After Imus: Jewish comics, Lenny Bruce & Sarah Silverman

From Jewish World Review:

For Jewish comics, Dom Imus is no joke.

In the wake of the shock jock's unflattering comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team and his shockingly swift departure from the national airwaves has come a national discussion about the propriety of character defamation in the guise of humor, and predictions that an era of increased civility will ensue.

Today, boundaries are the subject of discussion. What type of language is an acceptable part of a public performance? Are profanity, sexual references and derogatory references to specific minority groups — Imus' downfall — to be banished by overt legislation or covert consensus?

So, ahh, what do we do with the legacy of Lenny Bruce?:

"Children ought to watch pornographic movies : it's healthier than learning about sex from Hollywood." (from How to Talk Dirty and Influence People, 1965)

"I really dig what they do with a homosexual in this country. They put him into a prison with a lot of other men. That's a really good punishment." (Dustin Hoffman in Lenny)

American stand-up comedian and brilliant satirist, who created much controversy in his time due to his use of so-called 'dirty words' in his nightclub comedy act. The black humor of Bruce's largely improvised shows often overstepped the bounds of what was considered in the 1950s and 1960s respectable. Bruce's performances, his fresh and daring way of breaking rules, influenced such comedians as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams.

More on Bruce is here.

Aaaaand while we're talkin', how about Sarah Silverman - will she go on welfare or get a job flipping burgers anytime soon?

“I wear this St. Christopher medal sometimes because—I’m Jewish, but my boyfriend is Catholic—it was cute the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn’t burn through my skin it will protect me.”

“I was raped by a doctor,” she says. “Which is so bittersweet for a Jewish girl.”

And finally (NSFW - but for a good cause, so, what the hell...):

The New Yorker interview with her is here.

Israel At 59: Megadeath, Hip-Hop Hatikva, 'Human Beat-Box' & Dudu Fisher

There. That got your attention.

Click the flag.

Also from Ynet News, other artists do Hatikva:

• Teapacks

• Zehava Ben

• Rivka Zohar

• Daniel Zamir

And, of course, while we're talkin' odd musical covers in the national anthem, why not try out Megadeath guitarist Marty Friedman, from a recent gig in Tel Aviv:

Happy 59th.

Memorial Day: The heart breaks, the soul mourns

Grieving mother of Israeli civilian
killed in Katyusha strike in Haifa
holds his photo, as her sister looks on.
(Dave Bender)

As Memorial Day in Israel draws to a close and Independence Day enters, The Jerusalem Post offers photos of civilians and solders, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular who were killed during last summer's Second Lebanon War.

A total of 43 Israeli civilians (including four who died of heart attacks during rocket barrages) and 116 IDF soldiers were killed in the Israel-Hizbullah war.

Listening to the achingly sad songs on Galei Tzahal Army Radio via Internet from across the sea, and the heart wrenching litanies of family and friends telling of their fallen friends, comrades, children, parents and loved ones, the heart grieves, the soul feels the pain, loss - and longing to return to Israel soon. To be at home.

In "Wind of Remembrance," colleague Judy Lash Balint writes so movingly about Memorial Day ceremonies in Israel. Go read it, and buy her new book Jerusalem Diaries II.

JerusalemOnline Memorial Day update (Video - Channel 2 TV)

Today's Headlines:

Click to watch Memorial Day ceremony: Israel remembers its fallen Click to watch a Memorial Day commemoration Click to watch a tribute to those who fought and fell for Israel Click to watch the story of an Israeli peace activist killed in a terror attack.

Click on screen for more news

22,305 Fallen: Every number a name, a face, a memory

Faith Under Fire

War Against Hizbullah, Summer 2006:
Israeli Defense Forces soldier at brief morning prayers
along northern border; smoke from a recently fallen Katyusha rocket rises in distance.
(Photo: Dave Bender - More images are here)

From the Israel Foreign Ministry:

A total of 22,305 men and women have been killed defending the land of Israel since 1860, the year that the first Jewish settlers left the secure walls of Jerusalem to build new Jewish neighborhoods.

