A note to all my loyal readers: Tonight is Shavuot, so I'll be offline until Thursday night (at least). Friday looks like a busy day, and I leave for London right after Shabbat, and will return next Wednesday evening. Thus, I will likely not blog much, if at all, in the next two weeks. See you later, I hope.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Friday, May 21, 2004
Thursday, May 20, 2004
So now that I know she's been online, I'm not sure if I messed up, or am being deliberately ignored, or something went wrong, and I'm too milquetoast to pursue it. Darn.
-Well, Snopes tells us the German story is probably not true. Should've guessed.
-The Daily News features a story about an insurance exec who put down almost thirty grand at a strip club. That's a lot of singles. (Actually, I don't know what bills are used, because I don't frequent those kinds of establishments. But it sounds right.)
-The Forward shows a picture (sorry, not online) of a Kerry button done in Hebrew. And "Kerry" is spelled...yep, that way. They couldn't have used a kaf instead of a kuf?
-The new prime minister of India is a Sikh, the first non-Hindu to hold the position. (I wonder what religion Sonia Gandhi, who just turned it down, is.) Now, that's cool: The Sikhs are good people, and it's nice to see democracy at work. Plus, while the Congress Party is said to have the potential to roll back economic reforms (although Thomas Friedman doesn't think that's a given), this guy is said to be an "economic reformer." Now, Lenin was too, but I think they mean that in a good way.
What got to me is that he's Oxford-educated. It just seems like such a cliche- Indiana Jones, say, or James Bond will find himself in the most godforsaken part of Asia or Africa, and meet a tribal leader with perfect King's/Queen's English who went to Oxford or Cambridge or the like. Sometimes the guy is a "noble savage," sometimes he's just savage, and sometimes he's just noble. Now, I'm sure this guy earned a solid degree. But seeing it in the paper just cracked me up over breakfast this morning.
National Review, however, traces third world (particularly Indian) socialism to Oxbridge educations. Well, we'll see.
-This letter really is a shock back to reality on the sheitel issue.
-She's three and doesn't know where her father is. She does know her name (OK), and that she's from Brooklyn (cool), and that she's "Puerto Rican" (ah, the important things in multicultural America).
-"So we don't follow our religion!" say the elected Catholic Democrats. "That doesn't give the leaders of our professed religion the right to tell us we're wrong!" Oh, so stupid. And so typical.
-Well, Snopes tells us the German story is probably not true. Should've guessed.
-The Daily News features a story about an insurance exec who put down almost thirty grand at a strip club. That's a lot of singles. (Actually, I don't know what bills are used, because I don't frequent those kinds of establishments. But it sounds right.)
-The Forward shows a picture (sorry, not online) of a Kerry button done in Hebrew. And "Kerry" is spelled...yep, that way. They couldn't have used a kaf instead of a kuf?
-The new prime minister of India is a Sikh, the first non-Hindu to hold the position. (I wonder what religion Sonia Gandhi, who just turned it down, is.) Now, that's cool: The Sikhs are good people, and it's nice to see democracy at work. Plus, while the Congress Party is said to have the potential to roll back economic reforms (although Thomas Friedman doesn't think that's a given), this guy is said to be an "economic reformer." Now, Lenin was too, but I think they mean that in a good way.
What got to me is that he's Oxford-educated. It just seems like such a cliche- Indiana Jones, say, or James Bond will find himself in the most godforsaken part of Asia or Africa, and meet a tribal leader with perfect King's/Queen's English who went to Oxford or Cambridge or the like. Sometimes the guy is a "noble savage," sometimes he's just savage, and sometimes he's just noble. Now, I'm sure this guy earned a solid degree. But seeing it in the paper just cracked me up over breakfast this morning.
National Review, however, traces third world (particularly Indian) socialism to Oxbridge educations. Well, we'll see.
-This letter really is a shock back to reality on the sheitel issue.
-She's three and doesn't know where her father is. She does know her name (OK), and that she's from Brooklyn (cool), and that she's "Puerto Rican" (ah, the important things in multicultural America).
-"So we don't follow our religion!" say the elected Catholic Democrats. "That doesn't give the leaders of our professed religion the right to tell us we're wrong!" Oh, so stupid. And so typical.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Very good news (via Arutz-7):
Actually, this wouldn't have had any affect on the last election. But yeah, raise it higher. Raise it to 4% or even 5%. Effectively raise it to 50% by creating districts, even. And then my dream, of a completely separate Executive and Legislature (and Judiciary) with a directly-elected Prime Minister who doesn't need to form a government and thus can't "fall" (although removal is an option). Get rid of the President and call the Prime Minister that instead. Yadda Yadda. (I could go on, but won't.)
Two-man Knesset factions will soon go the way of one-man Knesset factions: out. The Knesset voted yesterday to raise the minimum threshold of votes required to enter the Knesset, from 1.5% to 2%. What this means is that any party that does not receive at least 2% of the vote in national elections will not enter the Knesset at all, and its votes will be wasted. A party that receives at least 2% of the vote, on the other hand, is guaranteed at least 3 of the 120 Knesset seats.
The new law was passed yesterday by an impressive 67-17 margin. Haggai Seri-Levy reports that the coalition made massive efforts to garner a majority for the bill. Coalition whip MK Gideon Saar (Likud), one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said, "This is not the end of the line for us. If we see that we can raise the minimum threshold to 3% or even higher, we'll do so. The coalition is seeking to minimize the phenomenon of splinter parties... Our goal is that the public should vote for large parties, and not tiny ones. We in the Likud have always suffered from small parties."
The only 2-MK party in the Knesset at present is the United Arab List. The Herut Party of Michael Kleiner and Baruch Marzel received, in the last election, just over 34,000 votes, some 10,000 short of the required minimum.
