Inside Jewish Museums Large & Small

By Beth Orenstein

It’s only fitting that with 5,000 years of Jewish culture, there should be museums dedicated to preserving and celebrating our history. What’s amazing is the number and scope of institutions across North America. The Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) was founded in 1977 under the auspices of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and represents 80 members in over 30 states and provinces in North America, including Jewish art and history museums, historic sites, historical and archival societies, Holocaust centers, synagogue museums, children’s museums and Jewish community center and university galleries.
While they are all worth a visit, many now offer online exhibitions that you can enjoy from your computer. A number of them have online museum stores for shopping and gift giving. And for those who are within traveling distance, know that these are not stagnant displays—in addition to both permanent and special collections, many offer seminars, classes and other enrichment programs.
We’ve highlighted just a few of the museums here, both large and small—in size and in scope, and look forward to including more in the future. For a more complete list of museums, go to www.chutzpahmag.com

The Jewish Museum  
1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street
New York, NY 10128
www.thejewishmuseum.org
212-423-3200
This is the granddaddy—or should we say zayde?—of Jewish museums. What makes it unique, says Anne Scher, director of communications, is that it “offers exhibitions exploring art and Jewish culture from ancient to modern times for people of all backgrounds.”
The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Since 1947, the museum has been housed in the Fifth Avenue mansion on New York’s Upper East Side that had been the home of Felix Warburg and Frieda Schiff Warburg. In the early 1990s, a seven-story addition, complete with an auditorium, café, meeting rooms, children’s gallery, education center and permanent exhibition galleries, was built to accommodate its burgeoning collection and growing number of visitors.
Today, the museum maintains a collection of 26,000 objects—paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects and broadcast media. Included are works by Marc Chagall, Edouard Vuillard, Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, Elie Nadelman, George Segal, Ben Shahn, Andy Warhol, Joan Snyder, Anselm Kiefer, Eleanor Antin, Elaine Reichek, Robert Wilson and William Kentridge. The museum also organizes a diverse schedule of internationally acclaimed and award-winning temporary exhibitions.
On View Now: The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936-1951, nearly 150 vintage photographs of New York City taken by some of the most noted photographers of the mid-20th century including W. Eugene Smith, Weegee, Lisette Model, Berenice Abbott and Aaron Siskind, through March 25, 2012; The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats, the first major exhibition in the country to pay tribute to award-winning and beloved children’s book author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats (1916–1983), whose The Snowy Day was the first modern full-color picture book to feature an African-American protagonist, through January 29, 2012. Hours: Saturday through Tuesday, 11 am-5:45 pm; Wednesday, closed; Thursday, 11 am-8 pm; and Friday, 11 am-4 pm. Admission: Adults: $12; seniors, $10; students ,7.50; children under 12, free; Saturdays, free; members, free. Eats: Lox at Cafe Weissman (kosher). Shop: onsite and online gift store.

The National Museum of American Jewish History
101 South Independence Mall East
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2517
www.nmajh.org; 215- 923-3811
Located steps from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, the National Museum of American Jewish History recently opened its new $150-million, 100,000-square foot, five-story home. NMAJH began its history in 1976—in time for the city’s Bicentennial celebrations—with a mere 40 objects. Founded by the members of historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, which was established in 1740 and known as the “Synagogue of the American Revolution,” the museum had been housed within the shul.
What makes the museum unique, says Ivy L. Barsky, the museum’s Gwen Goodman Museum Director and COO, is that it is “the only one telling the story of the American Jewish experience from 1654 to the present—the unique and ongoing encounter with the blessings and challenges of freedom.”
The first floor’s Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame uses video, audio testimonials and personal belongings to examine the contributions of 18 inaugural outstanding Jewish Americans—chosen by public vote and the museum’s historians—including Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Albert Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Estee Lauder, Golda Meir, Barbra Streisand, Jonas Salk and Steven Spielberg.
The upper floors house interactive displays and artifacts that highlight the religious, social, political and economic lives of American Jews. Beginning in 2013, the top floor will be home to special exhibitions and events.
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10 am-5 pm; Saturday and Sunday, until 5:30 pm; closed Monday and major US and Jewish holidays. Admission: Adult, $12; ages 13-21, $11; child 12 and under, free; seniors 65 and older, $11; members, free. Eats: Pomegranates Café (kosher). Shop: Judaica store onsite and online.

Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.thecjm.org; 415-655-7800
Many people have said that the CJM, a non-collecting museum, couldn’t exist anywhere else but in San Francisco where it was founded in 1984. Says its director Connie Wolf, “Where else would you find a Jewish museum commissioning the writing of a Torah by a woman and creating an exhibition that allows visitors to watch the process and interact with the soferet?  Where else would you find musicians from Lou Reed to Laurie Anderson to Alvin Curran creating new works responding to different letters of the Hebrew alphabet?”
CJM works with artists to create new work and stage temporary exhibitions that cause their audiences “to think afresh about the changing dynamics of what it means to be Jewish today and the continuing relevance of Jewish ideas in a contemporary world,” Wolf says. The exhibits are meant to celebrate Jewish culture, history, art and ideas within the context of 21st-century perspectives.
The museum is now housed in a unique space that marries the 1907-designed Jessie Street Power Substation in San Francisco’s lively SOMA district with a vibrant blue metallic steel building designed in 2005 by architect Daniel Libeskind, who was inspired by the two Hebrew letters of the word chai, chet and yud.
On View Now: California Dreaming: Jewish Life in the Bay Area from the Gold Rush to the Present, through October 16, 2012; Houdini: Art and Magic, the first art exhibition in an American art museum on this master magician, through January 16, 2012; and Stanley Saitowitz: Judaica, through October 16, 2012. Hours: Daily, 11 am-5 pm; Thursday, 1-8 pm; closed Wednesday. Admission: Adults, $12; seniors, $10; 18 and under, free; Thursday after 5 pm, $5; members, free; first Tuesday of each month, free. Eats: American Box, a modern deli. Shop: onsite, limited online selection.

The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art
2021 East 71st Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
http://www.jewishmuseum.net
918-492-1818
The Tulsa metropolitan area has a population of 600,000, yet of that number, only about 2,000 are Jews. “Our museum, through our exhibition and publication programs, is striving to have an impact on the entire community, focusing on its roots in Jewish culture, history and art and to further enrich the lives of all the area’s citizens,” says Arthur M. Feldman, executive director. “Our program theme of ‘bonds of commonality’—what Jews and the community have in common—is presented in tandem with information to demystify Jews, Jewish history and  Jewish culture for the greater population.”
In 1965, a local synagogue brought a traveling exhibit, “Traditional Ceremonial Art,” from the Jewish Museum in New York to the Tulsa community. The exhibit generated great interest in Jewish culture and art, and the following year, the Gershon and Rebecca Fenster Gallery of Jewish Art opened to the public. Sherwin Miller, the first curator of the gallery, began collecting Jewish art and artifacts in earnest.
In 2000, the museum was renamed the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art to recognize the achievements and contributions of its first curator. Three years later, the Museum moved to its current location on the Zarrow Campus which it shares with the Jewish Federation of Tulsa/Charles Schusterman Jewish Community Center, Mizel Jewish Community Day School and the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center.
The upper levels of the museum display its permanent collection of art and artifacts showing the 5,000-year history of the Jewish people from the pre-Canaanite era through the settling of the Jewish community in Tulsa and the American Southwest. Visitors learn about the exiles’ and immigrants’ travels to new home lands, Jewish practices, ceremonies, holidays and overall heritage.
The lower level of the museum features the Herman and Kate Kaiser Holocaust Exhibition, containing hundreds of objects donated by Oklahoma veterans who took part in the liberation of German concentration camps and other artifacts brought to Oklahoma by Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.
On View Now: Marc Chagall: Drawings for the Bible features a large display of the Russian-born painter’s lithographs from a series he did based on personal memories and impressions of a trip he made to what was then Palestine; through January 31, 2011. Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 am-5 pm; Sundays, 1-5 pm; closed Saturday. Admission: Adults, $6.50; 55 and over, $5.50; students 6-21, $3.50; members, teachers and uniformed service members, free.
Please visit the museums’ websites for US and Jewish holiday closing information.

National Museum of American Jewish Military History
1811 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
http://www.nmajmh.org
202-265-6280

Chartered by an act of Congress in 1958, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History near Dupont Circle doesn’t focus on weaponry as its name might suggest. Rather, says Norman Rosenshein, president, “we tell the story of what the Jewish soldier did in the military. It’s our emphasis on the human interest side that makes us unique.”
Housed in the same building as the Jewish War Veterans national headquarters, the museum has two floors of permanent and special exhibitions. One of its permanent exhibits is devoted to Major General Julius Klein, World War II hero and advocate for the establishment of the State of Israel. Another exhibit pays homage to the Jewish-American servicemen who have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In the Captain Joshua L. Goldberg Memorial Chapel you can reflect upon its magnificent stained glass panel that depicts the harvesting of fields and the words in Hebrew “from swords to plowshares.” A navy chaplain in WWII, during the Korean War, Goldberg became the first Jewish chaplain to attain the rank of captain.
A continuing exhibit, Women in the Military: A Jewish Perspective, profiles Jewish female veterans of US conflicts from the Civil War to the Gulf War and brings to the forefront the vital role women have played in America’s war efforts throughout our country’s history.  The museum normally presents one new exhibition every other calendar year. It also offers a regular program of classes on diverse topics.
Hours:  Monday to Friday, 9 am-5 pm; Sunday by appointment for groups of six or more; closed Saturdays. Admission: Free. Shop: onsite and online.

Oregon Jewish Museum
1953 NW Kearney, Portland, OR 97209
http://www.ojm.org
503-226-3600
The Oregon Jewish Museum was founded in 1989 by a volunteer group to provide the state with a museum dedicated to Jewish art and history. In 1996, OJM merged with the Jewish Historical Society of Oregon. That same year, after being a “museum without walls,” the museum opened in a donated office suite in northwest Portland. In 2001, it moved to a storefront in Portland’s old town and presented its first exhibit, Faces and Places of Old South Portland.
In 2010, the museum tripled its space, moving to a former commercial film building. Today, says museum director Judith Margles, “the museum creates innovative exhibits and Jewish programming while, at the same time, building a dynamic institution embracing Jewish identity and community.”
By using the lens of Jewish culture through which to view and shape a dialogue about historical and contemporary issues, Margles says, “our goals are based on an underlying belief in the power of our Jewish heritage to build and engage the Jewish community, affiliated and unaffiliated alike, as well as the community at large.”
The museum has featured exhibits on the game of Mah Jongg (through December 31, 2011) and compelling black-and-white photographs and musical memorabilia of Ernest Bloch, the Jewish composer and late-in-life Oregonian best known for his mournful “Kol Nidre” melody.
On View Now: The Dawn of Tomorrow: Oregon Jews and Woman’s Suffrage, through May 27; upcoming: Transport, works by Henk Pander and Esther Podemski, January 18-May 27 and Oregon Jewish All Stars, June 7-September 30. Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 am-4 pm; Friday, 10:30 am-3 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12-4 pm. Admission: Adults, $6; seniors and students, $4; members and children under 12: free.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland
15 Lloyd Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
www.jewishmuseummd.org
410-732-6400
Located in the heart of one of Baltimore’s oldest and most fondly remembered Jewish neighborhoods, “there are many things that make our museum unique,” says Deborah Cardin, assistant director. The Jonestown campus includes two historic sites: the Lloyd Street Synagogue, built in 1845 as Maryland’s oldest synagogue, and B’nai Israel that dates from 1876 and still houses an active congregation. In addition, the museum has three exhibition galleries where it explores topics of historical to contemporary interest. “By visiting and touring our historic sites and galleries, visitors come away with a sense of the breadth and variety of Jewish life past and present,” Cardin says.
The museum’s collections, which include works of art, historical photographs, clothing, ceremonial items, rare books, everyday objects, documents, oral histories and memorabilia, tell the story of Jewish life in Maryland from immigration and family history to congregational life and contemporary culture.
On View Now: Chosen Food: Cuisine, Culture and American Jewish Identity examines the diversity of Jewish foods—it’s not just matzo balls—and looks at what the foods Jews eat say about them. The Synagogue Speaks, is a multi-media exhibition that tells the story of the landmark, newly restored Lloyd Street Synagogue and the three immigrant congregations—two Jewish and one Roman Catholic—that occupied it. Voices of Lombard Street: A Century of Change in East Baltimore chronicles the area surrounding the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the center of immigrant Jewish life in Baltimore in the early 1900s where people of different backgrounds lived, worked, created community—and came together in the renowned Jewish market known as Lombard Street. Hours: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 12-4 pm. Admission: General, $8; students, $4; children under 12, $3; members, free. Shop: online and onsite.
The Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum
The Selig Center
1440 Spring St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.thebreman.org
678-222-3700
Opened in midtown Atlanta in 1996, the Breman Museum is the largest repository of materials related to Jewish life in the South. The museum is named for William Breman, owner of the Breman Steel Company, who was a philanthropist and active in the Jewish community in Atlanta.
What makes the museum unique, according to Jane Leavey, executive director, is that its signature and special exhibitions are designed for diverse audiences and to educate visitors about Jewish values, customs and traditions. Its exhibitions explore universal themes, such as personal responsibility, community building and cross-cultural understanding.
Its signature exhibition, Creating Community: The Jews of Atlanta From 1845 to the Present, explores the growth of Atlanta’s Jewish community beginning with two peddlers who came to the city open a dry goods store and now boasts of more 100,000 Jews. Another signature exhibit, Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years, 1933-1945 focuses on historical photographs and documents, personal memorabilia and family photographs, and the voices of those who survived and made new homes in Atlanta.
On View Now: Torn from Home: My Life as a Refugee, through a hands-on journey, children ages 8-12 can explore what it means to be a refugee through the eyes of children who are forced to leave their homes and seek safety in a new land, through January 8, 2012; upcoming: The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Interment Camps, 1942-46, featuring more than 120 objects—tools, teapots, furniture, toys, games, musical instruments, pins, pendants and purses—that the Japanese Americans who were interred at camps during World War II made while there to beautify their surroundings, January 29-May 31, 2012. Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10 am-5 pm; Friday, 10 am-3 pm; Sunday, 1-5 pm. Admission: Adults, $12; seniors 62 and over, $8; students, $6; children ages 3-6, $4; children under 3, free; members, free.
Beth W. Orenstein is a Northampton, PA-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Chutzpah magazine.

