Poems in Paint: Titian at the Gardner Museum

Titian: Women, Myth & Power at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum consists of only six paintings, yet this one-room exhibition feels more like a six-course banquet. So overwhelming, immense and entrancing are the monumental canvases that upon entering the room one must literally catch one’s breath. Titian, greatest of the Venetian Renaissance masters, referred to these paintings, commissioned by King Philip II of Spain, as poesie (poems) and each depicts a different scene from stories in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. [Sam Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir

Majority-Rule Advocates Should Restructure the Senate

Instead of blaming Sen. Jon Manchin III for the uncertain status of the Build Back Better bill, perhaps we should direct our wrath at the ghost of William Paterson. New Jersey’s one-time governor might well be disgusted with himself if he were alive to witness the suspension of the $1.7 trillion social policy legislation. [Bruce S. Ticker]

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Bruce Ticker, USA

Haftorah for December 25, 2021

These mainly poetic passages come from two separate parts of  Isaiah I’s writings. Most are commonly dated ca. 730s BCE, but there are some earlier and many later contributors’ insertions.  This has muddled previous date assignments of these materials. Modern scholars now think a good bit arose from the time of the fall of the Babylonian empire to Persia in 539 BCE. It is arguable that some of what are called predictions actually were formulated ‘after the events.’ [Irv Jacobs, M.D.]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Jacobs, Bry on Campaign Trails for Congress and County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk

Primary elections are coming next June and two Jewish Democrats are already campaigning hard.  Congresswoman Sara Jacobs this week announced her candidacy for reelection in a recently reapportioned district that includes a large part of her old district.  Former San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry meanwhile has garnered the endorsement of the San Diego County Democratic Party in her bid to become the county’s next Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA

Lebanon Blast Reminds of Hamas’s Growing Armed Presence to Israel’s North

By Yaakov Lappin (JNS) The deadly explosion that tore through a Hamas arms depot on December 10 in a mosque in the Burj Al Shimali refugee camp, in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, is a vivid reminder of Hamas’s growing organized armed presence on Lebanese territory – and Iran’s role in helping it grow.

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Middle East

Meet the Orthodox Skater Representing Israel at the Beijing Olympics

By Josh Hasten (JNS) In a true “Cinderella story,” 19-year-old Hailey Kops, a religiously observant athlete from West Orange, N.J., is preparing to take on the world’s finest ice skaters while proudly representing Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Kops and her partner 33-year-old Evgeni Krasnopolski recently qualified for the pairs ice skating

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International, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, USA

Biden aide and Israeli leaders explore common strategy on Iran

Published by Reuters By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli leaders and the U.S. national security adviser on Wednesday sought common ground on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme amid slow-moving talks between Tehran and world powers. The U.S. official, Jake Sullivan, told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem that the United States

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USA

2021 Sees 30% Global Surge in Aliyah, Record-Breaking Immigration from US

JERUSALEM (Press Release) — Aliyah (immigration to Israel) surged in 2021, with the 27,050 new arrivals from across the globe representing a 30% increase over the previous year’s 21,820 olim (immigrants), according to statistics released today by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel and Nefesh B’Nefesh. This past year also

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International, Middle East, USA

Ever Met a Famous Jew? / This Book Tells of Quite a Few!

It’s never too early for a child to be inculcated with Jewish pride.  This board book will be enjoyed both by parents (or grandparents) and the children sitting on their laps both because of the caricatures of famous Jews and the rhyming couplets with which they are described. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History

EU Lawmakers Blast Facebook for ‘Lack of Improvement’ in Removing Antisemitic Content

(JNS) Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are calling on Facebook to take “immediate measures” to better combat the proliferation of antisemitic content on its platform. In a letter sent on Dec. 16 to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Facebook — which was recently rebranded as Meta — and Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, eight

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International, USA

Russia’s Chess Game Against Ukraine Places Israel in Awkward Position

By Israel Kasnett (JNS) Russia has built up roughly 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, sparking international concerns of an imminent invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call last week during which Biden warned of severe consequences including “strong economic measures.” The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry

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International, Middle East

Jake Sullivan Heads to Israel to Discuss Iran’s Nuclear Program

By Mike Wagenheim (JNS) As U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan prepares for his trip this week to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, a senior Biden administration official said on Monday that talks in Jerusalem will center around developing a plan on Iran for the near-term. “We will talk about where we see the state

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Middle East, USA