Actually, this wouldn't have had any affect on the last election. But yeah, raise it higher. Raise it to 4% or even 5%. Effectively raise it to 50% by creating districts, even. And then my dream, of a completely separate Executive and Legislature (and Judiciary) with a directly-elected Prime Minister who doesn't need to form a government and thus can't "fall" (although removal is an option). Get rid of the President and call the Prime Minister that instead. Yadda Yadda. (I could go on, but won't.)
Two quick hits (more later, I hope),via The Village Idiots:
After looking at this page (more specifically, the pictures), I really wonder what the point of wearing a sheitel is. Modest? Yeah, right. Let's not fool ourselves: Sheitels are made and marketed to look as sexy as possible, and make the wearer look as alluring as possible.
I found this story interesting. I found a bit at the end especially funny: The couple "are now being given sex therapy lessons." Ya gotta love the Germans: "Ve VILL teach you ze PROPER vay to do eet!"
Later, dudes and dudettes.
After looking at this page (more specifically, the pictures), I really wonder what the point of wearing a sheitel is. Modest? Yeah, right. Let's not fool ourselves: Sheitels are made and marketed to look as sexy as possible, and make the wearer look as alluring as possible.
I found this story interesting. I found a bit at the end especially funny: The couple "are now being given sex therapy lessons." Ya gotta love the Germans: "Ve VILL teach you ze PROPER vay to do eet!"
Later, dudes and dudettes.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Looking over the blog archive, I expected to find an anti-Young Israel concert rant. But I didn't, so I'll present it here.
The National Council of Young Israel throws a concert in Central Park every year on the same day as the Salute to Israel Parade. The two are unconnected, but I guess the idea is that you should go to the parade and then head up to the concert (they overlap slightly).
All well and good. But it still makes me mad. First, the parade is a truly universal Jewish thing. Everyone comes, and everyone has a good time. I even just got an email from the Jewish Republicans saying that both they and the Jewish Democrats will be marching this year (not together, I suppose, although that would be nice too). (Even though I'm volunteering, maybe I can still hook up with the Republicans- and YU- somehow.) Even the anti-Zionists come out from under their rocks to enjoy the day (I've blogged about that already).
So: Why does there have to be another event? Ah, but that's not all. Perusing an ad for the concert, one is struck by how parochial the event is. The parade? All are welcome. The concert? Well, just see who it's dedicated to. (I'm paraphrasing, but not exagerating. I'm only listing a few dedicatees. Oh, and it's not like I don't agree with all these ideas, but see below.)
-The anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and the independence of the State of Israel. In that order. That speaks volumes right there.
-The Jews of Hebron, Yehuda (funny, I thought it included Hebron), Shomron, Greater Jerusalem (they mean Jerusalem past the Green Line, of course, but don't want to say that, and so lump in Har Nof et al), Gaza, Golan, the Jordan Valley (huh), etc. etc. If you live in Haifa, Holon, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva, Eilat, Ashdod, Petach Tikva, Rishon L'Tziyon, Ramat HaSharon, or Bnei Brak, well, you're outta luck. No concert for you.
And the kicker:
-The 36.6 million Jews (5 million in the West, 31.6 million in the Far East) who want to make aliyah, especially to Yesha (natch). Among them are 20 million Patans (sic, what's meant are Pathans) and 5 million Keren (sic, perhaps giving a more Jewish flavor to the Karen people).
This requires much analysis. There are 13 million Jews in the world. Five million are in Israel, and a handful in the Far East. Five million are in the US. That leaves three million elsewhere in "the West"; even if all (in France, the UK, the former USSR, Argentina, etc.) wanted to make aliyah (what's stopping them?), that means that there are two million in the US who wish to do so (again, what's keeping them/us?). Right.
So. Where do these mythical (literally, as in the Ten Tribes) 30 million Jews of the Far East come from? Of course, it's clear what's meant: The Amishav organization, actually headed by a cousin of mine, has been finding many lost Jews- or people who claim to be (there's room for skepticism, let's be honest)- around the world. There's a bit of a contretemps in Israel, as many are moving to Yesha, making leftists who wish to keep Jews out of there unhappy.
But, even allowing for all the claims being made, the concert people are being just plain dishonest with these numbers. The people claiming to be Jews are only a relative handful of the millions of Pathan and Karen and Kashmiri and even Bnei Menashe peoples. Most are quite happy where they are.
So why is the claim made? Well, one has to go to the last item on the list of dedications:
-No to a PLO terrorist state. (Bold in the original, also interesting is the waffling through the use of "PLO terrorist" instead of "Palestinian" or even "PLO.")
Now, being the rabid Kahanist I am, I'm just as opposed to a Palestinian state as the next man- more, as we'll see. But this type of declaration always irks me. After all, there are millions of Palestinians in the Territories, and more in neighboring countries (not to mention in Israel itself). What're you going to do with them? And here's where the opposition to a Palestinian state breaks down, not only among Likudniks but among Young Israelites. They have no plans. Say what you want about Kahanists, but at least they have ideas.
So what are they left with? A pipedream that there are millions of potential immigrants to Israel sitting there somewhere, just waiting to come in and overwhelm the Palestinians with their numbers. (Not that that would solve matters either, but hey- it's a pipedream anyway.) Oh, they'd never dream of expelling Arabs. And so they turn to the "Patans" and the "Keren." Yuck.
The concert, as it happens, is always quite a balagan, with people wandering around and things being generally confusing. Anyway, this year, if people ask me (as they always do) where the concert is, I'll either play dumb or tell them not to go.
Ah, who'm I fooling? My nicer instincts (yes, I do have them) will win out, and I'll tell them. I guess.
