Times' Frank Rich: The End of the Subversive Internet

Frank Rich in his Times column sometimes just gets it right. Today he writes about the new film about FaceBook, "The Social Network," which we saw in Paramus last night.

The theater was sold out and the people were mainly young and beautiful and busy texting on their phones until the lights went out and the trailers started (and maybe even after that).

We've felt the impact of the film even before seeing it. For the first time, a few days ago, we received a lawyer's letter demanding that we transfer to his clients an Internet domain that we've owned and developed for nine years.

One hit Internet movie is released and suddenly every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to get into the act. Amazing.

Frank Rich observes in "Facebook Politicians Are Not Your Friends," how profoundly the right wing bullies are using the Internet to suppress progress, to spread lies and propound conservative propaganda. Citing Malcolm Gladwell in New Yorker, Rich sums up that the new media has been coopted:

“With Facebook and Twitter and the like,” Gladwell wrote, “the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will” was supposed to be upended, so it would be “easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns.” Instead, he concluded, we ended up with the reverse: social media increase the efficiency of the existing order rather than empowering dissidents.

And so, the beat goes on.

Gadi Yonah: Was Jesus Really Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus?

Haaretz reports on a recent book by Israeli economist Gadi Yonah that asks, Was Jesus Really Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus?

האם ישו הוא בעצם רבי אליעזר בן הורקנוס

מאת מירון רפופורט

גדי יונה משוכנע שכן. ויש לו מספר ראיות לעניין

The book is about the, "mysterious connections between the crucified Christian and the excommunicated Talmudist":

צופן החכמים : הקשר המסתורי בין הצלוב הנוצרי למנודה התלמודי / גדי יונה.

Tsofen ha-ḥakhamim : ha-ḳesher ha-mistori ben ha-tsaluv ha-Notsri la-menudah ha-Talmudi / Gadi Yonah.

The book summary explains,

דמותו וסיפור חייו של ישו הנוצרי לוטים בערפל וחוקרים חלוקים הן ביחס לקיומו ההיסטורי והן ביחס לאירועים בחייו .מה בסיפורים עליו אמיתי ומה אגדה ומשל?.
ואולי ישו לא היה ולא נברא,אלא משל היה,כפי שטוענים חלק מהחוקרים?.
הספר מציג נקודת מבט חדשנית ומקורית לפיה דמותו וסיפור חייו של ישו הנם ביטוי ליצירה ספרותית המבוססת על דמותו ההיסטורית ועל סיפור חייו של רבי אליעזר בן הורקנוס,גדול חכמי ישראל,שחי ופעל באותה תקופה היסטורית.
ב"צופן החכמים" נחשפת מערכת קשרים מסועפת ומסתורית בין רבי אליעזר וישו ובין אבות הנצרות וחכמי ישראל שחיו ופעלו בתקופתו של ישו.
בתוך כך מציג הספר נקודת מבט ייחודית ומהפכנית להבנת מערכת היחסים הסבוכה בין הנצרות ליהדות.

And the article goes into some detail about the Talmudic evidence concerning Eliezer and is careful not to overstate the conclusions of the author. The reviewer interviewed professors who were cordial in their assessment of the validity of the book's arguments.

New Yorker Cartoon: Einstein Ponders the Mysteries of Space and Time

New Yorker Cartoon: Einstein Ponders the Mysteries of Space and Time

Times' Magazine: Is the Basil Restaurant in Crown Heights, Brooklyn Kosher?

There is an amazing New York story in the Times' Magazine about the Basil Pizza & Wine Bar in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Yes it is kosher.

Times' Peter Applebome: Avichai Smolen and Justin Rosen Wedding Announcement in Teaneck's Jewish Standard

The Times' Peter Applebome in the past has not ingratiated himself with the community leaders in Teaneck. He likes to emphasize the negatives of the community. And who can blame him? He writes about the "whiplash" following the Avichai Smolen and Justin Rosen Wedding Announcement in Teaneck's Jewish Standard.

Our advice to the paper's publisher yesterday was, "Never Apologize," followed by, always make your policy based on what is best for the bottom line of the newspaper. Business is business. He liked to hear that.

Whiplash Can Follow a Car Crash or a Wedding AnnouncementBy PETER APPLEBOME
Teaneck, N.J.

Teaneck’s tale of love, money, sexual orientation and Torah began innocently enough.

A young couple, who grew up in Conservative Jewish congregations, who met at a Jewish day camp and whose lives have been dominated by Jewish interests, sent a wedding announcement to The New Jersey Jewish Standard.

Is Christine O’Donnell Jewish?

No, Christine O’Donnell is not a Jew, she hasn't even dabbled in Judaism. But the Tea Party candidate for Senate has dabbled in a lot of other things.

According to Reuters FaithWorld. "Tea Party candidate says “I’m not a witch”":

Christine O’Donnell, the Republican Senate candidate for Delaware and a poster girl for the conservative Tea Party movement, launched a new campaign ad on Tuesday with an unsual political admission, stating: “I’m not a witch“.

