Shmuel Rosner and Menachem Lazar discuss voter turnout, interesting trends and what to pay attention to as we approach the Israeli elections.
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Menachem Lazar: A pollster’s view on the upcoming Israeli elections Read More »
Women of the Walmart with Rabbi Lori Shapiro!
Women of the Walmart with Rabbi Lori Shapiro! Read More »
B’nai Brith International President Charles O. Kaufman and Executive Vice President and CEO Daniel S. Maraschin urged Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred to stop advertising for Roger Waters’ upcoming North American tour.
Kaufman and Maraschin wrote in a letter Jan. 29 that Waters, the former bassist for Pink Floyd, is openly anti-Semitic, pointing to his support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and arguing that Waters frequently demonizes Israel.
“[Waters] has blamed ‘the Jewish Lobby’ for intimidating anti-Israel critics like him,” they wrote. “And he has falsely labeled the Jewish state a ‘racist apartheid regime’ and claimed Israel is guilty of ‘ethnic cleansing.’”
Kaufman and Maraschin stated that such statements fall under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. They also pointed to concerts where Waters has displayed the Star of David on a floating pig as an example of his anti-Semitism.
“Major League Baseball has figured prominently in the advancement of civil rights and the struggle against hatred, most notably with the integration of the sport in 1947,” Kaufman and Maraschin wrote. “B’nai Brith is saddened and outraged that baseball – the sport of Jackie Robinson, Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax, and Roberto Clemente – would use its online resources to publicize an individual with an alarming history of anti-Semitic hatred.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center echoed B’nai Brith’s letter in a tweet.
“.@rogerwaters is a major league #antiSemite – @MLB should shut him out,” they wrote.
. @rogerwaters is a major league #antiSemite – @MLB should shut him out. https://t.co/YQuW5B6BMG
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) January 30, 2020
MLB told the Associated Press that they would send a private response to B’nai Brith.
Musicians like David Draiman, the lead singer of the heavy metal band Disturbed, have been critical of Waters and the BDS movement in the past.
“The very notion that Waters and the rest of his Nazi comrades decide that this is the way to go ahead and foster change is absolute lunacy and idiocy,” Draiman said in a May 30 interview with a Disturbed Facebook fan page. “It makes no sense whatsoever. It’s only based on hatred of a culture and of a people in a society that has been demonized unjustifiably since the beginning of time.”
Waters’ This Is Not a Drill tour starts on July 8 in Pittsburgh, Penn. and ends on Oct. 3 in Dallas, Tex.
B’nai Brith Urges MLB to End Advertising for Roger Waters Read More »
Important Art Movement
Karen Lehrman Bloch spotlighted the little known (in the West) flowering of Israeli art in the early decades of the 20th century (“Can Beauty Save the World?” Jan. 24). A great place to see this art — a marriage of Zionist, biblical and modernist themes in a poetic vision of Israel as a land of harmony and promise — is the permanent retrospective of Israeli art at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Reuven Rubin, mentioned in the column, along with Israel Paldi, Anna Ticho and other important Israeli artists of the early to mid-20th century are all on display there. Not to be missed.
Lane Igoudin, Los Angeles
When Words Hurt
Kudos to Orley Garber for her insightful column urging us to see beyond people’s disabilities and to recognize the unique strengths that can come with disability (“Removing Stumbling Blocks From the Seeing,” Jan. 24).
It was bitterly ironic that a column on the facing page featured an enlarged quote that used the word “lame” as an insult. (“On one night of the year, L.A. is just plain lame: New Year’s Eve.”) Merriam-Webster’s defines “lame” as “having a body part and especially a limb so disabled as to impair freedom of movement.” The Journal would do well do heed Garber’s suggestion to be more sensitive and inclusive — in this case by not using the imagery of disability as a put-down.
Tom Fields-Meyer, Los Angeles
Jews in the Super Bowl
When the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 2 in Super Bowl LIV, Chiefs offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz will become at least the 22nd Jewish player in Super Bowl history. His predecessors are: Mike Stromberg (III), Bob Stein (IV), Ed Newman (VIII, XVII [injured reserve], XIX), Sam McCullum (IX), Randy Grossman (IX, X, XIII, XIV), Steve Furness (IX, X, XIII, XIV), Lyle Alzado (XII, XVIII), Steve Shull (XVII), John Frank (XIX, XXIII), Andre Tippett (XX), Harris Barton (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX), Alan “Shlomo” Veingrad (XXVII), David Binn (XXIX), Ariel Solomon (XXX), Adam Schreiber (XXXIII), Mike Rosenthal (XXXV), Mike Seidman (XXXVIII [injured reserve]), Josh Miller (XXXIX), Antonio Garay Jr. (XLI), Julian Edelman (XLVI, XLIX, LI, LII [injured reserve], LIII) and Nate Ebner (XLIX, LI, LII, LIII). There also have been at least three Jewish Super Bowl coaches: Marv Levy (VII, assistant coach, Washington; XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, head coach, Buffalo), Sid Gillman (XV, assistant coach, Philadelphia) and Marc Trestman (XXXVII, assistant coach, Oakland).