In the past year, since Remembrance Day 2005, 233 members of the security forces - police, IDF, Border Police, Israel Security Agency and other organizations - have been killed in the service of the state.

Israel's 59th Independence Day celebrations will commence on Monday evening, April 23, when the state flag is raised to full mast at a national ceremony on Mount Herzl, at which twelve torches are lit.

Israel at 59: Statistics

Click image to view a memorial
film on Israel's fallen

Israel At 59: Orthodox Union slideshow

Ok. Shameless self-promotion disclaimer here - but hey, they asked.

So, What Does Israel Mean To You?

(Image courtesy AJC)

This?


This?


This?

Or something in between?

Comments are welcome, and many will be posted here (some with appropriate replies, so be nice...). So, c'mon - speak up.

To see an Israel beyond the headlines, go here and here for features, and here and here for images.

Israel at 59 to Hamas: you need us

Cor-ten steel sculpture on observation deck of
Tel Aviv's Azrieli Towers (Photo: Dave Bender)

From Bradley Burston in Haaretz:

To you, the leaders and activists of Hamas, on the occasion of the 59th anniversary of the darkest day on the Palestinian calendar, I offer my sympathy.

After all this time, perhaps there is only one thing more galling for you than the fact that the State of Israel still exists: the fact that you need us.

(...)You want to believe that if you wait long enough, endure enough anguish, exact enough revenge, the Jews will relent. It seems only fair, only just, that after all this sacrifice and struggle, you will come into possession of the very state for which you have sworn to give your very life.

You don't know the Jews.

Virginia Tech: heroic Israeli Holocaust survivor's last moments

An absolute must read in Newsday:

Theresa Walsh was one of the last people to see Liviu Librescu alive.

"He looked horrified, almost as if he knew what was going to happen," said the Virginia Tech math major, who had stepped into the hallway from a second-floor classroom across from his when she heard gunshots.

---
From Ynet News:

Librescu was buried Friday morning at the Ra'anana cemetery. Hundreds of mourners accompanied Librescu to his final resting place.

From The Jerusalem Post:

According to Librescu's wife [Marlena], lighting Shabbat candles was his favorite mitzvah.

...[Son] Arie said his mother would now move to back Israel once she has completed the arrangements in the US.

Gheorghe Angelescu, adviser to the president of Romania, presented Marlena Librescu at the funeral with the Grand Cross of Romania - the country's highest civilian honor, which was previously granted to the prime ministers of France and Italy.

Librescu was given the award for his scientific achievements and the heroism surrounding his death. According to Angelescu, Librescu "was a very important scientist - not just for Israel or Romania, but for the world."

Professor Liviu Librescu's funeral (photo: Ido Erez)

Jews worldwide - whatever your level of observance - take an example from Librescu, and light Shabbat candles this evening, just before sunset. Here's how.

Librescu condolence page.

'Wandering Jews' get a 'Geni' map

Jewish memorial tree, Budapest, Hungary
(Photo credit)

Blogger Brian Blum is touting a new web-based genealogy app: Geni:

Every time you add a name, you can include an email address. Geni then sends a message inviting that person to join your tree and start entering data of his or her own. In that way, your family tree grows as other people do the heavy lifting. Geni sends out an email summary of every week of who's joined and allows you to enter missing addresses directly into the email.

To give you an example, I started by entering 21 names into Geni. I knew the email addresses of 15 of those people and they were automatically invited, a number of whom immediately began filling in their part of the tree. After about 3 weeks of using Geni, there are now 472 people in my tree dating as far back as the 1850s – to my great-great grandfather who lived in Berlad Romania – and as far a field as my aunt's ex-husband's sister's family. That comes out to 115 blood relatives and 356 in-laws.

Worth a visit and sign-up, I'd say.

More Jewish genealogy resources are here.