I asked Dov Rosenblatt for a link to the Blue Fringe Band's album.

Okay, one last post. I don't have time to check if we've done something on this before (I have the hankering feeling Elder Avraham might have), but Reader (Rabbi) Elli Stern says to check out Lishmah.org, which he says is expecting attendance of 15,000. Note that none of the speakers have titles -- quirky, eh?

I'm heading out. Posts I haven't done that I intend to get to soon or after the Jewish Sabbath:
1) Rounding up the whole ExclusiveGate situation.
2) Finishing off Rushkoff.
3) A belated Jewish Week roundup.
4) Some thoughts on the whole Jews vs. music thing.

Yoel Oz seems to have some blogging plans, a cult/secret society and personal blog. Wonder what'll come of it.

The possible back-story on the 86-year-old's crash.

AKS wants to know if the "Hunting Bambi" reports are true. The Ms. Blog has been on top of the story, and has dispatches here and here.

Why can't Lieberman raise Jewish cash? Because he's raised the ire of Barbra Streisand. (via Gawker)

All -
It just so happens that the first of these was written on the 1/9 as I hovered over a seated Rabbi Saul Berman. He probably didn't know he was in the presence of such important work.

For his righteous zeal,
And unmerciful killing:
Covenant of peace(25:11-12)
(SIW)

Describing bloodlines:
Reuven blah blah blah blah blah
Yada yada blah. (26:5-50)
(SIW)

Just this many Jews:
One, seven, thirty and then --
Six hundred thousand. (26:51)
(SIW)

By the size of tribes,
And, in addition, by lots;
Split the land thusly. (26:52-56)
(SIW)

For inheritance,
New laws were legislated.
Daughters of Tzlophchad. (27:1-8)
(SIW)

"For that water stuff???"
"That's why I cannot enter?!!?!?!"
Inner monologue. (27:14)
(SIW)

Re: these sheep people,
Let them graze and dig and play,
But with a shepherd. (27:17)
(SIW)

Anoint Joshua -
He's the guy who'll fill your shoes.
Teach him well, Moses. (27:18-22)
(SIW)

Sacred seventh month...
Libations...sacrifices...
And similar stuff. (29)
(SIW)

Write your own parsha senryu! They are three-line poems that have a 5-7-5 syllabic structure. Write for next week's parsha, Matos, and send thim in by Thursday night; the best will be included.
Sign up to receive Parsha Senryu by e-mail by sending to parsha-senryu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Parsha Senryu are also posted at Mimaamakim.

Josh Yuter gets good news regarding his comps, so it seems that by the end of the summer he'll officially be Rabbi Yuter II. Good Constellation, Josh (mazel tov, you know?)! A follow-up post on the actual substance of his post -- ie, women rabbis -- will be forthcoming, once I get one together.

Man sets new Donkey Kong record:

Steve Wiebe now rules as the Donkey Kong king after setting a new world record with more than 900,000 points in the classic video game.

Ami Eden posts on what he referred to in an e-mail to me as "exclusive-gate.". Ami's slowly learning the art of blogging -- posts for which there were no links yesterday have them today. Although his link to Protocols in that post is both faulty and doesn't link to the individual exclusive-gate post.
Anyway, Ami writes:

The guys at Protocols are giving me hell for referring to E.J. Kessler's article on the Lieberman children as an exclusive. It was a mistake to use that word in my post (and the blame belongs to me, not Kessler). Still, techincally the article was exclsuive in the sense that no other newspaper ran the exact same story by Kessler. And her report did containe several exclusive facts and interviews. But, again, as I said, it did not rise to the level of an amieden.com posting, though the British did say it was an exclusive. It all depends on what your definition of exclusive is.

And the plot thickens...

White House pressured for urainium sentance:

Senior CIA officials told a closed Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Wednesday that, before Bush gave the speech, they discussed the reliability of intelligence about Iraq's alleged attempts to buy uranium in Africa with National Security Council aide Robert Joseph, according to two senior U.S. officials. Joseph, a top aide to Bush national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, coordinates policies to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

LONDON - A body found in central England was tentatively identified by police as a missing Ministry of Defense adviser who was named as the possible source for a disputed news report that claimed the government doctored intelligence on Iraqi weapons to strengthen the case for war.

While Graham did not call for Bush's impeachment, he said if the president lied about the reasons for going to war with Iraq it would be "more serious" than former President Bill Clinton's lie under oath about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

"If the standard of impeachment is the one the House Republicans used against Bill Clinton, this clearly comes within that standard," he said.

"Let us say one thing. If we are wrong, we will have destroyed a threat that, at its least, is responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering.

A U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday in an attack on a convoy in Baghdad, bringing the number of American battle deaths in the Iraqi conflict to 148 surpassing the 147 killed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Thirty-three of those deaths have come in attacks since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1.

'History Will Judge Us'

Hasidic Rebel has a cute story about Jewish v. non-Jewish v. classical music. I never would've taken him for a pop music sort of guy, tell you the truth...

Ari Fleischer does have a sense of humor after all>:

"Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer says he considered saying something to President Bush about his pronunciation of the word ``nuclear'' but never did.
Fleisher appeared on CBS's ``The Late Show with David Letterman'' Thursday, and Letterman brought up Bush's much-noted pronunciation of ``nuclear'' as NU-cu-lar rather than NU-cle-ar when talking about weapons of mass destruction.
``That might be why we haven't found them yet,'' Fleischer quipped."

The Charedi World deals with the admissions process for yeshiva gedola (high school on up):

"HaRav Lefkowitz went on to discuss the typical efforts to persuade talmidim to attend one yeshiva or another and the preparation needed to make the transition from a yeshiva ketanoh to a yeshiva gedoloh. 'It is not like the transition from one year to the next, but rather one goes from dependence to independence; [now] one must toil on his own to prepare the sugya in all of its detail and one no longer has the help to the same extent he had previously at the yeshiva ketanoh. This preparation demands that the talmid realize it was not easy to gain admission to the yeshiva and only through hard work and hasmodoh and serious efforts will he be worthy of acceptance, for only then does he receive the yoke of the yeshiva when he enters. But if he knows that he is wanted and people try to convince him to become a talmid at their yeshiva, he will lack all of the necessary preparation and the acceptance of his authority of his rabbonim at the yeshiva he joins.
'Therefore all those involved in the task of enrollment must be very prudent in their ways, their affairs and their speech. They must speak only with the ramim and the parents, not engaging in conversation and persuasion with the talmidim, and should make every effort to ensure their manner of speech remains within the bounds of what it fitting and permitted, and besiyata deShmaya, if we strive toward all these aims, it will strengthen Torah and strengthen the beneficial influence on the talmidim.'"

