolf Eichmann. [JPost]
Some vandals in Pennsylvania were planning on lighting a swastika of flames in the driveway of Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA. [Exponent]
The Reform movement has accepted the Hekhsher Tzedek, an initiative Conservative Jews passed in response to the ongoing AgriProcessors saga. [Failed Messiah]
“We were freaking out about whether we’d be able to return for school.” Hear how displaced Jewish students at Tulane made do after evacuation for Hurricane Gustav. [Hillel]
“Please stop at the gate and say hello (peace) to the guard.” Israeli signs and bumper stickers can be quite, quite glib. [DovBear]
By Michelle Albert
By Michelle Albert
By Michelle Albert
InTheMoment 