If you’re a woman who reads Jewlicious, you’re probably busy. You’re juggling career with a sparkling social life, or your professional identity with your online identity. You’re picking up the kids from soccer practice or play rehearsal and checking your RSS feeds on your CrackBerry. Or maybe you’re just sitting home. But the truth is, you don’t have time to take life–and your personal needs–sitting down.

From our friends in the Promised Land comes this new product that ushers in the social moment we’ve all been waiting for: pee equality for women. Welcome, P-Mate!

Of course you will think: “Does it really work?” You will never find out when you never used the P-Mate. The first time may be a little bit strange. Maybe you have never urinated while standing up before. Yet this women’s product gives a practical solution in lots of ‘urgency’-situations and while using the P-Mate, peeing while standing upright is easier than you think in the first place. Maybe you will not succeed the first time, but remember: practice makes perfect.

So if you have an ‘urgency situation,’ please feel free to whip out the piece of P-Mate material, carefully fold it into its shape, place it in the correct evacuatorial area and relieve yourself to your bladder’s content. But don’t rush into thinking that you can just whip it out of the box and use it: “Maybe you will not succeed the first time, but remember: practice makes perfect.” These are words of wisdom for us all.

But since the product’s creators are basically saying, “this is not that easy to use and you need rehearsal time until you’re a skilled P-Mate user,” I have a request/safety message: if you are using the P-Mate for the first time, please do so in the privacy of your own home. Then, when you’re confident enough, take your stand-and-deliver product out for street testing. Well, not on the street itself, because I’m pretty sure that (despite the number of children who urinate in public when they can’t find a bathroom) that’s still illegal. But the point is, practice before you pee.

You gotta love Israel. I’m leaving in 10 days. And if I spy anyone using the P-Mate, I’m so taking pictures.
Via VCCafe

The April 14th issue of Newsweek has a map and list of countries ranked according to their Green-ness, also known by the acronym EPI for environmental performance index. Israel ranked 64th. That is better than all of Israel’s neighbors, but not better than Iran, Turkey or Morocco, Gabon, Cypress or Greece. According to the article, Newsweek’s EPI/Green Rating was compiled, “With the help of Yale and Columbia universities and LinkedByAir.”

In January, Newsweek published the Green Ratings which showed Israel in 49th place. What accounts for the discrepancy? Could Israel have fallen 15 places in two months? A look at the sources quoted by Newsweek does not help us understand why Israel was dropped by Newsweek.

LinkByAir is involved with is the visuals, and they have done a great job. The Columbia and Yale study that Newsweek used in January, and the April 14th issue, is actually an international project: An Initiative of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP) and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) of Columbia University, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The study was released to coincide with Davos. Their website lists Israel as 49th, as do all their current reports.

(I have other questions about the study, which places Poland, Belarus, Russia, Hungary, and Slovakia, ahead of Israel—but that will wait to the next post.)

Let’s assume for the moment that Israel is not too green, and that Israel does more harm to the global climate as measured by the EPI than these former communist countries, and 40+ others. On what basis is Newsweek dropping Israel AND the US, but bolstering the rankings of some of others? The US was dropped from 39th in the EPI to 66th in Newsweek. Iran was boosted from 67th in the EPI to 55th in Newsweek and Turkey boosted from 72nd in the EPI to 50th by Newsweek.

Attempts to contact both the original author of the study and Newsweek were unfruitful. I left a message for the editor at Newsweek on their personal line. The lead author on the EPI study at Yale returned my call, but as of press time had not provided answers to my emailed questions.

So on what basis did Newsweek drop Israel 15 places? Pro-Israel bloggers want to know.

Next: What can Israel do to improve its EPI?

Hitler Loves the Philadelphia Flyers

 
The Montreal Canadians are in a best of seven playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Tuesday night they lost 3-2 in Philadelphia, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the series. The Flyers won thanks to their Philthy ways - a brutal hockey style and some of the dumbest, loudest, nastiest fans in all hockeydom. The fans booed the Canadian national anthem and screamed “USA! USA!” during a 1st period brawl - despite the fact that more than half their team… is Canadian.

I live in Jerusalem. This is where God lives and I know he’s rooting for the Habs. The video above shows why - because Hitler loves the Flyers. Probably Osama Bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nassrallah and Haniyeh too.

OK, ok. I know this is stupid. But I miss Montreal during the playoffs. It’s my way of participating. There’s just no hockey in Jerusalem! Sue me.

 
Hear the interview and listen to him rap in Aramaic and Arabaic! Crazy! Is it safe to say Y-Love’s going places? He was interviewed on the US BBC World Service Web site in their “Global Hit” section today:

For today’s Global Hit, we meet an American hip hop artist who learned to rap in Jerusalem. His name is Yitzhak Jordan. But he goes by the name, Y-Love. Y-Love stands out in the crowd. He’s a Black Orthodox Jewish MC. And as The World’s Andrea Smardon reports, he likes to mix holy languages into his rhymes.

