Not only has the Gaza aid ship fiasco generated a whole lot of bad press for Israel, but it’s got Jews everywhere openly questioning their loyalty to the Jewish state.
Surely the questioning was already there, but the Tweets and news reports of “an Israeli attack” on “peaceful activists” has opened a flood of commentary from Jewish writers voicing their “ambivalence” about Israel.
The first piece I read was Marjorie Ingalls’ parenting column on Tablet.com, which fairly and honestly explores how terrifying it can be to explain the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to our children. She also says that she thinks Israel acts like a “bully,” but that “disagreement with Israel doesn’t mean not loving Israel, just as being upset with your own children doesn’t mean you don’t love them.” She caught a huge amount of flak from Tablet’s readers, elegantly addressed in this follow-up piece. I disagree with her on many points, but I respect her courage in offering up her experience.
Then I clicked on David Luban’s “No Direction Home,” a long-winded treatise which I think is about the decline of “liberal Zionism” but comes off sounding like an excuse of why he no longer feels compelled to stand with Israel.
Look, I know us liberal American Jews’ relationship with Israel is COMPLICATED. I don’t begrudge anyone for their informed opinions. I’ve struggled over the years with my own ability to love Israel and not agree with its government tactics and then have to defend Israel’s right to exist in casual conversation. But I have to wonder if all this hand-wringing is provoked by the habit of us self-proclaimed liberal Jews to believe and react to propaganda masquerading as fact.
Those who were depending on the Huffington Post for updates about the flotilla incident never saw the other sites clips of IDF soldiers being attacked and footage of piles of weapons aboard the ship — none of which have shown up on HP even as of today. (I’ve come to find out that HP’s rabid anti-Israel bent has been clearly documented.)
This is a war of information more than anything now. Pro-Palestinian groups know how to use social media to unite their followers, even when they’re intending to spread lies (there was footage seized from the flotilla of “injured activists” filmed well before any IDF soldier set foot on the flotilla.) Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times that “there is no question that this flotilla was a setup. Israel’s intelligence failed to fully appreciate who was on board, and Israel’s leaders certainly failed to think more creatively about how to avoid the very violent confrontation that the blockade-busters wanted.”
Israel, for all its technological advancement, has a kind of Asperger’s-esque inability to sense how it’s perceived in the world. Or maybe it doesn’t care. But it needs to, because it’s losing support fast among its own people, or at least the American liberal-flavored ones. Hopefully, when the next flotilla arrives from Ireland tomorrow, someone in the PR department will do their job to show the world that of course aid is allowed into Gaza — after it’s been checked for weapons and materials that could be used to harm the citizens of Israel.
As for me, after reading about and clicking through and thinking and discussing this incident all week, my views on Israel are the same: I still stand by her. I’m a loud, proud liberal, make no mistake, but I’ve never felt comfortable with the knee-jerk apologies for Israel I heard living in Northern California (boy, I’m glad that I’m not there right now). I’ve encountered too much frightening anti-Israel vehemence that has obvious roots in anti-Semitism to think it’s possible, as a Jew, to disassociate oneself from Israel in the eyes of the rest of the world. And you know what? That’s not a problem for me, because unlike Marjorie Ingalls, I do stand with Abe Foxman’s eagle-eyed quest to hold haters accountable, and I happen to adore our local Yom Ha’atzmaut festivals.
*sigh* I’m not sure if this video is going to help Israel’s image as it attends to the seriousness of facing several million psychotic, screaming liars, but sheesh, it’s good to know someone is keeping a sense of humor about it all:
As if General Motors didn’t have enough problems with the ink on the bankruptcy papers still fresh and a bunch of pissed off Union workers with lawyers and chains at the ready, now they’ve got the Israelis on their tuchus:
The Detroit auto company has been slapped with a lawsuit by Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the unapproved use of Albert Einstein’s image in this ad that ran in the September issue of People magazine.
Hebrew U has overseen the usage rights to Einstein’s publicity since the physicist willed them to to the school after his death in 1955 and has shilled out his frizzy-haired image plenty of advertising campaigns over the years, including sodas. But they draw the line at a freshly-inked Al slouching in his Calvin Kleins:
“The tattooed, shirtless image of Dr. Einstein with his underpants on display is not consummate with and causes injury to (the university’s) carefully guarded rights in the image and likeness of the famous scientist, political activist, and humanitarian,” wrote Hebrew University lawyer Antoinette Waller.
I’m sure the ad man who created it (though I guess it’s equally plausible that a woman could have come up with such juvenile irony) thought Photoshopping a smart head on a ripped body was a clever way to associate GM’s brand with some sort of intellect. But someone should’ve told him or her that while some ideas might be sexy, but that doesn’t mean they’re good ideas. And doesn’t such a campaign run the risk of backfiring for pushing intellectual elitism? After all, you’re marketing to an audience that buys Chevys.
