For our East Coasters, I’m publishing this one a little early.

That’s King David’s Tomb, circa 1940. If you go to the source where I found this and scroll down, there are a number of interesting images from the period.

Shabbat Shalom everybody!

My mother, in true Sabra style, underwent a complete overhaul of the Shabbat dinner at our house a few months ago. It’s sasbich all the way, baby: hard boiled eggs, roasted eggplant, potatoes, spicy cilantro, purple cabbage, minced red onion, and amba, a spicy, pickled mango spread that makes up a percentage of any Iraqi’s bloodstream. The food has gotten lighter, but the conversation has not.

I’ve lived on farms and kibbutzim, built mudhouses in the Arava desert, and thought more than once about getting the prestigious club card. My brothers? One lived in Peru and wiped the asses of impoverished Peruvian babies; the older one is a lawyer – okay, not so hippie but he has aspirations of becoming a Zen master, by not trying to become one. Our liberal attitude never clashed with our parents’ conservative one. I think they believe it’s just a phase. But as political talk glides its way onto our table nearly every week, beliefs become more distinguished. See, my parents are great people. They’re also conservative neo-hawks who will vote for anyone as long as they support Israel and won’t hesitate to drop nukes in case shit goes deadly, think Democrats are lying, sleazy scumbags, and that Obama is a Muslim fanatic who no matter what he says, will side against the Jews. Yes, that’s our world.

“His middle name is Hussein,” they say. “He is in love with Louis Farrakhan.” And McCain? “McCain will protect Israel.” That’s cause he’s old and crazy. “Yes, yes he is. Old and crazy.”

I have been told that you have no heart if you’re young and a Democrat, but financially retarded if you’re old and still Democrat. But what gives? Do some Jews get bitten by the money mozzie at age 40 and start voting Red no matter what? I’m trying to make sense of this dynamic: are your parents like this? I can’t be the only one swimming through this rift. How do I get them to see the other side of the political story?

Either way. I’m canceling out my dad’s vote. Like a real son of a bitch.

This has got to be the first time any religious Jew has ever been mentioned let alone profiled in XXL.
I mean the magazine is straight thugged out hip hop. Its the Rolling Stone of rap! The profile with photo and all is in XXL’s 360 section and is titled, “BLACK JEWISH MC HAS RHYMES FOR YOU LITTLE YENTAS.” The first sentence reads like this, “While Jay-Z has every hip-hop head and their non-Jewish mama screaming “L’Chaim!” there’s one rapper who’s actually promoting Judaism in his rhymes”.

* Y-Love’s “This is Babylon” comes out on Itunes in March and hits stores everywhere, April 29th! Check out YLOVEMUSIC.COM for all info on Y-Love’s World Tour! Making your bubbies “Bump” with nachas!!
NOTE: If you are in the Cali area come out to Jewlicious for a sneak peak at the “This is Babylon” show!!! (Y-Love and dj handler will be in full effect, joined by Kosha Dillz and Yuri Lane!

Brandeis University selected Harvard PhD student Yehuda Kurtzer as the winner of its competition for the Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation. Brandeis and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies were looking for the best proposal for a book that would transform the way Jews think about themselves and Judaism. As a result of his winning proposal, which you can read here, Kurtzer gets a 2-year visiting professorship at Brandeis and a book deal. The JTA describes Kurtzer’s idea as follows:

Kurtzer’s book would be a combined history, theological statement and prescription for programming that can help Jews access their history through text study to create meaningful Jewish experiences, Kurtzer said Sunday at a Brandeis symposium for the five finalists in the competition.

The contest attracted 231 applicants, and five finalists presented their ideas last Sunday at Brandeis. The other finalists were Ariel Beery (who I was rooting for), Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Anita Diamnant and Saul Singer.

It’s amazing what Brandeis has to do to get a Harvard PhD to teach there!

OK I was kidding! That was mean. I liked that Kurtzer began his proposal with a quote from Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, Everything is Illuminated. It talks about Jews having a sixth sense – that of history. Other than that, I don’t really understand what’s going on here. But that’s ok because I am dumb and I am cool with that. Please feel free to explain it to me.

My passion is Jewish writing but I’m also a political junkie. So, when I saw an opportunity to combine the two for a post here, I jumped.