My friend Talia sent me this cute widget thing. It’s a quiz that tests one’s knowledge of Judaica Art. Take it for a spin:

The quiz is brought to you by Judaica Art, a Web site that sells… uhm, Jewish and Judaica themed art (and oil painting replicas!). There are only 5 questions, the answers are kind of interesting and then at the end there’s a special deal!

I don’t usually put stuff like this up but Talia was pretty persuasive and you got to give these people props - this campaign of theirs is a little more creative than the usual “here’s a banner you can put on your Web site” business. For the record, we were offered a commission on sales and I declined because it’s much cooler as a post than as a thinly veiled commercial transaction. Good luck Judaica Art people!

Shemspeed is giving you all the chance to remix from their files. First up was Y-Love and now you have the chance to remix the beautiful sounds of Pharaoh’s Daughter. Here is how it works! We give you the instrumentals and accapellas and you use whatever program you would like to make your own remixes from these files. We recommend Ableton (download a free trail here). You have the chance to remix four different singles off the “Haran” album. Once you finish the remix submit it to Shemspeed (djhandler@shemspeed.com) and have a chance to win a Shemspeed fun pack (includes CDs, Stickers, Posters, Fliers and an official Shemspeed T Shirts). have fun!
CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

Photo by Oded Gebert

(This post was cross posted from 60 Bloggers where it is one of the 60 posts being published in commemoration of Israel’s upcoming 60th “birthday”).

The Middle is one of the earliest contributors to Jewlicious.com where he continues to post when the mood strikes him. He won’t tell us whether this is an autobiographical piece.

Once upon a time a young man stepped off a plane in Israel and walked on the tarmac towards an outmoded airport terminal. It was afternoon in early summer and the heat had already broken. Around him were tourists and Israelis, his fellow travelers from far away. None had kissed the ground upon disembarking, but many had clapped joyously when the plane had touched down. Off in the distance, the young man could see squat, rocky hills. The sky above was blue; a little bluer than he’d ever seen, as if the sky was closer to the ground than in other places. The young man breathed in the air, squinted up at the sky and, a little surprised at his realization, thought, “This is home.”

On that first day in Israel, he took the bus to Jerusalem. The road to Jerusalem still had the vehicle skeletons from 1948 lying by the side of the road, purposely evoking the war of sacrifice that culminated in the creation of Israel. Watching these metal carcasses, the young man became aware that there was something special about this place. The hills, the trees, the historic climb up through the hills to Jerusalem; it all resonated with him.

He looked around him at the other bus riders. Nothing here was simple, he’d learn, even a bus ride. The people riding alongside him were a diverse mix. There were lined faces of elderly Moroccan women, young faces of wild-haired blonde teens before military service, some Arab students, an Arab laborer, two middle-aged Russian couples that, judging by clothes, had not yet integrated into Israeli life, and a couple of Scandinavian girls in skimpy clothes.

(more…)

I’ve waited for the events’ outcome to do this post; eventually, a few matters have got resolved, but please read on:

The concept was a good one: put together an exhibition on the deportation of NS-victims – mostly Jews, largely Jewish children at that – to the death camps via railway and, instead of stuffing the exhibition into a museum and exposing it only to a limited audience, put it on the tracks and let it roll around the republic for any person interested to see without having to take trips to far-off museums. But just as many concepts that are good in theory are not so easily put into practice, the Holocaust remembrance train faced several huge obstacles.

Firstly, Deutsche Bahn (the German railway company) charged the organizers of the Holocaust remembrance train its regular tariffs for use of its tracks and stations, totalling up the bill to at least 80,000€. Since the organizers of the exhibition all are volunteers of some kind, they have been struggling to cover the expenses. That aside, Deutsche Bahn’s insistence on charging full price has raised quite a few eyebrows. As for any corporation, sponsoring the project through reducing or taking over the expenses could have earned Deutsche Bahn public merits as well as a tax-deductible donation. Cum grano salis commenters noted that Deutsche Bahn’s predecessor during NS-Germany, Deutsche Reichsbahn, had already made good profits on charging the Reich for the deportation to the death camps – cynically enough at the “groups on a trip”-rate. Deutsche Bahn commented it could not forego charging external carriers regular tariffs without breaking existing laws. In all fairness, Deutsche Bahn already sponsored a similar exhibition this January. But then again, as Ruben Herzberg, head of the Hamburg Jewish congregation rightly points out, “To remember the outrageous breach of civilization through the Shoah, that happened right amongst us – in the public eye at German railway stations as well – is a perpetual task. Whoever expects absolution through referring to efforts made, has not understood anything.” [translation by ed.; source: hagalil]

Secondly, it took immense public pressure (from politicians from all major parties, the general public, religious bodies and NGOs) for the Holocaust remembrance train to eventually be permitted to stop at Hamburg central Station, Berlin central station, Grunewald station in Berlin (from where the deportations of Berlin Jews took place) etc. Deutsche Bahn argued security concerns as well as concerns over the exhibition train interfering with regular train schedules as reasons for their reluctance to let the train stop in those stations, neither of which were all too convincing considering the given infrastructure. Honi soit…, but one cannot help but wonder what the actual motivations behind putting the proverbial spoke in the wheel of the Holocaust remembrance train were.

