Archive for category Jewish Knowledge

JewCorps

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on August 18, 2011

chicagocarless.com

I recently began my training period for an AmeriCorps program. I was originally thinking that I would need to explain AmeriCorps to readers, however I now realize that Jews are awfully familiar with AmeriCorps.

My fellow members amount to 230, the largest group in the program’s history in this city. The group was broken down into teams of 18-20 on Monday, and I have quickly learned that of the 18 people in my group, there are 5 definite Jews, and possibly 2 others. That’s over 25% Jews in my group. If I wanted to, I could extrapolate and guesstimate that about 57-58 of the 230 are Jewish. That number blows my mind.

What’s interesting about this excellent and sizable number of Jews with which I am serving this year – aside from the opportunity to affect change with fellow Jews – is that The Forward published an article back in July about this exact topic. The Forward points out that young Jews seem more interested in secular volunteer work than specifically Jewish or Israel-related work. The article reports on a survey conducted by a not for profit group called Repair the World, and refers to the survey as “a good news/bad news sort of survey.” I totally understand that Jewish support of non-Jewish services detracts from Jewish support of Jewish services, but I’m uncomfortable calling this situation “bad news.” Though local projects, Federation, and organizations like Avodah are wonderful, I find my present experience to be equally positive for the Jewish community. Any positive public service performed is tangible proof that Jewish ideals are inspiring young people to repair the world.

I noticed that our schedule does not show us as having off for Rosh Hashanah. As I was preparing to ask one of my team leaders about this likely mistake, she informed me that we would have off for the first day- a good thing for them, because otherwise they would potentially have up to 58 members taking a personal day.

, ,

No Comments

I Love Pickles, I’m Crazy About `Em

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on July 28, 2011

ronaldmetellus.blogspot.com

Pickles have always been my favorite food.  I can eat them every single day- by the jar, on a sandwich, next to a sandwich, you get the point.  I even purchased pickle band-aids so that when I injure myself, I can patch the wound with something I love.  Honestly, pickled anything is okay by me- pickled tomatoes, pickled beets, you name it.

Growing up, my dad used to make pickles in our basement every July.  My Uncle G in Arizona made them too.  We had this great vat for pickle-making, and summers were blissful.  Dad would labor over our beloved family pickles, making enough to jar and share with neighbors and relatives.  But then the vat broke or went MIA, I can’t remember.  It was a dark time.

After years of listening to me whine, my dad finally decided last summer that the time was ripe to acquire a new vat.  He assigned my mom the task of purchasing a new one, and when it finally (yippee!) arrived, it was enormous.  I mean toddler-sized enormous.  The vat was quiet cumbersome, so we left it in the laundry room instead of schlepping it down to the basement.  My dad got to work with the cucumbers, my mom bought jars, and we all anticipated the first batch of sours.  Their presence in the laundry room made them difficult to ignore, so instead I checked on them regularly and dreamed of the day I could finally sink my teeth into one. 

And then that day came and they were a little disappointing.  Despite their mediocrity, I loved those pickles as much as I have ever loved any pickle.  The tradition of pickle-making is one firmly imprinted on my brain.  Though last summer’s batch wasn’t our best, it was a continuation of a fabulous tradition that had suffered too long of a hiatus, and I was more than thrilled to resurrect it. 

Do you have a favorite summer food tradition?  Maybe you make pickles too?  The Forward has a “Quick Kosher Dills” recipe up, so if you don’t make pickles, why not start today?

,

No Comments

`90s Nickelodeon Returns!

