From the people that brought you such innovative programs like Leading Up North and ROI120 comes the Insight Fellowship – a bold and audacious program aimed at getting a select group of young Jewish leaders who have recently graduated college to experience first hand various aspects of the Jewish Community. The chosen eight will receive a nice salary and complete placements in a number of Jewish communal organizations over the course of 22 months. Fellows will also benefit from travel, seminars and ongoing support from CLI and the Schusterman Foundation, the sponsors of this program. Intrigued, I spoke to Yoni Gordis of CLI who, delightful as always, filled me in on the details. Deadline for submissions is February 8th so if you or anyone you know might be interested, apply ASAP! My questions are in bold:

ck: So let me see if I understand Insight. You are going to take young, motivated Jewish student leaders, idealistic recent college grads, and send them into the scary, scary world of the organized Jewish community? When I first read about that I thought of Teach America where I saw idealistic recent Ed. grads get sent to teach at inner city schools only to have all their idealism snuffed out and mercilessly crushed by the daily rigors and realities of their jobs. Is the organized Jewish community in fact the best place for the types of leaders you are looking for to make the most use of their talents?

Yoni Gordis: The Jewish community today offers many amazing opportunities for future (and current) leaders. It is actually the most fertile place for young Jews to take their identities and the visions for the world and manifest them into a reality. Do many Jewish organizations need to evolve? Without question they do, and part of that evolution is built into the Insight Fellowship. Not only will the Insight Fellows learning about the opportunities in the Jewish world, but the host organizations will also grow as they welcome the Insight Fellows into the inner core of their organization’s highest profile projects. Jewish organizations need to learn to listen and take risks. Younger generation folks need to see the complexities of organizational management. The Jewish communal world is more diverse and innovative than it appears to many people and there are places where the vision and voices of young adults are being taken very seriously. The placements at the Insight Fellowship are being selected to make best use of the Fellows’ skills and knowledge. If one actually believes in the power of non-profits and the potential of community that seeks to turn the coals of identity into creative fire, then Insight and the Jewish community itself would be the place for a practical young visionary to spend two years.

Do you have any idea what specific organizations the Insight Fellows will be working for? I mean I’d be impressed if young accomplished innovators were to be allowed access to the highest levels of decision making in any established Jewish organization… I know Ann (Raskin, CLI Program Manager) discussed CLI’s ongoing involvement with the Fellows throughout the course of their Fellowships – will this be enough to offer the Fellows guidance and assist them in dealing with the possibility of the sort of institutional resistance and resentment one would expect in any organization when something different is tried?

We are currently in the midst of the recruitment process of host organizations. It’s an amazingly eclectic list, including small organizations and large organizations as well as organizations in a variety of fields (culture, social justice, campus life, work with youth, community, and more). The organizations themselves will be receiving ongoing support for their supervisors who will be working with the Insight Fellows. Rather than resistance and resentment, we are encountering real enthusiasm from the organizations regarding the chance to tap into the skills and insight [ ] of the best and brightest of the next generation of future leaders. Organizations who are resistant simply do not become host organizations for Insight. So the mix of Insight Fellowship staff, coaches and mentors, along with the staff at the host organizations, will offer real engagement – attentiveness and pushback – that will make this an unmatched experience in both the lives of the Insight Fellows and the host organizations.

Well you certainly make it seem enticing! Young idealists riffing off of existing organizations and vice versa. What do you think was the primary motivator behind the institution of these fellowships? Some mean spirited individuals might say you were trying to co-opt Jewish innovation and young Jewish leadership – not me of course! So yeah… motivation and what do you hope to accomplish?

CLI’s motivation behind the creation of the Insight Fellowship was to reduce the gap between young adults and positive exposure to the workings of Jewish communal organizations. Our belief is that younger gen folks, with the opportunity to work deeply in organizations on project based work, would see that this is an engaging career path. This would benefit them and it would benefit the organizations who need some help in attracting folks who often turn elsewhere thinking that they can find a rewarding experience in the Jewish world. Some of us have a different experience that we want to share. While some innovation might happen out of organizational frameworks, a lot does happen within them (CLI is a great example of that). We have a lot of trust in the next generation and in their ability to shape communities whose values and habits resonate with their peers – we believe that the Insight Fellowship is one step in getting this generation’s vision for community out there in the world with traction and cutting edge content.

Any parting thoughts?

We are amazed by the numbers and caliber of people and the strength of questions we are getting about the Insight Fellowship. The deadline for application is February 8 and you can get more information by visiting our Web site.

I know some Jewish voters who plan to vote for Barack Obama. I know some who plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. I even know two who will vote for the Republican nominee regardless of who it is. In other words, I don’t see any particular leaning toward or away from any candidate among my group of friends and acquaintances.

