February 13, 2005
Havei Havalim Edition #9
Next week's host is Biur Chametz. Let him know about the best of the Jewish/Israel blogosphere during this week at biur_chametz at yahoo dot com or let me know at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com and I'll forward it to him. If you are a blogger and wish to host Haveil Havalim please let me know!
Jewish Super Heroes
Fred Lapides, a former co-poster at Israpundit now has his own site Israelpundit where he introduces us to some new Jewish Superheroes. Though the characters he created were not necessarily Jewish, Stan Lee definitely is. He talked with Bob Simon of 60 Minutes Wednesday about his suit againt the company he built, Marvel Comics to get a larger share of the profits of the Spiderman movies. Lee, however, is apparently better off - even without these profits - than were Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, the creators of Superman, who unsuccessfully sued DC comics for royalties after, years earlier, signing away their rights for a mere $200.
The issue of creator's rights is a recurring theme in the world of comic books. Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster's fight for creator's rights became well known to the general public when the Superman The Motion Picture hit theaters in the late 1970s. The creators were destitute, having sold the rights to the character decades previously, for a paltry 200 dollars. DC Comics won the lawsuit, but with stories circulation of the famed creators of Superman on disability or bagging groceries at a local supermarket, DC began compensating the creators, avoiding a public relations nightmare.
(Incidentally the above cited article also notes that Steve Ditko the artist who co-created Spiderman likely would not get anything for Spiderman because at issue was a contract Lee signed apparently giving him rights to profits from the movies.)
Jewish Super Self-Loathing
The Volokh Conspiracy is all over Eric Alterman for asking "Are Holocaust Victims Tantamount to Bigots?" That's a simplification of Alterman's view, but, shockingly, not by much. And chief conspirator, Eugene Volokh, is none too impressed with Alterman's defense either.
Jewish Super Bowl
Which team were Jews supposed to support in the Super Bowl. Biur Chametz (quoting the Jerualem Post) argues that we should have supported the Patriots, because owner Robert Kraft supports Israel. However it's possible that the Eagles are the "team of the book." Do pictures lie?
(Thanks to Crossing the Rubicon2 for pointing out that the source of the picture was Bangitout. No I didn't notice the website name on the picture. And thanks to Aishel for telling me how I could tell that the picture was Photoshopped. By the way, Aishel hasn't blogged in 2 months. I know he got married. But what are his priorities anyway?)
Actually the picture isn't as crazy as it seems. A friend pointed out that late in life Reggie White - once a member of the Eagles - studied and learned Hebrew so he could understand the bible in its original language:
So Reggie White, former football player, went to Israel and began studying Hebrew. This wasn’t a whim and it wasn’t a fad like Madonna and her acolytes diving into the waters of the Kabbala. It was a man with questions determined to go to the source to get answers.If he could read the scriptures in Hebrew, he felt, he could decide for himself what they meant.
Beginning Aramaic
Rishon-Rishon discusses how Bereshit is translated into Aramaic. ("Bereshit" is the first word in the Torah in Hebrew. Usually it is translated as "In the beginning.") In a follow up post he also discusses how the great exegete Rashi interprets the word. Finally he gives an introductory course in comparative Hebrew and Aramaic.
Ending Aramaic
Presence writes about a recent NY Times article noting the completion of Artscroll's translation of the Talmud. Presence asks, though, is this really a translation or something else? And his observation about the photo is quite amusing. It's worth noting that an a few weeks there will a world wide celebration for completing the 11th cycly of Daf Yomi - literally a page a day - of the Talmud. My father-in-law was impressed with the New York Sun's reporting of the completion of Artscroll Talmud.
All Wet
Chayyei Sarah garbles an apology. And check out the comments. They reminded me of a few stories:
1) A woman giving directions in Hebrew ending with telling the person to turn at the "mamzer" (bastard) instead of "ramzor" (traffic light).
2) Our 12th grade Rebbe told us a cautionary tale of the Yeshiva boy who wanted to show off his Hebrew skills. He saw a young woman and asked her for the time, "Ha-yesh lach ha-zman?" She responded "Ha-yesh lecha ha-kesef?" (That's "Do you have the time?" and "Do you have the money?" The proper question would have been simply "Mah ha-sha-ah?" [What is the time?])
3) Though this wasn't a mistake I was once in a car with a group of Israelis (they were Yeshiva students going from KBY to Haifa) listening to a Pirchei tape. It was a Rosh Hashanah tape so the boys were singing "Hayom Haras Olam." (Today is the birthday of the world) Yes that's the proper Ashkenazic pronunciation, but in a Sephardic pronunciation it would be "Hayom Harat Olam." To the Israelis, the boys were singing "Today is the destruction of the world."