Nick Antosca is tracking political contributions by writers on his blog. It’s a pretty simple operation, thanks to the Huffington Post’s special section on political fundraising. You simple ask for all contributors who list their occupation as novelist and it provides a listing.

I saw on the list a fair number of writers I’ve discussed on my blog, Jewish Literary Review. For example, Pulitzer Prize-winning Jewish novelist Michael Chabon gave $4,600 to the Obama campaign. His wife, writer Ayelet Waldman, gave $4,652 to Obama as well. Nick also listed information on Judy Blume, David Mamet and Jonathan Safran Foer.
Here are more results from Antosca’s digging (along with some help from his readers). Some authors you will know, some you might not. Either way, I think it’s an interesting voyeuristic exercise (more…)

Somewhere in our archives, there is another post where I compare two stories from two papers because sometimes you can learn a great deal when you look at things side by side. Here are two short articles about the same story by two of Israel’s leading newspapers.

Jerusalem Post:

Abbas: Armed ‘resistance’ not ruled out

By JPOST.COM STAFF

PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said that he does not rule out returning to the path of armed “resistance” against Israel and took pride in the fact that he had been the first to fire on Israel and that his organization had trained Hizbullah.

In an interview with the Jordanian daily al-Dustur, Abbas said that he was opposed to an armed struggle against Israel – for the time being.

“At this present juncture, I am opposed to the armed struggle because we can’t succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different,” he said.

The PA president also expressed pride both in himself and his organization, Fatah, for trailblazing the path of resistance.

RELATED
Abbas: Peace in 2008 or never

“I had the honor of firing the first shot in 1965 and of being the one who taught resistance to many in the region and around the world; what it’s like; when it is effective and when it isn’t effective; its uses, and what serious, authentic and influential resistance is,” Abbas said.

(more…)

Sometimes I plan to write a post, and then I read something similar elsewhere and abandon my plan. Today’s Jerusalem Post editorial tackled two topics that I wanted to cover, the nature of the Palestinian attacks on Sderot AFTER Israel evacuated every last Jewish civilian and soldier from Gaza, and the recent presentation by a UN diplomat attacking Israel for its actions and justifying Palestinian terrorism. Yes, an important UN employee explicitly justified Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians when “committed in the course of a war of national liberation against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation… As long as there is occupation, there will be terrorism.”

The Jerusalem Post writes:

(more…)

From Sports Illustrated (when’s the last time we saw a story about Jews in this mag?):

State senators have taken up the cause of a Jewish boys basketball team whose playoff run may be halted because its players can’t play on the Jewish Sabbath.

The Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy team could be headed for a regional championship on Saturday, March 8, if it wins one more game. But the Denver team’s religious beliefs prohibit students from playing on the Jewish Sabbath between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.

If Herzl/RMHA makes it to the regional championship and refuses to play a Saturday game, another school would be chosen to take its place, CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader said.

Earlier this month, the Colorado High School Activities Association, which governs sports and other high school activities, rejected the team’s request for a schedule change.

At the end of morning debate in the state Senate on Wednesday, Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, called on the CHSAA to be more flexible.

Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, said the CHSAA’s decision was ironic because it has a rule barring games from being played on Sunday for religious reasons.

Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Sedalia, said there must be a way for the CHSAA to accommodate the team.

“It just seems like the bureaucracy has run amok here,” Wiens said.

Bruce H. DeBoskey, mountain states regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said the group was disappointed by CHSAA’s decision.

The press coverage of Jewlicious Festival 4.0 Long Beach/LA just keeps building and building. First there was amazing coverage in the OC Jewish Life at the start of the month. Then things got rolling with LA’s Jewish Journal. Then we hit stride with OC Weekly, and LA Report, JamBase and others. This week we exploded—The LA Times choice calender listings, Jack FM running radio spots about this amazing festival, OC Weekly major attention, and making the front page of LA.com tonight.

We are overwhelmed by the attention and that so many of Angelenos, OC’ers, Long Beachers are hearing about this event. Its astounding. Fully 30 news outlets are expected to cover the event. This piece by LA.com has to be one of the best yet:

Get ready to schlep your kishkas to Long Beach because this weekend is Jewlicious 4.0!