Jewish Museum of Florida
301 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139
http://www.jewishmuseum.com
305-672-5044
Opened in 1995, The Jewish Museum of Florida in South Beach is the nation’s first museum to focus on an ethnic group within a state. “We are the only museum to depict the experience of Jews in Florida, which began in 1763 when Jews were first permitted to settle when Florida was traded to Great Britain. For 250 years (1513-1762), only Catholics could live in Florida,” says Jo Ann Arnowitz, executive director.
The museum is housed in two adjacent restored historic buildings that were once synagogues for Miami Beach’s first Jewish congregation. The museum has amassed a vast collection of more than 100,000 objects including rare photographs, artifacts and oral histories culled from more than two centuries of Florida Jewish families.
The focal point of the museum is its exhibit MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida – 1763 to the Present, which includes more than 500 photos and artifacts. The museum also stages history and art exhibits that change periodically.
On View Now: Wooden Synagogues of Poland and the Florida Connection, through March 18; Rabbi Irving Lehrman: His Life & Art, a look at the spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El on Miami Beach for more than 50 years and the artwork he created, through January 15, 2012. Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm; closed Monday. Admission: adults, $6; seniors, $5; families, $12; members and children under 6, free; Saturday, free. Eats: Bessie’s Bistro, named for its donor, Bess Myerson, still the only Jewish woman to have been crowned Miss America. Shop: onsite and online.

Inside Jewish Museums Large & Small By Beth Orenstein It’s only fitting that with 5,000 years of Jewish culture, there should be museums dedicated to preserving and celebrating our history. What’s amazing is the number and scope of institutions across North America. The Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) was founded in 1977 under the auspices [...]

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Inside Jewish Museums Large & Small By Beth Orenstein It’s only fitting that with 5,000 years of Jewish culture, there should be museums dedicated to preserving and celebrating our history. What’s amazing is the number and scope of institutions across North America. The Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM) was founded in 1977 under the auspices [...]

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By Arielle Cantor and Jill Pancer

With our visas processed and our vaccinations up to date, we were finally ready to leave the comfort of our homes in Montreal for our six-week journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not your usual vacation destination, but after completing a major in physiology at McGill University and surviving our first year of medical school, we were excited to experience clinical medicine in an unconventional setting. Upon hearing about the multi-week Jewish Service Corps volunteer opportunity in Ethiopia offered by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a non-profit, worldwide humanitarian aid organization that brings relief to both Jews and non-Jews in need, we jumped at the opportunity.
Upon landing, our preconceived notions about the developing world were immediately challenged. Ethiopia is not just a country filled with mud houses and stricken by poverty; it is a land rich in historical wonders, breathtaking landscapes and welcoming people. In our short time, we had the opportunity to explore well-known northern sites. In Gondar, the former capital of Ethiopia and home to the majority of Jews who were part of the famous Aliyah to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, we visited beautiful castles from the 1600s; in Bahir Dar, we sailed on Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, and hiked to get a spectacular view of the Blue Nile Falls; and in Lalibela, one of Ethiopia’s holiest cities, we trekked in rock-hewn churches dating from the 12th century.
The focal point of our Ethiopian volunteering, however, involved our working alongside Dr. Rick Hodes, Medical Director of JDC for over two decades. After graduating from the University of Rochester Medical School in 1982 and training at John Hopkins in internal medicine, Hodes first went to Ethiopia in the winter of 1985 to help during the famine. He taught at Addis Ababa University Medical School for over two years after residency as a Fulbright lecturer before joining JDC. Hodes went back to the country in 1990 to work for JDC and since then has been the director of all the medical programs implemented by JDC in Ethiopia. Ethiopia became his home and the delivery of health services to the Ethiopian people his number one priority. He describes participating in Operation Solomon in 1991, which involved the evacuation of over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel over 36 hours, as one of his most rewarding experiences.
Hodes’ work involves many aspects of Ethiopian healthcare. Dr. Rick, as he is called by the local people, devotes two days a week to running a clinic at the Mother Teresa’s Mission in Addis Ababa, where he sees patients suffering from heart disease, spine disease (in particular scoliosis and tuberculosis) and cancer. He also travels to Gondar several times a month to supervise the clinic run by JDC. He fits in a few visits to America throughout the year to raise much-needed funds and awareness about his cause so that every year he is able to send a selected number of patients suffering from spinal deformities and cardiac malformations to Ghana and India, respectively, to undergo life-changing surgeries at no cost to them. A physical exam is the key to the diagnosis, and Hodes only orders X-rays and echocardiograms after the exam to help characterize the details of the problem. A spine surgery alone costs $18,000, yet this is still less than 10 percent of the cost in America.
Hodes also coordinates the health services of the Falash Mura (Ethiopians who claim to have Jewish ancestors and converted to Christianity to escape persecution) awaiting immigration to Israel. Even at his home, Dr. Rick is always working, whether it is digitalizing X-rays or fielding calls from patients. He is in constant communication with medical experts from around the world about difficult cases—a recent child with an eye tumor received twenty different opinions, including some from physicians at Harvard and the Mayo Clinic. Hodes is acutely aware of the impact of his work, which keeps him from taking time off. “If I leave, lots of people will lose a chance at a better life.”
One Friday, we watched Dr. Rick jump from a local hospital to the Mission and back to the hospital, only to arrive home to a house full of guests to welcome in Shabbat. Shabbat has become a popular tradition at Dr. Rick’s. As the sun sets, his home fills with travelers, diplomats and volunteers who mingle among themselves and with the many children who live there. Dr. Hodes has five adopted Ethiopian youngsters children whom he took under his wing to provide with much-needed medical attention. He also provides food and shelter to many of his patients who have either undergone or are waiting for surgery and to those who are attending school in the city. The Shabbat service begins with all guests standing in a circle, joining hands, introducing themselves and singing “If I had a Hammer” by Pete Seeger, after which Dr. Rick blesses each of the children. He then recites a prayer for the sick patients that he saw that week. Guests are then invited to help themselves to a variety of Ethiopian dishes, which are all vegetarian to ensure that kasruth is kept in the Hodes household.
Friday nights are a well-deserved rest from Hodes’ hectic schedule, but he is back at the Mission clinic the following day, where benches full of ailing patients anxiously anticipate his arrival. Dr. Rick spends hours interviewing and examining patients, reading X-rays and prescribing medications, rarely stopping to take a break. He somehow managed to find the time to discuss interesting cases with us and point out clinical findings. Despite the high-stress environment, Hodes has an insurmountable amount of patience. He admits that “nothing is easy” when it comes to working in a developing environment; however, his successes are numerous.
One of our projects this summer involved interviewing patients who were candidates to be sent abroad for spinal and cardiac surgeries. Working with an Amharic translator (the official language of Ethiopia) was, at times, challenging, as the patients’ narratives were easily lost in translation. The strong emotions displayed as these individuals spoke of their personal and family health, however, transcended language barriers. It was heartbreaking to witness an entire family break down while describing their child’s long-standing pain and suffering. Playing a role, albeit a small one, in providing these individuals with life-saving medical attention, was a powerful motivator for us both.
The interviews that stand out most to us were with successful post-operative patients and their families. Abel, a 12-year-old boy, and Selamawit, a 14-year-old girl, both suffered from severe scoliosis since birth. After enduring years of physical and emotional pain from their spinal deformities and visiting numerous hospitals with no proper medical care, they were both lucky enough to learn about Dr. Rick. Abel’s father said of Hodes, “There is no other doctor like him…he knows all about children’s diseases.” Selamawit’s aunt shared similar feelings, “Dr. Rick is the father of the poor. People should know what he is doing.” Abel and Selamawit were among thirty chosen patients to undergo corrective spine surgery in Ghana. Now, several months later, both teens are thriving, their pain has subsided and they will be returning to school shortly. “It’s a miracle,” expressed Abel’s father. “My son is completely cured.” Not only did Hodes treat the kids’ physical malformations, he also gave them a second chance at life—both Abel and Selamawit have aspirations of becoming doctors and helping others suffering from similar conditions.
Hodes’ message is clear: “You can do a lot with a little. We should all work to make the world a better place, not by random acts of kindness, but by deliberate actions to help people.” His powerful words echo the core Jewish value of tikkun olam, healing the world. Working with Dr. Rick this summer gave us a remarkable insight into the “power of one”—how one individual can dramatically influence the lives of so many people. As we proceed in establishing our own medical careers, we are grateful that we had this encounter with a real pioneer and leader because it inspired us both personally and professionally. We will forever cherish the memories and life lessons that we gained from our experience in Ethiopia.
To find out more about Dr. Hodes’ work, check out the HBO documentary Making the Crooked Straight and the new book This is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger. Both are available at Amazon and other online stores. To support Dr. Hodes’ work, tax-deductible donations can be made at www.rickhodes.org/  One hundred percent of the funds go directly to helping Ethiopian children in need.

JDC’s Jewish Service programs offer young Jews the opportunity to engage in work overseas through meaningful volunteer projects connected to JDC’s global programs. For more information about how you can get involved, visit www.jdc.org/getinvolved.

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By Arielle Cantor and Jill Pancer

With our visas processed and our vaccinations up to date, we were finally ready to leave the comfort of our homes in Montreal for our six-week journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not your usual vacation destination, but after completing a major in physiology at McGill University and surviving our first year of medical school, we were excited to experience clinical medicine in an unconventional setting. Upon hearing about the multi-week Jewish Service Corps volunteer opportunity in Ethiopia offered by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a non-profit, worldwide humanitarian aid organization that brings relief to both Jews and non-Jews in need, we jumped at the opportunity.
Upon landing, our preconceived notions about the developing world were immediately challenged. Ethiopia is not just a country filled with mud houses and stricken by poverty; it is a land rich in historical wonders, breathtaking landscapes and welcoming people. In our short time, we had the opportunity to explore well-known northern sites. In Gondar, the former capital of Ethiopia and home to the majority of Jews who were part of the famous Aliyah to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, we visited beautiful castles from the 1600s; in Bahir Dar, we sailed on Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, and hiked to get a spectacular view of the Blue Nile Falls; and in Lalibela, one of Ethiopia’s holiest cities, we trekked in rock-hewn churches dating from the 12th century.
The focal point of our Ethiopian volunteering, however, involved our working alongside Dr. Rick Hodes, Medical Director of JDC for over two decades. After graduating from the University of Rochester Medical School in 1982 and training at John Hopkins in internal medicine, Hodes first went to Ethiopia in the winter of 1985 to help during the famine. He taught at Addis Ababa University Medical School for over two years after residency as a Fulbright lecturer before joining JDC. Hodes went back to the country in 1990 to work for JDC and since then has been the director of all the medical programs implemented by JDC in Ethiopia. Ethiopia became his home and the delivery of health services to the Ethiopian people his number one priority. He describes participating in Operation Solomon in 1991, which involved the evacuation of over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel over 36 hours, as one of his most rewarding experiences.
Hodes’ work involves many aspects of Ethiopian healthcare. Dr. Rick, as he is called by the local people, devotes two days a week to running a clinic at the Mother Teresa’s Mission in Addis Ababa, where he sees patients suffering from heart disease, spine disease (in particular scoliosis and tuberculosis) and cancer. He also travels to Gondar several times a month to supervise the clinic run by JDC. He fits in a few visits to America throughout the year to raise much-needed funds and awareness about his cause so that every year he is able to send a selected number of patients suffering from spinal deformities and cardiac malformations to Ghana and India, respectively, to undergo life-changing surgeries at no cost to them. A physical exam is the key to the diagnosis, and Hodes only orders X-rays and echocardiograms after the exam to help characterize the details of the problem. A spine surgery alone costs $18,000, yet this is still less than 10 percent of the cost in America.
Hodes also coordinates the health services of the Falash Mura (Ethiopians who claim to have Jewish ancestors and converted to Christianity to escape persecution) awaiting immigration to Israel. Even at his home, Dr. Rick is always working, whether it is digitalizing X-rays or fielding calls from patients. He is in constant communication with medical experts from around the world about difficult cases—a recent child with an eye tumor received twenty different opinions, including some from physicians at Harvard and the Mayo Clinic. Hodes is acutely aware of the impact of his work, which keeps him from taking time off. “If I leave, lots of people will lose a chance at a better life.”
One Friday, we watched Dr. Rick jump from a local hospital to the Mission and back to the hospital, only to arrive home to a house full of guests to welcome in Shabbat. Shabbat has become a popular tradition at Dr. Rick’s. As the sun sets, his home fills with travelers, diplomats and volunteers who mingle among themselves and with the many children who live there. Dr. Hodes has five adopted Ethiopian youngsters children whom he took under his wing to provide with much-needed medical attention. He also provides food and shelter to many of his patients who have either undergone or are waiting for surgery and to those who are attending school in the city. The Shabbat service begins with all guests standing in a circle, joining hands, introducing themselves and singing “If I had a Hammer” by Pete Seeger, after which Dr. Rick blesses each of the children. He then recites a prayer for the sick patients that he saw that week. Guests are then invited to help themselves to a variety of Ethiopian dishes, which are all vegetarian to ensure that kasruth is kept in the Hodes household.
Friday nights are a well-deserved rest from Hodes’ hectic schedule, but he is back at the Mission clinic the following day, where benches full of ailing patients anxiously anticipate his arrival. Dr. Rick spends hours interviewing and examining patients, reading X-rays and prescribing medications, rarely stopping to take a break. He somehow managed to find the time to discuss interesting cases with us and point out clinical findings. Despite the high-stress environment, Hodes has an insurmountable amount of patience. He admits that “nothing is easy” when it comes to working in a developing environment; however, his successes are numerous.
One of our projects this summer involved interviewing patients who were candidates to be sent abroad for spinal and cardiac surgeries. Working with an Amharic translator (the official language of Ethiopia) was, at times, challenging, as the patients’ narratives were easily lost in translation. The strong emotions displayed as these individuals spoke of their personal and family health, however, transcended language barriers. It was heartbreaking to witness an entire family break down while describing their child’s long-standing pain and suffering. Playing a role, albeit a small one, in providing these individuals with life-saving medical attention, was a powerful motivator for us both.
The interviews that stand out most to us were with successful post-operative patients and their families. Abel, a 12-year-old boy, and Selamawit, a 14-year-old girl, both suffered from severe scoliosis since birth. After enduring years of physical and emotional pain from their spinal deformities and visiting numerous hospitals with no proper medical care, they were both lucky enough to learn about Dr. Rick. Abel’s father said of Hodes, “There is no other doctor like him…he knows all about children’s diseases.” Selamawit’s aunt shared similar feelings, “Dr. Rick is the father of the poor. People should know what he is doing.” Abel and Selamawit were among thirty chosen patients to undergo corrective spine surgery in Ghana. Now, several months later, both teens are thriving, their pain has subsided and they will be returning to school shortly. “It’s a miracle,” expressed Abel’s father. “My son is completely cured.” Not only did Hodes treat the kids’ physical malformations, he also gave them a second chance at life—both Abel and Selamawit have aspirations of becoming doctors and helping others suffering from similar conditions.
Hodes’ message is clear: “You can do a lot with a little. We should all work to make the world a better place, not by random acts of kindness, but by deliberate actions to help people.” His powerful words echo the core Jewish value of tikkun olam, healing the world. Working with Dr. Rick this summer gave us a remarkable insight into the “power of one”—how one individual can dramatically influence the lives of so many people. As we proceed in establishing our own medical careers, we are grateful that we had this encounter with a real pioneer and leader because it inspired us both personally and professionally. We will forever cherish the memories and life lessons that we gained from our experience in Ethiopia.
To find out more about Dr. Hodes’ work, check out the HBO documentary Making the Crooked Straight and the new book This is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger. Both are available at Amazon and other online stores. To support Dr. Hodes’ work, tax-deductible donations can be made at www.rickhodes.org/  One hundred percent of the funds go directly to helping Ethiopian children in need.

