May 24, 2012 | 9:49 pm

Maryland high court OKs same-sex divorce

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Maryland does not recognize same-sex marriage, but last week the state’s highest court said that if a same-sex couple legally married in another state sought a divorce in Maryland court, then Maryland would have to grant it. From the ABA Journal:

The court, in a 7-0 ruling (PDF), said Maryland courts should withhold recognition of a valid foreign marriage only if that marriage is “repugnant” to state public policy. It said that threshold is a high bar that had not been met in the case before it.

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“A valid out-of-state same-sex marriage should be treated by Maryland courts as worthy of divorce, according to the applicable statutes, reported cases, and court rules of this state,” Judge Glenn T. Herrell wrote for the court.

What caught my eye was the court’s saying that a same-sex marriage was not repugnant to state public policy—even though state public policy does not permit same-sex marriage. If this logic was in fact flawed, it would be odd coming from a 7-0 decision.

Possibly the rationale is that though same-sex marriage is against Maryland public policy, recognizing it does not rise to the level of being “repugnant” and, furthermore, it is balanced against the public policy interest in not forcing an unhappy couple to remain married.

But what the Maryland high court right to do this?

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May 24, 2012 | 2:43 pm

Help wanted: Chinese company seeks tall, white, Harvard-educated, male Jew

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Beijing. Photo by Wikipedia/Vera Buhl

Remember how excited Christians were about the book “Jewish Wisdom for Business Success”?

Well, that book won’t suffice for a Chinese company. No, they’re looking for their own tall, white, Jewish male who attended Harvard and speaks fluent Mandarin. An excerpt of the job-posting email received by a writer for the Foreign Policy blog:

The first requirement of the job is that you must be an advanced Mandarin Chinese speaker, since the meetings will all be with Chinese people. Also men only, no females. The other requirement is that you must have some sort of background that Chinese people typically value. My contact is (deleted) and is slightly obsessed with Jewish people and thinks they are the smartest, so he naturally prefers this person to be Jewish. If he can’t get someone Jewish, he would also like someone who went to a famous university—Harvard, Yale, etc. Besides those 2 qualifications, I’m sure he’d be happy with someone who has some sort of connection to someone famous or important, or maybe someone who is really tall and handsome. Basically any characteristic that Chinese people are impressed by - he is looking for in this person.

Who knew the Chinese were obsessed with Jews? In fact, I thought China was obsessed with Hitler. Sounds like this is all just about money-making stereotypes. A little background on that here and here.

The email also said they’re looking to hire someone with a “‘white face’ to give some more credibility to the project.” Yowza.

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May 23, 2012 | 7:19 pm

Former Dodger great Shawn Green to play for Israel in World Baseball Classic

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Shawn Green. Photo by Wikipedia/Wknight94

Shawn Green, as famous for not playing baseball for the Dodgers on Yom Kippur as he is for bagging 19 bases in one game, is pushing 40. But he isn’t done playing baseball.

Though Green hasn’t played in the Majors since 2007, he’s going to be hitting for Israel in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. From The Jewish Journal:

Green will turn 40 on Nov. 10, and it remains to be seen how well he will perform after five years away from the game. He certainly has the bona fides. He hit 40 or more home runs three times, including 49 in 2001. He collected at least 100 RBIs four times, scored at least 100 runs four times and led the league in doubles, extra-base hits and total bases.

Fellow Member of the Tribe Brad Ausmus is the team’s manager.

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May 21, 2012 | 9:03 pm

First anniversary of the day the world ended

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Thanks to the Friendly Atheist for the friendly reminder that today is the first anniversary of the day the world ended.

Of course, the world didn’t end then, or later in October, as Harold Camping predicted. This past March, Camping said his predictions were “incorrect and sinful.”

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May 21, 2012 | 6:37 pm

Richard Dawkins wants your kids to read the Bible

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Richard Dawkins. Photo by Wikipedia/Kvonnegut

It’s no mystery that Richard Dawkins, aka Dicky Dawkins, is no fan of religion. In fact, he’s a quite vocal opponent. So why does he want your kids to read the Bible?

To appreciate as a work of literature, not, unsurprisingly, as sacred truth or a moral guide. Dawkins writes in The Guardian:

A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian. In the week after the 2011 census, my UK Foundation commissioned Ipsos MORI to poll those who had ticked the Christian box. Among other things, we asked them to identify the first book of the New Testament from a choice of Matthew, Genesis, Acts of the Apostles, Psalms, “Don’t know” and “Prefer not to say”. Only 35% chose Matthew and 39% chose “Don’t know” (and 1%, mysteriously, chose “Prefer not to say”). These figures, to repeat, don’t refer to British people at large but only to those who self-identified, in the census, as Christians.

