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The O’Reilly Factor’s Bill O’Reilly used a year-old clip from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show in an attempt to make it look as though Comedy Central (or “Secular Central” as he called it) was out to get Christmas.

Bill O’Reilly: “Predictably, the opponents of public displays of Christmas continue to put forth counterparts on “Secular Central” — I mean, Comedy Central. They said this:”

The clip he then showed was of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee in front of a calendar stating: “[But really let’s face it, all other days bow down to the 25th:] Christmas. It’s the only religious holiday that’s also a Federal holiday. That way Christians can go to their services and everyone else can stay home and reflect on the true meaning of Separation of Church and State.”

Great quote, but the only problem is that the episode is from December 1, 2004 (over a year ago). Easy to recognize this as Samantha Bee is now pregnant and extremely showing while in the segment she was not.

On tonight’s episode, the pregnant Samantha Bee deadpanned that you could tell the clip was from last year because of the different shade of highlights in her hair, as she then exited stage right exclaiming that her water had just broken.

The other funny line from Samantha Bee in that same segment a year ago was: “Oh, crap, I forgot Chanukah! Ooh! Chanukah’s on the 7th. How could I forget the holiday that starts on a different day every year and commemorates a lamp not going out?”

Yep, Chanukah on the 7th (of December). That’s another way to know that the clip was from last year when Chanukah was in fact on the 7th.

Bill O’Reilly finished his supposed rip on the Daily Show with “And a Merry Christmas to you, Jon Stewart.”

Well, Bill O’Reilly, I wish you a Chanukah Sameach!

White House goes kosher
From the JTA

The White House koshered its kitchen ahead of its annual Chanukah reception.

Petak Caterers, under the joint supervision of the Bergen County, N.J., rabbinical council and Washington representatives of Chabad, will serve Glatt kosher meat at the dinner Tuesday night. The meeting is taking place early because President Bush and much of the Washington establishment leaves the city around Dec. 25, when Chanukah starts this year.

The White House said it was the first time that First Lady Laura Bush had handed over the kitchen to kosher caterers for a Chanukah celebration; previous kosher caterers brought food in from outside.

“The First Lady said if the function is kosher, it makes it more comfortable for her guests, and it makes it more comfortable for her,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Chabad’s representative in Washington. Bush will meet with Jewish educators before the party, which hosts a cross-section of the Jewish leadership.

From Haaretz

For new Fed chief, dad was one of the few Jews in town

When Ben Shalom Bernanke, U.S. President George Bush’s nominee to be the new Federal Reserve chairman, was a teenager in the small town of Dillon, South Carolina, in the 1960s, he helped lead services and roll the Torah scrolls in the town’s synagogue.

Judaism remains a part of Bernanke’s life, but the Princeton University economist does not wear his religion on his sleeve, associates say. According to friend and collaborator Mark Gertler, chairman of New York University’s economics department, Bernanke, 51, “keeps his feelings and beliefs private,” but they are really “embedded in who he is.”

Bernanke’s policy views, however, were on full display this week as he faced questions yesterday from the Senate Banking Committee, which probed him on his convictions about targeting inflation and the government’s budget deficit. Democratic senators, in particular, sought assurances that Bernanke, presently chairman of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, would be independent of the White House.

“I assure this committee that, if I am confirmed, I will be strictly independent of all political influences and will be guided solely by the Federal Reserve’s mandate from Congress and by the public interest,” Bernanke told the lawmakers.

Nominated by Bush on October 4 to succeed Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, Bernanke is expected to be confirmed soon by both the committee and the full Senate. He would take his seat on the Fed early next year, marking the end of Greenspan’s 18-year tenure.

Gertler said that Bernanke, as an academic who has done significant research on monetary policy, would institutionalize his approach at the Fed, unlike the oracular Greenspan, who came out of the private sector with a background in economic forecasting.

“When Ben steps down, we won’t worry as much about the replacement,” Gertler said. “Greenspan never really left a playbook.”

A disciple of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, Bernanke has written influential works on price stability, deflation and the Great Depression. “Ben is the Milton Friedman of his generation,” Gertler said. However, unlike Friedman, known as an apostle of free markets, Bernanke is “more of a technocrat than an ideologue.”