Music News
You have to scroll down a bit but Kausfiles reports that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is suing an effort to create an online Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kaus is sympathetic to the suit.
Would that Hall of Fame (if it survives) feature a certain former camp counselor?
A Jewish Joke
Pratie Place tells an old Jewish joke.
Where I come from
Crossing the Rubicon2 has a nice post of the Jews of the Ukraine ('Fiddler on the Roof Jews". Since that's where my father's family came from, I'm especially interested. My father's family came from a different part, what is now the northwest corner of the Ukraine, but still nice to read about.
Anti Semitism Watch
In a column about the failure of western law enforcement agencies to call certain acts of violence terrorist violence, Daniel Pipes notes that Toronto police have been hesitant to declare a murder of an Orthodox Jew a hate crime. Paul at Bloghead though, notes that trial for the murder of David Rosenzweig is starting this week. He presents facts that suggest that it was not a hate crime.
The Israel News of the Week
That would be the Summit in Sharm al Sheikh.
Beforehand Biur Chametz offered a sober list of a number of items to watch (and watch for). One item of particular note. Biur wrote:
Summits sure ain't what they used to be! Remember when a summit meant Kennedy-Khrushchev, Nixon-Brezhnev, Reagan-Gorbachev? Sharon-Abbas-Abdullah-Mubarak is an important regional powwow, but a summit? I think not.
According to Roger L. Simon (quoting the always interesting sometimes correct Debka), these four are the reason that this summit might be important:
A new Middle East Club of Four came into being. With a good measure of audacity and inventiveness, this bloc could dictate the next steps towards lifting the Israel-Palestinian dispute out of its stalemate - or even play a role in other conflicts, such as Lebanon and Iraq. Mubarak hinted as much in his closing speech when he urged Israel to embrace Syria and Lebanon in its peace diplomacy. This call was taken as a token response to a request from Syrian president Bashar Assad to raise the Syrian issue at the summit. In fact, the Egyptian ruler was already beginning to weave other regional issues in with the conflict on the table.
Meanwhile Clarity and Resolve offered his own sobering post-summit analysis.
Secular Blasphemy, a few days later, with the benefit of some post-summit movement offered a similarly dismal but slightly more optimistic assessment.
Willow Tree's outlook is dismal and not the least bit optimistic. Read her ironically titled "Mercy."
Meanwhile over at the Counter-terrorism blog, Matthew Levitt offers his thoughts on Hezbollah's efforts to disrupt peace and links to an article where he sees some good happening.
Ever cognizant of the mood on the Palestinian street, Hamas is traditionally more aggressive when support for its attacks is high among Palestinians.(And yes I must give credit to Thomas Friedman for mentioning this. Though I objected to this reasoning when it came from Friedman. Maybe he's right. Ocean Guy, though, is skeptical as to the value of Abu Mazen's election.)
Dov Bear offered his thoughts and an open-thread for comments on the cease-fire. I just ask Dov Bear (and skeptic) when, over the past eleven years, have the Palestinians demonstrated good faith? If it's now, it's the first time.
Now that we have peace, It's Almost Supernatural wants to know if a photograph of newly minted Palestinian police remind us of anything.
While many are talking about the end of the violence, Solomonia is looking at its start. In a couple of posts (here and here)he notes that the Mohammed al-Dura hoax has hit the mainstream. An article in the NY Times (originally reported in the IHT) tells of how some skeptics have tried to get at the truth. Solomonia aslo quotes Transatlantic Intelligencer, here and here, on the subject. It's nice that the media is looking into this well after the damage was done.
But one of the most effective pieces of information debunking the propaganda was put out very quickly by Israel. It showed an aerial view of the Netzarim Junction as well as the positions of the Israeli army and the Palestinian attackers. 2 things are clear from the picture. 1) The only position that appears to have a direct shot at the al-Duras is a Palestinian position. 2) How in the world was there a cameraman in the position to photograph the al-Dura's? He would have been in the line of fire. Had any responsible media organization checked the Israeli photograph, they would have asked a lot of questions. Rather they chose to publicize (and legitimize) the Palestinian grievance.
David, David everywhere
Read Treppinwitz's story about remembering a friend's brother. Then read Israelly Cool!'s perspective.
Shabbat Shalom
Michael at Kosher Eucharist had a good Shabbat. He enjoys watching children with peyot and tzitzit.
Refuah Shlaima
Roger L. Simon had a gall-stone attack and is having his bladder removed. He seems to be in good spirits. No blogging for now.
Previous Haveil Havalim:
#8 It's Almost Supernatural
#7 Bloghead
#6 Willow Tree.
#5 Crossing the Rubicon2
#4 Dov Bear
#3 Biur Chametz