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The total collapse of Jewish and Israeli PR by SHMULEY BOTEACH
From the beginning of my rabbinic career, I focused mightily on public relations and disseminating the Jewish message to the world. I was accused of being publicity-hungry and of shallowness. But I knew that the one area where we Jews have so significantly failed was in public relations. And this has been true throughout the centuries.

I don’t know Rabbi, did it ever occur to you that maybe the reason so many have accused you of being publicity-hungry and shallow is because you’ve spent the last 40 years or so co-opting the worst excesses of the self-help genre to do your bit to strip Judaism down to its cheapest parts so you could make it a pop culture sensation?

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The first complete Siddur (prayerbook) I ever used was the 1949 edition of Hasiddur Hashalem, translated by Philip Birnbaum and published by the Hebrew Publishing Company.

I still love that prayerbook, despite its stilted English.

Since the Hebrew Publishing Company basically hasn’t existed since 2016, all of their works have entered the public domain through a combination of a lot of the works being published before 1975 and several more of the works having reached 75 years since the death of their authors, which automatically puts them in the public domain.

One of the things I always wondered about is why Birnbaum spends a significant portion of the introduction to HaSiddur HaShalem essentially trashing the work of every translator who came before him.

Why would you spend something like 5 or 10 dense pages basically subtweeting every other translator?

Since all these works have entered the public domain, now I know why.

Apparently this is a thing they all did up to a certain point. There are limits, (for example, everybody’s wives and kids are off limits, and nobody’s Jewish status is questioned), but other than that, everything’s fair game, personal or professional.

It is, (or was) apparently a long-standing tradition which seems to have been set aside for the most part after the Holocaust and then is completely gone by the 70’s.

And it apparently started around the first time the prayerbook was translated and edited in America.

Brittish translations, on the other hand, are on the surface more polite, however the insults are basically “bless your heart” to the Americans and a lot more backhanded to their fellows in Britain, specifically England.

The Scottish make the Americans look like they’re having milk and cookies together.

All of this is fascinating to me.

921 S Pugh St, State College, PA 16801

59 °F Clear

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I would like to wish everyone who is celebrating a joyous and happy Purim. For those of you who aren’t celebrating, and don’t know what Purim is, it’s the Jewish holiday commemorating the salvation of the Jews in Persia from the annihilation planned for them by Haman, the advisor to King Ahasuerus, all of which is recounted in the biblical book of Esther. The day is marked by festive meals among family and friends, gift-giving, (customarily gifts of sweets), drinking, jokes and satire, and costumes. I’m not dressing up or anything this year, but I did get some hamantashen (three-cornered pastries with filling, usually fruit) and some rugelach (crescent-shaped pastries wrapped around a filling). The hamantashen are raspberry, which is not my favorite flavor, but these are surprisingly good. The rugelach are cinnamon and sugar. These were both made locally so they are very fresh and thus as moist as they should be. Very tasty.

921 S Pugh St, State College, PA 16801

39 °F Fog/Mist

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As someone who prays regularly, I’d just like to put this out there. Prayer is not a substitute for action, when you are capable of acting. To attempt to substitute prayer for action when you are capable of acting, especially on behalf of someone in need or someone who is coping with overwhelming loss, is a slap in the face, and we would all be better served if you kept your thoughts and prayers to yourself.

921 S Pugh St, State College, PA 16801

54 °F Mostly Cloudy

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Beginning #BlogElul

Master of the World,
Every journey begins with a first step, every climb
with the first rung. If I can not yet begin the
journey, at least let me turn my eyes and direct my
heart to the right direction.

–Lee Weisssman, prayer for Elul 1

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Looks like sleep is a lost cause.

I’ll go ahead and download the news and weather for Undernet in a few, and as soon as it’s dawn, I’ll pray.

I suppose I’ll stay up today, and clean up after last night.

I’ll also get the laundry finished, and I’ll most likely be asleep before Jerry gets home tonight.

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Passover’s finally here, and I must say that I’m glad to see it.

I spent today cooking and cleaning, and, though I’m aware that I did not do nearly the amount of cooking and cleaning others do for the festival, I know I did at least prepare for it in something resembling a fit manner this year, and that’s worth something.

I did not have a traditional Seder, but I made the best of it.

I think this year’s celebration was my best so far.

I’m not sure why this was so.

I’m glad to have found out that Jimmy Buffett’s not an anti-semite.

This means I don’t have to stop being a parrot-head.

I made my first Jewish food today.

I tried my hand at making kugel, and it actually turned out pretty well.

I’ll have to remember to ask Jerry to get some sour cream to top it off with.

That would taste really good.

I’m planning, once again, to try to get up for prayers tomorrow morning.

I also hope to try to pray at least morning and evening prayers, although if I can manage to pray Minhah, that will be good too.

I also plan to work on the Noahide prayerbook some more tomorrow, if I feel like doing anything after I finish up with the rest of the cleaning and the laundry.