Pluralist Speaks (Free subscription) | 23/12/2009
An Episcopalian convert by choice has attacked Unitarians for undermining Christmas and stealing Christian clothes. Garrison Keillor, once a Plymouth Brethren, but who then had a liberal conversion and became Episcopalian, decided to attack both Unitarians and Jews over rewriting Christmas carols and drawing on other festivities that belong to Christians. Don't rewrite and pinch Christian carols, he...
Chronicles of Atlantis (Free subscription) | 22/12/2009
Well. O. Kay. Garrison Keillor, buddy, there's hope for you yet: Unitarians listen to the Inner Voice and so they have no creed that they all stand up and recite in unison, and that's their perfect right, but it is wrong, wrong, wrong to rewrite "Silent Night." If you don't believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn "Silent Night" and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy...
grrrl meets world (Free subscription) | 22/12/2009
Why, to piss off asses like this guy (disappointingly, someone who I have fond memories of listening to on many a Saturday night): Unitarians listen to the Inner Voice and so they have no creed that they all stand up and recite in unison, and that's their perfect right, but it is wrong, wrong, wrong to rewrite "Silent Night." If you don't believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn...
YID With LID (Free subscription) | 20/12/2009
Jews have been accused of many Ills by the bigots of the world, supposedly we control the banks, the media, foreign policy, and the American Government (Thankfully Obama disproves that one). Lately Jews have been accused of creating swine flu and the housing bubble that created the economic crisis (well Barney Frank IS Jewish). During the Christmas season, many bigots revive the old anti-Semitic slander...
Slog (Free subscription) | 19/12/2009
Gee... I suppose this Garrison Keillor column is supposed to be satire—you know, like the column Keillor wrote attacking gay parents . But that was then. Keillor's target now are all those Jews and Unitarians out there who are attacking Christmas: If you don't believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn "Silent Night" and leave ours alone . This is spiritual piracy and cultural...
The Konformist Blog (Free subscription) | 30/09/2009
HIDDEN MELODIES REVEALED WILDLY SUCCESSFUL IN LA AND SF THE SWAY MACHINERY USHERS 1,200 FANS INTO A NEW YEAR “[The Sway Machinery] reinvent the sacred music of the past, transforming a purely vocal tradition into a thumping, instrumental celebration of Judaism's venerated back catalogue.” - Mother Jones JDub Records is excited to report that the 2 West Coast performances of Hidden Melodies...
Archbishop Cranmer (Free subscription) | 19/09/2009
Cranmer wishes all of his Jewish readers and communicants L'SHANAH TOVAH TIKATEVU! (Literal translation: 'May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a good year'). Rosh HaShanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei. Jewish tradition teaches that during the High Holy Days God decides who will live and who will die during the coming year. As a result, during Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (and...
The Epi-Log (Free subscription) | 18/09/2009
This weekend, both Jews and Muslims will be celebrating a major, joyous holiday. This evening, my husband and I are heading to his grandmother's house for a festive dinner celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is a time of new beginnings in Judaism, when various prayers are said and symbolic foods eaten in the hope of having "a sweet near year." The holiday opens the...
Above the Law (Free subscription) | 18/09/2009
Ed. note : Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com . Dear ATL, What are your thoughts on whether I should take off for the Friday of Rosh Hashanah and/or the Monday of Yom Kippur? I probably wouldn't go to synagogue (yes, I'm Jewish), but I'd like to just take the day off to, ya know, just observe the holiday in my own way. I don't want to get on anybody's bad side at my...
Not a sheep (Free subscription) | 18/09/2009
Sunset tonight marks the start of the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashonah (the New Year - literally Head of the Year) and the start of the High Holidays. I remembered the huge fuss the BBC made over the start of Ramadan last month so I thought that I would look for some coverage of Rosh Hashonah on the BBC. Searching for "ramadan" utilising the BBC's "search" function returned page...
Jesus' General (Free subscription) | 16/09/2009
Ed Vitagliano Editor, AFA Journal American Family Association Dear Mr. Vitagliano I've always loved the idea of your Values Voters Summit, but have been a little suspicious about what those values are, specifically. My concern ended, yesterday, when I learned you're holding the conference on Rosh Hashanah , the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is one of the holiest celebrations on the Jewish calendar....
Mystical Paths (Free subscription) | 15/09/2009
by Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths In the past, there were those Jews who felt a need to violate their religion. On the holiest days of the year, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, such Jews generally did so quietly in their own homes. Even in Israel, where 60% of Jews consider themselves religious or traditional (meaning 40% are basically completely non-practicing / non-believing), and some 15% consider themselves...
Tzvee's Talmudic Blog (Free subscription) | 09/09/2009
Ralph Waldo Emerson said poetically, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." Nobody can accuse the members of the City Congregation of foolish consistency. These secular Jews who by definition have no truck for organized Judaism, have sent us a press release describing upcoming events that appear to be mirror images...
The Truth Will Set You Free (Free subscription) | 06/06/2009
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-12-05/news/pews-for-jews.php Joe Fuiten (right) has taken evangelicals’ embrace of Judaism to unforeseen heights. First, evangelical pastor and onetime Bush campaign activist Joe Fuiten brought high-profile conservative author Dinesh D'Souza to speak at his Cedar Park Church in Bothell. A month later, on Dec. 2, Fuiten had the former Israeli ambassador to the...
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician (Free subscription) | 20/02/2009
Growing up a Reformed Jew, I learned that there's really only two days a year that you're required to go to temple. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Every other holiday can be sufficiently honored with a bowl of matzo ball soup and some horseradish. As I scan the Syracuse football roster in a very racial-profiling-kind-of-way, no one jumps out at me as being a fellow member of the Tribe (Max Suter, perhaps')...
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