Tag: J-Street

Pesach, Tikkun Olam

Reform Jews denounce new Haggadah that only tells the story of Passover

(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

By Yekutiel Bornstein

Last Updated 12/21/2017 at 1:00 PM

Manhattan: America’s Progressive Jewish Community is currently reeling from some very very disturbing news: the publication of a Passover Haggadah that only……wait for it…..tells the Story of Passover. Random House recently published a Haggadah written by two prominent Rabbis that purports to tell the story of the Jewish People’s escape from bondage in Egypt without any allusions to Donald Trump, Gun Control, Fracking, or a $15 Minimum Wage. Well if you think our Woke Jewish Brothers and Sisters were going to take this development lying down, you are sorely mistaken. A protest tent was quickly erected outside of the publishing house and a 24 hour protest vigil began. Were there guitars? Of course there were. The Daily Freier stopped by and spoke with a few select members of the tie-dye tallit gang to get the Real Story.

“There is absolutely nothing in this so-called ‘Haggadah’ on Climate Change.” fumed Rabbi Allyssa Finkelstein-O’Neill. And yes, she made “air quotes” with her fingers when she said “Haggadah”. Rabbi Finkelstein-O’Neill leafed roughly through the Haggadah until she found a particularly offending tract. “There! King of the Universe??? Really? You are literally supporting the Patriarchy! The entire book is just one big Hate Crime. And don’t get me started on the word for “husband” in Hebrew.”

As the Daily Freier walked past a number of protesters wearing pink kippot shaped like Tel Aviv’s Shuk HaCarmel, we met up with a food co-op manager named Dylan. “I really can’t be in the same room as this book. It is literally everything-phobic. I mean, How can they justify a Haggadah that contributes absolutely Nothing to the intersectionality debate? Plus, the entire Plagues section needs a trigger warning….Also as a vegan, I refuse to sing Hadgadya….And no surprise here, but the book fails to mention Mike Pence once!”

The Daily Freier then spoke with a cantorial soloist named Elyse. “To tell you the truth, my issues with the Passover story go WAY beyond the Haggadah. Like, Moses telling Yithro’s daughters that they can use the well because he said it’s OK? I mean, mansplain much?” Elyse continued. “This whole Holiday just reminds me that I’m literally offended by everything. I’m just glad I have enough copies of the J-Street Haggadah from last year.”

A spokesperson for the protesters said they intend to remain at the site indefinitely, “Or at least until we get bored with singing Shalom Rav“. Also, in an attempt to break down boundaries, tomorrow’s protest might even include some tallit on men.

 

Dear Daily Freier

Dear Daily Freier: “Bigly Taglit Woke” Edition

Dear Daily Freier!Welcome to yet another edition of the Dear Daily Freier advice column! An outlet that has already allowed YOU the reader to gain needed advice about such pressing subjects as the Israeli bus system, relationships, and pétanque! So without further ado, here are the answers you did not want to the questions you already regret asking!
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Dear Daily Freier,

Hi, so I went on Birthright last month and it was A-MA-ZING. But here’s the thing. The soldier on our bus? Danny? From Hadera? Well when we were down at that big crater in the desert….Mizpe Ramon? Well Danny and I (“may have”) wandered off for the night together. I mean, he was so romantic! He even wrote me a poem! In English and Hebrew! But the thing is, later on the trip I’m pretty sure he also “wandered off” with that girl from LA who pretends to be spiritual but is actually just an idiot. Also the girl who went to Amherst. And maybe the girl from Texas with Israeli cousins. And just now I saw on Facebook that Jess from Seattle posted a poem of his. So anyway, I skyped Danny and confronted him about it, and all of a sudden it’s like he forgot how to speak English. He was just mixing up random words in Hebrew and English and I think Spanish. Anyway, what’s the deal? I mean, is he really a romantic or did he just want to hook up with all the girls on the trip?

Signed,
“Alyssa from Rockland”
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Yes & Yes.
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Dear Daily Freier,

OK, So I just graduated from NYU. And I’m Jewish. But not Jewish-Jewish. Honestly, I’m not too big on the Temple I grew up in anymore. Or Trump. Or Israel. Because my Intersectional Feminism Professor said that Israel is bad. Like really bad. Anyway, I’m looking for career advice and wondering if you can help me. Like, if you were a Jew who disliked Israel, most Israelis, and also about half of American Jews…. what career field would you go into?

