The Hazzn's Tish

Spontaneous revival?

2007-04-16T21:21:00.000-04:00

Blogger appears to have gone crazy. It just re-posted all of my entries, flooding all my LJ friends' pages via RSS feed.

For the record, this blog is currently dormant. This is not to say that it's gone forever, just that I don't currently have the time to maintain an issues-related blog in addition to the one I use to keep in touch with friends.

Thanks for reading! Again!

Da Vinci 'Splode!

2006-05-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

An article in yesterday's New York Times notes that the Catholic Church's objection to the upcoming theatrical release of The Da Vinci Code

has been colored by the Muslim riots over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Most American media outlets refrained from showing the cartoons, and now some Christian leaders are asking why Christians should be expected to sit by while the media promotes a movie that insults their savior.

In Rome recently, Archbishop Angelo Amato, the No. 2 official in the Vatican's doctrinal office, told Catholic communications officials: "If such slanders, offenses and errors had been directed at the Koran or the Holocaust, they would have justly provoked a world uprising. Instead, directed at the Church and Christians, they remain unpunished. I hope you will all boycott the movie."

American media companies avoided showing the Muhammed images because they feared that the resulting furor would threaten the safety and even the lives of their employees. Clearly, they view angry Christians as far less menacing than angry Muslims. This hardly seems like a reason for the Church to take offense.

A sidenote: Were I in charge of these things, I would simply point out that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction and should be viewed as such. I would then call upon some respectable academic types to point out a few of the more interpretive historical references in Brown's books. (I don't know precisely how Robert Langdon managed to secure his tenure at Harvard, and I believe I'm happier for that.)

Just call me Cassandra

2006-04-07T12:48:00.000-04:00

I've been predicting for years that this would happen. I don't buy it for a second.

Hag sameah!

Oh, and don't actually call me "Cassandra." Really.

Well, how about that

2006-03-31T10:30:00.000-05:00

Only a few hours after the previous post went up, HonestReporting cited the same sentence from the Times, though with a different slant that I took.

Gordian Map

2006-03-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

Today's New York Times contains an editorial on the possibility of an Israeli pullout from the West Bank. An excerpt:

Whatever borders Israel fixes are not likely to get international recognition, particularly if those borders leave Palestinians cut in half — in the West Bank and Gaza — and unable to get from one part of their country to another without going through Israel.

The other option? Require Israelis to go through the Palestinian state to get from Haifa to Be'er Sheva. Maybe we ought to take a look at Pakistan and Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) for advice.

David Irving . . .

2006-02-28T09:36:00.000-05:00

. . . just keeps getting more and more confusing. In 1989 he gave an interview on Austrian television claiming that the Holocaust never happened. At his recent trial, he pled guilty but insisted "I have changed," and acknowledged that Hitler murdered millions of Jews.

Then this comes along. Along with his odd suggestion that Auschwitz-Birkenau has been inappropriately (and, I suppose, inexplicably) identified as the core of the Nazi extermination program, he seems to continue to contend that Hitler knew nothing about the "final solution." I can't tell if he thinks that the Dolf was a colossal moron, or not as powerful as anyone thought, or what. All I can say for sure is that the man has a genius for deducing impossible conclusions from relatively clear evidence.*

This one is a hoot.

* The man in this case being Irving, not Hitler. The two do seem to share that quality to some extent, but at least some of the blame in Hitler's case may be directed toward his native culture.**

** A professor of mine has suggested that only the Austrians could have convinced the world to believe in a Viennese Beethoven and a German Hitler.

Toontown

2006-02-23T14:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't yet said anything about the Muhammad cartoon controversy because everything that's occurred to me has been stated clearly and effectively by someone else. Something has been festering in the back of my mind (eew) for a few weeks now, but I've only recently figured out what it is.

When much of the Muslim world began to protest the Danish cartoons, newspapers all over Europe republished them, usually claiming that their actions were taken in defense of freedom of expression.* This is nonsense. If they had published the cartoons despite their own governments' protests, that would be a move for freedom of expression. When a newspaper prints something in defiance of someone else's government, it's just an attempt to be inflamatory. And really, how hard is it to enrage a radical fundamentalist?