More later, I hope. Now to call a lovely young woman and see if we can go out.
The National Council of Young Israel throws a concert in Central Park every year on the same day as the Salute to Israel Parade. The two are unconnected, but I guess the idea is that you should go to the parade and then head up to the concert (they overlap slightly).
All well and good. But it still makes me mad. First, the parade is a truly universal Jewish thing. Everyone comes, and everyone has a good time. I even just got an email from the Jewish Republicans saying that both they and the Jewish Democrats will be marching this year (not together, I suppose, although that would be nice too). (Even though I'm volunteering, maybe I can still hook up with the Republicans- and YU- somehow.) Even the anti-Zionists come out from under their rocks to enjoy the day (I've blogged about that already).
So: Why does there have to be another event? Ah, but that's not all. Perusing an ad for the concert, one is struck by how parochial the event is. The parade? All are welcome. The concert? Well, just see who it's dedicated to. (I'm paraphrasing, but not exagerating. I'm only listing a few dedicatees. Oh, and it's not like I don't agree with all these ideas, but see below.)
-The anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and the independence of the State of Israel. In that order. That speaks volumes right there.
-The Jews of Hebron, Yehuda (funny, I thought it included Hebron), Shomron, Greater Jerusalem (they mean Jerusalem past the Green Line, of course, but don't want to say that, and so lump in Har Nof et al), Gaza, Golan, the Jordan Valley (huh), etc. etc. If you live in Haifa, Holon, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva, Eilat, Ashdod, Petach Tikva, Rishon L'Tziyon, Ramat HaSharon, or Bnei Brak, well, you're outta luck. No concert for you.
And the kicker:
-The 36.6 million Jews (5 million in the West, 31.6 million in the Far East) who want to make aliyah, especially to Yesha (natch). Among them are 20 million Patans (sic, what's meant are Pathans) and 5 million Keren (sic, perhaps giving a more Jewish flavor to the Karen people).
This requires much analysis. There are 13 million Jews in the world. Five million are in Israel, and a handful in the Far East. Five million are in the US. That leaves three million elsewhere in "the West"; even if all (in France, the UK, the former USSR, Argentina, etc.) wanted to make aliyah (what's stopping them?), that means that there are two million in the US who wish to do so (again, what's keeping them/us?). Right.
So. Where do these mythical (literally, as in the Ten Tribes) 30 million Jews of the Far East come from? Of course, it's clear what's meant: The Amishav organization, actually headed by a cousin of mine, has been finding many lost Jews- or people who claim to be (there's room for skepticism, let's be honest)- around the world. There's a bit of a contretemps in Israel, as many are moving to Yesha, making leftists who wish to keep Jews out of there unhappy.
But, even allowing for all the claims being made, the concert people are being just plain dishonest with these numbers. The people claiming to be Jews are only a relative handful of the millions of Pathan and Karen and Kashmiri and even Bnei Menashe peoples. Most are quite happy where they are.
So why is the claim made? Well, one has to go to the last item on the list of dedications:
-No to a PLO terrorist state. (Bold in the original, also interesting is the waffling through the use of "PLO terrorist" instead of "Palestinian" or even "PLO.")
Now, being the rabid Kahanist I am, I'm just as opposed to a Palestinian state as the next man- more, as we'll see. But this type of declaration always irks me. After all, there are millions of Palestinians in the Territories, and more in neighboring countries (not to mention in Israel itself). What're you going to do with them? And here's where the opposition to a Palestinian state breaks down, not only among Likudniks but among Young Israelites. They have no plans. Say what you want about Kahanists, but at least they have ideas.
So what are they left with? A pipedream that there are millions of potential immigrants to Israel sitting there somewhere, just waiting to come in and overwhelm the Palestinians with their numbers. (Not that that would solve matters either, but hey- it's a pipedream anyway.) Oh, they'd never dream of expelling Arabs. And so they turn to the "Patans" and the "Keren." Yuck.
The concert, as it happens, is always quite a balagan, with people wandering around and things being generally confusing. Anyway, this year, if people ask me (as they always do) where the concert is, I'll either play dumb or tell them not to go.
Ah, who'm I fooling? My nicer instincts (yes, I do have them) will win out, and I'll tell them. I guess.
More later, I hope. Now to call a lovely young woman and see if we can go out.
Friday, May 14, 2004
I met the mayor! Yay!
The meeting was packed, actually. Pat Dolan, bless her, ran a tight ship, and it came off very well. My brother had to leave after a little bit, but lots of pictures were taken by the Association's picture (and web) guy. Anyway, the mayor came with lots of important folk- the Police Commissioner, the Community Relations Commish (I went to college with him, and said hi), traffic and planning people, and others. Even Bloomberg's girlfriend was there, standing in the back. I thought that was nice- even said hi to her.
Anyway, he swore us in. I do believe he's getting a little looser and more comfortable in speaking. He basically gave a stump talk, but it was good, and afterwards, he answered all the questions posed. When he took a picture with Pat, I found myself standing right next to him, and so shook his hand and thanked him for coming.
Well, as Pat just put it in an email, let's hope some good stuff results from it.
Also, Brad and Jennifer Martin, my old NCSY advisors, joined the board. Nice! They're great people.
Speaking of great people, my cousin Craig will be here for Shavuot. Yay! Hope all goes well.
Hotel reservations are made.
(Courtesy of the Friends archive.)
I keep promising to post about idiocy, and I never do, and the incidents of such keep piling up. Ah well. Maybe later.
The meeting was packed, actually. Pat Dolan, bless her, ran a tight ship, and it came off very well. My brother had to leave after a little bit, but lots of pictures were taken by the Association's picture (and web) guy. Anyway, the mayor came with lots of important folk- the Police Commissioner, the Community Relations Commish (I went to college with him, and said hi), traffic and planning people, and others. Even Bloomberg's girlfriend was there, standing in the back. I thought that was nice- even said hi to her.
