Since the whole world is downloading videos of Sadaam’s hanging to ring in the New Year, I thought I’d share with you a more educational distraction to counter our worst voyeuristic impulses.
It’s a great small film that was done in 2000 by Micah Smith and Tim Novikoff when they were students at NYU during my […]
I took Yediot’s web-poll today and learned that I’m among the 70% who think the world will get worse in 2007. And I’m generally an optimistic person.
In our end of year giving, one organization we supported was Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, which is one of the leading death penalty defense […]
The JTA reports on all that cool Jewish stuff taking place over Christmas Weekend, Jews and their friends doing the Jewish Thing to stem the tide of the Christo-Capitalist juggernaut. Chinese food and a movie was once enough but now, with all manner of cultural innovation going on, our coping mechanisms have intensified. […]
Watching Tim Fite’s innovative act at Jewltide Saturday night reminded me that for some, paying homage to David Byrne and the Talking Heads in their art is just another way of inheriting and reinventing a tradition.
Mac McCaughan did it some time ago in this great video for Portastatic’s San Andreas.
Take a look.
Joseph in this week’s Torah portion is arguably at him most Jewish. Namely, he cries and “can’t restrain himself” in the face of this brothers’ confessions of remorse for their own contribution to the family troubles. A brief walk through the literature reveals that this word indicating “restraint” is fairly rare in the […]
I have been reading Richard Dawkins’ God Delusion, since one of the latest intellectual vogues is atheism. Between Sam Harris’ End of Faith and the God Delusion, alot of Jews (and others) are gathering to seek relief from the heat of religious fundamentalism. They’re finding, as if for the first time, comfort in […]
At a fall bat mitzvah, a woman approached me and wanted to thank me for the nice services.
That led to a conversation about what she did, which is to coordinate volunteers for an after school program for low-income kids in a few adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods.
That led to yesterday, where I, along with a […]
Thanks but no thanks.
That’s my message to the President for allowing himself to be exploited by Chabad, whispering in his ear that Hanukah is all about that warrior spirit while the President’s Christmas message is all about love and compassion.
And then to use an assembly of Jews to talk about his own plans for Iran–I […]
Since outing myself as a patrilineal Jew who drew blood and went to the mikveh in his youth to affirm his halachic status, I found that among those who read these postings, only the Jews who are not observant have chosen to say things — albeit humorously — like, “So you’re not really Jewish! […]
If you haven’t yet checked out Jewcy, the latest in Jewish web-zines, give it a look. Tahl Raz has done a great job gathering ideas and perspectives on what we celebrate and what ails us in this day and age.
Added bonus: a dialogue between Douglas Rushkoff and yours truly.