MetaFilter posts tagged with jewish

Is this survey OK by you?

escabeche — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:12:22 -0800

The Survey of American Jewish Language and Identity reports on the results of an online survey of 25,179 American Jews and 4,874 American Gentiles. Non-Jews say "klutz" but not "schmutz." The more Orthodox you are, the more likely you are to say "Good Shabbos" instead of "Shabbat Shalom." And so much more you'll plotz.

The food of my people

Joe Beese — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:28:01 -0800

"At Jewish Delis, Times Are as Lean as Good Corned Beef" David Sax hopes you will help "Save The Deli". (previously)

The city that sits alone, with a wall in its heart

Joe in Australia — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:23:16 -0800

Mountain air, clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Brought by the twilight breeze
With the sound of bells

Shortly before the Six Day War of 1967 an amateur singer performed [YT] an elegy for the then-divided city of Jerusalem "locked in a dream ... with a wall in its heart". Yerushalayim Shel Zahav [YT], Jerusalem of Gold, became Israel's best-loved song. It was sung by the first Jews to re-enter Jerusalem after the Jordanian occupation and its author added a new stanza commemorating the fact that Jews had "returned to the wells, the market and the squares." The melody is based on a Basque lullaby [YT] sung here by Pello Joxepe.

"Sid Luckman was great. He was probably the greatest Jewish football player ever."

jonp72 — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:55:07 -0800

Obsessed with Jews is a hilariously delightful documentary short about Jewish memorabilia collector, Neil Keller. Keller speaks effusively about Jews in basketball ("Ossie Schechtman, great story. Ossie Schechtman scored the first basket in NBA history.") and Jews in hockey ("The first Jew in hockey was Samuel Rothschild."), although contrary to the Chanukah Song, Keller provides a letter where Rod Carew explains he's not Jewish. The documentary is by Jeff Krulik, that mensch responsible for Heavy Metal Parking Lot. For more Jeff Krulik documentary shorts and a great article on Krulik's days in cable access TV, check the multimedia article here. (Click through the pages. It's worth it!)

RaDaK

tellurian — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:27:07 -0800

The manuscripts of David Kaufmann, Jewish scholar extraordinaire. Wonderful illuminations, inventive typography and even a little bit of naughtiness.

The True Story of Chanukkah

andoatnp — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:54:49 -0800

Chanukkah is the story of a group of warriors (the Maccabees, later the Hasmoneans, led by Mattathias) who rose up against the Greeks (the Seleucids), united the Jews, reclaimed the Temple (Beit HaMikdash), and then lit one day's supply of oil which miraculously lasted for eight days, started a brand new holiday called Chanukkah, and brought Jewish sovereignty and peace to the land of Israel. Except that almost every part of that story is either wrong or completely misleading. 1) Chanukkah as a Civil War Between the Jews To start with, Chanukkah is just as much about a civil war among the Jews as it is about a war between the Greeks and a solidified Jewish force (wikipedia):

Many modern scholars argue that the king may have been intervening in an internal civil war between the traditionalist Jews in the country and the Hellenized elite Jews in Jerusalem. These competed violently over who would be the High Priest, with traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias overthrown by Hellenizers with Greek names like Jason and Menelaus. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus took the side of the Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices the traditionalists had rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total departure from Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned the traditional religion of a whole people.

The Maccabean uprising itself began with a Jew killing a Jew. ("After Antiochus issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice, a rural Jewish priest from Modiin, Mattathias the Hasmonean, sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the Greek gods. Mattathias slew a Hellenistic Jew who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias' place. He and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judea.") Ironically, although the Hasmoneans started out at war against the Hellenizing and secularizing Jews, as they solidified power they got into another conflict, except this time "the Hasmoneans sided with the Sadducees, the priestly advocates of the authority of Temple Sacrifice, against the Pharisees, the forerunners of the rabbis and the form of rabbinic Judaism we continue to practise today." So when the Orthodox in Israel and the secular Jews in American celebrate Chanukkah, they are both commemorating a military victory by a group that tried to destroy them. For more on Chanukkah as a civil war, see this article in Slate Magazine "The Maccabees and the Hellenists" 2) The Miracle of the Oil that Burned for Eight Days For people who don't believe in miracles, then obviously there wasn't any Chanukkah miracle. But even for those people who do believe in miracles, there is much evidence that there wasn't any magical oil that burned for eight days. The most obvious reason to discount the idea of magical oil burning for eight days is that this supposed miracle isn't referred to in the Book of Maccabees, the most contemporaneous account. The section on the rededication of the Temple merely reads "And so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days" with no mention anywhere of miraculous oils. Similarly, al hanissim, the special prayer said during Chanukkah refers to a miracle, but it's the miracle of a military victory, not of oil that burned for 8 days. The first mention of the magic oil appears in the Talmud, roughly 600 years after the rededication of the Temple. So why was a story invented about oil burning for eight days? Possibly, as a post-hoc explanation to explain why the holiday was eight days long (more on this shortly). Just as likely, to change the tone of the holiday from one of military conquest to God's presence:

So what happened to the story of the oil and the miracle of the lights? Well, that's where the rabbis come in. In the rabbinic sources, we find virtual silence on the topic of Chanukah in the Mishnah. It is only in the Gemara (the later rabbinic material which, along with the Mishna makes up the Talmud) that we find the new story about the oil and the miracle of the lights. By the time of the development of the Talmud, around 200-500 C.E., the Jews were living under Roman rule in Israel and under Persian rule in Babylon. In these circumstances, celebrating stories about military rebellion might not be viewed in too positive a light by the authorities, and the sages also feared that some Jewish hotheads might stir up trouble and cause all kinds of problems for the Jewish community. So the Talmudic sages put a new spin on the established holiday: God wrought a great miracle for the people, enabling the few to triumph over the many, and God showed the people another miracle in the oil, when a flask of ritually pure oil sufficient for one day lasted for all eight days.

3) Chanukkah as the Late Version of Sukkhot So if there wasn't magic oil that burned for eight days, then why is Chanukkah an eight day holiday? Because of what happened after the Maccabean revolt succeeded:

When they took over the Temple and cleaned out all the remnants of the idolatrous Greek worship, they rededicated the Temple and then immediately held a late observance of the eight day festival of Sukkot, the most important festival of Temple times. The next year, to commemorate their victory and the rededication of the Temple, a "late Sukkot" was held again, thereby giving birth to our eight-day celebration of Chanukah - which means "dedication".

And you want to guess what they called this new holiday?

As a result, they celebrated Sukkot late that year — in December, during the Hebrew month of Kislev. In fact, the book of Maccabees doesn't even call the festival Hanukkah. Instead, it refers to the celebration as Sukkot B'kislev — December Sukkot.

4) Additional Chanukkah Trivia About Herod the Great After the Hasmoneans seized power in Israel, they continued their civil war against other Jews. They also began forcibly converting other people in the land to Judaism:

Yet what was most devastating about Hasmonean rule was its retreat from the principles of the Maccabean rebellion. It was the Hasmoneans who introduced into Jewish history the infamous policy of coercive conversion by compelling pagan residents of Galilee and of Idumea either to accept conversion to Judaism or to be killed. This forcible conversion policy, so notorious in later Jewish history, unfortunately was introduce by the Jews themselves.

Then, along comes King Herod, but "since Herod's family had converted to Judaism under duress, his Jewishness had come into question by some elements of Judean society." And if you go on the Western Wall Tunnel Tour in Jerusalem, the tour guide will tell you that Herod rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem to try to prove his commitment to Judaism, but even after all his efforts the Temple Priests refused to recognize his Judaism and would not let him enter the Temple that he built. And don't even get me started on potato lattkes...

Do you know these children?

Asparagirl — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:32:10 -0800

Do you, or an older relative of yours, recognize any of these children? More than 70 children separated from their families during WWII, now all elderly men and women, are using the Internet to try to find some answers about their pasts, their families, and sometimes even their own names. They are soliciting help and suggestions in the comments sections on each story. Sadly typical story: "The infant was hungry and crying, so her mother asked for milk from a Polish couple that happened to be on the train station. The Polish man brought milk for the baby. Then the Jewish mother asked if they would want to take the baby as their own because she could not keep it. This couple did not have any children, so after some consideration, they agreed. They asked the Jewish mother who she was, but she told them that it was better for them and for the baby not to know who she was. She then gave her newborn baby girl, who was probably one month old, to the Polish couple. The Polish couple raised the girl as if she was their biological daughter and never told her how she had come into the family. The girl grew up, married and had a son. It is this son who wants to find his Jewish roots..."

Someone's Mama Made This

netbros — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:38:32 -0800

In Mamas Kitchen was born in the experience of living in New York where a bodega exists within blocks of a Jewish deli which is around the corner from an Italian salumeria which shares space with Chinatown which abuts Soho's gourmet stores. While this speaks of the legendary variety available in New York, it also tells of similarity, for in every bodega, every salumeria is someone shopping for the food that sustains physical life with a recipe that nourishes our hearts.