Last week, the Obama campaign called together a press conference as part of a new move to inform the Jewish public that negative attacks about Obama are unfounded. Some of these attacks suggest that he’s a secret Muslim, others that he’s anti-Israel and others specify that he belongs to a church where the leadership has said some harsh things about Jews. We’ve seen some of these comments appear on Jewlicious, although infrequently, but typically I see them on sites like Little Green Footballs more than on Jewish sites.

In fact, I don’t often see attacks on Obama from this perspective on Jewish sites. Maybe a mention here and there – something I’ve done myself – but rarely opposition to him as a politician because of this background about him.

Today, the Forward, in their editorial, saw fit to tackle this topic. They point out that the Obama campaign has moved to mobilize Jewish leaders (whatever those are, since I don’t recall voting for any Jewish leaders) and leading Jewish politicians so they would reach out to Jewish voters and inform them that Obama is not Muslim, not anti-Israel and not involved with any leanings against Jews his church might have. At around the same time, although unmentioned by The Forward, Obama gave a press interview where he defended Israel’s right to exist, supported America’s support of Israel and was unequivocal in denying that the so called Palestinian “right of return” was a right at all.

In Florida, Hillary polls at above 50% of Jewish voters and according to the AJC’s poll, she wins the Jewish vote nationwide. The AJC claims that Jews don’t believe that Obama cares about Jewish issues and that is very possibly what drives many Jewish voters. I suspect, however, that as long-time majority Democratic voters, most Jews simply prefer the Clintons and also respect Bill Clinton’s approach to Israel which some assume Hillary shares with him.

What I don’t see out there is this supposed groundswell of anger or dislike for Obama and certainly not because of these supposed rumors flying about. This is where The Forward comes in with some dubious suggestions:

(more…)

Do they also cater to philosophers? :)

Jewish doctors, lawyers and business executives too busy for the formal study of their faith can now order in religious lessons, thanks to an organization whose rabbis make office calls.

Aish HaTorah, an Orthodox Jewish educational network based in Israel, has four rabbis on call in New York City as part of its Executive Learning Program, and similar outreach programs in cities around the world including Los Angeles and Washington.

One of the New York rabbis is Stuart Shiff, who was crisscrossing Manhattan on a recent wintry day to give free private lessons to clients including a partner in an accounting firm and a neuroscientist at a prominent hospital. 

“If you don’t have time, I tell them, I’ll come to you before the stock market opens or after it closes!” said Shiff, a father of six from New Jersey.

[Full article]

Weird story about Carnivale floats. CK, do we have the funds to send Muffti on an investigative journalism mission? From Jpost:

A judge issued an order Thursday prohibiting a Rio samba group from parading during carnival with a float depicting naked bodies of Holocaust victims.

Judge Juliana Kalichszteim issued the injunction in response to a lawsuit by the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro, which asked for the float be removed from this city’s famed carnival parade next week, said Lara Voges, a spokeswoman for the judge.

The judge said the float could be used in the parade, but that organizers of the Viradouro samba group must remove mannequins meant to represent dead bodies from the Holocaust.

Viraduro spokeswoman Eliane Lorca said the group had not yet seen the judge’s order and that the president of the group would only comment after they had seen the “supposed decision.”

The Jewish Federation praised the judge’s decision.

“It’s inadmissible that they could have a parade float depicting dead Jews and a live Hitler on top of them,” said federation spokesman Jose Roitberg.

Reports in the media have said that Viradouro had planned to feature at least one dancer dressed as Adolf Hitler in the parade, using the theme: “It Gives you Goose Bumps.”

Viradouro would neither confirm nor deny those plans.

According to Kalichszteim’s decision, the group would face a fines of 200,000 reals ($113,000) if it ignored her order by parading without removing the mannequins and 50,000 reals ($28,000 for each dancer dressed as Hitler.

In her decision, Kalichszteim said carnival “should not be used as a tool for the cult of hate, any form of racism, beside the clear banalization of barbaric events.”

Viradouro is scheduled to present its carnival parade early Monday morning at Rio’s Sambadrome stadium.

Millions of Brazilians will watch the two-night parade on national television and in the Sambadrome parade grounds in Rio.

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning. Winter in Jerusalem is already difficult enough but when you add snow to the mix, oy… what a balagan (mess). The last couple of weeks have been freezing but at least I could always pop down to the shuk and get some Gat infused hot chocolate, lots of oranges for squeezing or whatever I wanted. But with the snow? Everything was closed.

