When his column didn’t appear this weekend, we were worried. I will personally miss this master wordsmith, and columnist who I have enjoyed reading for 22 years. A fierce defender of Israel, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a Jew. His obit on JTA is impressive – but I had to post his NY Times obituary, the paper he called home.
From the NY Times Obit:

There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: there was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called “nattering nabobs of negativism” and “hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”

He was a college dropout and proud of it, a public relations go-getter who set up the famous Nixon-Khrushchev “kitchen debate” in Moscow, and a White House wordsmith in the tumultuous era of war in Vietnam, Nixon’s visit to China and the gathering storm of the Watergate scandal, which drove the president from office….
And from 1979 until earlier this month, he wrote “On Language,” a New York Times Magazine column that explored written and oral trends, plumbed the origins and meanings of words and phrases, and drew a devoted following, including a stable of correspondents he called his Lexicographic Irregulars.

The columns, many collected in books, made him an unofficial arbiter of usage and one of the most widely read writers on language. It also tapped into the lighter side of the dour-looking Mr. Safire: a Pickwickian quibbler who gleefully pounced on gaffes, inexactitudes, neologisms, misnomers, solecisms and perversely peccant puns, like “the president’s populism” and “the first lady’s momulism.”

There were columns on blogosphere blargon, tarnation-heck euphemisms, dastardly subjunctives and even Barack and Michelle Obama’s fist bumps. And there were Safire “rules for writers”: Remember to never split an infinitive. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. Avoid clichés like the plague. And don’t overuse exclamation marks!!

Benji Lovitt – who entertained us at Jewlicious Festival 5.0 – in his latest hilarious video for the New Year.

Registration begins today!

Time to register if you want to go to Israel this winter with Birthright Israel! When? Like NOW! Join Jewlicious and Israel on the House for the best Israel trip ever! Well… we don’t actually know if it’ll be the best trip EVER. But it will be pretty darn good given that it’ll feature all the usual Birthright stuff, the top notch programing and tour professionals of Israel on the House and additional input and participation by Jewlicious! The possibilities are endless but the registration period IS NOT.

Go to IsraelOnTheHouse.com Right now. Registration is expected to end rather quickly. Follow the links and register and soon enough you’ll be travelling up and down the country with some very awesome folks and seeing some excellent and thought provoking Israel things. OK. Enough yapping. Do it!

this trip is a gift from Taglit-Birthright Israel.

Come to Israel for free with us!

Why indeed! The crew at IsraelOnTheHouse.com already enjoy a sterling reputation for great programing. Taglit-Birthright Israel has already sent over 215,000 young adults from around the world to Israel. So why should you want to go on a Jewlicious themed trip to Israel?

No matter what trip you’ll choose for your once in a lifetime Birthright Israel experience, you will benefit from Ministry of Tourism licensed tour guides, visits to key points of interest in Israel and an experienced infrastructure focused on making sure your trip is safe, informative and fun. So again, why add in a Jewlicious component?

Well. This is a Jewish site so allow me to use a food analogy. Are all doughnuts created equally? Why do you buy hamburgers from one place and not another? You know exactly what I mean. Jewlicious has been providing folks with co-branded trips for years and we accompany every single trip. We’re passionate about Israel and Jewish issues and we are just as cool and cosmopolitan as you are. Possibly cooler even. We’ll answer all your questions thoughtfully, even the ones you might think are dumb. We won’t just wake you up in the morning, we’ll also stay up at night sharing with you our perspectives on Israel and Jewish life in a way that’s not preachy or condescending. We’ll introduce you to our friends who include everyone from a Rabbi who hangs out at the Kotel every day to a dude that sells pitas at the market, from members of an Israeli indie band to a young journalist making her way. And we’ll plan special events that will allow you to have fun and really make the most out of your 10 days. Afterward, we’ll always be available to you should you need further information, a place to crash or a friendly ear.

The Jewlicious trip has always kicked ass. Be a part of it by signing up for the pre-trip mailing list and selecting Jewlicious as your referrer. This way you’ll be informed as soon as trip registration begins and you’ll give yourself a leg up on getting accepted into what will in all likelihood be a very in demand program!

