YudelLine

Thursday, June 3

Genetic Exile: Breast cancer gene predates the destruction of the First Temple (Ha'aretz)

"Through DNA sequencing, Dr. Mary Claire King, an American Cancer Research Society Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, has determined that an alteration in the BRCA1 gene, commonly known as the "breast cancer gene" and found in Ashkenazi Jews, predates the Jewish exile from Babylon in 586 BCE. "

Boys in Dresses: When being Jewish is a drag (Ha'aretz)

"Welcome to Feigelah Schmeygelah, an evening of Queer Jewish Humor, the kind of show you see only in San Francisco"

Boys in Green: David, Jonathan and Other Soldiers: Identity, Masculinity and Sexuality in Combat Units in the Israeli Army (Ha'aretz)

"New research on the experiences of gay soldiers in the IDF finds that like their straight counterparts, homosexual men fit right in to the military's macho culture "

What the Dickens? New research shows we can internalize fiction. (Salon)

"New research from the University of Washington shows that reading a story about a fictitious experience can alter people's memories to the point that half believe the incident actually occurred in their own lives."

Friday Recipes: The ancient wonder of couscous

"There are a nearly infinite varieties of any stew, and couscous is no exception. Algerian versions will invariably include tomatoes; Moroccan offerings will use saffron; and Tunisian couscous will be highly spiced."

Wednesday, June 2

Life in those Islamic States: It's Barbie vs. Laila and Sara in Mideast Culture War (NYTimes)

"It's not just that she's a blue-eyed blonde. Nor is it just the revealing clothes that show off her famous figure. The real trouble is that Barbie has a boyfriend. To put it plainly, that plastic icon of Western girlhood is seen in the Middle East, where modesty matters, as something of a tramp....

"She is my best friend," said Nada Hamid, 7, of her Barbie. For an Egyptian girl, Nada's hair, a curly brown, is light in color, but Nada said she wished it were lighter. "I want my hair to be shiny and golden, too."

Life in these Islamic States: The New Neighborhood Butcher in an Old-Fashioned Way (NYTimes)

"Where small storefronts once housed Italian, French and kosher butchers, shops now declare that their meat is halal. "

Giving Judaism a Prayer: About Siddur Chaveirim Kol Yisraeil

"This siddur was written by non-rabbis and rabbis, computer programmers and doctors, women and men, Hebrew readers and Hebrew learners. All of us share a desire to learn more about liturgy, and claim as our own the prayers our tradition has handed us. We invite you to share in our journey"

Annals of Torah Education: Jobs for religious school rabbis triple

"The post of school rabbi was first created five years ago for the religious public schools.

One [in typical Ha'aretz fashion, poorly-identified] School official described the post as as "irrelevant ... the money would be better invested in improving the educational level of religious schools.

The school rabbi is a kind of commissar who dictates to girls how long their skirts should be and to boys how large a head covering to wear, and why boys and girls must stay apart in recess."

Waxing Roth: Phil-In (Village Voice)

"But now Roth has uncharacteristically organized an advertisement for himself at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in his native Newark."

Waiting for E.T. to Phone: How to search for aliens while your PC sleeps (Time)

"The way I see it, there are only two things you really need in life: a way to improve our lot on Earth, and a cool computer screensaver. Now I've got both, thanks to SETI@home, a nifty piece of software that searches for intelligent life in the universe whenever I'm away from my desk."

Yudel's Line: Great cause, good article, but one flaw: what Time glosses as "budget cuts and all" was in fact a specific Congressional rider against NASA spending any money on looking for life in outer space.

Mr. Smith goes to the Knesset: This Victor doesn't want the spoils (Ha'aretz)

"Newly-elected Shinui MK Victor Breilovsky only agreed to be placed on the party's list because he was told that the sixth slot was '100 percent unrealistic.' "

Monday, May 31

Rather be Trekkin': Saw the Star Wars: Phantom Menace today. Glad to have a 5-year-old in tow. Maybe George Lucas will invest some of the profits into a story editor for Episode II.

The Merchant of Menace: Racial stereotypes in a galaxy far, far away? (Slate)

Crafty Japanese trade villains aren't the only heavy-handed ethnic stereotype in The Phantom Menace. As the story continues, the heroes slip past the evil Japanese to a nearby planet. There, they attempt to repair their broken spaceship but are stymied by the hook-nosed owner of the local parts shop--Watto--who also happens to have a thick Yiddish accent!

The Economists Strike Back: The Economics of The Phantom Menace (Slate)

"The economics of The Phantom Menace, on the other hand, look much more like the mercantilism of the 18th century, with the Trade Federation and Naboo roughly analogous to the Dutch East India Company and, well, the Dutch East Indies. "

Over a Pork Barrel: Chief Haredi educator in Jerusalem suspected of election fraud (Ha'aretz)

"On May 17th, election day, a 19-year-old Haredi youth was arrested in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem after attempting to vote with an identity card (teudat zehut) that did belong to him. He told police investigators that Jerusalem councilor Moshe Cohen, who heads the city's ultra-Orthodox education department, had given him the fake ID. "

Torah's Rewards Police swoop down at 3 A.M. to arrest three suspects in 'fictitious yeshiva' scam (Ha'aretz)

"Police arrested three ultra-Orthodox men from Jerusalem in the wee hours of the morning yesterday on suspicion that they established dozens of fictive organizations to bilk the Religious Affairs Ministry out of millions of shekels between 1996 and 1998."