Anyway, he swore us in. I do believe he's getting a little looser and more comfortable in speaking. He basically gave a stump talk, but it was good, and afterwards, he answered all the questions posed. When he took a picture with Pat, I found myself standing right next to him, and so shook his hand and thanked him for coming.
Well, as Pat just put it in an email, let's hope some good stuff results from it.
Also, Brad and Jennifer Martin, my old NCSY advisors, joined the board. Nice! They're great people.
Speaking of great people, my cousin Craig will be here for Shavuot. Yay! Hope all goes well.
Hotel reservations are made.
Joey: London baby!
Chandler: Okay, 'cause that's not gonna get annoying.
Joey: (louder) London baby!!
Chandler: Hey, y'know what? I was wrong.
(Courtesy of the Friends archive.)
I keep promising to post about idiocy, and I never do, and the incidents of such keep piling up. Ah well. Maybe later.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Via The Village Idiots, a very interesting initiative (or whatever you want to call it).
I myself will be going to a meeting for volunteers for the parade referenced there this evening (I've volunteered for, oh, must be going on four years now). They'll have sushi, which, thanks to someone who's been initiating me into a whole lot of new stuff, I'll be trying. Alas, it seems I will miss the Civic Association board meeting tonight (I thought I'd least come for the very end). The big news is that Mayor Bloomberg will be at our general meeting Thursday. We're starting our new terms, and he's going to swear us in! Yay!
After heading down to court today, I checked out the exhibit in the Grand Central Terminal branch of the Transit Museum of subway-related cartoons from The New Yorker. Quite good, and funny. I also went to the British Tourism office, which is across the street from mine, and picked up a bunch of pamphlets. Got to hear a bunch of British people talking- puts you in the right spirit.
I myself will be going to a meeting for volunteers for the parade referenced there this evening (I've volunteered for, oh, must be going on four years now). They'll have sushi, which, thanks to someone who's been initiating me into a whole lot of new stuff, I'll be trying. Alas, it seems I will miss the Civic Association board meeting tonight (I thought I'd least come for the very end). The big news is that Mayor Bloomberg will be at our general meeting Thursday. We're starting our new terms, and he's going to swear us in! Yay!
After heading down to court today, I checked out the exhibit in the Grand Central Terminal branch of the Transit Museum of subway-related cartoons from The New Yorker. Quite good, and funny. I also went to the British Tourism office, which is across the street from mine, and picked up a bunch of pamphlets. Got to hear a bunch of British people talking- puts you in the right spirit.
Wow. Blogger, providers of this fine service (I never knew they were owned by Google- hmmm!), has a new interface. Very nice.
Not much to report. To quote Joey from Friends, "LONDON, BABY!" Yup, got a wedding of some cousins in a couple of weeks, and my brother and I are going. Yay! Will have more as it progresses.
Not much to report. To quote Joey from Friends, "LONDON, BABY!" Yup, got a wedding of some cousins in a couple of weeks, and my brother and I are going. Yay! Will have more as it progresses.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Tomorrow's Friday, when the movie reviews run. And Elvis Mitchell is leaving the Times. I'm gonna miss him. Above all, no one can write a review of a truly bad movie the way he can. I'm thinking of Battlefield Earth, for example. Boy, did he do a good job on that. But the link isn't working, for some reason.
Another movie regret: The Tribeca Film Festival is on, and for the first time, I'm not working on it. Having a regular job is good, but you miss out on stuff.
Anyway. I finally found the ArtScroll "Hallel." Guess what? They have a lengthy dedicated section dealing with Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, discussing all aspects of Hallel on those days.
Right. If you believe that, I got a bridge to sell you. Great view of Brooklyn. The majority of Jews- vast majority of Orthodox Jews, even- say Hallel on particular days, and Artscroll (enough with the stupid mid-capital) doesn't see fit to mention one. fricking. word. about it. Not even a footnote. I mean, I didn't really expect it. But it still makes me mad.
On that pleasant note...nah, I'm happy. Having brought up the Brooklyn Bridge, I'm now remembering happy walks across it. Lots of events coming up soon. But first, come tomorrow night, I shall sleep. Sleep well. Please God.
Later, folks.
Another movie regret: The Tribeca Film Festival is on, and for the first time, I'm not working on it. Having a regular job is good, but you miss out on stuff.
Anyway. I finally found the ArtScroll "Hallel." Guess what? They have a lengthy dedicated section dealing with Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, discussing all aspects of Hallel on those days.
Right. If you believe that, I got a bridge to sell you. Great view of Brooklyn. The majority of Jews- vast majority of Orthodox Jews, even- say Hallel on particular days, and Artscroll (enough with the stupid mid-capital) doesn't see fit to mention one. fricking. word. about it. Not even a footnote. I mean, I didn't really expect it. But it still makes me mad.
On that pleasant note...nah, I'm happy. Having brought up the Brooklyn Bridge, I'm now remembering happy walks across it. Lots of events coming up soon. But first, come tomorrow night, I shall sleep. Sleep well. Please God.
Later, folks.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
First, it's Cinco de Mayo. I had no idea of the history of the day- it's fascinating. That also means it's the (secular) birthday of one of my devoted readers. Propriety forbids me from sending flowers again (or that just be the cheapo in me talking), so please accept my warmest wishes here.
It's also Pesach Sheni. Happy happy, all.
A recap of last night first; I hope to have a few rants later.
