Avast Me Hearties It's Rosh Hashanah
By Dan Friedman
For reasons best known to the buccaneering community, September 19, 2009, also known as Rosh Hashanah, was declared International Talk Like A Pirate Day by the Talk Like a Pirate Webpage. They celebrated the Jewish New Year in a variety of ways, but with fewer apples, pomegranates or black-eyed peas than usually eaten by my family.
So far there have been no announcements vis-a-vis September 28 (aka Yom Kippur), from either the Society for Acting Like a Gorilla or the Internet Consortium for Uncontrollable Mouth-Foaming. There are, though, still six full repenting days until the gates of Neilah close.
Each to their minhag I guess. Shiver me timbers and a shana tova.
September 18, 2009, 3:29pm
Rosh Hashanah, Times Square Style
By Ezra Glinter
With Rosh Hashanah preparations in full swing, do New Yorkers really need a last minute reminder that the High Holy Days are nearly upon us?
Just in case, the Koshercart is likely to do the job. A 7 feet wide, 16 feet long and 14 feet tall motorized shopping cart bearing apples and honey, the Koshercart is a promotional — ahem — vehicle for the online grocer kosher.com. It has been storming Manhattan streets this week around Rockefeller Center and Times Square, handing out sweet treats, recipes and coupons and drumming up some holiday spirit (along with a good case of cart-envy) among passers by.
On a more introspective note, the PR Newswire electronic billboard in Times Square will be displaying 10 soul-searching questions during the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The 10Q project is the brainchild of British playwright Nicola Behrman and New Yorker writer Ben Greenman, and is an offshoot of REBOOT, an organization that promotes Jewish culture and spirituality. In addition to pondering the questions during their lunch breaks, New Yorkers are invited to submit their answers online, and receive them back via e-mail one year later. Talk about a timely reminder.
President Obama's Rosh Hashanah Message
By Gabrielle Birkner
Four months after putting out a video commemorating the Persian New Year, or Norwuz, President Barack Obama is extending New Year’s wishes to the Jewish community in this video, posted on the the White House Web site Thursday:
September 4, 2009, 5:51pm
High Holy Days Self Defense
By Devra Ferst
In advance of the High Holy days, Rabbi Gary Moscowitz of Queens has taken it upon himself to help Jews keep Jews safe. Moscowitz is training rabbis and congregation members to protect synagogues in the New York area — offering 100-hour courses in synagogue self defense, The New York Post reported today.
The former police officer, who has a black belt in karate, is training students to take down terrorists with running somersaults that they can use if attacked while praying. Students will learn how to use Kiddush tables for cover, in case of a surprise attack during the post shul nosh.
Interest in Moscowitz’s course reportedly peaked recently after thwarted attacks on two Bronx synagogues. When asked why the NYPD can’t protect synagogues he explained that they don’t recognize congregants. “A terrorist could put a yarmulke on, say, ‘Happy holidays,’ and blow the place up,” Moscowitz told the Post.
September 3, 2009, 1:44pm
Offbeat Israel: Repentance From Beyond the Grave
By Nathan Jeffay
We’re in the run-up to Rosh Hashanah, which is the traditional time of the Jewish year for righting wrongs. And there can be no stranger story on this theme than that of repentance from beyond the grave.
On August 20, Israeli actor and TV personality Dudu Topaz committed suicide in the Ramle prison cell where he had been held for the preceding three months. He had been charged with — and confessed to — hiring thugs to attack network bosses whom he accused of ditching him in favor of reality television shows.
The aftermath of the suicide was ugly. His brother and his attorneys lashed out at the media’s roll in his downfall. The attorneys said that the media had run a campaign to turn him “from human to sub-human.” His brother told journalists to “look at yourselves in the mirror.”
Now, in an odd post-script, it seems that Topaz (pictured right) had become a penitent. But even more strangely, not — as far as we know — for his alleged crime, but for hurting a politician’s feelings.
September 2, 2009, 7:34pm
High Holidays With AIPAC
By Nathan Guttman
For those rabbis still working on their High Holiday sermons, AIPAC has some advice. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee put out its High Holiday Resource Guide — a 22-page booklet packed with ideas about how to talk to your congregation about Israel, Iran and about the importance of getting involved in political action.
Some of the ideas in AIPAC’s Synagogue Initiative guide seem almost obvious: the blowing of the Shofar, for example, is a wakeup call reminding the Jews of just how urgent the situation is. Some are aimed at the more creative rabbis and suggest quotes from Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” or from Nike’s “Just Do It” advertisement to send the same message to congregants: It’s time to take action to stop Iran.
So if one of these themes shows up in the Rosh Hashanah sermon at your synagogue, you’ll know where it came from. And just pray your rabbi doesn’t choose to use AIPAC’s suggestion on page 7. It’s a parable about an egg and a poor woman and it is really long. Bottom line: The woman dropped the egg and lost the opportunity to help her family. Moral: Don’t drop the Iran egg.
August 20, 2009, 6:27pm
Obama and Bush: A Rosh Hashanah Double Standard?
By Daniel Treiman
Comparisons of President Obama to Hitler by health care town hall protesters have drawn widespread ridicule and outrage. Some conservatives though see a double standard: Where was all this outrage when President Bush was being compared to Hitler by some on the left?
But that’s not the only double standard that has some conservatives exercised nowadays. There’s also the Rosh Hashanah double standard.
U.S. News and World Report blogger Paul Bedard reports:
Washington Jewish Week and Politico tell us that Obama today reached out to about 1,000 Jewish leaders in his expanding campaign for healthcare reform. One of those on the call, Rabbi Jack Moline, tweeted through the call about what the president said. His Twitter page noted: Obama: “shanah tovah to all of you.”
That’s a reference to the Jewish new year, or Rosh Hashana, which starts at sundown September 18. It means “Have a sweet new year.” An associate said that the president was just being polite with the rabbis, and spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama was invited by the rabbis to join in on the call “as they get ready for their important holidays.”
But in September 2007, when Bush issued a holiday greeting a week early, he was roundly ridiculed for jumping the gun. The Washington Post said that there was “quizzical reaction” from even Bush’s friends.
A former Bushie who remembered the spat said: “Strange. When GWB sent out Rosh Hashana greetings a few days early, he was mocked. Obama is an entire month too early, and no big whoop.”
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