Abe gives the speech at this year’s Y.U. graduation… (more…)

Looks like we could have a replay of the whether-to-call-it-a-genocide debate.

Yesterday we had a brief about a statement from 185 rabbis and other communal figures calling on Jewish tourists to skip the Beijing Olympics. Well, today the ADL is out with a statement coming out against a Jewish boycott. It appears to be meant as a rebuttal.

Read the ADL statement here.

Below is the full statement calling for a tourist boycott, along with the list of signatories.

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James Besser reports in the New York Jewish Week about the launch of a new political action committee aimed at supporting dovish congressional candidates — and, in Britain’s Prospect magazine, Gershom Gorenberg says that’s a good thing. (more…)

The Wisconsin State Journal says that the recent wedding of a local Chabad rabbi’s daughter is the closest most residents of Madison to experiencing “Fiddler on the Roof” (don’t worry, she didn’t marry a Cossack):

The marriage of Chanie Matusof, of Madison, and Nissi Gansbourg, of Montreal, was a deeply traditional Chasidic Jewish wedding.

It may have been the first of its kind here — the closest most Madisonians have come to experiencing anything similar may be watching “Fiddler on the Roof.”

“It is rare, ” said Rabbi Matusof of the Chabad House on Regent Street, the father of the bride, who officiated. “Just ask the staff here and they ‘ll tell you they ‘ve never seen anything like it before.”

“My parents have been here in Wisconsin for 40 years,” added Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin, of the Milwaukee-based group Lubavitch of Wisconsin. “This is definitely the first Chasidic wedding that Madison has ever seen. This is historic.”

InterfaithFamily.com is holding its first-ever video contest…

We are looking for all types of videos, including but not limited to: wedding videos demonstrating interesting, engaging, interfaith wedding ceremonies; humorous videos dealing with interfaith issues regarding life-cycle events, holidays, and everyday life; interviews with people involved in interfaith relationships and how they are dealing with the issues they face; conflict resolution; cartoons; parodies (in good taste); and music videos. InterfaithFamily.com reserves the right in its sole discretion to decide which videos to upload to its website, and not to upload any video that does not meet these criteria or that we deem unsuitable.

(All types of videos?)

The Jeffersonian, Baltimore’s business newspaper, reports on a Jewish recovering drug addict and the community’s efforts to draw attention to the issue:

Samantha Schroeder’s life revolved around heroin for nearly a decade. The Pikesville native stole money from the bank where she worked and became a prostitute, watching her life deteriorate as she struggled to keep up with a $250-a-day addiction.

Her story echoes countless other stories of drug abuse. But because she is Jewish, many may see her as an anomaly.

“My grandmother would always say, ‘I bet you are the only Jewish person in Narcotics Anonymous.’ If she only knew!” said Schroeder, now 37 and free of heroin for almost 10 years.

The perception that Jews are more immune to the perils of substance abuse is one that Jewish leaders have been trying to change. Schroeder, who has spoken around town in connection with Baltimore-based Jewish Addiction Services, recently told her story at a March 2 sisterhood brunch at Reisterstown’s Temple Emanuel.

Israeli television takes a look at intermarriage in the United States:

The Harvard Crimson reports on the controversy stirred up by a multi-media exhibition at the Harvard Hillel featuring testimonials from Israeli soldiers about their time in Gaza and the West Bank:

“Breaking the Silence” — a traveling exhibit of over 100 photographs and videos testimonials curated by former Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers — drew a crowd of nearly 200 on its opening night on March 1. Critics have said the exhibit portrays only the extremes of military life — such as a picture of an IDF soldier smiling in front of several corpses — and offers little context.

“By hosting this exhibit, Harvard Hillel only promotes enmity and hatred towards Israel and gives legitimacy to these sentiments by stamping its approval on the biased, distorted collage of pictures,” said [ZOA's Mort Klein].

But Franklin M. Fisher — an MIT economics professor and chair of Americans for Peace Now, which advocates for peace in the Middle East and sponsors “Breaking the Silence” — said he disagreed with Klein’s view. Fisher said the exhibit does not constitute criticism of Israel, adding that “not all criticism of Israel is hostile.”

The Jerusalem Post has an editorial Friday voicing skepticism over reports that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is set to “commit Israel to a much more intensive engagement with the Jewish communities of the Diaspora.”

Nothing that has leaked out of the first discussion on the issue, held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday, and nothing in the record of this government or its predecessors, suggests that Israel understands the complexity and immensity of the challenge posed by the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Thus, while Olmert’s initiative deserves praise, it also needs urgent direction.

The first important step, the Post’s editors argue, is to understand the difference between Jewish existence in America and Israel. (more…)

Flash90

Miriam Shaviv, of London’s Jewish Chronicle, offers her take on a growing trend:

In the past few months, reports have emerged of more than 100 Orthodox Israelis who have taken to wearing a Muslim-style burka, in the belief this will bring about redemption. They can be seen in Orthodox areas of Tiberias, Safed and even Jerusalem, and are mostly followers of Rabbanit Bruria Keren, a mother of 10 from Ramat Beit Shemesh.

According to the newspaper Ha’aretz, she rarely leaves her home and speaks only for four hours a week to offer “alternative therapy” to her followers.

Some wear more than 10 layers of clothing, including dark socks, with the ends cut off, over their hands. They never wear heels, lest the noise attracts attention.

What to make of this?

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