December 30, 2009 | 7:25 pm

Bar Refaeli, Israeli pride of the celebrity rags

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Follow me on

Bar Refaeli is arguably Israel’s best-known ex-pat since Joseph. Who else could command such tabloid attention as last year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model?

The scuttlebutt now: Bar and Leonardo DiCarprio, who called it quits last summer, were spotted bar hopping together in Mexico over the weekend.

I know. Riveting.

Gotta love TMZ. Though this was a nice change of pace from the Jamie McCourt stories.

Bar Refaeli previously graced these pages when she appeared on the cover of Heeb’s Jewish swimsuit issue and later when she led SI’s swimsuit edition.

December 29, 2009 | 8:35 pm

Too many birthday candles even for Jesus

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Though Friday we celebrated Christmas, Dec. 25 is not actually the day Jesus was born. Regardless, Jesus was born quite a while ago, which Roy Rivenburg has a little fun with in this article at Not the Los Angeles Times:

He huffed and He puffed, but Jesus couldn’t blow out all 2,012 candles on this year’s birthday cake, according to reports from Heaven.

“I guess it was inevitable,” one angel said. “Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, and the human side is slowing down with age.”

Several archangels said they hoped the incident would spur Heaven to scale back on its annual Nativity party, a frequent source of consternation for residents of Paradise.

“Have you ever tried throwing a surprise party for an ominiscient being?” one saint said. Others grumbled about the difficulty of shopping for Jesus. “What are you supposed to get a guy who created the universe? A new necktie?”

A little more here.

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December 29, 2009 | 5:27 pm

Study links cancer to Holocaust survival

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

As if the memories of the Holocaust weren’t painful enough, Holocaust survivors who emigrated to Israel have had a higher rate of cancer than other Israelis, according to a new study:

The rates of breast and colorectal cancer were particularly high among those who spent the war years in Nazi-occupied Europe, according to the paper, published Nov. 4 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The most striking disparity was among those who were youngest during the war. Of the 315,544 subjects in the study, men born from 1940 to 1945 who were in Europe through the war years developed cancer at three and a half times the rate of men the same age who immigrated to Israel during the war; women in Europe throughout the war years were at more than double the risk, the study found.

The question of whether living in camps or under other dire conditions contributed to cancer in later life has long vexed Israeli experts.

“It is a very delicate question,” said Dr. Micha Barchana, director of the Israel National Cancer Registry and the paper’s senior author. “Holocaust survivors are treated like a special population in Israel, and we wanted to be sensitive. They have already been traumatized, and we did not want to traumatize them again.”

More from The New York Times here.

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December 29, 2009 | 12:09 pm

Embracing the Jewfro

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

It’s definitely that Jewfro time of the year for me. Fortunately, I’m in good company. After all, Friday was Jesus’ birthday.

The Jewfro is a Greenberg family tradition. (So is the mustache, but that had to stop at my generation.) My dad has been rocking the Brillo pad since being a McDonald’s fry guy was a cool high school job. And then I didn’t know how deep my Jewy roots really ran, I’ve since learned that my head of hair can’t escape it. Amen.

Of course, I’m not the only fan of the Jewfro. On his blog, Eugene Rubin waxes nostalgic about the days when he could embrace his wild Jewish locks:

If I’d known then what I know now, I would have celebrated my Hebrew halo. Sadly, my once-magnificent Jewfro has migrated south … to my back. Thus, it’s too late for me to enjoy what is now seen as the epitome of Semitic virility. But I’m a physician, dedicated to helping others: I’ve done the research, and I’m now prepared to pass on the recipe for the perfect Jewfro.

Like snowflakes, Jewfros have endless variations, which can be grouped roughly: “The Traditionalist” (Gabe “Mr. Kotter” Kaplan, James Caan, Elliott Gould), “The Fat-n-Funny” (the newly trim Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill), “The California Blonde” (Art Garfunkel, Victor Garber), “The Rebel” (Howard Stern, Larry Fine), “The Intelligentsia” (Albert Einstein and, what the heck, Albert Brooks, whose real name is Albert Einstein), “The Goyfro” (Nick Jonas, John McEnroe), “The Pube” (Gene Wilder), “The Rockfro” (Bob Dylan, Adam Duritz, Marc Bolan), and, of course, “The Sistafro” (Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Rhea Pearlman).