European history, too, is incomprehensible without an understanding of the warring factions of Christianity and the book over whose subtleties of interpretation they were so ready to slaughter and torture each other. Does the eucharistic bread merely symbolise the body of Jesus or does it become his body, in true “substance” if not “accidental” DNA? Prolonged wars have been fought over how we should interpret the words allegedly uttered at the Last Supper. Three bishops were burned alive just outside my bedroom window in my old Oxford college for giving the unapproved answer. Centuries-long schisms were based on nothing more serious than the question of whether Jesus is both God and his son, or just his (very important) son. Even bloodier wars were fought against a rival religion that sees him not as God’s son at all but just reveres him as a prophet.

Read the rest here.

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May 16, 2012 | 10:18 am

Jesus makes another bid for president?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Photo by Wikipedia/Francisco Ribalta

Four years ago, there was the Jesus for President campaign, through which a progressive Christian urged other Christians to vote based on environmental and social justice issues, not abortion and homosexuality. This election season there is a very different “Vote for Jesus” effort being led by Internet evangelist Bill Keller, who five years ago lost his TV program for slamming Islam.

The Christian Post reports on Keller’s disgust for Romney and Obama:

Keller, who in the past has compared the choice between Romney and Obama as “flipping a coin where Satan is on both sides,” explained in an exclusive interview with The Christian Post on Friday that Christians can play a big part in the future of America by making a statement vote by writing in “Jesus” on their ballots, instead of choosing “the lesser of two evils.”

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“This is not about politics, it is about THE ETERNAL SOULS OF MEN! A true Christian will NEVER put politics above souls, so please watch for any so-called Christian leader who endorses and supports either President Obama or Mitt Romney, since they are nothing but ‘hirelings’ and NOT true men or women of God since they obviously don’t care about souls!” Keller expressed in a written statement on the Vote for Jesus website.

This is not the first time an evangelical has said Romney is not guided by God or that Obama is part of Satan’s plan (and Justin Bieber is too). But, beyond that, I get the feeling—a sneaking suspicion—that Keller doesn’t understand the role of the president of the United States.

Jesus is, indeed, a perennially popular write-in candidate. And this is not the first time that an individual or organization has encouraged voters to write-in Jesus rather than vote for a name on the ballot.

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May 15, 2012 | 10:23 pm

Beinart and Suissa debate ‘Is Zionism in Crisis?’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

If you’re in Los Angeles Wednesday, there is a great event worth checking out at Temple Israel of Hollywood. Peter Beinart, of “The Crisis of Zionism,” will debate David Suissa, the Jewish Journal president, on Beinart’s new book. The debate will be moderated by Temple Israel’s Rabbi John Rosove, who mentions a little about the debate on his blog.

If you’re going to go, Rosove warns you to arrive early. Beinart draws a big crowd. And if you’re not in LA, or you prefer to watch from home, the debate will be streamed live here.

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May 15, 2012 | 3:44 pm

Y-Love, black Jewish rapper, comes out as gay

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Yitz Jordan’s identity as a black Orthodox Jewish rapper was already a bit complicated. Jordan, known as Y-Love has struggled with his public image for years—and today in an interview published by Out magazine Y-Love revealed that he is gay.

An excerpt:

“I’ve never been conflicted about my sexuality,” Jordan told Out in an exclusive interview this week. “Any conflicts that have come up in my life have come up because of other people’s homophobia. I’ve always known when to be in the closet and when not to.”

So why come out now? According to Jordan, he’s wanted to tell the world that he’s gay for some time, but he was concerned that his “public reputation” would be tarnished and the music career he has fought so hard to carve out in a seemingly intolerant community would be ruined.

“I feel like I’ve wasted years of my life worrying that it would alienate the community I dedicated my life to as an artist and as a man. But my hope is that it will open their eyes—and hearts.”

Read the rest here.

I met Jordan, 34, at Jewlicious in 2009, when I was there to discuss my own complicated Jew-ish identity. His story has been passing around my Jewish friends on Facebook today, and I’ve seen nothing but support (like this from William Daroff).