JDC’s Jewish Service programs offer young Jews the opportunity to engage in work overseas through meaningful volunteer projects connected to JDC’s global programs. For more information about how you can get involved, visit www.jdc.org/getinvolved.

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By Arielle Cantor and Jill Pancer With our visas processed and our vaccinations up to date, we were finally ready to leave the comfort of our homes in Montreal for our six-week journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not your usual vacation destination, but after completing a major in physiology at McGill University and surviving our [...]

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By Arielle Cantor and Jill Pancer With our visas processed and our vaccinations up to date, we were finally ready to leave the comfort of our homes in Montreal for our six-week journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not your usual vacation destination, but after completing a major in physiology at McGill University and surviving our [...]

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For 40 years, Michael Jacobson has fought for food safety—no cape needed.
By Kate Matelan

You may not know Michael Jacobson, PhD, by name, but his work over the past four decades has made the food you eat healthier and safer for you and your family. Whether you’re shopping at the supermarket and eating out at a restaurant, his influence can be felt, tasted and appreciated.
Dr. Jacobson is the executive director of the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an organization he and fellow scientists founded in 1971 to address public health, nutrition and food safety issues through science. In conjunction with his work at CSPI, he is also the author and co-author of numerous books and reports, including Six Arguments for a Greener Diet and Restaurant Confidential. Above all, he is our country’s most vocal—and effective—advocate for a better food industry and nutritional honesty (especially in the processed and packaged arena) for all Americans.
Evolving and expanding over the years, CSPI has led the effort in a number of campaigns to both educate us to fight for our own well-being and to reorient food policy on the government level by disseminating objective information and cultivating regulatory changes. Translation? Jacobson and the CSPI team rein as the consumer watchdog of the nation.
Jacobson has taken on some of the hardest fights, often against giants in the food industry with billions to spend on lobbyists. But he’s known for not giving up. The calorie content information on chain restaurant menus and menu boards that became mandatory in 2010 was the culmination of a 10-year campaign and continual conversations between CSPI and lawmakers. Jacobson credits persistence and a strong desire to educate the consumer as his unrelenting motivator. “It is wonderful to be in a position where you can make change. It takes a huge amount of work to bring about this level of success, but it is extremely gratifying in the end,” he says.
While certainly noteworthy, this was just one in a long string of successes for CSPI, an organization that has, step by step, moved the food industry toward healthier practices that ultimately can reduce our risk of high blood pressure and heart disease—no small feat. CSPI initiatives have included lowering sodium levels in packaged foods, reducing or removing trans fats (the most unhealthy of the unhealthy fats) from fast food and increasing food safety funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The organization has pushed through healthy initiatives for kids as well. Championing the cause of removing junk food from schools for over 30 years, CSPI was elated at the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, also in 2010, that dramatically improves childhood nutritional and obesity programs.
Fortunately for us, Jacobson’s at it again. Not content to rest on a single laurel, he and CSPI are putting a major effort into their initiative called Food Day, a national celebration on October 24, designed to bring together people and communities and promote healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable manner. Explains Jacobson, “Food Day will focus on the food movement and the educational components, but it will also be about advocating for improved food policies. We hope to foster a collaboration of people in different ‘silos,’ building on each other’s strengths and talents to come together and create change.”
There are wide scale events taking place, including across the Seattle school system and throughout Philadelphia’s farmers markets on the 24th, but there are also small events and some scheduled on other days in October. Jacobson encourages everyone to get out and participate in a planned activity in the community or to get involved in your own way—organize an event at a house of worship, school or other local spot; host a healthy potluck with friends and discuss the food issues that mean something to all of you; or join a CSA in your area to eat fresher, more nutrient-rich food and, in turn, help sustain local farmers.
To learn more about CSPI and subscribe to its informative Nutrition Action Healthletter (a primary source of its funding), go to http://www.cspinet.org/

Celebrate Food Day
Looking for an event in your area? Check out these Food Day activities. Unless otherwise noted, they take place on October 24. For many, you can confirm the details (updated regularly) and reserve a place online as well as find many more activities near you; go to http://www.foodday.org/participate/events/

Washington, DC
The JCC of DC will be selling produce from Kayam Farm as well as engaging multi-generational families and groups with activities to inform healthy eating habits @3pm

New York, NY
Meet Your Farmer at Eataly New York
Farmers working with Eataly New York City will be talking about their produce with customers @1pm

Los Angeles, CA
Annual Awards Luncheon
Food for the Soul/Fuel for the Movement: A Celebration of California’s Nutrition and Fitness Advocates will honor its awardees @1pm

Philadelphia, PA
Urban Food Production Worldwide
The United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia will host a symposium on urban farming with food policy experts and keynote speaker Marion Nestle, PhD, MD, Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University; on 10/16 @2pm

Miami, FL
What’s On Your Plate?
Youth L.E.A.D will host a screening of the “What’s on Your Plate” film and serve organic, homemade popcorn; on 10/21 @5:30pm

New Haven, CT
Dine to End Hunger
The Downtown Evening Soup will serve an evening meal of locally donated food modeled after the experience their regular guests take part in daily; on 10/22 @5pm

San Francisco, CA
Food Deserts: Legal, Social and Public Health Challenges
University of California San Francisco CSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy is sponsoring a conference on neighborhood food deserts and nutrition in correctional facilities with the keynote address by Dr. David Kessler, Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and former commissioner of the FDA; @1-6pm

Boulder, CO
Healthy School Lunch
The Boulder Valley School District will be serving nutritious food all day, with all of its entrees being meatless, plus fruits and vegetables from regional areas and organic milk, plus “Make a Rainbow” tastings in some of their elementary schools @ 11am

Cambridge, MA
Harvard Farmers’ Market Tour
The Harvard Food Literacy Project will be taking a tour of the Harvard Farmers’ Market, starting at the Market Manager’s tent; 10/25 @2pm
1973 CSPI launches campaign to bar the use of sodium nitrite in bacon and other cured meats, which ultimately results in significantly lower levels of nitrites in many foods.

1978 CSPI petitions the FDA to require sodium labeling of all foods and fat-content labeling of processed meats.

1982 CSPI’s efforts to obtain sodium labeling culminate in a new FDA rule.

1987 FDA bans sulfite preservatives (a lethal allergen) in most fresh foods, following CSPI’s five-year effort.
1988 CSPI wins passage of a federal law requiring a health warning label on all alcoholic beverage containers.

1989 CSPI campaign spurs major hamburger chains to stop cooking french fries in beef fat.

1990 CSPI’s decade-long campaign wins a federal law requiring nutrition labeling of packaged foods and a ban on deceptive health claims. CSPI leads the effort to win passage of a federal law defining “organic” food.

1993 CSPI launches a series of landmark investigative reports (beginning with Chinese-restaurant food), revealing for the first time the nutritional value of restaurant foods.

1994 CSPI calls on the FDA to require the labeling of cholesterol-raising trans fats in foods and leads the effort to require lower-fat school meals.

1995 CSPI persuades the federal government to propose new regulations to force the food industry to do better at keeping disease-causing bacteria out of foods.

1997 CSPI’s Nutrition Action Healthletter becomes the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America, bringing life-saving information to more than two million Americans and Canadians.

1998 CSPI wins the battle in Congress for $75 million in new funding for government food-safety inspections.

1999 CSPI convinces Congress to expand funding from $2 million to $15 million to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for nutrition-education and physical-activity programs. CSPI’s campaign to warn Americans about the dangers of the fake fat olestra contributes to Procter & Gamble’s decision not to seek approval to use olestra in foods other than snacks.

2001 After a four-year effort by CSPI, USDA proposes mandatory nutrition labeling for ground meat and poultry. FDA requires a safe-handling notice on egg cartons to reduce Salmonella poisoning.

2002 CSPI wins funding increase to $27 million for CDC’s programs to encourage better nutrition and more physical activity. CSPI blows the whistle on Quorn, a dangerous new food ingredient. CSPI obtains funding for the FDA to hire more imported-food inspectors and expand anti-food bioterrorism programs.

2003 After a ten-year CSPI-led drive, the FDA finalizes a rule requiring food manufacturers to list artery-clogging trans fats on Nutrition Facts labels. CSPI launches efforts in several states to require nutrition labeling on fast-food chain restaurant menu boards and menus. CSPI prods the FDA to test a wide range of brand-name foods for cancer-causing acrylamide.

2004 Prompted by publicity and pressure from CSPI, Congress passes a law requiring disclosure on food labels of the presence of allergens like peanuts, wheat, milk, soy, and egg to protect the six million Americans with food allergies. FDA proposes new regulations to keep Salmonella out of eggs.

2005 CSPI’s new litigation unit compels food manufacturers to stop a number of deceptive ads and labels. CSPI reactivates its 25-year battle to reduce sodium content of packaged and restaurant foods. CSPI’s efforts help spur new policies in many cities and states to reduce or remove soda and junk foods from public schools.
2006 CSPI’s threat to sue soft-drink companies spurs them to remove high-calorie soft drinks from schools. CSPI stops a food-industry-led effort in Congress to overturn more than 200 tough state and local nutrition and food-safety laws.

2007 Helped pass menu labeling requirements in New York City and King County (Seattle), WA and introduced similar legislation in many other cities, counties, and states. Convinced a number of restaurant chains and major food companies to voluntarily eliminate deadly trans fat from their foods. Persuaded Kellogg to stop marketing foods of poor nutritional quality to kids, which led to other companies, like General Mills, doing the same.

2008 CSPI’s threatened lawsuit prompts Kellogg Company to adopt nutrition standards for marketing foods to children. Shortly thereafter, 11 major companies pledge to set similar standards through the voluntary “Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.” Following a CSPI lawsuit, KFC agrees to remove trans fat from its foods.

2009 With CSPI’s input, the US House of Representatives passes the most sweeping reform of the food-safety system in 70 years. After 15 years of urging by CSPI, the FDA announces it will require processing of raw oysters to eliminate deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria. CSPI helps secure a further increase in food-safety funding for the FDA, bringing to $390 million the total increase over the last three years.

2010 After a 10-year campaign by CSPI, Congress enacts mandatory calorie labeling on menus and menu boards at chain restaurants and passes the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which will make historic improvements in programs addressing childhood obesity and nutrition. CSPI has been working to get junk-food out of schools for three decades, and this will put healthier food on children’s plates.

2011 CSPI sponsors national Food Day (October 24) to advocate for a healthy, affordable food produced in a humane, environmentally sustainable way.

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For 40 years, Michael Jacobson has fought for food safety—no cape needed.
By Kate Matelan

You may not know Michael Jacobson, PhD, by name, but his work over the past four decades has made the food you eat healthier and safer for you and your family. Whether you’re shopping at the supermarket and eating out at a restaurant, his influence can be felt, tasted and appreciated.
Dr. Jacobson is the executive director of the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an organization he and fellow scientists founded in 1971 to address public health, nutrition and food safety issues through science. In conjunction with his work at CSPI, he is also the author and co-author of numerous books and reports, including Six Arguments for a Greener Diet and Restaurant Confidential. Above all, he is our country’s most vocal—and effective—advocate for a better food industry and nutritional honesty (especially in the processed and packaged arena) for all Americans.
Evolving and expanding over the years, CSPI has led the effort in a number of campaigns to both educate us to fight for our own well-being and to reorient food policy on the government level by disseminating objective information and cultivating regulatory changes. Translation? Jacobson and the CSPI team rein as the consumer watchdog of the nation.
Jacobson has taken on some of the hardest fights, often against giants in the food industry with billions to spend on lobbyists. But he’s known for not giving up. The calorie content information on chain restaurant menus and menu boards that became mandatory in 2010 was the culmination of a 10-year campaign and continual conversations between CSPI and lawmakers. Jacobson credits persistence and a strong desire to educate the consumer as his unrelenting motivator. “It is wonderful to be in a position where you can make change. It takes a huge amount of work to bring about this level of success, but it is extremely gratifying in the end,” he says.
While certainly noteworthy, this was just one in a long string of successes for CSPI, an organization that has, step by step, moved the food industry toward healthier practices that ultimately can reduce our risk of high blood pressure and heart disease—no small feat. CSPI initiatives have included lowering sodium levels in packaged foods, reducing or removing trans fats (the most unhealthy of the unhealthy fats) from fast food and increasing food safety funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The organization has pushed through healthy initiatives for kids as well. Championing the cause of removing junk food from schools for over 30 years, CSPI was elated at the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, also in 2010, that dramatically improves childhood nutritional and obesity programs.
Fortunately for us, Jacobson’s at it again. Not content to rest on a single laurel, he and CSPI are putting a major effort into their initiative called Food Day, a national celebration on October 24, designed to bring together people and communities and promote healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable manner. Explains Jacobson, “Food Day will focus on the food movement and the educational components, but it will also be about advocating for improved food policies. We hope to foster a collaboration of people in different ‘silos,’ building on each other’s strengths and talents to come together and create change.”
There are wide scale events taking place, including across the Seattle school system and throughout Philadelphia’s farmers markets on the 24th, but there are also small events and some scheduled on other days in October. Jacobson encourages everyone to get out and participate in a planned activity in the community or to get involved in your own way—organize an event at a house of worship, school or other local spot; host a healthy potluck with friends and discuss the food issues that mean something to all of you; or join a CSA in your area to eat fresher, more nutrient-rich food and, in turn, help sustain local farmers.
To learn more about CSPI and subscribe to its informative Nutrition Action Healthletter (a primary source of its funding), go to http://www.cspinet.org/

Celebrate Food Day
Looking for an event in your area? Check out these Food Day activities. Unless otherwise noted, they take place on October 24. For many, you can confirm the details (updated regularly) and reserve a place online as well as find many more activities near you; go to http://www.foodday.org/participate/events/

Washington, DC
The JCC of DC will be selling produce from Kayam Farm as well as engaging multi-generational families and groups with activities to inform healthy eating habits @3pm

New York, NY
Meet Your Farmer at Eataly New York
Farmers working with Eataly New York City will be talking about their produce with customers @1pm

Los Angeles, CA
Annual Awards Luncheon
Food for the Soul/Fuel for the Movement: A Celebration of California’s Nutrition and Fitness Advocates will honor its awardees @1pm

Philadelphia, PA
Urban Food Production Worldwide
The United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia will host a symposium on urban farming with food policy experts and keynote speaker Marion Nestle, PhD, MD, Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University; on 10/16 @2pm

Miami, FL
What’s On Your Plate?
Youth L.E.A.D will host a screening of the “What’s on Your Plate” film and serve organic, homemade popcorn; on 10/21 @5:30pm

New Haven, CT
Dine to End Hunger
The Downtown Evening Soup will serve an evening meal of locally donated food modeled after the experience their regular guests take part in daily; on 10/22 @5pm

San Francisco, CA
Food Deserts: Legal, Social and Public Health Challenges
University of California San Francisco CSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy is sponsoring a conference on neighborhood food deserts and nutrition in correctional facilities with the keynote address by Dr. David Kessler, Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and former commissioner of the FDA; @1-6pm

Boulder, CO
Healthy School Lunch
The Boulder Valley School District will be serving nutritious food all day, with all of its entrees being meatless, plus fruits and vegetables from regional areas and organic milk, plus “Make a Rainbow” tastings in some of their elementary schools @ 11am

Cambridge, MA
Harvard Farmers’ Market Tour
The Harvard Food Literacy Project will be taking a tour of the Harvard Farmers’ Market, starting at the Market Manager’s tent; 10/25 @2pm
1973 CSPI launches campaign to bar the use of sodium nitrite in bacon and other cured meats, which ultimately results in significantly lower levels of nitrites in many foods.