Your own Jewfro may be loose and bouncy, or tight and kinky. However it may sprout from your dome, rest assured that if you treat it right, it’ll turn heads and turn on the ladies. Neglect it and you’ll be just another nappy-headed Jewish nerd.

True story: My wife once told friends that my curly hair was her favorite feature of mine. That’s funny because when we got married she had never seen my hair longer than an overdue buzzcut.

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December 28, 2009 | 5:42 pm

A painful decade in Jewish history

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

It’s that time when most journalism outlets are reflecting on the biggest stories of the past year and decade. And over the next few days I’ll be linking to a few of these, starting with JTA’s “gloomy decade” of Jews fighting the J2K virus:

Things were going so well through most of 2000—building on positive trends in the 1990s—then matters took a sudden and sharp turn for the worse.

The Israelis and Palestinians finally were hashing out the details of a final peace deal, an Orthodox Jew seemed poised to be elected vice president of the United States, and it was a time of unprecedented wealth and philanthropic activity in the Jewish community. For a few months it seemed that American Jews could have it both ways: full integration without assimilation at home and a Jewish state free of war in the Middle East. The safety and acceptance that had been denied Jews for centuries and then in Israel for decades appeared to be within reach.

Before 2000 was over, however, the convergence of these utopian developments had unraveled. Joe Lieberman was undone by hanging chads and confused Palm Beach, Fla., voters who ended up voting for Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore. The peace process, meanwhile, collapsed eventually after the Palestinians rejected Israeli proposals for a final deal and launched the second intifada.

So instead of a golden age in Jewish history, the past 10 years ended up bringing waves of unforeseen anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism worldwide, increased scrutiny of Jewish organizations in the United States, and growing threats to Israel and the West from Islamic terrorist organizations and Iran. Not to mention the near collapse of the global financial system, a slumping world economy and a shrinking Jewish philanthropic landscape.

We could start with Bernard Madoff, 9/11 conspiracy theories and burgeoning anti-Semitism in Europe. But the list goes on and on.

More from JTA editor-in-chief Ami Eden’s essay here.

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December 28, 2009 | 4:09 pm

Greenberg gets a movie

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

My mother always told me I’d make something of myself. I hope she won’t be too disappointed to learn that the new film starring Ben Stiller, “Greenberg,” isn’t actually about me. From SlashFilm:

Meet Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller): a dysfunctional 40-year-old at a crossroads in his life.  Roger wants to “do nothing” for a while, so he agrees to housesit for his younger and more successful brother, giving him a free place to stay in L.A.  While in town, he tries to reconnect with his old friends and band mates but times have changed, and old friends aren’t necessarily still best friends.  Greenberg starts spending time with his brother’s personal assistant Florence (Great Gerwig), an aspiring singer and herself something of a lost soul too.  During a series of embarrassingly awkward romantic encounters, we sense that perhaps even someone as irascible as Greenberg may have found somebody who is prepared to appreciate him for himself - if he would only stop critiquing Florence’s techniques in bed.  Over the course of several weeks, we watch an uncertain and wonderfully vulnerable courtship play out, and learn how funny, and terribly unpredictable, love in the modern world can be.

There is a clip in the trailer, which is after the jump, that I’ve definitely seen myself do when crosses busy streets in LA:

Read more of this post

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December 28, 2009 | 1:14 am

Al Qaeda on a plane

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

About the failure of that suspected terror attack on a Christmas Day flight. Religion as usual is front and center. In fact, the suspect got onto a terror watch list only last week—after a tip from his father:

The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was added to a catch-all terrorism-related database when his father, a Nigerian banker, reported concerns about his son’s “radicalization and associations” to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, a senior administration official said.

That’s a serious move by a parent. (Reminds me of the reaction I got when I asked the father of homeless poker pro Ellix Powers for his thoughts on his son’s career.)

