Jacob Berkman http://jta.org/user/profile/49878 en-us rcsillag@jta.org Copyright 2009 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Thanks for the early Christmas gift Santos… Some explanations: ++ Stephen Bechtel received a humanitarian award from the AJC. http://www.tbp.org/pages/AssnNews/Briefs/BechtelBio.cfm ++ John Catsimatidis, also lit the worlds biggest Chanukah menorah one year, but he is Greek. I meant to delete him before the list went out... ++ You are correct on Lucas. He is Methodist… Mea Culpa. ++ You seem to be correct on Marianne Cargill Liebmann and Donald Schneider as well. All of those names have been deleted... (Though you just cost the Jews several bilion dollars, we aim for accuracy, so thanks) ++ Margaret Whitman, though, I still believe is Jewish. She was ranked one of the worlds most influential Jewish women in 2005, according to this link: http://www.worldjewishnewsagency.org/america.htm ++ I could still be wrong about Arrilaga, but he built a Hillel house at his alma mater, Stanford. http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2008/apr/ziffcenterstanford_15april2008.htm As for the others: ++ I wish you were right about Burkle, but according to the Forward he has widely been described as Jewish, but it is incorrect. http://forward.com/articles/10507/ ++ Frost is on the board of the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged, so could be… ++ Great call on Bloomberg co-founder Charles Zegar. He was married by Rabbi Joel Goor. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/24/style/weddings-merryl-snow-charles-zegar.html ++ And on Moritz, who is listed on Wikipedia as one of Britain’s famous Jews. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_Jews I added Zegar and Moritz to the list. All other corrections are greatly appreciated. As for why I thought this was important? I'll explain in the next Fundermentalist newsletter. Sign up here for free: http://salsa.jta.org/t/6863/signUp.jsp?key=1179 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Neil... you managed to be more offensive than Mussa, who seems to have followed me to JTA from my Jewish Standard days 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Can't wait. Finally a little more office space here in New York for the Fundermentalist! 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 (Looks like we were having a little technical difficulties of our own and the comment section wasn't working for some.) This is from presentense: Apologies for the low audio quality. We'll certainly be investigating higher streaming options for the future (If anyone has recommendations for good services compatible with Israeli servers, please be in touch!). In the mean time, we'll be uploading some of our Flip Videos tonight, and you can learn more about our fellows and their ventures at http://presentense.org/institute/2009/ and http://issuu.com/presentense/docs/pti09-institutereport-r. Thanks to the many who followed our livestream, and the many more who twittered along. We hope you felt the excitement and energy as much as we did here in Jerusalem! ShaiDavis@presentense.org Shai Davis Director of Communications, PresenTense 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 and shouldn't make me dizzy :) 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Thought one: The leaders of young Jewish Web 2.0 should be able to produce a livestream with audible audio :) 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Jonathan: I find that comment interesting. The data on the drop in canadian dollars was not my own analysis. That was given to me by the UJC, a fact that they also report on their Web site. Do you think the UJC is picking at the Canadian federations? 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Don't know... looks like everyone is still more in the dark than we want to be. But I do know Jerry was in Boston today working out of the FJC's office there. I know you can sign a contract long distance, but he's also been out of town a lot recently from what I hear.... We shall see. We shall see... 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Thanks Dave -- no one is pissing on the ads. Just pointing them out in an attempt to spur a discussion with a readership that may in some corners overlap with Jewlicious readers, but in many cases is very different. In the office here we all thought they were quite well done and clever. And according to the Jewish Agency they have been quite successful. Despite only 8,000 views Agency officials say that some 3,000 people have filled out the application form for MASA that accompanies the video -- more than 10 times the number who signed up for MASA from the same demographic at this time last year. We're checking that out now and will have more soon. Thanks for pissing on this post, though. 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Editor Man, I was hoping we could call the video segments "Fundermentalvision." 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Thanks Dan... I have a bit of a different take on this than the JPost... I don't believe this is a new story. It is one that has been developing for a year and a half now. This week just exacerbates what we all knew... read the post that will go up shortly. I'd love to know what you think. 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 I'll be honest Brad... I started reading the God Blog because I thought it was a blog written by God. Bible 2.0 or something and figured it would be a nice break from TMZ. Despite my initial disappointment, I'm still finding the blog divine! 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Thanks Joel... I'm looking forward to the conference, Joel (though I can't promise I won't be cranky if I've been fasting all day) 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Josh, Ben... It is standard practice in the entire journalism world -- and the entire business world -- to offer and accept free business lunches with the people with whom they work and cover. And I believe that every newsroom deals with this differently. Some have no policy. Some call for a cap on how much a reporter can accept in terms of free food. Some simply don't allow their reporters to accept. And I suspect that the decision has as much to do with the budget of the news organization as it does with fear that a reporter will be swayed to go soft on an organization because of one free meal. If an editor thinks that his or her reporter could be buttered up in any way -- be it by a free meal or a press junket or any other perk -- that editor, if he or she is worth his or her salt, should probably get rid of said reporter. And our editors here at JTA generally know with whom we are meeting and where. If there was any concern, it would be mentioned. As for me, I feel no obligation to write nice about someone or something just because they buy me some grub, be it nice or standard fare. And anyone who is picking up the tab should understand that. Besides, think about it this way. Do movie reviewers or theater critics pay for their tickets? Don't think so. Yet you see plenty of bad reviews out there... 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 Ummm. Joyce. That is FUNDERmentalist. This is a blog about philanthropy, not religious zealots. And by Quaker we were referring to the Penn mascot. You know. The Penn Quakers. So, yes, you are right: "I think the writer of this information doesn’t know what she is talking about. A Quaker is not a Fundamentalist. THese are entirely two different enteties. She should check her information for accuracy first." 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00 I was hoping to check out the parade, Laww. Despite the outrage from the religiously far right over the gay community expressing its right to exist in Israel, it is within the gay community in Israel that there seems to be any real glimmer for peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Jews. It is only within the embattled gay community where there seems to be any real, meaningful crossover between Palestinians and Jews. When I was in Israel during the Lebanon war in 2006, a friend invited me to Shushan, the only gay bar in Jerusalem. And during the height of this war, gay men both Palestinian and Jewish drank together, danced together and sang together. While the scene might have turned the stomachs of some, to me it really said that there is a possibility that we don't have to be enemies. They Palestinian gay community and the Jerusalem gay community are both disparaged, and maybe it is that that allows them to find common ground. Perhaps the Jews, disparaged throughout history, and the Palestinians, made pawns in a religious-political game by much of the greater Arab world, can look at the gay community and see that we have more in common than we thought. But in answer to your question, no, I didn't get to go to the parade. I had to work all day... 2009-11-20T;16:30:00-05:00