Well, new to you, anyway. The 2000 year-old scraps of animal skin were found in a canyon near the Dead Sea, where Jewish revolutionaries hid out from the Romans in the second century (C.E.). They’re hand-printed in Hebrew with verses from the Book of Leviticus, sort of the “spiritual rulebook” of the Pentateuch. “Not very sexy” says blogger Ed Cook, but this adds to the likelyhood that the scroll isn’t a fake.
The fragments haven’t been completely authenticated yet, but those who like to get down and dirty with old stuff like the brainy dudes at Paleojudaica and Codex
have more in-depth repoorts.
Photo: AP.

Sexy accordion maven Annette Ezekiel of Golem gets a few quotes in this AP article about how the “new trend” of Jewish pop culture as evidenced by hasidic dub star Matisyahu and the proliferation of kitschy couture.
“Religion is not the most popular thing in youth culture these days,” says Sara Joki, 23, of Saratoga Springs. “But people like Matisyahu going on Jimmy Kimmel and singing about God, and seeing people go wild for it, it’s just amazing. It makes me proud of my generation.”
We’re all for Jew pride, but there’s something about wearing a t-shirt and listening to “Chop ‘Em Down” on the iPod that just says “poseur” if that person is out clubbing on Yom Kippur.
Says Jason Brzoska, director of learning communities and marketing for myjewishlearning.com: “I see the increase in Jewish pop culture, but I don’t know if it’s really bringing disillusioned, disengaged Jews together. The problem with pop culture is that it’s ephemeral.”
As Jews who saw nothing but blond feathered hair and little noses on TV growing up, we’re glad the young’uns can see their Judaism reflected in the mainstream. Perhaps this validation might actually bring some of the disillusioned and disengaged back to synagogue. In the meantime, wear those t-shirts ’til they fade.