October 20, 2007 -- This magazine may be dangerous to your health ... or
maybe not! You can't tell which magazine it is because I've only shown
you the back cover. The front cover has a picture of Nicole Kidman in
a state of undress and I fear if I show it to you, you may have
trouble focusing on me!

The magazine I am referring to is the October issue of Vanity Fair.
Vanity Fair is one of the magazines I subscribe to. I do so because I
have a subscription that costs only $12 a year and despite the fact
that most of its advertisements (the main reason I subscribe to any
magazine) is geared toward women, I find Vanity Fair a lively magazine
where every month at least one or two of its articles I find of
interest. But nothing prepared me to expect what is found in two
articles in October's Vanity Fair--two articles that may be dangerous
to your health as a Jew--or maybe not!

In the October issue of Vanity Fair there is an article on page 259
entitled, "The 2007 New Establishment--a list of what Vanity Fair
considers the 100 most powerful, influential people in American
society. Now, I think it was Joseph Aaron in the Chicago Jewish News
who first took note of a rather remarkable aspect about these 100
people. We Jews represent about 2.5 percent of the American people. So
one could naturally expect that out of the 100 most influential people
in America, one would find listed two or three Jews. How many Jews do
you think were listed? You're going to find this hard to believe, but
according to Mr. Aaron's calculation, 51 out of the 100 are Jewish!

Now, keep in mind that this is not a list of shleppers--amongst the
100 are people with names like Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton and Oprah
Winfrey. And yet, right along side of them are people with names like
Schwartzman and Spielberg and Bloomberg and Geffen and Perelman and
Lauder and Wasserstein and Cohen and Weinstein and Weintraub, and
Friedman, and Silver. Not bad, my friends! Not bad! Not bad when one
considers that there are more people born in China every year than
there are Jews in the whole world!

And as if all this is not enough, on page 306 in the same issue of the
magazine, there is another list. This one called, "The Next
Establishment," listing younger people who Vanity Fair believes will
eventually make it to the 'big list.' There are 26 people on that
list, of which 15 are Jews. Again, over 50%! Eat your heart out, Anne
Coulter!

And, then, just in case you still don't get it, on page 308 of Vanity
Fair they have a list of people who made the "New Establishment" list
in the past, but for one reason or another didn't make it this year,
but Vanity Fair believes will be back in the future. There are 9 names
on this list, and 8 of them are Jews! This is absolutely incredible!

The only question is the age old question: Is it good for the Jews?
Does presenting so many Jews out front in the public, in positions of
power, drawing attention to us-- is that good? It shows how good we
are? Or is it bad, feeding the hatred of the anti-Semites who accuse
us of being too powerful and too controlling. It's not easy giving a
correct answer to this question because I believe Jewish tradition
provides two contradictory responses.

On a verse toward the end of Genesis where Jacob speaks to his
children as they are about to go down to Egypt, the Midrash describes
the conversation: "Jacob requested of them: do not go out with bread
in your hands and do not all enter through one gate." Do not go out
with bread in your hands in order not to arouse ill feeling and do not
all enter through one gate for fear of the eye.

There was a famine in Egypt and Jacob was telling his children that
when they [went] down to Egypt [not to] let the people see that you
have bread. And don't all come marching in together as one; people
will be afraid of you; people will envy you; people will give you the
'evil eye.' With this in mind, one cannot help but think that the
articles in Vanity Fair are not doing us any favor. It would be better
if there wasn't so much attention drawn to our success.

On the other hand, in the Book of Exodus, in describing the garment
that was made for the High Priest to wear in the Temple, we are told
that the hem of his robe had bells on it so that people would know
that he was coming. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe saw this as a lesson
that a Jew should go out into this world proud and confident, trying
to spread the message. And that's just what Lubavitcher Chasidim do
these days, with their "Mitzvah Mobiles" and the big Chanukah menorahs
they put up in public squares throughout our country. So, from the
perspective of the Lubavitcher Rebbe you could say, although he never
would have put it this way: "If you've got it, flaunt it!"