1978 CSPI petitions the FDA to require sodium labeling of all foods and fat-content labeling of processed meats.

1982 CSPI’s efforts to obtain sodium labeling culminate in a new FDA rule.

1987 FDA bans sulfite preservatives (a lethal allergen) in most fresh foods, following CSPI’s five-year effort.
1988 CSPI wins passage of a federal law requiring a health warning label on all alcoholic beverage containers.

1989 CSPI campaign spurs major hamburger chains to stop cooking french fries in beef fat.

1990 CSPI’s decade-long campaign wins a federal law requiring nutrition labeling of packaged foods and a ban on deceptive health claims. CSPI leads the effort to win passage of a federal law defining “organic” food.

1993 CSPI launches a series of landmark investigative reports (beginning with Chinese-restaurant food), revealing for the first time the nutritional value of restaurant foods.

1994 CSPI calls on the FDA to require the labeling of cholesterol-raising trans fats in foods and leads the effort to require lower-fat school meals.

1995 CSPI persuades the federal government to propose new regulations to force the food industry to do better at keeping disease-causing bacteria out of foods.

1997 CSPI’s Nutrition Action Healthletter becomes the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America, bringing life-saving information to more than two million Americans and Canadians.

1998 CSPI wins the battle in Congress for $75 million in new funding for government food-safety inspections.

1999 CSPI convinces Congress to expand funding from $2 million to $15 million to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for nutrition-education and physical-activity programs. CSPI’s campaign to warn Americans about the dangers of the fake fat olestra contributes to Procter & Gamble’s decision not to seek approval to use olestra in foods other than snacks.

2001 After a four-year effort by CSPI, USDA proposes mandatory nutrition labeling for ground meat and poultry. FDA requires a safe-handling notice on egg cartons to reduce Salmonella poisoning.

2002 CSPI wins funding increase to $27 million for CDC’s programs to encourage better nutrition and more physical activity. CSPI blows the whistle on Quorn, a dangerous new food ingredient. CSPI obtains funding for the FDA to hire more imported-food inspectors and expand anti-food bioterrorism programs.

2003 After a ten-year CSPI-led drive, the FDA finalizes a rule requiring food manufacturers to list artery-clogging trans fats on Nutrition Facts labels. CSPI launches efforts in several states to require nutrition labeling on fast-food chain restaurant menu boards and menus. CSPI prods the FDA to test a wide range of brand-name foods for cancer-causing acrylamide.

2004 Prompted by publicity and pressure from CSPI, Congress passes a law requiring disclosure on food labels of the presence of allergens like peanuts, wheat, milk, soy, and egg to protect the six million Americans with food allergies. FDA proposes new regulations to keep Salmonella out of eggs.

2005 CSPI’s new litigation unit compels food manufacturers to stop a number of deceptive ads and labels. CSPI reactivates its 25-year battle to reduce sodium content of packaged and restaurant foods. CSPI’s efforts help spur new policies in many cities and states to reduce or remove soda and junk foods from public schools.
2006 CSPI’s threat to sue soft-drink companies spurs them to remove high-calorie soft drinks from schools. CSPI stops a food-industry-led effort in Congress to overturn more than 200 tough state and local nutrition and food-safety laws.

2007 Helped pass menu labeling requirements in New York City and King County (Seattle), WA and introduced similar legislation in many other cities, counties, and states. Convinced a number of restaurant chains and major food companies to voluntarily eliminate deadly trans fat from their foods. Persuaded Kellogg to stop marketing foods of poor nutritional quality to kids, which led to other companies, like General Mills, doing the same.

2008 CSPI’s threatened lawsuit prompts Kellogg Company to adopt nutrition standards for marketing foods to children. Shortly thereafter, 11 major companies pledge to set similar standards through the voluntary “Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.” Following a CSPI lawsuit, KFC agrees to remove trans fat from its foods.

2009 With CSPI’s input, the US House of Representatives passes the most sweeping reform of the food-safety system in 70 years. After 15 years of urging by CSPI, the FDA announces it will require processing of raw oysters to eliminate deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria. CSPI helps secure a further increase in food-safety funding for the FDA, bringing to $390 million the total increase over the last three years.

2010 After a 10-year campaign by CSPI, Congress enacts mandatory calorie labeling on menus and menu boards at chain restaurants and passes the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which will make historic improvements in programs addressing childhood obesity and nutrition. CSPI has been working to get junk-food out of schools for three decades, and this will put healthier food on children’s plates.

2011 CSPI sponsors national Food Day (October 24) to advocate for a healthy, affordable food produced in a humane, environmentally sustainable way.

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For 40 years, Michael Jacobson has fought for food safety—no cape needed. By Kate Matelan You may not know Michael Jacobson, PhD, by name, but his work over the past four decades has made the food you eat healthier and safer for you and your family. Whether you’re shopping at the supermarket and eating out [...]

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For 40 years, Michael Jacobson has fought for food safety—no cape needed. By Kate Matelan You may not know Michael Jacobson, PhD, by name, but his work over the past four decades has made the food you eat healthier and safer for you and your family. Whether you’re shopping at the supermarket and eating out [...]

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By Laura Goldman

Thanks to the efforts of a devoted grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas, who just happens to be one of the world’s greatest talents, the life of two stars of the Yiddish theater and the history of the artform they so loved and indeed defined are being preserved for future generations. During their heyday, it would have seemed impossible that Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt of their day, could ever be forgotten, but tastes change and, like Yiddish itself, traditions are lost as cultures change with each successive generation.
If the name Thomashefsky sounds even a bit familiar, it could be because fictional impresario Max Bialystock credits his skill as a producer to the tutelage of the “great Boris Thomashefsky” in Mel Brooks’ The Producers. In fact, both Boris and Bessie’s influence on the theater is universally acknowledged. Boris and Bessie who, as teenagers in the 1880s, immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, are described by Zalmen Mlotek, artistic director of the National Yiddish Theatre, as “icons of the Yiddish theater.”
“Boris Thomashefsky was not just a matinee idol. He was a producer, director, composer and writer of his Yiddish theater productions,” elaborates Mlotek. “He was a real visionary who had tremendous influence on whole generations of actors.”
Bessie, who paved the way for actress Fanny Brice of Funny Girl fame, was a charismatic star in her own right. “Bessie Thomashefsky was a wonderful actress. After her divorce, she toured with her own productions all over America. This was an incredible accomplishment for a woman at that time,” says Mlotek.
During the Thomashefskys’ reign, the Yiddish theater had the largest audience of any ethnic theater in the country, attracting more people than Broadway. “Established stars such as Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson and Sarah Bernhardt came down to the Yiddish Rialto on Second Avenue to see the phenomenon of thousands people coming to the theater,” says Mlotek.
Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, founder and artistic director of the New World Symphony and principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, founded The Thomashefsky Project in 1998 to preserve and communicate the history of his grandparents along with the contributions of early American Yiddish theater to American cultural life. Through the Project’s work, many disintegrating scores and scripts have been located, catalogued, preserved and reconstructed. Thousands of pages of scripts, song lyrics and articles from the Yiddish press, memoirs, correspondence and audio recordings have been translated for the first time into English.
Tilson Thomas, who speaks some Yiddish, had originally conceived of his memorial to his grandparents just as an exhibit, but then realized only “music and live theater would truly bring them back.” He created the stage production, The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater, based on the dramatic, visual and musical elements from this unique collection.
The show is most definitely one part music history lesson with music ranging from the 1860s to the 1930s, including unforgettable Yiddish melodies like Der Yidisher Yenki Dudl (The Yiddish Yankee Doodle). “The audience experiences the transformation of music over 70 years during the course of the evening,” says Tilson Thomas. “It starts out as simple village music, then becomes operatic and ends with more ragtime and jazz.”
He has presented the show in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Tanglewood and Philadelphia where a concurrent exhibit at the Gershman Y included preserved costumes, stage props and playbills from the Thomashefsky shows.
Audiences also get the rare opportunity to see a musical genius bare his soul. On stage, Tilson Thomas narrates, sings, dances and conducts. Amazingly, he does not miss a beat. He also wrote this show, which is often a personal memoir of his relationship with this grandmother—Bessie spent every weekend with her grandson until her death when he was 17—and you can see her unique influence on Tilson Thomas’s future success. Everything he does is done with a wonderful theatrical flair.
He hopes the treasure trove of memorabilia amassed as part of the Thomashefsky Project will find a permanent home at a leading university and believes that the collection offers more than nostalgia—it serves as a reminder to future generations of the “political and social bite” that the theater once had.
According to Linda Steinberg, director of the Thomashefsky Project, the Yiddish theater wasn’t simply entertainment for new immigrants hungry for a reminder of their native country. “Yiddish theater replaced the cultural touchstones from the old country,” she explains. “In Eastern Europe, the Jews had the rabbi, the heder, the shul and the marketplace to socialize and for support. In America, all they had was the Yiddish theater.”
Steinberg, who has researched and catalogued the history of the Thomashefskys since 1988, feels that Broadway and Hollywood in its present form would not have happened without the pushing of artistic boundaries by Yiddish theater. “The Thomashefskys’ work is important because it served as a bridge to the Borscht Belt and the Broadway musical,” she says.
Tilson Thomas, who in 2010 was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Obama, maintains that Yiddish theater was in fact the precursor to the Broadway musical. The Thomashefsky plays, performed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, took on topics that are still debated today, such as abortion and women’s rights. “Broadway musicals such as South Pacific, Porgy and Bess and West Side Story have their roots in the Yiddish theater. The Yiddish theater was the first to use entertainment to address controversial social issues,” he says.
And the Thomashefskys did not just produce plays by Jews. Shakespeare’s Hamlet was translated into Yiddish and “improved” by Boris Thomashefsky so he could bring it to his audiences. The Thomashefskys were the first in America to produce plays by leading playwrights such as Oscar Wilde and Henrik Ibsen.
“The censors for Broadway, enforcing the state’s blue laws, declared Ibsen’s and Wilde’s plays not appropriate for Broadway,” says Steinberg, who is now director of education at the National Museum of American Jewish History. “They felt that there was too much sex in them. The Thomashefskys were able to circumvent the censors by producing them in Yiddish.”
The Thomashefskys also nourished and inspired some of the world’s greatest musical talents. “My grandmother told me that composers such as Irving Berlin and George Gershwin regularly performed in their plays, including a memorable scene called “The Bar Mitzvah March” in the Das Pintele Yid, their most popular show,” adds Tilson Thomas.
The influence of the Thomashefskys reached all the way to Hollywood—many of the future heads of the Hollywood studios got their start in the Thomashefsky theaters. “My grandmother knew Louis Mayer and Sam Cohn from the days when they sold potatoes and programs in the lobby of her theaters as teenagers,” recounts Tilson Thomas.
To learn more about this truly remarkable couple and the roots of the Yiddish theater in the US, go to www.thomashefsky.org/ and look for a taped performance of The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater on PBS’ “Great Performances.”

