Shabbat shalom!
It’s a happy day here in Sharon, as we tip our kipah to the newest member of our expanding family, grandchild # 3, Cameron Sonny Worgaftik. Lauren and Ian produced some magic this week in the form of a 7.5 pound baby boy! Much to the relief of his anxious grandparents, all are happy and healthy. I have always been good with first impressions, and I can already tell, very objectively, that this kid is brilliant and handsome. Seriously.
It is at these life affirming moments that I tend to become reflective and think about life’s big questions. Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Are we just “throw away survival machines”, as the world famous scientist Richard Dawkins claims, whose only purpose in life is to survive and replicate our genes? Or is there a more cosmic purpose to our consciousness? If you’ve read, and I recommend it if you haven’t, Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, you would learn that the answer to “life, the universe and everything” is determined by a supercomputer to be: 42. For now, or at least until the next grand child is born, I think Adams got it wrong: the answer is 3.
While on this cosmic theme, I must point out the photo below from the James Webb telescope taken earlier this week that has gone viral and raising some interesting scientific and philosophical questions.
The telescope captured an image of a mysterious reddish-orange question mark in a distant star formation. The question mark isn’t photoshopped, nor a ChatGPT creation. Scientists believe that shape is likely formed by two to three galaxies merging, but that hasn’t stopped speculation on social media, where some people are joking that the question mark is a “glitch in the matrix.” Note just south of the question mark, there appears to be a merger of galaxies in the shape of a “3”. Scientists are still puzzling over it’s meaning.
By now, you must all be wondering where this is heading, and when will I get to the good stuff. Or as Frank Zappa once pondered, “who you jivin with that Cosmik Debris?” Well, I haven’t fallen into a black hole and I have forgotten all the good Jewy stuff. So, without further ajieu, here is your weekly gaggle of galactic goodies, brought to you by the likes of The Forward, Kveller, Jewish Boston, Times of Israel, JTA, and other honorable sources of Jewish journalism.
- Netanyahu has resisted internal and external pressure to moderate. Can IDF reservists change that? Thousands of Israeli air force reservists have stopped reporting for duty in protest of the actions of Netanyahu’s far-right government. “The anger is very sincere,” said Ephraim Sneh, a retired IDF Brigadier General. “They say we cannot serve a dictatorial regime. They say this is not the state that we fought for, and that our parents fought for.” Read the story ➤
- 💰 Vivek Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur, Republican presidential candidate, and huge a-hole, said the U.S. should not give Israel more aid than others in the Middle East. “There’s no North Star commitment to any one country, other than the United States of America,” he said. (JTA)
- Can we please stop talking about Bradley Cooper’s nose? Schmucks can’t seem to deal with a non-Jew playing a Jew. It’s called acting you morons! Many Jews online are upset about the prosthetic nose that Cooper wears in the just-released trailer for Netflix’s Leonard Bernstein biopic — a proxy for their broader feelings over a non-Jewish actor being cast to play a Jewish cultural icon. Not The Forward’s Editor Laura E. Adkins. “There are very real problems facing the Jewish people,” she writes.“Israel’s democracy is on the verge of collapse. Hate speech is out of control on social media. And we’re talking about a nose?” But Laura’s deputy, Nora Berman, begs to differ. Read their conversation ➤
- Will Donald Trump finally face his personal Yom Kippur? Elul, the Jewish month of penitence and reflection, began this week. Trump’s latest indictment, enumerating 191 criminal acts of conspiracy, reads to The Forward’s contributing columnist Rabbi Jay Michaelson like the confessional Al Chet prayer, including its own repetitive refrain. “False claims of voter fraud. This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the indictment says. “False accusations against election workers. This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.” Cue Michaelson: “Now the Book of Judgment is open, with Trump’s alleged misdeeds written out in excruciating detail.” Read the essay ➤
- 🇦🇷 The leading vote-getter in Argentina’s national primary elections this week, Javier Milei, could become the country’s first Jewish president. First he’d have to win in October — and complete a conversion he’s working on. Milei, a far-right economist, was raised Catholic but studies with a rabbi regularly, wants to convert Argentina’s currency to the U.S. dollar and has made headlines for controversial comments on hot-button topics ranging from climate change to sex education. He also wants to convert to Judaism. One of the obstacles getting in the way: observing Shabbat. “If I’m president and it’s Shabbat, what do I do? Am I going to disconnect from the country from Friday to Saturday? There are some issues that would make [the religion] incompatible. The rabbi who helps me study says that I should read the Torah from the point of view of economic analysis,” he said.(JTA)
- Bomb threats and ‘swatting’ campaign hits dozens of synagogues – At least 26 institutions have experienced incidents since late July as online trolls work together to harass Jews and other religious minorities. Oren Segal, who runs the ADL’s Center on Extremism, said the organization believes that a small group of individuals coordinating with each other on social media is responsible for the incidents. They appear to be targeting synagogues that livestream videos of services online. “These trolls are weaponizing online tools to harass the Jewish community,” Segal said. “They want to watch these services get disrupted by law enforcement.” Sick bastards. Read the story
- On Maui, a Chabad farm gives safe harbor and a Shabbat meal: With an orchard, livestock and “enough kosher food to feed a small army,” the farm is sheltering dozens of Jews displaced by the wildfires. And tourists are volunteering to help support them. Michelle Andron and her husband and five children, who live in Los Angeles, spent Friday there washing dishes, collecting eggs from the chicken coop and baking challah. “This is not the vacation we planned,” she said. “But we’ve been given the opportunity to be on the front lines, helping.” Read the story ➤
That should do it for the week! I hope you all have a great weekend! And remember to be careful negotiating the universe and also remember these immortal words from Frank Zappa,
Look here brother
Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
Now is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
Brad out.
Jew News Review 