Category: Celebrities

David Beckham’s Ani L’dodi Tattoo

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date April 3, 2012

Celebrities sporting tattoos is nothing new. However, there’s a recent trend that I’ve noticed of non-Jewish celebrities having Hebrew words and phrases tattooed on their bodies. Soccer superstar (and famous Spice Girl spouse) David Beckham’s Hebrew tattoos are being displayed all over the Web today, but only because of the Hebrew tattoo’s proximity to his tattoo getting all the attention.

Beckham is an ambassador for “Sainsbury’s Active Kids” in Britain, where he’s was born and raised. In that role, he recently appeared in a promotional poster for a program run by the Sainsbury supermarket chain that provides local schools with sporting equipment. It wasn’t any of his Hebrew tattoos that caused the scandal, but rather the provocative image of his wife Victoria on his forearm. Apparently the local schools aren’t so eager to display the posters of Becks showing off a naked image of his wife.

Next to the tattoo in question is a line of Hebrew text from Song of Songs which reads “Ani l’dodi li va’ani lo haro’eh bashoshanim” – My beloved is mine and I am his, the shepherd [grazing his flock] among the lilies. The tattooed verse from the Torah does not mean Beckham considers himself Jewish. He has a large tattooed cross on the back of his neck. The other Hebrew tattoo above the verse from Song of Songs is from the Book of Proverbs 3:1 and means “My son, do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart.” Beckham’s wife Victoria (née Posh Spice) has the same quote from Song of Songs tattooed vertically from her neck to her back. This verse is often recited by bride’s under the chuppah (wedding canopy) at a Jewish wedding to proclaim their love to their groom.

Other non-Jewish celebs who have Hebrew tattoos include Christina Aguilera who has the same verse from Song of Songs as the Beckhams on her lower back and Madonna with the Hebrew letters lamed, alef, vav on her shoulder to represent a Kabbalistic name for God. Britney Spears has the letters mem, hey, shin tattooed on her which is another Kabbalistic name for God.

Celebrities Charlie Sheen Death Sacha Baron Cohen Television Whitney Houston

Sacha Baron Cohen Hits Ryan Seacrest with Kim Jong Il’s Ashes: Funny or Disrespectful?

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date February 27, 2012

Sacha Baron Cohen of course made a scene before tonight’s Oscars when he arrived on the “Red Carpet” in character as General Aladeen, the star of his upcoming movie “The Dictator.” Carrying the fake ashes of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, Baron Cohen dumped the ashes onto Ryan Seacrest. As he walked away, he told Seacrest that when asked “Who are you wearing?” he should answer “Kim Jong Il.”

Sacha Baron Cohen dumps Kim Jong Il’s “ashes” on Ryan Seacrest (Photo: E! Entertainment)

It was meant as a prank and a publicity stunt. And like most of Sacha Baron Cohen’s publicity stunts, it worked. People will be talking about it on Monday morning and that will ultimately result in a larger box office take for “The Dictator.”

Watching the footage of Baron Cohen comically spilling the fake ashes of a dead dictator onto Ryan Seacrest reminded me of a similar scene from the season premier of “Two and a Half Men” this season. The new season began with Jon Cryer’s character Alan being surprised at seeing a soaking-wet Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher) appearing at the Malibu house window and then tossing Charlie Sheen’s character’s ashes into the air. The ashes are later stepped on and then vacuumed. The spilling of a dead person’s ashes in error is an old comedy routine (remember Robert DeNiro’s mother’s ashes falling off the mantle in “Meet the Parents”?), but I still found it troubling. Sacha Baron Cohen dumping Kim Jong Il’s ashes on to Ryan Seacrest and Jon Cryer throwing Charlie Sheen’s ashes into the air were both funny and I laughed. However, it also made me think of how we should respect the dead.