The making of an American shtetl

scody — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:41:38 -0800

Menorahs glowed in almost every living room window during Hanukkah. Hasidic Jews streamed down the streets on Friday night and Saturday morning, walking to and from synagogue services. "There was total freedom," marvels Magda Brown, 81, who survived Auschwitz. But inside their homes, at night, the survivors—and their families—were roiled by their pasts. The rest of Skokie did not know the troubles that stirred behind the immaculate facades of the close-packed houses.

A previous post regarding the most infamous incident in Skokie's history.

Some traditional Jewish holiday music

grobstein — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:02:17 -0800

Almost no traditional Christmas carols were written by Jews (though there have been rumors). But sometimes it seems like almost all the best 20th century Christmas songs were. Many people are dimly aware of this, but few know its full extent. I have compiled a list, with representative performances. Wikipedia's (ASCAP) list of the top 25 most-performed holiday songs is loaded with Jewish Christmas songs. The list of Jewish-written songs in the top 25 follows (I may be missing some); links to YT performances: 1. The Christmas Song ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") - Mel Torme, Robert Wells 5. White Christmas - Irving Berlin 6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne 7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Johnny Marks (also responsible for many second-tier Christmas songs) 9. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram (at least two are Jewish) 11. Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish (one Jew) 13. Silver Bells - Jay Livingston, Ray Evans 14. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Johnny Marks 18. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Johnny Marks 22. (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays - Bob Allen, Al Stillman (at least one Jew) 24. Santa Baby - Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer (at least one Jew) And here is a similar list (with slightly different rules for inclusion) that I had the misfortune of discovering after I did all the research for my own. It has brief discussions of the Jewishness of the various writers.

Why do I always post about graves and whatnot -- I'm really quite cheery

Countess Elena — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:58:52 -0800

UrbEx: Bayside Acacia Cemetery, Queens. Most of this Jewish cemetery, which in the first half of the twentieth century housed many beautiful monuments [pdf] and large family mausoleums, is now in a frankly archaeological state of disrepair, as its congregation cannot afford to provide complete maintenance. I for one don't feel like blaming them; check the outlay figures in this plan. baysidecemetery.com is a site about a documentary, "Ashes to Ashes," about the restoration of Acacia Cemetery (or some part of it) by helpful Mormons. I am unaccountably creeped out by this.

Some Jewish Humor

serazin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:14:43 -0800

Sadie tells Maurice, "You’re a schmuck! You always were a schmuck and you always will be a schmuck! You look, act and dress like a schmuck! You’ll be a schmuck until the day you die! And if they ran a world-wide competition for schmucks, you would be the world’s second biggest schmuck!" "Why only second place?" Maurice asks. "Because you’re a schmuck!" Sadie screams. Some Jewish humor.

Bagels and Bongos

martinc6 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:16:49 -0800

Two guys join forces together to write a book about classic Jewish LPs. They unearthed amazing songs, such as Irving Fields' Havannah Negila, a latin version of a classic yiddish song, and the works of The Barry Sisters (Previously), the first to pioneer the category of Yiddish Swing and also the first to create Yiddish covers of English songs. Leading the way for such great works as A Hard Day's Night (In Yiddish) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (In Yiddish). Related Album

בית חב"ד

gman — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:57:13 -0800

Set up by Hasidic Jews as Community Centres, there are 3000+ Chabad Houses around the globe. The recent terror attack at the Centre in Mumbai took the lives of 9 people, including a Rabbi and his wife. The rescue (YT) was not without contention. You may also remember this Bangkok Rabbi from his interview in 1 Giant Leap.

The Lost City of The Khazars

Yakuman — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:07:36 -0800

The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people, of which many apparently converted to Judaism. Some believe they are the ancestors of many East European Jews. The Khazars were the subject of Arthur Koestler's controversial 1972 book, The Thirteenth Tribe, as well as anti-Semitic lore. Now a Russian archaeologist says he found a gold-mine of evidence about this once-great nation. No Jewish artifacts yet, however.

5873 was their best album

ericbop — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:21:31 -0800

(Happy birthday, Neil) Did you enjoy VH1's rockin' Passover special, "Matzo and Metal?" How about "Matzo and Metal II: Back to the Desert?" Then you're going to love "RUSH HASHANAH!!!!1!1!!"

As the Rolling Stone article points out, the title is not just an excrutiating pun, or an excuse for a 24 hour Rush marathon. Challah Fame member Geddy Lee is also a child of Holocaust Survivors.