Picture throngs of young Jews wandering the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, but instead of the desert it’s a gorgeous campus, and instead of a biblical trek, it’s only for the weekend.

Now imagine that some of the throng members are high profile professionals like Matisyahu, Tahli Miller and Heeb Magazine publisher Josh Neuman, and what you’ve got is a good ol’ testament hoedown.

The Barbara & Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach will play host to the fourth annual, 3-day festival, featuring a concert series, eco fair, speakers from around the world, games, crafts, workshops, movies, art, dancing and food food food.

In all its green glory, this marathon celebration will bring together Jews from “every denomination and across the political spectrum… trend-setters, artists and spirit seekers… ashkenazim, sephardim, and atheists… activists, jocks, and hipsters…” sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, and dickheads.

Impressive, Coachella-like detail is clearly and meticulously laid out on websites, blogs and message boards for all your planning and preparation needs. Whether you are looking for the “Woodstock of Judaism” or “an inspiring Shabbat experience” it seems you will find it at Jewlicious 4.0. Gezunterheyt.

That last compliment really makes me smile. Coachella is the hottest music festival in the West and being compared to them is just, well, amazing. Thanks LA.com and media Keep the presses rolling!

Or what else does one do with 100 tons of chocolate spread?

Israeli police are on the lookout for a thief with a super-sized chocolate craving.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said such a large heist indicated it may have been an inside job and police were searching the area of any traces of the sweet stuff.

[Full story]

Even if you couldn’t join us on the road, now you can see all the Taglit-Birthright Israel Israelity Tour videos and pretend that you were there…

The classic Israelity Tour Preview video

First Israelity Tour video (Seattle, featuring Subliminal and the TACT Family)

Second Israelity Tour video (San Fran, Berkeley, Santa Cruz; featuring Michelle and Coolooloosh)

And the third Israelity Tour video, just released, which rounds up the action in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and features comedian Mo Mandel and Shi360!

ck note – Hey! Pics from the LA and Las Vegas Shows below:

www.flickr.com Jewlicious’ Isreality Tour 2008: Los Angeles and Las Vegas photoset

We are proud and honored to announce that Matisyahu and Tahli Miller will be joining us as presenters this year at Jewlicious Festival4.0! Tahlia will be previewing her documentary film, Can’t Touch This at our Documentary Film slam. Matisyahu will be discussing spirituality and joining us for a weekend of programs. Matisyahu and Tahli bring a great vibe and everyone is psyched they will be representing again at Jewlicious!

You can read bios of the many other presenters, a run down of the bands, and more over at JewliciousFestivals.com.

Not that you needed ANOTHER reason to come to the most amazing Jewish Festival of its kind in the world today, but you might never get another opportunity. There are still non-camping tickets for students under 26 available ($54) and Festival Stage concert tickets ($25) for March 1st. All other tickets are SOLD OUT!

*Sorry folks, if you do not have a ticket you cannot be let in.

TMZ recently reported about this season’s must have accessory amongst the Hollywood Glitteratti – a security team made up of former members of the Israel Defense Forces. The video ironically notes how a people known more for their acumen as lawyers, accountants and Hollywood execs, jobs not usually associated with physical prowess, are now moving into a field dominated by tough guys. The report features an appearance by Woody Allen playing the old-skool whimpy Jew, and Aaron Cohen of IMS Security as the strapping former Israeli warrior who protects the likes of Paris Hilton and serving subpoenas on behalf of Britney Spears’ ex himbo, Kevin Federline.

OK. It must have been a slow news day over at TMZ, and the story is kind of blah, but what is really remarkable about this vid are the hateful comments it has inspired. Apparently people think the term “Jews” is racist and/or derogatory. As a guy who runs a Web site called Jewlicious, I can’t help but find that funny. I mean, racist? Judaism is not a race! And I am in fact a Jew – what’s so derogatory about that? What was the story supposed to be called? Send in the People of the Mosaic Persuasion? Sheesh… relax people!

Oh and the Aaron Cohen featured in this story should not be confused with Aaron Cohen, the award-winning (he has a girlfriend too!), badass anti-slavery activist and former Jewlicious Festival presenter.

