Kesher Talk: 12/07/2003

Am Yisrael Chai! Beth Israel synagogue in Istanbul reopened this week, with a Shabbat service.

Isak Haleva, the chief rabbi at the Beth Israel synagogue, delivered a sermon that stressed the importance of dialogue in this predominantly Muslim but secular country. Haleva was one of those wounded in the nearly simultaneous suicide bombings at Beth Israel and the Neve Shalom synagogue during Sabbath prayers on Nov. 15.

. . . "The fact that we opened this synagogue in such a short period shows that they (the terrorists) did not achieve what they wanted. We are continuing our lives here. This is a symbol of that," Jewish community spokesman Silvio Ovadya said of the service, which was closed to the press. "Our lives must go on."

. . . Ovadya said some 200 members of the Jewish community packed into Beth Israel on Saturday morning and said prayers for the victims of the attack. Local government officials also attended the service. "The synagogue was full. If we were afraid, nobody would have come," Ovadya said.

A Fetish of Candor. Whew! Harsh, man.

Compare and contrast. This is so cool. US media professional and blogger sends Iraqi dentist blogger a digital camera. He takes tons of pix and writes an eyewitness account about the demonstrations against terrorism across Iraq on December 10th. Most major US news outlets don't cover it. Blogs do. Now the Weekly Standard is giving the Iraqi blogger a big spread.

I'm sure Jeff didn't juxtapose these two entries on purpose, but right below the Weekly Standard pdf is a post about so-called "peace activists" in Germany who are collecting donations for the jihadis and Baathists who are killing our troops and creating the terror the Iraqis are demonstrating against.

Foot soldiers. The information war is going to be won by many many tiny interactions like this.

Supporting the troops. Add punk-rock legend Henry Rollins to your list of anti-idiotarian entertainers. He's touring in Afganistan with USO.

“In America, on the news, we see the exclamation points about this whole thing, casualties, helicopter crashes, because it makes for good news and it’s very important when we lose all those people; but what we never hear about, what I’ve found out today, are all the good things that are happening to this country because of all of you that are here,” Rollins expressed to the crowd. “I’m about to start of 50 or 60 speaking dates all across America and by the time I’m done with them they’ll all know what I saw, so you can count on me for that.”

And kudos to USO for making a non-obvious choice.

Rollins said that when he was asked a few weeks ago by the USO to come out and visit the troops, he instantly agreed to do it. “I didn’t even hesitate,” Rollins said, adding that he agreed not really knowing what to expect, but what he saw was a pleasant surprise. “What I didn’t expect was to meet so many bright, amazing people, who are so focused on their jobs, so highly educated, and so fully intense; and I’m quite in awe.”

(via paleo-Catholic queer punk post-feminist comix fan blogger Eve Tushnet)

Presidential art. Gerard van der Leun is running a contest. He can explain it better than I can, but it involves Photoshopping, the Democratic presidential race, and a $50 prize. Contest ends on December 15, 2003. Check it out.

Abominations. Professor of Early Jewish Studies James Davila fisks an an argument against same sex marriage by David Klinghoffer which cites Leviticus. Verdict: Davila knows more about Leviticus and its context than Klinghoffer. (Davila's blog Paleojudaica is a great source of information on Jewish and early Christian life in Judea/Palestine.)

Rabbi Goldie Milgram has a Reconstructionist interpretation.

Re-Baathification. If you have been screaming at the TV or throwing your newspaper across the room, relax and enjoy a chuckle with the NY Sun. I love how this news story refers to France, Germany, and Russia as "America’s traditional opponents" (about halfway down).

Kofi Annan shows his true colors:

In what was dubbed by one observer as “re-Baathification,” Mr. Annan called for enlarging the American-appointed Governing Council making it “more inclusive” in order “to bring in national groups and individuals that have thus far been excluded or have excluded themselves.” The undersecretary general, Kieran Prendergast, said Mr. Annan meant adding some Baathists — or as he called them “Arab Sunni nationalists” —and Shiites to the 24-member council.The American policy has been to exclude all remnants of the Baath Party leadership from a future role in Iraq’s leadership.

Mr. Annan also reserved some very sharp criticism to the evolving American policy of exerting military pressure in areas where terrorist activity is rampant, which some critics said mirrored Israel’s tactics in its own occupied territories. Citing “military responses to threats to coalition forces, dispersal of demonstrations, raids on homes, and confrontations as well as at checkpoints,” Mr. Annan called for “adhering strictly to international humanitarian law and human rights instruments.”

When you hold the terrorists to the same standards, Mr. Secretary-General, let us know, mmmkay?

As if taking his marbles home after not getting his way, Mr. Annan concluded that as long as the U.N.’s conciliatory methods of dealing with security threats were not accepted by the coalition, the organization would not return to the perilous conditions of Iraq.

Bu-bye!

UPDATE: Bush gets snarky.