Butsky! Vutsky!

tellurian — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:46:23 -0800

Virtual Vaudeville [shockwave] Watch a 3D simulation of legendary comedian Frank Bush in a vaudeville performance from a variety of perspectives. Switch between any of eight perspectives at any time and read the extensive hypermedia notes to gain a richer understanding of the performance in its historical context.

What's nu?

Asparagirl — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:21:42 -0800

A linguist and a sociologist at Hebrew Union College have teamed up to track the inroads made into American English by words and idioms from traditionally Jewish languages, including Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), and Hebrew. They've created an online survey and are looking for people from all religious and ethnic backgrounds to answer a few questions about their word choices, phrasing, and pronunciation. They're also trying to determine whether certain linguistic quirks usually attributed to Yiddish's influence are actually carried over from Jewish ancestors' speech patterns and accents, or whether they're merely an artifact from growing up in or near New York City. [via]

Medinat Weimar

Sar HaPanim — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:54:14 -0800

Medinat Weimar wishes to establish a Jewish state in Thuringia, Germany, with the city of Weimar as its capital. A land without a people for a people without a land! Oh, wait ... The site's homepage contains the 13 principles of the movement; a video with anthems and manifesto in four languages (Yiddish, English, Russian, and German - but no Hebrew); and plenty of links. Graduate student pushes for Jewish state in Germany - an article in English from Ha'Aretz on the movement and its founder, Ronen Eidelman. For those who read Hebrew: Don't you feel like establishing a Jewish state in Germany? - a blog entry on Ha'Aretz by regular contributor Benny Tzipper, in which he laments Israel's fading connection to Western culture and points out some of the benefits of moving to the heart of Europe. The Movement for a Jewish State in Thuringia - the entry in Ronen Eidelman's blog on the project. Check out the (not so supportive) reader comments, particularly the first one.

Forgotten Architects

sveskemus — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:38:40 -0800

Forgotten Architects: In the 1920s and early 1930s, German Jewish architects created some of the greatest modern buildings in Germany, mainly in the capital Berlin. A law issued by the newly elected German National Socialist Government in 1933 banned all of them from practicing architecture in Germany. In the years after 1933, many of them managed to emigrate, while many others were deported or killed under Hitler’s regime. Pentagram Papers 37: Forgotten Architects is a survey of 43 of these architects and their groundbreaking work. The paper is based on the extensive research of architect Myra Warhaftig. Warhaftig spent twenty years investigating the fates of these architects and only recently published her findings in her book German Jewish Architects Before and After 1933: The Lexicon. David Sokol has written about Warhaftig and her project in an article published in the Jewish culture blog Nextbook.

Nonoo!

gman — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:38:45 -0800

Houda Nonoo heads up Bahrain's Human Rights Watch and now she's been appointed Bahrain's (and anywhere else in the Arab world) first Jewish ambassador.

Yachatz!

serazin — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:04:38 -0800

Nationwide matzo shortage! Competing theories offer possible explanations. If you get desperate, make your own. (Gratuitous youtube matzo themed video.)

No sushi for Jew!

ericbop — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:30:36 -0800

"Today there is no eggroll..." As posted at jewschool, your best source for hip heeb hype,

Asian restaurants across [Israel]detante went on a one-day spring roll strike on Tuesday in protest over government plans to rid kitchens of foreign chefs, and said sushi and noodles would be the next items off the menu. The restaurants are angry at the state’s plans to purge Japanese, Chinese and Thai eateries of Asian cooks and replace them with Israelis as part of a broader program to cut the number of foreigners working in Israel. The Ethnic Restaurant Organization said the country’s 300 Asian restaurants refused to serve spring or egg rolls - among their most popular dishes - on Tuesday, and planned a follow-up strike in two weeks for sushi and noodles. “Today there is no egg roll and in two weeks time there will be no sushi and noodles,” Arnon Volosky, head of the organization, told Reuters... The government argues Israelis can be trained. “Everyone can make Chinese food it’s not impossible to learn,” said Shoshana Strauss, a lawyer working on foreign worker issues for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor...Volosky said his organization had asked the Supreme Court to force the government to rethink the decision, arguing it could force many out of business or make them inflate prices to cover the salaries needed to secure “expert” visas for chefs. It's too bad they can't follow the American example of Chinese-Jewish food detente.

Merry Christmas, Rabbi!

bassjump — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 08:18:48 -0800

Inspired by this article, I thought Christmas would be the perfect (huh?) day to introduce the late poet, author, spiritual leader, thinker, and civil rights activist Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Jew - Not a Jew.

KevinSkomsvold — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:59:45 -0800

Know your musical Jews!