Pat Robertson on Liberia:

My question to the United States State Department is very simple, "If you are successful in taking down the government of Charles Taylor, what plan do you have to establish stability in Liberia, the rule of law, free elections, and representative government? What appropriation has been made by the United States Congress to back up the actions that you have taken to bring down the freely elected government of a sovereign and friendly nation?"

I found myself scrolling through the email version of The Yated, when I saw this story about a Gateways success story. Gateways, for those unaware, is one of those big kiruv organizations, HQed in Monsey. This particular story involves an "Ivan" who sort of dropped out of Judaism during his teen years until he stumbled into a seminar (these stories really get old quickly, don't they?). However, despite his interest, Ivan still was unconvinced, so Gateways had to wheel out the heavy artillery:

It was flattering, but I felt confused and torn. I was a terrific salesman but couldn’t bring myself to buy the product. I was living a double life.”
That situation lasted until Ivan was introduced to Naomi at the second seminar he attended. Naomi had been born in Israel and had moved to New York with her parents when she was about nine years old. She had graduated medical school and was about to start a two-month internship in a hospital in Israel.
This was her second seminar as well. She was drawn to the lectures on the Torah’s divine origin as well as those on the special sanctity of Jewish marriage. “I saw someone who was completely taken by what she was learning. She was downloading the information faster than a computer,” Ivan recalls. “She didn’t want to miss a single word.”
Naomi’s fascination with Yiddishkeit and her receptiveness to many of the ideas presented at the seminar opened up a locked door in Ivan. Despite his efforts to remain aloof, he found his resistance to Jewish observance melting. For the first time, he said, he was glad he “could still remember how to make a brocha, read Hebrew and know his way around Judaism.” He explains how Naomi’s excitement about learning changed his perceptions.
“She was so into it, it was inspiring. I couldn’t help but see Judaism through her eyes. I wanted us to be on the same page. Somehow I knew this was it.

Palestine Solidarity Movement conference at Rutgers University

For those of you following the issue, here is a link to an open letter the president of Rutgers University issued this week with regards to the Third National Student Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement scheduled to take place this fall.

What do readers think about this issue?

Diamonds are a Bride's Best Friends

A New York bride will sashay down the aisle this summer in a diamond-studded dress which, at 300,000 dollars, is being touted as one of the most expensive bridal gowns ever made.

The dress, designed by Brooklyn-based couturier Anthony La Bate, is made with 1,100 diamonds totalling 300 carats, 3,000 Swarovski crystals and 50 yards (meters) of silk organza, the New York Post reported Thursday.

"I've never heard of a gown at this price before," La Bate told the newspaper. "I've designed gowns with semi-precious stones before, but never diamonds."

Top-end bridal gowns sold in major department stores usually come with a price tag of between 10,000-12,000 dollars.

La Bate declined to identify the 23-year-old bride, saying only that she was of Syrian-Jewish descent and had moved to Brooklyn three years ago.

The designer said he had suggested diamonds after the bride-to-be had called him asking for an "over the top, magnificent" wedding dress.

"She said no problem," La Bate recalled. "When I told her the value came to 300,000 dollars, she was cool with it."

Reuters reports: French Neo-Nazis, Jews Unite in Web Hate – Report

French neo-Nazis formed an alliance with extremist Jewish groups on the Internet to publish a torrent of hate messages directed against Arabs and Muslims, according to a report by a leading anti-racist group.

Jews are not the 'Children of Israel' Bet you never knew that.

I recently questioned how people could so misinterpret history as to completely remove the religious significance of Israel for the Jewish people. As I leave the womb, I learn that you don’t have to be a Muslim fundamentalists to re-write or misread history:

This letter is in response to the misinformation contained in the letter written by Robert Reffenschlefler published July 6 in the Argus Leader.

The Israel referred to in the Bible is not the so-called country they call Israel today. The Bible does not state the Jews are God's chosen people. Far from that; read John 8:44.

The 12 tribes of Israel were divided into two kingdoms, the southern two "House of Judah;" the northern 10 "House of Israel" went to Europe and the British Isles. After spending about 100 years in the area of the Caucasus Mountains, they became known as Caucasians.

The first mention of Jews (Juda) is in Chapter 16, verse 6 of Fourth Kings in the Old Testament.

Thus, it precludes not only Abraham, but Isaac and Jacob from being either Jews or of the Jewish faith. The words "Hebrew" and "Jew" are not interchangeable, especially at this late date, considering most people calling themselves Jews in Israel are really Khazarans.

Jerome-Theodore Schiefen Hudson

‘Sex and the City’ to save American Judaism?

I don’t know how we missed this. Is it possible that there are no ‘Sex and the City’ fans at this site and no one who reads USA Today?

Several episodes into the current season of Sex and the City, the quintessential WASP named Charlotte York descended into a Jewish ritual bath. Charlotte's immersion in the mikvah completed her conversion to Judaism. And it established a welcome landmark in popular culture's portrayal of Jewish characters, which is also to say the nation's regard for Jews themselves.

Unlike all of those Jewish characters of yore, who were so ready to reinvent themselves with a gentile wife, Harry insisted that Charlotte convert; he wanted their children to be fully Jewish.

At Camp Hamas, Lessons in Intifada

Via Nexis, today’s LA Times explains why no peace plan in the Middle East will ever work. While there is a cease-fire in on place, there is an army of suicide bombers being trained in another.

the Palestinian youngsters fall silent and arrange themselves into military files. Their matching "Faith in resistance" T-shirts dangle almost to their knees. The opening ritual of Hamas summer camp is about to begin.

"How is your morale?" yells the drill instructor with the bullhorn, weaving among the boys.

"Very, very high," they holler back in unison, "like fire in the field!"

