No Paulo Coelho is not a Jew. He was brought up Catholic and attended a Jesuit school in Brazil. Coelho is not a big fan of any organized religion. He speaks with lyrical disdain and disparagement in his books about the wisdom and ritual of religions.July 14, 1099. Jerusalem awaits the invasion of the crusaders who have surrounded the city’s gates. There, inside the ancient city’s walls, men and women of every age and every faith have gathered to hear the wise words of a mysterious man known only as the Copt. He has summoned the townspeople to address their fears with truth:This book is new age in every respect that we can think of especially in the way that it wanders through spiritual landscapes and themes without a care for a conventional framework of organization or presentation.
“Tomorrow, harmony will become discord. Joy will be replaced by grief. Peace will give way to war. . . . None of us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and its bad moments. So, when you ask your questions, forget about the troops outside and the fear inside. Our task is not to leave a record of what happened on this date for those who will inherit the Earth; history will take care of that. Therefore, we will speak about our daily lives, about the difficulties we have had to face.”
The people begin with questions about defeat, struggle, and the nature of their enemies; they contemplate the will to change and the virtues of loyalty and solitude; and they ultimately turn to questions of beauty, love, wisdom, sex, elegance, and what the future holds. “What is success?” poses the Copt. “It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.” ...
Now, these many centuries later, the wise man’s answers are a record of the human values that have endured throughout time. And, in Paulo Coelho’s hands, The Manuscript Found in Accra reveals that who we are, what we fear, and what we hope for the future come from the knowledge and belief that can be found within us, and not from the adversity that surrounds us.
Beauty is present in all creation, but the dangerous fact is that, because we human beings are often cut off from the Divine Energy, we allow ourselves to be influenced by what other people think... And we become ugly and embittered.
At that moment, we can draw comfort from so-called wisdom, an accumulation of ideas put together by people wishing to define the world instead of respecting the mystery of life. This "wisdom" consists of all the unnecessary rules, regulation, and measurements intended to establish a standard of behavior.
According to that false wisdom, we should not be concerned about beauty because it is superficial and ephemeral.
That isn't true. All the beings created under the sun, from birds to mountains, from flowers to rivers, reflect the miracle of creation.
If we resist the temptation to allow other people to define who we are, then we will gradually be able to let the sun inside our own soul shine forth... (pp. 60-61)Back in 2011 we wrote about his previous book Aleph saying that the book... will greatly entertain the spiritual seeker. By that we mean if you are open to the concepts of past lives and the mystical energies of the universe, this book will speak to you. But even if you are such a seeker, you may feel, as we do, that at times the book overdoes some of its themes.
Within the story Coelho provides some gems of writing. We identified with his metaphor of the Chinese bamboo plant since we had spent several years putting down the roots of our latest book. And now, that book (God's Favorite Prayers) has sprouted up boldly after its publication. 
As far as we know, Bruno Mars is not Jewish, Orthodox or otherwise... the pop singer is from Hawaii, part Filipino and part Puerto Rican. and let us make this clear, this music is not suitable for Orthodox Jews (or others) who wish to avoid music with explicit themes about sex or swear words. Other than that, we like the album a lot.Dancing Jews, um, Juice: Everybody thinks Bruno Mars is singing “dancing Jews” instead of the actual lyric, “dancing juice” (slang for booze). But who cares, this amazing, joyous video gives us plenty of reasons to post it.Jewlicious does not explicitly tell us that the amateur video shows some friends of the couple dancing dressed up like "dancing Jews" (men wearing hats and fringes - tzitzit) who appear in and out of the frame at the right times in the song.
Optimum in Teaneck has The Shalom TV Channel on 138 now as a full time channel in addition to the previous On Demand service. Via PR:
Thanksgiving will be upon us soon and we sing traditional holiday songs at our Thanksgiving dinner.
Partly it's because it's handiwork by calligraphers and artists, and partly because it is a fantastic fund raising device, St. John's University is offering copies of their Bible at the discount price of $115,000. But you have to hurry. The Star Tribune reported in 2006:Some colleges woo supporters with tailgate parties, others with exotic trips. St. John's Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minn., is offering alumni and friends the chance to buy a really big Bible for $115,000. That's the price for orders placed before July 1, 2007. After that the tab jumps to $130,000.The quite attractive web site for the bible project is here.
