27 Apr
Culture, Latest, Moment Magazine, Religion

"The Coming of the Intermarried Rabbi" Jeremy Gillick at NV

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Moment's Rabbi Harold S. White Fellow Jeremy Gillick (left) has an interesting--and important--piece over at New Voices. It's called "The Coming of the Intermarried Rabbi" and is definitely worth checking out. One quick excerpt: If the policies affect only a small number of potential rabbis, they channel strong ideological currents. Rabbinical leaders contend that the policies are not only consistent with halacha, but actually embody core notions of Jewishness. “Jewishness has not historically been understood as a matter of individual faith or choice,” explains Jonathan Boyarin, a professor of modern Jewish thought at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “but as entitlement and obligation based ultimately on descent.” With this notion of Jewish collectivity already threatened by high intermarriage rates in America, the schools see rabbis as the last remaining bulwark in the...

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20 Apr
Latest

UN Racism Conference Starts Today–Ahmadinejad Accuses Israel of Genocide

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Well, it's not as if the United Nations Durban II conference against racism was ever going to avoid controversy. The primary storyline going into the conference was the contentious--if not by any means surprising--abstention by the United States and Israel (as well as Canada, Italy, Germany, Australia, and Holland).  But news has just come out about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech earlier today that we must post first. JTA has the scoop on the speech, which occurred a few hours ago, in which European diplomats walked out in protest: In a speech at the U.N.-sponsored anti-racism conference in Geneva, the Iranian president first blamed the West for injustice, then went on the offensive against Israel, calling it the “racist perpetrators of genocide.” “Under the pretext of Jewish suffering, they have helped bring to power the most oppressive, racist regime in Palestine,”...

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13 Apr
Latest

"Give Bibi A Chance" Menachem Rosensaft Op-Ed

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler In case you haven't seen Menachem Rosensaft's Op-Ed in last week's Jerusalem Post, it was republished today (with some slight changes) at Huffington Post. It is interesting to see the long time peace supporter Rosensaft refusing to join in what he sees as premature admonition of hawkish new Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. Some select excerpts (but really, the piece is worth reading in its entirety): Even before Netanyahu's new government was sworn in, skeptics and pundits warned that he would both isolate Israel internationally and refuse to engage in good-faith negotiations with the Palestinians or Israel's other neighbors.... Still, it was hardly a foregone conclusion that Rabin -- who, as Defense Minister during the first Intifada of 1988-89 ordered Israeli soldiers to "break the bones" of Palestinian demonstrators -- would shake Yasser Arafat's hand on...

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13 Apr
Arts & Culture, Latest, Religion

The Japanese Have Done It Again!

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler We know some families have struggled for centuries with the age old quandary of breaking a matzah in two perfect pieces. In my family, prizes range from winning the leftover brisket to a two-dollar bill for the one who can make the cleanest break. Alas! Behold! The answer: Now let's see them try it with a shmura matzah...

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06 Apr
Arts & Culture, Latest

Michelle Obama Visits Prague Jewish Quarter

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler The Jerusalem Post was with MO in Prague's historic Jewish quarter yesterday. "It was a wonderful visit, but much too short," MO said. "I'll be back." The JPost has a video, which you can see here. She had a busy day: Her visit included a stop at the Pinkas synagogue, whose walls bear the names of more than 80,000 Czech Holocaust victims... There were a few somber moments at the tiny cemetery, jammed with some 12,000 family gravestones crowded into a little garden near the Vltava River, and about 100,000 dead buried in several layers beneath them. Mrs. Obama stood briefly by the oldest gravestone - that marking the resting place of poet Avigdor Kara, who died in 1439 - before moving to the grave of the legendary 16th century rabbi Yehuda Loew, the Maharal,...

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31 Mar
Arts & Culture, Culture, Latest

Heeb Magazine Must Be Hilarious—Fake Holocaust Memoir Writing Contest

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler In their most recent gimmick, Heeb has outdone even their own high standard of Jewish tomfoolery. Really outdone it. The idiosyncratic Jewish quarterly has announced a fake Holocaust memoir writing contest. Entirely out of jest, the publicity stunt comes from the exposure of fake Holocaust memoirs by Herman Rosenblat and Misha Defonseca. The contest's rules include the following: 7. We reserve the right to mock any and all entries. 8. We reserve the right to publish and mock the winning entry. 9. "Memoirs" shall be defined as a form of writing, not a collage, short film or interpretive dance piece. 11. No parking baby. No parking on the dance floor. 12. No use of the words "tumescent," "engorged" or "moist," unless they are referring to cake 13. No previously published fake Holocaust memoirs 15. We...

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