The major parties fielded for the 2009 elections have got to be the worst in years. Which is too bad.
“Getting Back in Touch” via Facebook - Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
Filed under Entertainment, General, Humor, Web 2.0
Lately, my wife Jody and I have spent a lot of time getting in touch with old friends via Facebook. It started when I received a friend request from Larry. Larry and I were best buddies growing up. But after I moved away, we fell out of touch. I’ve looked for him from time to time via Google but never found any contact information. It had been 20 years since I last spoke with him. But through the wonder of social networking, we’re back in contact.
Larry connected me to another high school friend who connected me to a college colleague. It’s been a blast.
And it got Jody and I thinking: What if there had been a Facebook when we were teenagers some 30+ years ago. The whole concept of “getting back in touch” with old friends as we are doing now simply wouldn’t exist. We’d be connected from the start and would stay that way (unless we were “unfriended” for some unforgivable offense).
posted by Brian Blum on February 19 2009 ♦
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ParnasaFest: Jewish Networking During Bad Economic Times
Filed under Announcement, Business, Career Advice, Community, Workplace
Dear Jewneric readers,
I, along with Dani Klein and Susanne Goldstone, have started a new project called ParnasaFest. The idea is for Jews to network both in person, and using social media, to find jobs, careers, or just make new connections.
During such an awful economic time, there is a huge need for these sort of “help your brother out” sort of events.
The Facebook group lists all past and future ParnasaFest events: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52056874652
posted by Dave Weinberg on February 16 2009 ♦
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The Case of the Purloined Ice Cream
Filed under Uncategorized
My wife Jody has been in the States for the last two weeks to celebrate her father’s 70th birthday, leaving me a “single parent” back in Israel. I’m pretty good at handling the day-to-day activities at home, taking care of the kids, keeping the house running. Except in one area.
The kitchen.
Frankly, I’m a total nincompoop when it comes to cooking. I imagine that if I lived alone with no family, I’d be the take out king. Chinese one night, falafel or schwarma the next. There’s no lack of fast food these days in Jerusalem. We even have our choice of upscale sushi bars.
posted by Brian Blum on February 15 2009 ♦
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Why I’m Voting Green This Year
Filed under Israel, Politics
You would think that after voting for a Barkat and a Barack respectively in the local Jerusalem and U.S. elections, the logical next choice would be to support a Barak (Ehud that is) in the upcoming Israeli national elections.
Would that it were that easy.
posted by Brian Blum on February 6 2009 ♦
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Ambiguity in Art vs Ambiguity in Torah
Filed under Art
The written Torah is a skeleton. It takes a vast amount of information, history, and movements, and compresses it into a small form. In order to understand the written Torah, one must rely on the oral Torah, as well as the vast amounts of commentaries, opinions, and midrashim that were meant to help elucidate the text of Torah.
The Torah is an ambiguous document. I don’t want to waste time arguing this point, but I will say that very little is known about the people or events within the Torah. We know important events that happened, but the pshat (actual text) gives very little detail about some of these events, or even events that happen in between. This ambiguity is important though. It’s a good thing.
The Torah is a document that can be seen from a very personal, individualistic level, while at the same time remaining all-encompassing. Certain stories and events resonate with different people. People see the Avos (forefathers) and Imahot (foremothers) in completely different aspects. None of these aspects are false, even though they may seem contradictory.
posted by Devorah Wiseman on January 27 2009 ♦
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Why My Life was Not Wasted with Television: The Al and Peggy Bundy Love Story
Filed under Uncategorized
Married…With Children
A popular show in the 90s was really a parody of those 50s and 60s feel good family shows- where everything always works out right, and the family always sticks together and gets along. Those disgustingly annoying shows like the Brady Bunch, where the crisis of the day usually includes Marcia getting hit by a football, or Cindy losing her doll, will make a semi-intelligent audience want to cringe. Life is not like the Brady Bunch.