Bernanke has received words of support from several prominent liberals and critics of the Bush administration, including a former colleague at Princeton, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

Jeffrey Frankel, a Harvard economics professor who served on President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, wrote in an e-mail to the Forward that Bernanke’s appointment “probably implies a slightly lower target for inflation, and thus slightly fewer jobs, over the next couple of years, than otherwise because every new central banker is aware that he has to establish inflation-fighting credibility at the beginning of this term, in order to take a more relaxed approach later on.”

Frankel called Bernanke “temperamentally well-suited to the Fed chairman job” and “off the charts in quality by comparison with most” other Bush nominees. “In fact,” Frankel added, “he would even be good by the standards of a Clinton administration.”

Born in Augusta, Georgia, one of three children, Bernanke grew up among only a handful of Jewish families in Dillon, where his parents ran a pharmacy. While Bernanke’s family was a relatively recent arrival, South Carolina has a history of being hospitable to Jews. At the turn of the 19th century, South Carolina had the most Jews of any state – fully a quarter of the Jews then living in America, by some estimates. Before the Civil War, Georgetown, the state’s third-oldest city, and Charleston, one of the nation’s most important cities in the colonial period, both elected several Jewish mayors.

Residents of Dillon, a town of about 6,500 habitants in the eastern part of the state near the North Carolina line, remember Bernanke fondly as a brainy boy who obsessed over baseball statistics, played the saxophone, taught himself calculus and scored 1590 out of 1600 on his SATs, the highest in the state that year.

“He’s 13 years old, and we’re discussing cosmology and the size of the universe,” Bernanke’s childhood friend, Nathan Goldman, recalled in an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bernanke went as an undergraduate to Harvard, received his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was named a full professor at Princeton in 1985, in his early 30s. He was chairman of the economics department at Princeton University before being tapped by Bush in 2002 to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board and then last year to be chairman of the economic council. Bernanke is married to Spanish instructor Anna Bernanke, reportedly the daughter of refugees from Europe. They have two children.

Academic achievement characterized Bernanke’s family even in Europe. His paternal grandparents came from Austria. According to his uncle, Mortimer Bernanke, his grandmother graduated from medical school in Austria in 1919 – unusual for a woman of the time. The family immigrated to America in the early 1920s.

Bernanke’s parents, Phillip and Edna, kept a strictly kosher home. Their meat was bused in from Charlotte, North Carolina, where Edna’s father owned a kosher market for about 10 years after World War II and taught Hebrew school and tutored bar mitzvah students. The grandfather, who moved in with Bernanke’s family after his wife died, was called “reverend” for his great religious learning, family members said.

“He lived with us for 24 years,” Edna Bernanke said in a telephone interview with the Forward. “He studied with us.”

All the Bernanke children married Jews, Mortimer Bernanke said (also in a telephone interview). He still lives in Dillon. Edna and Phillip Bernanke now live in Charlotte.

When Ben Bernanke was growing up, Ohav Shalom, the synagogue in Dillon, could not support a full-time rabbi. His mother estimated that it served 12 families from the area, with about 35 people attending during holidays. It imported rabbinical students from the Jewish Theological Seminary to officiate each year during the High Holy Days. The students would stay at the Bernanke home, the only fully kosher one in the area. Rabbi Arnold Stiebel remembered the young Ben as a big help in the synagogue. “Just think, the youngster who helped me prepare the Torah scrolls and gave me numerous insider pointers is now the nominee to be chairman of the Federal Reserve,” marveled Stiebel, who now lives in Jerusalem, in a note that circulated widely via e-mail. “Well, it’s a small Jewish world.”

From the Forward

Rabbi Urges Conversion, Sexual Limits
By Jennifer Siegel
November 25, 2005

HOUSTON — For more than a quarter-century, the Reform movement has made it a priority to reach out to interfaith couples. Now, its leader, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, said it’s time to start doing more to encourage non-Jewish spouses to convert to Judaism.

Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, issued the call to action during his Sabbath-morning sermon at the group’s biennial convention in Houston.

“By making non-Jews feel comfortable and accepted in our congregations, [perhaps] we have sent the message that we do not care if they convert,” Yoffie told a crowd of thousands. He added, “The time has come to reverse direction by returning to public conversions and doing all the other things that encourage conversion in our synagogues.”