They stomp their worn sandals, and march furiously in place with furrowed brows.

"Long live Palestine!" Stomp, stomp. "Death to Israel!" Stomp, stomp, stomp.

Summer camps run by the radical Islamic organization meld welfare with militancy and serve as a fertile training ground for an unforgiving anti-Israel fighting force.

Hamas differs from other militant groups… All have carried out suicide bombings and other attacks… that have killed almost 800 Israelis… But Hamas also puts heavy emphasis on its social welfare and educational programs… Hamas provides funds to the families of so-called martyrs who have carried out suicide bombings. But with help from funds raised abroad, its welfare branches also dole out vast sums for the unemployed -- in a society with about 70% unemployment.

"Cutting off Hamas social services and charitable donations would almost immediately lead to a major breakdown in basic services and welfare in the Palestinian Authority. The impact would be devastating," said a European diplomat.

OHMIGOD!!!!!!!

7 p.m.
Former New Kids on the Block Danny Wood kicks off solo album ``Second Face''; BMG, 11 West 19th St., 4th Floor.

The Blame Game

For over a week now, the Bush Administration has insisted that the president did nothing wrong when he declared in his State of the Union Address that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Africa. Condi Rice, Don Rumsfeld and other members of the inner circle have pointed a finger at the CIA and George Tenet maintaining that had the statement been suspect, it would have been stricken from the speech.

Yesterday, what was described by witnesses as a contrite George Tenet, told the Senate Committee questioning him on the subject that indeed the White House had insisted that the now infamous 16 words stay in the speech, over CIA objections. According to the Washington Post, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin,

appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," said that Tenet "certainly told us who the person was who was insistent on putting this language in which the CIA knew to be incredible, this language about the uranium shipment from Africa…And there was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about just how far you could go and be close to the truth and unfortunately those sixteen words were included…”

"That characterization is nonsense. It's not surprising, coming from someone who was in a rather small minority in Congress who did not support the action we took,"

"The whole idea that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein was not real was something that was never under debate previously. This is an attempt to continue to rewrite history."

Diana Moon gets all Rushkoffian.She quotes these "Jewish" assumptions that she finds in Gene Expression (but that I can't find there).

There is this eternal thing called Judaism, which has protected a special people called the Jews

Jews are a scarce precious resource, which must be hoarded lest their blood be diluted by inferior races

In a diaspora, the only way to keep the Jews intact as a people is to practice a radical form of endogamy, which effectively criminalizes out-marriage and detribalizes the person who marries a non-tribeman/woman

I’m not saying that there isn’t a thing called Judaism, and that there isn’t a people called the Jews. There’s enough truth to these propositions to make them workable for a few generations, but ultimately, this stultifying group identity is unworkable. It crushes imagination, individuality, talent, and initiative. It concentrates power in the hands of a deadening Orthodoxy. It fosters rebellion.
I am saying that if you take a look at the record, the real record, you might find that what we call Judaism (and Christianity in both its major variants, Eastern and Western, and Islam) is probably a congealed legacy from the Middle Ages, and is very different from the Judaisms of the past 3,000 years. (Ditto the various Islams and Christianities, but they are not my concern.) We are retrofitting an ossified legacy that most of us can’t even practice onto a past that didn’t happen, and in the process, incurring a psychic mortgage to religious fanatics and fascists, who happen to be called “Orthodox.”
A discussion about Judaism and whether it will survive can’t be fruitful unless we agree on some definitions—or at least, agree on what we disagree on. To paraphrase Rumsfeld, there are known disagreements, there are unknown disagreements -- and then there are unknown agreements.

Fight terrorism in Israel T-Shirt -- "If I was a suicide bomber...You'd be dead by now!" Cute.

Yada's gonna love this: Madonna says, "Call me Esther." (via Gawker) That's her "Jewish" name, assumedly obtained through intensive kabbalistic enlightenment. If she's Esther, I'm the King of Persia...and she'd better listen to the command of the royal sceptre.

Science seems to have accounted for the burning bush.

Bishop Knut Andresen in Trondheim, however, is not impressed by the scientists' explanation. "The stories in the bible are symbolic and are meant to bring a message to the reader. Scientific phenomena make no difference in this connection", said the bishop.

“I am born naked and the church wants me to be wearing pants.”

With temperatures soaring, tempers are flaring as the Vatican's dress police turn back tourists in shorts and bare shoulders trying to get into St. Peter's Basilica... For weeks, temperatures have reached into the 90 degrees Fahrenheit each day and the thousands of tourists trudging through the streets seem dressed more for a day at the beach -- shorts, miniskirts, tank tops for both men and women. The city's policemen have been out in force to assure tourists don't cool off their feet in the Trevi Fountain and other landmarks...At the Vatican, authorities have erected signs showing that no one can enter the basilica with bare legs and bare shoulders. Guards --neatly dressed in shirts and ties -- patrol the entrances.

Vendors are doing a brisk business selling paper pants and paper shirts -- turning St. Peter's Square into an open-air changing room.

Philologos discussesthe 10 commandments monument that's causing all the fuss in Alabama, and how it really shows 11 commandments. This changes everything, no?

The Styx emerges with a relevent piece of Bush commentary

The President Lied??! I can't believe that this is a doubt in anyone's mind. The President needs to actually know what he's saying to be called a liar.

Has Haisidic Rebel sparked a whole slew of Yiddish-language blogs? Let's hope that some are more sympathetic towards his position, for his own sake...

It's official, Protocols is hotter than Jon Stewart. BTW: I contributed to the list, though at no point made any mention of Protocols...mine (which were slightly edited) are: 3,4,5,6,7,9,13,14,16,22,23,47.

