Grammy-nominated singer and Heidi Klum beau Seal laments the negative effects of rap culture on the black community, saying that a difficult history is no excuse for violence and objectifying women:
“It’s sad because we’re damaging our own. Like, in different cultures, you would never see that…Take for example the Jewish culture. They’ve been persecuted just like the black people, right? But you never see them eating their own. They don’t. But we will.”
Oy, Seal baby, we wish it were so. Jews may not carry guns and put our women in rhinestone bikinis, but we know from experience that there’s plenty of divisiveness among us. But instead of gettin’ all down about it, we’re wondering what the outcome of Jewish rap culture (link goes to 50 Shekel’s official site) might be: Drive-by lulav shakings? Gang-banging based on really nasty Yiddish epithets? Tefillin and attachable payes for sale at Urban Outfitters?

All you Betty Crocker types might be interested to know that the ubiqutous bundt pan, a round, heavy dish used for baking rich coffee cakes served at your bubbie’s, has Jewish origins: JTA reports that in 1950, a group of Minneapolis Hadassah women (fed up with the bland, fluffy cakes popular with American housewives) wanted to get back to their German roots and the traditional, heavier cakes like those from the Old Country. But no such pan existed, so the Jewish women approached aluminum manufacturer H. David Dalquist. He manufactured the pans and let the women sell them to their friends and neighbors, giving the Hadassah chapter a lasting source of revenue. Dalquist died Sunday at age 86, leaving behind a tasty tradition.
Now you can impress everyone with a lovely anecdote when you serve Bertha’s Big Bourbon Bundt Cake at your next koffee klatch.

The latest literary rising star is none other than Joshua Braff, brother of writer/director/actor Zach. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green shares the “coming-of-age-in-a-meshuggeh-Jewish-family” theme of Zach’s film Garden State (now out on DVD, co-starring Princess Natalie Portman!) but apparently seeks it laughs from darker, more dysfunctional places.
Both brothers swear the tyrannical fathers in their work are not based in reality, but with Garden State making indie film history and Unthinkable Thoughts poised for bestsellerdom, we certainly hope their parents are kvelling like mad.

C/o of Jewschool: McDonald’s has launched an Israeli ad campaign for their new McShwarma, a parody of the famous “I don’t eat pig” Pulp Fiction dialogue. Watch it here and wish turkey, tahini and pickles were on the menu in the States.

Daily Jews (our favorite folks from the other side of the pond known as the Atlantic) have brought to our attention the incredibly insulting, unconscionable remarks made by Eliyahu Yardeni, a senior official at the London Kabbalah Centre:
“Just to tell you another thing about the six million Jews that were killed in the Holocaust: the question was that the Light was blocked. They didn’t use Kabbalah.”
Is it possible that this was taken out of context or would another Jew actually say something so awful? The quote is from an upcoming BBC special to be aired Thursday night about the questionable practices of the Kabbalah Centre and its leaders. Anyone ’round here have a satellite dish?

Yes, Chanukah is but a distant memory, but we came across this amazing menorah created by Shalom Lamm on Jews In Green and just had to share. Using nine 44mm artillery shells, dental molding and the quote from Isaiah 2:4

Thanks to Papa “themiddle” at Jewlicious for turning us on to Oy, Baby, a “Baby Einstein”-ish video made just for Jewish little ones! Now parents can feel just a smidge less guilt when they park the tots in front of the tube so they can check their e-mail…

We’re probably the only ones, but we’ve got a hankering for some good ol’ fashioned, salty chopped liver. The kind they sell at the fancy gourmet supermarket doesn’t taste like it should, so we found this recipe on Aish.com. In the extremely rare case that you like chopped liver but don’t eat meat, Bubbie Irma has even supplied a vegetarian version. Best spread on matzah!
Yum yum and Good Shabbos!

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If you were a couch potato in Britain tonight, you could watch Jmerica favorite supermodel Caprice compete with seven other celebs for a big cash prize (to be donated to charity) on the UK’s celebrity version of Big Brother. Other housemates include scary Brigette Nielsen (who seems to be trying to revive her career by starring in as many reality shows her agent can scramble up) and feminist writer Germaine Greer.
c/o Daily Jews.