Oscar ratings were dramatically down this year. This despite all the George Clooney pimping, the red dresses, and Sean Penn’s new arm candy. While the writers’ strike is rumored to be the primary culprit of ABC’s bad fortune in a year that was ripe with downer nominees, some fault needs to be shifted to the downright lack of charisma of the show’s host, Jon Stewart. Considering I had to wait till 10:50 PM before there was one comment that made me chuckle and that it’s all but erased from my memory, it can’t bode well for Stewart’s wittiness. Yeah, yeah, writers’ strike and there were 5 writers that had pitch in to write the telecast this year and they had fast turnaround given time restrictions, but isn’t Stewart a comedian after all? If Tina Fey can pull off of the more memorable SNL episodes to hit the tube in a long time, can’t Stewart work some magic? I always thought Stewart was a little bit of a whiny sissy anyways, but maybe he lacks that bitch is the new black factor after all…

Well, the Israeli government decided that if you can’t stop the Palestinian rockets from being launched at Israeli civilians, it might as well use those civilians for propaganda purposes. So, for example, when a young Israeli boy in Sderot had his arm blown halfway off today by yet another Palestinian rocket launched at civilian Israelis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was all over it. They sent out emails, contacted the press and made sure photos were available of the boy’s younger sister as she waited in the hospital during his surgery.

Sure, why not?

And to show the excellence of the Ministry’s operation, they even got some graphic artist to design a logo so the Israelis can brand the attacks against Israelis all over the media. Here is their logo:

Cute, huh? You get the evil missile that does not say “Palestinian Rocket” on it and the quaint Israeli family of four with flared bottom jeans. It’s black and white so it’s easily reproduceable and best of all, it doesn’t mention Palestinians directly but lists the “Hamas War against Israel.” No mention of any other Palestinians or the history of attacks on Israeli civilians because, well, because they’re negotiating with those folks.

Would somebody please fire the genius who came up with this?

Thank you.

Look for the remix of the remix at the Jewlicious Festival
Diwon is the alter ego of DJ Handler who is the alter ego of… oh never mind. I can’t keep up. You want to try and figure it out? I provided you with links. Exec summary? He’s Sephardic, runs the Sephardic Music Festival, does gigs with Y-Love and they are both ROI120 alums. OK so Diwan just sent me this remarkably trippy remix of Kid Sister and Idan Reichel.

For those of you lucky enough to attend the Jewlicious Festival next week, you will be treated to a remix of the remix by DJ Handler and Y-Love. For the rest of you, feel free to listen to the remix below. Losers. Heh…

OK, OK, you’re not losers. I am. I’m the loser. I’m just sad you won’t be at Jewlicious. Enjoy the track, it rocks.

See? Sad smiley.

We are flooded with questions – how do we get to the Festival this year? Is it sold out? What is the deal? Well yes we sold out. We sold almost twice as many tickets this year as last year. The good news is that we have opened up non-camping tickets for students and young professionals under 26. We have also created concert only tickets for $25. We don’t want leave anyone out of being part of the Festival…but we just don’t have enough room!

Option A: Buy a Festival Concert ticket for $25 and see the most amazing show: The hilarious Smooth-E MC’ing, Y-Love featuring Yuri Lane and DJ Handler, Rav Shmuel, Moshav PLUS some special guests.

Option B: Buy a Weekend Day Pass for $54 (restricted to ages 18-26) which includes all programs until 1am, and get a room at the Extended Stay hotel (562) 989-4601) next door with some buddies for $99 a night using our Jewlicious Festival/Beach Hillel rate.

Even these options are limited and we do not have the capacity to sell unlimited tickets. So if you want to attend Jewlicious this year – there are two ways left and we look forward to seeing ya!

Okay, so spoilsport Ralph Nader, who many decades ago did some good things for the US of A, has decided once again to run as a Republican shill. As we all recall, crestfallen, in 2000 Al Gore lost the election by a minimal margin to George Bush. That margin went, without question, to Nader who managed to snag about 100,000 votes. There were at least a couple of other states that went to Bush along with their delegates in the Electoral College because Nader grabbed enough of the votes that would have gone to Gore to sway the election. Overall, Nader’s 2.7% of the vote in 2000 was enough to place Bush in office.