Actual piece of fanmail, from someone who obviously enjoys reading Protocols far more than he lets on:

By your constant denigration of the Jewish Press you reveal yourself to be a pretentious little intellectual wannabe, who no doubt grew up when it was fashionable to knock that paper for what at the time were its very real shortcomings. But the Jewish Press is not the paper it once was, and for the past several years (certainly the past two or three) it has been widening its scope considerably, and now features a broad range of well-written articles and columns, some original and some reprinted from other sources. I happen to know Sidney Zion and Seth Lipsky (I assume you know who they are) and both have told me that the Jewish Press has the best coverage of Israel among the local Jewish newspapers. I notice you also make a habit of mocking the Jewish Press's letters pages. I've got news for you -- I attend a Modern Orthodox yuppie shul in Manhattan, and on Shabbos the discussion invariably gets around to that week's JP letters section. Only it's not a mocking discussion a la your blog, but a spirited back-and-forth over the various opinions espoused by the readers that week. The fact that you even find reason to wax sarcastic over a letter of yours they printed further points to your sophomoric mindset. Sarcasm requires a deserving target, sonny, and The Jewish Press has not been an appropriate target for some time now. You're painfully behind the times. Oh, in case you're wondering, I'm an academic with a number of advanced degrees in the humanities. In other words, I'm the credentialed intellectual you only dream of becoming. And I'm not embarrassed to say that, far from viewing the Jewish Press as a "Brooklyn stereotype," I look forward to reading it each week. I don't agree with everything the paper espouses, but there's enough in its pages to make me think -- something I cannot honestly say about most other Jewish publications.

The Kinko's near Columbia is closing; what was probably the most convenient all-service copy center to the Heights (just a short trip on the 1/9 train)...and I think it was 24/7. It's expected, but not guaranteed, to be replaced by another copy center.

Just in case we needed anything beyond the Jewish Press to utterly typify the Brooklyn stereotype, try this thread from Hashkafah.com. "Wow" is all I'm going to say.

Following the Village Voice article, Hasidic Rebel has so far gotten more than 3,000 hits today.
BTW: He's got a hilarious post up, quoting in entirety:

Since I started this blog, I've gotten a couple of emails from people doubting that I'm really a Chasid. They range from polite skepticism to hostile attacks. I've been accused of being an apostate Jew with some inside knowledge of Chasidim trying to lure Chasidim to rebelliousness. Many say that my writing shows knowledge of secular culture that is almost impossible for a Chasid to have. And most say my writing style is impossible without growing up in a secular environment. One reader wrote, "It's obvious you've had an advanced secular education." Wow! These people actually flatter me. If they don't want to accept what I say it's fine with me.
But it is sort of ironic. A couple of years ago, when I was just out of Kolel (rabbinical school for married men), I went to see a guy in my community who helped people get jobs. He gave me a resume to fill out and, not having much education or work experience, I didn't have much to say about myself. In my naivette, having no real standard by which to measure it except that of the Chasidim around me, I thought my command of English and my writing ability were quite good. So I put down "Excellent English writing skills."
The Chasid took the resume and looked it over. When he saw the bit about writing he handed it back to me and said gruffly, "How well can you possibly write? You've only been to Chasidic Yeshivas!"
I protested saying I didn't have much to compare it to, but I didn't think I was too bad.
"That's ridiculous," he said. "You may write well for a Chasidish yungerman, but compared to, say, a YU boy, you don't know anything."
I realized he may be right and I swallowed my indignation and my pride.
And now it turns out people are convinced I'm a "YU boy".

Interesting, Commentary music critic Terry Teachout is blogging at ArtsJournal.

Story on disappearing cultures and their efforts toward preservation. (via ArtsJournal) Puts together some interesting thoughts.

Its been a long, hard week, but it's time for the JewishPress Letters Section! Will this ever cease to be exciting?

In this week's edition, we find a suggestion that Ariel Sharon may have used the word "occupation" in reference to the Palestinians, but not to the Land Itself (Stupid Letter Honorable Mention), complaints about kashrus organizations, attacks on Rabbi Riskin (who "demonstrate[s] the ignorance and irresponsibility that plague this generation"), and a supposed dearth of Jewish singles events in The City (obviously this writer has never heard of "Shabbas Davening", held weekly at OZ). However, the big topic was last week's denouncement of frum brooklyn Jews who don't say "Good Shabbas" to their neighbors. Rabbi Yaakov Silver comes to their defense, and in doing so writes the Stupid Letter Of The Week:

It is difficult to say “Good Shabbos” to hundreds of people passing you (compared to living in a remote area where there are relatively few Yidden). Moreover, you would never make it home for the chulent if you stopped to greet each passerby.
But there is another reason why in frummer areas people don`t say “Good Shabbos.” Simply stated, in frummer crowds people are more focused on the holiness of Shabbos. I see many frum people (unlike many of the Modern Orthodox ilk) who are almost in a state of awe. When you are so focused on the holiness of Shabbos, you tend not to notice many things around you in the mundane physical world. In short, it`s not that they don`t want to be friendly to a fellow Yid. Rather, it`s that they are in an intense, uplifted state.
If one would see the kohen gadol doing the avoda in Yerushalayim, it would be easily understood why he couldn’t be distracted with greeting everyone. The same is true of the lofty spiritual people of Boro Park. They are no different than the kohen gadol in the bais hamikdash. Don`t forget, it`s these very same frum Yidden who help all in times of crisis, be it through Hatzoloh, Shomrim, Chaveirim, etc.

Doing some research for an article -- anybody have links to websites of Israeli communities in the territories (other than the Givat Yakov site)?
UPDATE: I've also found Mitzpeh Yericho.
Also, Ma'aleh Adumim, Efrat, Nof Yedidim, a diary about life in Eli - and a family site there, and a map.(Thanks, Ephraim)

Painful Truth: Jesus Film is Accurate

For those of you who believe the controversy over Mr. Gibson’s film “The Passion” is worthy of discussion, here is a column from the far-left Altanta Journal Constitution that takes a whole host of ‘facts’ for granted and reaches the conclusion that we won’t like the movie because it beckons us to realize and appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made for all of us. Some of the better excerpts:

"The Passion" is a historically accurate film about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life… [The] central complaint, however, is that "The Passion" would promote anti-Semitism… But for 40 years, Christian churches have rightfully repudiated a view of Jews as "Christ killers." In fact, today, Israel and the Jewish community have no greater ally than committed Christians (including the one in the White House).

This Christian allegiance to Jews is born of shared suffering, common values and historic roots. Not only was Jesus --- along with every other protagonist in the "Passion" account --- Jewish, but the Jews have also been the vessels though which the Ten Commandments, the Psalms and the earliest awareness of God's very nature have been given. Anti-Semitism in the name of Christianity perpetrates a fraud upon Christ in that it utterly contradicts everything he and his followers stood for.

