American Jews have become a collection of fourth sons, the character in the Passover narrative who is not even able to ask a question about the holiday. Many of us are as clueless as the slaves of Egypt about what it means to be a Jew. It took Moses, the greatest of teachers and prophets, to teach those slaves the meaning of freedom.

But we must teach ourselves again to choose to be Jews.

I agree wholeheartedly. There are too many American Jews (non-Orthodox of course) that feel it is enough to be proud that they're Jewish as if an accident of birth is something to be proud of. There is nothing to be proud about until a Jew starts learning about what ot means to be a Jew and then begins living according to the tenets of the Jewish faith.

Just because your parents were Jewish and were good people, and they raised you to be a good person, that doesn't make you a good Jew. It makes you a good person - without much to distinguish you from a good gentile. Judaism is a religion based on books and laws which cannot simply be absorbed by osmosis, no matter which branch of the religion you follow.

I myself do not claim to be adequately educated in Jewish subjects, just better educated than most. That in and of itself is pretty sad.

And you wonder why a) "Never Again" always happens again and b) the media has no interest in educating Americans about what Iraq was like before the U.S. led invasion.

Hundreds of dead women and children, executed in a hail of rifle fire by Saddam Hussein were found buried in a mass grave which had beeen hidden for 15 years. But a bride with cold feet gets top billing. Shouldn't that be under "Oddly Enough" and the crime against humanity placed at the top? (By the way more than 300 mass graves have been found since the invasion.)

MSNBC.com's headlines this morning were as follows (font approximate).

Pre-wedding jitters
Ga. woman who vanished before wedding found alive, fabricated kidnap tale, police say. • STORY
.
MORE TOP STORIES
• Festive Vietnam marks war’s end | • Slide show
• U.S. warns of possible N. Korea nuclear test
• Four GIs killed in Iraq | • WP: Mass grave found

At the NY Times, there isn't even an article on the subject, just a link in it's RSS feed from the AP and Reuters. No sense wasting valuable resources I guess.

In the Argentine daily Clarin's website, it's front page news with a picture.



More photos with descriptions here, here and here.

The article doesn't explain why this isn't just a bunch of idiots from a rural province of Argentina..I don't see the overt anti-semitism here.

Soccer Club's Fans Rankle Argentine Jews

Jewish leaders demanded Friday that Argentine soccer authorities take action against a club whose fans waved flags emblazoned with swastikas at a professional match.

Television images showed fans of the second-division club Talleres waving the flags ahead of the team's match Thursday night against rival Gimnasia de Jujuy in the central city of Cordoba.



Here's the local version (in Spanish)- Enérgico rechazo a la aparición de esvásticas en Córdoba

I love reading the story behind famous photographs, especially when it turns out that the photo is "not exactly what it seems".

Thirty Years at 300 Millimeters

If you're a news junkie like me or are more than 40 years old, you probably recognize this picture and know when, and maybe even specifically where, it was taken.



Or do you?

First of all, let me say that this Republican from the State of Alabama's House of Representatives is a disgrace to all humankind.

Alabama Bill Targets Gay Authors

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.

"I don't look at it as censorship," says State Representative Gerald Allen. "I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children."

Books by any gay author would have to go: Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Gore Vidal. Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple" has lesbian characters.

Allen originally wanted to ban even some Shakespeare. After criticism, he narrowed his bill to exempt the classics, although he still can't define what a classic is. Also exempted now Alabama's public and college libraries.

Doesn't the bible mention homosexuality, bestiality, murder, rape, etc.? Would that be banned too?

The only thing that disgusts me more than this proposed bill, is CBS' scare tactics used in the reporting of it. The beginning of the article asserts:

"A college production tells the story of Matthew Sheppard, a student beaten to death because he was gay.

And soon, it could be banned in Alabama."

I assume "could" means here that there was some snowball's chance in hell that this bill may have become law. Aside from the fact that it's not reported whether any other legislator supported it, there is an editor's note at the end which states:

"When the time for the vote in the legislature came there were not enough state legislators present for the vote, so the measure died automatically."

"And soon it could be banned"?!? Did they even read their own article?

All of the headlines claim an incredible rise in the number of global terrorist atacks and resulting deaths and injuries. There were three times as many attacks reported in 2004 than in 2003.

One journalist jumped at the opportunity to dare the President at his press conference this evening to claim that we weren't losing the War on Terrorism in the face of these apalling numbers.

QUESTION: Mr. President, your State Department has reported that terrorist attacks around the world are at an all-time high. If we're winning the war on terrorism, as you say, how do you explain that more people are dying in terrorist attacks on your watch than ever before?

