Category: Uncategorized

Jewsweek called it back in July when they put Jon Stewart on their list of the hottest people and things in Judaism. And I’ve known for years now that Jon Stewart is the funniest talking head on late night TV.

So, now the rest of the world has caught up and Newsweek has him gracing their end-of-the-year double issue cover. When I went to a taping of the Daily Show a few years ago, our group was welcomed by Jon during his opening bit (warming up the audience) with the worlds “Fellow Yidden in the House… Shalom Aleikhem!”

The Stories The Daily Show Broke in 2003

The Stories The Daily Show Missed in 2003

Congrats Jon on finally getting your due. Look out Leno and Letterman!

The Digital Clock of the Future (or is it of the Past?)

Just viewed “Adaptation” with Nick Cage and Meryl Streep. It is one of the most creative films I’ve seen. I’m not a fan of Nicolas Cage, but his acting is very solid in this. It is brilliantly done. At Amazon.com, you can read the entire first chapter of the book The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (by Susan Orlean), the book on which this film is based.

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country, and who are very good at crosswords.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country, if they could spare

the time, and if they didn’t have to leave LA to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country, and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who’s running the country, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country… or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy as long as they are Democrats.

10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.

11. The National Enquirer is read by people who think Elvis is running the country.

Zeke is coming to the Big Apple to head up the front office of the Knicks. I’m pretty sure that he’s held on to his Lone Pine Road (Bloomfield Hills) home while living in Toronto (Raptors owner and VP of Basketball Ops) and in Indiana (Pacers Head Coach). I wonder if he’ll sell it now. The last time I saw Isiah was at Metro (Detroit) Airport a few years back when he was having a hard time getting through security (and that was pre-9/11).

Good luck in New York Isiah. You’ve finally made it to a “Big Market Franchise.” I can’t wait for the first deal you make with Joey D in Detroit.

We saw Golda’s Balcony last night. Tovah Feldshuh stars as Golda Meir in this one-woman play. She also does the voices of all the other people including Dayan, Kissinger, her parents, etc. It was phenomenal!

Most memorable line is when Kissinger says “First I am an American. Second I am the Secretary of State. And last, I am a Jew.” Golda replies: “Good, in Israel we read from right to left!” This show certainly made me want to get on the next El Al flight to Israel. It’s a must see!!!

I hope everyone’s Hanukkah is bright and joyous.

May this holiday season be a source of health, happiness, love, & prosperity to all of us!

Much Love, Jason

Shmuley lets the Material Girl have it here. However, the most memorable line from the article has to do with Jacko. Shmuley writes, “It is no secret that I spent two years in close friendship with Michael Jackson which I now regard as one of the great mistakes of my life… But my embarrassment comes from my insecurity in believing that I needed a celebrity pairing in order to be an effective exponent of Judaism, and that the Jewish faith needed a celebrity spokesman in order to garner mainstream credibility.”

What kind of Jewish leader would ever get the idea of using a “celebrity pairing to be an effective exponent of Judaism”? –>

Sociologist Marvin Schick takes out a paid ad in each week’s New York Jewish Week to publish his personal views. A few weeks ago, he wrote his assessment of the Conservative Movement. If you are interested in reading his views, click here to go to the essay.

I guess I never realized that Bill Murray’s 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” is such a religious resource. Today’s New York Times ran an article claiming that rabbis, priests, and Buddhist leaders all use the film in their sermons and classes.