Jon Cryer is surprised by the appearance of Ashton Kutcher’s character in “Two and a Half Men” and throws Charlie Sheen’s ashes (Adam Rose/CBS)

According to Jewish law, cremation is prohibited. We believe that dead bodies should return to the ground. Admittedly that could have had something to do with my discomfort at watching the scene from “Two and a Half Men.” Interestingly, I wasn’t as troubled watching the “Weekend at Bernie’s” movie in which a dead corpse is paraded around the beach for a few days.

The comedic gags with spilled ashes and a dancing corpse are one thing. They are meant to be humorous. However, we should remember the ethic of respecting the dead. K’vod ha-met in the Hebrew refers to the Jewish law of treating the deceased with honor. I have never attended Bodies: The Exhibition in which preserved human corpses are preserved and dissected to showcase the way the body’s systems work. I understand that it is for educational purposes, but purchasing a ticket to such a “show” has struck me as odd. It seems a disrespectful way to treat the dead.

What also comes to mind when I think about how we must honor and respect the dead is the recent published photograph by the National Enquire of a dead Whitney Houston lying in her coffin. I understand that the goal of this tabloid is to sell copies of their paper to make money, but this immediately struck me as crossing the line of decency and appropriateness. Journalistic integrity and responsibility is becoming harder to find these days, but the National Enquire should have refused to purchase this photograph. Publishing it on the front page of the tabloid was disrespectful to Whitney Houston’s family and was certainly a violation of the edict to respect the dead.

While I am uncomfortable even seeing fake ashes being used as a joke, I certainly understand how Sacha Baron Cohen was attempting to get shock value out of his stunt at tonight’s Academy Awards and how “Two and a Half Men” was making a joke (and perhaps a statement about Charlie Sheen). Where I think our society needs to tread more cautiously is when actual dead bodies are used inappropriately. The Bodies exhibit has been very successful for many years despite some people’s criticism of it. While I don’t plan to ever buy a ticket and attend this exhibition, I do understand how it can be an educational endeavor. However, the case of Whitney Houston’s dead corpse being published on the front page of a tabloid newspaper (and then all over the Internet), is a shame.

No matter how curious our society might be to see such a photograph, I hope more tact will be displayed in the future so that dead bodies (no matter what form they take) will be respected and honored. Sacha Baron Cohen was going for sensationalism tonight at the Oscars and he clearly understands how death gets our attention.

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Whitney Houston’s Israel Connection

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date February 12, 2012

Whitney Houston was not Jewish, but she did have a connection to the State of Israel. The singer, who died yesterday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, traveled to Israel in 2003 with her then husband Bobby Brown.

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown were invited to tour Israel by the Black Hebrews, who live in Israel’s southern city of Dimona. Together with their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, the couple traveled the country for a week and even met with then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Houston reportedly told Prime Minister Sharon that she felt at home in Israel. Houston and Brown were named honorary citizens of the Israeli city.

Here’s the classic coverage of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s Israel visit as reported by Jon Stewart who even managed to drop the Yiddish word farkakte.

In 1986 French Jewish singer Serge Gainsbourg met Whitney Houston on a French television show. It appeared that Gainsbourg was intoxicated. Here’s the video (caution: includes R-rated language):

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Ben Stein Sues Kyocera for Religious Discrimination

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date January 27, 2012

Cross-posted to the Jewish Techs blog at The Jewish Week

With today’s 10-second tease video with Matthew Broderick hinting at a “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” sequel, it is only fitting to take a close look at Ben Stein’s ongoing legal battle with Kyocera. Stein, who played the memorable high school teacher in the 1986 movie (“Bueller? Bueller?”) was set to film a commercial for Kyocera, the producer of cameras, copiers, printers, mobile phones, and the like.

Even though Ben Stein’s lawyer “considered the deal done” according to the lawsuit, it appears there never was a signed contract between Kyocera and Stein. The company is very environmentally conscious and ultimately decided not to use Stein, who is a practicing Jew, upon learning of his anti-science views on global warming. Stein shot back against Kyocera claiming the company is infringing on his religious freedom since he maintains that as a Jewish man he believes that God and not man controlls the weather. Formally, Stein is claiming that Kyocera’s refusal to let him pitch their products constitutes “wrongful discharge in violation of fundamental public policy.”