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on July 22, 2011

Next Monday, July 25th, TeenNick will start broadcasting classic (yes, classic) television series from the 1990s.  Even if you weren’t a kid in the `90s, you were probably a television viewer, so we can all revel in the joy which `90s Nickelodeon will inevitably bring next week.  A contributor on Tumblr writes that the idea to re-air the glorious programs of the `90s was presented by interns at Nickelodeon (two cheers for interns!), and I want to extend an enormous thank you to those terrific people who are about to make my dreams come true.  The same contributor on Tumblr lists the following shows as those which will air:

- Clarissa Explains it All    - All That

- Rocko’s Modern Life   – Doug

- Hey Arnold   – Are You Afraid of the Dark

- Kenan and Kel   – AHHH!!! Real Monsters

- The Adventures of Pete and Pete   – CatDog

- Double Dare   – Rugrats

- Salute Your Shorts   - GUTS

- Ren and Stimpy   - Rocket Power

- Legends of the Hidden Temple   - The Amanda Show

The shows will air from 12am-4am under programming titled “The `90s Are All That”- inconvenient for some, but great for those of us with a weird sleep schedule and/or DVR.  The New York Times explains that the network will rotate shows based on public reception communicated via Facebook, meaning prepare yourself (mainly your fingers for typing) to push for your favorite Nick shows.

Whether you watch for Jewess Amanda Bynes, or the likely Jewish neighborhood in Pete and Pete (the show was filmed entirely in North Jersey, so I have high hopes), there is no doubt in my mind that you will come across Jewish characters, holidays, and values.  Think: Rugrats Passover and Hannukah episodes.  In a May post, Jewcy writes that, “Rugrats was probably the only mainstream cartoon to even mention Judaism, let alone dedicate a few episodes to it,” which is not surprising because the former president of Nickelodeon, Albie Hecht, is Jewish. 

Tune into TeenNick and take a trip down (short-term) memory lane starting next week!

, ,

2 Comments

Is Harry Potter Jewish?

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on July 18, 2011

So you love the Harry Potter series and you saw/are going to see the final movie as soon as possible?  Great!  Here are some links to articles discussing Harry Potter and Judaism.

gawker.com

-  Time magazine likens Jews to wizards, and non-Jews to muggles.  This article  asks, “Why else would a yeshiva like Hogwart’s be so central to their lives? Why would the power of naming and names be so important to both Jews and wizards?”

-  Bruce James (Baruch Gershom) provides excellent insight into connections between Judaism and HP, focusing specifically on values.

-  The blog “Harry Potter for Seekers” explores the relationship between Judaism and magic, exploring ties to Kabbalah.  

-  Interfaith Family talks about Daniel Radcliffe’s Jewish mother and his own Jewish identity.

-  Camp Ramah even runs a program on Harry Potter and Judaism.

-  Rabbi Goldberg explores what is Jewish about Harry Potter in his blog post last week.

-  Finally, here is an interview with Dov Krulwich, author of the book titled Harry Potter and Torah.

 Have a magical Monday!

, ,

4 Comments

Happy Birthday, Oscar!

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on July 12, 2011

 Today would be Oscar Hammerstein II’s116th birthday.  Hammerstein was a staple in my house growing up, but only recently did I learn that he had some Jewish blood in him.  Though raised Episcopalian, his grandfather (Oscar Hammerstein I) was a German Jew.  Both of Hammerstein’s music partners were also of Jewish and German descent- Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers.  In celebration of Hammerstein and the bit of Jewish blood in him, I’m going to gush about him.

I loved Hammerstein’s lyrics before I had ever really heard his name.  The Sound of Music and Cinderella (different music from the Disney film, but same plot) were two of my very favorite movies as a child, both songbooks with lyrics written by Hammerstein.  “Do-Re-Mi” and “Edelweiss” were two of the first tunes I really learned to play on the piano in my previous life as a student of jazz piano.  His lyrics are elegant and impossibly beautiful, something I learned as I grew and began to push my way through various piano fake books.  Song after song, Hammerstein achieves something that most musicians can’t realistically even dream of: eternal life.  Kids still swoon to the music in The Sound of Music and adults to the scores of Show Boat, South Pacific, State Fair, Oklahoma!, etc.  Hammerstein also teamed up with the wonderful Jerome Kern (also Jewish), together creating some of my favorite music of all time.  Maybe I’m an old soul, or a pure sentimentalist like my man Hammerstein, but his music makes me melt and I’ll bet an ice cream cone that you can sing along to at least one of his tunes. 

