Shabbat shalom from fabulously beautiful Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage! Somewhere in this sea of Tai Chi is my wife striking poses that in theory will increase her physical strength and improve cognition. Whatever. In the meantime, I am enjoying a French press in the cafe with an amazing view of the San Jacinta mountains. The Annenbergs knew what they were doing when they designed and built their gorgeous summer home, “Sunnylands”, on 200 acres of land in Rancho Mirage, which became a sort of Camp David of the West Coast for diplomatic missions of all kinds. Interestingly, Rancho Mirage was their secondary location since as Jews, they were denied purchasing land in Palm Springs in the 60’s. Go figure.
A tip of the kippah this week to JW3, the Jewish Community Center in London, England for their touching tribute to the Israeli hostages and a clever way to keep their fate front and center. A number of leaders of the Jewish Community were present at JW3 last Sunday to attach signed padlocks to the community hub’s walkway, which has been renamed to the “Lovelock Hostage Bridge”, in an expression of solidarity with the dozens of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Over 100 padlocks displaying hostages’ names were attached to the walkway, while many other padlocks had no names on them to represent the hostages who were killed or died while in captivity.
I try very hard to avoid mentioning the orange turd in these posts, since his name and image actually make me nauseous, but somehow the former and disgraced President and convicted rapist and traitor keeps making headlines. Thankfully, our legal system is still functioning well enough to convict the a-hole of criminal and civil violations, the latest leading to his being fined for over $400M! Between this fine and the millions Trump owes E. Jean Carroll for defamation, Trump stands to lose at least 13% of his net worth if you can believe whatever the fat head claims to be his net worth. Unfortunately, he still commands and controls the GOP and despite all efforts will end up being the Republican nominee to face off against Uncle Joe in November.
While I concur that Biden resembles Mr. Magoo on television, I see no evidence that age has impacted his job performance. Those of us who recall how skillfully Biden secured passage of the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act after it was tanked by Manchin in 2021 notice a pattern: not since LBJ has the White House been occupied by a president this adept at working with the legislature in order to secure his domestic and foreign policy agenda.
But, there is also no question that Biden’s age is, and should be, an issue with voters. John Stewart, who is back on the air guiding The Daily Show, put Biden’s age front and center in his monologue last Monday, and the episode, much to Biden’s staffs regret, went viral. Stewart argued age-related issues shouldn't be ignored: “Look, Joe Biden isn’t Donald Trump,” he said. “He hasn’t been indicted as many times, hasn’t had as many fraudulent businesses or been convicted in a civil trial for sexual assault or been ordered to pay defamation charges or stiffed blue collar tradesman … The stakes of this election don’t make Donald Trump’s opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny. If the barbarians are at the gate, you want Conan [the Barbarian] standing on the ramparts, not chocolate chip cookie guy.”
Reasonable people can agree or disagree with the Biden’s agenda. I happen to agree with most of it, and I’m delighted to see how much it has helped average Americans secure work and democracies in three continents to fend off tyrants. There is no evidence that age has reduced Biden’s ability to advance these objectives — even in era of extreme negative partisanship. His skills will be a loss to the country and to democracies everywhere should he not be re-elected. Nuf said.
Now, what about all the Jewy stuff? I know what you must be thinking by now: What’s taking so long to get to the good stuff? Enough already with your political blathering. Ok, ok, ok. Here then, for your edification, is your weekly smorgasbord of superbly selected semitic stuff from sources such as The Forward, JTA, The Times of Israel, Nosher, Kveller, and Jewish Boston to name a few. Enjoy!
Latest from the war…
A recently circulated internal Israel Defense Forces report warns that Hamas is likely to survive the war, stating that “authentic support remains” for the group among Gazans, and warning that the government’s lack of a clear postwar plan for Gaza means it “will become an area in deep crisis.”
Two were killed and four wounded in a terrorist attack at a bus stop in southern Israel.
Families of the hostages remaining in Gaza protested outside Tel Aviv’s Defense Ministry headquarters, with some handcuffing themselves to its gates, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday instructed Israeli officials to stop participating in talks in Cairo for a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release.
Netanyahu issued a statement rejecting “international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians” after a 40-minute call with President Joe Biden, whose administration is reportedly close to developing for a Palestinian state. Several Israeli ministers also spoke out against the plan, with far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich saying it would give Palestinians “a prize for the terrible massacre they carried out against us.”
The head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs sparked outrage after saying “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us” in a Wednesday interview.
Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See formally complained over a senior Vatican official’s Tuesday remarks referring to “carnage” in Gaza.
American investigators visited the West Bank to look into the recent shooting deaths of two Palestinian American teenagers. In the U.S., Biden issued an executive order stating that immigration officials should not attempt to deport most Palestinian immigrants, saying the war in Gaza and escalating violence in the West Bank have made the situation there too dangerous.
Matisyahu claims venues canceled his shows due to antisemitism. Matisyahu, a Grammy-nominated reggae artist whose music features heavily Jewish themes, took to social media on Thursday to say two of his recent concerts had been canceled in reaction to the war, alleging that staffers at venues in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona, had refused to work his shows. “They do this because they are either antisemitic or have confused their empathy for the Palestinian people with hatred for someone like me who holds empathy for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Matisyahu wrote, saying that he was rejected after offering to pay for temporary staff to help out. Read the story ➤
⚖️ The brother of a deceased man suspected in four 2019 Boston-area arsons that targeted Jewish institutions pleaded not guilty to charges that he obstructed investigations into the incidents. (Associated Press)
Two-state solution imminent? “The Biden administration and a small group of Middle East partners are rushing to complete a detailed, comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and Palestinians, including a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, that could be announced as early as the next several weeks,” The Washington Post reports. “The urgency of the effort is tied directly to a proposed pause in the fighting and release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas that is being negotiated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.”
The U.K. recorded its worst year for antisemitism since 1984, when it began tracking such data. The number of antisemitic incidents across the country reached 4,103 — nearly double the previous high in 2021 — amid a surge after the outbreak of the war.
🎬 Jewish actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach was cast as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. Grimm is one of Marvel’s canonically Jewish characters, having had a bar mitzvah and Jewish wedding in the comics. He also seems to take inspiration from the story of the Golem. (Variety)
Some monkey business, or new that doesn’t suck - Why does an ape tickle a fellow ape? According to scientists, because it’s funny. A new study found our closest cousins in the animal kingdom, the great apes, have a sense of humor, or at least the beginnings of one. Researchers found that orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas all engage in “playful teasing,” “show laughter,” and display behaviors “similar to teasing in human infants” like tickling, poking, and pulling on hair. They believe this suggests that humor played a role in human development, writing that “joking draws on complex cognitive abilities: understanding social norms, theory of mind, anticipating others' responses and appreciating the violation of others’ expectations.” The orange turd must have missed this line of human development and evolution.
That’s all folks! Remember to be careful out there, and strike a pose!
Brad out.