We cannot allow ourselves to subjugate truth to fear or political correctness. Should we shrink from depicting the truth of the Holocaust for fear of anti-German sentiment, Pearl Harbor for fear of anti-Japanese sentiment, the Inquisition for fear of anti-Christian sentiment? Someday, might the events of Sept. 11 be similarly suppressed or revised?

The truth of the matter is that any culture, at any time in history, would have killed Christ. By our own self-deification, many continue to crucify him today. We live in a world enamored of physical ease, moral relativism and self-affirmation. We reject convulsively anything that causes us moral discomfort, no matter how accurate or true.

More issues about a Protocol and Russia's dealing with it; of course, this one comes by way of Kyoto.

Debbie thinks she's gonna make it onto Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

More on Labels

Elder Avraham, Town Crier Ephraim and Endthemadness.com Weismman might be interested to read what Australian anti-abortionist Graham Preston has to say about labels, or what he calls ‘distinctions’:

We believe that the gospel recognizes no distinction except those "in Christ" and those "outside of Christ"... whereas distinctions such as "wife", "husband" and "officers" are recognized in scripture with special instructions, there is no gospel category called "men in the church" or "women in the church" or "blacks in the church" or "whites in the church" or "rich in the church"... Such distinctions serve only to foster the very distinctions that scripture enjoins us to avoid in the making of disciples for Christ. Gal. 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. James 2:4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Ami Eden says that Forward reporter E.J. Kessler broke the news of Joe Lieberman's children's campaign salaries, but her story was posted on the Web at 6:15 PM yesterday. Not quite making it, as Ami characterizes, "mostly...old news." Ami refers (but doesn't link!) to the story in the LAT, which discusses Lieberman's campaign woes. These guys worked off of the campaign filing that came in yesterday, and turned in their stories at about the same time that Kessler did hers -- I don't know when it was first posted on the Web, but it would've been sometime in yesterday's PM.
Further, ABC's The Note made a cheeky reference to the salaries yesterday (I can't find it in the Google cache).
Not to dis on Kessler's reporting, but it shouldn't be taken so grossly out of context. A quick Nexis perusal shows no articles discussing Matthew or Rebbeca Lieberman in the context of their salaries, but if The Note knew about it before the filing was made, it must've been somewhere; either way, they broke the story to some degree before Kessler.
UPDATE: Elder Pinchas sent me over a link to a story in yesterday's Washington Post that provides essentially the same version of the facts. No mere coincidence, Elder Pinchas notes, since Kessler's story actually cites it, with the sentence, "A source confirmed a Washington Post report that the Lieberman siblings would absorb 20% pay cuts as part of the staff shake-up." So this means that Kessler's story was essentially a rewrite with a call to confirm and get some additional quotes. OK reporting for a small paper, sure, but nothing like an exclusive -- in fact, WaPo makes Kessler's story look like "old news." Why did the Forward even bother posting this story to the Web before publishing? Did Kessler make it appear to her fellow editors that she had exclusive information? That certainly seems to be the implication of Ami's post.
It was a huge stretch to claim the story was anything important when it was posted at 6:15 PM on the day that the filing would be made, but not a major misrepresentation; ripping off WaPo in the process is both.
One last thing: Note the way Kessler's tip of the hat to WaPo makes it appear as though the only thing she's confirming from there is the 20% pay cut, when she gets the whole story from them.

Graham Preston, a pro-life campaigner in Australia freed from prison today vowing to continue his fight against abortion, compared his struggle to save unborn babies to that of those who saved Jews during the Holocaust. (From the Australian Associated Press via Nexis):

"This is the only way we are going to see abortions stopped," Mr Preston said. "I think that just like when people saved Jews from the Holocaust, those that did paid big prices - I think it is going to take the same with this human rights abuse also.

It is true that not everyone agrees that a pre-born child is fully part of the human family. But then there have been times when other segments of humanity, for example Jews and dark-skinned people, have been deemed less than fully human, and have consequently suffered brutalisation and death. Such attitudes however in no way changed the real status of the people so abused, nor negated the responsibility of others to help them. We must be true to our convictions, not those of others.

Elder I, with regards to your 'Sex and the City' inquiry, I would like to follow-up with the following:

‘Sex and the City’ star Israel-bound
‘Sex and the City’ star Sarah Jessica Parker may visit Israel this fall to promote a local edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. A representative from the company that will publish the Israeli version of the magazine said Parker’s September visit is nearly certain, the daily Yediot Achronot reported.

PARKER: Two years ago, there was a really important election in Israel. And [Barak], the prime minister who was not reelected, said, "I will have more time to watch Sex and the City." And I thought, "Well, that's it. That is it. This is huge."

More Bad Intelligence

"Well it pretty much makes me lose faith in the Army," said Pfc. Jayson Punyhotra, one of the soldiers grouped around the table. "I mean, I don't really believe anything they tell me. If they told me we were leaving next week, I wouldn't believe them."

"I used to want to help these people," said Pfc. Eric Rattler, "but now I don't really care about them anymore. I've seen so much, you know, little kids throwing rocks at you. Once you pacify an area, it seems like the area you just came from turns bad again. I'd like this country to be all right, but I don't care anymore."

Ephraim cites the latest from endthemadness.com -- the "no-labelling challenge"

Refrain from using labels, any labels, in thought, speech, or writing, for an entire week. Do it no matter what...* Note: Terms such as Reform and Conservative are not labels, as they have a universal definition; for example, no Reform Jew believes that the Gemara is an eternally binding legal code. If there are no exceptions to the term, it is not a label. Only terms that are meant to be descriptive but fail to provide a precise description are problematic and need be discarded.

The Middle East is back in the Onion:

Israelis, Palestinians Agree To Share Headlines
In an agreement that marks a key first step in the Mideast news-piece process, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas pledged to share a two-state Israeli and Palestinian headline Monday...
Historically, negotiations over the wording of joint headlines have been complicated by both groups' insistence on being portrayed as victims. In the latest round of talks, Abbas has okayed depictions of the intifada as an uprising of people oppressed by a modern apartheid state of superior military and economic strength, but will not allow portrayals of all Palestinian dissidents as fundamentalist terrorists.
Similarly, Sharon agreed to allow headline space describing Israel as a lone democratic state fighting to defend itself from constant attack, and will permit descriptions of Jews as victims of millennia of anti-Semitism. Sharon did not agree, however, to be portrayed as a hard-line hawk who repeatedly sabotages attempts at peace by moderates on both sides of the conflict.

