Don’t Talk to Women
Jacqueline Nicholls’ beautiful paper-cut doilies, called The Ladies Guild Collection, take some of the more obviously misogynist passages of Jewish literature (like the one above) and turn them into works of art. The level of detail in the borders of these pieces is incredible. The entire collection is certainly worth exploring.
Oh, and she’s drawing the entire Talmud one page at a time. Seriously, Jacquline Nicholls is a cool lady. Read her interview on Jewcy.
OMGWTFBIBLE’s second show at Double Wide!
I’m happy to announce that Episode 10 will be happening on July 29 (a little late this month due to the fast day and all) at Double Wide!
This month, I’ll be joined by Ariel Abrahams, a brilliant artist, who’s been exploring alternative approaches to Judaism on his own.
We’ll start with Chapter 13, and I guarantee you one thing: THERE WILL BE STEW.
Details and links below:
OMGWTFBIBLE Episode 10
Double Wide Bar
505 E. 12th Street
7:00 PM
Because Conservative Judaism know which millennium it is, Rabbi David Wolpe, of the prestigious 107-year-old Sinai Temple in California, announced this week he’ll allow same-sex marriages to be performed at his temple now that it’s finally legal again out there.
Not everyone at Sinai Temple is embracing this move. A congregant named M. Michael Naim took issue with the fact that, you know, man-on-man action is forbidden in the Torah:
“Homosexuality is explicitly condemned in Scripture and has been categorically and passionately rejected by all classical Jewish legal and ethical thinkers as a cardinal vice in the same category as incest, murder and idolatry.”
Yikes.
The Times article goes on for a bit about the culture clash between slightly-more homophobic Persian Jews and the other congregants at Sinai Temple. But here’s the money quote from Rabbi Wolpe’s original statement:
“Our clergy believe that this decision is in the best tradition of the Conservative movement which views the Torah as a living document that allows room for new understandings and approaches. As we have modernized the role of women and many other practices, the demand on the part of our brothers and sisters who are gay to be able to live in a sanctified relationship is a call to our conscience and our responsibility as Jews.”
Word.
As always, Garfunkel and Oates nail it. Watch the whole thing. The last line is priceless.
Behold! Episode 9 of OMGWTFBIBLE with A Mysterious Stranger is now available!!
This episode is the first I’m doing in the new format (explained here) so I don’t have a pithy In which for you!
Double Wide Bar was gracious enough to host us this month, and I am forever grateful to them. The people there are endlessly helpful. I cannot say enough about how kind they were. Please, if you’re in New York, pay them a visit and sample their incredible whiskey collection or their delicious menu.
There are so many ways to listen to Episode 9!
Direct link is here.
You can also: subscribe in iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or listen via Stitcher!
New venue! New time! New David!
Episode 9 is almost here and it’s happening on my birthday! Come be a part of OMGWTFBIBLE’s live audience as we record our next episode!
Episode 9
Double Wide Bar
505 E. 12th Street
6:30 PM
And afterward, help me celebrate my 28th birthday! RSVP here!
Wow.
OMGWTFBIBLE is a project I started a little over a year ago. On a bit of an insane whim, I decided to write my own translation of the Hebrew Bible. The podcast I do each month, where a friend reads a chapter or so of my translation while I provide commentary, is a fun way to showcase the work I’m doing, but the core of the project is just to create this thing: a complete, relatively accurate, and interesting translation of the entire Old Testament. In what little free time I have.
Very often, this has seemed like an impossible task. The book is just so massive, not to mention rife with words with ambiguous or unknown meanings, that in the back of my mind, there’s always been a little nagging voicing saying, “do you really think you can pull this off?”
Maybe I can. I’m happy to announce that, as of this weekend, I’ve finished my initial translation of Genesis. Or, as I’m calling it, “In the Beginning.” I still have to revise it and edit it and make sure the jokes are actually funny, but the words are all there. It’s done. I’ve translated the first book of the Bible.
Therefore: thank you everyone who’s been coming to shows or supporting this thing online or given me reviews on iTunes or helped with promotion or been a guest on the show or have simply let me know how much they’ve enjoyed it. So much of the reason I’ve kept pushing forward to finish the first book is because of the feedback I’ve got. Thank you for reminding me that, even when I’m searching through concordances for hours to figure out what obscure ancient words mean, this is a thing worth making.
Did you know that Jews like whiskey? It is true! Jews like whiskey! A lot of my early Jewish memories are closely tied to whiskey. Every holiday and wedding and Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah featured whiskey. And not just any whiskey, but good whiskey. Single-malt Scotch Whiskey.
And Purim? Forget about it.
Anyway, I guess this was a secret? Something people didn’t know? Well, New York Times found out and wrote an article about the decades-old trend, covering a new WhiskyFest-related event called “Whisky Jewbilee:”
The bond with whiskey goes way back. Mr. Blashka said early Jewish immigrants to America, unable to trust the provenance of local wines, turned to certain distilled liquors, including whiskey. “Because the wine was an issue, typically spirits was their avenue for drinking,” he said.
It’s a good thing whiskey wasn’t mentioned in the Torah!
As recent decades have ushered in a revival in Scotch, bourbon and other whiskeys, Jews, like many other groups, have moved beyond the usual blends and have developed more sophisticated tastes. “Now we have many whiskeys that we know are kosher,” said Rabbi Aaron Raskin of Congregation B’nai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights, whose preferred whiskey is the smoky Laphroaig, a single malt from Islay. “It is used to add to our joy.”
But really, Rabbi Raskin, what’s the real reason you’re so excited about all this whiskey?
“And it helps attendance at synagogues,” he added.
I can only imagine that this news will only increase the mourning on Tisha B’av.
<h/t: Heeb>
Behold! Chapter 8 of OMGWTFBIBLE with Julie Sugar is now available!!
In which a plotline is recycled and Avraham gives us a primer in how to be a bad dad
I assure you, Julie is not this blurry in real life.
There are so many ways to listen!
Direct link is here.
You can also: subscribe in iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or listen via Stitcher!
Chapter 8 was recorded last night! There are no pictures or anything that I can show you, but the show definitely happened, it went wonderfully, the audience was exuberant, Julie Sugar was hilarious, and lots of flyers and stickers and posters were given away.
Now, I will work hard to edit it so that it can be released on Monday, May 27. Stay tuned!
OMGWTFBIBLE 