OK? OK! See you this winter in Israel!!

Join The Pre-Trip Mailing List

Yo! It’s that time of the year again. Time to start thinking about going on a free Birthright Israel Trip next winter. If you are between 18-26, Jewish and have never been on a peer-based trip to Israel before, start thinking about floating in the Dead Sea, visiting the Kotel in Jerusalem, sipping a cappuccino in Tel Aviv and hiking and touring the width and breadth of Israel. For free. Registration is going to begin in September but you can give yourself a leg up by pre-registering at IsraelOnTheHouse.com. Don’t think about it. Just do it. It doesn’t cost anything and signing up does not obligate you in any way. Now here’s the fun part. Ready?

Select “Jewlicious” as your referrer and you will be able to go on a co-branded Jewlicious trip. What does that mean? Well, you will get all the usual good stuff mandated by Taglit-Birthright Israel, all the remarkable creative programming and planning skills of the team at IsraelOnTheHouse.com AND further enhancements introduced by the witty, knowledgeable and irreverent folks that you know and love here at Jewlicious.

How has that manifested itself in the past? Unplanned excursions to less frequented locales, special live music events by local indie acts, a variety of hip, interesting speakers, the ongoing commentary of people passionate about Israel, all kinds of awesome stuff and really, really good hummus. Seriously, it’s that good. So… yeah. Sign up now, select “Jewlicious” and by all means feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.

this trip is a gift from Taglit-Birthright Israel.

MomObama:CHANGE!

Why is this relevant? Because Oranim is the largest trip provider that recruits participants and runs trips for Birthright Israel. In the 10 years that Birthright has been in operation, Oranim has brought in nearly 50,000 of the 200,000 young Jews who have come to Israel – and Momo, in his trademark style, has greeted nearly every single one of them. So what transpired that would cause such a rift?

First it’s important to understand how Birthright Israel works. The Birthright Israel Foundation takes care of fund-raising for the trips. Taglit-Birthright Israel takes care of the programmatic, educational and management aspects of the trips. Finally a series of pre-approved and duly vetted Israel Trip providers are paid by Birthright to recruit and offer free Israel trips to participants. Right from the start it was decided that Birthright would use Independent trip providers to run the trips so that as many unaffiliated young Jews could be engaged to participate. Of all the trip providers that have worked with Birthright, none have been as successful as Oranim, thanks in no small measure to the loyalty inspired by Momo and his staff due to their very personal approach. Oranim used that loyalty to create a network of young Jews who by word of mouth encouraged their friends to choose Oranim as their Taglit Birthright-Israel trip provider.

So successful were these efforts that Taglit was forced to institute what was known as the “Momo Rule” whereby the percentage of participants that could go with any single trip provider was restricted to a smaller and smaller percentage. It was widely acknowledged that such restrictions were aimed squarely at Oranim, one of the few trip providers that was actually affected by these rules. Thus many people recruited by Oranim either could not go or were forced to go with another trip provider not of their choosing.

Oranim’s success did have its detractors. Some claimed that by appealing to the lowest common denominator – ie unaffiliated college aged students – Momo ran trips that were more about the experience and the passion (some say the party atmosphere, despite the fact that Oranim strictly forbids inebriation and does not allow staff to drink) than they were about imparting a strong educational message. There were issues with the message Oranim was imparting as well: “alumni say he routinely pushes aliyah, pressures participants to date only Jews and stresses that they should “make Jewish babies”” The New York Jewish Week wrote as follows:

Lifshitz cited an ideological reason for his move… “Due to new rules and regulations within the project, I have been instructed that there were certain things I was simply not allowed to talk about,” Lifshitz wrote. He noted that Birthright had prohibited him from using the phrase “raise your children Jewish” or encouraging aliyah to Israel. And he said he could no longer promise his free Israel honeymoon gift to brides and grooms who had met during their Oranim Birthright trips… “I cannot continue to allow my messages to be muted,” Lifshitz continued in the letter.

