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JimInCO · 2006-03-27T23:08:22Z

[color="Blue"](Keep pushing, jews. Keep pushing. Itz coming.) http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635194220,00.html Saturday, March 25, 2006 Hipster Judaism is popping up all over Music, books, clothes — Jewishness is trendy By Charles Passy Cox News Service WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — His act has been likened to a "Saturday Night Live" skit: Picture a Hasidic Jew, garbed in traditional black attire, jumping around on a concert stage as if he's some strange amalgam of Mick Jagger, Little Richard and your latest rap- and reggae-influenced rock star. Mark Mainz, Getty ImagesSinger Matisyahu, seen in Park City, has recorded hit "King Without a Crown." In this case, he is your latest rock star: Meet Matisyahu, an Orthodox Jew whose recent single, "King Without a Crown," has cracked the upper echelons of Billboard magazine's "Hot 100" pop chart. But Matisyahu is hardly an isolated phenomenon. Take a look at pop culture these days and "hipster Judaism," as the phenomenon has been dubbed, is just about everywhere. It's on television: Consider the new show coming to cable's Learning Channel: "Shalom in the Home," starring Shmuley Boteach, an Orthodox rabbi who counsels troubled families. Think Dr. Phil with a Yiddish accent. It's in the bookstore: Consider two popular tomes from last year — Abigail Pogrebin's "Stars of David," a look at Jewish actors, writers, politicians and other celebrities, from Sarah Jessica Parker to Larry King, and "Bar Mitzvah Disco," a celebration of the Jewish rite of passage in all its campy excessiveness. It's at the clothing store: Consider the cleverly designed T-shirts that declare "Moses is my homeboy" or that ask, "Who's your rabbi?" Even the trendy clothier Urban Outfitters has gotten into the act with its "Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl" tees. And it's at the record store — beyond Matisyahu, that is: Consider the Jewish-oriented label JDub Records, which not only put Matisyahu on the map but also has a roster that includes the LeeVees, the band behind the recent Hanukkah Rocks album. In many ways, this marriage of Judaism and pop culture has been set in motion for at least a decade. In some cases, it came from within the Jewish community: When Adam Sandler introduced his now classic "Hanukkah Song," a paean to all things (and all people) Jewish, on "Saturday Night Live" in 1994 — sample lyric: "David Lee Roth lights the menorah / So do James Caan, Kirk Douglas and the late Dinah Shore-ah" — he created a kind of template. But you can't overlook the role of non-Jews in bringing Judaism to the mainstream. Madonna led the way with her embrace of Kaballah, a form of Jewish mysticism. But she's since been joined by everyone from Demi Moore to Paris Hilton. Britney Spears even has Hebrew letters tattooed on the back of her neck. Ultimately, however, the boom in hipster Judaism speaks to the mind-set of Jews in a post-assimilation era. For much of the 20th century, Jews strived to fit into a non-Jewish world, keeping their faith and ethnicity a private matter. Jews in Hollywood, for example, routinely changed their names: Kirk Douglas was formerly known as Issur Danielovich Demsky. But there comes a point when the pendulum must swing the other way. Now that Jews have found a level of acceptance in an increasingly multicultural American society, it's OK for them to express, well, their Jewishness. And increasingly, the expression takes on a certain hipster tone in keeping with the mind-set of contemporary culture. "I'd say making fun of things is what my generation does. ... We need a hobby, so it's mockery," says Rob Tannenbaum, music editor of Blender magazine and a leader of the hipster Judaism movement in his role as a member of the comedic musical duo What I Like About Jew and as a creator of the VH1 special, "So Jewtastic," which aired the end of last year. The mockery speaks to the very secular aspect of this trend: Judaism may be a religion, but it's also a culture. And while American Jews have increasingly felt a certain distance when it comes to matters of faith they still want a connection of some sort. And it's why some Jewish philanthropic organizations have eagerly funded this hipster version of outreach. "Young people will go to a concert before they'll go to a synagogue," says Felicia Herman, executive director of the Natan Fund, which has given out nearly $2 million to about 30 non-mainstream Jewish organizations, including JDub Records and Heeb magazine. Which is not to say that religion doesn't play a role in all of this. Even traditional-minded Jewish leaders will look past the more controversial aspects of the movement — Heeb magazine, for example, takes its name from a pejorative term for Jews, albeit in an effort to reclaim it as a positive — and will see the overall effort as a bridge to building the faith. "I think it's a great doorway," says Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of Palm Beach Orthodox Synagogue. And the significance of Matisyahu can't be underestimated...

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This Just In

Last Post by SMG3000 19 years ago

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SMG3000

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Meh. Not bad, but she's no Sarah Silverman.

Posted : 08/06/2006 8:37 pm

Bill

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Posts: 874

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Meh. Not bad, but she's no Sarah Silverman.

You could be on to something.........

Posted : 08/06/2006 8:55 pm

Anonymous

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Posts: 84005

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I'm a Nazi, but even I'd hit that.

with a tire iron?

Posted : 08/06/2006 9:14 pm

Joe Snuffy

(@joe-snuffy)

Posts: 459

Honorable Member

I'm a Nazi, but even I'd hit that.

It's OK, but only if you do it out of hate.

Posted : 08/06/2006 9:35 pm

Anonymous

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Posts: 84005

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If anyone is truly descended from niggar ancestors, it would have to be the jew. No White person in history has ever come from a niggar. Jew = niggar with shit for brains.

Posted : 08/06/2006 10:50 pm

Abzug Hoffman

(@abzug-hoffman)

Posts: 3544

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Sarah Silverman
For her one-woman show, Jesus is Magic, she capitalizes on her own good looks, building a persona which is both Jewish spoiled-brat-princess and ditzy young starlet...
Her deadpan in-character delivery implodes the entire notion of starfucking, as popular culture and media look to pseudo-celebrities to comment on racism, religion, and global tragedy.

Silverman wittily deconstructs ‘degrees of racism’, and runs with the notion of: If I can make fun of Jews because I’m Jewish, why can’t I make fun of any other minority out there.

http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/003446.html

Jews can always make fun of anyone, and they do! It's white Christians who can't make fun of people, that would be spreading hate. White Christians do have a role to play, though. They can get up and testify how cool blacks and jews are.

If a horse-face is your idea of beauty, this Sarah is a treat! She's the goofy "second banana" type, or even "ugly step-sister".

"Go, Nazis, Go!"

Posted : 09/06/2006 6:25 am

SMG3000

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Posts: 689

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Just call me the Lone Ranger.

Posted : 09/06/2006 4:23 pm

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