Jewneric: A New Platform for the Jewish Voice

On the eve of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) I feel it necessary to keep up the crusade against those who resort to petty, simplistic Holocaust comparisons in an attempt to score cheap shock value points. When Hamas engages in Holocaust exploitation, such as their recent claim that the Shoah was a Zionist engineered conspiracy to kill off weak Jews who would be useless to the Zionist state, it is not surprising anymore. When a mainstream figure such as Al Gore refers to global warming as an ecological Kristallnacht it's obviously more painful. But it's particularly hurtful when Jews engage in this type of exploitation. An Israeli author recently testified in the Knesset that Israel's chametz laws (which were recently overturned by an Israeli court as being undemocratic), which ban the public sale of leavened bread by Jews over the Passover holiday, are comparable to the Nuremberg laws. He was rightfully decried by both religious and secular lawmakers. A groups of British academics took out an ad in a UK newspaper stating that they won't celebrate Israel's 60th birthday, since Israel's founding was a "Holocaust to the Palestinians." ...

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Last night my 4th graders did an exercise where they came up with - and voted on - a list of things they would add to their "Tenaim" (traditional betrothal contract) if they were getting married or if their children were getting married. The top 3 conditions were: The other party cannot be a drug addict; the other party cannot ...

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Ask any Jewish Chicago Cubs fan if he finds a connection between his faithfulness to the Cubs and his Judaism. If the answer is not "yes," then you've asked someone deficient in caring about the Cubs or his religion. The Cubs are celebrating 100 years since their last World Championship. This makes them the most ridiculed franchise in baseball. ...

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The first sociological experiment was done by a French Jew named Emile Durkheim. Durkheim wanted to prove that the one thing that everyone was SURE was psychological was in fact social, specifically suicide. Durkheim was SURE that it was in fact caused primarily by social surroundings and situations. In 1897 he published his study "la Suicide," where he concluded that those most integrated in society were the least likely to kill themselves. He went into many different reasons and how they relate to different causes of suicide, but one concept always stuck out to me. Between Protestants, Catholics and Jews, the Protestants had the highest suicide rate, then the Catholics and last the Jews. Why? Durkheim's theory (simplified to a ridiculous degree, so please forgive me) was that those who had aggressive community involvement did not kill themselves, and of those three religions Jews had the most social and community based activities. Jews were the most involved in community therefore less likely to be suicidal. In a social theory class I once took, the professor explained it in even more simple terms. "Jews just have too much going on to have time to kill themselves." ...

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I would like an awards dinner in my honor this year. I have changed upwards of 3000 diapers, made more than 200 lunches, driven over 400 carpools, kissed and bandaged countless owies and boo-boos, washed sinkload after sinkload of dishes, folded basket after basket of laundry, read the same "Dora the Explorer" book ad nauseum and listened to the Miami Boys Choir CD in the car so many times that it is the soundtrack to my dreams. I have mothered and wifed and given nearly ever ounce of my being to my family and I think it's time for some recognition. ...

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I would like to share a story with you. A few years ago, I worked with a job seeker who made a serious error in judgment. He had worked successfully in the financial markets until trying to manipulate the market using illegal tactics. As a result, he was banned permanently from his profession and was in need of help to ...

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US officials just confirmed what has already been widely reported since it happened in September: that Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear reactor which was being built with help from North Korea. The event was shrouded in secrecy until now, but the US Congress has been pressuring the Bush administration to publicly brief them (and the American people) ...

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WebWorkerDaily wrote a post today, "Could You Survive Without Your Computer for One Day?" asking if it would be possible to live one day unplugged from society. As Shutdown Day approaches (May 3rd, 2008), more and more blogs will be talking about shutting down. As someone who practices this "experiment" every week, as an observant Jew who keeps ...

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For a long time there have been only a few options if you wanted Hebrew on your keyboard. Your options were to spend two hours pasting stickers onto your keyboard like a 5 year old doing a bad Science Fair Project (cursing yourself repeatedly for getting every single sticker crooked), or to buy a keyboard with ...

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A few days ago, I noticed a posting by a friend on Facebook about a free download for the United Jewish Communities (UJC): FreeTheSoldiers. Just as in years past, prayers and thoughts to remember the Israeli soldiers captured are being passed around this Passover. These messages come to remind us all that not everyone is free this year. Usually, ...

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