First of all, the claim that "more people are dying...than ever before" is a crock of sh*t. The report says that reported deaths rose from 625 in 2003 to 1,907 last year. Perhaps this reporter forgot about a certain series of attacks that on one day alone killed almost 3,000 people, not to mention the intifada in Israel which was in full swing that year. More than ever?!?

Secondly, read deeply enough into any of the articles on the subject and you will come to this:

But John Brennan, acting director of the counterterrorism center, told reporters yesterday that the latest figures were compiled using different methodology and far more rigorous analysis, and ''cannot be compared to previous years in any meaningful way."

This reminds of the stories I remember from when I was younger that there was a large increase in the number of rapes reported when it became less of a social taboo to do so. The increase in reported rapes had nothing to do with the actual occurence of rape.

Nevertheless, the news always starts off with - International terrorist attacks rose sharply last year to 651 significant attacks worldwide, causing 1,907 deaths, according to a report released yesterday by the US government's National Counterterrorism Center.

As long as you don't read the fine print, I guess that's how you would see it.

The New York Times finally has it's proof that the Editorial Board doesn't direct it's news coverage. Either they're not communicating at all, or they are and the news people have no insight into what's going on Iraq.

First yesterday morning's Op-Ed most likely written late the night before.

Losing Ground in Iraq

The only plausible reason for keeping American troops in Iraq is to protect the democratic transformation that President Bush seized upon as a rationale for the invasion after his claims about weapons of mass destruction turned out to be fictitious. If that transformation is now allowed to run off the rails, the new rationale could prove to be as hollow as the original one.

And voila! The situation is resolved within 12 hours or so.

New Iraqi Premier Says Impasse Over Cabinet Is Broken

Iraq's new prime minister said today that he had submitted a full list of cabinet members, opening the way for a new coalition government to assume power and end a crippling three-month political stalemate that has appeared to be fueling renewed violence here.

By the way - appeared to whom?

Good thing the Pope was born on the right side of the German-Austrian border.

In contrast to those in Germany, Nazi deserters in Austria are still stigmatized and do not qualify for state pensions.

Theres a lot more here - Nazi 'stain' haunts Austrians - After war, nation recruited ex-followers of Hitler rather than Jews

Here is some more good insight into some of the Pope's early neighbors.

Yesterday, however, Herr Gassner, (a) museum curator, said the key to understanding the new Pope was to appreciate that he wasn't really German, but Bavarian. "We've got more in common with the Austrians than with north Germans," he said. "We are a warm-hearted and open to the world. But at the same time we are sceptical of other people.

Sceptical! That's either a mistranslation or the understatement of the year!

Engage was set up in response to the Association of University Teacher’s decision to take steps towards an academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

There's just so many arguments against the boycott, my mind reels when I try to think of a concise way to explain why. The Engage site is not concise, but it pays to remember the information they present as the idea of boycotting Israel or Israelis becomes more prevalent.

An example:

This is the full text of the letter by David Hirsh, part of which was printed in the Guardian:

Sue Blackwell (letters, April 25) asks “how can any state be legitimate that is founded on ethnic cleansing?” The following states could equally be said to be rooted in ethnic cleansing: Britain; USA; Australia; Turkey; Czech Republic; Poland; Syria; Egypt; Croatia; Serbia; Germany. Can she think of a state that was not founded or consolidated on such a barbaric act?

I neither mean to minimise the horrors of Israel’s actions against the Palestinians, nor to normalise them. All ethnic cleansing constitutes a crime against humanity.

The vast majority of Israelis are descended from people who were, within living memory, ethnically cleansed from Europe or from states in the Middle East that Blackwell does not consider to be illegitimate. It is time to stop demonising Israel.

The Passover Seder in a flash. Thanks to Jewschool.

And I thought our seder at home was quick becuase I skipped a couple of pages. (Hey, it's hard with a 4 year old and a 9:30 start time!)

On September 11, 2004 the New York Times wrote - As regressive milestones go, few are as frightful in this new era of homeland security as the decision by Congress and the Bush administration to allow the expiration of the 10-year-old law protecting the public from assault rifles and other rapid-fire battlefield weapons.

On September 20, 2004 I posted - I think the prevailing counter argument seems to be that the ban has done absolutely nothing to change the crime rate or the ability of people to get these guns if they really wanted them. Therefore, it is a non-issue.....The Times is feeding into liberal northeasterners fear of guns (which I admit to having myself). There are no facts in their opinion piece, just the use of scary words like "Uzi", "gunslingers", "battlefield", etc.

Today, the Times looks back at the effects of the expiration of the assualt weapons ban.

Many Say End of Firearm Ban Changed Little

Despite dire predictions that the streets would be awash in military-style guns, the expiration of the decade-long assault weapons ban last September has not set off a sustained surge in the weapons' sales, gun makers and sellers say. It also has not caused any noticeable increase in gun crime in the past seven months, according to several metropolitan police departments.