Now questions have arisen as to whether Abdulmutallab was working with Al Qaeda or, if just inspired by, “the group’s radicalized ideology has ‘metastasized’ well beyond traditional safe havens.”

According to US media citing unnamed US officials, Abdulmutallab confessed once in custody that he had received specific training for the attack from an Al-Qaeda bombmaker in Yemen.

Al-Qaeda camps in Yemen have been in the crosshairs in recent months, and the White House Thursday reiterated support for authorities there after Yemeni aircraft killed 34 suspected Al-Qaeda members in the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stepped in Sunday to say there was “no indication” yet Abdulmutallab had taken his orders from Al-Qaeda or that the attack was part of a broader terror plot.

Experts and lawmakers paint a different story.

Read more about what the talking heads have to say here.

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December 27, 2009 | 3:50 pm

Faith and family in Meyer’s resignation

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I know he coaches the Florida Gators, but Urban Meyer unleashed a hurricane yesterday when he announced he would resign after Tim Tebow and the Gators play in the Sugar Bowl next month. Meyer said it is for health reasons, and, for once in sports (or politics), it sounds like it actually is:

Urban Meyer is in the fight of his life.

It is hard to imagine that that’s overstating it when the immensely popular and successful coach of an envied major-college power steps down abruptly and unequivocally cites his health as the reason.

``I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family,’’ Meyer said in the statement explaining his decision.

Ominous words, those. When football coaches talk about priorities in their lives, they generally have in mind whether to run or pass. Little beyond football outweighs the game to so many driven coaches—and Meyer admitted that in 24 years in the profession, he became one of those men.

Meyer later explained to ESPN football analysts and others that he has irregularities in his heart muscle and, though it is not life threatening, the pain is with him all the time and aggravated by stress. (In case you didn’t know, college football coaches eat and sleep football.) Still waiting for more details to emerge regarding the “faith and family” line. But I think we can assume that Meyer was just admitting what many at his level can’t: there is more to life than coaching.

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December 26, 2009 | 7:55 pm

Israeli president’s Christmas blessing

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

You don’t see this every day, or even every year: Israeli President Shimon Peres issued a Christmas blessing to Christians around the world, praying this year will be a year of peace.

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December 25, 2009 | 1:58 pm

A Very Merry F&*#ing Christmas

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

So much for a war on Christmas. No one spreads Christmas cheer quite like Mr. Garrison.

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December 25, 2009 | 3:06 am

Pope attacked at Christmas Eve mass

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

They really need to ramp up security in Italy. First the prime minister gets attacked—now the pope. It’s hard to think of a high-ranking mortal that could be the target of some crazed crowdmember. From the NYT:

An “unbalanced woman” jumped the barriers in St. Peter’s Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday.

But the pope quickly got back on his feet and celebrated Mass before thousands of the faithful, urging them in his homily to become “truly vigilant people.”

Television images showed a woman in red leap toward Benedict, 82, as he began to walk up the central aisle, as the police and bodyguards scrambled to his aid.

So much for silent night.

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December 24, 2009 | 1:42 pm

Israel’s underage drinking problem

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

So that’s why all those teenage were walking the boardwalk and streets and Nahariya so late on a school night. JTA and the Israeli prime minister solved one of the mysteries of my trip to Israel three summers ago:

Israel’s Cabinet approved a bill banning the sale of alcohol to people under age 21.

The bill, passed Sunday, also bans the sale of alcohol in public places and would impose large fines on those who sell alcohol to minors.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting that according to the World Health Organization, Israel is second in the world in alcohol consumption by 11-year-olds and the rate of consumption among 15- to 17-year-olds is above 50 percent.

“We are at the onset of an epidemic,” he said.

And they say Jews don’t drink ...

You know, if we weren’t talking about Israel here and, additionally, this state wasn’t surrounded by Muslim countries, there would be more foreign teenagers flocking to kosher supermarkets than, in safer times, San Diego high schoolers crossing the border into TJ.

(P.S. I don’t recommend doing a Google search to determine if underage is one word of two when used as an adjective. It’s one, and the search results will leave you feeling queasy.)

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