So what do you think? Lay low or flaunt it? Is Vanity Fair good for
the Jews or not? I venture to say that your answer depends upon how
old you are. Alan Derschowitz put it so well in his book appropriately
entitled, "Chutzpah" when he pointed out, "We are at a generational
crossroads. The Jews who were the American pioneers--our first
generations of immigrants--were indeed guests in other people's land."
Yes, many of our fathers and mothers and certainly our grandfathers
and grandmothers felt that they were guests in America. And so they
made sure that they did nothing to 'rock the boat.' They did as little
as possible to draw attention to themselves. They had a 'sha-shtil'
philosophy - lay low and they won't come after us with an ax. And so,
Betty Perske changed her name to Lauren Bacall, and Joseph Gottlieb to
Joey Bishop, and Issur Danielovich Demsky to Kirk Douglas, and Sidney
Liebowitz to Steve Lawrence.

But as Jews grew more successful in America they also grew to feel at
home in America. And suddenly Jews were asserting their rights as
Jews. In the 50's and 60's when many Jews moved to the suburbs there
were many synagogues across the country that built their parking lot
in the front and the synagogue in the back so as not to upset their
neighbors. But then, all of a sudden, in the 70's "Freedom for Soviet
Jewry" was put on billboards in front of every synagogue--and Jews
started demanding their rights and asserting their interests.

Sure, it led the Jimmy Carters and the Walts and the Mearsheimers to
claim that the Jewish lobby was too powerful. But just one generation
ago there was no Jewish lobby! And there was no Israeli Air Force! And
by the time others fought our battle, 6 million Jews had gone up in
smoke!

At the beginning of this morning's Torah portion God challenges
Abraham to leave his country and to come to the Promised Land of
Israel. "V'escha l'goy gadol--and I will make of thee a great nation
and I will bless thee and make thy name great and be thou a blessing."
God promised Abraham that his progeny would become a great nation. As
you know, the Jewish people have never been great in numbers, and yet
there are people who think that we rule the world! It's unbelievable!
There are 3/4 of a billion Hindus in this world. There are over 300
million Buddhists. There are more Zoroastrians and Mormons in the
world than there are Jews! But who rules the world? Not them! Who
rules? Me and you ... and our 'mishpucha' over at Vanity Fair.

And you know what? There are lots of people who think that's true! And
you know what? I'm glad they do! It's very important for our survival.
My teacher, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.....once pointed out an
interesting fact about Abraham. Abraham found respect from the outside
world only in the aftermath of one particular incident. As we're told
in our Torah portion this morning, "Melchizedak, king of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine." He went so far as to make a kiddush--
"And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abraham of God most high,
maker of heaven and earth." What prompted this profusion of
compliments? Why was a Jew suddenly thrust into the role of universal
hero? Pointed out Rabbi Soleveitchik: this reception was never
accorded Abraham when he fulfilled his characteristic of chesed,
showing kindness to strangers and hospitality to wayfarers.

Helping others won Abraham no worldly praise. It was only now--now
that Abraham has pursued the terrorists who held his nephew Lott
captive, and in the words of the Torah: "Smote them and pursued
them." .....only now did the world show respect. For what impresses
the world is not saintliness as much as strength, not character as
much as courage, not piety as much as power (emphasis added later).

Let our enemies think that we are all-powerful. As Akiva Eldar once
put it in the Haaretz newspaper, "The Arab belief that the Jews rule
the world has become one of Israel's most important deterrent factors,
no less than its military strength. The lunatic idea that 6 million
Jews dictate the policies of a superpower with 280 million inhabitants
has contributed greatly to the decisions by Arab and Palestinian
leaders, and even to that of the Arab League, to accept - albeit with
gritted teeth - the existence of the Jewish state. When Anwar Sadat
and King Hussein came to Jerusalem, they had at least one eye fixed on
Washington." Yes, let the Arab world think that we're all-powerful.
That's the only way they may somehow come to the realization that
they're going to have to learn how to live with us.