Final destination of the train is Auschwitz-Birkenau (8 May 2008).

Convergence at Twilight

NatashaP from Flickr gave us this beautiful image of Haifa at twilight.

This was a weird week for signals. The Americans wanted to reveal the connection between Syria and the North Koreans, so it was divulged that Israel targeted a nuclear facility several months ago. It was also divulged that Ehud Olmert had put the entire Golan on the table for a peace agreement with Syria. This was confirmed by Assad himself. So either we’re close to peace or we’re not. Nobody knows.

Speaking of symbols, Carter gave Hamas legitimacy and came away with nothing in return. They denied even the little bit he said he got at his press conference. Later in the week, the Egyptians let it slip out that Hamas may be ready for a cease fire. The Israelis don’t seem to care, feeling it would just be a military build-up period for the terrorists. In the meantime, some ministers appear to waver on this.

If you’re not reading 60bloggers.com, go there now. Our own Rabbi Yonah is one of the organizers of this terrific idea where there’s a daily post by a blogger connected to Israel or to Jewish life. Many of the illustrations are provided by our own quite inventive and talented ck.

Shabbat shalom!!

Last days of Pesach. Focusing on the redemption, the crossing of the sea, Miriam and dancing, the Ball Shem Tov meal at the end of this holiday. This holiday where matzah shortages in chain supermarkets in California made the news. This holiday where Obama and Clinton duked it out, with Basketball and Hockey playoffs, and hundreds of religious Jews praying mincha at Disneyland together. This holiday that people speak of in the past tense while it is still going on. As in, “my Passover was great” when they mean the seder, and not the holiday. Or do they mean the holiday. This holiday that converged with Earth Day, meaning you could eat your matzah and represent for the earth - it was the convergence of all things crunchy. This holiday where I explained that the cup of Eliyahu is not really for Eliyahu, but that it represents the fifth cup - not four - that some rabbis in the Talmud believed needed to be included in the seder. The argument was solved by the compromise of the fifth cup. And they wrote that when Eliyahu comes to herald the Messiah and this and other questions will be answered, we will know how many cups we were to drink at the seder. Hence it became Eliyahu’s cup. Not Eliyahu in the some Santa Clause kind of way, swooping down on the Jewish homes to swig some bad kiddush wine. I mean what kind of junk did we teach our kids, and what did they feed us? And this holiday where the Muslim Student Union at UCI unveils another outrageous campaign against Jewish students by proclaiming that there is a Holocaust in Palestine and how can Jewish organizations think this meshugass is going to go away by playing patty-cake with the chancellor - it won’t - its gonna get a whole lot worse before you kick these shmucks off campus. And this Holiday where the Hebrew Hammers powered only by sheer will won 14-6, by not swinging the bat. Where they partied on Matzah Pizzas much like the one pictured here. This holiday where all kinds of clever marketing gimmicks were in the works, but the Matzah Song hit a chord. This holiday where we came to the realization that we are all slaves to high oil prices. This holiday where Amy Winehouse is sitting in jail again. This holiday where the weather is wacky and and the stars of aligned, and the Tigers win four straight games. This holiday where you cling to the hope that you can change the world in some significant way by speaking about it at the Seder Table, but you know, deep down, that talk is cheap, and words cheaper, and that the only thing to do is act. Mitzvah. This holiday is about the act. The act of redemption. This holiday where you come up with wonderful ideas because you are elated and high on life, and that you realize that you’ll never get everything done in your life that you hope to. Happy Passover. Happy Redemption Days. and Shabbat Shalom.
Matzah Pizza courtesy of Ben Perelstein

Join Maitsyahu and Rabbi Yonah at the Beale Street Music Festival on May 2 4, 2008. Beale Street is one of the premier music festivals in the US —The Black Crowes, Santana, My Chemical Romance, Matisyahu, and many others— with three days of music and street parties in downtown Memphis. It’s a weekend not to miss!

*Matisyahu is headlining Saturday night, and will join festival goers Friday night, May 2 for a free shabbat dinner, just blocks from the festival stages.

*This event is FREE and geared towards Jewish college students and young professionals (ages 18-26)
and sponsored by Jewlicious, Birthright Israel NEXT, and Hillel of Memphis.

*Seating is limited to 150 — registration is strongly recommended.