Ben Stein claims that he is by no means certain that global warming was man-made, a position held by many scientists and political conservatives (Stein was a speechwriter in the Nixon Administration). His argument is that the opinion of whether man makes the weather or God makes the weather is a matter of religious belief and Kyocera has fired him based on that which is a violation of state and federal law.

Ben Stein’s arguments that his religious beliefs were being called into question and his rights were violated did not hold up very well. He then made a different complaint arguing that an actor who looks like him, Peter Morici, ultimately was featured in the Kyocera commercial and he is “an explicit misappropriation of Ben Stein’s likeness and persona, which is an explicit violation of Ben Stein’s rights of privacy and of publicity, barred by California law.”

If anything came out of this lawsuit it is that we now know that name Peter Morici. And if Ben Stein can’t agree to a contract to reprise his role as the boring econ teacher in the “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” sequel, Peter Morici will get another gig.

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Is Drew Barrymore Jewish? No, But She’s Converting to Judaism with Adam Sandler’s Help

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date January 26, 2012

Cross-posted to the Community Next blog

Is Drew Barrymore Jewish? The answer is that she currently is not, but she appears to be interested in converting to the Jewish faith. She is engaged to marry Will Kopelman this year.

While many non-Jews preparing for conversion to Judaism reach out to rabbis or Jewish friends for guidance, Drew Barrymore has sought out a colleague who has been an Israeli hair stylist, a water boy, a hockey player/golfer, and a surrogate father. Yep, Adam Sandler is reportedly offering guidance to Barrymore during the transition to the Jewish people.

Perhaps Drew Barrymore will hear her name in the next version of Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song, which would be the fourth installment in Sandler’s humorous song that lists Hollywood’s Jews who celebrate Hanukkah.

The celebrity gossip magazine In Touch Weekly reported that Sandler might even play a major role at Drew Barrymore’s wedding:

According to insiders, Drew Barrymore wants her favorite co-star Adam Sandler to be her best man when she marries fiancé Will Kopelman in a traditional Jewish ceremony later this year.

In fact, Adam and 36-year-old Drew have grown so close while working on several movies together that “he’s even helping her with the process of converting to Judaism,” a source tells In Touch.

“Those two absolutely adore each other, so it only made sense to Drew that he will be right by her side playing an important role at her wedding.”

Although her rep denies the story, Drew, who has gotten very close to Will’s family, has told them she will raise their children Jewish, says the friend.

Unlike her experience with Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore probably didn’t have to go through 50 First Dates before becoming engaged to Kopelman. But there is a good chance that her best man will also be the Wedding Singer on her big day!

For now, she’ll likely be studying in anticipation of her conversion. When Drew Barrymore makes it official and converts to Judaism, coming up with fun headlines will not be a challenge. “Barrymore Becomes Drewish” or “Drew A Jew” are two of my favorites.

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Scooter Braun Confirms That Justin Bieber Says the Shema Before Every Show

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date January 17, 2012

In October 2010 I used the example of Justin Bieber reciting the “Shema Yisrael” Jewish prayer in a blog post about non-Jews performing Jewish rituals. I explained how there were reports that Justin Bieber’s Jewish manager Scott “Scooter” Braun, who discovered Bieber on YouTube, taught Justin the “Shema Yisrael” prayer and he says it before each concert. In the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, Scooter Braun said “Justin prays the Shema before each show. First he says a Christian prayer, then he says the Shema.”

I cynically noted that “Based on the number of concerts at which Justin Bieber performs, I’m guessing that he’s actually said the most important statement of Jewish belief many more times in his life than the average 16-year-old Jewish youth.”

