Shvayg Shosh

My father wants me to remind everyone that back in the day there were famous Jewish NBA players! http://www.nba.com/history/players/schayes_bio.html I would like to remind him that I do live near enough to philly that I'm very aware of the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association. However, for those of you who need a little reminder of Great Jewish Basketball History, here is an old, yet good article: http://www.aish.com/societyWork/arts/Jewish_Basketball_Giants.asp (btw, I wrote my first post before reading the article, so forgive me for making the same joke)

When I saw that the Sacramento Kings picked Israeli Omri Casspi in the first round of the NBA draft, images of the movie Airplane flashed through my mind: Elaine Dickinson : Would you like something to read? Hanging Lady : Do you have anything light? Elaine Dickinson : How about this leaflet, "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?" The stereotype is hard to shake. I also think that it's a stereotype most Jews would just laugh at if a gentile made a joke about. I certainly can't think of many professional openly Jewish athletes in America today. (My father would scream, "what about Sandy Koufax?" To which I'd reply, " Sandy Koufax who refused to pitch on Yom Kippur during the 1965 world series? 1965!" of course, Shawn Green of the LA Dodgers also refused to play on Yom Kippur in 2004 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3935847 How many people even know about that?) Obviously, in Israel the stereotype of the weak athletic abili

I thought the Dead Sea was supposed to be relaxing! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20090623/ap_tr_ge/ml_travel_brief_israel_dead_sea_sinkholes The sink hole brings up a real conundrum...on the one hand we want tourists to come to Israel and we want industry so Israel makes money. On the other hand, the tourists are injuring the land. I suppose we just can't win.

My course this week focuses on early Zionism and the characters leading up to and involved in the First Zionist Congress. so I was drawn to this opinion article "The myth of Zionist imperialism" by Eli Kavon on jpost.com. Kavon argues that calling Zionist imperialists is absurd. He explains that Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai desired a Jewish homeland far before Herzl as a direct reaction to the imperialism of the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the Zionism movement in general was a reaction to the Jews inability to true members of European nations. "From the beginning, the Zionist movement has been a foe of imperialism. Rebellions of national independence against the Ottoman and Russian empires influenced precursors of the Zionist movement, such as Alkalai and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer. Moses Hess, a socialist, looked toward Garibaldi's Italy as his inspiration for a Jewish homeland in Israel." (Kavon, 2009). The Zionist never wished to create an empire. They wanted only a hom

With all this talk of conflict and violence, I thought I'd turn my attention to an Israeli working on making her country a better place for those who can't always speak out for themselves. An educator and rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, Judith Edelman-Green devotes her life to Israelis with special needs. She created a program Bar/Bat Mitzvah for the Special needs child. She's devoted her life to ensuring that children and adults in Israel get a chance to work in their community and actively participate in Jewish life. Her newest project is the Rimon Village: a living community for young adults with mild to moderate special needs. "In Israel there are more than eight thousand adults with special needs who do not have a housing/living solution." (rimon village website). The village will be located in Kfar Sava just north of Tel Aviv. They have volunteers, a board, and land. Now, they just need enough money to turn their vision into reality. www.rimonvi

Yes, I know the shooting yesterday at the Holocaust Museum has nothing to do with Israel. It has to do with a crazy American White-supremacist. However, I can't stop thinking about the Guard that died protecting the lives of the people in the Museum. www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_holocaust_museum_shooting_guard.html Of course, the scene made me stop and think more than usual because it was the Holocaust Museum. More than anything, it makes me appreciate the people out there who risk their lives to protect us no matter what race or religion. Despite the crazy racist old man hell bent on destruction, not everyone is hell bent on destruction. Many are willing to put their own lives on the line, so that we don't have to worry as much when we go out in the world. I saw a short blurb in the Jerusalem Post two days ago http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371054699&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull A settler woman and her baby were trapped in an overturned ca

I wrote this little story a year or so ago...It was on my other blog, but I thought this viewing audience may appreciate it: Morning In Jerusalem It is a little past four in the morning and I cannot sleep. My internal clock is screaming at me, so is the baby. I'm not sure who built this house, but I'm starting to think Jesus may have turned water into wine next door. I think I watched a chunk of the wall fall to the ground. I thought that I knew Jerusalem, but I'm confused. I got lost like three times walking to that playgroup. I don't understand why my sister felt the need to live close to so many relics. I'm frightened of falling in a large hole. I'll open my eyes and find a small group of smelly, teva-clad Brown students trying to figure out what archeological pile I fit into. Then they'll find little Jacob tipped over in his bugaboo stroller. They'll decide that the Bal Shem Tov really is the Moshiach and he's come back as an Israeli child stuffe

I ran across this letter to the editor from Minneapolis's Star Tribune. I'm still mulling over how I'd respond. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/47240652.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:Ug8P:Pc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

My friend Josh is an Israeli Solider. When we were young our parents were very good friends, they moved we we lost touch. In the past few months, I've reconnected with his family. Josh and I send information back and forth about Israel. I love following his tweets because he gives another more personal perspective to life in Israel...especially life as a solider. His mom was the one who sent me the article in my last blog post. As I was reading and writing about settlements from America, Josh was actually spending time there. Here are a few of his last tweets: RT @andyls was attempted infiltration at migdal oz, 1 palestinian arrested 4 escaped 9:03 AM Jun 6th from mobile web @andyls security guard said migdal oz or something like that 8:42 AM Jun 6th from mobile web Left the area. Not sure how serious it was, will only be reported if someone was hurt 8:32 AM Jun 6th from mobile web Shooting at settlement next to us, leaving now before main road is closed 8:07 AM Jun 6th from mobile

If I'm going to jump into this blogging about Israel, I might as well start bold. As my high school drama teacher used to say, "Do it big or go home." My dear friend Stephanie who made aliyah, sent "The Settlements Myth" by Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post via Twitter. http://bit.ly/1r2Tl Basically, the article admonishes the Obama Administration for it's stance on Israel. While assuring every other country that American will no longer make Policy for them, the Obama Administration tells Israel what they need to do in the West Bank Settlements: close them, stop building, stop growing. The author, Charles Krauthammer, wonders what will happen to the settlements that already exist. What happened to the plans for the settlements in the past? "That was envisioned in the Clinton plan in the Camp David negotiations in 2000, and again at Taba in 2001. After all, why expel people from their homes and turn their towns to rubble when, instead, Arabs and