That isn’t the problem since any person should be able to run for office in a democracy. The problem was Nader’s platform that the two parties, Democrats and Republicans, were essentially no different from each other and he offered a true alternative. His claim was that there would be no substantial difference between Bush and Gore as President.

There were enough people pulled from the Democratic ranks of voters who agreed, that the election went to Bush and we have witnessed the results for 8 years now. For example, would Don Siegelman be in prison right now under a Gore-run Justice Department? No. Would we be in Iraq? No. Would our national deficit and national debt even be in the same ballpark as now? No. Would the US Dollar be in the same kind of funk? No. Would the Justice Department be fighting on behalf of medical device manufacturers who develop faulty products to save them from lawsuits? No. Would there be another generation of a majority Conservative Supreme Court determining our futures? No. And so forth.

Now, it’s not as if any of this couldn’t have been predicted. It was predicted (by many people including yours truly), and it took nothing less than straight-faced lying by Nader to continually make the claim that there was going to be no difference between a Bush and Gore Administration. By the way, he did not back down from this claim and continues to repeat it even now.

This time around, the spiel is a little different but similar enough:

Nader criticized Republican candidate Sen. John McCain and Democrats Obama and Clinton alike for failing to crack down on Pentagon waste and a “bloated military budget.” Nader, who as a consumer activist challenged the products of major corporations, blamed the parties’ inaction on the influence of corporate lobbyists and special interests in the capital.

“The issue is, do they have the moral courage, do they have the fortitude to stand up to corporate powers and get things done for the American people?” Nader said of the leading candidates. “We have to shift the power from the few to the many.”

“You take that framework of people feeling locked out, shut out, marginalised and disrespected. You go from Iraq, to Palestine, to Israel, from Enron to Wall Street, from Katrina to the bumbling of the Bush administration, to the complicity of the Democrats in not stopping him on the war, stopping him on the tax cuts … in that context I have decided to run for president

What the fuck? Palestine? Israel? Oh wait, that’s just another in a series of irrelevant lies.

His other reason for running? That the Democrats tried to shut him out of some ballots in the 2004 election (he got into 34 ballots in the end but only won 0.3% of the national vote). This is revenge, apparently. After all, he expected the Democrats to lie down and lose another election thanks to his interference and lying claim that there’s no difference between the two main parties’ nominees.

Tell us, Mr. Nader, you announced that you would not run if you couldn’t raise $10 million. Since you are running as an independent, without the support of the Greens or the Socialists or any other existing party, where are you getting this money? $10 million is a lot of money.

Let’s allow a Republican candidate for President to provide a hint:

“Actually, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race,” [Mike] Huckabee said.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

When a man runs for President on the platform that there was and is no difference between the two main parties’ nominees even after the past 8 years of having experienced the extraordinarily significant difference between the two, that man is either lying or he’s a moron. I will let Nader’s supporters decide which it is.

This is a short report:

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen won best picture, along with producer Scott Rudin for No Country for Old Men. That was one brutal flick but definitely memorable and exceptionally well crafted.

Out of the five pics nominated for Best Picture, four had some connection to Jewish artists. No Country for Old Men in the direction and production; There Will Be Blood with its leading actor who also won the Oscar, Daniel Day Lewis; Juno directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman; and Michael Clayton produced by Sidney Pollack.

Among the five nominees for Best Director, along with the Coen Brothers, Jason Reitman and Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) were also nominees.

And, of course, for the first time in many years, Israel had a movie in the running in the Best Foreign Film category with the movie Beaufort. I’m not a big fan of that movie because I actually think the portrayal of the Israelis is inaccurate, but I respect the quality of the filmmaking and the viewpoint of the director, Joseph Cedar. Congratulations to Cedar, an observant Jew who was careful to keep the Sabbath even as he attended festivities related to this nomination, for this achievement.

Update: The winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar was Die Falscher, or The Counterfeiters, which is set during the Holocaust and tells the story of a Jewish counterfeiter and his interaction with the Nazi regime. I can’t tell whether the director, Stefan Ruzowitzky, or the original book’s author, Adolf Burger, are Jewish.

