Why Help Build America When We Can Help Build the Land of the Jews?

Posted on: May 11th, 2012

It is no secret that American Jewry is being decimated by assimilation. The longer the Jewish community remains in America the more the assimilation will grow. So I ask – what’s the point in working to strengthen something that is destined to dwindle out and end? The exile is a curse which is not supposed to continue forever.

Tibbi’s Roundup: If You Knew What’s Going On in my Head You’d Blush

Posted on: May 10th, 2012

Not related to the image above which is just my treat to you, the same-sex story reminds me of the joke about a guy sitting in the park, starting a light chat with a young woman. After a while, the conversation kind of dies down and the two drift into silence. So the young woman [...]

“The People Shall Rise Up Like a Lion!”

Posted on: May 9th, 2012

Not only are the streets of Jerusalem inundated with the smoke of burning embers; but hillsides and streets all over the country are lit up with the fiery love of Torah which kindles in every heart. Not only the streets, but the smoke of these holy bonfires penetrates into every single apartment and house, like the aroma of incense on the Temple’s altar, penetrating through windows and concrete walls to reveal the inner spirit of every Israeli soul, of every Israeli home.

Tibbi’s Roundup: Bibi, Terrorist Lady, Rabbis, Parents, Children, and the Stuff In-Between

Posted on: May 9th, 2012

Our roundup today concludes with parental anxieties, which all of us with and without children share. It reminded me of the joke about a father and his son who go into a restaurant and order soup. The soup arrives boiling hot, but the steam was trapped below the grease. The son drank a spoonful and [...]

Hugo Stiglitz VS the Canaanites

Posted on: May 9th, 2012

My considerable experience with bad people is: showing weakness to them never, ever works. Not ever. Never. As evidenced by the entire arc of human, and Jewish, history.

Why A Jew?

Posted on: May 8th, 2012

The secularists and atheists in my life don’t know enough about Judaism to know how big of deal this is, so they tend to look at my journey as a mildly exotic lifestyle choice – like a phase Madonna might go through – before they focus on the real issue at hand: circumcision.

Tibbi’s Roundup: The Rebbe and the Dog

Posted on: May 8th, 2012

One of the questions posed to PM Netanyahu and his new coalition bride Shaul Mofaz by one of those pesky Israeli TV reporters was: Only a short while ago, Mofaz called Bibi a liar. Now the two of you are headed into a long-term marriage (a year and a half is eternity in Israeli politics). [...]

If I Were Prime Minister

Posted on: May 8th, 2012

Now that everyone is talking about elections, I’m thinking of throwing my kippah into the ring. In all modesty, my novels have won me a pretty fair following in the religious community, so I could very well garner the necessary number of votes to get elected to the Knesset.

Winners and Losers: Israel’s Historic Unity Government

Posted on: May 8th, 2012

A joint JoeSettler-Jameel post.  Left behind in the wake of Netanyahu’s surprise unity maneuver are some serious winners and loser. There is no doubt that elections would have shaken things up, but this unity coalition shakes up things even more. What Netanyahu managed to do today is of historic proportions and has some serious ramifications [...]

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Tibbi Singer’s Daily Roundup: Be the Best Sheigetz You Can Be…

Posted on: May 7th, 2012

This Jewish guy gets to a small town out in the hinterland, and in his kosher traveler’s guide he finds a motel that’s run by a Jewish lady. Sunday morning the church bells are ringing and he hears the motel owner yelling out: Jimmy, the bells are ringing, time to go to church! So the [...]

Premature Jew – Bashing

Posted on: May 7th, 2012

I was Jew-bashed, and almost killed, before I had my first thought of becoming a Jew.

A Jew on Broadway

Posted on: May 7th, 2012

On a friend’s recommendation, I went to see the Broadway musical Godspell. I found myself watching Jesus get hoisted on a cross by Judas Iscariot, surrounded by an audience with tears and/or rage in their eyes. At that moment, being the only person in the room with a Kippah on his head…made me stand out. But I forced myself to stay. Because I had never experienced this as a Jew.

Dennis Prager, the Torah, and Me

Posted on: May 6th, 2012

Throughout my life, I have always been drawn to great speakers. As a word-lover, I have to keep an eye on this predisposition, the same way a wine-lover must be careful about that second glass.

It Beats Writing Trashy Movies in Hollywood: Part 3

Posted on: May 6th, 2012

When I finally made aliyah, I knew lots of people, and was already half “Israeli”. I lived in Jerusalem with the saintly old lady I had met on my first visit, and spent my days running around with Rabbi Hazani, designing street posters and helping him with the campaign to free the Jewish Underground until he dragged me to the Machon Meir Yeshiva

Tibbi’s Roundup: ‘Asifa’ Organizers Snub Women, Lubavitch

Posted on: May 5th, 2012

Happy New Week. I’m trying a topical approach to my roundup, so I went trolling for new, interesting things about Lag Ba’Omer (only a couple of days ahead), the ‘Asifa’ in Citi Field, and stam interesting Jewish tidbits. Let me know if this format works for you, I’m trying new things. There’s a classifieds ad [...]

Hollywood to the Holy Land (Part 2)

Posted on: May 4th, 2012

"Dear God," I said. "I don’t know why you have come into my life and done this great miracle for me. But I am certainly grateful, and I would like to make You happy some way in return. Tell me what You want me to do, and I will do it."

Roundup: Organ Donation, Abomination, Beer Nation, Cross-Davenation, Plus the Settlers of Tel Aviv

Posted on: May 4th, 2012

It’s the 12th of Iyar. On this day in the year 70, Roman General Titus breached the middle wall of Jerusalem (it was June 5 back then). It’s the yahrzeit (in 1778) of Reb Shmuel Shmelke Halevi Horowitz of Nikolsburg. On his first day as the Rabbi of Nikolsburg, he made it rain. It was [...]

Jblogs: It’s Methuselah Day

Posted on: May 3rd, 2012

It's Iyar 11, the yahrzeit of Methuselah at the 969 years of age (according to one opinion). I suppose on this day Jewish geezers go down to the park and pass judgment on the pigeons (You call that pecking?). It's also the yahrzeit, in 1884, of Judah Philip Benjamin, the second Jewish senator in U.S. history (from Louisiana), who also served in the cabinet of President Jefferson Davis (yes, yes, they lost).

From Hollywood to the Holy Land

Posted on: May 3rd, 2012

My bar-mitzvah ceremony was held in a Unitarian church. To me, that’s a perfect symbol for being a Jew in America, where you are totally immersed in a foreign, gentile culture. Even if you live in a strictly-kosher ghetto, the World Series, Michael Jackson, Christmas decorations, the Oscars, and the NY Daily News are waiting for you the minute you cross the street.

The Wrong Time to Dance

Posted on: May 2nd, 2012

Standing at my tenth floor perch as the Yom Hazikaron siren blared, I was able to see directly into the open window of a room with three Arab workers in it. I heard myself gasp as the siren hit its loudest pitch, for at that moment, the workers dropped their tools, and began to dance together. And laugh. And dance some more. And as the tears of the Israelis on the street below flowed, these workers danced.