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By Laura Goldman

Thanks to the efforts of a devoted grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas, who just happens to be one of the world’s greatest talents, the life of two stars of the Yiddish theater and the history of the artform they so loved and indeed defined are being preserved for future generations. During their heyday, it would have seemed impossible that Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt of their day, could ever be forgotten, but tastes change and, like Yiddish itself, traditions are lost as cultures change with each successive generation.
If the name Thomashefsky sounds even a bit familiar, it could be because fictional impresario Max Bialystock credits his skill as a producer to the tutelage of the “great Boris Thomashefsky” in Mel Brooks’ The Producers. In fact, both Boris and Bessie’s influence on the theater is universally acknowledged. Boris and Bessie who, as teenagers in the 1880s, immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, are described by Zalmen Mlotek, artistic director of the National Yiddish Theatre, as “icons of the Yiddish theater.”
“Boris Thomashefsky was not just a matinee idol. He was a producer, director, composer and writer of his Yiddish theater productions,” elaborates Mlotek. “He was a real visionary who had tremendous influence on whole generations of actors.”
Bessie, who paved the way for actress Fanny Brice of Funny Girl fame, was a charismatic star in her own right. “Bessie Thomashefsky was a wonderful actress. After her divorce, she toured with her own productions all over America. This was an incredible accomplishment for a woman at that time,” says Mlotek.
During the Thomashefskys’ reign, the Yiddish theater had the largest audience of any ethnic theater in the country, attracting more people than Broadway. “Established stars such as Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson and Sarah Bernhardt came down to the Yiddish Rialto on Second Avenue to see the phenomenon of thousands people coming to the theater,” says Mlotek.
Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, founder and artistic director of the New World Symphony and principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, founded The Thomashefsky Project in 1998 to preserve and communicate the history of his grandparents along with the contributions of early American Yiddish theater to American cultural life. Through the Project’s work, many disintegrating scores and scripts have been located, catalogued, preserved and reconstructed. Thousands of pages of scripts, song lyrics and articles from the Yiddish press, memoirs, correspondence and audio recordings have been translated for the first time into English.
Tilson Thomas, who speaks some Yiddish, had originally conceived of his memorial to his grandparents just as an exhibit, but then realized only “music and live theater would truly bring them back.” He created the stage production, The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater, based on the dramatic, visual and musical elements from this unique collection.
The show is most definitely one part music history lesson with music ranging from the 1860s to the 1930s, including unforgettable Yiddish melodies like Der Yidisher Yenki Dudl (The Yiddish Yankee Doodle). “The audience experiences the transformation of music over 70 years during the course of the evening,” says Tilson Thomas. “It starts out as simple village music, then becomes operatic and ends with more ragtime and jazz.”
He has presented the show in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Tanglewood and Philadelphia where a concurrent exhibit at the Gershman Y included preserved costumes, stage props and playbills from the Thomashefsky shows.
Audiences also get the rare opportunity to see a musical genius bare his soul. On stage, Tilson Thomas narrates, sings, dances and conducts. Amazingly, he does not miss a beat. He also wrote this show, which is often a personal memoir of his relationship with this grandmother—Bessie spent every weekend with her grandson until her death when he was 17—and you can see her unique influence on Tilson Thomas’s future success. Everything he does is done with a wonderful theatrical flair.
He hopes the treasure trove of memorabilia amassed as part of the Thomashefsky Project will find a permanent home at a leading university and believes that the collection offers more than nostalgia—it serves as a reminder to future generations of the “political and social bite” that the theater once had.
According to Linda Steinberg, director of the Thomashefsky Project, the Yiddish theater wasn’t simply entertainment for new immigrants hungry for a reminder of their native country. “Yiddish theater replaced the cultural touchstones from the old country,” she explains. “In Eastern Europe, the Jews had the rabbi, the heder, the shul and the marketplace to socialize and for support. In America, all they had was the Yiddish theater.”
Steinberg, who has researched and catalogued the history of the Thomashefskys since 1988, feels that Broadway and Hollywood in its present form would not have happened without the pushing of artistic boundaries by Yiddish theater. “The Thomashefskys’ work is important because it served as a bridge to the Borscht Belt and the Broadway musical,” she says.
Tilson Thomas, who in 2010 was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Obama, maintains that Yiddish theater was in fact the precursor to the Broadway musical. The Thomashefsky plays, performed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, took on topics that are still debated today, such as abortion and women’s rights. “Broadway musicals such as South Pacific, Porgy and Bess and West Side Story have their roots in the Yiddish theater. The Yiddish theater was the first to use entertainment to address controversial social issues,” he says.
And the Thomashefskys did not just produce plays by Jews. Shakespeare’s Hamlet was translated into Yiddish and “improved” by Boris Thomashefsky so he could bring it to his audiences. The Thomashefskys were the first in America to produce plays by leading playwrights such as Oscar Wilde and Henrik Ibsen.
“The censors for Broadway, enforcing the state’s blue laws, declared Ibsen’s and Wilde’s plays not appropriate for Broadway,” says Steinberg, who is now director of education at the National Museum of American Jewish History. “They felt that there was too much sex in them. The Thomashefskys were able to circumvent the censors by producing them in Yiddish.”
The Thomashefskys also nourished and inspired some of the world’s greatest musical talents. “My grandmother told me that composers such as Irving Berlin and George Gershwin regularly performed in their plays, including a memorable scene called “The Bar Mitzvah March” in the Das Pintele Yid, their most popular show,” adds Tilson Thomas.
The influence of the Thomashefskys reached all the way to Hollywood—many of the future heads of the Hollywood studios got their start in the Thomashefsky theaters. “My grandmother knew Louis Mayer and Sam Cohn from the days when they sold potatoes and programs in the lobby of her theaters as teenagers,” recounts Tilson Thomas.
To learn more about this truly remarkable couple and the roots of the Yiddish theater in the US, go to www.thomashefsky.org/ and look for a taped performance of The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater on PBS’ “Great Performances.”

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By Laura Goldman Thanks to the efforts of a devoted grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas, who just happens to be one of the world’s greatest talents, the life of two stars of the Yiddish theater and the history of the artform they so loved and indeed defined are being preserved for future generations. During their heyday, [...]

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By Laura Goldman Thanks to the efforts of a devoted grandson, Michael Tilson Thomas, who just happens to be one of the world’s greatest talents, the life of two stars of the Yiddish theater and the history of the artform they so loved and indeed defined are being preserved for future generations. During their heyday, [...]

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Jewish dudes (and dudettes) who have made their mark in rap, hip hop and reggae

Once upon a time, not too long ago, oh, let’s say about the year 5730, reggae and its precursor ska were the sole province of Jamaicans, guys like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh who had lived the hardscrabble life in Kingston ghettos. Almost about the same time in inner cities like New York and Philadelphia, DJs started scratchin’ and daring artists like LL Cool J and Chuck D started rapping (a little later came props and street cred or drugs, violence and jail time…don’t forget Schoolly D, the Philly native who helped put gangsta rap on the map), thus creating a new genre of music.
The sound was innovative and constantly evolving in form—confrontational and studded with stark social commentary and street ’tude based on the black experience…and reserved exclusively for black artists before Eminem blew away that notion. Rap aficionados remember that Jamaican DJs like the legendary Kool Herc used reggae production techniques to pioneer rap in east coast cities. The two forms have always been intertwined with common roots. Jump ahead10 or 15 years and you will suddenly find Jewish inspired music infiltrating the genres as Jews in the industry wrote, produced and distributed rap tracks that became big hits for black artists. Advance a few more years to see the advent of Jewish artists, “Jewmaicans,” and then Orthodox Jews who added new strata to the musical landscape. Now as we begin the year 5771, we hear more white Jewish boys, raised in suburbia, expressing their angst over Middle East politics or the trials and tribulations of their Jewish (often Orthodox) experience in rap and reggae. While Matisyahu has deservedly received a lot of attention lately, there are others who paved the way and those who are currently exploring new paths, all of them with a degree of chutzpah that has enabled them to muscle in and find their niche. Here are just a dozen worthy of a listen.
The Beastie Boys (Adam Horovitz-Ad-Rock, Adam Yauch-MCA, Michael Diamond-Mike D and Michael “Mix Master Mike” Schwartz), middle class Jewish kids from Brooklyn, earned their “bad-boy reputation” with their irreverent, often profane approach, while achieving vast commercial success and landmark recognition for their combination of rap and metal. Formed as a hardcore punk band that slowly merged with hip hop, they released an experimental hip hop 12” single, Cookie Puss (Carvel ice cream fans will get the joke). Later under the guidance of Rick Rubin they released the acclaimed album Licensed to Ill with the crossover single Fight For Your Right (To Party); the album went on to become the highest selling rap album of the ’80s. Their 1988 album Paul’s Boutique is regarded as seminal in hip hop recording for its multi-layering techniques. In all, the Beasties have had four albums reach the top of the Billboard charts, and Rolling Stone ranked them #77 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists.

Chris Blackwell, the London born Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who grew up in Jamaica (his family actually founded a major synagogue there) may be more responsible for introducing reggae to mainstream audiences than any other producer. Blackwell parlayed a one-thousand dollar investment to record local Jamaican music known as ska into a mainstream hit by Jamaican teenager Millie Small—My Boy Lollipop, which essentially launched his start-up, Island Records and its numerous subsidiaries. It was Island that introduced superstar Bob Marley and the Wailers to audiences worldwide with their debut album Catch A Fire. Blackwell’s keen eye for talent discovered Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear and Sly & Robbie, who recently collaborated in the studio with Matisyahu.

In his short career, Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham) has already become one of the biggest names in hip hop. The Toronto native with the clean dude, anti-gangsta image is half-Jewish, raised and bar-mitzvah’d by his Jewish mom. Already a teen heartthrob from his days on the popular TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation, he made a quick transition from acting to hip hop with a series of mix tapes released on the internet. Mentored by rapper Lil Wayne and later signed by his Young Money label, Drake has gone on to develop a hybrid sound that is changing the genre: a mix of rap, R&B and dance done in collaborations with Jay Z and the industry’s biggest names. With the phenomenal chart topping success of his 2010 release Thank Me Later, Drake has cemented his place as an elite singer and songwriter.

JewDa Maccabi (Amnon Arma), the Orthodox freestyle rapper—an Israeli native who emigrated to Miami—never performs without his trademark black hat and tzizit. His music is simple, throbbing beats and a combination of lyrics rapped in English and some exotic Chassid prayer chants, all themed on Judaic life, sans politics. Dabbling in both hip hop and reggae, his Iron Like a Lion hip hop remake of Bob Marley’s Iron Lion Zion and songs like Israelites and Mission Redemption have gotten him mainstream attention. Recently he created the nonprofit Kosher Productions.

Kosha Dillz  (Rami Even-Esh) is a Jersey boy rapper and former pizza delivery man whose Jewish referenced raps in tracks like Unheib (Yiddish for beginning) and Kol ha Kavod Lirkod (It’s All Good to Dance) explore kosher culture and Jewish pride in particular. The tracks are also sprinkled with “unorthodox,” darker reflections regarding jail and drug use, unfortunately drawn from Kosha’s own personal experiences. The mix can often produce comic relief as on one track recorded with C-Rayz Walz, when Kosha replies to a girl, “I will kill you, you stupid little piece of gefilte fish!” Kosha got his big break touring in support of Matisyahu on his Light tour and, as a strict Zionist, joined Subliminal for a concert in Brooklyn. In 2009, Kosha released a well-received album titled Beverly Dillz.

Miri Ben-Ari is the Grammy winning composer and violinist from Israel known as “The Hip Hop Violinist” (also the title of her highly acclaimed newest album) and considered a musical pioneer for her truly revolutionary melding of classical violin (she studied under Isaac Stern) with jazz, R&B and hip hop. With props from Jay-Z and Kanye West, who gave her ultimate praise with the quote, “Miri is to hip hop what Miles Davis was to jazz back in the day,” Miri has backed a who’s who of artists across the genres, including Doug E Fresh, Scarface, Lil Wayne, Twista, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Styles P and Wu-Tang Clan. Her breakout performance with Wyclef Jean at Carnegie Hall in 2001 was probably the first time hip hop had been played in the hallowed venue.

Princess Superstar (Concetta Kirschner) boasts the longer reign of the two female Jewish artists on the list. Her roots stem from the Philadelphia suburbs and Germantown Academy where she became a MENSA member. Her foray into hip hop began with her demo titled Mitch Better Get My Bunny, a play on words from a rap song by AMG that showcased her offbeat humor. Its success got her a recording contract, an album, Strictly Platinum, and droves of publicity as one of the few “SWJ” rappers. She has since released 7 albums (combining hip hop, dance, electronica and her own guitar playing), many on the Corrupt Conglomerate label, which she founded. This Jewish Princess (Bad Babysitter was a hit single) has collaborated with Kool Keith and Grandmaster Flash and is also renowned as a savvy DJ in demand for sets worldwide.

Detroit native Paul Rosenberg, once an aspiring rapper himself named Paul Bunyan, instead became the manager of major hip hop artists, including Eminem, Three 6 Mafia and the Knux, and is the co-founder of hip hop record label Shady Records. Rosenberg nurtured Eminem’s career every step of the way to superstardom and his voice will be familiar to fans as he’s been featured in the hip hop “skits” that appear on each Eminem release where the two exchange banter about the music. Rosenberg produced 8 Mile, the semi-auto biographical movie about Eminem’s rise. Also associated with Eminem are the Jewish brothers Jeff and Mark Bass, who produced many of the tracks on Slim Shady and The Marshall Mathews LP and also co-wrote many of the songs. The brothers shared an Oscar with Eminem for Lose Yourself from 8 Mile.

Remedy Ross (Ross Filler) is often credited with being the first white (and Jewish) rapper. The Staten Island, NY native earned his street cred when he collaborated with the former schoolmates who became Wu-Tang Clan. His rap homage to the holocaust, Never Again, appeared on the Wu-Tang Killa Bees compilation The Swarm. His own album, Code Red, featured a track with Cilvaringz, Muslim and a Jew, that argues both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, incorporating Wu-Tang’s RZA as mediator. Remedy continues to work with Killah Priest, a disciple of the Black Hebrew Israelites, known for songs with religious references and strong Jewish imagery, such as the siege of Masada and the tribes of Judah. Remedy currently owns and runs the Code Red Entertainment label and worked as executive producer on Inspectah Deck’s solo effort Manifesto.

Rick Rubin (Frederick Jay “Rick” Rubin), the legendary producer behind the bushy beard and sunglasses, at one time professed to be “the only white guy in the hip hop world.” Son of a Long Island shoe salesman, Rubin, along with Russell Simmons, co-founded the iconic hip hop label Def Jam (“def” as in street slang for great, and “jam” for music) Records. Combing the NY metro area for talent, they “discovered” acts like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Jay-Z, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys and a host of others who comprise a virtual Hall of Fame of rap and hip hop talent. Rubin, famous for never wearing a suit and never going to an office, was instrumental in changing the genre by making rap records sound more like pop songs, producing a cleaner sound and avoiding the endless repetition of early rap. His idea to fuse rap with rock saved Aerosmith’s flagging career when he teamed them with Run-DMC in Walk This Way.

Subliminal (Ya’akov Shimoni), one of Israel’s most visible musicians, serves as frontman of the Israeli band TACT (Tel Aviv City Team) along with his rapping counterpart Ha’tzel (The Shadow) who together are credited (or, often, blamed) with creating “Zionist Hip Hop” through highly charged lyrics and bitter songs that voice hard line and right wing outrage at the reality of middle east politics. Despite the innocuous baggy American-style clothes, baseball cap and an oversized Star of David necklace, Subliminal has been accused in the Israeli press of producing “hatred music” with song titles that include Divide and Conquer and We’ve Come to Expel the Darkness. However, he has managed to parlay his hawkish pro-Israel themes into multiplatinum sales and a burgeoning music empire. American fans fill venues at his very infrequent stops, usually in Brooklyn, NY.

Y-Love (Yitzhak Jordan), a black convert into the Bostener sect (the Orthodox and mystical branch), learned to rap while attending yeshiva in Israel. He has become an incredibly versatile freestyler who, in black suit and tzitzit and with a faintly Yiddish-Brooklyn accent, seamlessly raps in English, Arabic, Hebrew and even ancient Aramaic. The strictly observant Y-Love often confers with his rabbi before performing to ensure that his political and social comments conform to chassidic tenets. His unique hip hop album Count It (Sefira), performed a cappella with beatboxer Yuri Lane, contains 7 tracks corresponding to the 7 weeks of Safira, the time after Passover when observant Jews are forbidden to use or listen to normal musical instruments. Y-Love recently released If Not Now…When as a fundraiser for the Gulf Restoration Network following the BP oil disaster.

