Lag B'Omer

05/15/2022

A. One of the ways that Lag B’Omer is celebrated is with picnics and bonfires throughout Israel. However, as a result, the level of air pollution on this holiday has increased more than tenfold as a consequence of the bonfire smoke.

B. A Lag B’Omer tradition is for children to play with bows and arrows on that date. One of the explanations for this custom is that under Roman rule after the destruction of the Temple, students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai would go into the woods and shoot bows and arrows. But this was just a cover for their time secretly studying Torah, which the Romans forbade. Sadly, in Israel, there is a significant increase of eye injuries on this holiday resulting from the toy bows and arrows which so many children are shooting at each other.

C. Every year on Lag B’Omer, the number 033 is selected by tens of thousands of Israelis in one of the games sponsored by Mifal HaPais, Israel’s national lottery. The number is chosen because “Lag” is an acronym of the letters Lamed and Gimel, the Hebrew equivalent of the number 33. In 2020, 033 was the winning number, leading Mifal HaPais to pay out record sums of shekels to the many winners, leading to the first year in lottery history that the games actually lost money.

D. One Lag B’Omer tradition is that many Orthodox boys receive their first haircut on the Lag B’Omer holiday following their third birthday. One unfortunate result is a significant increase in plumbing problems in Orthodox neighborhoods as so much hair is flushed down drains by families performing this ritual.

E. A primary part of Stoudemire’s job of player development is to work with players on their basketball skills, in particular through scrimmages that Stoudemire would participate in. But as he became more religious, he decided that whenever he fouled another player, he needed to recite the Jewish prayers of forgiveness, including the “Al Cheyt” prayer stating, “And for the sin that we have sinned before You through wronging a neighbor.” Stoudemire found that because he committed so many fouls, he was spending too much time in prayer rather than helping the team members improve, so he turned in his resignation.

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Laws & Judaism

05/08/2022

A. The Supreme Court is apparently on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade, the law guaranteeing women the right to an abortion. Most Jews and Jewish authorities support this right, as Judaism does not view life as beginning at conception. The state of Texas passed Senate Bill 8 last September, greatly restricting women’s access to abortion. The law bans most abortions after 6 weeks, as opposed to the standard set in Roe v. Wade, which generally allows abortion during the first 20 or so weeks of pregnancy. One Texas legislator, when speaking in favor of the law, stated, “It says in the Bible that God worked 6 days, and then he rested. With this law, abortion doctors can work 6 weeks, after which they must rest. Or be arrested.”

B. Many states have passed laws in recent months decriminalizing, and even legalizing, the use of marijuana. In Exodus 30:22-24, it says, “Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Take thou also unto thee the chief spices, of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty, and of kaneh-bosem two hundred and fifty...’ ” It has been suggested by some that kaneh-bosem is actually marijuana, and that this is the derivation of the word cannabis. YIVO (The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research) has just mounted an exhibit at their New York gallery about Jews and marijuana entitled, Am Yisrael High.

C. Along the lines of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, a New York state senator representing Crown Heights in Brooklyn, home to many Chassidic communities, has introduced similar legislation. The Chassidic community wants to be able to control any discussions about homosexuality or other sexual identity issues in their day schools. Chassidic Jews and most other Orthodox Jews see homosexuality as a sin, based on Leviticus 18:22 which states, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination.” The proposed New York law is being referred to on social media as the “Don’t Pray Gay” law.

D. Many state and local authorities in the United States have passed laws banning the teaching of critical race theory (CRT). CRT views United States social institutions such as criminal justice, housing, and healthcare as embedded in racism, going back to the role of slavery in the history of this country. But opponents have expanded that view to criticize CRT, claiming that it casts all white people as racists. In Israel, the far-right Otzma Yehudit political party has introduced legislation based on anti-CRT laws, calling for a ban in Israel of any teaching in schools about the plight of the Palestinians, claiming that this is an effort to paint all Israelis as racist. Speaking about this issue, Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson recently said, “We shouldn’t be surprised that the same people who are calling you and me racist would also be calling Israelis racist.”