Personally, I don’t need to see Albert Einstein in his skivvies to think he’s hot — his quest to unify the world’s political theories so that all the stupid warmongers could stop posturing once and for all has always been swoonworthy enough.
It was a sad day for Savannah’s single ladies when hot Jewish agronomist Daron “Farmer D” Joffe relocated to Atlanta a few years ago. Sure, true sycophants can still get their hands dirty in his signature compost blend, but it’s just not the same.
So what a delight to see his cute punim pop up on the VH-1 reality show “What Chilli Wants.” (No, I still don’t have cable, but a friend alerted me that one of my favorite men in a skirt was in the spotlight again.) Pretty Chilli — formerly of the girl group TLC and single mama — is looking for love in unusual places, and I guess it doesn’t get more unusual than a Jewish guy on a tractor.
Chilli wears a ginormous cross and is up front about her faith, so I was looking forward to how this was gonna play out, considering Farmer D’s well-documented connections with the Atlanta Jewish community.
On their first date, Chilli got super googly-eyed at Farmer D’s non-denominational blessing over their meal. On their second date, things seemed to moving along well until she asks him “So, do you go to church here?” He swallows big and says “Um, like, ‘church’ church?”
I was holding my breath to see how he’d announce his Judaism. Would he lay claim to one of Atlanta’s 35 synagogues? Would he brandish his V’Havta necklace from ModernTribe.com? Would he go full-on reality show wack and drop his pants?
His answer made both Chilli and I choke: He got all nervousy and claimed to be an “athiest.” In fact, he seemed to be taking great pains to avoid the Jewish question altogether — calling himself “confused” and “spiritual but not religious.” Clearly, his wishwashiness is a deal breaker for Chilli: (dinner starts around 2:40.)
Daron, dahlin’, you’re breakin’ this Jewish mother’s heart — it’s not for me to judge whether you date Jewish, but don’t be ashamed of who you are. You might’ve gotten further with Chilli if you’d announced your plans to join the yeshiva — she seems to admire adherence to any faith, even if it’s not hers.
*sigh* Such a shanda that nice Lisa Loeb isn’t doing her reality dating show anymore – might be a better shidduch, D.
Wednesday already? So sorry for my absence, friends. Y’all vote me Best Local Blogger and then I do a disappearing act like some meshuggneh celebrity who can’t handle the spotlight? Promise, I haven’t let the fame go to my head — please, let me ‘splain myself:
I’ve been busy getting up to speed for my new gig as Director of Communications at the esteemed Georgia Historical Society, one of the oldest cultural institutions in the country. To those outside Savannah, it might sound like some stuffy, dusty place filled with Confederate flags and little old ladies wringing their lace-gloved hands, but this stunning little library is actually a bustling hub of activity that oversees educational programming, a couple of magazines, genealogical services and all of those cool the statewide historical markers that I always pull over the van for — which, by the way, don’t just commemorate some forgotten military action but tell stories about African American history, the role of women in Georgia and other parts of history that won’t make you fall asleep.
The building itself is an architectural jewel, built in 1876 and occupied by the GHS ever since. Inside, tiers of dark wood house an incredible assemblage rare photographs, maps and documents relating to the 13th colony — including an original draft of the U.S. Constitution. GHS also houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Jewish life in the South, the Savannah Jewish Archives. (And would you believe I’ve made it in? SJA Chair Kay Kole just told me that the Connect article about Yo, Yenta! has been added to the clip file for future generations so — such an honor!)
So you can see why my nerdy little heart is just beating with joy that I get to help bring all of this to the people. Don’t worry, I’ll still be your Yenta as long as you’ll have me — I can’t wait to share what I find digging around in the stacks.
Please, come on over to for a tour, but let me get settled in — I’ve only got like 250 years to catch up on first, no big deal.
It’s been a busy week for this meshuggeh Jewish mother. Did I mention that a fungus is slowly killing my tomato plants? And that El Yenta Man is off surfing in Costa Rica? Oh, and that I start a new job on Monday?
So I must say I’m really looking forward to welcoming the Shabbat Queen — the Divine Feminine presence that breathes the beauty and sacredness into the Sabbath — through the door this evening. It’s funny, as heretical as I’d like to be, I still find deep comfort in the mitzvah of lighting candles on Friday nights and turning off the laptop for a whole day. What would be even more awesome is if the Sabbath Queen would lend me one of her accompanying minions to clean the house.
A wonderful weekend to all, whatever you’re welcoming through the door tonight. Please enjoy the warmth and beauty of “The Queen of Shabbat” by Ukrainian-born painter Elena Kotliarker – click here for a closer look.