Paralyzed Man of Steel to Visit Israel
Way to go Superman!

Faulty Intelligence

And now it seems as though the administration was prepared to lie about Syria’s WMD program… developing

In a new dispute over interpreting intelligence data, the CIA and other agencies objected vigorously to a Bush administration assessment of the threat of Syria's weapons of mass destruction that was to be presented Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
After the objections, the planned testimony by Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, a leading administration hawk, was delayed until September.

U.S. officials told Knight Ridder that Bolton was prepared to tell members of a House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee that Syria's development of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons had progressed to such a point that they posed a threat to stability in the region.

The CIA and other intelligence agencies said that assessment was exaggerated.

Bolton's planned remarks caused a "revolt" among intelligence experts who thought they inflated the progress Syria has made in its weapons programs, said a U.S. official who isn't from the CIA, but was involved in the dispute.

The CIA's objections and comments alone ran to 35 to 40 pages, the official said.

Officials provided conflicting explanations of why the hearing was canceled...

A Bolton aide said it was because of a scheduling conflict - Bolton was called to a White House meeting Tuesday afternoon - and that the hearing had been reset for September...

Others said it was because the bitter dispute couldn't be immediately resolved...

A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the issue... Other officials in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill said the White House Office of Management and Budget, which coordinates government officials' public statements, wouldn't give final approval to the planned testimony...

Several officials said another reason for the cancellation of Bolton's testimony was that he might have been subjected to sharp questioning about Iraq intelligence, a controversy the White House is trying to lay to rest.

Bolton set off a controversy in May 2002 when he asserted in a speech that Cuba has a biological warfare program. A State Department intelligence expert, Christian Westermann, recently told a closed-door Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that available intelligence data don't support that assertion, U.S. officials have said...

In his June testimony, Bolton asserted that U.S. officials "know that Syria is pursuing the development of biological weapons." The CIA report said only that it's "highly probable that Syria is also continuing to develop an offensive BW (biological weapons) capability."

Finally, Bolton told the congressional committee that "North Korean entities have been involved in aiding Syria's ballistic missile development." The CIA reported that Syria was trying to build Scud-C ballistic missiles "probably with North Korean assistance."

PaleoJudaica links to a cool article about the myth concerning Constantine's mother Helena, who allegedly discovered the actual cross that Jesus was crucified on.

For those keeping score at home, Donald Rumsfeld changed his testimony about the Nigerian uranium twice on two different news shows. What's scary is that the lying perfectly fits the administrations attitude towards the truth as laid out by Timothy Noah a long time ago.

Jewschool's been strangely silent for awhile now. I hope everything's alright over there...

Much and many thanks to AKS for clearing my name. Elder I, see, I am Jewish after all.

Reader Ami Eden, National Editor at the Forward, writes in to let us know that he's started a blog, amieden.com. This is good news for him, but even better news for the Forward. The even bigger deal will be when they start hosting his -- or somebody's, or a collective's -- blog on the Forward site. I've always thought Ami was a bit ahead of the rest of the people at the Jewish weeklies, and now I know for sure. Good luck, man.
BTW: Ami also wrote that he's still trying to find his blog voice and work out the kinks, which is apparent, but keep checking back there and I'm sure he'll be going strong rather soon.

Hasidic Rebel profiled in the Village Voice. Yet another story I can't believe I didn't write.

I missed this over the weekend. Cute.

Tomorrow:
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The National Museum of Catholic Art and History holds special preview as part of the Feast Day Procession in East Harlem; National Museum of Catholic Art and History, 443 E. 115th St.

New Philadelphia Archbishop. Interesting:

The oldest cardinal in the United States leading a diocese, Bevilacqua lost his vote in the College of Cardinals -- the body of Roman Catholic clergy that elects the pope -- when he turned 80 last month.

He has critics, particularly among advocates for victims of clerical sex abuse. A leading activist said that Rigali has been among the least compassionate American bishops in dealing with the clerical sex abuse crisis.

A hotel with rooms named after noteworthy women, none of whom are Jewish. (via Ms. Blog)

I hadn't heard about Blair Hornstine, a (presumably) Jewish New Jersey kid whose father sued the school that was gonna have her share the valedictorianship, then she got exposed for plagiarizing in her writing for the local paper, which caused Harvard to rescind her acceptance. Egad.

Looks like Elder Avraham and I are going to miss yet another weekly deadline on our Rushkoff piece for Jewsweek.

AKS on the Impostor:

Someone with a great big long Jewish-sounding name, who looks like he could be Jewish in his photos, is quite smart and funny and witty. So I made that assumption.
And I trusted him, folks. We became close. I told him all our Jewish secrets. I even came very close to letting him in on our International Conspiracy and all. I was going to introduce him to the Elders of Zion.
And now I find out that he's "passing." Not a drop of Jewish blood anywhere. He claims I made an innocent mistake! Ha! This is out-and-out deception! This is ethnic confusion almost as distressing as the famous Donna Chang incident!

Whoa!

Robertson has launched a 21-day "prayer offensive" directed at the Supreme Court in the wake of its 6-3 June vote that decriminalized sodomy. Robertson said in a letter on the CBN Web site that the ruling "has opened the door to homosexual marriage, bigamy, legalized prostitution and even incest."'
The same letter targets three justices in particular: "One justice is 83-years-old, another has cancer and another has a heart condition. Would it not be possible for God to put it in the minds of these three judges that the time has come to retire?"

Missed this, but Avi Zenilman had what appeared to be his first "Today's Papers" column on July 5th. Congratulations & so forth.

BTW: 50 CD-Rs are $10 at Amazon. I'm buying mine.