Well I was hoping not everything was closed. I was supposed to be leaving tonight to New York on my way to Long Beach for the Jewlicious Festival. I dropped off my laundry the night before and was now hoping against hope that at least the laundry place with all my clothes was open. A walk that usually took 10 minutes, took half an hour as I made my way through the snow and slush clogged roads in my former-life Canadian winter boots (thanks Dad) while I saw Israelis slipping and sliding in their plastic-bag-covered inappropriate footwear. Suffice it to say the laundry place was not open. The photo above is of Ben Yehuda Street in the snow.

With basically no clothes to pack I was less than amused by the requisite pathetic Israeli snowmen I saw on the road. What? You want pics of snow covered Chassids davening by the Kotel? Blow me. You can shlepp through that mess yourself.

Anyhow, I managed to find an insane cab driver willing to drive me to the airport (for $85) and I figured it would be a good idea to get there 6 hours early. Why? Well the airport has free WIFI (and they say Israel is uncivilized?) and it’s warm. Also if anything went wrong I’d have plenty of time to fix it.

Sure enough plenty went wrong. My Israir flight was cancelled and I was told that I was on the 12:55 ELAL flight. I wasn’t. So I went to the Israir office where despite the earliness of the hour, there were already 3 aggrieved parties looking to get Israir to put them on a flight, any flight to New York that evening.

What was most remarkable was that all three of these parties were mamish moguls! First there was the short mogul accompanied by his Eric Harris-esque nephew. Mogul #1 had, HAD to be back in New York because he was expecting a big shipment of something or another and he had to be there personally to get it. The agent explained to him that Mr. Big Businessman hadn’t left a number for Israir to contact him at “How is it an important businessman does not have a cell phone?” That’s when the mogul’s nephew summoned up his best 15 year old bravado and started hollering “What kind of a fucked up airline is this?” while making threatening moves in the direction of the agent. “Yell at me one more time and you’re not going anywhere.” Mogul #1 reigned in the boy and they waited.

Mogul #2 – well they were actually 2 guys. Both film makers from LA, they spent the past month traveling in Israel after having staffed a Taglit trip. Now there was a big meeting, BIG! with a producer or something in New York that they had, HAD to be at! They had to be on a flight to New York that night or else all their hard work would go down the drain and they would lose millions of dollars! Truth is they were actually pretty civil and had these cool ass beards they grew while in Israel. They weren’t nearly as creepy as Mogul #1.

Mogul #3 had, HAD to be in New York the next morning because he had a million dollar meeting to arrange, as far as I could understand, “waiter jobs for his boys.” “Are these naked waiters?” I asked. “What? Naked… no! It’s for Passover!” He replied. I was just wondering what kind of waiters cost a million dollars. But everything is more expensive on Pesach I guess.

When it was my turn to beg and plead all I said was “You guys told me I’d leave at 12:55 am with ELAL and I have already made arrangements to meet Kelsey at Cholent tomorrow.”

Mogul #1 made it on Continental flight 091 mostly because I think they just wanted to get his creepy nephew out of the country. I made it too. I think the agent was disconcerted by how, of all the people there, I was the calmest by far, displaying the habits of a man used to getting what he wants. “Shady. Better get him out of here or else tomorrow I’ll wake up with a severed horse’s head in my bed.”

The other moguls? They got a free hotel room, cab fare and McDonalds certificates for free “food” which they eagerly grabbed. Their big deals would have to wait another day. And now I am here in New York, relaxing with a cup of Earl Grey tea. Please alert the usual suspects. Toodles!

Some of you may notice a little button on the right where for the first time ever, Jewlicious is asking for a donation.

It’s actually not Jewlicious but Jewlicious Festivals, which is run by two of our members, Rabbi Yonah and ck. For those who have attended these annual events, I don’t need to describe how much fun, how exciting and how…Jewlicious they are. Hundreds of young Jewish men and women attend for three days full of music, laughter, discussions both heavy and light, lessons on everything from blogging to the latest in Middle East politics, sports, lots of great food, and of course, shabbat.

For those who haven’t attended, as somebody fortunate enough to have been to one, I can attest to the positive energy that courses through this event and how great it is to see hundreds of young Jews relating to each other in so many ways that relate to their regular lives but also touch on, well, on being Jews.

Everything was going smoothly this year until a little hiccup has caused an unexpected financial shortfall at the last minute. Unfortunately, the late date of this surprise has created a problem for the organizers, Rabbi Yonah and ck. Although neither has written about it, nor asked me to write this essay, I am sure they are working hard to raise the difference.

They need help. It would be nice if you, dear reader, would consider helping. Or better yet, contact your well-to-do father/aunt/friend and ask them if they would like to participate. This is, in my opinion, a great mitzvah and an extremely worthwhile one.