So let us celebrate the Doylestown native’s birthday with a few of the most superb songs ever written.

, ,

No Comments

Rock Like A Punk Jew

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on July 6, 2011

Generally when I listen to punk rock I don’t really think about the people behind the music, but more so the effect of it.  But then I did some poking around on the World Wide Web.  Mick Jones from The Clash was born to a Russian Jewish mother.  Tommy Ramone is Jewish, and so was Joey.  And so are Chris Stein (Blondie), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Handsome Dick Manitoba (The Dictators), Richard Hell (Richard Hell & The Voidoids), Hilly Kristal (Owner of CBGB), Martin Rev and Alan Vega (Suicide), and Jonathan Richman (The Modern Lovers).  What’s up with all of these punk rocking Jews?

sharonactor.com

In my effort to figure out a connection between Jews and punk rock, I stumbled across Steven Lee Beeber.  In his 2006 novel Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s, Beeber writes, “Punk reflects the whole Jewish history of oppression and uncertainty, flight and wandering, belonging and not belonging, always being divided, being in and out, good and bad, part and apart.”  He sees Jewish-influenced punk music as a reaction to the Holocaust, a movement fueled by Jewish men born a generation after the Holocaust, who expressed both anger and confidence.  Beeber talks about punk rock’s use of Nazi symbols as a means by which to both shock and exert power.  Basically, Beeber connects a lot of the dots. 

Saul Austerlitz reflects on Beeber’s novel and writes that, “Punk may not have been Jewish, but its push-and-pull dynamic regarding American culture at large might as well have been.”  His really great article on beliefnet.com explains punk rock as a struggle similar to Jewish struggle, therefore making the two a perfect match.  As I listen to The Clash or London Calling, I feel each song’s power as it very quickly flashes, booms, and abruptly ends.  The music of The Clash and other punk bands is fast and loud, violent at times, and very often expressing a conflict with society.  Punk rock has always been utterly reactionary, a means by which musicians could verbally and melodically fight back.  What people needed a stage from which to fight back more so than the Jews?

Enjoy this very hot first week of July with any of the killer Jewish punk heads listed at the top of this post, and maybe also a little Adam Sandler spoof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLieRUthktM

, ,

2 Comments

The Circumcision Decision

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on June 24, 2011

cartoonstock.com

As fans and observers (Jewcy includes “maybe a handful of Perez Hilton wannabes”) wait to learn if Natalie Portman will have her son circumcised, the anti-circumcision movement swells.  In reading Kveller’s post about the potential impending bris, I was slightly taken aback by the really heated comments from readers.  I am not particularly interested in outlining a well-developed reason as to why I either do or do not support circumcision.  I’m neither male nor a parent, and I have not yet had to think through my position.  What I do want to do is discuss the books published by JPS that may prove useful for those in the position to make the circumcision decision.

First and foremost: the Tanakh.  Yes, I know you probably already have one (which totally rocks), but start by reading the passage in Lekh Lekha (Genesis 12.20) in which G-d tells Abraham that “every male among [him] shall be circumcised…and that shall be a sign of the covenant.”  Side note: Lekh Lekha was actually my bat mitzvah portion so it’s interesting to be re-visiting it as a blogger rather than a thirteen-year-old grasping for the meaning of her portion.

Next, check out Vanessa L. Ochs’ book Inventing Jewish Ritual.  In her brief section on circumcision, Ochs offers a new take on circumcision as ritual.  She writes that, “Jewish ritual is no longer necessarily embraced or rejected without first engaging in a process of reflection.”  Rather, ritual is now the process by which a Jew comes to a decision, not just the decision itself.  For Ochs, ritual is essentially interactive, the act of deciding what one wants to do or not do based on reasoning.  For my parents, circumcising my brother was a given – “a Jew thing” as my dad says – but even their decision to adhere to past practice is a ritual for it shows a process by which they made a choice.