Shooting fish in a barrel unsportsmanlike, unchallenging and, when you think about it, kind of stupid.

* This is ironic by itself, as many European countries do not have such a legally protected right. David Irving's status as a criminal is contingent entirely on the fact that publicly stating an opinion can get you sent to jail in Austria, and made somewhat more shocking by the fact that he was tried and sentenced after publicly retracting and renouncing his own denial of the Holocaust.

And here I thought I'd lost my readership . . .

2006-02-08T01:05:00.000-05:00

A little while ago I enabled comment moderation to keep the spammers at bay. Due to an error in the setup (my fault), I never received any e-mail notifications of comments awaiting approval. Now, all is healed. All is health. All is whole.

(Seven brownie points [and possibly a brownie] to whoever gets the reference.)

And relatedly . . .

2006-02-03T12:45:00.000-05:00

There is no such thing as metzitzah bepeh. There is, however, a controversial circumcision practice called metzitzah befeh. Remember, use these powers only for good.

Another linguistic PSA

2006-02-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

As we approach ט"ו בשבט, the New Year for Trees, one thing must be made clear: It is properly vocalized as Tu Bishvat. Not Tu B'shvat, not Tu B'shevat, and certainly not Cheshvan (rim shot). Tu Bishvat. Three syllables. Love it, live it, say it.

What a strange article

2006-01-24T09:30:00.000-05:00

This article by Jacob Neusner appeared in today's Jerusalem post.

Part of me can't help but be disappointed. The author take several liberties, such as presenting what he knows to be grossly oversimplified Conservative halakhic stances in the absence of any context. Neusner, a respected scholar in his own field, cannot even seem to keep his denominational catchphrases straight. ("The past has a vote, not a veto" is a Reconstructionist anthem. The Conservative Movement uses contradictory phrases like "tradition through change," then sits around and wonders why nobody seems inspired.)

The article is entitled "Do denominational labels matter?" That's not really the topic of the article, is it? It's an article by someone who is arguing that Conservative Judaism, for all its weaknesses, is just loads better than Reform Judaism. His four proofs: (1) Reform Jews pray in English and want to know what they're saying, while Conservative Jews pray in Hebrew and don't care what they're saying; (2) Conservative Jews are more Sabbath observant because they drive to shul on Saturday mornings even when there's no bar mitzvah; (3) Conservative Jews are really Reconstructionist Jews (see above); (4) JTS and UJ appear to have stronger text study programs than HUC. Q.E.D., I suppose.

Perhaps it's a matter of my own cultural biases, but I expect any half-decent article called "Do denominational labels matter?" to address the fact that they don't.

A very Baraita post

2005-12-10T19:21:00.000-05:00

Here's a nice essay that you ought to read.

Here's one that asks a lot of questions to which I'm composing a response, to appear shortly.

Shavua` tov!

Speaking of observance

2005-11-27T16:18:00.000-05:00

Click here for Elfsdh's take on the (in)famous "driving teshuvah."

A Modest Followup

2005-11-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

The Sunday Styles section in yesterday's New York Times featured a bat mitzvah (girl, that is) wearing a $27,000 Dolce & Gabbana dress and flanked by Ashanti and Ja Rule.* This is exactly what I'm talking about. One of my professors called it a form of child abuse, and I'm not entirely sure if I disagree.

* These are both pop singers, albeit ones that haven't seen the Billboard Top 40 list for a while.

An afterthought

2005-11-15T00:14:00.000-05:00

I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to all the spambots whose kind thoughts on creative writing, erectile dysfunction and francophonic footwear* kept me aware during the lull that I did, in fact, have another weblog.

* I kid you not.

A Modest Proposal

2005-11-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

If your fava beans have not been skinned, soak them in cold water to cover for at least 12 hours. Drain and rub the skins off with your fingers. Favas cook quickly, so you might want to open the Chianti at this point, giving it ample time to breathe . . .