As a final note, I should point out that this festival is not run for profit and the funds raised are used to pay for expenses. Rabbi Yonah has been extraordinarily efficient in running these events, so contributed money is not going to waste. I also have to point out that Jewlicious itself is a labor of love and none of us are paid for our contributions here. In other words, the benefit of any assistance go directly to Jewlicious Festivals and benefit young Jewish men and women who participate.

In light of this, and with apologies to my co-posters Rabbi Yo and ck who weren’t aware that I was going to reach a hand out in a request for financial assistance, I ask you to help put on this great event.

PS Those of you who are lucky enough to be in the vicinity of Long Beach, CA, if you don’t have tickets yet, get some. Along with all the other programming, there are going to be two musical events this year and both look terrific!

Sometimes the NY Times can be a very useful publication and today is one of those days. Just in time for the Super Bowl party near your home, they provide us with a lengthy article about recent research into double dipping. That is, of course, when you take your chip or pita slice and after taking a bite, proceed to re-introduce it to the dip along with your friendly germs. A researcher actually wanted to explore whether double dippers were indeed sharing their germs with others. In a word: yes. In fact, he likens it to kissing everybody else at the party. With your tongue.

Professor Dawson told me that he had expected to find little or no microbial transfer from mouth to chip to dip, which would support George’s nonchalance. The results surprised him.

The team of nine students instructed volunteers to take a bite of a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into about a tablespoon of a test dip. They then repeated the process with new crackers, for a total of either three or six double dips per dip sample. The team then analyzed the remaining dip and counted the number of aerobic bacteria in it. They didn’t determine whether any of the bacteria were harmful, and didn’t count anaerobic bacteria, which are harder to culture, or viruses.

There were six test dips: sterile water with three different degrees of acidity, a commercial salsa, a cheese dip and chocolate syrup.

On average, the students found that three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip.

Each cracker picked up between one and two grams of dip. That means that sporadic double dipping in a cup of dip would transfer at least 50 to 100 bacteria from one mouth to another with every bite.

The kind of dip made a difference in a couple of ways. The more acidic water samples had somewhat fewer bacteria, and the numbers of bacteria declined with time. But the acidic salsa picked up higher initial numbers of bacteria than the cheese or chocolate, because it was runny. The thicker the dip, the more stuck to the chip, and so the fewer bacteria were left behind in the bowl.

Professor Dawson said that Timmy was essentially correct. “The way I would put it is, before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here? Because you don’t know who might be double dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you.”

Professor Dawson encourages his undergraduate teams to test popular conceptions about food safety in the laboratory. Last year he published a paper on the five-second rule, which states that food dropped on the floor can be safely eaten if you pick it up before you can count to five. The rule turned out to be false.

Enjoy your party!

This one’s for all the Yiddishists, linguists, procrastinators, and plainly bored people out there.

This wordmaze contains 30 words that have entered English through Yiddish. They can be written horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and forwards or backwards. I’m not a big fan of klal sprakh transliteration, so I’ve deliberately chosen the types of spelling that currently are my favourites.

Apparently anything can be made treif: introducing Bacon Vodka.

Existing at the nexus of raw pork and fine spirits, the Brownie Points culinary blog gives us this creation, perhaps the most audacious attempt at liquid swine since Primus gave us “Pork Soda”:

If you have time, bacon and vodka, you too can have this tasty elixir in your hands.

What to do with it you ask? You can give it away as a gift, use it in a Bloody Mary, Make a Bastardized Cloudy Martini (a real martini doesn’t have vodka) with it and a blue cheese stuffed olive. I haven’t tried this one, but I can recognize the appeal of a Pickle Juice Sport made with bacon vodka (that’s pickle juice mixed with vodka).

Ms. “McAuliflower” details the recipe for her utterly unkosher concoction there on the blog.

Is this for real? “Sweet bacon” cocktails with syrup?

Obviously this is one cordial that didn’t make it to the Star-K “Approved List”.

The perfect way to uninvite yourself to any simcha. (Extra credit if you bring the oyster ice cream, of course best when made with fresh oysters.)

TIFERET VILLAGE
and SHEMSPEED present

A New Spirit: The Next Generation of Jewish Music
New Sounds of Emerging Artists & Round Table Talk

and Rabbi Yakov Travis of Tiferet Village

FREE / Suggested Donation $8

Cosponsors: Columbia / Barnard Hillel, PresenTense, TheFullHit.com, Zeek

For more info, visit TiferetVillage.org/events
–
Coming Up:
A New Spirit: The Next Generation of Jewish Theater, Writing, and Visual Art
Join us in February, March, and April for an intimate evening with more
leading artists. For More Info, visit TiferetVillage.org/events

Israel ‘apologized’ for a rather odd 43 year old standing ban on the Beatles with a belated invitation to play in Israel. The Beatles were slated to play in 1965 but were banned on the similar grounds to those for which Socrates was executed: youth corruption. Muffti wonders whether it was ‘yesterday’ or ‘help’ that got officials most hot and bothered.