Last year, Edelman — whose Jewish paternal great-grandfather married a Catholic woman — became the first Jewish Super Bowl MVP. Schwartz and his brother Geoff co-authored the book “Eat My Schwartz: Our Story of NFL Football, Food, Family, and Faith.”
Stephen A. Silver, San Francisco
Traumatic Brain Injuries and Iranian Attack on U.S. Troops
At first we heard that no casualties were sustained in the Iranian attacks on American troops at an Iraqi base on Jan. 7, in retaliation for the targeted killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3.
Then the Pentagon disclosed that there were some casualties. It was announced Jan. 24 that 34 soldiers have traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Despite this changing story and potentially catastrophic consequences for those injured, which can be permanent and even fatal, President Donald Trump announced that despite the TBIs, the soldiers are all right.
In my 40 years as a psychologist and neuropsychologist for Social Security Disability, state-run hospitals, multiple hospitals and outpatient referrals, I can assure you that those soldiers are not all right. Trump tossed out his one-sentence statement and moved onto the next topic.
First, he has no professional medical and health care knowledge, with no indications of the contrary. Some of the medical/psychological effects might appear years later.
Second, these soldiers now might require lifetime care in the Veterans Affairs (VA) system, and the human cost doesn’t include the financial cost to the country of 50 to 60 years of continuing coverage by the VA for each “patient” (as opposed to calling them “soldiers”), and ultimately the taxpayers.
Anyone want our TBI soldiers operating high-tech weapons? I felt that Trump displayed a complete lack of empathy toward our soldiers and their families. I encourage other health care providers and readers to reply to this letter.
Michael S. Greenberg, via mail
Letter to Kobe Bryant
From the moment
I started crumpling up napkins
and shooting imaginary
game-winning shots
in my bathroom
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with your game.
A love so deep I idolized and studied you —
from your mind & body
to your spirit & soul.
As a ten-year-old boy
deeply fascinated by you
I never saw the end of you
always being around and always doing more.
And so you hustled
on and off the court —
the journey more important than the destination.
You chased every loose ball.
You showed how small wins lead to big wins.
We asked for a show
you gave us hustle.
We gave you our heart
but you gave us so much more.
You played through the sweat and hurt
not because we asked
but because you strived to do what it takes.
You did everything for US.
You made us feel alive when we watched
you soar down the hardwood like a ballerina.
Finesse, elegance and willpower were your game.
You gave a ten-year-old boy his idol
and I’ll always love you for it.
But you are no longer with us.
You gave us everything you had to give.
Now I know it’s time to say goodbye.
Even though it’s hard to let you go.
We can savor every moment we had watching you.
The good and the bad.
Whatever it was
you kept playing through it.
You have given us
all that you have.
And we both know, no matter what,
I’ll always be that kid
with the crumpled up napkin,
garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock.
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1
“KOBE!” Love you always, Forever grateful,
One of the many who looked up to you,
Joey
Joey Ben-Zvi
Now it’s your turn. Letters should be no more than 200 words and must include a valid name and city. The Journal reserves the right to edit all letters.
letters@jewishjournal.com.
Letters: Important Art Movement, To Kobe Bryant Read More »
“THEY WERE ON A BREAK!” But now Erin and Esther are back, talking fandoms, including “Star Wars,” “The West Wing” & “Friends.” Esther shares notes from her “Star Wars & Judaism” presentation at Limmud Seattle while Erin bids a fond, fan farewell to “The West Wing Weekly” podcast. Plus, David Schwimmer’s comments on “Friends” political incorrectness and Batwoman’s continued love for, but absence of details about, her Bat Mitzvah.
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May The Fandoms Be With You Read More »
A student allegedly gave a sheet of paper with a swastika drawn on it to another student on Jan. 28 at a middle school in Arlington, Va.
The Washington Post reported that Thomas Jefferson Middle School Principal Keisha Boggan wrote a letter to parents explaining that the incident was unacceptable and that the school met with the students and their families.
“The staff at [Thomas Jefferson Middle School] strives to create a welcoming environment,” Boggan wrote. “To that end, we are stressing that if our students, staff and families hear or see something . . . they say something immediately.”
The police are investigating the incident.
Other recent swastika sightings at schools in the Washington, D.C., area included a swastika drawn with a pencil on a desk in Silver Creek Middle School in Maryland in November as well as a swastika in a boy’s bathroom at the same middle school in May.