No, not really.

Early in 2004 the Wall Street Journal published an article about the growing demand for "bar mitzvah" parties by non-Jewish tweens in America. The Jewish community, never at a loss for words, let out a great cry: "How dare they steal and cheapen our traditions? Can't they think of their own coming of age ceremony? They're going to reduce the bar mitzvah to nothing but an expensive ego-fest for newly minted teenagers, devoid of all meaning and, and, um."

And then the Jewish community suddenly remembered that it had forgotten something in its car and had to leave the conversation early. Because really, where do you think our Gentile neighbors got this crazy idea about the meaning of a bar mitzvah? Yep. Another triumph for Operation Or Lagoyim.*

First, if I'm going to write about the meaning of a bar mitzvah, I should talk about the meaning of "bar mitzvah." (Everyone follow that?) It's a term that combines Aramaic and Hebrew, and can be translated literally as "son of a commandment"** and contextually as "one who is obligated to the Commandments." The reason I want to clarify this is that a lot of people think that (1) there is a "bar mitzvah ceremony," and that (2) undergoing this ceremony has some intrinsic effect on a person as a functioning Jew. Please take my word as a trainee Leader of the Jewish People: neither of these statements is true. A bar mitzvah isn't an event, it's a person who is Jewish, male and at least 13 years old.

(I am fully aware that there is such a thing as a "bat mitzvah," and I am just as adamant about getting people to use that phrase correctly. Please don't think I'm ignoring women or women's roles in contemporary Judaism. I prefer to work with traditional language not because of any political or personal bias, but because Semitic languages are even less suited to dealing with gender neutrality than the Germanic language that I speak.*** Okay, move along. That's all the apologetic I've got for now.)

The time when a boy becomes a bar mitzvah is traditionally (in the fairly ancient sense) marked by his leading services and being called to the Torah on the first appropriate day following his coming of age.**** It is also traditionally (in a far more recent and culturally specific sense) marked by a huge and embarrassingly expensive affair involving lots of food, professional dancers (optional, but strongly advised), the Electric Slide, and way too many 12 and 13 year old boys believing that they do not, in fact, come across as a bunch of preternaturally short and hairless Neanderthals in blue blazers. This usually happens right after the religious bit is over, and in more traditional communities sometimes involves taking the festivities elsewhere so as not to break various bylaws of the hosting synagogue.

A friend of mine put it very nicely: Your average bar mitzvah is a way to announce that one is a man while sending the very clear message that one is still a kid.† I know that there will be no abolishing this mess. For many people, the party is the coming of age, and no amount of ranting or reasoning will change that. Even if it could, the kids would still want it. No, the party will stay until sociology sends it somewhere else.

Instead of declaring war on the bar mitzvah party, I propose that we push it up a month. This would work on the same logic as a bachelor party, but without the strippers††: A bash before finally settling down. With the social pressures and financial struggles of the conspicuous 12.92nd birthday celebration out of the way, the synagogue service could stand on its own without having to compete for attention. That month could be spent on a sort of light contemplation. (I won't ask too much; I may be a stodgy, overzealous critic, but I know what it means to be 12.) Maybe we could start a tradition of taking that time to write a list of things one will do differently upon reaching adulthood, in consultation with clergy and/or one's parents. Wouldn't that be nice?

I look forward to any obsequiety (or criticism) you may wish to offer.

* Hebrew: "a light unto the nations." See chapter 60 of Isaiah for context.
** Useful if you ever need a lame and/or weird insult devoid of profanity.
*** I also had many more male than female friends at the age when one attends a lot of these things, and I did not have many male friends who had many female friends, so I happen to know more about the boy-heavy parties than the other kind. On those recent occasions when I've encountered the other sort of party, my first reaction has been to think that I, as a grown man, ought to be arrested for seeing 12 year old girls dressed that way.
**** That is, the next Monday, Thursday, Saturday or holiday, on which days there is a public Torah reading.
† Said friend shall remain anonymous unless she chooses not to do so.
†† I have to wonder if the difference would be observable. See ***.

Fall Comeback Special

2005-08-30T10:20:00.000-04:00

After a long summer hiatus, The Hazzn's Tish will resume irregular postings once my home Internet access is set up.

That is all.

A letter

2005-05-19T02:43:00.000-04:00

Just sent to the Los Angeles Times. It's a bit long to be published, but hopefully it will encourage them to check their facts more carefully.

To the editors,

Having read and reread his article "Why the Gaza Pullout Matters," [11 May 2005] I cannot help but be concerned by some of David Miller's contentions regarding the legal status of Israel's Arab citizens.

Mr. Miller describes Israeli Arabs as having no access to "military or national service." I assume he meant to write that they are not actively recruited into national service, which would have been mostly true. (At the request of their own community, young Druze men are conscripted into the Israeli Defense Forces.) Many Arab citizens — especially within the Bedu population — volunteer to serve. I vividly remember hearing of a Hamas attack in Gaza some years ago in which four Israeli soldiers died defending their base. All four were Arabs, and all four were Muslims.

Rather more curious is Miller's invocation of the state of African Americans in the 1950s in order to describe Israeli Arabs' plight. It is indeed a sad fact that this community receives inadequate funding from the government. Its constituents face pervasive social discrimination, even as they are granted the same theoretical rights as all other citizens. Many of them — especially young men — are easily profiled as threats, and are often treated accordingly. Be advised, Mr. Miller, that there is no need to look back half a century. This is the state of African Americans today.

Yours,
Lawrence ________
West Jerusalem, Israel

Papa Ioannes Paulus Secundus, Episcopus Romanus

2005-04-03T11:22:00.000-04:00

Every year, Beloit College assembles a "Mindset List" to get its faculty in touch with the incoming freshman class. In describing the world as seen by the class of 2008, the list notes that:

2. Desi Arnaz, Orson Welles, Roy Orbison, Ted Bundy, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Cary Grant have always been dead.

17. There has always been a Comedy Channel.

32. Network television has always struggled to keep up with cable.

47. Castro has always been an aging politician in a suit.

I feel that, from the time the enterprise began, they might as well have included "The Pope has always been Polish." I doubt I have anything original to say about the life or death of Karol Wojtyła, called John Paul II in his final 26 years. Still, I'll say something, if only for myself.

He may be remembered by young Americans as an ill man who, unable to carry out the full duties of his office, was forced to delegate to unqualified subordinates the task of dealing with a sexual abuse scandal. As age and frailty set in — leading one priest to describe him as "a soul pulling a body" — it became easy for most of us to forget the vibrancy and genius that characterized his youth and middle age. He was a skilled and enthusiastic athlete, a talented actor, and a shrewdly subversive political agitator who had the chutzpah to co-found an underground Polish theatre under Nazi occupation.

He possessed two doctoral degrees, and was the first Pope to discuss modern philosophy in its own terms. He was also the first Pope to send or receive an e-mail*, to visit the Synagogue of Rome, or to visit any country with an Orthodox Christian majority since the Great Schism. He was not the first to visit New York — my home — but he was the first to address the Spanish-speaking majority of New York's Catholics in their own language.

He held little actual power over men or nations, but he knew the limits of power, and the potential strength of authority. When he met with General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the totalitarian dictator and military commander of communist Poland — and, presumably, a staunch atheist —it was the soldier's hands that shook, not the priest's.

He was the victim of an attempted assassination in 1981 who, in 1983, visited the assassin in prison and forgave him face to face. He had a great fondness for the Virgin Mary, and is criticized for not taking initiative to expand the roles of women in the Church. He encouraged Christians to examine their role in the Holocaust, but stopped short of criticizing his predecessor's conduct during the Second World War. His frequent travel and media savvy led the Church into modernity while he tightened formalized the Church hierarchy in ways that many found restrictive. He established full diplomatic relations with Israel and recognized Judaism as a legitimate religion in its own right, and still maintained that all salvation stems directly from Christ.

For all the visitors and well-wishers, I can only imagine that his death was a lonely one. As for many men in power, his life was dominated by his position. As a priest, he had no family, and his burial will be not in a private plot but beneath the place he worked, under the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Instead of a grandfather, he will lie with Pope Pious XII; instead of a father, John XXIII.

* His address: john_paul_ii@vatican.va.

On cranial attire

2005-03-31T08:11:00.000-05:00

Two nights ago I found myself talking with a classmate about the issue of women and kippot. More particularly, we were discussing her personal discomfort with wearing said Israelite beanies,* which she has lately worn while serving as sha"z due to what she perceives as the community's insistence.**

We were joined after a short while by a yeshiva student who felt that head coverings ought to be required of all women in egalitarian synagogues. He was answered with the idea that it might not be a halakhah that applies to women, but countered that a non-Jewish man who walks into a traditional shul is offered a kippah and is expected to wear it. As such, he reasoned, the issue is clearly not one of ritual halakhah, which non-Jews are not bound to follow.

I was only able to raise a question for discussion before I had to leave: Is it beyond the pale for self-described Egalitarian Jews to consider that there may yet be halakhic differences between men and women?

To clarify: To the extent that the Shulhan Arukh represents a model for unchanging observance — a matter not to be discussed just now — men's head coverings are indeed mandated by halakhah. The difference between that and tefillin, to pick an example, is that there is no scriptural or ritual basis for the practice. So far as I can tell, the halakhah serves roughly the same function as the prohibition against spitting at the dinner table.*** It has, for quite a few centuries and in quite a few places, been the way in which Jewish men conducted themselves respectfully.

Back to women: Should the halakhic field be utterly leveled, with women and men given identical responsibilities?

Women are exempt, we learn, from a few negative commandments of the Torah. One is the prohibition against "rounding" the corners of one's beard.† Women are not bound by this mitzvah for the simple reason that women do not have beards (Women who do have significant amounts of facial hair are nonetheless categorically exempted.) Logically, if we are to render identical women's and men's obligations, this ought to be overturned.

I raise that particular halakhah for three reasons: (1) It doesn't strike me as likely to catch on as a major point of feminist rhetoric; (2) it resembles the kippah issue in that it is a prohibition††; (3) its origin is biblical. If rabbinic injunctions prohibiting certain behaviors by men must be taken up by women, then kal vahomer biblical statutes must be followed.

If you feel that this is a perfectly reasonable course of legislation, best of luck to you. If not — if, perhaps, you find that it's getting a little silly — then you might agree that requiring a woman to cover her head with a kippah or anything else has more to do with sociology than with religious law. That's why I prefer to view the whole thing as a matter of kavod hazzibbur, and therefore to let individual congregations decide.

* She also has concerns with other sorts of hats, but for unrelated reasons.

** This community insists upon many things, some of which contradict others, but there is definitely a contingent that wants all shelihei zibbur to have covered heads, regardless of gender.

*** I don't have a Mishnah Berurah just here with me, but this one can be found in the Makor Hayyim 74:3.

† Lev. 19:27. This is understood to mean cutting certain parts of one's beard down to the skin with a blade.

†† Head coverings are mandated for men in a negative form: one should not say a berakhah bareheaded, etc.

Technical note

2005-02-03T11:34:00.000-05:00

If you happen to be reading this weblog via a syndicated feed (such as the Live Journal account "hazznstish"), please be sure to respond to posts at the original site. I do not receive e-mail notifications of comments to syndicated mirrors, and I am disinclined to check manually.

Egalitarianism (Postscript)

2005-02-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

The public has spoken: it is offensive to distinguish between kohanim and b'not kohen. As of this coming Monday, a person of priestly lineage honored with the first `aliyyah will be called simply by "ya`amod / ta`amod [name]." "Kohen q'rav" and "bat kohen qirvi" are to be disused.

Sigh.

A topical confession

2005-01-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. My name is Lawrence, and for the life of me, I can't understand gender politics.

This has been fermenting in my brain (yuck) for a few weeks already, and Elf's recent response to the controversy surrounding Lawrence Summers's alleged comments at a Harvard conference has given me what should be sufficient motivation to finish another little essay.