The ban is off but Muffti is afraid the band’s best years may be behind them. Perhaps they should reach out to Led Zeppelin who seem to be back in action. Thanks to CNN for an entertaining story.

More than 40 years after it barred the iconic British band from playing there, Israel said it wants the surviving members of the Beatles to participate in a concert celebrating the country’s 60th birthday.

But the Israeli embassy in London denied a report that the Jewish state had apologized for its original refusal to let the Beatles perform in the country. The band had been booked to appear in 1965, but the government refused to grant the necessary permits on the ground that its music might corrupt the country’s morals.

“Israel missed a chance to learn from the most influential musicians of the decade, and the Beatles missed an opportunity to reach out to one of the most passionate audiences in the world,” Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor said in a letter addressed to Sir Paul McCartney. “On our 60th anniversary, we would like to take the opportunity to offer you a second chance to play in Israel.”

The embassy said a letter was presented by Prosor to Jerry Goldman, CEO of the Beatles Story in the north England city of Liverpool. It was also sent to Sir Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr.

I’m thrilled to announce that my friend and PresenTense Magazine editor/publisher Ariel Beery was named a finalist in the Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation competition run by Brandeis University, alongside Anita Diamant (author of “The Red Tent”) and Shmuley Boteach (author of everything else).

You can read Ariel’s proposal, "Translating Judaism for the Post-Digital Age: Creative Zionism and a Renewed Jewish People," here.

These additional details are from the JTA.

Applicants were asked to come up with an innovation in Judaism and develop it with proposals for changing the way Jews think about themselves and their community. The winner will receive a visiting professorship at Brandeis and two years to develop the idea into a book that Brandeis will publish. The finalists are Jerusalem Post editorial page editor and columnist Saul Singer; Harvard doctoral candidate Yehuda Kurtzer; author Anita Diamant; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the founder of the Jewish Values Network; and Ariel Beery, the publisher of PresenTense magazine.

They were selected from 231 applicants, including 49 rabbis and from such countries as Israel, Italy, India, Australia and Sweden. The five will present their proposals Feb. 24 at a symposium for members of the Brandeis community and Boston-area Jewish leaders.

Ariel, together with Aharon Horwitz, also created the PresenTense Institute, which is now also seeking applicants for this upcoming summer. Applications available–in Hebrew and English–here.

Kol Hakavod, Ariel! And best of luck with the symposium…

I laughed, I cried…

Visit Eli’s newly published revised history of the Jews.

Why isn’t this guy writing for us?

Kosha Dillz with a shout out for Jewlicious

Kosha Dillz is an upcoming Israeli American hip hop artist that has put the Zionist swagger back in being Jewish. A flashy pinky ring style and gold-star dress code using crowd moving beats and profound lyrics in Hebrew, English and Spanish this unorthodox boom bap-ist’s knowledge of emceeing brings the pride back that you might have once lost.

Kosha will be performing March 1st on the Main Festival Stage, as a guest with Y-Love and Erez aka d.j. handler, and also on Sunday, March 2, on the Acoustic Stage.

Tickets for Jewlicious Festival are still $36 for students ($60 for working stiffs) until the end of this month. Then you’ll have to pay a whole lot more.

In addition to all the support we get from generous families, partners, co-sponsors, and the sale of cool shmatas, Jewlicious Festival is not a money making endeavor. Like other Jewish events that are powered by volunteers, the Festival is always just squeaking by. In the absence of a Jewish-Mega Donor – we are asking friendly folks to make a tax-deductible contribution of any amount to help sponsor this amazing weekend. Thank you in advance!

NYC, Center of the Jewish World?

Maybe. One could make that argument. There are certainly lots of Jews there, also, lots of Jewish stuff – religious, cultural, all kinds of events and activities. Much of this springs up organically, given all the Jews, but some of it, some of the most innovative, dynamic and exciting aspects of Jewish life in New York happens because it was nurtured. In an incubator. And who has been the very best incubator there is? Why none other than Bikkurim.

Based out of New York, Bikkurim seeks to energize and enrich “the North American Jewish community by finding innovative Jewish ideas and nurturing them to sustainability.” Following the business incubator model, Bikkurim offers New York based Jewish innovators office space, technical assistance, networking opportunities and even some cash. So if you think you have the next JDub Records, Heeb Magazine or Limmud NY (all current or past resident groups) please begin your application process NOW. Your pre-application is due Feb. 1st!! Otherwise, if this post is too late or if you totally missed the Bikkurim banner that’s been sitting on the side of the page for the last two weeks, well at least check out the very informative Web site so that you can prepare for the next round of applications.

