Shabbat Shalom family and friends! And a big-time JNR welcome to two new members, dear friend and Paul’s better half, Sheila Horwitz, and Ruthie Weiner, friend of cousin Marilyn.
I am staring out my office window at the snowy backyard landscape and my gaze is temporarily distracted by a black capped chickadee trying to scavenge the last of the seed languishing in the bottom of the feeder. My feathery winter friends love to chill and get fat courtesy of Costco’s 20 pound back-breaking bag of bird trail mix I use to feed them. This wonderful scene of nature plays out while a very unnatural scene unwinds on Capital Hill – Washington DC this morning. Our week has been brutalized by images, videos and other evidence of how four dark, fear-mongering years and a big lie resulted in a most disturbing and historically horrific attempted insurrection that left behind a trail of death, destruction and, yes, even more division. In a few minutes, both sides will provide closing remarks, the cowardly Republicans will vote to acquit, and then we can all thankfully move on with our lives, and hope that soon we will see some grass again, (and maybe a few robins), and hopefully, this ugly history will not repeat itself. And for those of you still wondering, no, that is not a yarmulka on Jamie Raskin’s head, it’s a bald spot!
Hard to believe this painful week began with a Super Bowl victory for the ageless Brady and his swashbuckling band of buccaneers! Love him or hate him, you have to respect him. The GOAT delivered, but in my opinion, the MVP should have gone to the GRONK!!!!! Boy do I miss that knucklehead! And to make Sunday even more super, some of you received, courtesy of JNR editorial staff, GOAT swag to help commemorate the official launch of the JNR website!!! For those that have not yet received theirs, fear not. We will get something to you in the not too distant future!
For those wanting to explore the website, here is a link, and please feel free to follow us. http://www.jewnewsreview.com The site is chock full of fabulous content, including downloadable personalized Passover Haggadahs!
Fluffy, but not stuffy. That is my summary of what The Forward offers up during this ugly week. Yarmulkas, the new CDC director, Serbian film review, Jews in Q-Anon, and mikvehs in Saskatchewan, and not too much more. Here is your weekly summary:
- To Kippah or not to Kippah? That was attorney Schoen’s challenge this week, as people tried to figure out what was up with his hand on his head every time he took a sip of water. Wearing the kippah is a reminder that God is above watching over us, but Schoen, an orthodox Jew, decided it wasn’t worth the bother of wearing it on the Senate floor, “It’s just an awkward thing and people stare at it”. How ironic that it was the lack of wearing it that caught our attention!
- Bald or Jewish? This female author confesses to a parlor game her and her Jewish friends would play in college around Cambridge and Somerville. Really?
- New head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Newton, MA resident, got her start at camp Yavner, a popular Jewish camp in New Hampshire. Smart lady, very well respected at MGH, otherwise known as Man’s Greatest Hospital? Also known as Mass Goverman Hospital, where several Goverman’s got their start!
- A Jewish Q-Anon supporter? WTF? She was eventually hauled off to a funny farm, so there you go.
- A viral video helps rejuvenate a Chicago Jewish Neighborhood – Sounds an awful lot like the story of Mattapan, Dorchester and Sharon, here in our home state. Barry Goverman should post the video they made of those old neighborhoods and maybe we will all be moving back to Blue Hill Avenue. I can just taste those hot dogs at Simco’s on the Bridge, and maybe take in a flick at the Oriental Theater with the amazing tiki statues.
- Is the new Serbian film on the Croation holocaust a nationalistic propaganda piece or real art? Damn if I could figure that out, but sounds like there won’t be any Oscars coming their way too soon. Interesting historical note: the camp in Croatia was the only non-German run camp, apparently.
- Mikvehs in remote parts of the world – If you can’t take Miriam to the Mikveh, take the Mikveh to Miriam! Believe it or not, Saskatoon will be getting their own Mikveh, as well as other remote places, courtesy of a program sponsored and paid for by the Chabad center.
- Biden’s Hebrew translated name – Some wacko pastor decided to transliterate Biden’s name to Hebrew and got a funky result.
Well, that’s all for now. And hey, even if you had your vaccine already, let’s be extra careful out there!
Brad out.https://assets.forward.com/shabbat-021221.pdf
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