You Don't Have to be Orthodox: Two arrested for multi-million shekel fraud at Hadassah vocational school (Ha'aretz)

" The 54-year-old Amran, who has been principal of the school for decades, appeared in court yesterday for a remand hearing that ended with him being sent to jail for eight days while police continue their inquiry. Amran claimed he was being framed by a disgruntled worker recently laid off. "

Silent Running: The Lost Sub Is Found, and Israelis Can Grieve (NYTimes)

"One January night in 1968, the Dakar, a British submarine newly refurbished for the Israeli navy, disappeared in the midst of its maiden voyage, from England to Haifa. A 69-man crew vanished with it, lost without a trace in a maritime enigma that became a legendary part of Israeli history."

Millenial Baby: Baby in a Box (NYTimes)

"Artificial wombs will begin as a response to the needs of women who are unable to carry a baby through to term," says Marshall Marinker, a visiting professor of general practice at the University of London. "But like so many things in medicine, what begins as a response to illness may become a life-style choice."

Monday Monopoly: Tiny Software Maker Takes Aim at Microsoft in Court (NYTimes)

"As the trial in the government's antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. resumes Tuesday in Washington, evidence in a separate trial set to open this week in Connecticut seems to offer tantalizing support for an assertion that the company's rivals have made for years -- that Microsoft wields its industry-standard Windows operating system as a club to control the software business. "

Beering Down? Putting Alcohol in Ads on Drugs Is Resisted (NYTimes)

"Evidence abounds that beer is more popular with adolescents than marijuana. Yet while the government is spending $195 million this year on its national media campaign to dissuade adolescents from using illicit drugs, not a penny of the appropriated tax dollars goes to warn about the dangers of drinking. "

Saturday, May 29

Men in Black: MKs nearly reached deal on drafting of ultra-Orthodox youth (Ha'aretz)

"A select team of ultra-Orthodox and secular politicians, nicknamed the Ramon Forum, hammered out a proposal a year ago for four possible tracks through which yeshiva students could be drafted into the Israel Defense Forces."

Phase One: First haredi Nahal unit in generation is combat kosher (JPost)

"They are breaking open the way for the haredi community to take part in the defense of the state," said Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yehuda Duvdevani

Seeking Inclusion: Palo Alto is on the verge of stepping back 2,900 years in history to give its Jewish community something new and unheard of in Northern California: an eruv. (SFGate)

Practicing Exclusion: Jewish council rejects gay group (The Age)

Yo! Are You Talkin' About Me? Fear of links (Salon)

"Since weblogs are usually one-person operations with no editorial hierarchy or institution to say "no" or impose a house style, they tend to embody the strengths and weaknesses of any labor-of-love operation: They're often impassioned and sometimes sloppy; they frequently surprise and just as frequently lose focus."

Friday, May 28

Guy Thing: Wife appeals 'bigamy license' from rabbinical court (Ha'aretz)

"The woman claimed that the Israeli rabbinical courts approved her husband's request to remarry without granting her a divorce on the basis of a permit granted to him by a New York rabbinical court, and without summoning her to hear her side of the story."

Girl Thing: We're here just for the sex (Ha'aretz)

Most of the organized sex tours to Thailand offered by Israeli entrepreneurs are designed for men, but the first tour for women is set for this summer. Participants are promised sexual bliss they never even dreamed of. But who actually goes on these trips?

Patriarch Thing: The Jewish First Family: A epistolary romance between Abraham, Sarah and Hagar (JCN)

"What good did it do me to beget nations, Hagar? When Sarah died, she of the bitter breast, of the contemptuous laugh, I knew I must find you. Whatever time I had left, I wanted to be beside you. To make up for the past, yes... and to find my heart once more."

Thursday, May 27

North Country Fair? Syria agreed to foreign troops on Hermon (Ha'aretz)

"In ongoing secret talks with Damascus through various mediators, outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in principle to a significant withdrawal from the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement and security arrangements. A variety of drafts were drawn up, but none were ultimately implemented because Netanyahu repeatedly recoiled from committing himself at the last minute."

Yudel's Line: Interesting tidbit: The article claims that "American tycoon" Ronald Lauder, the Bibi pal who is taking the helm of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was one of the conduits to Syria. During the Rabin era, the Jewish organizations aligned with Netanyahu and their captive congressmen loudly opposed "American troops on the Golan." What will they say now?

Backgrounder: Bumpy road to Damascus (Ha'aretz)

"Syria's leader has demanded that talks on the Golan be picked up where they left off three years ago. But where was that?"

More Reform: A Mikveh of Our Own (Reform Judaism)

"Many Reform Jews think of the ritual bath as archaic, dirty, and anti-women. Why, then, did our congregation choose to construct one of only three Reform mikvehs in North America? And why would we recommend that other Reform temples follow suit"

Surrender First, Then We'll Talk: Rabbi Lau: Reform platform is 'no basis for dialogue' (Ha'aretz)

"It's very nice to have a yarmulke in synagogue and to separate cold cuts from cheese, but it doesn't make them partners in the Bible as it was given on Mount Sinai," Lau said.

Yudel's Line: Actually, the more liberal Jews adopt mitzvot, the more fanatic the Orthodox are going to get. The marketing textbooks call it brand differentiation. What we saw last year, where the Orthodox Union refused to cosponsor Shabbat Across America, will happen again and again. Once you can get Shabbat from any of the denominations, tradition becomes a commodity; each step Reform takes toward the holy drives the Orthodox even further toward the holier-than-thou.

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