Interesting tidbits on Jim Caviezel, the guy playing Jesus in The Passion:
1) "Grew up in a tight-knit Catholic family."
2) "Refused to film a love scene with on-screen wife Ashley Judd for their film, High Crimes (2002). The idea of possible nudity conflicted with Jim's personal beliefs, based on his strong Catholic faith."
3) "Dislocated his shoulder during the filming of Passion, The (2004)."
4) "Received an honorary degree from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA at their commencement on 18 May 2003. Gave a fire-and-brimstone speech based on his interpretation of Catholicism."
BTW: Take a look at Yada's post on the trailer of the film, where he writes:

The Passion stars James Caviezel (Count of Monte Cristo, Frequency) as the bearded one who gets nailed and Monica Bellucci (The Matrix Reloaded, Tears of the Sun) as Mary -- i.e. the one who doesn't get nailed, but has a kid anyway.

There's a front-pager in the WSJ on Palestinian security forces' work to break down terrorism. I haven't read the whole piece yet, but it seems to give a lot more credibility to the PLO than you'd expect. Interesting.

Priest, Photographer, start brawl at a wedding (via The UKSun). Is this where the Chareidi wedding takkanos are going to end up -- Mesadrei Qiddushin battling it out with florists and catering companies? Stay tuned, I guess...

Abbas, Arafat Settle Their Dispute (via the CBN). I guess we'll see over the coming weeks if they both decided to be peacemakers or terrorists. The article itself is somewhat unclear on that count.

Adi Neuman does not follow up on his pledge to give us more info from his Safed trip, but instead tells about his visit to Yad Vashem. His closing paragraph:

as always, Rabbi Dr. Gottlieb gave great logical arguments concerning both the purposes of suffering and the lessons we are to draw from suffering. I give you his characteristically blunt answer regarding why European Jews might have been made to pay for their assimilation versus American Jews in the modern age (different standards). America involved "generations of ignoramouses teaching no-nothings" about Judaism.

After viewing the actual trailer for Mel Gibson's The Passion, I'm reasonably sure that its probably not going to be a great date movie....

Bush Influencing the Jews

A first for me, Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Al Jazeerah reports that the “new campaign” to allow Jews onto the Temple Mount was pioneered by none other than U.S. President George W. Bush.

So, it is not the neo-cons influencing the president, it is the president influencing the neo-cons:

AMMAN, 13 July 2003 — The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan’s largest political party, yesterday accused US President George W. Bush of pioneering Israel’s decision to allow Jews to enter Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine.

In a statement marking the 1,000 days’ juncture of the Palestinian uprising, the IAF also blasted the “road map” as a “suspicious scheme” aimed at “aborting” the Palestinian uprising which broke out on Sept. 30, 2000, following a defiant visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

“Bush spoke during the Aqaba meeting on June 4 about sharing the holy land between Israelis and the Palestinians. What Bush meant found expression in the Zionist decision allowing Jews to enter the Islamic shrine, because historians do not recognize the existence of any holy place for the Jews in Jerusalem,” the statement said.

The IAF cautioned that allowing Jews to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque had the aim of “demolishing the Islamic shrine and rebuilding the alleged biblical temple in its place”.

The Charlotte Observer provides a well-done synopsis of the current Get/Agunah crisis and the Orthodox world’s response to the problem. Although the piece is written without great depth, the author avoids highlighting Jewish Week style in-fighting and focuses on the actual issues.

Three national Orthodox Jewish groups are pressing a campaign against one of the Orthodox world's most scandalous problems: the plight of women whose estranged husbands refuse to grant them religious divorces...

Under Jewish law, the husband has unilateral power to dissolve a marriage and can stymie his wife's efforts to obtain a divorce decree from a rabbinical court for years and even decades. That situation has created thousands of "chained women," or "agunot."

One remedy, promoted in recent years, is a document that betrothed couples sign pledging that neither partner will impede a ritual divorce should the marriage fail. Some Orthodox rabbis now say they will not officiate at a wedding unless the couple has signed such an agreement...

The Beth Din of America, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Orthodox Caucus pioneered the step a decade ago, with a prenup written by Rabbi Mordechai Willig of Yeshiva University in New York. In June, they released an updated, strengthened version of the agreement...

Among other things, the updated Willig prenup requires the man to pledge to pay his wife a set amount -- $150 a day -- "from the date that our domestic residence shall cease for whatever reasons" until he agrees to let a beth din, or rabbinical court issue a "get" for her...

The Rabbinical Council surveyed some of its 1,100 members, he said, and found that about 60 percent were "successfully encouraging the use of prenups."

The AFP reports via prolog:

Hundreds of ultra-orthodox Jews tried to stop the traffic in west Jerusalem on Saturday in protest at violations of the Shabbat, or Jewish day of rest.

It was the third week running that protestors have been out in force trying to stop cars driving along the Bar Ilan avenue, near the district in which the ultra-orthodox population is concentrated.

While most contented themselves with chanting at passing cars, small groups tried to halt the traffic but were prevented from doing so by police, a Jerusalem police spokesman, Shmuel Ruby, told AFP.

The demonstrations, which have seen stones thrown at cars, have been condemned by Jerusalem mayor, Uri Lupolianski, himself an ultra-orthodox Jew.

According to Jewish scriptures, all work is prohibited on the day of rest and Jews are not even permitted to turn on the electricity, and so, by extension, travel by car.

Two women from Newton named Singer, presumably Jewish, are banned from Filene's basement for returning too much clothing and making too many service complaints.

For you Hebrew Readers (I'm not nearly motivated enough to translate), Yoshev Al Hageder records a great middle-of-the-night converstion between one of his chareidi friends and the mysterious "Tznius Watch", who called to threaten him with intelligence concerning his 19 year old daughter, who was seen with someone about the same age, but of the male persuasion, walking the streets of Benei Brak. I know schools that have similar spies patrolling Central Avenue in Lawrence/Cederhurst.

Here is a roundup of Friday sermons carried by the news media of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Syria on 11 July 2003 courtesy of our friends at the BBC via Nexis:

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia TV1 broadcasts at 0935 gmt a 30-minute live sermon from the holy mosque in Mecca. The imam concluded his sermon on the importance of youth with a prayer:

O God, strengthen Islam and Muslims, humiliate infidelity and infidels, destroy the enemies of our nation and religion, and grant safety and prosperity to the country and the other Islamic countries… O God, support our mujahidin brothers everywhere. O God, help them score victory over the unjust Jews and aggressive Zionists in Palestine. O God, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O God, destroy them, for they are within your power. O God, disperse them and make them prey for Muslims."

