The billionaire pledge seeks commitments from the wealthy to give generously to philanthropies.Leon G. Cooperman, who also made his money in hedge funds, wrote, “I am the son of a plumber who practiced his trade in the South Bronx, I am the first generation American born in my family as well as the first to get a college degree. My education is largely public school based–public grade school, high school and college all in the Bronx … it was written in the Talmud that ‘A man’s worth is measured not by what he earns but by what he gives away.’ It is in this spirit that [my wife and I] enthusiastically agree to take the Giving Pledge.”Somehow the writer found a cloud to put inside this silver lining. Read: The Billionaire Pledge: Is There a Downside to Giving Away Billions?
The AP reported, "Comic actor shows dramatic chops in 'Disgraced'"It’s an oft-used device in theater: The doomed dinner party, a gathering that starts out politely, with house gifts of wine or pastries and glasses clinking over civilized chatter, and ends up in horrific, angry chaos.
But when that party chatter touches on Islamic and Judaic tradition, the Quran and the Talmud, racial profiling and Sept. 11 and the Taliban and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Benjamin Netanyahu — along with the requisite alcohol intake — well, that’s a whole other level of chaos.
And it all unfolds with speed, energy and crackling wit in ‘‘Disgraced,’’ a terrific new play by the actor, novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar.
Fans of Jon Stewart will have an extra motivation to head over to Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow Theater — the new home of the LCT3 series, which promotes rising playwrights. The lead character, a Pakistani-American corporate lawyer in New York, is played by Aasif Mandvi, the very funny correspondent on Stewart’s ‘‘The Daily Show.’’ Here Mandvi shows a dramatic depth and perceptiveness his TV fans likely never have seen before....
We like the analytic mode of discourse. It is more Talmudic. So a while back we noted the use of the concept "illusion of competence" that someone employed to describe what happens when you practice at a golf driving range. When you later go out an play you find that how you do in practice has weak correlation to performance on the course.
Wow, Billy Graham stopped calling Mormonism a 'cult' on his website.He has achieved legendary status around the world as a Jewish Holocaust survivor who was able to emerge from the darkest horrors and turn his life into a beacon of meaningful activity as a human rights advocate.We respect and admire EW. He embodies the best of a person's ability to bounce back from suffering, and continues to prove that even now as he recovers from financial and medical setbacks.
Yet at age 84, Elie Wiesel still has personal and professional mountains to climb – he recently underwent quintuple heart bypass surgery, and while still in the beginning stage of recuperation, he began writing a new book about his latest harrowing experience.
As he celebrates the publication of Open Heart, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prolific author contemplates his auspicious past and still-evolving present in the Manhattan office of his foundation, which is itself recovering from the financial devastation wrought by infamous swindler Bernard Madoff, who had invested the money financing its humanitarian ventures. Wiesel’s personal investments were similarly ruined by Madoff’s Ponzi scheme...
Business Standard reports, "Indian woman fights against powerful Jewish religious body." An Indian woman, owner of the a restaurant here, has stood up against the dictates of the powerful Jewish rabbinate and decided to give up the kashrut certification for her restaurant after she was forced to buy vegetables in specific stores.
Lehava Silman Herman, 50, who runs Ichak Dana Indian restaurant in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market gave up kashrut certification for her restaurant following "impossible demands" made by the Rabbinate.
Mahane Yehuda has an overwhelming religious Jewish population which only dines out at Kosher restaurants.
Lehava, who immigrated from Kolkata in 1981 and still holds an Indian passport, told PTI that she is not going to succumb to the pressures of "impossible demands" being made by the Kashrut supervisor that is "acting like a mafia leading to corrupt practices".
"The market's Kashrut supervisor, Shmuel Zamelman, asked me to buy vegetables for my restaurant only from four shops. I refused to accede to his demands as i don't want to join their monopoly. We are a pure vegetarian Indian restaurant and continue to do what we always did.
"I fail to understand this arm-twisting and decided to give up on the kosher certification," Lehava said.
Her fight against the powerful body, which wields tremendous political and social clout in Israel, has gained tremendous support with more than 8,000 people expressing their 'likes' or support for her defiance on the restaurant's Facebook page.
Asked if her business has suffered because of the certification, Lehava said that at the moment business has actually improved as a lot of secular Jewish people, who had never been to her restaurant before, have been turning up to eat expressing their support.
"We have just put up a note that we continue to do things exactly like we did in the past and have decided not to renew the Kosher certification," she said.
Miffed at the growing influence of the religious population in the city, the Indian business woman said that they have wreaked havoc in the popular market.
"Government organisations like the Rabbinate should be user friendly. On the contrary they are promoting corruption. Why do i have to pay so much money every month for this supervisor who pays a two minute visit to my shop every month. I am also tired of their double standards," Lehava said.
"On November 8 renowned singer-songwriter, composer, musician and poet Alicia Jo Rabins will debut her brand new, full-length performative song cycle A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff at Joe’s Pub in New York City. The controversial piece explores the spiritual implications of the financial collapse through the story of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, attempting to uncover hidden meanings in this contemporary tragedy. A second performance follows on November 15."
American Dream Developer, Opponents Face Off Over Traffic Concerns - Wcbstv"Having the American Dream mall open on stadium event days will cause gridlock of proportions we have never experienced,” Jets and Giants spokeswoman Karen Kessler told WCBS 880′s Levon Putney.