Payback's a bitch. From Tim Blair's comment thread on the US decision to not award Iraq reconstruction contracts to France, Germany, and Russia:

"Who wants to send troops with me to free Iraq?" said the bald eagle.

"Not I, not I," said the rooster.

"Not I, not I," said the black eagle.

"Not I, not I," said the bear.

"Who wants some of the lucrative contracts available now that I've freed Iraq?" said the bald eagle.

"I do! I do!" said the rooster.

"I do! I do!" said the black eagle.

"I do! I do!" said the bear.

"Fuck you! Fuck you!" said the bald eagle.

"But we're surprised!" said the rooster, black eagle and bear.

Yuck. I'm back in NYC by the way. Sunday I was sitting on a rock in the middle of a burbling brook, 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Monday night I was dragging my rolling suitcase through shoe-drenching slush from the Ronkonkoma airport shuttle bus to the Long Island Railroad.

I really really really really really didn't want to come back this time. It wasn't just the weather. It takes a while to develop a social network and NYC isn't one of the easiest places to do that. I went back to my synagogue in Austin and had meals with some friends and stayed with my best friend and her family and it was a 2-week lovefest. Some people in NYC like me, but I don't think anyone here loves me. Most of the time I don't think about that, because I am pretty emotionally self-sufficient and I don't go looking for validation. But so much of it in Austin was unsolicited and spontaneous that it shook me.

I have my reasons for being here and I enjoy it for the most part, but as Yehuda Halevy said in another context, my heart is in the southwest, and I on the far off East Coast.

Why do they hate us, dude? Incisive commentary on world affairs by an alter-ego of occasional LGF guest columnist Iowahawk.

The pathetic attendance at Saturday’s Primal Scream for Global Sanity at the Quad proved that many in the ESU student community remain woefully ignorant of real world issues. Many on campus seem completely uninterested in stopping America’s bombing lunacy, even for free veggie wraps and extra-credit points in Dr. Harmon’s sections of Critical History 1042.

Let me clue you in, Mister “sorry dude, I can’t rage against the AmeriKKKan war machine, I got tickets for the Springfield State game,” it’s time we start asking the difficult questions. Questions like, “isn’t this all about oil?” and “who bogarted all my Kasha flakes?” (I know it was you, Jason.) . . .

UPDATE: If you want Iowahawk without having to wade through humungous LGF comment threads, dude's got himself a blog now.

An antiwar demonstration I can respect. As announced for several weeks, thousands of Iraqis gathered in Baghdad yesterday to protest the terrorism of the Baathists and jihadis against the Coalition forces and the Iraqi people. Meanwhile, a clueless American reporter misses the story that is unfolding right under his nose. According to a justifiably proud Jeff Jarvis, Iraqis are the real journalists.

A commenter on Buzzmachine points out:

I'm not sure why people aren't calling this what it is. A genuine anti-war demonstration. The Iraqi people (well, at least the protestors) want the war against Iraqis to stop, and the war against the US to stop as well. Why not call it what it is?

Anyone want to pull on your hip boots, wade into Indymedia, post these pictures and call for a solidarity rally?

No wonder the world's dictators want to control the internet.

UPDATE: More Iraq demo links.

UPDATE: All the news that's fit to print?

UPDATE: Knight-Ridder comes through. So does the NYPost.

Jews in odd places: Cuba: Cuba was virtually cut off from the rest of the Jewish world after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.

Support for Castro was nearly universal among the island's 15,000 Jews, as among most Cubans, when Castro overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista. But Castro declared Cuba an atheist state, nationalized businesses and other properties and introduced communism. Within two years, more than 90 percent of Cuban Jews had joined thousands of others in fleeing their island homeland.

Most community leaders, virtually all rabbis and teachers and many business people were among the Jews that emigrated from Cuba. Many relocated to southern Florida, while others went to Mexico, Venezuela and Israel.

Most of the estimated 350 Cuban Jews who stayed assimilated almost totally, avoiding public involvement with Judaism because of the government's opposition. Intermarriage was widespread. However, some families did continue observing Shabbat and major Jewish holidays in their homes, even though candles, bread and other necessary supplies were scarce.

Three of Havana's five synagogues survived the revolution and are still in operation today: Adath Israel Orthodox Synagogue; a Sephardic synagogue; and conservative Bet Shalom, which is attached to the Patronato, Havana's Jewish Community Center.

In 1995, the government allowed a congregation of about 90 Jews to reclaim its former synagogue property in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second-largest city.

Three years later, on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish community in Camaguey, Cuba, rededicated a new synagogue in a whitewashed turn-of-the-century house. It was the first shuel established since the revolution.

The Jewish population is still a far cry from pre-revolution levels, when it peaked at about 15,000; but Jewish communal life has undergone a revival nationwide the past 12 years.

During this recent renaissance, Cuba's Jewish population has more than doubled, from about 700 in 1991 to 1,500 today, according to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which assists the Cuban Jewish community and others worldwide.