In March, swastikas in student usernames appeared on a projector during an interactive student assembly at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. It was the third time a swastika incident had occurred at the exclusive school, whose alumni include standout members of the arts, science and government communities as well as the children of at least five presidents, in the span of a few months.
“There is something out in the atmosphere today that seems to be enabling hate, hate symbols, slurs,” Anti-Defamation League Washington, D.C., Regional Director Doron Ezickson told WUSA 9 at the time.
Adam Sandler fans will be seeing a lot more of him on Netflix. The “Uncut Gems” star has signed on four more films under a new deal with his Happy Madison Productions. His “Murder Mystery” with Jennifer Aniston, his fifth hit for the streaming service since 2015, was the most-seen movie on Netflix last year.
“Hubie Halloween,” co-starring Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Maya Rudolph, Rob Schneider and Shaquille O’Neal is completed and falls under a previous pact, as does an animated film which he will write, produce and star in.
“Whether you know him as Sandman, the Water Boy, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Nick Spitz or simply Adam, one thing is clear: our members can’t get enough of him,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said of Sandler in a statement. “They love his stories and his humor, as we saw with ‘Murder Mystery.’ So I could not be more excited to extend our partnership with Adam and the Happy Madison team and deliver more laughs around the world.”
Set to premiere on Netflix in May, “Uncut Gems” earned Sandler accolades a Best Actor Award from the National Board of Review and a nomination for a Film Independent Spirit Award. That ceremony airs live on IFC on Feb. 8 at 2 p.m.
Adam Sandler to Make More Movies With Netflix Read More »
(JTA) — A boarding school in Britain said it will modify its logo following complaints that it references an anti-Semitic blood libel.
Jeremy Wyld, headmaster of St. Hugh’s School in Woodhall Spa, situated some 130 miles north of London, told The Jewish Chronicle that a red dot hanging over a brick wall in the logo would be removed, the paper reported Thursday.
According to the paper, the logo represents a ball flying over a wall in a reference to the story of “Little Saint Hugh.” A 13th-century myth has the boy murdered by a Jewish family after he loses his ball over their wall and is invited to retrieve it.
Brian Sacks, a retired database administrator and athletics correspondent, “found out about the school and was deeply upset to see its badge,” he told the Chronicle. He wrote to the paper and to the headmaster asking him to change it, resulting in the modification.
The logo would be changed to remove the circle while retaining the bricks, Wyld said, “to reiterate the significance of the educational building blocks.”
British School to Change Logo Referencing Anti-Semitic Blood Libel Read More »
(JTA) — More than 15% of respondents to a poll in Italy said the Holocaust never happened.
The results are part of the annual Italy Report of the Eurispes published Thursday. The poll by the nongovernmental organization probes Italians’ views on a number of subjects, including the credibility of the government, the media and history, this year including the Holocaust.
The prevalence of Holocaust denial among the 1,120 Italian adults surveyed is more than five times higher than in the 2004 edition, when 2.7% of respondents said the Holocaust never happened.
Nearly 24% of the respondents said Jews control the economy and media, and 26% said they control U.S. policy.
Nearly two-thirds indicated that recent cases of anti-Semitism are isolated and have no bearing on the real scope of anti-Semitism in Italy.
About 20% agreed with that statement that many think that Benito Mussolini, Hitler’s ally and mentor and the father of 20th-century fascism, “was a great leader who only made a few mistakes.”
15% of Italians Say Holocaust Never Happened, Poll Finds Read More »
A business in Iran sells American and Israeli flags for the sole purpose of burning them at rallies.
Reuters reported that the Diba Parcham flag factory churns out around 1.5 million square feet of American and Israeli flags annually.
The owner, Ghasem Ghanjani, told Reuters that the business has no issue with Americans and Israelis, but rather with their governments. Diba Parcham’s quality control manager, identified as Rezaei, told Reuters that the burning of flags is nothing “compared to the cowardly actions of the United States, such as Gen. [Qassem] Soleimani’s assassination.”
American and Israeli flags were burned in Iranian protests in January in response to the Soleimani’s death, and such burnings have frequently occurred during Iran’s annual celebration of Quds Day, which the Iranian government touts as a day to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
Pro-Israel activist Hananya Naftali tweeted, “Iranian factory makes U.S. and Israeli flags to burn. The regime’s hate for Israel and America is greater than their love for Iranians.”
Iranian factory makes U.S. and Israeli flags to burn.
The regime's hate for Israel and America is greater than their love for Iranians. #Iran pic.twitter.com/gkAnWcZEYe
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) January 31, 2020
Iranian Business Sells U.S., Israel Flags for Burning Read More »