Signed,
“Woke in Connecticut”
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Have you thought of becoming a Professor of Judaic Studies at any given University?
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Dear Daily Freier,

So suppose you are an amazing leader. A great leader, Very great. The Best. And let’s say you just did something Very Big for a country in the Middle East. With a lot of Jews in it. Nobody loves the Jews like I do. I have the best Jewish grandchildren. Just the best. So again, let’s say you just did something very big for the Jews there. And the Jews in Israel? They Love it. “It’s the Best.” All of them told me that. And Bibi? Great guy. Great, great guy……..But then there’s the Jews in America….. Some of them say thank you. But, gotta admit, some of the others? Not so thankful. No gratitude. Sad. Very Sad. Anyway, I think I lost my train of thought. But do you know what I’m saying?
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Bigly.
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Have a question for the Daily Freier? Send it to daily.freier@gmail.com
Do you want it answered promptly? Then you may want to hit up this site first. https://dailyfreier.com/donate-to-the-daily-freier/

Jeremy Corbyn, Purim, The Jooz

Haman: a portrait of Third World Resistance, By Jeremy Corbyn

439px-jeremy_corbyn_april_2016(Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

On Saturday we will mark another anniversary of a sad and quite frankly unnecessary chapter in history: the Naqba tragedy that some Zionists refer to as “Purim”. The events occurred 2300 years ago in a place called Shushan, now ruled by a man I consider a friend, the Ayatollah Khameini. Shushan’s King Ahashveros was an essentially decent man, yet a man who sadly fell under the influence of a certain world-wide conspiracy led by a certain group of people from a certain part of the world. I will give you three guesses who I’m talking about, but the first two guesses don’t count.

The King had a loyal viceroy, a man named Haman. Now Haman was a bit of a boisterous chap, not unlike the noble yet sometimes over-enthusiastic Yassar Arafat. Haman had some rather radical ideas for promoting demographic harmony in the Kingdom.  Yet as my old friend Idi Amin noted to me once, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

King Ahashveros’ problems began after he married his second wife, a woman named Esther. Happened to be Jewish. Esther, showing a capacity to manipulate governments that is all too familiar to those of us who pay attention to these things, quickly found an important post in the Kingdom for her Uncle Mordecai, a Far-Right Likudnik agitator. Mordecai blatantly refused to respect the proper authority of Haman. Haman, as an indigenous inhabitant of the land, was quite justifiably offended by the settler Mordecai’s violation of his honor. Haman quickly devised a solution to this problem. Indeed, his Solution was actually rather Final. Yet once again, an unnamed International Conspiracy usurped the sovereignty of a Middle Eastern Government. Pulling on the strings of power, Esther unduly influenced the King, and in an action in clear violation of International Law, Haman was martyred executed.

Just to add insult to injury, Zionists today celebrate this War Crime with a crass week-long party rife with costumes that are quite frankly guilty of sexism and cultural appropriation, coupled with behavior that under normal circumstances would trigger multiple ASBO’s. One can only hope that this year there is a more progressive J-Street commemoration of Purim.

 

 

 

J-Street, Pesach

Rave Reviews for the J-Street Haggadah!

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(Photo Credit: Our Legal Department says that this idea came to us in a dream.)

(DISCLAIMER: We thought we had a totally original idea. Until the Buzzkills at ElderofZiyon said that Tikkun now has its own Haggadah. It’s getting harder and harder to satirize the Progressive Jewish Left.)

By Yuval Weiss

Last Updated 4/24/2016 at 1:00 PM

Washington: With the completion of many a successful Passover Seder this year, the streets are buzzing with rave reviews for J-Street’s Haggadah.  The Daily Freier wandered around Washington’s Food Co-Ops and Non-Profits until it got enough quotes to finish the article and go home to nap.

Code Pink web designer Moonwind Epstein enjoyed the Haggadah’s new look. “The old Haggadah just felt dated.  Like it was 3,000 years old or something. So I really like the new Four Questions: “Why is this Iran Deal Better Than All Other Iran Deals?”

Saying that he “liked that there was a message“, Dylan Murray-Levinson-Smith, an intern at the New Israel Fund, extolled the new Haggadah’s educational aspect. “It’s been a long time since Hebrew School at the JCC, so it’s no surprise that I forgot that one of the plagues was named ‘Bibi.‘ Good times.”