O God, strengthen Islam and Muslims, humiliate infidelity and infidels, and destroy the aggressive unbelievers. O God, grant us safety in our homelands and give wisdom to our imams and leaders… O God, support our brothers in Palestine against the usurper Jews. O God, deal with the tyrant, unjust, corrupt and aggressive Jews. O God, shake the ground under them, instil panic into their hearts, and make them prey for Muslims.

O God, help our mujahidin brothers score victory. O God, destroy the enemies of Islam, Zionists and Americans. O God, shake the ground under them, instil panic into their hearts, and freeze the blood in their veins. O God, destroy them, for they are within your power. O God, close the ranks of Muslims and the faithful.

Dear brothers: From this holy place of God, we join forces with every good man who calls for the release of thousands of our Palestinian and Arab prisoners. These prisoners have every right to enjoy freedom, to be among their kinfolk and their sons on the soil of their homeland, and to build this homeland based on security and peace. Neither peace nor security will prevail as long as prisoners remain behind prison bars.

O God, support those supporting Islam and Muslims and destroy those harbouring evil against Islam and Muslims. O God, send us someone from among our ranks to close the Muslims' ranks. O God, support Islam and strengthen Muslims." He goes on: "O God, lift the siege on our leader President Abu-Ammar Yasir Arafat . O God, support him, grant him victory, and help him establish our independent state, with holy Jerusalem as its capital, by liberating both land and man.

O servants of God: Our Islamic nation is an unparalleled, great nation. It took control of the whole Mediterranean and two thirds of the Red Sea. It is also located on a sea of oil. What has happened? Its property has been usurped. The Eastern Camp has occupied many of the Islamic regions. Andalusia, Sicily and Palestine have been lost, the Golan Heights has been usurped, and Jerusalem and the West Bank have been occupied, just because we have forgotten God, His rules, and His Koran.

"have suffered from a tragic situation since the fall of Muslim Palestine into the hands of the occupiers more than 50 years ago

a comprehensive and just peace as a means to achieve security, to restore rights, and to liberate Arab territories from the Zionist occupation, which rebels against both the divine and international laws… This sinful Zionism, which only believes in racism and terrorism and rejects every religion and right, will not last long. It will end sooner or later.

“O God, strengthen Islam and Muslims and elevate justice and Islam. O God, support those supporting Islam and disappoint those disappointing Muslims. O God, destroy the enemies of Arabs and Muslims, for they are within your power." He also asks God to help Arabs score victory over "the criminal Zionists" to lift the suffering of the Palestinian people, and to destroy "the terrorist Zionists".

Bangitout.com review of The Holy Land, now playing In The City.

When we speak about the clash of Western ideals and pre-enlightenment mores, the fair and honest exchange of information seems to be the critical difference in determining one’s orientation.

Yesterday, an angry mob ransacked the office of a prominent Palestinian political scientist. The academic’s crime was not preaching against authority, writing about free love or inciting violence against a tyrannical regime, no his only offense was releasing a poll that accurately reflected the beliefs and sentiments of those questioned, within a three percent margin of error of course: Only 10% of those Palestinian “refugees” surveyed wanted the “right of return” to the extent of resettling in Israel.

When reading the article, be sure to see what happened to this pollster’s brother and marvel at the different lives the two have led.

Its a bit late, I guess, but this is a very cute allegorical read of the Bilaam's donkey story from last week's parsha, courtesy of Mesora Guy. Basically, Bilaam represents his own id, the angel represents his ego, and the donkey represents his superego, or conscience. Very good illustration of the intersection between medieval philosophy and Freudian psychoanalysis that makes up Rabbi Chait-ism.

The page is only showing posts made this PM, not sure why yet -- IM/e-mail if you have an idea.
UPDATE: Fixed.

Somebody sent an e-mail out looking for a space for two weeks for a woman, her husband and daughter in New York. She referred to the woman as "Sarah Shapiro -- the writer." Sarah who? A quick google search turns up Sarah Shapiro. Anybody read that stuff?

Over Shabbas, I was reading
Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin, a dialog on Black-Jewish relations between Michael Lerner and Cornel West. Don't ask why, and I don't own it -- I borrowed it from Friend Of The Elders Elliot, who bought it from a remainder bin somwhere. Basically, it was really disappointing, with West refusing to condemn Farrakhan and Lerner refusing say anything that might be construed as particularistically (is that a word?) Jewish. The one truly memorable passage, which came in the "Chosen Nation" chapter:

Lerner: The thing is that the Bible doesn't use the word unique. Unique makes a claim about what God's relationship is to us in comparison with what God's relationship is with others. And I don't have any religious basis for knowing about God's relationship with others. I just don't know about it. I am not making a claim one way or the other.

West: But we know from the Hebrew Bible that God's relationship with the Caananites is different from God's relationship with the Israelites. Isn't there a difference there?

Lerner: I know what God's relationship is with us. I don't know what God's relationship is with the Caananites.

West: Well, what would you infer? We don't have to have too much evidence.

Lerner: For all I know, God had the exact same relationship with the Caananites and the made, at about the same time that we entered the land, the same kind of moral errors that got us thrown out five hundred years later. What the text says is that this is a land that vomits out its corruption, and for all I know there have been one after another of these screwed-up peoples of which Jews are only one in a long list of screwed-up people.

Brad Pilcher links to the Newsweek interview with Reform Rabbi Sidney Brichto, who's writing a new translation of the Bible. Some differences, though, since he's rewriting it "as literature", which means:

I want them to read the narrative as primarily fiction. They’re good stories. I want to make [the Bible] a good read … I have sex scenes, for example, in the story of Esther, because I think it requires [detail], not “He saw her, he asked her to come up to his place and he knew her and she was pregnant.” Something else happened.

As a Jew, while my parents were saying I shouldn’t be part of the assemblies which talked about Christianity and the birth of Jesus, I loved it because I was proud of Jesus. We may have been persecuted because of him, but I thought that he was one Jew who made good. If you ask what Jews made the greatest contribution to modern civilization, you would have to say, among them, Jesus and Paul.