This evening marks the beginning of Shavuot, kind of wallflower Jewish holiday that always seems to get a bit lost as the school years ends.
It’s actually a nice little “jewbilee,” even for us do-it-yourself Jews who don’t like rituals that require cleaning out every closet in the house with a toothbrush or swinging live chickens. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah to our man Moses on Mt. Sinai, seven weeks after our peeps got the hell outta Dodge Egypt so many centuries ago. It evolved into late spring harvest festival at the big ol’ temple King Solomon built; however, once all the Jews dispersed all over the planet like dandelion spores, it’s been known as the Rodney Dangerfield of Jewish holidays.
It really should be a big deal for the Abrahamic religions since that’s when the Ten Commandments came down, but here in America, it’s still gets no respect. Tablet‘s Marissa Brostoff explores why such an important holiday gets the shaft and how some synagogues are selling Shavuot to the next generation. Some hipsters have started hosting super cool all-nighters — hilarious comedian Sandra Bernhard headlines this year in San Francisco! — and I love the idea of bringing a cow to shul for the kids to milk to connect the tradition of serving dairy deliciousness.
Shavuot is generally celebrated some late-night study with the rabbis, a reading of the Book of Ruth, putting a vase of pretty flowers on the table and — get this — eating cheesecake. I don’t even remember Shavout growing up Reform in Arizona, but this explains my deep obsession for creamy sweet softness in a graham cracker crust — it’s rooted in my DNA.
Lip-smacking aside, Shavuot also features one of my favorite Torah tales, one of the few starring women with a speaking role. The Book of Ruth takes place during a time of famine, when Jewish mother Naomi has to move to Moab with her husband, who promptly dies. Her sons marry outside the Tribe, then they die. Noami is left with her shiksa daughters-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth, who she tries to convince to go back to their own people. Orpah does leave, but Ruth stays, giving one of the most beautiful speeches any Jewish mother wants to hear:
Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.
Ruth becomes the first “righteous convert” to Judaism, not necessarily out of love for God, but out of love for Naomi. (Writer David Plotz does an amazing theological/social interpretation of her choice in this piece on Slate.com.)
I relate to Ruth’s decision to stay with Naomi on a personal level. As some of you know, my mother-in-law, once a brilliant and kind lady, has deteriorated these last few years at the unmerciful hands of dementia. We still lived in California when she was diagnosed with cancer before that, and she pooh-poohed us when we offered to come and comfort her. “You guys just take care of the baby. I’ll be fine,” she’d say. She never, ever would have asked us to move back to Savannah to help her and my father-in-law get used to the rotten inevitability of this disease. I don’t know how helpful we actually are, but we did come. Not out of obligation or guilt, but out of love.
So you see, like Ruth, I did convert. Yes, I’m already Jewish, but I love my mother-in-law so much I became SOUTHERN, y’all.
Heheheh. I’d love to tell you I’ll be davening tonight and stuffing my face with cheese blintzes at synagogue. Instead, I’ll be celebrating the handing down of a different, much less significant-to-anyone-but-me type of scroll – a certificate that says I’ve been voted “Best Local Blogger” by the readers of Connect Savannah. I’m still shocked by the honor — there aren’t enough Jews in Savannah to lobby for this, so apparently some of you are just here for the food.
I promise to catch up on Torah study tomorrow with a big fat slice of blueberry cheesecake.
Look, Comedy Central – it’s fine when Jon Stewart makes occasional, self-deprecating Jewish references on your network because he’s one of us.
But this “game” on the CC web site called “I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack!” is TOTAL ANTI-SEMITIC CRAP. Featuring someone called “Jew Producer” who fails to destroy another character and thus sends in the “Intelligent Smart Robot Animation Eraser Lady” (I.S.R.A.E.L.) to do the job, this game is outrageous, especially considering the ass-kissing — and self-censoring — your network had to do recently to appease the Muslim whackos after an episode of South Park presented the prophet Mohammed dressed as a bear.
Readers, if you can stand the juvenile graphics, watch this:
So it’s not some hate-filled plot against Jews, it’s a bunch of self-hating Jews who would rather spit in their grandmother’s eye than develop an actual sense of humor.
Still, you should write to Comedy Central about “I.S.R.A.E.L. Attacks!” and tell them that you find the gave repulsive and offensive. You can also join the Facebook group: “Comedy Central – I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack game is offensive. Remove it.” and tweet it out @ComedyCentral on Twitter!
Oy, everyone likes to pull the “Nazi card” when there’s something bigoted afoot, but rarely does the comparison really apply — even the new Arizona immigration law doesn’t stand up to genocide. My main man Lewis Black knows how to smack a hypocrite in the mouth – if only figuratively:
