A prisoner, Thomas Feldheim, in a New Jersey prison, biding his time until he would be extradited to North Carolina on charges of raping a 13 year old girl made a request of the prison services for kosher food.

Corrections Authorities asked for confirmation of his need for kosher food from a local Chabad rabbi. Rabbi Carlebach asked Feldheim if his mother was Jewish, and Feldheim told him his mother is not, but his father is.

Rabbi Carlebach told the correction center that Feldheim is not Jewish, and they denied his request for kosher food.

A big deal is being made of this, as if the county is making a decision as to who is a Jew, reviving the old debate.

The ACLU drafted a complaint and sent it to the corrections center, saying the state should have no say if an inmate is sufficiently religious or not, and his religious affiliation is a personal belief.

The state complied and gave him back his kosher meals, until he was transferred in June to North Carolina.

Who Is A Jew?

Is Feldheim a Jew? Obviously not, by our standards as Orthodox Jews, as we reject patrilineal descent. However, I don't see how a state, a non-jewish state that believes in, or allows for, multiple streams of religion, can possibly make such a decision. It was probably just some hasty official not realizing he was getting involved in a major civil liberties decision, and just figured he wanted to do the right thing. As soon as they filed a complaint, he immediately backtracked. There must be some way where these sorts of situations must be processed through official channels following certain methods of policy making.

I don't know that he deserved the kosher food, and I find it difficult to support his request considering he is  not a Jew in my opinion, but in the USA it seems you don't need to be a Jew to request kosher food at the taxpayers dime. Even a non-Jew who just wants to identify with Judaism or kosher food, or somebody who considers himself Jewish as per Reform standards, can request it.

Minister of Interior Eli Yishai (Shas) has decided to put the listing of nationality, stating "Jew", back on the teudat zehut of Israeli citizens. Yishai says it is optional, and only people who want it listed will have it added.

The irony is that Yishai is the one who had it removed originally. He did so because he had to get around a decision by the Supreme Court that would have forced him to write "Jew" on the identity cards of converts that he personally, not really personally but according to the rabbonim he follows, does not accept as Jews. To avoid the problem, he removed the entire listing from the teudat zehut.

Yishai says he is bringing the listing back because he has been requested to by older holocaust survivors. Many have old identity cards that still list "JEW", and have been replacing them recently with new cards due to wear and tear. Upon seeing that "JEW" is no longer listed, they get upset, and have been petitioning him to have it returned.

Another item of irony is that when Yishai originally removed the listing, the Reform and Conservative movements were furious. They recognized it for what it was, a way of circumventing the listing of their converts as Jews. Now, with Yishai bringing the listing back, they are again furious, claiming the listing as a blow to pluralism and freedom. They are calling ti a strategic threat to the Jewish people.

First they Yishai did not want it, and now he does. First The Reform wanted it, and now they oppose it.

I wonder what Yishai will do the first time a Conservative or Reform convert wants his teudat zehut to say "JEW"... he got around it last time by removing the listing, what will he do next time?

I have no problem with people, especially from his generation and day, not wearing yarmulkes at work. That was fairly common and understandable. I don't like the way he then turns it into an ideal, almost as a lechatchila position.

Barak Obama's half brother is Jewish it turns out. I didn't know that before.

His father's 3rd wife is Jewish, and his son from that marriage is therefore jewish as well.

Like his novel's main character, Ndesandjo had an American mother who is Jewish and who divorced his Kenyan father. The novel, which goes on sale Wednesday by the self-publishing company Aventine Press, is one of several books in the works by relatives of the president.

President Obama's parents separated two years after he was born in Hawaii in 1961. The senior Obama, a Kenyan exchange student, divorced the president's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, in 1964 and had at least six other children in his native Kenya.

For the past seven years, Ndesandjo has been living in the booming southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, and has refused all interview requests until now.

Ndesandjo, who said he attended Obama's inauguration as a family guest, declined to discuss his earliest memories of the president or describe their relationship over the years. However, he said he plans to meet his brother in Beijing when the president makes his first visit to China on Nov. 15-18.

hmmmm...

This is the story as told to me by an occasional commenter..

This guy at work is a secular Jew. Yet when he travels, wherever he goes, he tales along a pair of tefillin.

Why? He does not wear them when he is in Israel, nor does he don them when he is traveling. he simply takes them along. So why does he bother?

His father told him (a long time ago), that whenever he travels he should take his tefillin along. So he does.

On the one hand he is an idiot. On the other, at least he is thinking about his tefillin and he knows they have some sort of importance - the pintele yid, as we call it, keeps it in the front of his mind.

I have read articles by and about Alan Veingrad, but here is a video about him with an interview..



(HT: TS via VIN)

We are now deep into the period knows as "The Three Weeks". A full week has passed. This period of time is meant to be one of mourning over the destruction of the Temples, and also of the various Jewish communities throughout history. It is a time of introspection and self-analysis.

It is difficult to arouse such feelings, in today's day and age. We, for the most part, have little understanding of what life was like with the Temples, and therefore it is difficult to arouse the appropriate levels of "mourning" and consideration. It was a long time ago, we never experienced it, it is very difficult to honestly mourn.

That is why, I think, that the mourning is barely visible on most people. Sure, we keep the customs associated with the time period - we do not listen to music, no weddings, no buying new clothes, etc.. but the actual mourning is missing.

There is one aspect that one will now begin to notice while walking the streets of Israel. That would be: no haircuts or shaving.

All of the sudden, everyone here looks like Bruce Willis. Everyone has the 5 o' clock shadow. Soon everyone will have the short, messy beards. One of the customs of the Three Weeks is no haircuts and shaving.

From what I remember in the US, most people use the excuse of "parnassah" to allow themselves to shave and get haircuts (it is a valid excuse and I am not criticizing it). Meaning, it is detrimental to their earning a livelihood, as it is inappropriate to show up to work, among the non-jews, looking "disheveled" because of not shaving. It is not acceptable, and many shave for that reason.

In Israel, a Jew can live like a Jew is supposed to, if he so desires, and the parnassah excuse is used much less frequently. One can work in the most secular of offices in Israel and does not have to shave. He can follow the Jewish customs and not be concerned about such repercussions.

Just walk down the street and see how suddenly everyone is sporting short beards, which will soon be longer. It is considered acceptable and legitimate to keep your religious practices, and one need not fear any external forces.

Only in Israel. Another reason to live in Israel - a person can live like a Jew.

Al Franken has finally announced his intentions to run for Senate.

After much consideration and thought, he finally made the leap and announced his candidacy.

He was great on Saturday Night Live. He is a hilarious comedian. He is an insightful and inspired person. He has written some great books. He has been running Air America to combat the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

And he's a Jew, so help out a brother.

If you are from Minnesota, consider voting for Al. If I was, I would. We need more colorful politicians anyway.