Many proponents of conversion, particularly in the Conservative and Orthodox movements, have been critical of the 1983 decision by Reform Judaism to consider a child Jewish even if he or she only has a Jewish father. Critics argue that the decision removed a major incentive for non-Jewish women to convert to Judaism.

Yoffie praised non-Jewish spouses who raise their children as Jews, calling them “heroes” who deserve recognition and praise. He cautioned against addressing issues of conversion in an insensitive or heavy-handed manner. But he said that synagogues are not “neutral” institutions, and they also should promote the advantages enjoyed by families in which there are two Jewish spouses.

Yoffie’s remarks come during a time of renewed public debate on the issue of how far to go in welcoming interfaith couples. In recent months, traditionalists in the non-Orthodox community have criticized what they see as the lavishing of attention and resources on interfaith families at the expense of the committed Jewish households in which the vast majority of Jews were raised.

The debate has entered the Reform movement via a paper by sociologist Steven M. Cohen, who recently joined the faculty of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform rabbinical seminary. In the paper, which was distributed to college alumni, Cohen argued that the emphasis liberal outreach groups have placed on “welcoming” non-Jews into congregational life has done little to increase the likelihood that their children will embrace Judaism as adults.

Yoffie’s remarks raised concerns among some proponents of a more welcoming approach to interfaith couples, who worried that his effort to encourage conversion might overshadow his praise for non-Jews who are committed to raising Jewish children.

“The question is less ‘How do you get people to convert?’ than ‘How do you get people to raise their children as Jews?'” said Ed Case, the executive director of InterfaithFamily.com. ” I just think it needs to be done really, really carefully, and the message that you’re welcome as you are needs to come through.”

During his sermon, Yoffie urged Reform Jews to step up efforts to talk frankly with teenagers about how Judaism’s teachings apply to relationships and sex.

“We are not very good at saying No in Reform Judaism,” said Yoffie, who has pressed congregations to place a greater emphasis on ritual and text study. “We are the most creative and forward-looking movement in Jewish life, but in the realm of personal behavior we are reluctant to ever use the word ‘forbidden.’ Yet in dealing with kids engaged in destructive behavior, the concept of autonomy leaves us unable to set limits and make sound judgments.”

In particular, Yoffie raised concerns about the prevalence of so-called hookups or casual sexual encounters among teenagers.

“We [need to] tell boys and girls that sex is not about controlling or servicing the other,” Yoffie said. “And we need to tell girls in particular that their worth is not defined by what they do for boys.”

The Union for Reform Judaism is creating a six-session course about Judaism and sexuality for 12- and 13-year-old students, and plans to unveil a course for high school freshman in 2007. The courses will not take a “Just say no” approach to sex, nor trade in generalities, Yoffie said, but will address the issues that teens confront.

Tal Grunspan, 24, an Israeli attending the convention who spent last summer working at the Reform union’s Greene Family Camp in Bruceville, Texas, said he agreed with Yoffie that today’s teenagers too often see sex as a free-for-all devoid of genuine emotional connections.

“I would tell [the campers] that just because everyone is Jewish, that doesn’t mean you have to be with everybody,” Grunspan said.

Several teenagers who attended the convention as part of a delegation from the National Federation of Temple Youth also agreed with Yoffie that casual sexual encounters are common among teenagers, but expressed skepticism that more dialogue will offer anything new.

“I give him points just for saying the words ‘hooking up,'” said David Wilensky, a high school junior who is president of a youth group in Austin, Texas. “I’m just afraid they’re just not going to say anything new. The solutions are always the same ones being talked about over and over again, and I’m getting sick of it.”

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Dear Elissa and Jason,

A hearty mazal tov on the birth of your twins. With one a little boy and the other a little girl, you are a picture of polarities in balance. I would expect nothing less from a Conservative rabbi. May they both be a source of unending joy for you.

Ismar Schorsch

With gratitude to God, we are happy to announce the birth of our son and daughter. Baby Boy came first at 12:09 p.m. and weighed in at 5 pounds. Baby Girl came next at 12:27 p.m. and weighed in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces.

Mother and babies are all healthy and happy. Josh is looking forward to welcoming his new brother and sister home.

Baby Boy will be named at his brit milah ceremony and Baby Girl at her simchat bat ceremony.