If all of the Bibles sell at the introductory price, they would bring in $41.4 million, minus expenses.
At next year's rate, the school would realize $46.8 million before costs.
While some book experts think the price is steep, St. John's officials are confident that their seven-volume, leather-bound Bible will prove popular.
"We're charting unknown territory to a certain extent, because this is an extremely large set of books, but the response has been wonderful," said Craig Bruner, director of the Heritage Edition, as the college is calling its special book.
The first volume won't be available until 2008, Bruner said, but since August, when the Bible went on sale, 13 sets have been reserved.
St. John's plans to publish just 360 Heritage Bibles, all facsimiles of its original St. John's Bible, a monumental tome that a team of calligraphers is hand-lettering and illustrating. The St. John's Bible is a $4.5 million project the school began in 1998 under the direction of British calligrapher Donald Jackson. He and his 14-member team are producing just one copy of the Bible, which will be housed at St. John's, about 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
The Heritage edition will attempt to replicate the 1,150-page, 2-foot-tall original as closely as possible but without the handwork, gold leaf, jeweled inks and rare materials that make the original so costly.
In 2009, Butler was charged in a criminal Information with running a $2.25 million scam, to which he was released on bail pending sentencing.
The final tally has Butler pleading guilty to two criminal Informations charging him with bank and wire fraud....
On June 13, 2012, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release; and ordered to pay restitution in the amounts of $2,259,311.35 for the television scheme and $207,375.25 for the check scheme; and ordered to forfeit $208,172.21....more
Forty five years ago in 1967 we first met the Steinsaltz edition of the Berakhot in Hebrew. Twenty one years ago in 1991, we met the first English edition of some volumes of the Steinsaltz Talmud from Random House. At some intervening points we met the actual Rabbi Steinsaltz. One time we had him visit the University of Minnesota and speak with our students. A very few attended. He was charming to them in his own way.
Yes, Bar Refaeli, the Israeli model on the cover of the 2009 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, is a Jew.SI cover girl Refaeli nudges her swimsuit south
By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, AP FASHION WRITER
NEW YORK -- The world knows a lot more about Bar Refaeli today than it did yesterday, including where her tiny tan line falls. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit unveiled the 23-year-old Israeli, who has been romantically linked to Leonardo DiCaprio, as a first-time cover girl on Tuesday.
This gig, more than top fashion or entertainment magazines, can be career-altering as it puts a model's face (not to mention, her fantastically toned body) in front of millions of eyeballs, appealing to both men and women, sports fans and fashionistas.
It's the cover that matters most, says SI group editor Terry McDonell, but each model - 19 for this issue - gets an equal shot at the cover. Refaeli wears a string bikini by Missoni - and the strings on the bikini bottom are being tugged south.
"The cover has to reflect the athleticism and sexiness of the culture. This photo is modern, her hair and swimsuit look natural. You see her freckles. Her body is amazing and she looks intelligent," McDonell said...more...
Yes, Edwin Arthur Schlossberg is a Jew.Heymann writes that Schlossberg was raised in a "devout Orthodox Jewish family" that belonged to a modern Orthodox synagoue in Manhattan. He attended Hebrew School and had a bar mitzvah ceremony.Bloom adds some of the speculation regarding Schlossberg's current religious practice:
The harshest comment about Edwin Schlossberg and religion came from film producer Susan Pollock. She is a relative of Edwin's and has dined now and again with Edwin and Caroline. Pollack told Heymann that she believed Ed actually converted to Catholicism to marry Caroline and "I know he [Ed] takes Holy Communion which means he would have to convert?..."UPDATE: See the comment below signed by "Edwin Schlossberg" denying the Bloom account. ["I have never had a conversation with Susan Pollack. I have not converted to Catholicism and have not taken Holy Communion.I am proud to be Jewish and am disappointed that this misinformation has been presented on this site and hope that you will remove it immediately." Edwin Schlossberg -- Posted by ES to Tzvee's Talmudic Blog at 3/10/2009 1:59 PM].
