MY URBAN KVETCH

Wishlists Mean Never Having to Say "I'm Sorry"

You guys know me. I'd never tell you that you have to pay for the privilege of reading stuff that comes out of my brain and magically winds its way to the columns of this blog. But if you were so inclined and felt overwhelmingly pressured by the overcommercialization of this "holiday season," you can select something from my Amazon wishlist, or contribute via the Tip Jar, also on this page. Also, those of you who have products to advertise can do so via BlogAds by clicking here.

And of course, you can always reward me with your pledge to become more active here, as a commenter, by sharing your favorite posts with friends, or encouraging people to sign up for the daily email via Feedburner. Because what I place value on more than anything else is the conversation.

In the coming days, I'll also suggest some other products for purchase for family and friends this year. Just in case you didn't have a clue what to get them. I try to help, when I can.

Happy holidays to all!

Emergent Jewish Communities Study Released

You know all those little minyanim that have popped up everywhere? Hadar, KOE, Darkhei Noam, Mission Minyan, IKAR, DC Minyan and all the others? Well, it's not just them. Today, at a special briefing by study authors Steven M. Cohen, J. Shawn Landres and Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, select professionals from various aspects of Jewish life learned about this trend of emergent spirituality as the three presented their report, "Emergen Jewish Communities and their Participants: Preliminary finding from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study."

Independent minyanim, or as the study's authors prefer to phrase it, "emergent communities," have now popped up all over the country, in Israel and even internationally (London, Sydney, Toronto and Zurich, for example). Today's "everything is possible" electronic marketplace of ideas provides a fertile ground for the more than 80 communities now operating in the US and Canada. The communities vary in structure and mission; some have rabbis and others don't. But all were founded to fill a need in the extant community in their specific geographic areas.

Several interesting findings emerged (as one would hope with "emergent communities") but with Shabbat due within the hour and preparations for my guest not yet concluded, such insights will have to wait until after the Sabbath Queen has departed. (And believe me, the Q&A after the presentation provoked lots of ideas, so there will be posts forthcoming...)

But if this bit of text has you insatiable, you can find the report and additional data at www.jewishemergent.org/survey.

Anne Frank Wanted to Be My MySpace Friend

She was listed as "Anne - 78 - Female." When I got the friend request in August, her last login was July 30, 2007. I made a note and put it aside, hoping to return to this post at some future point. Now, as of today (but probably before), her profile was deleted or she canceled her account.

If this does not show you how odd internet life is and how it can often tread the border between inspirational and bad taste, nothing will.

Some people would hear this and be shocked; they'd say that reducing Anne Frank, the unfortunate, yet inspiring poster girl for all the Jewish children whose lives were cut short during the Holocaust, to a MySpace profile is unconscionable, a derision of her suffering and a potential tool of hatred.

But others would have said that this is a truly contemporary Holocaust memorial; Anne, one of humanity's most famous and likely most enduring diarists, is symbolically the perfect MySpace user: although she had no expectation that her diary would be read, let alone on a daily basis that the technology age now permits, she certainly had dreams of being someone someday, of rising above the restriction of living quietly in the annex, and becoming a movie star or a famous writer.

I wish Anne's MySpace page were still around. Somehow, losing the page itself strikes an additional chord of sadness on a story we assumed had concluded so many years ago. Part of Anne's appeal has been the fact that, for all of the anti-Semitic circumstances of her incarceration, she was at her essence a teenager, going through teenage things, and this has remained one of her most enduring qualities.

True, there was also a maturity to her writing and an optimism-within-despair that has buoyed her diary to the lasting fame she always dreamed of. But to teens who read Anne's words, they're involved in a "there but for the grace of God, go I"; they know that she wrote in another time, under extreme circumstances, but she also wrote from the universal, collective teenage heart.

Are There Really 200,000 Israelis on Facebook?

Like I've said before (in fact, even before a crowd of thousands, see photo), Jews love Facebook. I mean, it makes sense; it's Jewish geography writ large and global. And this month's news indicates that the number of Israelis on Facebook has doubled since October (not even a complete month ago). Is this possible? (See here for an interesting report on Israel-Facebook by the numbers.)