The YU Alumni Awards were last night, at the Center for Jewish History. Basically, the various undergraduate alumni associations give awards to alumni who've accomplished a lot. The closing speaker put it best: You worry you'll be bored at these things, but then you get an idea of what an incredible university this is, and how much it's contributed to the world. Not just from that year's awardees, impressive as they are, but looking over the list of past awardees...wow. It's inspiring, and especially so if you, too, are a product of YU.
Anyway, it was all nice. But there was an interesting dynamic- one of the awards went to R. Kenny Brander of Boca Raton, and another to Toby Weiss, wife of R. Avi Weiss, who was alumni director herself once. Naturally, her husband was there (I think he got an award once too). Maurice Lamm got an award too, and his brother Norman accepted it on his behalf. And Richard Joel was there, of course.
Now, not too long ago, Avi Weiss' new yeshiva made the news when Howard Jonas blasted YU as "gutless, spineless, brainless, and mindless" at the yeshiva's dinner. (Someone even wondered if Jonas was there last night.) Brander was at the dinner, and wrote a letter condemning Jonas to the Forward. Norman Lamm's son wrote a letter provisionally condemning Weiss (pending Weiss' response, which hasn't come) to the Jewish Week. And here was everyone, getting along and happy. I guess that's a good thing. I must've missed it myself, but the person sitting next to me pointed out that Brander specifically talked of YU having a "spine" and "brain." Zing!
There's talk on Protocols of Brander being tapped to be the new dean of RIETS, but I wasn't able to ask him about that.
Anyway, a nice event all told. Now it's time to decompress. Anyway, I have unrelated things to post; just gotta check my notes.
Dear Protocols: My rabbi doesn't really deliver sermons. There, you may now link to me. Heh.
YU is giving an honorary degree to Hier. Oy. At least the other honorees deserve it.
It's also Pesach Sheni. Happy happy, all.
A recap of last night first; I hope to have a few rants later.
The YU Alumni Awards were last night, at the Center for Jewish History. Basically, the various undergraduate alumni associations give awards to alumni who've accomplished a lot. The closing speaker put it best: You worry you'll be bored at these things, but then you get an idea of what an incredible university this is, and how much it's contributed to the world. Not just from that year's awardees, impressive as they are, but looking over the list of past awardees...wow. It's inspiring, and especially so if you, too, are a product of YU.
Anyway, it was all nice. But there was an interesting dynamic- one of the awards went to R. Kenny Brander of Boca Raton, and another to Toby Weiss, wife of R. Avi Weiss, who was alumni director herself once. Naturally, her husband was there (I think he got an award once too). Maurice Lamm got an award too, and his brother Norman accepted it on his behalf. And Richard Joel was there, of course.
Now, not too long ago, Avi Weiss' new yeshiva made the news when Howard Jonas blasted YU as "gutless, spineless, brainless, and mindless" at the yeshiva's dinner. (Someone even wondered if Jonas was there last night.) Brander was at the dinner, and wrote a letter condemning Jonas to the Forward. Norman Lamm's son wrote a letter provisionally condemning Weiss (pending Weiss' response, which hasn't come) to the Jewish Week. And here was everyone, getting along and happy. I guess that's a good thing. I must've missed it myself, but the person sitting next to me pointed out that Brander specifically talked of YU having a "spine" and "brain." Zing!
There's talk on Protocols of Brander being tapped to be the new dean of RIETS, but I wasn't able to ask him about that.
Anyway, a nice event all told. Now it's time to decompress. Anyway, I have unrelated things to post; just gotta check my notes.
Dear Protocols: My rabbi doesn't really deliver sermons. There, you may now link to me. Heh.
YU is giving an honorary degree to Hier. Oy. At least the other honorees deserve it.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Shoshana, in a comment below, mentions Jewish Geography. (By the way, Shoshana, say hi to Sivan- I didn't get to talk to her enough last night, alas.) I forgot to mention the wildest part of the evening:
I was seated at a table up front, by the screen. There were a bunch of guys at the table (mostly men throughout, come to think), many of them lawyers (we're everrrrryyyywhhhheere!). One introduced himself as Jay Ziffer, which sounded very familiar. Eventually, about halfway through the meal, I asked him where he works, and he said he works at a firm that handles jobs for the State Public Administrator (the people who decide what happens to estates). That's when it hit me- this is the guy who's handling the estate of our late old friend (actually my grandfather's last living talmid from the pre-war Europe days), Arthur Brill. We had a good laugh over that. Alas, it seems my family will be getting very little of what it's looking for. (We're not looking for money, but to give some tzedaka from the estate and the like.)
I was seated at a table up front, by the screen. There were a bunch of guys at the table (mostly men throughout, come to think), many of them lawyers (we're everrrrryyyywhhhheere!). One introduced himself as Jay Ziffer, which sounded very familiar. Eventually, about halfway through the meal, I asked him where he works, and he said he works at a firm that handles jobs for the State Public Administrator (the people who decide what happens to estates). That's when it hit me- this is the guy who's handling the estate of our late old friend (actually my grandfather's last living talmid from the pre-war Europe days), Arthur Brill. We had a good laugh over that. Alas, it seems my family will be getting very little of what it's looking for. (We're not looking for money, but to give some tzedaka from the estate and the like.)
Isn't Google grand? I really needed to talk to a human at Amazon today; said company does not list a phone number on its webpage. And so to Google, and so...voila! My problem wasn't really solved (no fault of Amazon's), but I've got other options, I think. (Update: I learned a while ago that when all else fails, turn to the publisher. Bingo. Well, I hope.)
"Here she is, your komodo draaaaagon...."
