The Los Angeles Lakers’ Ron Artest decided to have the word “Defense” shaved and painted on his head for today’s game against the Orlando Magic. However, using the English word “Defense” apparently would have been too, uh, normal for Ron Artest. Maybe he felt that would be something that Dennis Rodman would have done during…
For some reason, whenever the Jewish holiday of Purim rolls around, my brain uncontrollably starts coming up with parodies, satires, spoofs, and just plain silliness. Here’s a collection of the news items circulating in my head. Happy Purim! TOO JEWEY! By Rabbi Jason, the Official Rabbi of the 2010 Olympic GamesSponsored by Toyota: “Toyota… We’re…
To paraphrase an old joke: Are the Ultra Orthodox now going to forbid figure skating because it can lead to mixed dancing? Uriel Heilman writes on the JTA Blog, “It was probably the first time in Olympics history that a kippah was an integral part of an athlete’s uniform. When the Israeli brother-sister ice dancing…
In synagogues, Jewish people put bright gold on the Torah (gold breastplate and crown). As we saw tonight in Vancouver: In the Olympics they put GOLD on Torah Bright (a gold medal). Torah Bright has to be the best name for an Olympian who just won a gold medal. As she ascended the highest part…
Like many rabbis, when I encounter an article about “Jewish life” in the mainstream press, I ask myself the age-old question: Is this good or bad for the Jews? And that is precisely what I did yesterday when I read about the bar mitzvah party that is to take place at Yankee Stadium this June…
Evangelical Pastor John Hagee’s organization Christians United for Israel holds huge pro-Israel events in cities across the United States called “A Night to Honor Israel.” The other night was a busy one for me, and I feel like it was my own little “Night to Honor Israel.” My evening began at a screening of the…
Cross posted at Kaplan’s Korner (New Jersey Jewish News) Some sports teams have Native American nicknames that many find to be offensive. Teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Golden State Warriors have chosen to keep their names despite protests from the Native American community….
Last week, former Time Warner head Jerry Levin, marked the 10th anniversary of his disastrous merger deal with AOL by finally apologizing and accepting responsibility. Levin issued his mea culpa on CNBC explaining that he “presided over the worst deal of the century” and how sorry he is for “the pain and suffering and loss…
Originally posted at Kaplan’s Korner: On Jews & Sports. Thank you to Ron Kaplan, of the New Jersey Jewish News, for asking me to guest blog on this topic for Kaplan’s Korner. The Takeaway from Tiger’s Triple Bogey When it was first reported that Tiger Woods was injured in a single car crash on Nov….
The Jewish community has much to celebrate in the sports world this year –especially in the past month. Many in the Jewish community might have said “dayenu” (it’s enough) to have an Israeli, Jewish boxer rising to prominence. In fact, looking at Yuri Foreman (no relation to George I’m told), many older Jews waxed nostalgic…