Momo can be a bit gruff, and he does not hide or make excuses for his agenda. Jewlicious has run 6 trips with Oranim and I can tell you the man doesn’t give a rat’s ass about political correctness. Consequently, some participants have taken umbrage with his message:

“Oranim’s ‘honeymoon package’ and emphasis on ‘making Jewish babies’ commit a cultural faux pas that carries the potential to damage Birthright’s image in the U.S.,” said Ruth Stein, who attended an Oranim trip in June 2007. “Such ‘religious’ choices are regarded as private matters that are none of anybody’s business… “Momo’s lectures on the unsurpassed beauty of Jewish women, among other topics,” continued Stein, “are especially risky given the trip’s reputation as a secular option for non-religious Jews.” … Apart from what some see as Lifshitz’s hard sell on dating Jewish, some participants were put off by what they saw as his hard line on Israeli politics… “The right-wing perspectives presented were rather unsettling, and the indoctrination was unappealing,” said a 23-year-old 2005 Oranim trip participant, who requested to remain anonymous due to his work at an American Jewish organization. “[Momo] spoke to our group, saying, ‘Some people say the Iraq war was good for Israel. Wrong. The Iraq war was great for Israel,’ representing a rather astonishingly narrow viewpoint.”

While Momo definitely has his own agenda, in his defense, when we ran trips with them, he gave his speeches but he never told us what we could and could not tell the participants. Anyone that’s been on an Oranim trip with us can tell you that they were exposed to a more nuanced message that encouraged hard facts and continued study after the trip.

It’s clear that the vast majority of the participants seem to have enjoyed their experience tremendously, especially judging by the continued success of Oranim’s word-of-mouth (and Facebook, and email etc.) marketing strategy. This past summer, Oranim accounted for 70% of the registered participants, although they were only given 14% of the available spots (another sore point mentioned by Momo). Birthright Israel seems nonplussed, some might say relieved even, by Oranim’s latest move. They lost no time sending an email to all of Oranim’s alumni encouraging them to tell their eligible friends to choose any of 2 dozen remaining trip providers for their Israel trips.

Momo’s letter leaves the possibility of Oranim’s return to Birthright next summer open. I don’t know if Birthright and Oranim will be able to bridge their differences and I don’t know if it even matters. Oranim is still doing great business running traditional tourist programs as well as MASA initiatives, and Birthright, for its part, seems kind of relieved at Momo’s departure. As for the legions of kids that would have gone to Israel with Oranim, will no doubt find other trip providers. But one can’t help but wonder – was this turn of events good for the Jews? Was Momo reviled for his message and personality or was pressure put to bear on him by jealous individuals and groups who simply could not compete with his marketing prowess?

An interesting aspect of the whole Taglit-Birthright Israel project is the fact that it is a unique partnership between philanthropists, a non-profit entity and a group of organizations and for-profit entities like Oranim and others. For-profit entities were included because it was understood at Birthright’s inception, that existing Jewish organizations had historically failed to adequately engage secular and unaffiliated young Jews. It was hoped that the profit motive would inspire these companies to scour the world for and engage disenfranchised young Jews. But over the past ten years it is possible that a sense of entitlement had settled upon some of the trip providers who found that marketing cut into their profits and that the lure of a free trip was enough to get people to fill their buses. Let’s hope that this development does not signal the victory of mediocrity over talent.

And one other thing. I have very good relations with several very good Israel trip providers as well as with Birthright Israel. Please don’t get mad at me – I’m just reporting the story. If you have any issue with anything I have written, feel free to leave a comment. We don’t censor anything except for the occasional Nazi or racist. OK?

Addendum: Yes, I created that MomObama graphic, obviously inspired by Shepard Fairey of ObeyGiant and his Obama HOPE and CHANGE posters. No I won’t make one of you for free. Sorry. Stop asking. Yes you can use it on your Web site but only if you credit both Shepard Fairey and me, David Abitbol – you know © David Abitbol 2008. All Rights Reserved. That sort of thing – first used here, remember?

I read this article last night and was thoroughly disappointed.

“Birthright’s Hidden Cost” by Josh Nathan-Kazis — http://newvoices.org/editorial/birthrights-hidden-cost.html

Nathan-Kazis writes in his article (which you can read at the link above) that Birthright Israel (BRI) billionaire donor, Sheldon Adelson, has pushed Birthright to indoctrinate its participants with a right-wing agenda.