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Jewish dudes (and dudettes) who have made their mark in rap, hip hop and reggae

Once upon a time, not too long ago, oh, let’s say about the year 5730, reggae and its precursor ska were the sole province of Jamaicans, guys like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh who had lived the hardscrabble life in Kingston ghettos. Almost about the same time in inner cities like New York and Philadelphia, DJs started scratchin’ and daring artists like LL Cool J and Chuck D started rapping (a little later came props and street cred or drugs, violence and jail time…don’t forget Schoolly D, the Philly native who helped put gangsta rap on the map), thus creating a new genre of music.
The sound was innovative and constantly evolving in form—confrontational and studded with stark social commentary and street ’tude based on the black experience…and reserved exclusively for black artists before Eminem blew away that notion. Rap aficionados remember that Jamaican DJs like the legendary Kool Herc used reggae production techniques to pioneer rap in east coast cities. The two forms have always been intertwined with common roots. Jump ahead10 or 15 years and you will suddenly find Jewish inspired music infiltrating the genres as Jews in the industry wrote, produced and distributed rap tracks that became big hits for black artists. Advance a few more years to see the advent of Jewish artists, “Jewmaicans,” and then Orthodox Jews who added new strata to the musical landscape. Now as we begin the year 5771, we hear more white Jewish boys, raised in suburbia, expressing their angst over Middle East politics or the trials and tribulations of their Jewish (often Orthodox) experience in rap and reggae. While Matisyahu has deservedly received a lot of attention lately, there are others who paved the way and those who are currently exploring new paths, all of them with a degree of chutzpah that has enabled them to muscle in and find their niche. Here are just a dozen worthy of a listen.
The Beastie Boys (Adam Horovitz-Ad-Rock, Adam Yauch-MCA, Michael Diamond-Mike D and Michael “Mix Master Mike” Schwartz), middle class Jewish kids from Brooklyn, earned their “bad-boy reputation” with their irreverent, often profane approach, while achieving vast commercial success and landmark recognition for their combination of rap and metal. Formed as a hardcore punk band that slowly merged with hip hop, they released an experimental hip hop 12” single, Cookie Puss (Carvel ice cream fans will get the joke). Later under the guidance of Rick Rubin they released the acclaimed album Licensed to Ill with the crossover single Fight For Your Right (To Party); the album went on to become the highest selling rap album of the ’80s. Their 1988 album Paul’s Boutique is regarded as seminal in hip hop recording for its multi-layering techniques. In all, the Beasties have had four albums reach the top of the Billboard charts, and Rolling Stone ranked them #77 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists.

Chris Blackwell, the London born Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who grew up in Jamaica (his family actually founded a major synagogue there) may be more responsible for introducing reggae to mainstream audiences than any other producer. Blackwell parlayed a one-thousand dollar investment to record local Jamaican music known as ska into a mainstream hit by Jamaican teenager Millie Small—My Boy Lollipop, which essentially launched his start-up, Island Records and its numerous subsidiaries. It was Island that introduced superstar Bob Marley and the Wailers to audiences worldwide with their debut album Catch A Fire. Blackwell’s keen eye for talent discovered Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear and Sly & Robbie, who recently collaborated in the studio with Matisyahu.

In his short career, Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham) has already become one of the biggest names in hip hop. The Toronto native with the clean dude, anti-gangsta image is half-Jewish, raised and bar-mitzvah’d by his Jewish mom. Already a teen heartthrob from his days on the popular TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation, he made a quick transition from acting to hip hop with a series of mix tapes released on the internet. Mentored by rapper Lil Wayne and later signed by his Young Money label, Drake has gone on to develop a hybrid sound that is changing the genre: a mix of rap, R&B and dance done in collaborations with Jay Z and the industry’s biggest names. With the phenomenal chart topping success of his 2010 release Thank Me Later, Drake has cemented his place as an elite singer and songwriter.

JewDa Maccabi (Amnon Arma), the Orthodox freestyle rapper—an Israeli native who emigrated to Miami—never performs without his trademark black hat and tzizit. His music is simple, throbbing beats and a combination of lyrics rapped in English and some exotic Chassid prayer chants, all themed on Judaic life, sans politics. Dabbling in both hip hop and reggae, his Iron Like a Lion hip hop remake of Bob Marley’s Iron Lion Zion and songs like Israelites and Mission Redemption have gotten him mainstream attention. Recently he created the nonprofit Kosher Productions.

Kosha Dillz  (Rami Even-Esh) is a Jersey boy rapper and former pizza delivery man whose Jewish referenced raps in tracks like Unheib (Yiddish for beginning) and Kol ha Kavod Lirkod (It’s All Good to Dance) explore kosher culture and Jewish pride in particular. The tracks are also sprinkled with “unorthodox,” darker reflections regarding jail and drug use, unfortunately drawn from Kosha’s own personal experiences. The mix can often produce comic relief as on one track recorded with C-Rayz Walz, when Kosha replies to a girl, “I will kill you, you stupid little piece of gefilte fish!” Kosha got his big break touring in support of Matisyahu on his Light tour and, as a strict Zionist, joined Subliminal for a concert in Brooklyn. In 2009, Kosha released a well-received album titled Beverly Dillz.

Miri Ben-Ari is the Grammy winning composer and violinist from Israel known as “The Hip Hop Violinist” (also the title of her highly acclaimed newest album) and considered a musical pioneer for her truly revolutionary melding of classical violin (she studied under Isaac Stern) with jazz, R&B and hip hop. With props from Jay-Z and Kanye West, who gave her ultimate praise with the quote, “Miri is to hip hop what Miles Davis was to jazz back in the day,” Miri has backed a who’s who of artists across the genres, including Doug E Fresh, Scarface, Lil Wayne, Twista, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Styles P and Wu-Tang Clan. Her breakout performance with Wyclef Jean at Carnegie Hall in 2001 was probably the first time hip hop had been played in the hallowed venue.

Princess Superstar (Concetta Kirschner) boasts the longer reign of the two female Jewish artists on the list. Her roots stem from the Philadelphia suburbs and Germantown Academy where she became a MENSA member. Her foray into hip hop began with her demo titled Mitch Better Get My Bunny, a play on words from a rap song by AMG that showcased her offbeat humor. Its success got her a recording contract, an album, Strictly Platinum, and droves of publicity as one of the few “SWJ” rappers. She has since released 7 albums (combining hip hop, dance, electronica and her own guitar playing), many on the Corrupt Conglomerate label, which she founded. This Jewish Princess (Bad Babysitter was a hit single) has collaborated with Kool Keith and Grandmaster Flash and is also renowned as a savvy DJ in demand for sets worldwide.

Detroit native Paul Rosenberg, once an aspiring rapper himself named Paul Bunyan, instead became the manager of major hip hop artists, including Eminem, Three 6 Mafia and the Knux, and is the co-founder of hip hop record label Shady Records. Rosenberg nurtured Eminem’s career every step of the way to superstardom and his voice will be familiar to fans as he’s been featured in the hip hop “skits” that appear on each Eminem release where the two exchange banter about the music. Rosenberg produced 8 Mile, the semi-auto biographical movie about Eminem’s rise. Also associated with Eminem are the Jewish brothers Jeff and Mark Bass, who produced many of the tracks on Slim Shady and The Marshall Mathews LP and also co-wrote many of the songs. The brothers shared an Oscar with Eminem for Lose Yourself from 8 Mile.

Remedy Ross (Ross Filler) is often credited with being the first white (and Jewish) rapper. The Staten Island, NY native earned his street cred when he collaborated with the former schoolmates who became Wu-Tang Clan. His rap homage to the holocaust, Never Again, appeared on the Wu-Tang Killa Bees compilation The Swarm. His own album, Code Red, featured a track with Cilvaringz, Muslim and a Jew, that argues both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, incorporating Wu-Tang’s RZA as mediator. Remedy continues to work with Killah Priest, a disciple of the Black Hebrew Israelites, known for songs with religious references and strong Jewish imagery, such as the siege of Masada and the tribes of Judah. Remedy currently owns and runs the Code Red Entertainment label and worked as executive producer on Inspectah Deck’s solo effort Manifesto.

Rick Rubin (Frederick Jay “Rick” Rubin), the legendary producer behind the bushy beard and sunglasses, at one time professed to be “the only white guy in the hip hop world.” Son of a Long Island shoe salesman, Rubin, along with Russell Simmons, co-founded the iconic hip hop label Def Jam (“def” as in street slang for great, and “jam” for music) Records. Combing the NY metro area for talent, they “discovered” acts like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Jay-Z, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys and a host of others who comprise a virtual Hall of Fame of rap and hip hop talent. Rubin, famous for never wearing a suit and never going to an office, was instrumental in changing the genre by making rap records sound more like pop songs, producing a cleaner sound and avoiding the endless repetition of early rap. His idea to fuse rap with rock saved Aerosmith’s flagging career when he teamed them with Run-DMC in Walk This Way.

Subliminal (Ya’akov Shimoni), one of Israel’s most visible musicians, serves as frontman of the Israeli band TACT (Tel Aviv City Team) along with his rapping counterpart Ha’tzel (The Shadow) who together are credited (or, often, blamed) with creating “Zionist Hip Hop” through highly charged lyrics and bitter songs that voice hard line and right wing outrage at the reality of middle east politics. Despite the innocuous baggy American-style clothes, baseball cap and an oversized Star of David necklace, Subliminal has been accused in the Israeli press of producing “hatred music” with song titles that include Divide and Conquer and We’ve Come to Expel the Darkness. However, he has managed to parlay his hawkish pro-Israel themes into multiplatinum sales and a burgeoning music empire. American fans fill venues at his very infrequent stops, usually in Brooklyn, NY.

Y-Love (Yitzhak Jordan), a black convert into the Bostener sect (the Orthodox and mystical branch), learned to rap while attending yeshiva in Israel. He has become an incredibly versatile freestyler who, in black suit and tzitzit and with a faintly Yiddish-Brooklyn accent, seamlessly raps in English, Arabic, Hebrew and even ancient Aramaic. The strictly observant Y-Love often confers with his rabbi before performing to ensure that his political and social comments conform to chassidic tenets. His unique hip hop album Count It (Sefira), performed a cappella with beatboxer Yuri Lane, contains 7 tracks corresponding to the 7 weeks of Safira, the time after Passover when observant Jews are forbidden to use or listen to normal musical instruments. Y-Love recently released If Not Now…When as a fundraiser for the Gulf Restoration Network following the BP oil disaster.

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Jewish dudes (and dudettes) who have made their mark in rap, hip hop and reggae Once upon a time, not too long ago, oh, let’s say about the year 5730, reggae and its precursor ska were the sole province of Jamaicans, guys like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh who had lived the hardscrabble life in [...]

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Jewish dudes (and dudettes) who have made their mark in rap, hip hop and reggae Once upon a time, not too long ago, oh, let’s say about the year 5730, reggae and its precursor ska were the sole province of Jamaicans, guys like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh who had lived the hardscrabble life in [...]

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The King Of Kosher Reggae

By Len Canter
Additional Reporting By Lil Samm

The journey for Matthew Paul Miller—whose bris-given Hebrew name, Feivish Hershel, was somehow forgotten by his parents and who chose to use Matisyahu, the Hebraic equivalent of Matthew—has taken him from the Main Line enclave of West Chester, PA, where he was born, and White Plains, NY, where he languished as a teenage wannabe musician and dedicated Phish-head, to Kingston, Jamaica, where his music has its roots and Hod Hasharon, Israel, where being reacquainted with his Jewish heritage led to “baal teshuva,” the term referring to Jews raised in secular fashion who adopt an Orthodox lifestyle.
Early in that unlikely trip, the tall, skinny, laid back Jewish kid who nearly burned down the chemistry lab and perfected his beatboxing in the lunchroom at White Plains High realized where his destiny lay. “All I ever wanted to do from the time I was a little kid had to do with music. As a teen, it was the core of my existence…the religion came later,” Matisyahu told Chutzpah as we caught up with him on tour with his Brooklyn-based band, the Dub Trio. We were a little skeptical that our Friday night interview with the Hassidic reggae star, who in true Orthodox fashion sports the long beard, payot, white shirt, wide brimmed hat, which is the fashion of Hasidic men, and non-traditional sneakers on stage, was scheduled correctly, since Matisyahu refuses to play concerts on shabbos. That is, until we realized that he had just finished a daytime set at the Mandalay Beach Hotel in Las Vegas (“a casino gig”) and, time zones away, it was not yet sundown.

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The King Of Kosher Reggae

By Len Canter
Additional Reporting By Lil Samm

The journey for Matthew Paul Miller—whose bris-given Hebrew name, Feivish Hershel, was somehow forgotten by his parents and who chose to use Matisyahu, the Hebraic equivalent of Matthew—has taken him from the Main Line enclave of West Chester, PA, where he was born, and White Plains, NY, where he languished as a teenage wannabe musician and dedicated Phish-head, to Kingston, Jamaica, where his music has its roots and Hod Hasharon, Israel, where being reacquainted with his Jewish heritage led to “baal teshuva,” the term referring to Jews raised in secular fashion who adopt an Orthodox lifestyle.
Early in that unlikely trip, the tall, skinny, laid back Jewish kid who nearly burned down the chemistry lab and perfected his beatboxing in the lunchroom at White Plains High realized where his destiny lay. “All I ever wanted to do from the time I was a little kid had to do with music. As a teen, it was the core of my existence…the religion came later,” Matisyahu told Chutzpah as we caught up with him on tour with his Brooklyn-based band, the Dub Trio. We were a little skeptical that our Friday night interview with the Hassidic reggae star, who in true Orthodox fashion sports the long beard, payot, white shirt, wide brimmed hat, which is the fashion of Hasidic men, and non-traditional sneakers on stage, was scheduled correctly, since Matisyahu refuses to play concerts on shabbos. That is, until we realized that he had just finished a daytime set at the Mandalay Beach Hotel in Las Vegas (“a casino gig”) and, time zones away, it was not yet sundown.

To read more subscribe and get the entire story.

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The King Of Kosher Reggae By Len Canter Additional Reporting By Lil Samm The journey for Matthew Paul Miller—whose bris-given Hebrew name, Feivish Hershel, was somehow forgotten by his parents and who chose to use Matisyahu, the Hebraic equivalent of Matthew—has taken him from the Main Line enclave of West Chester, PA, where he was [...]

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The King Of Kosher Reggae By Len Canter Additional Reporting By Lil Samm The journey for Matthew Paul Miller—whose bris-given Hebrew name, Feivish Hershel, was somehow forgotten by his parents and who chose to use Matisyahu, the Hebraic equivalent of Matthew—has taken him from the Main Line enclave of West Chester, PA, where he was [...]