Or simply gasp in awe and wonder at how New York’s Jews continue to produce such interesting stuff. Well now you know!

According to the JTA, Susie Stern, the immediate past chair of the board of the UJA, and Steve Grossman, past president of AIPAC, have decided to come out with their support for Clinton’s bid for the presidency. They say that Clinton’s support for Israel has been unwavering.

I already think that Clinton is the best candidate for the Democratic nomination because of her experience, ideas, and determination (and being a Wellesley Woman myself, the fact that she’s an alum definitely doesn’t hurt). But because I know she strongly supports Israel, I’m even more inclined to support her. Clinton embodies the kind of president the US needs.

Another gem from the highly beloved Overheard site:

Four-year-old boy to stranger: Do you have a little boy?
30-ish single man: No, not yet.
Four-year-old boy: Why not?
30-ish single man: Because I don’t have a wife yet.
Four-year-old boy: Why not?
30-ish single man: You sound like my mother.

–38th & 2nd

Overheard by: Todd J.

Sundance Film Festival

Sundance coverage day 3

In 1999, Seth Kramer was on location in Vilnius, Lithuania, directing RESISTANCE: UNTOLD STORIES OF JEWISH PARTISANS. His excellent guide, a local historian, pointed out that the local square was paved with stolen Jewish headstones; they were inscribed in Yiddish, the language his grandparents spoke fluently, his parents spoke moderately, and he didn’t speak at all.

Kramer halted the filming. He was outraged, incensed and disgusted. After collecting himself, he completed the project, but left Vilnius (Vilna) with the desire to create a film on Yiddish and reflect upon what happens when a language is no longer passed from generation to generation.

Returning to the United States, he completed his searing film for PBS, which was nominated for an Emmy Award. But Kramer also began developing an idea for a film on the declining usage and knowledge of Yiddish. The terrorist attacks on 9-11 derailed the project, but in 2003, he approached his friends, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger, with the idea for a film on Yiddish. Daniel and Jeremy had been collaborating on projects since their days as campers at Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake.

Together, they formed Ironbound Films, and began preproduction research. The three were most intrigued by those who viewed language loss without sentimentality – as they did – but as an impending global crisis: The Linguists. They were specifically drawn to David Harrison, a linguist and scientist at Swarthmore College with matinee idol looks and the confidence of a real life Indiana Jones. His co-researcher, Gregory Anderson, is a Harvard-alum, black belt, and fan of extreme fighting. Together they speak over 25 languages.

THE LINGUISTS follows David Harrison and Gregory Anderson, this linguistic Felix and Oscar odd couple, as they race to endangered language hotspots in order to document languages before they are extinct. In Siberia, they sought to record the remnant speakers of Chulym, a native language that was suppressed by the Soviets. In Northeastern India, they visited a boarding school where tribal children are taught Hindi and a trade, and encouraged to forget their tribal languages, including Sora. In Bolivia, David and Greg, along with the filmmakers, trekked high into the Andes to unlock the secrets of Kallawaya, a native language with fewer than 100 surviving speakers. Along they way, the linguists were bitten by swarming fist-sized bugs, got threatened, actually risked their lives, got duped, nearly were danced to death, and even got feverishly ill and possibly cured by native medicines.

Although eighty percent of the world’s population speaks 83 global languages, there are an estimated 7,000 spoken languages in the world today; and about one dies every two weeks. In Australia, 231 aboriginal tongues are endangered and being supplanted by English. In South America, 113 native languages are known to be losing speakers to Spanish and Portuguese. The roots of extinction include shame, embarrassment, active government suppression, the desire for commercial advancement, and, like Yiddish, the failure of parents to teach it to their children.

The documentary makes the point that what is at stake is not only a loss of culture and stories, but the loss of an understanding of medicinal plants, and a way of viewing the environment and human thought. The Indian students that are native speakers of Sora perform better in arithmetic than their classmates. Perhaps it is because the Sora language counts numbers in Base 12, instead of the English Base 10 system – meaning that thirteen in Sora is “twelve and one” instead of the English “three and ten.” In some languages, words have meanings not seen in the major global languages, such as “nosore” which means “to free someone from a tiger” in Gta, while in other languages, plurality is conveyed by suffixes not seen elsewhere. For example, in the Ethiopian Bayso language, the suffix ‘titi’ means one item, “no suffix” is plural, “jaa” means 2-6 items, and “oor” can mean more than seven items.