The uneventful expiration of the assault weapons ban did not surprise gun owners, nor did it surprise some advocates of gun control. Rather, it underscored what many of them had said all along: that the ban was porous - so porous that assault weapons remained widely available throughout their prohibition.

I thought so.

This doesn't mean that I'm excited about people having assault weapons in the back of their pick-up trucks (and there's a lot of pick-up trucks in North Texas). The only question left is whether the liberals were wrong, or if they really thought that nothing would happen and used the issue to inflame their base of gun-hating, criminals-have-rights-too peaceniks.

A Passover Message to Pope Benedict by Rabbi Marc Gellman (speaking as Moses).

Jethro, the father of my wife Zipporah, was not Jewish, but he still taught me a lot. When I was working myself to the bone judging cases, it was Jethro who told me that I should set up a system of judges to hear the easy cases and leave the hard ones for me. From that day on I never forgot that God speaks through many cultures and many faiths. I know I heard the real version from The Boss when we spoke face to face, but I also know that God is not through with any of us. Go find yourself a Jethro to remind you of this. Find yourself a Hindu holy man or a Zen Roshi or an Imam or a Minister or a Shaman or a Rabbi and then try to hear some of that one pure truth you know on their lips and in their hearts, not in spite of who they are, but because of who they are. When you find one good friend—like Jethro was to me—who does not necessarily love your vision of the truth, but who loves you anyway, people will see it in your eyes and then your words will be unnecessary.

Happy Passover!

Freedom is taken, not given.
- Ahad Haam (Zionist, 20th c. Thinker)

Daniel Okrent on The Hottest Button: How The Times Covers Israel and Palestine

I know I don't have to convince you to read the story, but when exactly did "Palestine" become a recognized place-name again?

If the BBC were to do a "history of heckling" to which party's political rally do you think they'd purposefully send hecklers to in order to disrupt it? You think a repsectable national news outlet would never do such a thing? Your answer, by the way, would be the Tories'.

Tory fury as BBC sends hecklers to bait Howard

Is this any way to treat a nice Jewish boy?

On the occasion of Pesach, a link to an article about some Argentine-Americans celebrating this year in Miami. The article describes life in the Argentine Jewish community succinctly and is right on the mark.

Customs blend for Latin Jews at Passover

By the way, if you want to see a link to the Argentine Jewish Day school where my wife and I are donating the funds to build out their library, click here.

As they say in Argentina - ¡Pesaj Kasher Ve Sameaj!

Jabad (Chabad) Lubavitch Argentina

'Cause the time it is a-changin'...maybe.

US lawmakers want daylight-saving time change

A House committee voted on Wednesday to expand U.S. daylight-saving time by two months to help reduce energy consumption, but rejected a plan to shave total U.S. oil demand by 1 million barrels a day.

Both proposals were offered as amendments to be tacked on to a broad energy bill that was debated by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The panel agreed in a voice vote to move the start of daylight-saving time in the United States -- which occurs when clocks are turned forward by one hour -- one month earlier to the first Sunday in March. The end of daylight time would be moved back one month to the last Sunday in November.

This is the difference between Iraq now and Iraq before.

6 detained in helicopter downing in Iraq

The U.S. military said Saturday it had detained six men suspected of shooting down a Russian-made helicopter carrying 11 civilians -- including six Americans -- north of Baghdad two days earlier.

An Iraqi civilian helped U.S. soldiers in Task Force Baghdad locate the suspects, who were apprehended at two houses Saturday afternoon, the military said in a statement....

The Iraqi civilian told soldiers he knew where a blue pickup truck used in the attack was parked and led them to the site, the military said. When the soldiers reached the area, several other local residents confirmed the initial tip and showed them where the suspects lived, the statement said.

Three cheers for the Pope!

"I trust in God to help me continue the dialogue and strengthen the collaboration with the sons and daughters of the Jewish people," Benedict said Pope Benedict XVI in a message to Rome's Jewish community on Thursday night, only two days after his election.

Just a thought - at Kabalat Shabbat services tonight, our rabbi asked the congregation why they thought that the Passover Seders were the most widely celebrate of Jewish rituals. Among the typical responses of "family togetherness" and "compelling human story", I piped up with my own theory.

I suggested that the celebration of Passover is so popular because it's one of the few relatively public Jewish rituals that we don't have to be embarrassed about. Christians know what the holiday's about - they've seen The Ten Commandments a dozen times just like we have. Non-Jewish Americans may know something about Hanukkah or Yom Kippur, but it's not as well known as the Passover story which is in everyone's Bible.

Since people are more comfortable telling their bosses, co-workers, etc. that they are leaving work early to get home for Passover, no one needs to ask why or question it's significance. That makes us more comfotable in taking time out from the society at large to do our own thing.