Finally, challenge yourself with a copy of Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: Body.  Dr. Harry Brod, author of the article, “Circumcisional Circumstances: Circumspecting the Jewish Male Body,” writes of circumcision as “hidden.”  He explains: “that which is undiscussed or hidden…operates all the more powerfully precisely because of its hiddenness,”- so thus circumcision grows and festers as a subject the more that people refuse to discuss it.  Brod urges specifically men to discuss circumcision and to have an active role in deciding whether or not a son will be circumcised.  On a more general note, he encourages men to take control and participate in important conversations about their bodies.

The overall and overt point of this post is that there is no “right” answer to the circumcision question- it is a very personal and very important decision, one which each person or family must make for their own reason(s).  Individuals and families, however, owe it to themselves and Jewish tradition to make a well-educated decision, one which JPS is more than happy to aid with books.

, ,

1 Comment

The Ashkenazi Longevity Gene

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on May 24, 2011

May 22nd’s The New York Post reported that a team at Cornell Medical College is going to be studying the stem cells of a dozen Ashkenazi Jews over the next few weeks.  Why?  Because apparently Ashkenazi Jews have long – but not necessarily healthy – lives, and the team wants to chock it all up to genes.  The article highlights Ashkenazi Jews living late into their nineties despite smoking, unhealthy eating, and drinking habits.  The Cornell team is seeking to prove that these Jews share a “longevity gene…which appears to protect them from heart attacks, cancer and other life-threatening maladies.” 

Jewcy aptly writes, “Jews are good at being old,” – an observation that I think applies to aging, but also living as a mature Jew.  A woman highlighted in the Post article claims to never have been sick.  She is 98-years-old, traveling to Italy, Hungary and St. Tropez in the last year.  Similarly, my grandfather lived until age 93 (or 94 depending on the birth certificate), traveling to Europe and working as a print salesman until the end.  I always thought him somewhat magical.  I thought him similar to the mythical characters in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude – timeless, caring, and constantly remaking himself. 

Rosie Gray, a blogger for The Village Voice reports that the research study will go something like: The team extracts stem cells from the senior citizens’ blood, then transforms them into cells of vital organs that incorporate the healthy gene signatures. The engineered cells will undergo harsh stress tests, then be examined to see how they fared. 

Gray’s post is cute and brief, but what really got me was this comment from a reader: A carefully shaped ‘scientific investigation’ can have any outcome, based on selectivity. There are pros of advanced aging in all cultures and, ahem, bloodlines. This article has the whiff of eugenics about it.  This particular reader decided that a study of a “longevity gene” among Ashkenazi Jews will automatically lead to the replication of the gene and a cleansing of races.  What this reader forgets is that people love people who live for a long time- I mean, I wouldn’t be writing this post if I weren’t fascinated by the idea of living a hundred years simply because I am an Ashkenazi Jew.  Personally, I’m pretty siked that my mass consumption of ice cream coupled with my genes could possibly trump the heart disease running through my lineage.  I also somehow doubt that the medical community will dabble in eugenics.  It seems far more likely that positive results from Cornell’s study will merely confirm that I can eat bagels and lox until I’m 98, while riding a bike as fast as possible along the Schuylkill River.

,

1 Comment

Is That Your Omer Beard or Your Playoff Beard?

