Michael Steinhardt Can Not Be Happy About This

January 9, 2008 - 7:18 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: General 
Hot off the presses. Just a couple of hours ago, I visited a friend of mine at Tel Aviv’s Independence Hall who is staffing a birthright israel trip. That’s Independence Hall, the building where Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion addressed the nation and signed the Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948. If you visit this site today, you can hear the inspirational speech he gave that very day.
Mmm…gives me chills just hearing it. I could have almost used a scarf. Or the next best thing, like A FREAKING KEFFIYAH AS THIS TRIP PARTICIPANT CHOSE TO WEAR.
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Nice fashion choice, lady. Because nothing says Zionism like Arafat’s headscarf. At least I can “boast” that she was NOT on an American delegation.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go read “Exodus” once or thrice.
For more laughs, check out What War Zone???

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Birthright Israel: A Deeper Look

December 26, 2007 - 11:39 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

Earlier this week, the Jerusalem Post featured an article about the “collateral damage” of birthright israel, the incredibly successful program to have brought over 100,000 Jewish young people to Israel since the turn of the century.  If you hadn’t heard, the program, called “Birthright” for short, is a product of the Jewish superphilanthropists Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, assisted by the Jewish Agency and Jewish Federations.  Birthright runs free 10-day trips for Jewish youth aged 18-26 who have never participated in a peer trip to Israel before, such as a youth group trip (including but certainly not limited to BBYO, NFTY, USY, Young Judaea, and many many more.)

Birthright, from my understanding, was created to strengthen the Jewish identities and connections to Israel for young Jews who had never had an Israel experience before.  Since moving here, I have met a handful of other olim (immigrants) who are graduates of this program and Birthright has given thousands of people an experience that they had never and possibly would never have had again.

So what’s the collateral damage?  According to the author, the unintended effect is that Birthright has become a program sought after by the masses, rather than a “safety net” for those who “missed out” during their Jewish formative years.  Fred Nagler, the headmaster of a Jewish school in New Jersey, describes how his Israel program for high school students is suffering because of the competition Birthright provides and his program’s inability to compete with a free trip.  While any Israel trip is a positive one, many programs of greater lengths and educational depth are seeing their registration numbers drop due to their inability to compete with the economic appeal of Birthright.

It’s an interesting article worth a read.  (Editor’s note:  At the end of the day:  no matter what program you choose…just come!)

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Israeli Sextival: I’m Not Touching These Punchlines with a Ten-Foot… (Oy)

December 26, 2007 - 7:21 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

According to an article today on Ynet, the first ever Israeli sex festival will be coming to the Holy Land in February. Frankly, I don’t know what’s more shocking: the sites we can expect at “Sextival” or the coverage in the linked article.

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What in the world IS that??? If you really want to know…I’ll let you follow the link yourself.
Hint: …….I can’t even go there, never mind.

What else does Ynet tell us?

The three-day event promises to bring ordinary Israelis closer to the wilder aspects of the commandment to procreate through strip shows, innovative sex toy exhibits and presentations on various fetishes.

It’s not exactly a dangling participle (ech omrim “dangling participle”?) but what’s with the sentence construction there, Ynet? I haven’t talked to the Rebbe in a while but I wasn’t aware of the commandment to procreate through strip shows. That must have just missed the two tablets.

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Vayomer Hashem el Moshe Laymor:
“Moses! Take the Children of Israel into Canaan! But first, to Scores!”

And what’s an “ordinary Israeli?” According to dictionary.com, “ordinary” means “plain or undistinguished: ordinary clothes.” I’m not going to indict all Israelis in the incredibly stylish city of Tel Aviv, but man, I have seen some ridiculous UN-ordinary clothes out there. What is the DEAL with the English t-shirts people wear in this country? I won’t go into detail…you can see a good unordinary example here.

(Organizer Nitzan Kirshenboim) even contacted legendary industry icon Hugh Hefner, who has agreed to host in his mansion the lucky few who will win a raffle that will be held at the event.

I don’t even know what to say about this. Take a stab, commenters. I’ll see you at the festival.

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Oh, those crazy talkbackers

December 9, 2007 - 4:09 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

I have a love/hate relationship with online news. I like the immediacy of it but I hate…ok, I’ll say it. I hate the comments at the bottom. At least when it comes to the Middle East. Could these commenters be the most angry, hateful people on the planet?

Average exchange…

Article: “The peace talks began in Annapolis today…”

Commenter: “I HATE ISRAEL!!! DEATH TO THE ZIONISTS!!!” Signed, Tom from Cleveland

The article could be about anything. “Falafel is a tasty snack.” THE OCCUPATION MUST END!!!!

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How could this cause so much anger in the world?

This just in! The Guinness Book of World Records has just confirmed this record-breaking achievement: just a few minutes ago, in only a single comment, a commenter managed to insert politics into a conversation that it had no business being in.

This Ynet article announces the brand-new 2 shekel coin entering circulation. What is the very first response?

Ugly but…the only nice thing about it is that it has Arabic letters! The language of the native of people of Palestine.

-Samadar _____, Jerusalem, Palestine

Mazal tov, Samadar! Guinness has also confirmed that you have more time than anyone in the world. Your prize is a lifetime subscription to every cable channel on TV and a free Tivo. That should help fill your schedule.
Cutting-edge analysis? Nope. Just good times on What War Zone???

Update! (5:17 PM)
Comment #2: #1 shut up. you ignorant fool (ari)

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!

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Comedy for a Good Cause

December 9, 2007 - 10:51 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General 

In a few days, the Crossroads Comedy tour returns to Israel. Started in 2003 by Jewish and LA-based comedian Avi Liberman, this annual visit brings four Hollywood comics to Israel to perform hilarious shows with the proceeds going to the Crossroads Center in Jerusalem, a non-profit organization that aids at-risk English-speaking teenagers.

The tour has been so successful that rather than waiting for the usual summer visit to come around, they’ll be returning for their first winter trip with shows in Jerusalem, Ra’anana, Beit Shemesh, and Tel Aviv.

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In addition to Avi (CBS Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend”), appearing are:

Marc Schiff (Mad About You, Roseanne, opening act for Jerry Seinfeld)

John Mulrooney (Comic Strip Live, The Tonight Show)

Reggie McFadden (Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO’s Def Comedy Jam)

For more information or to purchase tickets, e-mail tickets@djwconsult.com or call 054-627-2867.  Don’t miss it!

History of Crossroads Comedy

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