Scenes of Justin Bieber saying the Shema even made it into his “Never Say Never” movie (I haven’t actually seen the movie, but that’s what I’m told).

Last week at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, I had a chance to meet Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun. After Justin looked into my camera and said hello to my six-year-old daughter (which made her year!), I asked Scooter Braun to give a “shout out” to her as well. After he mentioned that he has a cousin by the same name as my daughter, he also confirmed that Justin says the Shema before every show. Here’s the video:

Here’s Justin Bieber saying the Shema along with Scooter Braun, Usher, and Jayden Smith:

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Matisyahu on Contradictions in Religious Observance

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 15, 2011

As any man with a beard, goatee or mustache will tell you, it is a transformative experience to shave it all off. Something tells me that Matisyahu felt a sense of freedom after he shaved off his iconic beard the other day. There has been a lot of discussion about Matisyahu’s transformation after he came clean [shaven] and claimed he has evolved from a Hasidic reggae star. The opinions have ranged from those who interpreted this as Matisyahu’s having left a religious lifestyle (going “off the derech“) to those who can’t figure out why this story even qualifies as “news.”

While I personally question if shaving off his iconic beard was a wise PR move, what I think is more interesting is how he has made his personal religious journey into a public narrative. His rise to super stardom occurred after he had already adopted a religious lifestyle and his break from Lubavitch a couple years ago wasn’t very well publicized so this is really the first time his observance has been discussed on such a broad scale. And now that he’s gone public with his shifts in observance, Matisyahu has (unintentionally?) brought the conversation of religious shifting and spiritual seeking into a very public sphere.

I listened to Matisyahu’s first interview since his transformative shaving experience and there was an interesting exchange toward the end. Soundcheck host John Schaefer began to ask Matisyahu a question that was sent in to the program by a listener having to do with him living some sort of a contradictory life. Matisyahu quickly cut Schaefer off and said something that I think is of utmost importance in any conversation about religious observance and spiritual seeking.

I’d like to say one thing about contradictions — I don’t mean to cut you off — but the whole thing is contradictions. And that’s what I’ve realized, is that everything has multiple sides to it, you know? We’re so quick to go, to make things black and white and to put things in their box. You know what I mean? But everything is this mixture, and that’s what this world is, is this blend of different things.

Exactly! I hope Matisyahu’s quote goes viral because it is so true. Religion is not black and white although some may claim that it is. I recently had a conversation with a young venture capitalist in Detroit who is a ba’al teshuva, meaning he adopted an observant Jewish lifestyle. As he hammered away at the contradictions of non-Orthodox Jewish religious practice (“they keep strict kosher at home, but eat vegetarian in non-kosher-certified restaurants,” “they don’t drive on Shabbat except to go to the synagogue,” etc.), I tried unsuccessfully to explain to him that these contradictions exist across the board. Human beings are inconsistent and religion (including religious law) is fluid so that it breeds inconsistency (across denominations, between communities, and in individuals).

Some observant Jews may find comfort in their own reality distortion field, but I am certain that contradictions exist in their own personal religious practice. As a colleague of mine often says, “Every Jew can find another Jew who isn’t as frum (religious) as he is and look down on him.” There really does not exist any baseline for religious observance because religion has many sides to it and is a mixture, as Matisyahu expressed. Perhaps the end of 2011 marks Matisyahu’s most meaningful religious epiphany yet. Shaving off his beard helped him open his eyes to the sea of grey that is a religiously observant life and a spiritual existence.

Beard or no beard, I’m sure that Matisyahu’s music will continue to resonate with millions. I hope his insight will as well.

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Is Matisyahu Still Chasidic?

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 13, 2011

“All my life I’ve been waiting for… I’ve been praying for… The chance to shave off all this scraggly facial hair.”