Audiences eagerly turned to the show “Married…with Children” in an effort to distance themselves from the false sugar-coated view of the world that the Brady Bunch and shows like it offered. The show centers on an incredibly dysfunctional family- a caricature of families that probably existed everywhere in the United States during the 80s. Balding, foul-mouthed patriarch Al Bundy is stuck in a job he hates as a women’s shoes salesman. His wife, Peggy, that he was forced to marry in a shotgun wedding, is a slovenly smoking red head, that he always finds time to insult. Their children, Bud and Kelly, are typical teens: a horny, yet completely socially awkward pre-teen boy and his overly promiscuous idiot sister. The story also features the happily married newly-wed couple Marcy and Steve Rhoades and their sickening relationship.
At first glance, this show really has no values that are important for Jews anywhere. In fact, one can easily argue what a negative impact this show would have on the Jewish community. The family patriarch is portrayed as a sexist, ignorant human being ridiculed by his wife and his children, in a horrible job. Kelly, his daughter, is promiscuous and idiotic. She looked as if she shopped out of a Hookers-R-Us catalogue, and was usually on the back of some meathead’s motorcycle every episode. This probably is the last thing Jewish parents want for their children; with the concept of tsniut being prevalent within the Orthodox community. Bud, the most intelligent of the family, used his brains to devise ways to entrap women into sleeping with him, and always failed. (I remember even rooting for him once or twice to get the girl…just because his attempts and failures were always so pathetic.) This, of course, is a really negative portrayal of a trait Jews really admire, intelligence and learning.
At first glance, this show is inappropriate for anyone to watch.
I don’t like first glances.
I actually believe that a successful theme of this show is the idea of Taharat Mishpacha; which is undoubtedly difficult to perceive, but is still a major factor of this show.
Look at the marriage of Al and Peggy Bundy. They don’t really seem to love or respect each other. They constantly insult each other, and their failings. Al is constantly complaining of Peggy’s shoddy…non-existent housework and her sitting in front of the television eating bon-bons and smoking cigarettes all day. Peggy constantly complains of Al’s non-existent sex drive, as well as his inability to be successful at his job.
Now look at the marriage of their successful newly-wed neighbors. Marcy is rising in the banking system, and bringing home a steady paycheck, and completely in love with her husband Steve. The two are incredibly sickening in their public displays of affection, and their oft-stated declarations of ooey-gooey love to each other. If you look at the marriages at first glance, you see a failing marriage that exists only out of habit, and a marriage of true love that will last forever.
Al and Peggy have been married for probably 16-17 years prior to the beginning of the show. Granted, it was a shotgun wedding due to the unwanted pregnancy of Peggy, but it was binding none-the-less. Marcy and Steve have been married for 2 weeks (?). (It’s been years since I watched…so I am fuzzy on the details.)
One of the major jokes of the show is that Al and Peggy barely have intercourse or contact with each other. It’s taken to an absurd degree, but when they do get with each other, it’s completely explosive, and a real treat to the audience to watch (not actually watch! Mostly you just see a judge’s bench and hear the really awesome words “Oh Al!”). And while Peg and Al often speak about their disgust for the other person, I feel a true audience member sees that the “hashkafa” between the two is incredibly similar. Al and Peggy were made for each other. They know how to talk to each other, how to communicate, and thus, their marriage works. And while they do not physically interact with each other on a regular basis, the times they do are completely explosive and fun for them (and the audience to watch). A line that’s oft repeated “Oh, Al!” probably illustrates this point effectively.
posted by Devorah Wiseman on January 25 2009 ♦
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Who Hates Who?
Filed under Jewish Perspective, Torah, Uncategorized
The following is a letter to the editor of an imaginary paper that would only be read by people who understand that I mean well, and who know that I write this as a humble teacher moved to teach:
Dear Editor:
If a friend of yours confided that she had several relationships with men all of whom abused her; you would offer that while one abusive relationship can happen by accident, several abusive relationships suggest a pattern. This does not excuse the abuser. They deserve to be punished no matter what she discovers about herself. You are telling her to look at the pattern and try to understand it so that she can have healthy, productive, relationships in the future.