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on April 21, 2011

Interestingly, The Counting of the Omer coincides with the NHL playoffs.  Jews count the days of wandering in the desert from Pesach to Shavuot, and hockey fans gear themselves up to hopefully run from the first round to the finals.  Omer beards and playoff beards begin to sprout on the most respectable people, and onlookers can ask themselves: Jew?  Hockey fan?  Both?  Full beards, patchy beards, black beards, red beards, etc. emerge, and every man bearing one has the satisfaction of being the bearded man. 

esquire.com

Though the playoffs end positively for only one team, the Omer concludes with a joyous occasion for all Jews: the receiving of the Torah.  The playoffs mark a stressful but enjoyable period for participants and fans, while the Omer represents a somber time.  Jews mourn the wandering of ancestors, and hockey fans scream and paint their faces.  Despite the differences in atmosphere and end result (though, the kissing of the Stanley Cup is oddly reminiscent of the kissing of the Torah), this whole beard thing strikes me as significant. 

Jewcy has put together The Omerathon, a beard-growing competition to benefit Jewish Family Services Los Angeles.  Depending on tradition, participants are asked to grow their beards for 49 or 33 days while raising money for a defense against hunger in the community.  Depending on one’s team, hockey fans could also end up growing a beard for 49 or 33 days. 

So what’s with the facial hair?  JPS’ Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Spring and Summer Holidays outlines the significance of growing one’s hair.  Essentially, one is to set himself apart for the L-rd, and he is to do so by not cutting his hair- “the hair of his head shall be left to grow untrimmed” (Numbers 6:5).  Not cutting one’s hair has been expanded to include facial hair.  Though women are clearly not included in this beard tradition, I think that they can take a lesson from female hockey fans.  Female hockey fans can also not grow beards, so instead they satisfy their superstitious ritual fix by wearing special or lucky garments.  Some of my pals insist that we must all be seated in the exact same seats, wearing the exact same clothes, and going to the bathroom at the same minute mark or between periods for an entire playoff series, so there’s also that option. 

Though The Counting of the Omer is much more solemn, playoff hockey tradition is often as meaningful and serious for many.  Fans don beards, favorite jerseys, and lucky undergarments for the same reason Jews grow beards, avoid haircuts, and postpone weddings: out of respect and tradition.

, ,

No Comments

Who’s Jonesing for the Afikoman?

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on April 14, 2011

notesfromthetribe.com

This Passover means a few things in my house, but most importantly: afikoman battle #17.  My brother is 17, so I consider the first battle to be the year he came into the picture and began competing with me for the coveted title of “winner.”  Only recently has he become a worthy competitor- mostly because he is now taller than I am.  My dad has never adhered to the rules of hiding the afikoman.  He ignores the rule of visibility and puts the afikomen under, inside of, or behind anything he deems worthy in my house.  I’m convinced that when my parents move we will find old matzah behind the pictures on the walls.     

The hunt commences with some combination of my dad taking the afikoman, making a cryptic statement, and then exiting the room to put it in a silly spot that he thinks we will never find.  We then eat, sing, and finish the seder (Can The Maccabeats please record a version of Dayenu?).  Right before we sit down for dessert, my dad sends us off on our mission to recover the afikoman.  He immediately tells us which rooms to ignore, and then allows us to pathetically search for about ten minutes before he provides the good old “hot and cold” hints.  He’s a huge fan of hiding the afikoman in books, in my mother’s yarn collection, behind window shades, and yes, behind pictures hanging on the walls.  Just before we find it, he applauds himself for duping us, and than, ah ha!  Found it, dad!  And then he must fork over the reward.  The game comes to a close as I eat my found afikoman in all its glory.  According to Babaga Newz , Jews used to believe that the afikoman could “protect from a host of ills…cure mutes, keep silos full of grain, and guard against bullets,” so now I know why my immune systems rocks.   

What are your family traditions?  Is finding the afikoman as huge in your house as it is in mine?  Do you watch The Ten Commandments each year and wonder how Charlton Heston could move from Moses to president of the NRA?  Or are you more of a The Prince of Egypt family?  Do you think of ways to include matzah in your life that does not involve eating it (Frisbee or packaging material)?  Jewcy put together a list of ways to enjoy matzah in the off season, but I more so worry about how to stomach it for an entire week.  

As you begin preparing for Passover, pop over to our blog and share your traditions!

, ,

No Comments