13 Nov
Latest, Misc

This Week's Links: Yiddishe Edition

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler 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. 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. A mainstream Greek newspaper ran this headline after Obama's victory last week: "The anticipated victory of Obama in the US elections signals the...

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12 Nov
Latest

Netanyahu Kidnapped Obama's Web Designer

By Benjamin Schuman-Stoler Not really. But check out the above screenshots of Obama and Netanyahu's respective websites. See?!! Ynet caught it as well, and asked some Netanyahu people about it: "We view the comparison as a compliment," Levi said. "The guideline of the Likud's online campaign is openness and maximal transparency to the public, with maximal public participation in the election process."

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07 Nov
Latest

World Leaders React to Obama—Drama Ensues

Everyone is talking about Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to president-elect Barack Obama. The letter, according to Iranian news agency ISNA, congratulates Obama and expresses Ahmadinejad's wish for real change in US policy towards Iran. Every major newspaper has an emphatic headline for Ahmadinejad's letter, which reflects the world's on-edge expectations for the new administration. We Jews are definitely waiting to see how Obama's campaign promises play out in Iran. Will Obama shun Ahmadinejad the way President Bush did when the former sent a long-winded letter that many perceived as a tendril of friendlier relations? And the other great piece of news from world leaders comes out of Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called Obama "young, handsome and also tanned." Of course, it's a dubious racial reference that has been rightly protested across the globe. But...

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07 Nov
Latest

Obama's Jewish CIA Director: Anthony Lake?

The New York Times claims Lake can have the job if he wants it. While it's not clear that he does, he's certainly in the running for something important. After all, Bill Clinton's former National Security Advisor backed Obama from the start, as Robert Greenberger explains in his profile of the recent convert to Judaism in Moment's May/June issue. "Unlike other veterans of Bill Clinton's Administration—such as Madeleine Albright and Richard Holbrooke (Lake's equally ambitious rival in the foreign service class of 1962 who is considered to be a frontrunner for Secretary of State in a Hillary Clinton administration and is also Jewish), Lake chose not to support Hillary Clinton. "Instead, he threw his weight behind Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, to whom he is now senior foreign policy advisor. Lake was one of the first...

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07 Nov
Latest, Religion

Is Rahm Emanuel the Jewish LBJ?

Who is Rahm Emanuel (Barack Obama’s new Chief of Staff)? For starters, he’s Jewish. He, his wife Amy, and their three children attend the Anshei Sholom B’nei Israel modern Orthodox Synagogue in Chicago. His father, Benjamin Emanuel, was born in Jerusalem and was active in the Irgun, a radical Zionist group. Rahm himself holds strong views on Israel. Here’s an excerpt from Moment’s 2007 piece by Richard Dunham on Emanuel: “He’s a profane bundle of contradictions: a former dancer with the political instincts of Tony Soprano, a political junkie who genuinely regrets time away from his wife (who converted to Judaism) and beloved children, and a devoutly religious street brawler who can trade expletives with the best of them, including his rabbi. University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato has dubbed Emanuel the Jewish LBJ.’” Click here for the...

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06 Nov
Latest

Post Election Hangover Round-up

Under a section called "The Age of Obama," Ynet has two interesting pieces. One contains a reassuring statement from an adviser to Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (Obama's not yet official White House chief of staff), and the other quotes Israelis advising patience regarding Obama's work on Israel: he'll have to deal with domestic issues first. Ha'aretz says the Jewish-African-American bond is as strong as ever and offers yet another recap of Jewish gains in congress. Heeb coined a brilliant new term: "Axelrodian". As opposed to "Rovian," this term signifies "'calm,' 'mild-mannered' and 'judicious.'" A Jewish student at George Mason University has garnered fame with his "Mason Votes" project. The Orthodox Union's Institute for Public Affairs has their own recap of the election here. They're happy to see gay marriage bans go through, but disappointed by Washington's approval of physician assisted...

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05 Nov
Latest

Obama Wins–The Jewish Angle

In case you were just unfreezed from a cryogenic state, Senator Barack Obama was elected president yesterday. He will be America's first African-American president. I took the (admittedly very amateur) above photos/videos between midnight and 2:30 am this morning in front of the White House. UPDATE: Our apologies, the videos aren't working. Ignore slides 10 and 11. Exit polls show Obama got 78% of the Jewish vote. That's just about in line with the 76% John Kerry got, the 79% Al Gore got, and the 78% Bill Clinton got in 1996. So much for the theories of Jews transforming into a Republican base. Ha'aretz listed 36 Jews who helped shape the election. Amazing: Sheldon Adelson, David Axelrod, Steven Bob and Sam Gordon, Matt Brooks, Mark Broxmeyer, Eric Cantor, Laurie David, Ira Forman, Barney Frank, Malcolm Hoenlein, Cheryl...

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24 Oct
Latest

Finding the "Real (Jewish) Americans"

More than 200 professors of Jewish studies have joined to form the latest Jews-for-Obama group, reports The Jewish Daily Forward. But the Republican Jewish Coalition poo-poos the new alliance's potential impact. Jews won't listen to eggheads, reasons RJC executive director Matt Brooks. "hese elites in many regards just speak for themselves," he explained to The Forward. Brooks hits the nail on the head (if you'll permit a workingman's metaphor those ivory tower types probably wouldn't understand): Anyone knows that, say, Jewish seniors in Florida wouldn't hold much truck with woolly-headed, four-eyed academics. Jews' disdain for the university sort is legend. No, as Brooks implies, undecided Jewish voters are much more likely to take political guidance from "real" Americans like Moshe the Plumber and all his buddies at the Nuremberg Sarah Palin rallies. You've probably seen them on...

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