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Comedian David Moore takes a look at Jewish baseball cards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8

The “Rally Rabbi” stirs up the fans on his shofar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_8p0-fFiM&feature=related

A rousing version of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” sung in Yiddish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related

Groucho Marx sings a tribute to Hank Greenberg with great clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g

Rabbi Reeve Brenner remembers what Greenberg meant to his generation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related

Holy Land Hardball: baseball comes to Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A

The Ferris Wheels, a rock band of rabbis, perform “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related

A  hilarious look at the Israeli baseball leagues 2nd season
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related

Trailer for the Yankles, a movie about an orthodox yeshiva baseball team
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw

A great look at the career of Sandy Koufax
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA

Jimmy Durante pays tribute to Koufax in song and clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related

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(www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA Start uga_preg_callback: Array Get tracker for full url Start uga_track_full_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Start uga_is_url_internal: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Start uga_get_option: internal_domains uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: internal_domains (www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com) Checking hostname www.chutzpahmag.com Checking hostname chutzpahmag.com Ending uga_is_url_internal: Get tracker for external URL Start uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Start uga_get_option: track_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: track_ext_links (1) Tracking external links enabled Start uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: prefix_ext_links (/outgoing/) Ending uga_track_external_url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Ending uga_track_full_url: /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Adding onclick attribute for /outgoing/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Ending uga_preg_callback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related Ending uga_filter:

Comedian David Moore takes a look at Jewish baseball cards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8

The “Rally Rabbi” stirs up the fans on his shofar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_8p0-fFiM&feature=related

A rousing version of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” sung in Yiddish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related

Groucho Marx sings a tribute to Hank Greenberg with great clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g

Rabbi Reeve Brenner remembers what Greenberg meant to his generation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi9UZPgcvA&feature=related

Holy Land Hardball: baseball comes to Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKt_Bh3V8A

The Ferris Wheels, a rock band of rabbis, perform “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpDfzVGMo&feature=related

A  hilarious look at the Israeli baseball leagues 2nd season
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig0UqHvVavI&feature=related

Trailer for the Yankles, a movie about an orthodox yeshiva baseball team
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxdi0dCVctw

A great look at the career of Sandy Koufax
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEmXbalUsA

Jimmy Durante pays tribute to Koufax in song and clips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtZ8SDOAHo&feature=related

Start uga_filter:

Comedian David Moore takes a look at Jewish baseball cards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 The “Rally Rabbi” stirs up the fans on his shofar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_8p0-fFiM&feature=related A rousing version of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” sung in Yiddish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Groucho Marx sings a tribute to Hank Greenberg with great clips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Rabbi Reeve Brenner remembers what Greenberg meant [...]

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

Comedian David Moore takes a look at Jewish baseball cards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo0KFTKC4U8 The “Rally Rabbi” stirs up the fans on his shofar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_8p0-fFiM&feature=related A rousing version of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” sung in Yiddish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnRFblEwWjw&feature=related Groucho Marx sings a tribute to Hank Greenberg with great clips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAStBdCjY2g Rabbi Reeve Brenner remembers what Greenberg meant [...]

Start uga_filter:

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/shows/10-show/Daniel_Stern_Cooks_Seder_Philadelphia.html

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Woody Allen

Roseanne Barr

Milton Berle

Lenny Bruce

Richard Cheese

Myron Cohen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRD8TsHpmqg

Don Rickles

Robert Klein

Jerry Lewis in The Bellboy

Richard Lewis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGlL88Zo1Nw

Jackie Mason

The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera

Mort Sahl

Adam Sandler

Jon Stewart

Mel Brooks

Jack Benny

Sid Caesar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybqVRYCXFPM

Mel Brooks

Ali G

Billy Crystal

Joan Rivers

Rodney Dangerfield

100 Seinfeld Quotes

Mel Brooks 2000 year old man part 2

Sarah Silverman

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Woody Allen

Roseanne Barr

Milton Berle

Lenny Bruce

Richard Cheese

Myron Cohen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRD8TsHpmqg

Don Rickles

Robert Klein

Jerry Lewis in The Bellboy

Richard Lewis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGlL88Zo1Nw

Jackie Mason

The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera

Mort Sahl

Adam Sandler

Jon Stewart

Mel Brooks

Jack Benny

Sid Caesar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybqVRYCXFPM

Mel Brooks

Ali G

Billy Crystal

Joan Rivers

Rodney Dangerfield

100 Seinfeld Quotes

Mel Brooks 2000 year old man part 2

Sarah Silverman

Start uga_filter:

Woody Allen Roseanne Barr Milton Berle Lenny Bruce Richard Cheese Myron Cohen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRD8TsHpmqg Don Rickles Robert Klein Jerry Lewis in The Bellboy Richard Lewis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGlL88Zo1Nw Jackie Mason The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera Mort Sahl Adam Sandler Jon Stewart Mel Brooks Jack Benny Sid Caesar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybqVRYCXFPM Mel Brooks Ali G Billy Crystal [...]

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Woody Allen Roseanne Barr Milton Berle Lenny Bruce Richard Cheese Myron Cohen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRD8TsHpmqg Don Rickles Robert Klein Jerry Lewis in The Bellboy Richard Lewis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGlL88Zo1Nw Jackie Mason The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera Mort Sahl Adam Sandler Jon Stewart Mel Brooks Jack Benny Sid Caesar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybqVRYCXFPM Mel Brooks Ali G Billy Crystal [...]

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August 15, 2011

I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week.  Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party.  All are seeking Republican Party support while advocating Tea Party positions on major issues, e.g., reducing or eliminating entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and slashing federal government expenditures.

Candidates like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) have been described by some observers of the political scene as wackos or crazies.  I think those views are now changing.  I must admit here that I have used those words in describing the views of some candidates, but I won’t anymore.  The eight participants in the debate handled themselves extremely well.  While I was not persuaded by their arguments and views and remain a Democrat supporting many Democratic programs, I can well understand why they and their supporters demand changes in federal programs along the lines advocated by Tea Party philosophy.  Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll, coming in one percentage point ahead of Ron Paul.  Tim Pawlenty came in third and has withdrawn from the race.

Liberal philosophy has adopted the Keynesian position that in times of recession and depression, government must prime the pump and spend its way out to achieve better times.  The Tea Party view and that of the Conservative government of David Cameron in Great Britain adheres to the old-fashioned view that my mom often expressed:  “You don’t spend money you don’t have.”  That was my view when I was mayor of New York City and in my personal life.  I have two credit cards.  I have never paid charges on either of them over and above my actual purchases.  I am one of those customers the credit card companies hate and may lose money on, if they are dependent on the usurious rates of interest they receive from those using their credit cards as access to bank loans.

When I was Mayor, I supported then and do now a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) balanced budget imposed by the state legislature requiring New York City to limit its operating budget to what was reasonable to expect the City to receive the year of the adopted budget.  The Tea Party believes in a balanced budget for the U.S. and wants to enact it into law by the adoption of a constitutional amendment.  Liberals are horrified with the idea.  My mother would have loved it.  It seems to me to make sense, provided there is an exception when the U.S. is at war.

We were a lower-middle class family when I grew up in Brooklyn.  Perhaps even poorer than we thought.  My father made $65 a week.  Our rent in Flatbush in 1941 was $65 a month – the then accepted ratio – and my parents were able to lead a reasonably decent lifestyle, bringing up three children and sending them to college.  I believe my parents values would be described as politically liberal.  Early on in my political career, I referred to myself as a liberal with sanity.

Mr. President, the country we all love is hurting enormously, with huge unemployment.  Isn’t it possible to create work programs like the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and spend monies on infrastructure for bullet trains, repairing roads and bridges that are falling down and other truly needed capital programs by creating what we don’t have now – a separate capital budget (which states and cities have) that would permit borrowing and pay the cost of a capital item over its expected life, instead of maintaining the single unified budget which the U.S. currently has?  I am not an economist, but shouldn’t that be considered?  The need for jobs with our unemployment rate in excess of 9 percent is universally accepted.

People everywhere are asking why don’t you call the Congress back from their unearned vacations to address the huge problems now facing the nation.  You can still win back the support of the public by publicly setting forth in detail your plan to address these enormous problems.  It should be a plan fashioned not on consensus, but your plan and if your political adversaries oppose it, so be it.  Then you must go over their heads to the vast public, appealing to its common sense, asking them to support you.  Take your plan into the next election and make your proposed programs the referendum on which the public will be voting in the presidential election of 2012.

Remember what Harry Truman did in 1948 with the do nothing Congress?  While Harry Truman is my political hero, you are far more eloquent than he was.  You can bring the nation to your side if you convince people that what you are asking them to do is to join hands in self-sacrifice, sharing the nation’s burden proportionately to their economic status.  We are a generous nation, a patriotic nation, a nation like no other in our diversity.  Today, we are so divided and feel leaderless.  You can bring us together and lead us to the promised land.

Mr. President, doesn’t it appear strange to you that the war in Afghanistan has been going on for ten years and this month of August, we have already sustained 51 deaths there?  We spend billions annually on the military budget.  Indeed, our military budget is equal in the aggregate to the military budgets of the next 17 nations.  I suspect the Taliban spends less than $10 million on its military, maybe $50 million annually, and yet, they have fought us to a standstill.  Shouldn’t we be getting out this year, instead of waiting for 2014, or as appears to be the case, staying permanently in a land where the people hate us?

Mr. President, we have been in Iraq for eight years.  We have spent hundreds of billions fighting the insurgents in Iraq.  Probably over a trillion dollars for the two wars – Afghanistan and Iraq – that are bleeding us, killing and injuring our young soldiers, ripping off the billions we send to rebuild their country, while our people are suffering in an economic crisis.  Within the past week, Iraq’s premier aligned Iraq with Syria and Iran, our declared enemies.  Syria is now engaged in killing its own citizens, shooting them down in the streets of Hama and other cities.  Does it make sense that you criticize Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and now our supposed ally, the new Iraq, is supporting the butcher of Syria?  While he is doing that, The Times reports we are negotiating with Iraq to stay past the end of this year with no date set for our leaving.

We are told Iraq needs our soldiers to protect it until Iraqi soldiers become able to do so.  Mr. President, what happened to the Iraqi soldiers’ ability?  That army eight years ago was the terror of the region.  Mr. President, our country is hurting.  Please take the actions needed to assure us someone is in charge.

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August 15, 2011

I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week.  Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party.  All are seeking Republican Party support while advocating Tea Party positions on major issues, e.g., reducing or eliminating entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and slashing federal government expenditures.

Candidates like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) have been described by some observers of the political scene as wackos or crazies.  I think those views are now changing.  I must admit here that I have used those words in describing the views of some candidates, but I won’t anymore.  The eight participants in the debate handled themselves extremely well.  While I was not persuaded by their arguments and views and remain a Democrat supporting many Democratic programs, I can well understand why they and their supporters demand changes in federal programs along the lines advocated by Tea Party philosophy.  Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll, coming in one percentage point ahead of Ron Paul.  Tim Pawlenty came in third and has withdrawn from the race.

Liberal philosophy has adopted the Keynesian position that in times of recession and depression, government must prime the pump and spend its way out to achieve better times.  The Tea Party view and that of the Conservative government of David Cameron in Great Britain adheres to the old-fashioned view that my mom often expressed:  “You don’t spend money you don’t have.”  That was my view when I was mayor of New York City and in my personal life.  I have two credit cards.  I have never paid charges on either of them over and above my actual purchases.  I am one of those customers the credit card companies hate and may lose money on, if they are dependent on the usurious rates of interest they receive from those using their credit cards as access to bank loans.

When I was Mayor, I supported then and do now a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) balanced budget imposed by the state legislature requiring New York City to limit its operating budget to what was reasonable to expect the City to receive the year of the adopted budget.  The Tea Party believes in a balanced budget for the U.S. and wants to enact it into law by the adoption of a constitutional amendment.  Liberals are horrified with the idea.  My mother would have loved it.  It seems to me to make sense, provided there is an exception when the U.S. is at war.

We were a lower-middle class family when I grew up in Brooklyn.  Perhaps even poorer than we thought.  My father made $65 a week.  Our rent in Flatbush in 1941 was $65 a month – the then accepted ratio – and my parents were able to lead a reasonably decent lifestyle, bringing up three children and sending them to college.  I believe my parents values would be described as politically liberal.  Early on in my political career, I referred to myself as a liberal with sanity.

Mr. President, the country we all love is hurting enormously, with huge unemployment.  Isn’t it possible to create work programs like the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and spend monies on infrastructure for bullet trains, repairing roads and bridges that are falling down and other truly needed capital programs by creating what we don’t have now – a separate capital budget (which states and cities have) that would permit borrowing and pay the cost of a capital item over its expected life, instead of maintaining the single unified budget which the U.S. currently has?  I am not an economist, but shouldn’t that be considered?  The need for jobs with our unemployment rate in excess of 9 percent is universally accepted.

People everywhere are asking why don’t you call the Congress back from their unearned vacations to address the huge problems now facing the nation.  You can still win back the support of the public by publicly setting forth in detail your plan to address these enormous problems.  It should be a plan fashioned not on consensus, but your plan and if your political adversaries oppose it, so be it.  Then you must go over their heads to the vast public, appealing to its common sense, asking them to support you.  Take your plan into the next election and make your proposed programs the referendum on which the public will be voting in the presidential election of 2012.

Remember what Harry Truman did in 1948 with the do nothing Congress?  While Harry Truman is my political hero, you are far more eloquent than he was.  You can bring the nation to your side if you convince people that what you are asking them to do is to join hands in self-sacrifice, sharing the nation’s burden proportionately to their economic status.  We are a generous nation, a patriotic nation, a nation like no other in our diversity.  Today, we are so divided and feel leaderless.  You can bring us together and lead us to the promised land.

Mr. President, doesn’t it appear strange to you that the war in Afghanistan has been going on for ten years and this month of August, we have already sustained 51 deaths there?  We spend billions annually on the military budget.  Indeed, our military budget is equal in the aggregate to the military budgets of the next 17 nations.  I suspect the Taliban spends less than $10 million on its military, maybe $50 million annually, and yet, they have fought us to a standstill.  Shouldn’t we be getting out this year, instead of waiting for 2014, or as appears to be the case, staying permanently in a land where the people hate us?

Mr. President, we have been in Iraq for eight years.  We have spent hundreds of billions fighting the insurgents in Iraq.  Probably over a trillion dollars for the two wars – Afghanistan and Iraq – that are bleeding us, killing and injuring our young soldiers, ripping off the billions we send to rebuild their country, while our people are suffering in an economic crisis.  Within the past week, Iraq’s premier aligned Iraq with Syria and Iran, our declared enemies.  Syria is now engaged in killing its own citizens, shooting them down in the streets of Hama and other cities.  Does it make sense that you criticize Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and now our supposed ally, the new Iraq, is supporting the butcher of Syria?  While he is doing that, The Times reports we are negotiating with Iraq to stay past the end of this year with no date set for our leaving.

We are told Iraq needs our soldiers to protect it until Iraqi soldiers become able to do so.  Mr. President, what happened to the Iraqi soldiers’ ability?  That army eight years ago was the terror of the region.  Mr. President, our country is hurting.  Please take the actions needed to assure us someone is in charge.

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August 15, 2011 I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week.  Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party.  All are seeking [...]

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August 15, 2011 I watched the eight Republican candidates debate among themselves last week.  Many of the opinion-makers of our country, early on decided to attack many of these candidates, most of whom either are themselves card-carrying members or adherents of the Tea Party as well as members of the Republican Party.  All are seeking [...]