The New York Jets and Giants have both sued the developer, Triple Five, saying the current project vastly differs from the original plan that was agreed to in 2006.
Traffic experts hired by the teams said the mega-mall would add 7,700 cars to the already-congested roadways on game days, Kessler said.
“We presented over 700 pages of detailed analysis, charts and traffic models,” Kessler said.
The teams, in addition to some local leaders, have opposed the development of the mega-mall citing traffic concerns around the Meadowlands. A judge dismissed part of the teams’ lawsuit in June but said they can refile.
But a spokesman for American Dream said the opposition is misinformed.
“Well, they were using the wrong numbers,” American Dream spokesman Alan Marcus told Putney.
The developer’s traffic experts determined the first phase of construction would only put a few dozen more cars on the road during the football season, Marcus said.
“And based on those numbers, it’s clear that the teams have nothing to worry about,” said Marcus.
The developers also said they expect most people to use public transportation to get to and from the complex, or stay away on game days.
“My hope is that the Jets and Giants quarterbacks are using more accurate signals than the numbers their owners were using yesterday,” Marcus said.
Triple Five refused to agree to close the mega-mall on Sundays to help minimize traffic during the football season. Under Bergen County law, only the amusement part of the complex would be allowed to operate on Sundays.
The developer cited the massive shopping complex they built near the New England Patriots stadium as proof that traffic will not worsen because of the mega-mall.
The 2.2 million square foot complex would combine shopping, an indoor amusement park and waterpark.
The teams have promised to sue if the authority approves the redevelopment plan.
“We hope the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority will evaluate the facts and reach the right decision. If we do not get the decision we need, we will be back in court to pursue this matter,” Kessler said.
“They will lose in court,” Marcus said.
When 90,000 people filled MetLife Stadium for a Jewish gathering in August, the state Department of Transportation declared a traffic advisory.
Carlstadt Mayor William Roseman was among those caught in the gridlock caused by the Talmud celebration. He said it took him nearly two hours to make the trip back from Manhattan.
The Sports and Exposition Authority could vote on the proposal as soon as this month.
If approved, developers said American Dream could open by the end of 2013.
We haven't seen the show. But based on one review we conclude that British TV has a show that mocks Jewish mothers with, "Extreme examples of every Jewish stereotype … the eight mums of Jewish Mum of the Year." It was never entirely clear if we were being invited to celebrate Jewish mothers in Jewish Mum of the Year (Channel 4) or laugh at them. The official line was that it was a celebration, dreamed up by the editor of the Jewish News to find a standard bearer who could combine the very best of modern and traditional Jewish motherhood and who was, in the words of Professor Dovid Katz, "an emblem of unswerving devotion". But that's to ignore the Jewish sense of humour …Do we hear protests? Anyone? Here is the official TV show web site.
It was also never entirely clear how the programme had picked its eight contestants, though it looked very much as if the producers had gone out of their way to find extreme examples of every Jewish stereotype: the bling princess, the control freak, the ultra orthodox, the smotherer, the delusional, the neurotic. As an advert for most people's idea of a mother from hell it couldn't have been bettered and was undeniably good fun to watch – so long as you weren't one of the eight women, who gave every impression of believing they had entered a serious competition.
The format of the show is that each week the mothers are paired up and given a different task, with two of them being eliminated each week. First up was organising the bar mitzvah for a boy named Ben: "Remember," warned Dovid, "that this is all about Ben." As if. The show would have been dead in the water as entertainment if it had been, but fortunately our eight mums ignored this advice, understanding full well that this occasion was actually all about them and set about trying to outdo one another while appearing to be co-operative...
No, football in Texas is not Jewish. It is Chritian.
In "My Man" by Paul Rudnick the "wife of Jesus" tells her story in the New Yorker magazine. Funny. Here is the start:A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife . . .’ ”Fine, now you know: Jesus was married and for many years I happily answered to the name Mrs. Melissa Christ. I met Jesus when we were both teen-agers, at a Young Hebrews mixer in Bethlehem. I was there with my best friend, Amy of Nazareth, and we were getting ready to leave, because we were sick of all those chubby Orthodox boys in rough burlap robes and untrimmed sideburns coming up to us and saying things like “I hope you’re not menstruating, because I’d really like to touch you.”
—The Times.
But then, across the room, I saw this beautiful guy with gorgeous flowing hair, wearing a simple white linen tunic and swaying gently to the music with his eyes shut, which was especially impressive because the band consisted of two elderly men rhythmically squeezing a goat. I couldn’t help staring, even after Amy told me, “I’ve heard about him. His name is Jesus and he doesn’t have a job.” But then Jesus opened his stunning blue eyes and gazed upon me, and I said to Amy, “I think I’ve just discovered one of the lost tribes of Israel.” “Which one?” she asked, and I said, “The blonds.”
Then Jesus came over and introduced himself and we chitchatted about everything, from keeping the Sabbath to how we both felt really sorry for the lame. Then I asked Jesus about his family, and he said, “My father is a carpenter,” and I could feel myself getting all flushed as I immediately thought, Hello, new coffee table....more...
For our Teaneck Orthodox neighbors Shul membership has its rewards. Paid up members get priority and perks in aliyot to the Torah and chances to lead services.
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