Have you ever seen The Freshman? It's a very funny movie. Maximilian Schell in particular is quite good, particularly in his first scene. ("Carmine said one boy, here are two!") It's he who sings the song above (I think). Anyway, someone mentioned the movie at the dinner Sunday night, and they weren't half wrong. A bit of background:
The Orthodox Union had a whole-day conference Sunday (in my neighborhood) on various issues of kashrut, expeciallyof exotic animals. This was spearheaded by a couple of people from Israel who investigate things like this (they're also the people behind the tekhelet revival). One issue is that to continue a tradition of an animal being kosher, you must receive word about it personally from someone who knows. As the Jewish community grows more centralized, we've stopped eating many of the animals once commonly consumed, and if the situation continued, we'd be stuck with chicken and turkey, for example, for birds.
So they went around to lots of old shochtim in Israel with various birds to ascertain that they are, in fact, kosher. They aranged a meal in Jerusalem where people could come and actually taste the birds and animals- thus having a hand in the transmission themselves. They even served kosher grasshoppers.
Well, that led to the conference here, and it was pretty good. Lots of interesting speakers, live birds (and grasshoppers!) to show, videos, books, even a good lunch. Rabbi Leiman spoke, essentially the same shiur as he gave on Shabbos, but with enough tweaks to still be fascinating. And after eight hours of this- yup, eight- it was off to the dinner.
There must've been a few hundred people easy at the conference; there were well over a hundred at the dinner. It cost- but it was worth it. Levana's prepared not just elaborate dishes made from exotic animals- bison, venison, quail, sparrow, dove, pigeon, wild turkey (and the bourbon, too), goat, sheep, and others- but they also had interesting food, kashrus-wise. There was an undeveloped (fleishig) egg, soft Sefardic/Yemenite matza, and others. (They couldn't get the pork-like fish, but had a good substitute.) Again, there were speeches, slides, videos- good times. No grasshoppers, alas- the OU wouldn't allow it- but they had chocolate ones as part of dessert. All that and good company, and Torah, and being part of a Mesorah- good times, good times.
It's a busy week, actually. Last night I went to a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and met a few people I wanted to (finally). I just might make it to the convention after all. And surprise, surprise, Sivan Rabinowitz was there! I haven't seen her in a while. She used to work for the RJC, it turns out.
Tonight is the YU Alumni Awards ceremony. I think the rest of the week will be spent decompressing (I better change my response to an Evite).
And in closing, a directed comment- sometimes life can be good, y'know? It's perked up a bit more in the last day.
Peace out, people. Maybe I'll have a bit more later.
"Here she is, your komodo draaaaagon...."
Have you ever seen The Freshman? It's a very funny movie. Maximilian Schell in particular is quite good, particularly in his first scene. ("Carmine said one boy, here are two!") It's he who sings the song above (I think). Anyway, someone mentioned the movie at the dinner Sunday night, and they weren't half wrong. A bit of background:
The Orthodox Union had a whole-day conference Sunday (in my neighborhood) on various issues of kashrut, expeciallyof exotic animals. This was spearheaded by a couple of people from Israel who investigate things like this (they're also the people behind the tekhelet revival). One issue is that to continue a tradition of an animal being kosher, you must receive word about it personally from someone who knows. As the Jewish community grows more centralized, we've stopped eating many of the animals once commonly consumed, and if the situation continued, we'd be stuck with chicken and turkey, for example, for birds.
So they went around to lots of old shochtim in Israel with various birds to ascertain that they are, in fact, kosher. They aranged a meal in Jerusalem where people could come and actually taste the birds and animals- thus having a hand in the transmission themselves. They even served kosher grasshoppers.
Well, that led to the conference here, and it was pretty good. Lots of interesting speakers, live birds (and grasshoppers!) to show, videos, books, even a good lunch. Rabbi Leiman spoke, essentially the same shiur as he gave on Shabbos, but with enough tweaks to still be fascinating. And after eight hours of this- yup, eight- it was off to the dinner.
There must've been a few hundred people easy at the conference; there were well over a hundred at the dinner. It cost- but it was worth it. Levana's prepared not just elaborate dishes made from exotic animals- bison, venison, quail, sparrow, dove, pigeon, wild turkey (and the bourbon, too), goat, sheep, and others- but they also had interesting food, kashrus-wise. There was an undeveloped (fleishig) egg, soft Sefardic/Yemenite matza, and others. (They couldn't get the pork-like fish, but had a good substitute.) Again, there were speeches, slides, videos- good times. No grasshoppers, alas- the OU wouldn't allow it- but they had chocolate ones as part of dessert. All that and good company, and Torah, and being part of a Mesorah- good times, good times.
It's a busy week, actually. Last night I went to a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and met a few people I wanted to (finally). I just might make it to the convention after all. And surprise, surprise, Sivan Rabinowitz was there! I haven't seen her in a while. She used to work for the RJC, it turns out.
Tonight is the YU Alumni Awards ceremony. I think the rest of the week will be spent decompressing (I better change my response to an Evite).
And in closing, a directed comment- sometimes life can be good, y'know? It's perked up a bit more in the last day.
Peace out, people. Maybe I'll have a bit more later.
Monday, May 03, 2004
You'd think that after working so hard to put the name "Halliburton" in the headlines as some sort of boogeyman, the news media would think it was familiar enough to mention by name when one of their contractors escapes from his captors in Iraq. But no, that might diminish Halliburton's "evil" image, so he was working for a generic "contractor."
What a weekend. What. a. weekend. More will follow, I hope.
What a weekend. What. a. weekend. More will follow, I hope.
Friday, April 30, 2004
The Times is always good for a laugh, or a cry:
-A group of Ghanans visit the New York State Assembly to see "democracy in action." Democracy? In Albany? They're probably better off in Ghana. In all fairness, the Times admits this. They're good on pressing Albany for reform, but don't suggest the two most obvious answers, of course: Term limits and kicking Sheldon Silver out.