Start uga_filter:

The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century adopted the “ultimate city game”—and over the course of a few decades, from the ’20s to the ’50s, added innovations in play and strategy—that it went from one requiring brute strength to one that stressed skill and strategy. In their hands, basketball, first conceived as a simple, easy to play (but hard to master) game, became the crossover dribbling, three-point bombing sport that it is today.
Contrary to cultural stereotypes, early in the 20th century, most Jewish kids played basketball and played it well. The old schoolyard cliché that “any Jew great at sports was probably adopted” didn’t hold water. Those of us compelled to debunk the notion of Jews “without game” need look no further than the game of the ghettos during that golden era, when the sport was indeed considered the “Jewish game.” Because basketball requires very little in equipment at its bare root level, ghetto kids could improvise with makeshift paper balls shot through the lowest rung of the fire escape (backboards were unheard of). Leagues sponsored by YMHAs, yeshivas and synagogues flourished—in addition to the benefit of keeping kids off the corner and out of trouble, rabbis also realized that these teams served a greater purpose by ensuring that kids kept willingly coming back to shul.
Almost all Jewish neighborhoods had their own teams, rivalries were in fact fierce, and there was no question that the best ball in the era was played in New York and Philadelphia, the cities with the largest Jewish populations. For the chosen few, proficiency in shooting the rock could land one a college scholarship (often the only way a poor Jew could hope to attend) and provide a portal into middle class America. College basketball was one area of life where Jews were rarely denied the right to participate, certainly not the case in many other sports. Not surprisingly, many players stayed local, creating an era of elite college teams like City College of New York (CCNY), Long Island University (LIU), New York University and Temple. After a good college career, Jewish players on early semi-pro fives could earn as much as $5 a game, a veritable fortune back then.
During this era, so-called “Jew Ball” evolved—what was first used as a slur or, at best, a backhanded compliment, the term came to define the style of play that was later lauded as the “thinking man’s” game. Incorporating defense and constant motion with the aim of hitting the open man, it was the antithesis of the foul-plagued “football style” offense that prevailed in the early days. Indeed it was a style crucial to the later success of the college and pro game, and one that seminal coaches like Nat Holman and later his protégé Red Holzman, and later on his protégé Phil Jackson, would refine to perfection. Why, if that guy Naismith hadn’t come up with a few now-antiquated rules himself, you could almost say Jews invented modern basketball.
Just as stereotypes unfairly label today’s black players, many were foisted on the Jewish players in the ’20s and ’30s. Jew Ball provided an easy mark for journalists like Paul Gallico, the eminent sports editor of the NY Daily News who expressed the goy “excuse” in a 1930s column, stating that “the reason that basketball appeals to Hebrews is that the game places a premium on an alert scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart-aleckness.” Players who lost to all-Jewish teams whined that the shorter Jews had “God-given better balance and speed.” Genetic advantage or not, the fact is that in 1930, in the biggest college game of the year, with NYU facing CCNY (both teams were undefeated), 9 of the 10 starters were Jewish. How cool is that?
After the second World War, in an era when the hoopla of March Madness was as yet inconceivable and pro ball was still a curiosity, a handful of mostly eastern teams would battle in the once prestigious National Invitational Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in college basketball’s showcase event. NIT championship games, up until the ’50s, often included CCNY, LIU or St. John’s, schools that perennially produced some of the best and most innovative basketball in the nation and whose Jewish-laden rosters were the toast of the town. And when local Jewish fans checked their morning papers to find out how the rest of the best had fared, most looked first to see how the “Mighty Mites” of Yeshiva University had done against the other beasts of the east.
Those were the glory days for Jewish basketball, when players were still referred to as cagers (courts used to be ringed with wire or rope mesh to keep play continuous and protect players from abusive fans), when they shot and passed with two hands and when dunks were reserved for doughnuts—under the old rules, touching the rim was illegal. Sixty years before Air Jordans, $3 could get you a pair of black high-top Chuck Taylor All-Stars (and a hamburger and Coke for lunch), shorts were, well, short, and cheerleaders wore letter sweaters and ankle socks. Fans waved pennants, not Styrofoam fingers. Yes, it was a time when stars with names like Heyman, Schectman and Schayes pounded the hardwood, and the Jewish players were truly kings of the court.
By the late 1940s the heyday of the Jewish basketball star had diminished for a variety of cultural and demographic reasons, including a mass migration of middle-class Jews to the suburbs. The crushing blow was probably the point shaving scandal that rocked college basketball after the 1950 season. That many of the culprits were players from CCNY and NYU (who accepted money from gamblers to lose games on purpose or win games but by less than the point spread) proved to be a death knell for New York City college ball. But for what the game is now, we pay homage to its past with Chutzpah’s guide to Jewish basketball, A to Z.

By Len Canter

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century adopted the “ultimate city game”—and over the course of a few decades, from the ’20s to the ’50s, added innovations in play and strategy—that it went from one requiring brute strength to one that stressed skill and strategy. In their hands, basketball, first conceived as a simple, easy to play (but hard to master) game, became the crossover dribbling, three-point bombing sport that it is today.
Contrary to cultural stereotypes, early in the 20th century, most Jewish kids played basketball and played it well. The old schoolyard cliché that “any Jew great at sports was probably adopted” didn’t hold water. Those of us compelled to debunk the notion of Jews “without game” need look no further than the game of the ghettos during that golden era, when the sport was indeed considered the “Jewish game.” Because basketball requires very little in equipment at its bare root level, ghetto kids could improvise with makeshift paper balls shot through the lowest rung of the fire escape (backboards were unheard of). Leagues sponsored by YMHAs, yeshivas and synagogues flourished—in addition to the benefit of keeping kids off the corner and out of trouble, rabbis also realized that these teams served a greater purpose by ensuring that kids kept willingly coming back to shul.
Almost all Jewish neighborhoods had their own teams, rivalries were in fact fierce, and there was no question that the best ball in the era was played in New York and Philadelphia, the cities with the largest Jewish populations. For the chosen few, proficiency in shooting the rock could land one a college scholarship (often the only way a poor Jew could hope to attend) and provide a portal into middle class America. College basketball was one area of life where Jews were rarely denied the right to participate, certainly not the case in many other sports. Not surprisingly, many players stayed local, creating an era of elite college teams like City College of New York (CCNY), Long Island University (LIU), New York University and Temple. After a good college career, Jewish players on early semi-pro fives could earn as much as $5 a game, a veritable fortune back then.
During this era, so-called “Jew Ball” evolved—what was first used as a slur or, at best, a backhanded compliment, the term came to define the style of play that was later lauded as the “thinking man’s” game. Incorporating defense and constant motion with the aim of hitting the open man, it was the antithesis of the foul-plagued “football style” offense that prevailed in the early days. Indeed it was a style crucial to the later success of the college and pro game, and one that seminal coaches like Nat Holman and later his protégé Red Holzman, and later on his protégé Phil Jackson, would refine to perfection. Why, if that guy Naismith hadn’t come up with a few now-antiquated rules himself, you could almost say Jews invented modern basketball.
Just as stereotypes unfairly label today’s black players, many were foisted on the Jewish players in the ’20s and ’30s. Jew Ball provided an easy mark for journalists like Paul Gallico, the eminent sports editor of the NY Daily News who expressed the goy “excuse” in a 1930s column, stating that “the reason that basketball appeals to Hebrews is that the game places a premium on an alert scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart-aleckness.” Players who lost to all-Jewish teams whined that the shorter Jews had “God-given better balance and speed.” Genetic advantage or not, the fact is that in 1930, in the biggest college game of the year, with NYU facing CCNY (both teams were undefeated), 9 of the 10 starters were Jewish. How cool is that?
After the second World War, in an era when the hoopla of March Madness was as yet inconceivable and pro ball was still a curiosity, a handful of mostly eastern teams would battle in the once prestigious National Invitational Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in college basketball’s showcase event. NIT championship games, up until the ’50s, often included CCNY, LIU or St. John’s, schools that perennially produced some of the best and most innovative basketball in the nation and whose Jewish-laden rosters were the toast of the town. And when local Jewish fans checked their morning papers to find out how the rest of the best had fared, most looked first to see how the “Mighty Mites” of Yeshiva University had done against the other beasts of the east.
Those were the glory days for Jewish basketball, when players were still referred to as cagers (courts used to be ringed with wire or rope mesh to keep play continuous and protect players from abusive fans), when they shot and passed with two hands and when dunks were reserved for doughnuts—under the old rules, touching the rim was illegal. Sixty years before Air Jordans, $3 could get you a pair of black high-top Chuck Taylor All-Stars (and a hamburger and Coke for lunch), shorts were, well, short, and cheerleaders wore letter sweaters and ankle socks. Fans waved pennants, not Styrofoam fingers. Yes, it was a time when stars with names like Heyman, Schectman and Schayes pounded the hardwood, and the Jewish players were truly kings of the court.
By the late 1940s the heyday of the Jewish basketball star had diminished for a variety of cultural and demographic reasons, including a mass migration of middle-class Jews to the suburbs. The crushing blow was probably the point shaving scandal that rocked college basketball after the 1950 season. That many of the culprits were players from CCNY and NYU (who accepted money from gamblers to lose games on purpose or win games but by less than the point spread) proved to be a death knell for New York City college ball. But for what the game is now, we pay homage to its past with Chutzpah’s guide to Jewish basketball, A to Z.

By Len Canter

Start uga_filter:

The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants [...]

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The game of basketball was invented in 1891 by a minister, James Naismith, who believed that it would promote “muscular Christianity.” That game would be unrecognizable today with its peach baskets, players passing the ball but never dribbling (a minor adjustment never envisioned by Naismith) and final scores like 5-4. It wasn’t until Jewish immigrants [...]

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If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and $5 (and they are nowhere more overpriced than at Maison du Chocolat, albeit a bastion of silken ganache and other treats, but still…), it seemed almost worth the drive in from my hinterlands in CT…until I remembered that gas is $4 a gallon and a round trip is about 7 gallons, best case scenario.

Just to show you how reality can never keep pace with trendy, macarons are already considered passé in some dessert circles. But still many people haven’t heard of, much less tasted a macaron, so it’s understandable that the New York Times would announce the freebie in the food section last Wednesday and then report on the events in today’s paper. The reporter even took the time to explain that a macaron is not a macaroon as in Passover coconut cookie macaroon. HOWEVER, I have two salient points to make. 1. One “o” or two, these are perfect for Passover because almonds substitute for flour the same way coconut does and 2. We are privileged to include Joan Nathan’s recipes for a variety of flavors here and in the new issue of Chutzpah.

Like the chocolate-covered ganache Chanukah gelt we brought you in our last issue, you can make this on your own. Don’t worry about the cracks the Times warns of. Having had the original at Laduree in Paris and those at Pierre Herme and other Jean-come lately’s, I can assure you that yours will melt in your mouth as easily as theirs. Of course, you haven’t really lived until you’ve sat down and eaten an entire box (as I typically do after begging any family member and friend who visits Paris to bring them back to me).  If you’ve got the money for shipping, you can now get them from Florian Bellanger’s madmacnyc.com, he of Fauchon in Paris, Le Bernardin in NYC and most recently Cupcake Wars. And they’re reasonably priced. Don’t scoff at the rose flavor until you try it. Sublime!

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If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and $5 (and they are nowhere more overpriced than at Maison du Chocolat, albeit a bastion of silken ganache and other treats, but still…), it seemed almost worth the drive in from my hinterlands in CT…until I remembered that gas is $4 a gallon and a round trip is about 7 gallons, best case scenario.

Just to show you how reality can never keep pace with trendy, macarons are already considered passé in some dessert circles. But still many people haven’t heard of, much less tasted a macaron, so it’s understandable that the New York Times would announce the freebie in the food section last Wednesday and then report on the events in today’s paper. The reporter even took the time to explain that a macaron is not a macaroon as in Passover coconut cookie macaroon. HOWEVER, I have two salient points to make. 1. One “o” or two, these are perfect for Passover because almonds substitute for flour the same way coconut does and 2. We are privileged to include Joan Nathan’s recipes for a variety of flavors here and in the new issue of Chutzpah.

Like the chocolate-covered ganache Chanukah gelt we brought you in our last issue, you can make this on your own. Don’t worry about the cracks the Times warns of. Having had the original at Laduree in Paris and those at Pierre Herme and other Jean-come lately’s, I can assure you that yours will melt in your mouth as easily as theirs. Of course, you haven’t really lived until you’ve sat down and eaten an entire box (as I typically do after begging any family member and friend who visits Paris to bring them back to me).  If you’ve got the money for shipping, you can now get them from Florian Bellanger’s madmacnyc.com, he of Fauchon in Paris, Le Bernardin in NYC and most recently Cupcake Wars. And they’re reasonably priced. Don’t scoff at the rose flavor until you try it. Sublime!

Start uga_filter:

If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and [...]

Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Calling preg_replace_callback: ]*?)href\s*=\s*['"](.*?)['"]([^>]*)>(.*?) Ending uga_filter:

If you live in NYC you had the opportunity to taste a French macaron (as they say it) free on French Macaron Day, initiated here on Sunday March 20 by Francois Payard, one of the foremost émigré chocolatiers from the motherland. In a world where a single one of these cookies costs between $2 and [...]

Start uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_get_tracker Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Start uga_get_option: account_id uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: account_id (UA-15887648-1) Ending uga_get_tracker: Start uga_insert_html_once: footer, Footer hooked: HTML inserted: Location is FOOTER Inserting HTML End uga_insert_html Ending uga_wp_footer_track: Start uga_shutdown Start uga_in_feed Ending uga_in_feed: Start uga_track_user Start uga_get_option: ignore_users uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: ignore_users (1) Start uga_get_option: max_user_level uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: max_user_level (8) Tracking user with level 0 Ending uga_track_user: 1 Footer hook was executed Start uga_get_option: footer_hooked uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: footer_hooked (1) Start uga_get_option: debug uga_options: array ( 'internal_domains' => 'www.chutzpahmag.com,chutzpahmag.com', 'account_id' => 'UA-15887648-1', 'enable_tracker' => true, 'track_adm_pages' => true, 'ignore_users' => true, 'max_user_level' => '8', 'footer_hooked' => true, 'filter_content' => true, 'filter_comments' => true, 'filter_comment_authors' => true, 'track_ext_links' => true, 'prefix_ext_links' => '/outgoing/', 'track_files' => true, 'prefix_file_links' => '/downloads/', 'track_extensions' => 'gif,jpg,jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,mp3,wav,phps,zip,gz,tar,rar,jar,exe,pps,ppt,xls,doc', 'track_mail_links' => true, 'prefix_mail_links' => '/mailto/andrew@chutzpahmag.com', 'debug' => true, 'check_updates' => true, 'version_sent' => '1.6.0', 'advanced_config' => true, ) Ending uga_get_option: debug (1) -->