Photo is by Dan Sieradski of the rally for Israel in New York on January 6th 2009, he has even more on Flickr, as well.

No related posts.

via bauldoff:

Matisyahu deployed what may be the only large, mirrored, rotating dreidel in show business — a Jewish answer to a disco ball — at Webster Hall on Sunday night, the first night of Hanukkah. How could I not blog that? (thanks, John and John!)

No related posts.

• I hadn’t heard of Defiance until a week or two ago when I stumbled across a book of the same title, which boasted how it was now a major motion picture. “In WWII Russia, Jewish refugees band together into a brigade that hides in the forest, ambushes Germans and survives until war’s end, eventually 1200 strong.”
• Likewise, I came across Waltz with Bashir last night. It looks very interesting and promising, especially so because of it’s format: animated documentary.“One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there is a connection between the dream and their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life…”

No related posts.

The premise is to cover the Torah portion in 4 minutes. I know it sounds like that wouldn’t be enough, but it surprsingly works out well. It’s aimed towards a younger audience, but it’s not dumbed-down and doesn’t alienate older people. My favorite one so far is Lech Lecha. The music is by Stereo Sinai, and the song can be downloaded for free.

No related posts.

The parents say that they aren’t white supremacists, they just think that “races shouldn’t mix” and wanted their children to have “unique names.” They also don’t get what the big deal is about naming their children after an ideology responsible for the deaths of millions during the 20th century. Despite having a multitude of swastikas in their home, they can’t seem to draw it correctly, nor do they consider it to be a symbol having any meaning:

There are swastikas on walls, on jackets, on the freezer and on a pillow. The family car had swastikas, Heath Campbell said, until New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families told him they could endanger the children.

The swastikas, Heath Campbell said, are symbols of peace and balance. He considers them art.

“It doesn’t mean hatred to me,” he said. Deborah Campbell said a swastika “doesn’t really have a meaning. It’s just a symbol.”

On Twitter, Orthodox Jewish hiphop musician Y-Love joked that his house “just doesn’t feel lived in without 4-500 meaningless symbols all over everything!”

My favorite part:

Heath Campbell said he doesn’t want to force his views on his children, in part because he had views forced on him. He said he also teaches them nonviolence.

Abusive guardians, Heath Campbell said, used Bible verses to teach him to distrust blacks. If he questioned the guardians, he said, he was hit. He acknowledged he couldn’t challenge the guardians’ views.

He said Adolf Hitler, Aryan Nation and Hinler would be able to make their own decisions about race.

Ugh.

No related posts.

During the time I spent streaming CNN-IBN and CNN International online to get up-to-the-minute information on the Mumbai attacks, I had a bad feeling about the people in the Chabad House. After looking at the pictures of the aftermath, it was sickening, but not surprising, to hear that the terrorists had treated the Jewish victims terribly:

“Bombay has a long history of terror. I have seen bodies of riot victims, gang war and previous terror attacks like bomb blasts. But this was entirely different. It was shocking and disturbing,” a doctor said.

Asked what was different about the victims of the incident, another doctor said: “It was very strange. I have seen so many dead bodies in my life, and was yet traumatised. A bomb blast victim’s body might have been torn apart and could be a very disturbing sight. But the bodies of the victims in this attack bore such signs about the kind of violence of urban warfare that I am still unable to put my thoughts to words,” he said.

Asked specifically if he was talking of torture marks, he said: “It was apparent that most of the dead were tortured. What shocked me were the telltale signs showing clearly how the hostages were executed in cold blood,” one doctor said.

The other doctor, who had also conducted the post-mortem of the victims, said: “Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again,” he said.

No related posts.

“I often like to tell new people that when you start studying Judaism, every time you get a new book, every time you learn something new, it should feel like dipping a spoon into a bucket of fresh well water. If you ever had well water, it stimulates the whole being — this is what Judaism does when we learn. It stimulates the being,” Funnye said. “It’s never stopped doing that for me. The more I learn, the richer it tastes; the better it tastes.”

No related posts.

Not Irish, but could possibly be “Celtic” in a stretch of the definition: a Tartan kippah!
Tartan being the plaid fabric you see on Scottish kilts. 100% Scottish wool woven in Scotland.

No related posts.

For all anyone knows, she could have spent the entire four years from their first date until their wedding day converting and learning more about Judaism. Maybe she had always been drawn towards it in her life, but it wasn’t until dating a Jewish man that she began to seriously look into becoming Jewish. Perhaps she was already converting when they met.

Considering the family’s involvement in Judaism, this clearly was not something undertaken lightly simply so they could get married. Essentially, Amy Rule’s conversion is none of our damn business unless she makes it ours.

No related posts.

No related posts.