O’Donnell spoke of “dabbling” in witchcraft over a decade ago in Bill Maher’s show Politically Incorrect and the liberal comedian has been airing clips of her appearances from back then on his current program Real Time with Bill Maher.

In the clip he ran last Friday, she said she had dabbled in several religions but her love of meatballs and Italian food put her off Hare Krishna.

“I was dabbling into every other kind of religion before I became a Christian,” O’Donnell said on Politically Incorrect in 1999.

“I dabbled in witchcraft. I dabbled in Buddhism. I would have become a Hare Krishna but I didn’t want to become a vegetarian. And that is honestly the reason why because I am Italian and I love meatballs,” she said.

Is Al Jaffee Jewish?

Yes, Al Jaffee is a Jew, and according to the Times he is the talent behind Chabad's Mad Magazine version of Judaism.

Best Known for Mad, Also Read by Chabad Youngsters
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN

For a quarter century, Jewish children have hungrily followed the kooky adventures of the Shpy, the adventurous hero of The Moshiach Times, a family-friendly magazine that is published six times a year in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. (Think Highlights, but Jewish.)

With a closet full of disguises and more gadgets than 007, the Shpy volunteers his services when innocent people or ancient traditions are imperiled. He escapes from a giant Mixmaster when investigating a case of stolen hamantaschen, and thwarts a mysterious bee infestation that nearly spoils the fall holiday of Sukkot. In one installment, he invents a repellent to keep the sinister Yetzer Hora at bay, complete with a catchy slogan: “Let us Shpray.” (The softening of the S, when the Shpy shpeaks, so to speak, is meant to evoke Humphrey Bogart.)
The September Issue

Young fans of the Shpy can be forgiven for skipping over the credits on Page 2 of the magazine. It is hard to fathom, though, how the rest of New York has barely noticed that the artist responsible for making the Shpy such a mensch is Al Jaffee. Yes, that Al Jaffee. The same 89-year-old bad boy whose work has been appearing for more than half a century in the occasionally rude, irreverent, and bawdy pages of Mad magazine.

“Al Jaffee’s Mad Life,” the new biography of Mr. Jaffee just published by HarperCollins, flags the connection but even it quickly moves on without exploring how Mr. Jaffee came to work for the magazine or how the odd pairing has worked out...more...

Jewish Standard Flip Flops on Gay Announcements

From our favorite paper, the Ridgewood Patch, first they publish, then they publish not.

Newspaper Will No Longer Publish Same-Sex Wedding Announcements

The Teaneck-based Jewish Standard newspaper announced Monday it will no longer publish same-sex wedding announcements after receiving complaints from some in the community.
By Noah Cohen

The Teaneck-based Jewish Standard will no longer publish same-sex wedding announcements after receiving complaints about an item noting a gay couple's engagement, the newspaper's editor said in a statement posted on its website Monday.

Do politicians lie about religion?

Do politicians lie about religion? Is the pope Catholic? Is Jon Stewart Jewish? 

Of course politicians lie about religion. They have tremendous incentives to misrepresent their religious beliefs so as to sway people to vote for them.

That's why we judge the idea of a religious test or interview to be a weak or useless means of assessing a candidate in an election. 

Damon Linker of the New Republic thinks it's a good idea to ask politicians questions about their religion. We disagree - strongly.

Maybe that makes sense if the person has never held office and there's no other means to determine what he or she stands for. Actual facts drawn from the politician's performance in office ought to be taken most seriously. Indications from a person's life's record of integrity and character ought to be important factors.

In the Bergen Record, Linker says, "...all candidates for high office should have to take the religious test..." and he gives us his questions. Linker thinks that by invoking JFK's famous speech and then explaining how times have changed, he can justify his case for a "test" of religion for politicians.

JFK put it legally and nobly, as Linker cites, "Kennedy emphasized that Article VI of the Constitution maintains that no “religious test” may keep a candidate from aspiring to political office. He went further, implying that his Catholicism should be off limits to public scrutiny. To treat a politician’s religious beliefs as politically relevant was an affront to America’s noblest civic traditions, he declared."

We disagree with Linker both on those grounds that JFK invokes, and on the cynical terms that we indicated above. A test indicates nothing. Linker does not suggest we put the respondent under oath. So we think it likely he or she often will lie with no compunctions to get elected or to stay in office.

Linker's plan is just plain unfair, un-American and foolish, not at all noble or practical.

Sukkah is Down, Apple TV is Up and Running

It was a nice dry day, and we got the sukkah down right away tonight.

Then we went to work connecting and configuring our new Apple TV.

Bingo. It works as promised, in minutes, like magic.

Accesses NetFlix, YouTube, iTunes via the Internet; local library on my PC -- all my music!

Use the pretty little metal remote or the iPad with an app called "Remote". It works too.

Exciting times and toys.

Shavua Tov. Lots to watch....