Note for Rabbi Wohlberg: the USA is on it's way down, much the same as
Greece and Rome, and even with "God's blessing". It appears the Chinese
must be blessing the Jews real hard these days. India too.  LOL

--
Lubow
To see my stock picks go to www.stockpickr.com Enter lubow in Enter Topic
box

"Imam Contemptus Mundi" <i...@divinepraxeology.org> wrote in message
news:imam-B34C1C.11463031122007@news.motzarella.org...

Imam

October 20, 2007 -- This magazine may be dangerous to your health ... or
maybe not! You can't tell which magazine it is because I've only shown
you the back cover. The front cover has a picture of Nicole Kidman in
a state of undress and I fear if I show it to you, you may have
trouble focusing on me!

The magazine I am referring to is the October issue of Vanity Fair.
Vanity Fair is one of the magazines I subscribe to. I do so because I
have a subscription that costs only $12 a year and despite the fact
that most of its advertisements (the main reason I subscribe to any
magazine) is geared toward women, I find Vanity Fair a lively magazine
where every month at least one or two of its articles I find of
interest. But nothing prepared me to expect what is found in two
articles in October's Vanity Fair--two articles that may be dangerous
to your health as a Jew--or maybe not!

In the October issue of Vanity Fair there is an article on page 259
entitled, "The 2007 New Establishment--a list of what Vanity Fair
considers the 100 most powerful, influential people in American
society. Now, I think it was Joseph Aaron in the Chicago Jewish News
who first took note of a rather remarkable aspect about these 100
people. We Jews represent about 2.5 percent of the American people. So
one could naturally expect that out of the 100 most influential people
in America, one would find listed two or three Jews. How many Jews do
you think were listed? You're going to find this hard to believe, but
according to Mr. Aaron's calculation, 51 out of the 100 are Jewish!

Now, keep in mind that this is not a list of shleppers--amongst the
100 are people with names like Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton and Oprah
Winfrey. And yet, right along side of them are people with names like
Schwartzman and Spielberg and Bloomberg and Geffen and Perelman and
Lauder and Wasserstein and Cohen and Weinstein and Weintraub, and
Friedman, and Silver. Not bad, my friends! Not bad! Not bad when one
considers that there are more people born in China every year than
there are Jews in the whole world!

And as if all this is not enough, on page 306 in the same issue of the
magazine, there is another list. This one called, "The Next
Establishment," listing younger people who Vanity Fair believes will
eventually make it to the 'big list.' There are 26 people on that
list, of which 15 are Jews. Again, over 50%! Eat your heart out, Anne
Coulter!

And, then, just in case you still don't get it, on page 308 of Vanity
Fair they have a list of people who made the "New Establishment" list
in the past, but for one reason or another didn't make it this year,
but Vanity Fair believes will be back in the future. There are 9 names
on this list, and 8 of them are Jews! This is absolutely incredible!

The only question is the age old question: Is it good for the Jews?
Does presenting so many Jews out front in the public, in positions of
power, drawing attention to us-- is that good? It shows how good we
are? Or is it bad, feeding the hatred of the anti-Semites who accuse
us of being too powerful and too controlling. It's not easy giving a
correct answer to this question because I believe Jewish tradition
provides two contradictory responses.

On a verse toward the end of Genesis where Jacob speaks to his
children as they are about to go down to Egypt, the Midrash describes
the conversation: "Jacob requested of them: do not go out with bread
in your hands and do not all enter through one gate." Do not go out
with bread in your hands in order not to arouse ill feeling and do not
all enter through one gate for fear of the eye.

There was a famine in Egypt and Jacob was telling his children that
when they [went] down to Egypt [not to] let the people see that you
have bread. And don't all come marching in together as one; people
will be afraid of you; people will envy you; people will give you the
'evil eye.' With this in mind, one cannot help but think that the
articles in Vanity Fair are not doing us any favor. It would be better
if there wasn't so much attention drawn to our success.