This one’s for me:

And this Subliminal clip is for ck and for Esther:

By the way, that Subliminal clip is a cover. This is the original from 1970. I think it’s safe to say the Subliminal version is better. Progress is good.

[UPDATE: The 60 minutes piece was very well done. 60 Minutes showed the monumental efforts to keep Siegelman out of Alabama politics. How the Federal prosecutor, Laura Canary, that led the charge against him, is the wife of the campaign manager of Siegleman's opponent in the 2006 Governor's race. How the main witness against Siegelman was a criminal who lied in order to get a reduced sentence on other charges. How Washington intervened and began to systematically investigate anyone connected with Sielgeman, without cause. How Siegelman never got a dime from the alleged bribery, was never accused of taking money, and was treated like a violent criminal—instead of the popular and successful Governor that he was. And last but not least, how the Justice Department has not released any documents on the case—all members of the Justice department and the Bush White House have refused to testify to congress about the case of Gov. Don Siegelman. See themiddle's links for more info.]

60 minutes has taken up the issue of why Gov. Don Siegelman sits in a work camp, why Karl Rove and other wanted him taken out of politics, and the dirty stuff that still goes on in the “Justice Department”.

Below is a letter from Dana, his daughter.

Dear Friends,
While we might not have the support of Attorney General Musakey (just yet), the House Judiciary Committee and the media are fighting by our side. 60 Minutes is expected to air this Sunday, February 24th. The special report will expose the misconduct of many. It will also explain in great detail the injustices my dad has incurred. Please encourage your friends and family to watch this important message. Please invite at least one person that knows little to nothing about the situation to watch 60 Minutes with you. Lets use this opportunity to get as many people riled up and ready to fight as possible. This sort of corruption will be stopped in 2008. Try to have paper, pen, envelopes, and stamps ready for your guests so that they may immediately write their Representatives and Senators about this matter. All of you have been amazingly supportive and valuable in helping to free my dad. We cannot give up, even after he is released on appeal, the real fight is not finished. It will not be finalized until we have someone in presidency we trust, and the Department of Justice is swept clean of corruption. Please help me spread the word about watching 60 Minutes. The show is set to air Sunday, February 24th 7pm ET/6pm CT/7pm PT.
Thank you for all your help!
Sincerely,
Dana Siegelman

Tonight (Feb. 24) on 60 Minutes, there will be a segment covering Don Siegelman’s trial and incarceration with a 7 year sentence. There are many who believe that Siegelman was hunted by the Bush Justice Department with the help of Karl Rove in order to neutralize this Democratic politician who was a thorn in the Republicans’ side.

We’ve already covered the story in this post.

There is also more information about him and his situation at Donsiegelman.org and thetruthaboutdon.com.

On people’s birthdays, it’s a tradition to wish the celebrants that they should live “till 120,” wishing them a long and happy life.

Over the weekend, I read two stories that in some way refer to this phrase. The first one is of a new website, Till120.com, which provides a hookup for the Jewish community to information about people who have passed away. Yes, it’s like OnlySimchas, but for people who have died. As the site self-describes:

The traditional Jewish phrase, “May you live until 120″ is the ultimate blessing; a life of health and happiness. We here at Till120.com are here for you at your moment of need to provide comfort and solace. We are here to guide and support you and your family during your bereavement. We are here to provide you with information about the traditional mourning period, the shiva, that honors the life of your loved one. This site is here to help you cherish the memory by sharing thoughts and stories of those who are no longer with us. Till120.com using state of the art technology is able to allow you to share photographs and text in a special way to honor the memory of your loved one.

Over in an Arab village near Hadera, Mariam Amash claims to be the world’s oldest person, who happens to be…120. A devout Muslim, Amash was discovered when she reported to the Israel Ministry of Interior to receive a new ID card. Born during the Ottoman era, when records weren’t organized neatly in computers or even file cabinets, Amash is potentially younger or even older than the 120 years that she claims.

According to the article, “she rises every morning at 5am, walks unaided, and attributes her longevity to a diet rich in vegetables.” In her case, till 120 takes on a new meaning, since she has 120 grandchildren (250 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren, all from her original 10 children).

How can you get to be 120 like Amash?