RSVP For Dinner | Learn More About the Festival | Facebook Event

Shemspeed approached DJ Balagan to dip into his archives of obscure Israeli funk, to make a mix in honor of Israel’s 60th Bday. Here are the results!

Visit www.shemspeed.com/ISRAEL60.html to listen and download tracks for free. Other remixes include famous the mega mix of Zion Golan and special remix of Oshik Levi by Soulico’s DJ Shimmy Sonic.

…even if Muffti could vote. Tony Zirkle, candidate for the Elephants, made the rather unorthodox campaign decision: to speak at a National Socialist Workers Party meeting on Hitler’s birthday. Story below from The News Dispatch. The guy seems like a loon. Muffti highlighted the funny parts for those who are lazy.

U.S. Congressional candidate Tony Zirkle is facing criticism from one of his primary opponents, and a host of people on the Internet, for speaking at an event over the weekend that celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Zirkle confirmed to The News-Dispatch on Monday he spoke Sunday in Chicago at a meeting of the Nationalist Socialist Workers Party, whose symbol is a swastika.

When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn’t know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it.

“This is just a great opportunity for me to witness,” he said, referring to his message and his Christian belief.

He also told WIMS radio in Michigan City that he didn’t believe the event he attended included people necessarily of the Nazi mindset, pointing out the name isn’t Nazi, but Nationalist Socialist Workers Party.

The Crown Point Republican spoke in front of about 56 “white activists” at an event honoring the birth of Hitler. The German leader was responsible for the genocide of millions of Jews and others during World War II.

Zirkle said the group asked him to speak to discuss the effect of pornography and prostitution on young, white women and girls.

Zirkle is running against Republican Luke Puckett of Goshen and Joseph Roush of Plymouth in the May primary. He lost twice before in primaries to former U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola and has made doing away with pornography and prostitution his top campaign plank.

“I told (Channel 16, WNDU in South Bend) in the beginning that I’d speak to any group that wanted me to speak,” Zirkle said Monday. He said he’s also recently spoken on the subject to a pair of black journalists.

“I’m keeping my promise. I’ll speak to any group. (The National Socialist Workers Party) was interested in the targeting of white people for prostitution.”

Puckett spokesman Kyle Bailey said Monday that Puckett was in “disbelief” when he saw a story on the Internet from a Web site called Overthrow.com.

It detailed Zirkle’s speech in a story about the gathering, called not only to honor Hitler but to “fight America’s economic collapse and reinvigorate the white working class.”

At the event, Hitler’s birthday was observed with a cake with a photo of Hitler and the words “Seig Heil.”

“I can’t believe, in 2008, someone could have such backward opinions,” Puckett said.

Zirkle said he told the group about his days as a prosecutor in Indiana, during which time he prosecuted gangs involved in trafficking prostitutes and pornography from Eastern Europe.

The Crown Point lawyer, who also has an office in South Bend, has in all three of his primary races pointed to pornography and prostitution as the downfall of society. He said Monday that he agrees with the group’s notion the trafficking of “young, white women should be stopped,” he said.

When asked if meeting with Nazis was a danger to his political career, Zirkle said he was willing to take the chance.

“That’s the risk you have to take to get your point across,” Zirkle said. “If the Black Panthers or the Jewish Zionists want me to speak about these issues, I’ll do it.”

Inspired by Middle’s post, I started wondering what James Bond would be like had his forefathers crawled the Sinai desert. I came up with the following:

He’d go by “Bond. James Bond.”, but his friends from summer camp would still remember him from when he was humble little Yankel Blumberg.

He’d bear a strong resemblance to David de Rothschild. (mmmmm )

The villain would torture him by offering him the wrong hechsher / an audio recording of his nagging mum / anything at full retail price / a bad shidduch.

He’d turn down missions stating he’s “shomer shabos”.

He’d have family in Brooklyn.

ck would know him.

His mother’s fav line would be, “Special agent, shmecial agent, when will you make me a bubbe already?”

He’d run a few gesheftn while saving the world.

He’d know where Q could have got the car at half the price.

He’d read Jewlicious.

He’d always bring his own (canned) food and paper plates, cause “you never know”.

That’s it for now from my end. I’d love to read your additions though.

A number of publications have now reported that a Jewish man who was formerly a US Army engineer has been arrested and charged with espionage. He is accused of handing over classified information to Israel about certain classified matters including the F-15, nuclear information and the Patriot Missile System.

The charged man, Ben Ami Kadish, is now 84 years old and the claims are that he was involved in handing off this information at the end of the 1970s and to the early 1980s. That was the time when Jonathan Pollard was providing Israel with classified material and it may well be that both of these men were “handled” by the same Israeli. He is identified by Israeli papers, and with caution by the NY Times, as Yossi Yagur. Yagur was apparently part of an Israeli organization whose task it was to acquire technology to support and update the Dimona reactor.