On the other hand, in the Book of Exodus, in describing the garment
that was made for the High Priest to wear in the Temple, we are told
that the hem of his robe had bells on it so that people would know
that he was coming. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe saw this as a lesson
that a Jew should go out into this world proud and confident, trying
to spread the message. And that's just what Lubavitcher Chasidim do
these days, with their "Mitzvah Mobiles" and the big Chanukah menorahs
they put up in public squares throughout our country. So, from the
perspective of the Lubavitcher Rebbe you could say, although he never
would have put it this way: "If you've got it, flaunt it!"

So what do you think? Lay low or flaunt it? Is Vanity Fair good for
the Jews or not? I venture to say that your answer depends upon how
old you are. Alan Derschowitz put it so well in his book appropriately
entitled, "Chutzpah" when he pointed out, "We are at a generational
crossroads. The Jews who were the American pioneers--our first
generations of immigrants--were indeed guests in other people's land."
Yes, many of our fathers and mothers and certainly our grandfathers
and grandmothers felt that they were guests in America. And so they
made sure that they did nothing to 'rock the boat.' They did as little
as possible to draw attention to themselves. They had a 'sha-shtil'
philosophy - lay low and they won't come after us with an ax. And so,
Betty Perske changed her name to Lauren Bacall, and Joseph Gottlieb to
Joey Bishop, and Issur Danielovich Demsky to Kirk Douglas, and Sidney
Liebowitz to Steve Lawrence.

But as Jews grew more successful in America they also grew to feel at
home in America. And suddenly Jews were asserting their rights as
Jews. In the 50's and 60's when many Jews moved to the suburbs there
were many synagogues across the country that built their parking lot
in the front and the synagogue in the back so as not to upset their
neighbors. But then, all of a sudden, in the 70's "Freedom for Soviet
Jewry" was put on billboards in front of every synagogue--and Jews
started demanding their rights and asserting their interests.

Sure, it led the Jimmy Carters and the Walts and the Mearsheimers to
claim that the Jewish lobby was too powerful. But just one generation
ago there was no Jewish lobby! And there was no Israeli Air Force! And
by the time others fought our battle, 6 million Jews had gone up in
smoke!

At the beginning of this morning's Torah portion God challenges
Abraham to leave his country and to come to the Promised Land of
Israel. "V'escha l'goy gadol--and I will make of thee a great nation
and I will bless thee and make thy name great and be thou a blessing."
God promised Abraham that his progeny would become a great nation. As
you know, the Jewish people have never been great in numbers, and yet
there are people who think that we rule the world! It's unbelievable!
There are 3/4 of a billion Hindus in this world. There are over 300
million Buddhists. There are more Zoroastrians and Mormons in the
world than there are Jews! But who rules the world? Not them! Who
rules? Me and you ... and our 'mishpucha' over at Vanity Fair.

And you know what? There are lots of people who think that's true! And
you know what? I'm glad they do! It's very important for our survival.
My teacher, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.....once pointed out an
interesting fact about Abraham. Abraham found respect from the outside
world only in the aftermath of one particular incident. As we're told
in our Torah portion this morning, "Melchizedak, king of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine." He went so far as to make a kiddush--
"And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abraham of God most high,
maker of heaven and earth." What prompted this profusion of
compliments? Why was a Jew suddenly thrust into the role of universal
hero? Pointed out Rabbi Soleveitchik: this reception was never
accorded Abraham when he fulfilled his characteristic of chesed,
showing kindness to strangers and hospitality to wayfarers.

Helping others won Abraham no worldly praise. It was only now--now
that Abraham has pursued the terrorists who held his nephew Lott
captive, and in the words of the Torah: "Smote them and pursued
them." .....only now did the world show respect. For what impresses
the world is not saintliness as much as strength, not character as
much as courage, not piety as much as power (emphasis added later).