-With all due respect to them (I mean that seriously), I've always found Mormonism cute in the way it lifts things from the United States. They're headed by a "President," their flag resembles the US', they revere the Indians...and today, we find out that while missionaries can't usually call home, they can do so on Christmas and Mother's Day. The presence of the latter is funny- a Hallmark holiday on the church calendar. And note- not Father's Day. Men are supposed to be made of tougher stuff, I guess. (Hmmm. Never noticed the names are in the singular before.)
-A Cuban baseball player who defected can't see his family, and a columnist, looking for a gimmick, frames his column as if it was an appeal to Castro (it seems he just stuck in the first person parts post-facto). I like (not) how he makes it seem the defection seem all about money. But what I really can't stand is how Castro is addressed as a reasonable man. He's a repressive, evil tyrant. It's time we stopped treating him as anything else.
-And then there's Holocaust money. Oy oy oy. I tell you, it was a mistake to take even one cent back in the forties and fifties. Now we have these...displays. The sheer chilul hashem, my God. Alas, there are probably many Jews who think this is a good thing.
Shabbat Shalom. Especially to one person who knows who they are- all the best, a good Shabbos and weekend.
-A group of Ghanans visit the New York State Assembly to see "democracy in action." Democracy? In Albany? They're probably better off in Ghana. In all fairness, the Times admits this. They're good on pressing Albany for reform, but don't suggest the two most obvious answers, of course: Term limits and kicking Sheldon Silver out.
-With all due respect to them (I mean that seriously), I've always found Mormonism cute in the way it lifts things from the United States. They're headed by a "President," their flag resembles the US', they revere the Indians...and today, we find out that while missionaries can't usually call home, they can do so on Christmas and Mother's Day. The presence of the latter is funny- a Hallmark holiday on the church calendar. And note- not Father's Day. Men are supposed to be made of tougher stuff, I guess. (Hmmm. Never noticed the names are in the singular before.)
-A Cuban baseball player who defected can't see his family, and a columnist, looking for a gimmick, frames his column as if it was an appeal to Castro (it seems he just stuck in the first person parts post-facto). I like (not) how he makes it seem the defection seem all about money. But what I really can't stand is how Castro is addressed as a reasonable man. He's a repressive, evil tyrant. It's time we stopped treating him as anything else.
-And then there's Holocaust money. Oy oy oy. I tell you, it was a mistake to take even one cent back in the forties and fifties. Now we have these...displays. The sheer chilul hashem, my God. Alas, there are probably many Jews who think this is a good thing.
Shabbat Shalom. Especially to one person who knows who they are- all the best, a good Shabbos and weekend.
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Where to start? I got another African scam email! Yay! It's been a while. This time it was Liberia. Alas, Africa has no shortage of the political upheavals that spawn these spammings.
A friend is making a Friends finale party. Double yay! And about TV, Smallville...well, there was this scene, right? And the show was great, sure, but this one scene...it was like one of Proust's madeleines (which they sell at Starbuck's, heh). The floodgates opened, and a traumatic childhood incident came back to me. Except it didn't really happen, see- it was in my mind only all those years ago. And pondering that fact made it all the more traumatic.
Damn, I need help.
My desk is strewn with newspapers. I got the Post today for its Friends special magazine, and AM-NY for its automatic subway article, among others (I saw people reading it on the train), and the Forward and Sentinel, as always. (The Times is in my bag.) Anyway, the back page of the Sentinel has the usual ArtScroll ad. One new book I'd like to check out is "Hallel," if only to see how (if at all) they treat Yom Ha'atzmaut, and how they deal with half hallel, Channukah, and so on . But the winner is this book:
"A Unique New Hebrew-Language Sefer from a Unique Rav and Posek"
"Yiddish" [in Yiddish letters]
"by Rabbi David Cohen" [without the standard "shlita" that follows his name, so I'm only 99.9999% certain it's him]
Here's the winning line: "...Rabbi Cohen starts with the premise that Yiddish is a holy language and that its sayings are rooted in Tanach, the Talmud, and Midrash..."
Oh, give. me. a. break. "Holy language" my a**. Hitler spoke it too, you know (and in a purer form). I remember seeing a sign from the Warsaw ghetto in the Museum of Jewish Heritage (an exhibit of the Oneg Shabbos/Ringblum archives): It was a notice, in German, for Jews to report to the square for deportation (and death). In big letters, it said, "AUFRUFF." Since then, we've tried not to use that phrase for a Shabbat Chatan anymore.
(Note for y'all: The Sabbath before a Jewish wedding, the groom is called to the Torah reading to say a blessing [or even to read]. This is called a "Shabbat Chatan" ["Groom's Sabbath"] in Hebrew [a bride has something roughly analogous called a "Shabbat Kallah," or "Bride's Sabbath] or "Aliyah LaTorah," "Going up to the Torah." The more frequently used term, though, is the Yiddish "Aufruff," "calling up-" the same phrase the Nazis used here.)
And he tells us it's holy. Dis-gusting. OK, it's part of Jewish history and many great (and simple) people spoke it, etc. etc. But come. on. As if to clinch the deal, they also offer tapes by R. Reisman called "The Mussar Shmoozen of Yirmiyahu Hanavi" [Jeremiah].
"Shmoozen." Sure. That's what Yirmiyahu called them. Would it have killed them to say "Drashos?"
I think I'll order some heraldry books now. And a flag one from the UK. Thirty-three pounds (figure it out), but so worth it.
A friend is making a Friends finale party. Double yay! And about TV, Smallville...well, there was this scene, right? And the show was great, sure, but this one scene...it was like one of Proust's madeleines (which they sell at Starbuck's, heh). The floodgates opened, and a traumatic childhood incident came back to me. Except it didn't really happen, see- it was in my mind only all those years ago. And pondering that fact made it all the more traumatic.