The Holocaust now is memorialized in synagogues mainly peripherally through added events and tacked on references or via artwork in the building vestibule. We think that the Shoah must be more tightly integrated into the ritual and symbolism of every Jewish place of worship.The Jewish Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the launch of the JTS iTunes U site. The site, accessible via Apple’s iTunes, makes public lectures, Torah commentaries, and select JTS courses available for free streaming and downloading.
“The launch of the iTunes U site marks a fantastic step forward for JTS’s online presence,” says Rabbi Charlie Schwartz, director of Digital Engagement and Learning at JTS. “It is now possible to easily find, download, and experience the deep and meaningful learning that happens every day at JTS.”
The JTS iTunes U site features a wide variety of content. The weekly Torah commentary podcasts are easy to find and subscribe to, as are recordings of public JTS lectures and events, such as the popular series of Library Book Talks that feature JTS faculty and other distinguished authors discussing their latest books. Collections of lectures detailing issues in contemporary Jewish philosophy, theology, and ethics highlight how JTS scholarship engages with the challenges of the 21st century. In the near future, full courses—complete with course materials—will be made available, providing access to JTS’s world-class faculty and high-level Jewish learning.
“Opening access to the wealth of learning, scholarship, and meaningful engagement with Jewish tradition that embodies JTS is core to the university's mission,” says Rabbi Marc Wolf, the newly appointed vice chancellor and chief development officer of JTS. “In the coming months, JTS will dramatically expand the ways, both innovative and traditional, that communities and individuals can be inspired by the energy of JTS,” Rabbi Wolf adds.
A new escalation in the current culture wars -- poster wars -- in Israel. Nude images hung in religious J'lem neighborhood
Haredi residents of Kiryat Yovel neighborhood in Jerusalem shocked to discover that paintings of nude women are hung on local bulletin boards – during Shabbat
Kobi Nahshoni
The Secular-haredi tensions over the exclusion of women reached new heights in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel where there is a growing haredi community. Local bulletin boards were recently pasted with pictures of women posing almost entirely in the nude.
The pictures were put up suring the Sabbath and included a caption that read: "The glorification of women." The haredi residents were horrified by the "abominable signs" but could not remove them because it was the holy day and doing so would involve desecrating the Sabbath.
Many signs were hung on the walls and fences of building sites in the neighborhood some with pictures of The Birth of Venus by Italian painter Botticelli, others featured the painting Two Tahitian Women by Painter Paul Gauguin.
The ANASH news website reported that the haredi residents were furious over the secular provocation which they claim, joins a series of acts of harassment against them. The secular struggle campaign headquarters made it clear they were not behind the acts – but were less than critical of the acts themselves.
Rutie Vazana, a religious resident of Kiryat Yovel told Ynet: "We immediately understood that (the acts were carried out) by the handful of secular residents campaigning against the neighborhood's "haredization."
Vazana believes beyond all doubt that the people behind the signs had no artistic or commercial intentions, their goal was to challenge the haredi population. In her opinion "it is clear that this was an intentional anti-haredi act."
She noted that as soon as Shabbat was out her husband and others removed the posters.
Ronit Gilboa from the secular struggle campaign headquarters in Kiryat Yovel said that she saw the posters in the neighborhood but had no information about the sources responsible.
Unlike the haredi residents, Gilboa found a positive aspect to the signs and said: "It was a nice decoration for the neighborhood – Gauguin and Botticelli. I'm not dissimulating; they really are beautiful works of art and are preferable to the Pashkevillim (haredi posters).
"This may be intentional secular provocation , but that's what the haredi residents do in the neighborhood every day – with their attempts to take over, their calls of 'Shabbos' and 'sluts' and by turning quiet synagogues into noisy yeshivas that operate from 5 am to midnight. The haredim have not realized that Kiryat Yovel will not surrender."
In a charming story, the Times asserts that Marvin Hier is the only rabbi in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "...Rabbi Hier...has been an active member for three decades. Teni Melidonian, a spokeswoman for the Academy, said he doesn’t know of any other rabbis among approximately 5,800 voting members..."
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