Let our enemies think that we are all-powerful. As Akiva Eldar once
put it in the Haaretz newspaper, "The Arab belief that the Jews rule
the world has become one of Israel's most important deterrent factors,
no less than its military strength. The lunatic idea that 6 million
Jews dictate the policies of a superpower with 280 million inhabitants
has contributed greatly to the decisions by Arab and Palestinian
leaders, and even to that of the Arab League, to accept - albeit with
gritted teeth - the existence of the Jewish state. When Anwar Sadat
and King Hussein came to Jerusalem, they had at least one eye fixed on
Washington." Yes, let the Arab world think that we're all-powerful.
That's the only way they may somehow come to the realization that
they're going to have to learn how to live with us.

October 20, 2007 -- This magazine may be dangerous to your health ... or
maybe not! You can't tell which magazine it is because I've only shown
you the back cover. The front cover has a picture of Nicole Kidman in
a state of undress and I fear if I show it to you, you may have
trouble focusing on me!

The magazine I am referring to is the October issue of Vanity Fair.
Vanity Fair is one of the magazines I subscribe to. I do so because I
have a subscription that costs only $12 a year and despite the fact
that most of its advertisements (the main reason I subscribe to any
magazine) is geared toward women, I find Vanity Fair a lively magazine
where every month at least one or two of its articles I find of
interest. But nothing prepared me to expect what is found in two
articles in October's Vanity Fair--two articles that may be dangerous
to your health as a Jew--or maybe not!

In the October issue of Vanity Fair there is an article on page 259
entitled, "The 2007 New Establishment--a list of what Vanity Fair
considers the 100 most powerful, influential people in American
society. Now, I think it was Joseph Aaron in the Chicago Jewish News
who first took note of a rather remarkable aspect about these 100
people. We Jews represent about 2.5 percent of the American people. So
one could naturally expect that out of the 100 most influential people
in America, one would find listed two or three Jews. How many Jews do
you think were listed? You're going to find this hard to believe, but
according to Mr. Aaron's calculation, 51 out of the 100 are Jewish!

Now, keep in mind that this is not a list of shleppers--amongst the
100 are people with names like Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton and Oprah
Winfrey. And yet, right along side of them are people with names like
Schwartzman and Spielberg and Bloomberg and Geffen and Perelman and
Lauder and Wasserstein and Cohen and Weinstein and Weintraub, and
Friedman, and Silver. Not bad, my friends! Not bad! Not bad when one
considers that there are more people born in China every year than
there are Jews in the whole world!

And as if all this is not enough, on page 306 in the same issue of the
magazine, there is another list. This one called, "The Next
Establishment," listing younger people who Vanity Fair believes will
eventually make it to the 'big list.' There are 26 people on that
list, of which 15 are Jews. Again, over 50%! Eat your heart out, Anne
Coulter!

And, then, just in case you still don't get it, on page 308 of Vanity
Fair they have a list of people who made the "New Establishment" list
in the past, but for one reason or another didn't make it this year,
but Vanity Fair believes will be back in the future. There are 9 names
on this list, and 8 of them are Jews! This is absolutely incredible!

The only question is the age old question: Is it good for the Jews?
Does presenting so many Jews out front in the public, in positions of
power, drawing attention to us-- is that good? It shows how good we
are? Or is it bad, feeding the hatred of the anti-Semites who accuse
us of being too powerful and too controlling. It's not easy giving a
correct answer to this question because I believe Jewish tradition
provides two contradictory responses.

On a verse toward the end of Genesis where Jacob speaks to his
children as they are about to go down to Egypt, the Midrash describes
the conversation: "Jacob requested of them: do not go out with bread
in your hands and do not all enter through one gate." Do not go out
with bread in your hands in order not to arouse ill feeling and do not
all enter through one gate for fear of the eye.

There was a famine in Egypt and Jacob was telling his children that
when they [went] down to Egypt [not to] let the people see that you
have bread. And don't all come marching in together as one; people
will be afraid of you; people will envy you; people will give you the
'evil eye.' With this in mind, one cannot help but think that the
articles in Vanity Fair are not doing us any favor. It would be better
if there wasn't so much attention drawn to our success.