The world’s oldest resident has one piece of cautionary advice for younger generations. “They drink too much Arak,” she said, referring to a popular Arabic alcoholic drink that is forbidden to devout Muslims.

So more vegetables, and take it easy on the arak, kids.

A lovely image of the Yarkon River at sunset by Ron Almog who seems to have a passion for sunsets in Israel. He’s also got a blog where he posts images.

This has been a week of sobering threats directed at Israel by Iran and Hizbullah and news that Israel’s anti-Qassem system may not work. It’s hard to believe that Israel’s current leadership is up for the multiple ongoing challenges it faces. The situation would be complex for anybody, but with the second Lebanon War behind us coloring everything the politicians do and the civilians perceive, I’m not sure any leadership would know how to act. In addition, for some reason, everywhere I turned on the Internet this week, Palestinian propaganda seemed to dominate. Ugh.

On the positive column, it’s been snowing in parts of Israel all week and I hear it’s quite beautiful. A friend who visited the Golan told me it was gorgeous covered in white.

To those of you who will be lucky enough to attend Jewlicious 4.0 which begins this coming Friday, you are some lucky people and maybe I envy you a little…

Oh, and some guy claims to have found the Ark of the Covenant.

Shabbat shalom!!

Going into Ron Almog’s Flickr pages a little bit more, there are quite a few gems. Here’s another by him. It’s called “האפור היום אפור מאוד” which I believe would translate to “The gray today is very gray.” The title seems to be part of a poem by Leah Goldberg which I would love to find in translation. The photo is part of Almog’s Winter in Israel collection.

If you’ve traveled public transportation in any major city (but especially in NYC), you may have seen advertising for the annual Shabbat Across America initiative, which encourages Jews everywhere to take a 24-hour period of R&R from Friday night through Saturday night. As you Jewlicious readers likely known, this is called “Shabbat.” As the subway ads have previously trumpeted, “Turn Friday Night Into Shabbat!” And many people do, to great and restorative effect. (Hundreds of Jews will turn next Friday night into Shabbat at the Jewlicious Festival, so we’re all over that hot Shabbat action here at Jewlicious.)

This year, Shabbat Across America goes 2.0, with the rebirth of the initiative as a social-network-savvy connector of Jews everywhere. It’s got a new slogan (”Sit Down and Shabbat Up!”) and a new, more inclusive attitude toward Shabbat, in its stricter and more liberal definitions:

On SAA 2.0, users gather around virtual Shabbat tables they create, and invite their friends–”chosen people,” as the site calls them–to share in the experience. Once invited, guests can choose to ‘bring’ virtual food items (chicken soup, challah, wine), political positions (liberal, right-wing), and social inclinations (green, grumpy) to the table. Unlike most social networking sites however, SAA 2.0 also encourages virtual Shabbat tables to ‘get real’ by taking their table offline and into reality. Sleek design paired with kitschy cultural references keep SAA 2.0 informal and inviting, doing away with seriousness that might turn off a young crowd.

Curious to learn more, maybe from someone you already know? OK…

“As young Jews in their 20s and 30s become more involved in social media sites, they seek modes of expressing their Jewish identity—and solidarity with other Jews—in the online space,” said Esther Kustanowitz, a writer and online media consultant, citing the proliferation of Jewish-related Facebook groups and widgets that encourage members to customize their online identities. “SAA 2.0 was designed to integrate with Generation Facebook, and represents a groundbreaking way to leverage the power of online social networking to inspire a reconnection with Jewish tradition.”

Yup, that’s me. I’m working with them as a consultant. (Complete press release is here.) I have to say, connecting with other Jews over Shabbat is an excellent way to expand your social and spiritual circles. And the kickoff for SAA2.0–March 7th–is only the beginning. With a social network, the site becomes a tool that’s useful far beyond any one Shabbat; use it to connect with Jews of all stripes and denominations, and even locations–use the Wandering Jew function to tell everyone where you are and what you’re looking for Shabbatwise.

So check out www.ShabbatAcrossAmerica20.org: sign up to be one of the Chosen People, start your own virtual or real Shabbat tables, and start connecting to your weekend (and your community) Jewishly.

Want to see a sample “chosen person” and “virtual table”? Check out my profile.

And a Shabbat shalom to all!!