I was honored to be quoted in an unscientific study about the level of play in the Israel Baseball League during this inaugural season. Iblemetrician referenced my subjective impression of the IBL’s level of play from a blog entry I posted after watching my first professional baseball game in Israel at Sportek Field. The level…
Like every sensible person I was outraged by Ann Coulter‘s anti-Semitic comments on CNBC’s “The Big Idea” with host Donny Deutsch. Coulter began answering Deutsch’s question about what her ideal United States would look like by stating it would be like it was during the Republican National Convention in New York City. She then went…
This is my 500th post on the RabbiJason.com blog! Rather than write anything substantial, I thought I would just post a photo I took last week in New York City. Walking down Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I saw this artist drawing in chalk on the sidewalk. I couldn’t resist watching him…
Today, there are several Jewish football players in the National Football League. Of course, my favorite is Josh Miller, the New England Patriots kicker. But that’s only because he shares his name with my son Josh. There’s also Jay Fielder (New York Jets), Lennie Friedman (Washington Redskins), Sage Rosenfels (Miami Dolphins), Mike Rosenthal (Minnesota Vikings),…
I definitely felt that my wife, kids, and I were the only ones not wearing Crocs this summer in Israel. Those weird-looking, plastic, comfy shoes have become the biggest foot fad since the Air Jordans. Ami Eden, in the JTA, reports that Crocs have taken over as the must-have shoes for Yom Kippur fashion… or…
I recently stumbled upon two great first-person articles by guys I know. Reading Newsweek magazine on an elliptical machine last week, I immediately recognized Chanan Tigay’s photo on the My Turn page. Chanan went to the University of Pennsylvania with a close friend of mine, and is the son of a Conservative rabbi, Professor Jeffrey…
Since my posting about the decisions that Jewish professional athletes make about whether to play on Yom Kippur, I’ve received many inquiries as to whether Ryan Braun actually played on the Day of Atonement. Yes, he did play, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Braun will play: Third baseman Ryan Braun said he would play…
This Monday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, will deliver the keynote address at Columbia University‘s World Leaders Forum. The event is co-sponsored by the School of International and Public Affairs and will be moderated by John H. Coatsworth, Acting Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs. The “generous” hatemonger…
An embarrassing event occurred at a Conservative synagogue in Newton, Massachusetts. I’m sure that the synagogue’s rabbi had no idea about the NFL’s New England Patriots‘ videotaping scandal when she sat down to write her Rosh Hashanah sermon. She probably also didn’t know that the Patriots’ owner (and her congregant) Robert Kraft (pictured at right)…
Two weeks ago I attended the Jewish National Fund Michigan Region’s annual event at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan. To raise money for the JNF and its programs in Israel, works of art by world renowned artist Yaacov Agam (pictured with me at right) were auctioned off. In fact, Agam was a guest at…