E. Many European countries have passed, or are considering legislation banning the kosher ritual slaughtering of meat. Some believe that this method of slaughter is not humane, and advocate for first stunning the animals, which is not allowed in kosher slaughter. In Belgium there has been much debate about this issue, with some municipalities passing such legislation while others have failed to do so, leading to a headline in the International Herald Tribune reading “Belgian Waffles on Kosher Meat.”

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Passover Gaffe

05/01/2022

A. Kosher Plus, a food supply company in Manhattan, offered many kosher for Passover products, including jams, candy, and tomato sauce. However, there was a mixup with their supplier in Indonesia who, based on language confusion, supplied a horseradish product that actually contained an extract from horses.

B. An alliance of young hipster Jews in Brooklyn called Broo-Jews offered a seder plate, created by one of their members, for sale on Etsy. But the plate was missing the section for Hazeret, a spot where most Jews place lettuce. Said a Broo-Jew spokesperson, “We’ve already got the Karpas slot for the parsley. No one I know could explain why there’s room for another green. Not even my rabbi. So we dumped it.” Some traditional Jews purchased the plate and were very surprised when they realized it was missing that section, and they posted angry reviews on Etsy’s website.

C. Impossible Foods created a gefilte fish based on their other non-meat products. The Impossible Gefilte, like their other products, closely mimics the flavor of the original product, yet is vegan and kosher/pareve. However, the company received criticism when they tweeted, “Impossible gefilte fish–no catfish were killed to create this product.” Apparently the person who wrote the tweet was not aware of what fish are typically used in gefilte fish, not to mention that catfish is not a kosher fish.

D. Kosher-Dekel, a New Jersey based company, offered a peel-and-stick product, designed to be easily applied to kitchen countertops, making the counters usable during Passover. The product adheres with a glue similar to that on Post-It notes, making removal extremely easy. Except that an error by the manufacturer of the product led to many consumers being unable to remove the paper, or ending up with torn shreds still sticking to countertops.

E. WonderWords, a greeting card company, produces a line of Jewish-themed cards under the name Schmooze Views. Among the cards they placed on store racks this year was a Passover card which on the outside read, “May your Passover joy rise, though your matzah should not.” However, there was an unnoticed  printing error, where the inside message on the card was swapped with one on an Easter greeting card. Thus, the inside message, instead of saying “Rejoice together on Passover,” showed a picture of Jesus with the message, “Rejoice. He is risen.”

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Marine Le Pen

04/24/2022

A. Le Pen raised her arm to the sky in what looked like a Nazi salute at a rally in the French city of Troyes, one of her strongholds. Le Pen claimed that she was only pointing to the people sitting in the balcony, but many in the audience responded with the same arm gesture.

B. Le Pen spoke at a meeting of the National Rally Party. In her talk she espoused support for the state of Israel. But following her comments, she raised her hand with fingers outstretched and her thumb closed across her palm, after which she closed her fingers over the thumb. This represents the international symbol for danger, a discreet code that originally developed as a way for women to call for help subtly when in a dangerous situation. But the Jewish community felt that this was a "dog whistle" to anti-Semites, telling them she was “too afraid” to publicly state her real views on Israel. Le Pen claimed she was simply waving goodbye to the meeting attendees.

C. Le Pen issued campaign posters in which she is shown to be offering the “OK sign” with her left thumb and finger. The gesture, which she claimed was innocuous, is in fact considered to be a white supremacist signal by the Anti-Defamation League among others, as the fingers are seen to be presenting as a “W” and a “P,” standing for White Power.

D. At a rally in Marseille, Le Pen raised her arm with her first finger and pinkie raised upward in what is known as the Hook’em Horns symbol. This was seen by some in the Jewish community as a reference to the anti-Semitic trope that Jews have horns, meant to incite anti-Semitic feelings among her right-wing supporters.

E. Le Pen addressed a Star Trek convention in Lyon, where she raised her hand with spread fingers in a Spock-like Vulcan salute. But many observers claimed that she was sending a “dog whistle” championing the Kohanim, the Jewish Priestly community. Many Jews fear that this signal indicated her support for reinstituting the duchaning ceremony, where the Leviim must wash the hands and feet of the Kohanim.

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