As a Jewish person living in the United States, I would like to tell Israel to inform the US now about any other skeletons that it may have in its closet. After Pollard, Israel promised the US that there will be no more spying by Israel in the US, and I sincerely hope they’ve kept that promise. This is simply the stupidest move in the history of Israeli-US relations.

Whatever benefit there was to the intelligence gathered by Pollard and allegedly Kadish, it is a drop in the ocean of problems it has caused Israel. It has damaged American confidence in Israel, distanced supporters, strengthened opponents in places like the State Department and Pentagon, provided leverage to push Israel’s politicians, given fodder to the anti-Israel crowd, etc.

This spying has also been quite harmful to American Jews and in fact to all of Jews outside of Israel. It calls into question Jews’ loyalties, raises the specter of a fifth column, damages the careers of any Jew in uniform whether it be military, homeland security, secret services or even police forces. It forces people to take sides when the two sides are actually allies. What could be stupider?!

The spying also damages diaspora Jewish relations with Israel because it forces Jews to distance themselves from Israel when it acts in this way. And these stories don’t end in the US, every country out there is watching and reading the news. You can bet that Canada, England and all the Western European countries are currently investigating whether Yossi Yagur had any direct or indirect contact with people in their country.

I have little sympathy for the spies or their handlers. This spying was not justified or necessary. It has caused much more harm than good and it is pernicious and destructive. Israel should make every effort to publicly acknowledge its mistakes, publicly and openly apologize for these mistakes and reassure everybody that it is true to its word and not spying on the US at all.

Israel can also expect to pay a steep price for this discovery. There will be severe pressure from sources in the US government to provide information about other operations, to disengage Israel from participation in defense projects, and greater influence by the corners of the government that have been pushing to distance US policy from Israel in favor of Israel’s enemies, etc.

Bush is about to visit Israel in order to push the “peace process” forward. I think it’s safe to guess that he will be bringing up this incident and it is even possible that he will use it to influence how the Israelis act with respect to the ongoing talks with the Palestinians. Some Israelis are already guessing that the timing of this publicity isn’t accidental.

They may be right or wrong, but if this story is true (and according to the prosecutor, the relevant information has already been offered up by Ben Ami Kadish), Israel’s government should stop worrying about the intentions behind the timing and worry more about healing this gaping wound that has been healing very slowly over the past 20+ years since Pollard’s conviction. What idiots!

Never since I became active in efforts to preserve the environment has being green been so hip. The most outrageous claims by massive polluters intent on being green mark the pages of newspapers, magazines and TV ads. Every company selling anything is showing it’s green streak - Clorox, Macy’s, Ford, Teva, and so on. It often appears that going green requires an entire new wardrobe, tons of exotic new cleaners, a new car, new this and new that, and as we consume more and more to become more and more green we start feeling better about ourselves. Let’s chuck that and get something re-usuable, and stylish, and green. And one could get really cynical really fast, and say that its all a fad, like those rubber bracelets we used to wear on our wrists. It too will fade into black. And it unleashes the anti-environmentalists too, like the guy who told me he now tries top pollute as much as possible to show everyone that there is no global warming.

Well no matter the hipness, those taking advantage of it, those in it for the money, those seeking to sell you more and more junk, but now its green junk, I still believe that ultimately it is a good thing that green is in. Because with green being in, there is a chance that people will start making real efforts to alter their lifestyles and consumer habits, their eating and their footprint, realize the fragility of life, and that there is something to protect. People will access real information, not the fluff on Oprah in Parade magazine, but the stuff that hits deep.

For so long the going slogan in America was “use the earth-its there for us to exploit” - and that mantra is still there, I am under no such green haze to think that it isn’t — but now there is a new slogan that is creeping into the mainstream. The earth is not disposable, there is no where else to live, and God doesn’t want us to trash it. In other words “we must try to live in harmony with earth” and that mantra is gaining momentum.

As long as this new slogan is making headway, and there to compete with the old paradigm, I believe that we are going to be able to begin to heal what we have broken, and preserve that which we have not broken, and create a tikkun between humanity and the home that God gave us.

Ok. Now you can trash me in the comments.

Menachem Butler emailed me this post from Hagahot on the manuscript that the Pope gave as a gift on his recent New York visit.

The Pope’s manuscript

A friend called me just before Shabbat, saying he heard on the radio that Pope Benedict XVI gave Rabbi Arthur Schneier a Hebrew manuscript. Did I know which manuscript it was?

Nope. But the next day’s NYTimes reported that it was a replica (hence, not actually a manuscript) of a copy of a legal text by Jacob ben Asher. Now I can’t find that report, and instead it says it is a replica of a manuscript from circa 1435. (So it probably isn’t Vatican Ebr. 151, a Byzantine manuscript from the 14th-15th century with Kitzur Piske ha-Rosh, by R. Jacob ben Asher).

