Shabbat shalom from sunny Palm Springs!
Shout out today to Sir Lindsey Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, who called for a moment of silence to mark 80 years since the UK recognized the Holocaust. This historic moment of silence originally occurred December 17, 1942, when then-foreign secretary Anthony Eden confirmed in a speech to the House of Commons that European Jews were being exterminated by Nazi Germany. And although the facts about Auschwitz, gas chambers and other atrocities were yet to be revealed, governments, including the USA, were well aware of the holocaust and ignored pleas by Jews in the following years to bomb the railway tracks leading to the camps. Nevertheless, it was a poignant moment in Parliament this week attended by a few survivors and their families, so a tip of the kippah to Sir Lindsey!
I received several inquiries this week regarding the latest Artificial Intelligence tool, ChatGPT, and whether it posed a risk to the JNR, and could ultimately replace me. Fear not dear readers, my future as the humble editor of this proclaimed literary jewel is not threatened by this latest advance in technology and I offer the following actual interaction with ChatGPT as confirmation and proof that you will have to put up with me for a while longer:
Sandy and I are off to her favorite Palm Springs spot, Sunnylands, this morning. Hence, I am under pressure to complete the JNR this morning and will have to offer up a shortcut version which is a link to The Forward’s weekend reading selection. Won’t be nearly as good as those selected by yours truly, but please cut me some slack and enjoy this alternative. It includes a story about the Israeli towns where the Maccabees actually roamed, four tips for making latkes, and a piece about whether recent antisemitism has people scared to put up Chanukah decorations. And if you’re feeling saturated (yes, with oil) on holiday content, you can also read about human composting (not kidding) and the white supremacists who are haunting online video games (also very serious, obviously). Use this link to read about them all.
Have a great weekend everyone! And remember, be careful out there.
Brad out.
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