Those aren’t the lyrics to a Matisyahu song, but they could be. Only a few hours after the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) published my story about Matisyahu’s unimpressive appearance on a reality TV cooking show, they issued a breaking news alert. As Daniel Sieradski commented in Heeb, it was the type of breaking news alert that is usually reserved for a terrorist attack. Only this was no terrorist attack. It was just Matisyahu shaving off his signature Chasidic-looking beard and transitioning from his Hasidic lifestyle as a religious Jew.

Has Matisyahu Gone “Off the Derech” by Shaving Away His Hasidic Identity?

I don’t think his decision to put his wife and mother-in-law in front of the camera with him on the “Chef Roble and Co” TV show was a very wise PR decision for Matisyahu and I think his current decision to shave the beard and drop his Chasidic identity could be the result of mismanagement.

In a blog post, Matisyahu wrote:

This morning I posted a photo of myself on Twitter. No more Chassidic reggae superstar. Sorry folks, all you get is me…no alias. When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process. It was my choice. My journey to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality—not through books but through real life. At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity…to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth. I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission.

Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth. And for those concerned with my naked face, don’t worry…you haven’t seen the last of my facial hair.

I met Matisyahu for the first time at the Hillel International Staff Conference in a hotel in Connecticut back in December 2004. I remembered watching him perform on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” earlier that August. For most of the Jewish professional leaders gathered in that hotel ballroom, the show was more about a Hasidic reggae singer than it was about the music. It was a novelty. He certainly wouldn’t have gotten that gig had he not been an overtly Jewish performer.

So now the question is what does Matisyahu become without the Hasidic identity? Will he return to Matthew Miller? It sounds like he will, but that can’t be a very wise decision since his name has become his brand. But what does this mean for the Jewish community? Matthew Miller is a ba’al teshuva meaning he came to religious Judaism as an adult. Will this call the long-term devotion of other ba’alei teshuva into question? What will this mean for Matisyahu’s wife Tahlia and their children? Will they remain as Orthodox Jews, committed to the Hasidic lifestyle?

Many musicians are secular but spiritual. It looks to me as if Matthew Miller doesn’t realize that his cache is in his Hasidic identity more than in his music. He will quickly become just another performer. Matisyahu will certainly not be the first frum (religious) Jew to “go off the derech” (journey from a religious life to a secular one), but he might be the most famous to so this publicly.

As Sieradski writes in Heeb, “One can’t but help but wonder if this is a bellwether for the rest of the ba’al teshuvah community. Few people have benefitted so richly from their Orthodox identity than Matisyahu, whose iconic hasidically-garbed appearance was oft stated to have had more to do with his rise to stardom than his talent alone. If Miller, whose feverish religiosity inspired so many others on the road to Jewish observance, couldn’t hack it as a frum yid, how can others be expected to maintain the illusion when the benefits are far less tangible?

I’m hoping Matisyah (or Matthew Miller) will find future success in his endeavors, but I’m pessimistic that his music alone will keep him at the top of the charts. He got famous by being “that Hasidic reggae singer,” but he will likely fade from fame as “that Hasidic reggae singer who shaved his beard and disappeared into secular life.”

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Red Hot Chili Peppers and Claire Danes Dig Tel Aviv

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 7, 2011

Israel’s Ministry of Immigration and Absorption might have taken a hit following its ill conceived PR campaign to get Israeli expats to return to Israel, but Tel Aviv is doing great right now in the PR department.

Tel Aviv was on everyone’s mind yesterday as news circulated about a planned Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Tel Aviv next fall and a ringing endorsement about Tel Aviv’s rockin’ party atmosphere from Claire Danes.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers recently signed a deal to perform in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park in September to promote their tenth album. The concert will take place 11 years after the Chili Peppers canceled a performance in Tel Aviv at the last minute in September 2001. The band’s first guitarist, Hillel Slovak, was an Israeli who moved to the United States as a child. Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988 before the band became famous.