As you may know, a new and comprehensive catalogue of the Hebrew manuscripts in the Vatican libraries is on the way. Meanwhile, I checked the IMHM catalogue and found only two Vatican manuscripts dated 1435. One of them, Rossiana 555, is a copy of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher’s major work, the Tur. It was copied in Italy and contains decorations of some sort, making it a likely candidate for the gift (for a short description of the manuscript, see here, at the end of the ‘Text’ section).

What makes it funny, or maybe upsetting, is that this particular manuscript was copied by Yitshak ben Ovadiah of Forli. Who, according to Nurit Pasternak (Tarbits 68), converted to Christianity

Uh… not so much
After 7-hours of negotiations with Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal, at his office in Damascus, Syria, 83 year old former President Jimmy Carter announced that Hamas would accept a Palestinian state consisting of just the occupied territories if the Palestinian people agreed to it in a referendum. This signals Hamas’ willingness to a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital where the Palestinians will “live as a neighbor in peace next door” to Israel. Big breakthrough, huh? Especially when you consider Hamas’ 1988 Charter that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and encourages the killing of Jews.

Except Hamas hasn’t rescinded its Charter. And at a Press conference on Monday in Damascus, Meshaal made it perfectly clear that Hamas had no intention of actually recognizing the State of Israel: “We agree on the [Palestinian] state with the borders of June 4, 1967, Jerusalem as its capital, fully sovereign without settlements, the right of return, but without the recognition of Israel.”

Sounds awesome! Thanks former President Carter! Even though you’re 83, maybe a little addle minded and have pretty much no credibility amongst those who do not target civilians with rocket-fire, this peace with Hamas thing is totally gonna rule!

James Traceur captured that image while traveling in Israel.

This was an interesting week. Jimmy Carter went to talk to terrorists claiming that you had to include them in any discussion. He didn’t say how he planned to overcome their stated plans to destroy Israel, or to fine tune their opening negotiating conditions which are that only after Israel moves to 1949 lines (so-called pre-’67 lines), will the Palestinians agree to begin negotiations…as to how the Palestinians can move into Israel. No One member of the Israeli cabinet met Carter on his visit and he was also received by Shimon Peres, Israel’s President. This is the American President who brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and the Israelis will not talk to him. They happen to be right, he has so maligned both Israel and American Jews with his recent book and the book’s promotional dog and pony show, that it’s hard to know what there is to discuss with him.

—
Passover is upon us in yet another year. 2500+ years of celebrating this holiday and elements of the original still remain, as well as newer elements (that is, those that began appearing about the time of the Mishna, so maybe 1800 years ago?). There’s always plenty of food, plenty of family, and the knowledge that we did this last year and will do it again next year. Another thing that’s nice is that every time I’ve seen a seder outside of my own home, they’ve all had unique touches, some going back three, four, five generations. I was once at an Iraqi family’s seder where I thought I had gone back in time 1500 years. I think we got to the food at 1 AM or something crazy like that.

Shabbat shalom!

From Jpost. Muffti isn’t sure how an ‘essence’ can be leavened. Who knows. Muffti now thinks you guys are just clinging to religion because you are frustrated and bitter!

n an unprecedented initiative, numerous leading rabbinical arbiters have warned the public in signs posted in haredi neighborhoods that cigarettes and cigars “contain essences that are leaven [hametz] and that they should not be smoked during Pessah.

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the leading Lithuanian rabbinical arbiter who lives in Jerusalem, signed an announcement that states: “Rabbi Elyashiv has told those who asked him that of course one must not smoke cigarettes during Pessah as long as they are suspected of having leaven. And this is besides the prohibition of smoking all year because of the dangers [to health].”

Rabbi Moshe Sternberg of the Eda Haredit said that he informed his congregants that they should not smoke cigarettes or cigars. But those who nevertheless do should be aware of the fact that “most cigarettes absolutely contain leaven, to which dozens of flavorings and aromas are added, besides the fact that tobacco is rinsed in alcohol.

“Some of the essences come from wheat, and flour has been added,” the rabbi declared.

Sternbuch said that there are those who observe strictures to keep cigarettes out of their homes completely during Pessah. He has seen stamps of “kashrut supervision” on cigarettes, but he said it was impossible to accept this as tobacco products have hundreds of components, and it cannot be determined whether they are all free from leaven.

Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Dunner wrote that in addition to the “prohibition to smoke tobacco all year [due to the serious danger to health], it is especially forbidden to smoke during Pessah because of essences with leaven.”

The Jerusalem Post called Dubek, which manufactures or imports most tobacco products sold in Israel, but officials did not return the calls.

In previous years, Dubek advertised in haredi newspapers that it had a company rabbi who ensured the kashrut and suitability for Pessah of its products.

