Shabbat shalom! A tip of the kipah this week to Tel Aviv University officials who made the decision to remove the Sackler family name from their Medical School. The Sacklers, you may recall, were knowingly pushing Oxycontin via their company, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, in a “legalized” drug selling scheme that caused the deaths of thousands and helped create an opioid crisis in the country. A good decision TAU, to erase a bad name. And the harm of opioids hit close to home this week, as we were saddened by the loss of a dear friend of my nephew Sam, Zion, who died from an overdose of Fentanyl. He will be missed.
Humans have in our DNA the need to explore and use ingenuity and tools to bring our planet to heel. We have extracted and exploited resources from almost every square mile on earth, and built tremendous rocket ships to explore the outer reaches of space. But despite all that we have accomplished, the earth refuses to bend to our will, and when nature shows its teeth, we realize its enormity and ability to devour us. This week, the world watched anxiously for any glimmer of hope that our ingenuity would win out and save five travelers who paid $250,000 each to get a glimpse of the Titanic from inside a 22-foot long submersible called, ironically, Titan. There was something compelling about this story that grabbed my attention as well as millions of others across the globe. Even more compelling than the 700 refugees from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt lost at sea this same week trying to escape to a better life.
Why the disparity in media coverage? What made the fate of multiple billionaires riding a trendy new wave of adventure tourism to the site of an iconic shipwreck that was doomed by hubris more compelling? For me, it was the above, plus the ticking clock, with just hours of air left for any survivors, and, the submersible company’s flouting of rules and pooh-poohing regulations that made for the best reality TV in quite some time. The drama and the personalities all felt like a parable about the excesses of our times.
It was of course, a horrible ending. The hope of returning them from the abyss to their loved ones was dashed by an implosion detected moments after communications were lost. In the surface world, these men were highly accomplished and the failure of technology in this horrible incident demonstrates another example of human ingenuity shattered by nature and the power and enormity of the sea. May they all rest in peace.
It was another crazy week in the news here and in Israel. Today marks one year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade resulting in 25 million women residing in states with no access or severely restricted access to abortion. The orange turd continues to blab his way into deeper doo doo, this time in one of the most insane interviews ever where he actually defended his keeping top secret documents after being subpoena’d for them because he wanted to retrieve his golf shirts. He still commands a 20 point lead as the Republican front-runner. India President Modi visited the White House and was feted with a vegan dinner, MAGA whack job Lauren Boebert introduced a resolution to impeach Biden, only to be chastised and called a “little bitch” by the equally whacky Marjorie Taylor Green, and the GOP whack jobs in the House also voted to censure Adam Schiff for doing his job. Last but not least, you have the two technology titans, Zuckerschmuck and Elon Musk agreeing to a cage match. You really can’t make this shit up.
The situation in Israel isn’t much better. Another terrorist incident in the West Bank left 4 dead in a shooting at a gas station, but even worse, that violence led to revenge attacks across the West Bank by Jewish settlers seeking “price tag” retaliation. These revenge attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians are becoming a standard response and demonstrates a bad trend, but also shows the weakening of the Palestinian Authority in the region, who can’t seem to keep the terrorism under control.
Now, finally, to the good stuff. Your standard smorgasbord of superbly selected semitic stuff from sources such as The Forward, JTA, The Times of Israel, Nosher, Kveller, and Jewish Boston to name a few. Enjoy.
- 🇮🇱 Spike in violence: Israeli settlers took the law into their own hands Tuesday night, torching cars and crops and throwing stones at Palestinians in villages near the West Bank city of Nablus. Dozens were wounded in the riot, which followed a Palestinian terror attack that killed four Israeli Jews and wounded four others at a gas station outside the West Bank settlement of Eli. Hamas officials said that attack was a response to an Israel Defense Forces raid in Jenin a day earlier that killed seven Palestinians, including a teenaged girl who succumbed to her wounds early this morning. (Haaretz, JTA, Times of Israel)
- 🤦 An Indiana chapter of the right-wing group Moms for Liberty on Thursday apologized for quoting Adolf Hitler at the top of its first newsletter, saying: “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history.” … Meanwhile, a new right-wing government was sworn into office in Finland this week, and one politician is already apologizing for remarks he made in March that were sympathetic to Hitler. (NBC News, Times of Israel)
- 🏀 UCLA’s Amari Bailey became the NBA’s newest Jewish player Thursday night, drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in the second round, 41st pick overall. That brings the Hornets one step closer to hosting a minyan; Michael Jordan sold his majority ownership stake this month to two Jewish millionaires. (Sports Illustrated, JTA)
- Swastika Lake to be renamed: The lake, located in a national forest in Wyoming, was named in the early 20th century, before the Nazi Party appropriated the symbol. But Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and the philanthropist behind the StopAntisemitism campaign, noted in his appeal to change the name that “it has unfortunately become synonymous with one of the greatest atrocities in human history.” A county commissioner had wanted to keep the name as a “teaching opportunity,” but was overruled in a 2-1 vote Tuesday to rename the lake in honor of Samuel Knight, a professor and dinosaur enthusiast who was known as Mr. Geology of Wyoming. Read the story ➤
- 🖼️ The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian added to its collection this month a picture of Rabbi Sally Priesand, who became the first female rabbi in the United States when she was ordained in 1972. It will hang alongside portraits of Beyoncé and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Twitter, JTA)
- A pitch clock is shortening baseball games. What if synagogues did the same? Gary Rosenblatt, a Pulitzer finalist who has long covered the Jewish world, imagines installing a Sermon Clock in every sanctuary that would start to flash “The service continues on page 322” if rabbis exceeded their allotted time. Another idea? “More progressive congregations will now read from The Three-and-a-Half Books of Moses.” Read his essay ➤
- 🎒 A Jewish middle school teacher in Massachusetts has resigned after facing antisemitic harassment by a student. The student, who is 12, was charged with criminal harassment after the teacher reported him making Nazi jokes and showing him drawings of Hitler standing over a dead person with the heading, “Sorry, Jew.” (Berkshire Eagle)
That’s all folks! Sorry for the late issue, but needed to catch up on a few things after a busy week! Enjoy the weekend everyone, and hey, let’s remember to be careful out there, and stay out of any submersibles.
Brad out.
Jew News Review 