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May 14, 2012 | 5:01 pm

2d Cir: NY kosher law doesn’t violate First Amendment

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Last week, in Commack Self-Service Kosher Meats, Inc. v. Hooker, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld New York’s 2004 Kosher Law Protection Act. The court stated that a labeling law requiring manufacturers of kosher foods to file with the state Department of Agriculture before using label on sold products serves a secular purpose of protecting against consumer fraud.

(Short Reuters story here; the court’s opinion here.)

Significantly, the law did not suffer from the fatal flaws of a previous New York kosher law struck down in 2002 because it required courts to make religious decisions, which the First Amendment prohibits courts from doing. As Howard Friedman noted, this law “does not define what is kosher, adopt kosher standards of any particular branch of Judaism nor authorize state inspectors to determine if products are in fact kosher.”

Significantly, the court said:

New York, through the Kosher Act, has not explicitly adopted or endorsed one religion or religious group over another, nor has it encouraged particular religious activities.  The neutral labeling requirement does not define “kosher” or any other religious terms and contrasts with prior situations in which this Court has found a perception of endorsement. ...

Therefore, because the amended Kosher Act neither advances nor impedes religion, has a secular purpose, and does not create an excessive entanglement between state and religion, it does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The court also found a Free Exercise challenge in want because Kosher Act is a neutral, generally applicable law that imposes a nonsubstantial burden and has a rationale basis. In other words, none of the key elements for a Free Exercise violation cut against the kosher law.

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May 8, 2012 | 9:36 am

The wild rumpus comes to an end: Maurice Sendak dead at 83

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Maurice Sendak. Photo by REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files

Maurice Sendak, the legendary author of “Where the Wild Things Are,” has died. He was 83.

Here’s a 2002 profile of Sendak by The Jewish Journal:

“I wrote it to poke fun at my mother,” he told The Journal via phone from his Connecticut home. “She was convinced chicken soup was the cure-all for everything. “If you had hydrophobia, she’d rub it on your chest. She’d wash your ears out with it. She’d give you an enema with it. Needless to say, I rather disliked chicken soup.”

If the Jewish panacea was a minor annoyance during his childhood, the Holocaust was a major source of pain, Sendak said. It’s the proverbial “monster in the closet” behind the dark motifs that haunt even his cheeriest work.

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When fans ask what Max is doing today, Sendak is irreverent as Max himself. “I say he’s still wearing that idiotic wolf suit, so his mother won’t let him out of the house,” the author said. “He’s unmarried and in therapy.”

“I like to be politically incorrect,” Sendak added. “Otherwise, things get boring.”

Read the rest here.

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May 6, 2012 | 9:58 am

Biden: ‘Absolutely comfortable’ with gay marriage

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Joe Biden on "Meet the Press" May 4. Photo by William B. Plowman/NBC

On “Meet the Press” this morning, Vice President Joe Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, via TheBostonChannel.com.

“I just think that the good news is that as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about, it is a simple proposition: Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person who love?” Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

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Asked if the president would support same-sex marriage in a second term, Biden said he didn’t know the answer. But he pointed to the Obama administration’s repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, a move that now allows gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly.

Biden did not specifically address a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage being voted on in North Carolina this week.

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May 4, 2012 | 10:41 am

Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, Jewish legend and hip-hop pioneer, has died

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

The Beastie Boys, Mike Diamond (left), Adam Horowitz and Adam Yauch (right), are photographed at the 2006 Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah in this Jan. 22, 2006. Photo by REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/Files

I had tickets to see the Beastie Boys at the Hollywood Bowl when Adam Yauch (aka MCA) was diagnosed with cancer back in 2009. I always assumed that Yauch, one of the three members of one of the most influential hip hop groups in history, would make a full recovery and I’d have another chance to see the Beastie Boys perform.

Sadly, I was wrong.

Adam Yauch, one-third of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 47, Rolling Stone has learned. Yauch, also known as MCA, had been in treatment for cancer since 2009. The rapper was diagnosed in 2009 after discovering a tumor in his salivary gland.

Last year, the Beastie Boys released what (I assume) will be their final albums with all three original members. “The Hot Sauce Committee Part 2” had been delayed by Yauch’s treatment. It still rocked.

I’ve blogged a bit about the Beastie Boys here before. They were, after all not only hip hop pioneers (for, among other reasons, their innovative use of sampling) but Jewish heroes, hailing from that famously Jewish city, New York.

Yauch and Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz weren’t Matisyahu, but they embraced their yiddishkeit. And this 2003 cover of Heeb remains my favorite.

Their legendary “Sabotage” music video is after the jump:

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