How Do You Jew

How Do You Jew

  • Inspiration, long lost, rediscovered

    My last couple of years of high school I participated and competed in Speech & Debate (also known as Forensics). I did some humorous interpretation (HI), some dramatic interp (DI), some original oratory (OO – are you getting the hang of the initials now?), and even dabbled in the Debate part (not my preferred event;…

  • Figuring out IFTTT

    I finally got in and fixed my IFTTT recipe for mirroring my blog posts to Facebook. So, please go read my last post, about the Israeli ad campaign that includes this gem of a banner ad:

  • No Sacred Cows

    Israelis will make light or fun of pretty much anything, and not just behind closed doors. There’s a radio ad campaign on Israeli Broadcasting Authority stations right now promoting the election coverage on the news station. In the first ad I heard, which was amusing, Michelle Obama is heard trying to get Barack Obama’s attention,…

  • Figuring out humor/comedy/what’s funny with my kids

    This morning we all enjoyed this bit from Sesame Street, one of the greatest examples of entertainment ever put to media – educational, and with humor that appeals to everyone from preschoolers to centegenerians: Ricky Gervais sings Elmo a lullaby Recently, too, on the heels of a sarcastic comment from her mother at the dinner…

  • No equivalence

    The loss of innocent lives is truly tragic, while not always avoidable during war. But the fact that Israeli media is discussing, and the IDF is investigating, the tragic deaths of the members of the al Dalou family, brings into sharp relief the stark cultural differences that are making peace in this region so hard…

  • Forty kilometers (25 miles) from the border

    To make it easier to imagine yourself in southern Israel over the last several days (not to mention the last 10 years or so), as Palestinian terrorists fire dozens of deadly rockets every day on civilian population centers, here’s a handy little map. If Gaza was Tijuana, this is the area of San Diego county…

  • Count your blessings

    Tonight I get to go to sleep in my own bed, next to my wife, my only concern being how soon one of my children will wake up and need some attention (at worst, we’re talking a couple of times overnight, none of which are likely to kill me). Meanwhile, at MD Anderson Cancer Center…

  • Remembering Marla

    I didn’t know Marla Bennett personally, but I’ve gotten to know her mother Linda quite well over my years in San Diego. When the Gilad Shalit deal unfolded, and the “mastermind” of the Hebrew U bombing that killed Marla was said to be included in the list of prisoners to be released, I felt a…

  • Why I Love Hadag Nahash – למה אני אוהב את הדג נחש

    This is not an exhaustive list, but I’m immersing myself in old and new material (מקומי and otherwise) in preparation for tonight’s live show at Porter’s Pub at UCSD (link to Facebook event page; go there or ping me directly for ticket info – $20 for non-students). 1. Crowd-sourced video for BaSalon shel Salomon (In…

  • Public speaking & published writing

    My mom recently found my bar-mitzvah speech, written and delivered by my 13-year-old self, Oct. 17, 1982. I’m transcribing it here exactly the way it appears on the yellowed copy I used on the bimah: HONORED RABBIS, GUESTS, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS. In the beginning of the year my mother asked me if I wanted to…

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