Much is being made of new waves of anti-Semitism related to the war in Gaza . In Chicago we’ve had several high profile incidents in the past few weeks. This isn’t something new. This has been going on since the Jewish People were slaves in Egypt . Egyptians, Romans, Christians, Muslims, Japanese, the list goes on almost ad infinitum. At some point we must ask ourselves if we aren’t contributing to this phenomenon.
posted by Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh on January 22 2009 ♦
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An Olah Without a Parachute XII
Filed under Israel, Jewish Blog, Jewish History, Jewish Life, Jewish Perspective, Jewneric
There is a war going on in our country.
Fathers, brothers, sons, cousins and friends are leaving their families to go fight this war. The people left behind remain worried, nervous and on edge. They brace for the worst and pray for the best.
Wars are different when your life is touched by it - when you know the soldiers fighting. In Jerusalem, our lives are not affected physically by what’s going on, at least not yet. But emotionally, it is on our minds and spoken about constantly.
It is a harrowing to see and hear the goings on of the war, yet I am grateful I’m here. I want to be affected by what’s affecting my people. Recently, I went to Sderot and Kiryat Malachi. I spoke with children who live there, and they told me a story about a prank one of their friends pulled.
Here’s the backstory: Whenever a rocket is on route to a town, an alarm sounds so the people have ten – fifteen seconds to get to shelter. This alarm was downloaded to someone’s cell phone and as a prank set off. Everyone ran in different directions while the prankster yelled, “Bedicha, bedicha!” (It’s a joke, it’s a joke!) continue reading…
posted by Eliana Rudolph on January 19 2009 ♦
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Bad Karma?
Filed under Israel, Jewish Perspective, Torah
Is it possible that even when you do the right thing it will bring you negative consequences?
Imagine that your Aunt walks into the room, this is the first time you have seen her since she became ill. She looks gaunt and pail, but you want to cheer her up so you tell her that she looks great. She smiles and says you’re just saying that, but you can tell it pleased her. I think most of us would agree that what you did was right. It was a ‘white’ lie which you told for a higher purpose, to cheer her up.
Now let’s say, for the sake of this thought experiment that your children were in the room when you told your Aunt she looked great. They would understand why you said it and they would learn an important lesson; that sometimes it is the right thing to lie when a greater purpose is served. And yet, the next time they ask you how they look and you tell them they look great, they will wonder if you are just saying that to make them feel better. Even though it was the right thing to say to your Aunt, you suffered negative consequences.
I ask this because I can’t help wonder while this war rages in Gaza , a war I have no hesitation in supporting as a legitimate act of self defense; if we still might suffer the consequences from the killing. Is it possible to kill other people and not become cruel?
posted by Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh on January 14 2009 ♦
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War in Gaza: Which Way Will the Dreidel Fall?
Filed under Israel, Politics
Our friend Joan called last night just as the news broke that the IDF had begun its ground operation in Gaza. Joan was panicked. She knew a number of families in our neighborhood who had boys in combat units. “Why are we doing this?” she said. “Can’t we pull them all out now?”
My first reaction was detached, though certainly not uncaring. I had been obsessively following the geo-politics of the last week’s aerial bombardment of Hamas. While inspiring in its precision and speed, it was clear a ground operation would be ultimately required for Israel to achieve its objectives. The duration and effectiveness of the operation would in large part depend on internal Israeli decisiveness, as well as how Israel responded to world pressure to submit to a cease-fire. My initial thoughts, then, were more like those of a strategic analyst than a parent.
Joan’s call, though, reminded me of the very real dangers for the Israeli troops now heading into booby trapped roads and hidden bunkers where Hamas terrorists lie in wait. I thought of my own children: 17-year-old Amir who will be drafted as early as six months from now, and 10-year old Aviv who has eight more years to go when, we all pray, there will be no need for any re-occupation of Palestinian territory.