PHEW! When I saw Matt Bar’s Bibe Raps promo video it looked interesting, but the first song was him rhyming over someone elses beat so I got scared! (thinking….ok. another Jew parody project). Fast forward to the promo video that 12 Tribe Films put together
for the first single in time for Passover…this beat is hype and he sounds so white, but its catchy as hell. Very boom bap and upbeat. I remember when the brilliant Ariel Beery was telling me about how Matt Bar would be recording this Bible Project as a part of his Institute for Creative Zionism. Good to see it come up! I still rememeber Matt from when he was folk slingin raps.
visit www.bibleraps.com

Fund raising Bitches in the process of getting donored

I read Eli Valley’s latest post on Jewcy with some amusement, albeit said amusement being somewhat tempered by it’s reliance on a cavalier attitude regarding the safety of Israel’s citizens. In “The Holocaust Will Be Mass-Mailed,” Valley humorously chides the organized North American Jewish community for using fear as a fund raising technique. As one one commenter noted: “Eli isn’t denying that anti-Semitism is a concern. He’s attacking the cynical, self-serving use of hectoring fear tactics to solicit donations.” EstherK also noted that “Scare tactics like that aren’t effective methods of fundraising among members of a younger(your definition here) generation.”

All true of course, but the fact remains that when it comes to raising funds from Joseph and Judith Jew, these sorts of tried and true tactics are quite effective. Those little checks for $18 to $180 certainly do add up and mass mailings are profitable when attempting to glean a few extra shekels from the hoi polloi. But our organized Jewish community didn’t become the powerhouse that it is by being a one trick pony. The reliance on scare tactics for fund raising is patently ludicrous for the cosmopolitan and astute crowd over at Jewcy, but you’d be amazed how well another tactic works with an otherwise intelligent, sophisticated and well-moneyed, predominantly male target population: The tactic in question? Why, sex of course!

I first met Sarah (all names have been changed) at one of those tiresome Jewish community events in a large metropolitan city. Sarah was preparing for a presentation that she was going to be giving later that afternoon and she was, in every sense of the word, the picture of the consummate, poised professional. Later at the bar where we went to unwind, I was amazed to find out that she was merely 22 years old. After a few drinks we got to talking about her job. Sarah is a fund raiser for a major Jewish organization and she noted how amazed she was on her first day of work when she noticed that everyone in her department was female, under 25, hot and with an average double D cup size.

“But you look like, I don’t know, a C?” I asked. “Oh honey, I hide it well when necessary, and not so well also when necessary” she responded. As it turns out, most major Jewish organizations, especially those with offices in large North American cities and in Jerusalem, have a cadre of hotties who are used to solicit donations from wealthy single men. These generally include people who make their living on Wall Street, in law, real estate or in media - but in all cases the target is a minimum $10,000 contribution. The technique? Build a group of these guys - get them involved with the promise of networking opportunities with others in their profession and all that that entails career wise. Oh and there’s also the doing good for the Jewish people part. Don’t forget that. Very important. So very, very important. These guys are big into altruistic pursuits. Huge!

Soon you will have a group made up of high net worth individuals between the ages of 29 and 39, with the occasional recent divorcee in his late 40s and 50s out recapturing his wasted youth with the boys. These are called the donors. Get them together for small, exclusive events - a speaker from their industry, someone well known, nothing too Jewy. Afterwards you and your hottie fellow employees go out with the boys for a drink or two. They will inevitably get roaring drunk. They will inevitably make clumsy passes at you. It will be banal, embarrassing, boring and occasionally outrageous. However, if you can walk a fine line between leading them on while not putting out, soon huge checks will be raining upon you and you will have helped save the Jews from Hamas, Ahmadinejad, Nazis and the scourge of intermarriage or whatever.

Sarah tells me “Don’t feel too bad for these guys. They get a tax write off and they get to party like rock stars with hot babes. In New York if you make $300,000 a year, you’re still considered kind of pedestrian compared to what’s out there. They have fun, we help the Jews, everyone’s happy. Though it is kind of sleazy when you think about it.”

“How so?” I asked Sarah. “Well they’ve coined a term. You know how boys are. It’s called being donored - and it’s used when a donor nails a fund raising bitch.” “A what?” I asked? “A fund raising bitch. It’s what many of us call ourselves. But truth is, a donor getting lucky with one of us is a rare occurrence. I’ve never seen it happen even though we get propositioned all the time.”

Eli Valley’s mass mailings are effective lowest common denominator tactics. But there’s more than one way to skin a cat and our communal elders are FULL of tricks. Thanks for letting me share and do have an awesome Passover.

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Ilana Diamond, a student at University of Texas writes in the Jerusalem Post about the challenges facing students who support Israel.