Jews in odd places: Poland: The Prince of Wales recently paid tribute to the “incredible spirit” of an impoverished Jewish community which he visited in Poland last year.

Speaking at the World Jewish Relief annual dinner at Guildhall, London, Charles told of the terrible conditions he witnessed in Krakow in 2002 and how he was moved by the Jewish people’s “strength and optimism”.

Following the visit, the Prince made a substantial personal donation to a fund to set up a new community centre for the Jews in the city.

Large mammals in small ponds. They like me! They really really like me!

My town. Crime keeps going down.

Libertarian heroes? Reason has published a highly idiosyncratic list of 35 Heroes of Freedom: "the people who have made the world groovier and groovier since 1968." Matthew Stinson thinks the list "reads like it was written by the president of a high school Cbjectivist club."

Jews in odd places: Britain: A Jewish primary school permeated by traditional values and where every pupil learns Hebrew was the star of this year's primary school performance tables published by the United Kingdom's Department for Education.

Not only did all the 11-year-olds at North Cheshire Jewish Primary School, near Cheadle, reach at least Level 4 in the national tests in English, maths and science, but nearly all reached Level 5, the standard expected of a 13-year-old. It is the first time that the Level 5 results of nearly 18,000 primaries in England have been published, giving parents an additional tool for measuring schools' effectiveness. North Cheshire Jewish was one of 200 schools - all in predominantly middle-class areas - where the pupils' average Level 5 score totalled more than 200 out of a possible 300.

Jews in odd places: Japan: In the half-century since it was founded, the Jewish Community Center of Japan has always prided itself on being able to accommodate any request for a minyan, even at short notice. Community members say that many visiting Jews, who may not be religiously observant at home, suddenly seem to yearn for a connection with their brethren in an exotic land.

The overwhelming majority of Tokyo´s Jews prefer services that do not make ritualistic distinction between men and women. A smaller group of the center´s members hold Orthodox services.

The first known minyan in Japan took place in 1889 and the first synagogue was established in the 1890s in Nagasaki. Prior to World War II, the majority of Jews in Japan lived in Kobe and Yokohama. The Jewish cemetery in Yokohama has tombstones dating back to 1869.

The Jewish Community of Japan, in Tokyo, was established March 21, 1953, founded by merchant Jews primarily from the Chinese cities of Harbin and Shanghai.

"The criteria to be a member was to be able to speak Russian, play poker and drink vodka," remembers former community president Ernie Salomon, a Tokyo resident since 1950.

Shortly after its inception, the community center was raided by police during a "Monte Carlo Night." Police believed that the Jews were reopening an illegal casino, which had been shuttered not long before in another part of the neighborhood. Two board members were among those arrested.

The founder of Tokyo´s organized Jewish community was a Russian textile businessman, Anatole Ponve, who established the Kobe synagogue in 1937.

During the early 1940s, Ponve was among those who mobilized a massive effort to take care of Jewish refugees from Europe.

After the war, Ponve, the community´s first president, personally guaranteed a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank for the purchase of the land for the community center from a Japanese family in the upscale Hiroo District.

The Jewish Community of Japan, which serves 150 families, is foremost a religious institution with a synagogue known as Beth David, named for the father of one the community´s early leaders and benefactors, Shoul Eisenberg, who later became a leading industrialist in Israel.

In the early years, the dining room at the center was not kosher — beef stroganoff was a favorite dish — but that changed when a new rabbi threatened to quit if the kitchen was not made kosher. In recent decades, the center´s kitchen has been under rabbinical supervision.

Let your paragraph free. A commenter at Buzzmachine, on the new NYTimes ombudsman:

I think when people say, "I don't believe in using labels," it's because they may need a paragraph such as this one of their own. Labels do polarize, but they also oversimplify a person's outlook in a complicated world. Being labelled can be like having a part of who you are chopped off and then being judged by what's left. It suits someone else, not you.

So, I give credit to this guy- he's already more honest than a stack of Sunday NYT's for getting this out up front. And the NYT is more honest for printing it.

One last note: imagine if you had to hand out your paragraph every time you entered a cocktail party or job interview? It would quickly cut through a lot of the bullsh*t that surrounds social situations. You certainly might make enemies faster but I'd also say you'd likely pick up some friends more quickly as well.

Let your paragraph free - it wants to be heard!

This is sort of the same idea as a 30-second elevator speech, but is less obtrusive and takes less energy. I like it.

More excellently cool stuff. Some historical data on political party afiliation in the US.

Texan classical musicians help Iraqi classical musicians.

Bush's leadership style, from a B-school perspective.

UPDATE: The above mentioned Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra will be performing this week at the Kennedy Center in DC, with the US National Symphony Orchestra.

FUBAR. Here's how the US government protects us against terrorists and upholds our religious freedoms. Stupid putzes.

Kesher Talk

Saturday, December 13, 2003

Friday, December 12, 2003

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Monday, December 08, 2003

Sunday, December 07, 2003

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