I had a chance to meet the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Palo Alto, California in July 1992 while I was a participant on the USY on Wheels summer youth tour and the Chili Peppers were performing in Lollapalooza. It so happened that my group was staying in the same hotel as all of the Lollapalooza bands including Pearl Jam. I spent a few minutes talking with Anthony Kiedis of the Chili Peppers while we were waiting for an elevator. Like Pearl Jam, the band has had a very successful run over the past two decades and I’m sure they won’t have a hard time selling out their Tel Aviv show.

While the Chili Peppers were signing their names to their Tel Aviv concert agreement, actress Claire Danes was singing Tel Aviv’s praises to Conan O’Brien. Talking to the late night host on “Conan,” Claire Danes remarked that Tel Aviv (where she filmed part of Showtime’s “Homeland”) is the most intense party town she’s ever been to. She theorized that the reason for this was that it’s a very stressful environment and its citizens need to blow off steam.

Most people took Claire Dane’s observations about Tel Aviv as a ringing endorsement, but David Abitbol, the founder of Jewlicious, called her theory of Tel Aviv being so stressful into question:

That’s a great observation Claire. It is indeed very stressful in Tel Aviv! Folks stress out over things on a daily basis like “should I get an Americano or a Capuccino?” or “When is that last bus to Holon!?” or “How will I convince the IDF draft office that I am a religious girl now that all those intense party photos of me are on Facebook?” Oh the humanity.

Personally, I think it was great to hear a celebrity saying positive things about Israel on late night TV. Maybe Claire Danes will return to Tel Aviv in September 2012 for the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert? I’m sure she’d have fun at the after parties.

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Farmar in Israel, LeBron and Kobe at the JCC, and Hebrew with Amare Stoudem

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 1, 2011

NBA basketball players got a much longer summer vacation than they expected because of the lockout. It feels odd to have gone through the entire month of November without any professional basketball games to watch.

So what have these NBA stars been doing with their newly found free time? NBA player Jordan Farmar has been playing in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Farmar, whose mother is Jewish and step-father is a Jewish Israeli, has spent the NBA lockout playing in front of sellout crowds at Yad Eliyahu Arena. He is the first Jewish player in the NBA since Danny Schayes, son of NBA Hall-of-Famer Dolph Schayes, retired in 1999.

A number of other NBA stars have been hooping it up at local Jewish Community Centers. TMZ.com reported that LeBron James was a last minute fill-in for a team at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The second he stepped on the court LeBron “instantly became the best player to ever compete in the Herbert S. Diamond league.” Apparently, the former Cleveland Cavaliers player got a call from some of his friends who had a 7:30 PM game at the JCC and King James was happy to oblige. He led his squad to a ten point victory.

The NBA Lockout led superstars like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James
to play at their local Jewish Community Center (JCC)

After the game, LeBron James tweeted “Just got done hooping in the JCC league. So funny but good run @RichPaul4 had a few 3’s #basketballneverstops.” Here’s a video clip of LeBron playing at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Cleveland:

While LeBron was playing in the gym of the Cleveland JCC, his nemesis Kobe Bryant was having a private training session at a Jewish Community Center in Irvine, California. Once again it was TMZ.com that broke the story (that means some 12-year-old kid at the JCC called it in). JTA reports, “the Los Angeles Lakers’ star guard, according to the TMZ website, brought a trainer to the Southern California JCC to work on shooting drills and cardio training as spectators watched.

Here’s the video of Kobe Bryant at the JCC in Irvine:

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And if Kobe and LeBron are becoming regulars at the JCC that means that the New York Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire has to do something even more Jewish than that after discovering there was Jewish heritage on his mother’s side last year. Don’t worry, the 6-foot-10 superstar who visited Israel for the first time last year now says he’s interested in opening a Hebrew school, according to the New York Daily News. “An unnamed source told the newspaper that Stoudemire has discussed opening a school that would focus on teaching the Hebrew language and Jewish history, though no school is actually in the works.”

But who will teach at the Hebrew School Amar’e Stoudemire opens? He will of course. Here’s Stoudemire’s first Hebrew lesson:

Well, that was Tov Meod!