I pride myself on always trying to provide factual information on this blog. However, it has come to my attention that six years ago, in March 2005, I reposted a news report that the Jewish/Israeli actress Natalie Portman made a $50 million gift to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. I didn’t provide any of my own…
Cross-posted to the Huffington Post How does one know when someone’s comment is anti-Semitic? I suppose it’s the same as how United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart explained pornography in the 1964 case of Jacobellis v. Ohio: “I know it when I see it.” There have been several high profile examples of anti-Semitic outbursts…
Last night, Jon Stewart decided to blow a shofar on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” to alert his viewers to some breaking news (Keith Olbermann leaving MSNBC). He called it a News Shofar and announced “Something happened!” but never actually blew the shofar. Instead he just put the shofar to his mouth and kept…
Jewish humor has always been one of my favorite topics to teach. I’ve taught classes about Jewish humor and Jewish comedians to teens and adults at many different settings including synagogues, Jewish camps, and on college campuses. As an aspiring stand-up comic, I have always been interested in the history of Jewish humor, what makes…
Is Justin Bieber Jewish? Is Natalie Portman’s fiancee, Benjamin Millepied, Jewish? Based on my Web research, neither one is Jewish. However, there are many people wondering these questions and doing what curious people do in the Digital Age — turning to Google. There are two components to blogging I enjoy most. First, I love writing….
What’s the deal with Jimmy Kimmel and rabbis? This year alone, ABC’s late night talk show host has featured three rabbis (or almost rabbis) on his show. Kimmel used to date comedian Sarah Silverman whose sister Susan is a Reform rabbi living on a kibbutz in Israel. Back in April, Yuri Foreman was a guest…
Here’s my latest post for the Community Next blog “Rabbi J in the D”: After Mel Gibson made “The Passion of the Christ” movie a few years ago, he lost many of his Jewish fans. After Mel Gibson made his anti-Semitic sentiments known by freaking out at a cop a few years ago, he lost…
I often hear complaints that Jewish organizations don’t market themselves well. Even when they try to be cool and attract the younger demographic, they often fail by being hokey or forcing the humor. Well, the American Jewish World Service has solved that problem. The solution is as simple as having Judd Apatow round up his…
In Entertainment Weekly‘s review of “The Social Network,” there is a wonderful quote from the film’s writer Aaron Sorkin (of “The West Wing” fame). In defending his decision to make the movie, which is critical of Facebook’s founder, Sorkin explains that he is not Mark Zuckerberg’s rabbi. Here’s the entire quote: The famously fast-talking Sorkin…
Here’s my latest blog post for Community Next’s “Rabbi J in the D” (a Jewish celeb blog): One evening in the summer of 2000 when I was working as a chaplain intern at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, I walked into one of those family waiting rooms outside of the patient unit. The television was…