Rabbi Jason, Elissa & Joshua Miller

Be Our Guest

In this week’s parsha, we learn that on the third day after Abraham had circumcised himself, he hosted three angels who appeared in human form. Recovering from this procedure in the excruciating heat of the midday sun, our patriarch still urged them to receive his hospitality. Not only that, but as soon as Abraham saw these three men standing near him, he ran to greet them (vayaratz likratam). Not realizing these men were angels, Abraham took these strangers into his home and offered them water to wash their feet and shade to rest. With his wife Sarah’s help, the guests were treated to a feast of bread and meat, curds and milk. He personally served these strangers the delicacies and attended to their needs.

In tractate Bava Metzia of the Babylonian Talmud, we find a Midrash explaining that the Israelites benefit later on as a result of Abraham’s kindness to these strangers:

Rab Judah teaches in Rab’s name: Everything which Abraham personally did for the Ministering Angels, the Holy One Blessed be God did for God’s children [the Israelites]; and whatever Abraham did through a messenger, the Holy One Blessed be God did for God’s children through a messenger [Moses].

Abraham’s hospitality serves as a wonderful example for us all. The parsha begins with God visiting Abraham at the entrance of his tent, but as soon as the three men appear, Abraham turned away from God to attend to these guests. In so doing, he teaches us that hospitality (hachnasat orchim) is a significant mitzvah and value for us.

There are three fall holidays on which hachnasat orchim is emphasized. They are not all religious holidays, but we learn from their message nevertheless. The first of these is the pilgrimage festival of Sukkot. On these eight holy days (seven in Israel), we invite ushpizin (Aramaic for “guests”), or distinguished individuals from our people’s history, into our sukkot. Traditionally, we invite Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David to join our families each night of the holiday. The more progressive and egalitarian among us include some illustrious women who made their mark on the Jewish people as well, including Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Hulda and Esther.

In addition to these biblical guests, it is important for us to open our sukkot to others as well, and especially to those who do not have sukkot in their own backyards and those unfamiliar with the tradition. This year, my family invited any student who wanted to join us for a barbeque on the Sunday night of Sukkot. More than 70 undergraduates and graduate students, religious and secular, Jewish and non-Jewish, visited our sukkah and had the opportunity to recite the blessing of dwelling in the sukkah. I was proud to demonstrate this message of hospitality to my 2-year-old son.

While the Halloween tradition is certainly a controversial one among North American Jews because of its pagan roots, there is a positive side to its celebration as well. In today’s hectic times, neighbors so infrequently visit one another. The days of neighborhood kids, let alone their parents, dropping in on one another to say hello and shmooze is long gone. Yet on Halloween, millions of children and their parents trek around the neighborhood ringing doorbells, offering greetings and sharing candy. Ideally, this ritual would encourage some to invite their neighbors inside their homes to visit and become acquainted. For many, the Halloween experience is quite likely the first time they see the inside of their next-door neighbors’ homes. Therefore, for those who find Halloween a problematic enterprise, the opportunity for hachnasat orchim will hopefully serve as a positive.

Finally, the Thanksgiving holiday is inching upon us. This festive affair is an opportunity for us to gather with friends and family, consider all the good in our lives and give thanks to God for our good fortune. It is also a time for us to consider making room at our table for strangers to join us. Opening our homes to guests on Thanksgiving is a way to share the experience with others and demonstrate our value of hachnasat orchim. With a mother who works in residential real-estate, our family always had strangers at our Thanksgiving dinner table. Each year, my mother would invite those clients who had recently bought new homes and relocated to Michigan and did not have family nearby. This quickly become an annual minhag (custom) and encouraged us to be even more grateful on Thanksgiving that we were able to celebrate together with family.

The Jewish people place much emphasis on hospitality. We marry under a chuppah that is open on all sides to remind us of the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim. As we study the example demonstrated by our patriarch Abraham and our matriarch Sarah to welcome the stranger and make them feel at home, let us strive to be better hosts. Let us always be mindful to keep our tent doors open whether those doors are the doors of our home or the doors of our Hillel. Just as our people were rewarded because of Abraham and Sarah’s genuine hospitality, may we all be rewarded with abundant blessings for making the stranger feel at home among us.

Prepared by Rabbi Jason Miller, Assistant director, University of Michigan Hillel

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Va’yera at MyJewishLearning.com.

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correct Answers. Adults, as well as children will find the quiz entertaining and very educational.