Forward! Wait a Moment! (14 cents)

It has been a while, since I reported either on the weekly "Forward" or the bimonthly "Moment", so I thought I would set this down so you can see what you have been missing.

The Forward edition (August 25) was a very interesting one. Look at this.

1. Senator George Allen of VA is Jewish? (His mother, French-Tunisian, was undoubtedly Jewish by birth? She came from a long Portuguese Sephardic family. She could not be married in the Catholic Church (Allen's parents were married by a Justice of the Peace at a Jewish friend's house).

2. Should Israel (and the U.S.) start conversations with Syria? Pro: the Syrians are the gateway for Hezbollah arms into Lebanon. Pro: Hamas' home office is in Damascus. Con: there go the Golan Heights.

3. Are Israeli and American policies too much in lockstep, to the detriment of both?

4. What about Gunter Grass and his revelation that he was an SS member as a very young boy? Has he atoned through his writing (and in fact without this experience, would he have become the novelist he is, and concentrating on morals and ethics, as he has)? Or should the Nobel, or other prizes, be taken from him? Is he the prime example, and one of the last, of Germany coming to terms with its Nazi past?

5. Why is Chabad the first Jewish movement to open synagogues in fast growing, newer suburbs?

6. How about all the scandals hitting Israeli political and religious leaders? Mostly, they are personal (claims of sexual harrassment, etc, and include the president and the two chief rabbis)? Only one involves governmental activity, a claim of improper activity by Knesset member when he was in charge of the environmental policy of the country.

7. Dedication of Al Jolson Way on W 51st St in NYC.

8. Shaun Green, Jewish ball player, now a Met.

9. Is the push for inquiry of failures of the recent war in Lebanon too political to be counted on for reliable answers?

10. The Rabbinic Assembly (modern Orthodox rabbis in USA) put out a statement saying that Israel should not be so protective of civilians during war; clearly Hezbollah was not, and war is war, and Jewish law and tradition does not demand this care or concern. Yuck.

11. The Republican Jewish contender for senator in Connecticut, running now against both Lieberman and Lamont, has only 5% of the vote. Why?

12. The market recently bombed in Moscow is owned by Azerbaijani Jews. Was it an underworld bombing?

13. The two AIPAC officials accused of giving Israel confidential information. A recent court ruling has said that it must be shown that release of the information was against US interests (may not be able to be shown). The information was of the dangerous situation developing in Iran. Michael Berenbaum, in an op-ed piece, asks if their problem wasn't really that they were right, but too early, as the US government was still then in the mode of showing that Iraq, not Iran, was the bigger concern?

14. Reviews of two new books on the former Jewish community of Salonika, Greece, a major center of Jewish life for 400 years.

15. A fascinating new book on the history of various Hasidic leaders who broke away from the movement, committed suicide, converted, etc. The book is in Hebrew, written by the head of the Jewish history department at Tel Aviv University, and attempts to bring to light repressed information that has been distorted by both Hasidic historians and their non-Hasidic opponents. The book is being sold here only under the counter, and has created a firestorm of comment.

16. A list of 28 fiction books, set in Israel. Recommended reading. The books have been published over the past 30 years or so.

17. An article about Lorenzo da Ponte, librettisist for Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, and Don Giovanni. A fascinating story. Da Ponte is now the subject of an exhibit at Vienna's Jewish Museum.

And now Moment:

1. The War in Iraq. Good or bad for the Jews. (not very enlightening)

2. Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager. His story.

3. Conversos in Mexico. Fascinating.

4. Interesting article by Menachem Rosensaft, who learned of his mother's exploits during the Holocaust, after her death.

and more.