On the other hand, in the Book of Exodus, in describing the garment
that was made for the High Priest to wear in the Temple, we are told
that the hem of his robe had bells on it so that people would know
that he was coming. And the Lubavitcher Rebbe saw this as a lesson
that a Jew should go out into this world proud and confident, trying
to spread the message. And that's just what Lubavitcher Chasidim do
these days, with their "Mitzvah Mobiles" and the big Chanukah menorahs
they put up in public squares throughout our country. So, from the
perspective of the Lubavitcher Rebbe you could say, although he never
would have put it this way: "If you've got it, flaunt it!"

So what do you think? Lay low or flaunt it? Is Vanity Fair good for
the Jews or not? I venture to say that your answer depends upon how
old you are. Alan Derschowitz put it so well in his book appropriately
entitled, "Chutzpah" when he pointed out, "We are at a generational
crossroads. The Jews who were the American pioneers--our first
generations of immigrants--were indeed guests in other people's land."
Yes, many of our fathers and mothers and certainly our grandfathers
and grandmothers felt that they were guests in America. And so they
made sure that they did nothing to 'rock the boat.' They did as little
as possible to draw attention to themselves. They had a 'sha-shtil'
philosophy - lay low and they won't come after us with an ax. And so,
Betty Perske changed her name to Lauren Bacall, and Joseph Gottlieb to
Joey Bishop, and Issur Danielovich Demsky to Kirk Douglas, and Sidney
Liebowitz to Steve Lawrence.

But as Jews grew more successful in America they also grew to feel at
home in America. And suddenly Jews were asserting their rights as
Jews. In the 50's and 60's when many Jews moved to the suburbs there
were many synagogues across the country that built their parking lot
in the front and the synagogue in the back so as not to upset their
neighbors. But then, all of a sudden, in the 70's "Freedom for Soviet
Jewry" was put on billboards in front of every synagogue--and Jews
started demanding their rights and asserting their interests.

Sure, it led the Jimmy Carters and the Walts and the Mearsheimers to
claim that the Jewish lobby was too powerful. But just one generation
ago there was no Jewish lobby! And there was no Israeli Air Force! And
by the time others fought our battle, 6 million Jews had gone up in
smoke!

At the beginning of this morning's Torah portion God challenges
Abraham to leave his country and to come to the Promised Land of
Israel. "V'escha l'goy gadol--and I will make of thee a great nation
and I will bless thee and make thy name great and be thou a blessing."
God promised Abraham that his progeny would become a great nation. As
you know, the Jewish people have never been great in numbers, and yet
there are people who think that we rule the world! It's unbelievable!
There are 3/4 of a billion Hindus in this world. There are over 300
million Buddhists. There are more Zoroastrians and Mormons in the
world than there are Jews! But who rules the world? Not them! Who
rules? Me and you ... and our 'mishpucha' over at Vanity Fair.

And you know what? There are lots of people who think that's true! And
you know what? I'm glad they do! It's very important for our survival.
My teacher, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.....once pointed out an
interesting fact about Abraham. Abraham found respect from the outside
world only in the aftermath of one particular incident. As we're told
in our Torah portion this morning, "Melchizedak, king of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine." He went so far as to make a kiddush--
"And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abraham of God most high,
maker of heaven and earth." What prompted this profusion of
compliments? Why was a Jew suddenly thrust into the role of universal
hero? Pointed out Rabbi Soleveitchik: this reception was never
accorded Abraham when he fulfilled his characteristic of chesed,
showing kindness to strangers and hospitality to wayfarers.

Helping others won Abraham no worldly praise. It was only now--now
that Abraham has pursued the terrorists who held his nephew Lott
captive, and in the words of the Torah: "Smote them and pursued
them." .....only now did the world show respect. For what impresses
the world is not saintliness as much as strength, not character as
much as courage, not piety as much as power (emphasis added later).