Why Is A Super Bowl Win So Great For New Orleans?

Dennis Prager: We always hear this, but I’m not sure why it is true.

“They always say this. Every time a city’s team wins, it’s great for the city. And we all believe it. And then if you think about it for approximately four seconds, you can’t think of a single reason why it’s great for the city.

“People feel good for a day or two and then go back to the exact same problems they had before the team won.

“I happen to have been in Philadelphia the night they won the World Series. All I saw were overturned cars. I couldn’t get to my hotel because all the streets were blocked off. I couldn’t see why that was great for Philadelphia. What’s the enduring great benefit for Philadelphia?

“He went further the coach. That this is great for Louisiana. I’m sure that for Baton Rouge, Shreveport, it’s just a new world.”

“I don’t think LA misses the NFL and I don’t think the NFL misses LA. It’s a phenomenon that the second largest city in the country doesn’t have an NFL team.”

Leon Wieseltier's Hatred Of Bloggers

In an article on Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic’s Literary Editor Leon Wieseltier writes: “He is the master, and the prisoner, of the technology of sickly obsession: blogging–and the divine right of bloggers to exempt themselves from the interrogations of editors–is also a method of hounding.”

That’s funny. Leon Wieseltier has long been the The New Republic writer most resistant to editing. He had a sweet deal with the former owner of the magazine, Marty Peretz, so that he could not be edited. When Michael Kinsley ran The New Republic and wanted to edit him in his first issue, Wieseltier went over Kinsley’s head to Peretz and secured for himself a no-editing privilege.

Leon Wieseltier's Hatred Of Bloggers

In an article on Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic’s Literary Editor Leon Wieseltier writes: “He is the master, and the prisoner, of the technology of sickly obsession: blogging–and the divine right of bloggers to exempt themselves from the interrogations of editors–is also a method of hounding.”

That’s funny. Leon Wieseltier has long been the The New Republic writer most resistant to editing. He had a sweet deal with the former owner of the magazine, Marty Peretz, so that he could not be edited. When Michael Kinsley ran The New Republic and wanted to edit him in his first issue, Wieseltier went over Kinsley’s head to Peretz and secured for himself a no-editing privilege.

And what’s with calling “blogging” the technology of sickly obsession? Why is it more sickly obsessive than cell phones? What is sick obsession? When are you dogged and I am obsessed?

A lot of people have called me obsessed in my blogging. I know then that they lack arguments and can only use cheap put-downs.

A Google search could not turn up Leon Wieseltier’s email address. I guess he doesn’t want to be questioned. It’s so much more comfortable just to pronounce.

Will A Beard Hurt My Job Prospects?

Most of the people close to me hate my beard. They say it will hurt my job prospects. That people don’t like beards.

I know there are jobs that require a person to be clean-shaven, but I am not so sure that people in general dislike beards.

I’ve found that most people are either indifferent to my Orthodox Judaism or respectful of it. Most of the people who hate it are secular Jews who hate traditional Judaism and adherence to traditional Jewish practices. But much of the goyim I know don’t have a problem with my beard and my yarmulke and my tzitzit and my adherence to Jewish law. They respect people who live for transcendent values. I think most employers will respect that too.

Would you rather employ someone who fears God? I would.

Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough

Lori talks about the trivial reasons many women use for disqualifying a guy for a second date. According to a survey, men gave three reasons for not going on a second date with a woman (not cute enough or nice enough or interesting enough), while women listed 300 reasons for not going on a second date (he ordered tap water at the restaurant, he wore a brown belt with black shoes, etc).

Lori says the guy she’s currently seeing was not initially attractive to her on his match.com profile because he was shorter than she wanted, he did not appear creative (he worked in real estate), and he wore a bow tie (she thought it was dorky).

Lori: “The Atlantic article was my opinion. The book is not my opinion. I’m a journalist. I went out and spoke to a lot of people.”

The Jewish Journal’s Danielle Berrin interviews Lori:

 

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Orthodox Female Rabbis III

I’m told: There are many aspects to this and I do not believe that any one or two people can change things on their own. Orthodox Judaism is a religion of consensus. Sometimes ideas are discussed for decades before they are acted upon (and sometimes more than decades). Even when a new idea is started by a small group and acted upon immediately, the people are scholars of world class, see Rabbi Hildesheimer in Berlin in the 19th Century. For an activist of fourth rank scholarship such as R. Avi Weiss to make this kind of radical change is unheard of.

Now the issues:

What is the job of a rabbi? It is clear that the contemporary “Rabbi” is not the same as the traditional Rav (or Chacham in the Sephardic world). The Rav was primarily a Judge and Posek. Today that is almost never done by the pulpit Rabbi. So the question is what are we having this woman do? Is she being ordained to have all of the functions of a Rabbi or Rav? This has not been spelled out so it is impossible to answer from a halachic point of view. It is clear that there are things that a woman can do and things that she cannot do. Have they worked this out?

 

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Orthodox Female Rabbis II

This approach by Rabbi Kanefsky reminds me of another controversy he plunged into with utter recklessness. In the October 25, 2007 issue of the Jewish Journal, Rabbi Kanefsky wrote: “It’s not that I would want to see Jerusalem divided. It’s rather that the time has come for honesty.”

The clear inference here is that if you oppose a divided Jerusalem, you’re dishonest.

It’s a distressing tendency in Rabbi Kanefsky’s thinking that he regards those who disagree with him on many issues to be inherently dishonest.

I can’t imagine there is anyone in the world who loses sleep because Rabbi Kanefsky regards them as intellectually dishonest. These accusations distress me, not because anybody is hurt by them, but because they hurt the rabbi.