This is something we have covered many times on Jewlicious. Campuses across the US are dominated by the pro-Palestinian advocacy groups, sometimes as a part of some Muslim student association or other larger enterprise. We’ve discussed the challenge of being a Jewish student on some of these campuses and especially of being supportive of Israel. Nobody wants to be disliked or to be on the side of evil. These organizations have made Israel out to be the new Nazi Germany and they continue to push their agenda aggressively and continuously. As Ilana points out and as we’ve reported in the past, these groups are also smart and effective.

The average person, even one who has a smattering of knowledge on the topic, is simply unequipped to debate with Mearsheimer or Finkelstein, or even with a well educated pro-Palestinian activist. The result is that those who would debate are left silent and those who want to be supportive of Israel find themselves confused and those who were neutral are far less likely to see Israel favorably.

Make no mistake, while Israel is the topic and these pro-Palestinian groups use the word “Zionists” carefully, as we’ve shown with clips from UC Irvine, the attack is on the Jewish mainstream and upon many Jews. To avoid attack, you have to be on the anti-Israel side.

The result of all this should scare everybody. First, it means that a generation of students is growing up not just with sympathy for the Palestinians but more important, with derision if not outright hatred of Israel. These are the future politicians, businesspeople, artists, voters, etc. of the US. Second, a generation of Jewish students is growing up cowed by the idea of showing or even feeling any kinship to Israel. Third, that often translates to rejection of Jewish groups on campus because the campus groups do often act supportively of Israel. Fourth, these are students, they want to have fun and to be liked. Imagine if you’re constantly confronted with the supposed evils of people affiliated with you. If you weren’t too affiliated to begin with, you’re going to reject your connection and even if you are affiliated, there’s a very good chance you will turn in a direction the rejects a part of your Jewish identity. Of course, the so-called “progressives” get around this by siding with the Pro-Palestinians and claiming that it’s their Jewish values that provide the logic for their actions.

On the University of Texas at Austin campus, where I am a student, it’s a daily problem. There are some five pro-Palestinian student groups currently active on campus. Guess how many pro-Israel student-run groups there are. One.

Well, maybe two. There is also the Union of Progressive Zionism, but I am not yet convinced that their main battle won’t be fighting the “occupation.”

Meanwhile, one could say there are about seven institutionalized forces working against Israel on the UT campus.

This year alone, these groups have brought in speakers such as John Mearsheimer, author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, a book denouncing AIPAC; Alison Weir, journalist and the founder of If Americans Knew, a group that argues the US is sending too much money to Israel and that the Palestinian plight is underrepresented in American media; Neturei Karta Rabbi Dovid Weiss, who attended Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial conference and is a member of Jews United Against Zionism; and Anna Baltzer, a pro-Palestinian American Jew.

Needless to say, the Palestinian sympathizers at UT know how to make their events look credible, and the events are usually well attended. This is the part where putting too much faith in college students starts to go wrong.

STUDENTS ATTEND these lectures and hear how AIPAC is supposedly wasting taxpayer’s money, how Israel is supposedly brutalizing and killing innocent Palestinian children, and so on. The organizers of these events know these issues are compelling, and that any Joe-shmoe is going to sympathize with their cause.

The average college student attending is likely to be hearing about the Arab-Israel conflict for the first time, and can end up believing that what they’ve just learned is the whole story, thus creating a large problem for pro-Israel activists.

It is especially undermining when some of these anti-Israel speakers are of Jewish heritage. Students interpret that to mean that if a Jew doesn’t like Israel, then Israel must be really bad - so it’s ok if I don’t like Israel either.

Is there a solution? Not one that comes up easily. The brutal truth is that we’re outnumbered. Not only is the Jewish community divided into numerous sub-groups and levels of affiliation, but the other side can count on the Muslim and far-Left students almost automatically. It’s also much easier to be active for a cause where there’s an underdog than for the supposed victor, which is how Israel is perceived. The faculty on many campuses reflects a trend to the Left and especially with respect to Israel, as we’ve previously discussed with respect to MESA.

I do have words of encouragement for Ilana, though. Don’t be afraid of the truth, because it happens to be on our side. Even with all of Israel’s faults, as well as mistakes - some unintentional and some intentional - that it has made over these many decades, after all this time it remains the side that has justice on its side. The attempt to harm the Jewish community of Mandatory Palestine, followed by the attempt to destroy Israel and “send the Jews into the ocean,” and subsequently by hostile nations that maintained a posture of war or hostility for decades has dictated the terms of this conflict to a far greater degree than anything Israel has done. Even the presence of Israel in the Territories is far from a black and white story and this was true before and is shown againt to be true now that Israel has left Gaza. It sounds trite, but Israelis grow up singing songs about peace and the pain of war. That is not what the other side is teaching their kids.

OK, OK. Michelle, Shabot, you win. I can’t out-creative you two.

Chag sameach to everyone!