However, no where in this nicely written article is there any connection, statistic, or relevant fact that connects Adelson to indoctrinating Birthright Israel participants to a right-wing / pro-Netanyahu agenda.

Josh Nathan-Kazis does not draw out a case for this, rather, he explains how Birthright Israel is reliant on such wealthy donors, who like to take up certain causes.

Firstly, has Nathan-Kazis interviewed a statistically relevant number of Birthright participants over the past few years to make your conclusion about propaganda and indoctrination? If he did, why weren’t these findings included in his article? Clearly, he had none.

Secondly, the article does not discuss at all the fact that Birthright Israel does not actually run any of its programs. Rather, there are some 30+ organizations running various types and styles of Birthright Israel trips (called trip providers), all deciding how to educate and even indoctrinate its participants. It’s up to the trip provider, not Birthright Israel. BRI merely has a set rules and requirements each trip provider must follow, and working for one of them myself, I know that teaching a pro-Netanyahu or pro-right-wing agenda is NOT one of those requirements.

Thirdly, even if this analysis were true, how would indoctrinating non-Israelis affect the Israeli elections? Last I checked, BRI participants live in the Diaspora, which typically means they can’t vote in Israel (most of them at least).

While I do have my own personal problems with BRI, namely the lack of actual education that goes on during the 10-day program, this false analysis of a right-wing indoctrination is far from the truth.

I agree, it is important to look into the donors that fund an organization, but this article has not proved any connection between the cause (the donor) and the stated effect (right-wing indoctrination). Unfortunately, this is just another piece of shoddy yellow journalism.

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I HOPE you can come. Spend a long time in Israel for a CHANGE

So Momo… what’s the deal here?

Momo: We are going to have at least 200 people participating in ISC through Masa. We are going to be the biggest Masa organizers thanks to this awesome, long term, service oriented Israel program – that is free!

You want to tell us what ISC is?

ISC is my dream. To bring young Jews for a significant experience in Israel, to give back, to do tikun olam, to grow up, to learn Hebrew. Basically it’s a 5-month Masa sponsored program that focuses on education and community service. It began as a pilot program based out of Ramleh and now we will have it in other smaller towns like Netivot, Acco, Arad, Haifa, Yokne’am – in as many cities as we can in Israel. On top of all that, this coming January we have an internship-based program based out of Tel Aviv that already has 50 participants working in exciting areas like high tech, business, education, hospitalty, non-profit management etc.

ISC Participants will enjoy communal life in furnished apartments. Each will be assigned a host family in their respective communities who they can use as a resource, for family dinners and things like that so that they can enjoy a more intimately Israeli experience. There will be intensive Hebrew language courses, tours in Israel, lectures and conversation about Jewish identity and Israel. In return they do volunteer work in education and related issues in the community they live in.

OK, so what does this whole thing cost?

Momo: Cost? It costs $6000. But what do the participants pay? A refundable $500 deposit. That’s it. Masa covers $3000 and the balance comes from private donors who wish to remain nameless at least for now.

Oooh! You’re so mysterious Momo. Come on… give me a hint.

Momo: אל תתחיל איתי דוד

OK, ok relax. So this is pretty much the only Masa-sponsored program that’s free, right? What you’ve done here is kind of bold, some would say audacious. Others would just say crazy.

Momo: Am I crazy? Of course I am, but that’s nothing new.

Well, it kind of makes sense, I mean given Oranim’s position as a leading Birthright-Israel trip provider, this seems like an ideal post Birthright experience for those who want to supplement their initial trip with something a little more long term, no? I mean when you think about it… not really so crazy…

Momo: Of course! And you get the full Oranim atmosphere – warmth, family, welcoming – a positive jewish experience in a pluralistic, open minded environment. ISC is the only MASA program that is completely free – and as far as your airfare goes, we help participants connect with their local Federations and other programs that help subsidize or pay that.

That’s awesome. Where can you go to get more information?

Momo: Just go to the Israel Service Corps Web site and all your questions will be answered.

So why do you do this Momo?

Momo: It is all about love.

I knew you were going to say that.

*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