Damn, I need help.
My desk is strewn with newspapers. I got the Post today for its Friends special magazine, and AM-NY for its automatic subway article, among others (I saw people reading it on the train), and the Forward and Sentinel, as always. (The Times is in my bag.) Anyway, the back page of the Sentinel has the usual ArtScroll ad. One new book I'd like to check out is "Hallel," if only to see how (if at all) they treat Yom Ha'atzmaut, and how they deal with half hallel, Channukah, and so on . But the winner is this book:
"A Unique New Hebrew-Language Sefer from a Unique Rav and Posek"
"Yiddish" [in Yiddish letters]
"by Rabbi David Cohen" [without the standard "shlita" that follows his name, so I'm only 99.9999% certain it's him]
Here's the winning line: "...Rabbi Cohen starts with the premise that Yiddish is a holy language and that its sayings are rooted in Tanach, the Talmud, and Midrash..."
Oh, give. me. a. break. "Holy language" my a**. Hitler spoke it too, you know (and in a purer form). I remember seeing a sign from the Warsaw ghetto in the Museum of Jewish Heritage (an exhibit of the Oneg Shabbos/Ringblum archives): It was a notice, in German, for Jews to report to the square for deportation (and death). In big letters, it said, "AUFRUFF." Since then, we've tried not to use that phrase for a Shabbat Chatan anymore.
(Note for y'all: The Sabbath before a Jewish wedding, the groom is called to the Torah reading to say a blessing [or even to read]. This is called a "Shabbat Chatan" ["Groom's Sabbath"] in Hebrew [a bride has something roughly analogous called a "Shabbat Kallah," or "Bride's Sabbath] or "Aliyah LaTorah," "Going up to the Torah." The more frequently used term, though, is the Yiddish "Aufruff," "calling up-" the same phrase the Nazis used here.)
And he tells us it's holy. Dis-gusting. OK, it's part of Jewish history and many great (and simple) people spoke it, etc. etc. But come. on. As if to clinch the deal, they also offer tapes by R. Reisman called "The Mussar Shmoozen of Yirmiyahu Hanavi" [Jeremiah].
"Shmoozen." Sure. That's what Yirmiyahu called them. Would it have killed them to say "Drashos?"
I think I'll order some heraldry books now. And a flag one from the UK. Thirty-three pounds (figure it out), but so worth it.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
One funny thing is that there were actually refugees from Lander there last night. Heh.
I was reading a review of a movie (now out on DVD!) about the Taliban (Osama) on the train today, and got a bit of a shock. The movie's about a girl forced to dress as a boy because of the misogynism of the Taliban. And who should step onto the train at that moment but two girls- couldn't have been older than ten- swathed in black chadors, the works. I began getting all upset- "You pull this s*** in my country?" I thought- before I noticed that they were actually extremely short middle-aged women. I further noticed that Westernism, as Theodore Dalrymple points out in the latest City Journal, creeps in despite all- one woman had a wedding band, wearing a poncho, etc. Well, maybe it'll take years. But the truth will always triumph (Ghandi?).
Mo'adim L'Simcha L'Geula Shelaimah!
Sometimes I wonder if any of those people who decry "YU's move to the right" have ever actually been there, at least lately. Explanation below.
Last night, I went to the Yom HaZikaron/Yom Ha'atzmaut event there. It was quite nice- (not in this order) short speeches by the Israel Club YC president, memorial tefilot, candle lighting and reading of bios by his SCW counterpart (they focused a bit on famous names, but not exclusively, which was good), a PowerPoint presentation on Israel, and three speeches- two in Hebrew, by Rav Goldvicht and the (a?) Rosh Yeshiva from KBY, and one by the dude from Israelight, who gave a nice speech, if a bit wandering and morbid at times. I'm not complaining.
Following the davening, with all the trimmings (shofar, etc.) there was dancing and food in the gym and caf. Alas, it was late, and I am officially Old Dude, so I took a San Juan Family taxi home and got to sleep at a decent (well, semi-decent) hour. Davening at Etz Chaim today, again with trimmings. Andy even came down from his apartment last night to see me, which was really nice.
My point? The event was in Lamport Auditorium. This may not mean much if you don't know YU, but in my time (damn, I sound like a geezer), the event was held in the smaller Weissberg Commons, down in Belfer Hall (in fact, after having my burger, I walked down there, and had to go all the way back to Zysman Hall). There were maybe a few hundred people back then, barely filling the seats. It was quick, and dancing and some food was in the same room, on the other side. I think it was mostly guys from the campus.
This time, the auditorium, which seats well over 1100 people, was packed. The side sections were all female, and many people were standing in the back. There was no great preponderance of "yeshiva guys," so I suppose most students still aren't over that way- and the yeshiva guys turned out, too! Granted, this is all anecdotal, and there is chardalnik-ism out there when it comes to Israel, but I see this as a powerful point versus Jonas and whoever's feeding him propaganda. The most I can say is that YU students may be more religious, in the halacha, not "frumkeit" sense- and how bad is that? In fact, I dare say that such students will be more committed to Modern Orthodoxy (take this event, for example) than those who aren't as religious.
Ah. Rant over. It's Yom Ha'atzmaut, time to celebrate. Good times last night, and all times. Well, except for this printing stuff. At least the folks at TWoP had a good laugh at that.
One question: Is Ronald Lauder (halachically) Jewish? In the obit for his mother in the Times yesterday, they quote her (admittedly inaccurate) autobiography in which she says that her mother's mother wasn't Jewish. I mean nothing by the question- Lauder's a great guy, who's done plenty for Judaism as well as for domestic affairs (except for one big blunder in 1989)- but I'm just curious.
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