As with so many documentary films, the filmmakers and the audience never know what will happen next. When the linguists give a gift to a village chieftain in India, a riot nearly breaks out in a place where two French linguists had been recently murdered by Maoist rebels. In Siberia, the linguists realize that their taxi driver, Vasya Gabov, is actually the best fluent speaker of Chulym they discover. Gabov, a Russian speaker, tells how decades of shame and ridicule had kept him silent; only after he helps the filmmakers find subjects do they realize that he can speak Chulym.

At the Sundance premiere of THE LINGUISTS, Johnny Hill, Jr., perhaps the sole surviving fluent speaker of the Chemehuevi language (a Numic branch of the Southern Paiute language), spoke to a tear filled audience on what it is like to speak a language that no one else can converse in or understand. He resides on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Western Arizona, where he farms alfafa and works on highway maintenance, and in his spare time records the language for future generations.

Asked how the making of this film will affect the filmmakers’ raising of their newborn children and young toddlers, Kramer said that he was actively thinking about how he could impart the Yiddish language, songs, stories and mindsets to his children, and Newberger, a former kibbutz volunteer and intern for an Israeli film production company, plans to spend time in Israel with his family to make sure his children learn Hebrew. As for the Yiddish film… well, perhaps in a few more years.

Links and Resources:

Interview with Professor Harrison on When Languages Die

Link to Endangered Languages

Yiddish Lesson Brazilian Style

A Yiddish comedy sketch

The Beatles in Yiddish

Y-Love raps in Yiddish

Written by Larry Mark from Jewishfilm.com for Jewlicious.

Larry enjoys sitting in dark rooms surrounded by lots of people, and also watching films. When he sits in lit rooms, he enjoys editing Jewishfilm.com and MyJewishBooks.com.

I did a clip for Israel21c on Harley Davidson aficionados in Israel. That was fun. You know what else is fun? Israel21c’s new Web site – check it out. Vroooooom!

Jewish women? Wearing burqas and abayas/jilbab? In Ramat Beit Shemesh?

Haaretz reported recently of a group of charedi women who, under the tutelage of a Rebbetzin Bruria Keren, have sought to take tznius (modesty) to the next level — voluntarily eschewing (covered) wigs and kerchiefs for hijabs and burkas. Jameel over at the Muqata translates some of the article (which, if your Hebrew permits, is very worth reading):

“I don’t want men to look at me. I’m happy being modest. In the past, I felt uncomfortable to walk around [sans-burka], in such a wanton fashion. At first, I just wore a wig. Now, when I see a woman with a wig, I pray to G-d to forgive her for wearing that “thing” on her head. It’s difficult. We get humiliated. What haven’t they said to me? My neighbors yelled at me, “Leave us alone, you smelly arab.” I was pushed. But this is a test from G-d. At the Central Bus Station I undergo security checks and am asked for identification. I don’t want men seeing my ID picture, so I just show them my children to prove I’m not an Arab.”

–Quote from a Burka and Hijab wearing Jewish woman in her late 20s, who lives in Jerusalem.

And this woman is not alone.
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Further to my previous article, it looks like the Jewish Week is going to be a hosting a lecture titled “Is the Internet Good for the Jews? Online Community, Blogging and Ethics.” The press release describes the event as follows:

How far can a virtual Jewish community go in replacing a real Jewish community? Are voyeurism, rudeness and other online pitfalls antithetical to Jewish values? Which Jewish blogs are most influential? How can the Jewish community make better use of the Internet to promote its causes?

This discussion will feature Gary Rosenblatt of the Jewish Week, Jewcy.com’s managing editor Izzy Grinspan, author Rabbi Joshua Hammerman (Temple Beth El, Stamford CT), and Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz’s chief U.S. correspondent.

It promises to be a rollicking good time as a panel made up of old media people and one Jewcy editor pontificate on the Jewish blogosphere. Me? I’ll be in New York and wouldn’t miss this for the world. I will be bringing my gang along and yes, feel free to expect some West Side Story type shenanigans. Too bad Mr. Imbecile lives in Seattle otherwise I am certain he would have been invited to speak given that he’s the Jewish blogosphere’s leading expert on victimization, civility and whining.

But in all seriousness, this is an important issue. How do we reconcile prohibitions against Lashon Harah and what we do on blogs every day? Are online communities an adequate replacement for real world communities and what does this mean within a Jewish context?

The lecture is slated to take place on Feb 6th at the Jewish Community Project, 146 Duane St., SOHO, New York, NY at 7:30 pm. Free admission, reservations strongly recommended.
RSVP to janet@jewishweek.org.

