Stunning Israel Series: 'Arise And Walk The Land' (original photograph)

Hikers atop Mt. Gilboa, overlooking the fertile Jordan Valley,
on a winter afternoon. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Blue Suede Jews: Elvis' 'shloshim' redux (exclusive video)

"The Elvis Inn" (Photo: Dave Bender)

(Wasn't planning on -- excuse the expression -- resurrecting this for Elvis's 30th bash, but, if the venerable Atlanta Journal-Constitution can do it, what the hey...)

Here's the original story I wrote for American Jewish Life:

"Memphis has Graceland. Vegas has impersonators. And Israel -- yes, Israel -- has the Elvis Inn, a bizarre desert Mecca for Middle East Elvis enthusiasts. It's the Holy Land, people, and the King has risen.

"Now, it's not as if I'm some kind of delusional Elvis freak here in the holy city, waving a hand-scrawled sign drawn in black magic markers, babbling on about Mideast war and peace in one breath and Elvis and aliens in the next, but, there I was: noon on Friday and traipsing through the market's bustling main open avenue doing my weekly round of pre-Sabbath shopping when I saw Elvis."

Read the rest.

And here's the video I produced for Infolive tv:

The Elvis Inn from Dave Bender and Vimeo.

"ahh got a hunk-a', hunk-a' burnin' s'hug, burning s'hug..." (ok - I'll shut up now...)

Israeli joins ranks of Ninja grandmasters

(...hey, and no dopey jokes about turtles, mutant or otherwise, or their creator, Israeli Haim Saban.)

From Channel 10 News via Infolive tv:

Professor Van Yuren, a Dan 10 Ninjitsu grand master, is in Israel to ordain the first ever Israeli ninjitsu grand master, David Haliva. Haliva must pass rigorous, life-risking tests and sign a blood oath in order to join the ranks of grand masters in this secretive and ancient martial art

Previously on this subject: Israeli Yemenite martial arts grandmaster goes viral.

Click the pic for the original report.

More unique Israeli martial arts are here.

'Stunning Israel' (photo series)

Click the pic for a larger version, with commentary.

Jerusalem At Night (original photo)

Been all kinds of busy with work and life, an' such the last few weeks, so blogging's suffered a hit. Anyway...

As Jews worldwide enter the month of Elul, preceding the Rosh Hashanah New Year, Yom Kippur, and Succot. From Aish.com:

Everything is different when the Jewish month of Elul arrives. It, too, is 30 days before the Big Day, which in this case is Rosh Hashana. It is not a time in which we strive to find some sort of balance between shopping and dropping. It is a time of love, yearning, reconciliation, forgiveness, and return.

I sure get the yearning and return thing:

Jerusalem At Night. Click the pic for a nice, hi-rez version.
(Photo: Dave Bender)

I shot this at about 03:00, soon before I came to the States. It's a view of the Malha Mall area of Jerusalem, from the heights of Gilo, cupping the city from the south. More photo-techie talk about getting the shot is here.

And yes, while I have posted it before, this image means a lot to me for many reasons that I won't go into here, although veteran readers of this blog will (hopefully) understand.

Check back soon for more.

D'OH! The Simpsons - Now in Hebrew

"Exxxxxxcelent, Smithers..."

"Lisa: [tired] Here you go, Bart. It's a longshot, but that's all I can do without learning ancient Hebrew.

Bart: [stares at her]
Lisa: Bart! I am not going to learn ancient Hebrew!
Bart: But you already know pig Latin, how much different can it be?"

A rerun from an earlier post on Bart and Co.:

In December 2003, Fox broadcast a new Simpsons episode with a mostly Jewish theme, titled "Today, I Am A Clown." Besides seeing Krusty's Bar Mitzvah (with Mr. T helping: "I pity the shul that won't let Krusty in now"), we learned that Springfield has a Jewish Walk of Fame, that Krusty's full name is Herschel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofski, and that Lisa has a Jewish imaginary friend ("Her name is Rachel Cohen. And she just got into Brandeis.").

More on the Jewish connection with the Simpsons and Springfield here.

Harry Potter: "Damn. They're on to us. Oy vey."

Harry: "Damn. They're on to us. Oy vey."

Not too sure which is the better satire: the original article, or this rippingly good riposte. And to think: we almost had the Darfur plot sewn up...

In another brilliant example of investigative journalism, the Iranian newspaper, Kayhan, affiliated with the nation's top religious authority, discovered this week that the Harry Potter series of children's books is really a Zionist plot. The article referred to Harry Potter as a “billion-dollar Zionist project", the purpose of which was to “disrupt young minds”.

This discovery represents yet another setback for our conspiratorial efforts. Despite suggestions that J.K. Rowling (the "J" obviously standing for "Jew") being advised to avoid such titles as "Harry Potter and the Matzah Ball Soup", or "Harry Potter and the Wholesale Discount", the Iranians have once again seen through the subtext of Harry's magical world.

Read it all.

Stunning Israel: New Photo Feature!

Click the pic for larger images

Featuring some stunning "amateur" photographs of Israel from around the world...

Darfur & Israel: Seeing the story in black and white (Updated)

When you mention Darfur refugees, most Israelis think about the hundreds of Sudanese who have streamed into Israel this year and the controversy and confusion over what the government should do with them.

However, Dr. Drora Zarfati, an ophthalmologist from the Emek Medical Center in Afula, sees the issue of refugees from Darfur in a different light, so to speak - she's just returned from two weeks of performing dozens of eyesight restoring surgical procedures, and treating ocular diseases for south Sudanese refugees at the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya.

Read the rest.

Update: Aliza Olmert, wife of prime minister Ehud, writes a moving piece at Ynet News about her encounter with refugees arriving in Israel.

Meanwhile, through the looking glass, the usual yammering screed:

Sudan's defense minister, Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, has accused "24 Jewish organizations" of "fueling the conflict in Darfur" last week in an interview with a Saudi newspaper. Hussein was interviewed during an official state visit to the Saudi kingdom last week.

(...sigh)

How might Tony Soprano put it? "We got ya' f-kin' Jew conspiracy riiiight heah, babe."

Camel Jumping for Fun & Prophet!

,,,and now that I've got your attention, may I wish you all a Shabbat Shalom, and have a great weekend...