Even though local dude “Max” knows “a lot” about Judaism, he too learned something new at his Second Night Seder.  “The part where Moses gathers the Israelites and tells them that any entry into the Promised Land will first require “Justice for Jericho” and a “Right of Return for the Canaanites” just really moved me.”

While J-Street is proud of its Haggadah, it promises improvements for next year (not in Jerusalem!) to include addressing the “Root Causes” of Pharaoh’s grievances with the Israelites.

 

 

 

 

Hasbarah

Israel Accuses Iran of Secretly Producing Gluten

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(Photo Credit: AFP)

By The Daily Freier Staff

Last Updated 12/8/2015 at 12:20 PM

Jerusalem: In a tense press conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu made his strongest accusation to date: that Iran had a clandestine plan in place to manufacture the substance most feared by White Western Progressives: Gluten. Netanyahu walked an at-first skeptical media step by step on Iran’s dual-use bakeries, illegal import of non-EU compliant pasta, and an array of centrifuges spinning high-grade gluten out of low-grade pita bread.

The International Community reacted in panic, with multiple food co-ops in Hendon, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, and Ithaca shutting down temporarily in a panic. Ann Arbor Peoples’ Socialist Inclusive Food and Wellness Cooperative Collective Chairperson, NightSky Dyson summed up the feeling of the Progressive Community. “ When I saw Netanyahu’s speech, I thought it was going to be more of his ‘Iran’s getting the bomb’ blah-blah bullshit. But this…..this is serious. Sorry, I need to go; we’re going to need to stock up on a LOT more yogurt cultures. Wait….do you think we can blame this on the Occupation?”

The Jewish Progressive Left was equally confused. Jeremy Ben-Ami, Grand Poobah over at J-Street, summed up the feelings of angst. “I hope you appreciate how delicate this situation is. There is only one thing that my constituents dislike more than Israel Netanyahu’s policies, and that’s gluten.”

The reaction of the American political class was equally swift. Noted purveyor of wisdom Donald Trump declared that he would have cut a better deal with the Iranians that would have left them with only gluten-free products. President Obama admonished Americans not to discuss “so-called gluten” and that the current development was just the work of “some folks on the wrong side of dietary history”. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned that during her tenure, she flew 900,000 miles trying to combat gluten, while current Secretary of State Kerry noted that he was for gluten before he was against it. Former President Clinton adamantly declared that he in fact did not have sexual relations with that gluten.

J-Street

There’s a Hot New Dating Site For Jews Who Don’t Really Like Most Other Jews

JDateStreet.png(Photo Credit: Our Legal Department says this does not resemble anything at all)

By Yuval Weiss

Last Updated 11/12/2015 at 11:20 AM

Washington:  The Jewish Community is abuzz over the launch of a new dating site for Jews who are uncomfortable with Israel, dislike most Israelis, can’t stand the Congregation they grew up in, hate Birthright, don’t get along with anyone in their Hillel……OK OK…. it’s a dating site for Jews who don’t really like most other Jews they meet. The site, titled “J-Date Street” was launched with grants from Billionaire George Soros, the Center for American Progress, and the New Israel Fund.  And certain segments of the Jewish community are VERY excited.

“OMG This is amazing!” noted Amanda K., a content writer at Jewish Voices for Peace.  “I met this guy through the site who seems really nice.  His avatar on the site is ‘Blumen to the Maxx’. He says he’s from a prominent Washington family too!  We have a date tomorrow night in Georgetown!  The only weird thing is he told me to bring a kaffiyyeh, Shabbat candles, and a jar of hummus….. ‘for later on that night’.  I don’t know….is that normal?”

Despite this enthusiasm, the site is running into some problems reaching its target audiences.  The Daily Freier talked to a spokesperson at Code Pink by telephone, who refused to provide a name, as this would be “an exercise in gender-identity exclusionary hegemony, reminiscent of the Zionist tactics of denying historical memory“. As the Daily Freier tried to wrap its head around that last sentence, the Spokesperson acknowledged that it would actually be nice to “meet someone new” as the writers over at Mondoweiss “just spend all day sipping cocoa in their pajamas”

Yesterday the site expanded to Israel, causing  the Blog +972 to miss several publication deadlines as their editorial staff and writers ceased all work related activity for the day and crashed their server when everyone uploaded their dating profiles at once.

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