Two articles came to my attention today, both dealing with the Jewish blogosphere. One, which appeared in Haaretz, was written by a cranky imbecile and is so laughably self-congratulatory and hypocritical that I am amazed it was ever published. Stuff like this makes Haaretz look like, well… the Jerusalem Post in the bad old days. Err… badder old days – but with a different ideological orientation of course.

Allow me to provide an example. If I were to say “The city of Baltimore has a lot of murders” I am merely describing reality. Does it mean I support murder in Baltimore? Last summer, I was interviewed by the Forward and was quoted as follows: “There’s a lot of testosterone on the Internet, a lot of swagger…” The imbecile in question has in the past used that quote to attribute a preference for swagger and testosterone on my part. Yup. Moron, right?

That quote from the Forward was also used in an article by Rabbi Avi Shafran, the director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, which appeared in The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California. Gotta send a hat tip to my friend Tomer who blogged this on OyBay like… 2 weeks ago.

Tomer was respectfully critical of Rabbi Shafran’s article. In short, the Rabbi likened many Jewish bloggers to “disturbed individuals” who “spread madness, hatred, lies and … evil.” He did concede that

There are, of course, responsible bloggers in the Jewish realm as in others, writers who seek to share community news or ideas and observations with readers, and to post readers’ comments. Some explore concepts in Jewish thought and law, others focus on Jewish history and society… But responsible blogs in the Jewish realm as in the general are decidedly in the minority. And even many responsible blogs allow comments from people with very different values.

So most Jewish blogs are irresponsible and even those that are responsible negate that by *gasp* allowing comments from people with different values. He then goes on to warn people against “patronizing the untamed areas of Blogistan. While larger society may hallow the idea of free speech, Judaism considers words to carry immense responsibility. Used properly, they can teach, inspire and elevate. But used wrongly, or recklessly, they can be virtual weapons of mass destruction.”

Well, I’m down with respect for the power of words. In this weeks Parsha, Yitro, God spoke to the people of Israel in order to give them the Ten Commandments. The people were overwhelmed by the voice of God, and after hearing either the first 2 commandments or all ten (depending on who you hold by), begged Moses to intercede on their behalf and relay God’s word to them. God was cool with that and agreed to their request. So we see that the wishes of the man on the street (so to speak) have some value. I mean why do we hold by the more Liberal Beit Hillel and not by the sterner but more learned Beit Shamay? Because Beit Shamay is just a tad too stern for the common folk. Judaism is not exactly synonymous with Democracy but there is a notion that the voice of the people has some value. So maybe that’s the value of the Jewish blogosphere – it allows people to articulate their concerns and issues.

I think most intelligent people know to avoid the imbeciles and the muckrakers. But organizations like Agudath Israel would do well to heed some of the concerns expressed on the Internet. So now instead of delving into a realm that he perhaps doesn’t completely understand, Rabbi Shafran might want do something productive about the issue of Agunot, or talk about how Agudath Israel is going to make Orthodox synagogues more welcoming, or encourage Orthodox Jews to recycle and use less fossil fuels. Or something. I swear there are far more important issues for the Jewish world to deal with than stupid blogs.

Despite being urged to by the German Jewish Council as well as former Bavarian ‘Ministerpräsident’ (comparable to US American ‘governor’) Edmund Stoiber, the city of Munich will not refrain from holding its Carnival parade on Sunday, 27 January 2008 as Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. The city of Regensburg, which originally had planned its Carnival parade for that date as well, has already postponed the parade to 3rd February.

So, what is Carnival? In a nutshell, it’s a festival of celebrations before Lent, the forty-day fast preceding the Easter holiday. The folk celebrations likely adopted customary Ancient Roman and Celtic spring parades and their indulgence in food and drinks (and whatever else may happen under the influence). The Easter date in the Western churches is set to be on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring, hence the dates of Carnival (or ‘Shrovetide‘) vary accordingly. This year, the heydays of Carnival are from 31st January through 5th February. Carnival is celebrated differently in different areas, and not all areas celebrate it as excessively as the Rhineland, where the season between 11th November and Shrove Tuesday is generally referred to as ‘the fifth season’.

Medieval Carnival celebrations in Southern Europe left a bad taste in Jewish mouths though as they for a long time involved ridiculing Jews as a way of public entertainment. In Cologne, the capital of German Carnival celebrations, the recent generation of Carnival officials (it’s a multi-billion business all in all, mind you) has undertaken the important step of shedding light on the Nazis’ infiltration of Carnival celebrations and the involvement of Carnival officials with the Nazi authorities as well as anti-Semitism being spread by the means of Carneval in Cologne.

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Michael Kovner is the artist (and image source is Israelartguide).

SHABBAT SHALOM!!

He’s back! But it’s ok because he’s a rapper not a genocidal maniac.

Ok. That was completely retarded. Shabat Shalom.