On November 25, VC/tech guru (and PICZ speaker) Jacob Ner-David noted on his blog that he was suspicious of the numbers:

As of yesterday (last I checked) there were over 200,000 Facebook members who identified themselves as originating in Israel, i.e. self-identifying as Israelis. That is a lot, especially given the fact that there are only 7.2 million citizens of Israel, according the Israel census bureau. If we take the numbers on face value, 2.7% of Israelis are members of Facebook. Remember, this in a country where a good 10% are ideologically opposed to the Internet. Are a lot of Israelis using Facebook? Yes. 200,000? No.

So where's the number coming from?

Calling All Israel Travelers Who Become Situational Smokers in the Holy Land

You know who you are...you wouldn't think of smoking up in the Big Apple or in L.A., mostly because it's becoming impossible to do so. But in Israel, it's such a smoking-permissive society that it's practically a mitzvah to inhale in the Holy Land, right?

Well, you might be surprised to learn that only 23% of the population smokes. (Or rather, identifies as being smokers, and I would think that the real number's much higher than that.) And now, you can kiss that "mitzvah" shalom. And I don't mean "hello" or "peace".

Arutz Sheva reported that today the Knesset Law Committee gave its final stamp of approval to enforce fines that are meant to stamp out smoking in public places, including restaurants, coffee houses, bars and shopping centers:

Smokers who choose to ignore the law face a fine of up to NIS 1,000 ($260) for lighting up in public places.

Business owners will be penalized as well: fines of up to NIS 5,000 ($1,300) will be levied on businesses which allow smokers to puff away in violation of the law. Restaurant and coffee house owners will also be fined NIS 1,290 for each ashtray present on a table outside of special smoking zones.

And as Israel's smokers cry oppression, the game gets even more fun for non-smokers.... business owners are required to "ask their customers not to smoke, and to report them to the local inspection authority if they persist in doing so," and customers can take advantage of a required-to-be-posted hotline number that they can call to report violators.

So, as they say in Israel, "na lo l'asheyn. Todah." Although by writing that out in English letters, I'm realizing that the word "esh" (fire) and "ash" (ash) seem similar, and "l'asheyn" means smoking, which creates ash, meaning that the word itself might mean "to make ash." Interesting.

Celebrities Sing Chanukah (JewishRobot strikes again)

In case any of us had any doubt about Ben Baruch (Shabot6000) being just about the most talented person in New York, check out this new vid of his. True, we may have been hoping for "Chanukah Girl," but we'll be pretty happy with this frenetic compendium of Jewish and "Jewish" celebrity-heads singing for their supper of latkes, which nicely doubles as an ad for PopJudaica.com (formerly ChosenCouture). In addition to being the creative mind and artistic talent behind the video, "the Jewish Robot" also provides all of the male impressions, which, appropriately, is impressive.

Today, I Am a Keyboard: Bar Mitzvah Lessons Online

Scheduling bar mitzvah lessons with a tutor can be so difficult; coordinating different schedules and carpools in order to get everyone where he or she needs to be in order to learn those precious notes that, when expressed in a synagogue context, indicates the maturation of that boy or girl into a man or woman. If only they could take care of that education over the internet....

Well, they can. As Beliefnet (quoting from a story by Religion News Service) reported, a kid in East Brunswick is getting schooled (in a good way) by a rabbi in Brooklyn, via the internet, which is more convenient and prevents him from missing soccer practice. Other religions are also providing internet-based instruction, and while everyone agrees that this is somewhat more convenient, one cannot help but wonder if by giving up on the synagogue or an actual physical structure of community, children educated over the internet might internalize the lesson that having a physical community isn't necessary.

GA Plenary Video Now on JewTube

The highlights reel is here:

Splantaneity: Making a Spontaneous Plan

At midnight last night, I was sitting in my apartment, typing and making soup. Why make soup at midnight when one is not a witch? Well, it started about 6:45 pm last night, with me making soup.

It's not like I spend a lot of time making soup, that it should figure so prominently in a story. Still, it's been quite an evening. Friend and colleague Lisa Klug (author of the forthcoming book, Cool Jew) called me. "Wanna go to a concert?" I was wearing yoga pants (hold the yoga, but the pants are comfy) and a thermal shirt. I was making soup. I was home for the night. Until she said the two magic words: "Idan Raichel."

"Celebrity Apprentice"? Or "Celebrity" "Apprentice"?

I'm torn. When there's a TV show title, you should put the whole title in quotation marks. But when you're trying to make a sarcastic comment using quotation marks -- as in describing people as "celebrities" when they're not really celebrities but are so designated by someone else -- where do you put the quotation marks?

Grammar is hard.