A rather significant portion of my energy as a gabbai goes toward assigning `aliyyot* on Mondays and Thursdays. The process is simple enough: hand the prospective `oleh** a little wooden card with a Hebrew word written on it, check to make sure that this is cool for all parties involved, and move on. The only truly complicated bit is making sure that people get their fair share of `aliyyot. I mustn't automatically gravitate toward close friends, and I need to walk the length of the room***.

Except that there's another complication, of course. I study at one of the world's few egalitarian† yeshivot, and some of my fellow students are, for reasons unknown to me, rather insecure with regard to the stability of egalitarian philosophy. There seems to be a pervasive notion that if an equal number of men and women do not participate in the service today then the disparity will grow tomorrow and the day after, until finally we divide the building in two and call the smaller portion a seminary††.

The crazy thing is that people insist on this standard in an environment that is roughly 70% male. In the pursuit of this particular definition of equality, it is not unheard of for every woman in the room to be given some part in the service, only to be followed by grumbling that more men participated than women. I cannot remember the last Torah reading day in which women were not overrepresented — at least with reference to the number of them in the room — among the potential ten participants. (There is also an insistence upon appointing both a female and a male gabbai, which may get complicated in the next few months as candidates are exhausted.)

When I mentioned the issue of intrayeshival demography to one of my fellow students, the response was a bitter "Yeah, and we're supposedly egalitarian." I can only assume that this was meant to be a comment on the yeshiva's admission policies — a criticism suggesting that there is a guiding force behind the 70:30 ratio. This is true, of course, and here it is: fewer women apply to come here. What's more, four of our female students are here primarily because their husbands are JTS or UJ students in the midst of their year in Israel†††. (Why such a discrepancy exists is a subject worthy of examination, but it has to be recognized first.)

I've heard a great deal of discussion about how important this matter is, and how we have to show that we are egalitarian. Apparently, the sign on the door reading "Welcome to the Conservative Yeshiva" is not a sufficient reminder.

*More properly, birkot `aliyyah, or blessings of the `aliyyah. An `aliyyah is the reading of a passage from the Torah, of which there are three on ordinary Mondays and Thursdays. Being asked to recite the berakhot before and after one of the readings is considered to be an honor.

**Person who recites the berakhah. `Oleh is the masculine and general form, `olah being female-specific.

***I tend to stand in the back during services, and there's a tendency to give out `aliyyot to people in the neighborhood.

†In this case, "egalitarian" means that men and women have, with one exception about which I may post at some later point, equal opportunities in prayer, Torah reading and study.

††"Seminary" has come to be used by the English-speaking orthodox Jewish community to refer to a school of religious studies for women, as opposed to the term "yeshiva," which tends to be reserved for men's schools. It goes without saying in most circles that seminaries do not offer the same educational opportunities as yeshivot.

†††We do have one male student who is here because his wife is a UJ rabbinical candidate.

New K'nesset proposal . . .

2005-01-20T08:51:00.000-05:00

It's an interesting idea. I'll have to follow this one. Thanks to Yanata, from whom I lifted the text.

One of Israel's top fashion photographers has seen enough skinny bodies, and he's determined to do something about it.

In an age when young women are starving themselves in the name of beauty, Adi Barkan, well-known Israeli fashion photographer and owner of the Barkan Modeling Agency in Tel Aviv, together with Knesset member Inbal Gavrieli, have decided to fight the trend.

They've introduced a bill to the Knesset requiring that models undergo health examinations, and have their BMI (body mass index) checked before entering the modeling profession. It's apparently the first bill of its kind in the world.

Beyond the glamour and glitz of the modeling industry lies a darker side. All around the world, scores of young women longing to be the next top model starve themselves, believing that they need to be unnaturally skinny in order to succeed in this world.

While the American modeling industry is grappling with this problem, Barkan hopes, through his campaign, to stem the rise of profession-related illnesses and deal a blow to the 'skinny' culture that permeates the Israeli fashion world.

"Up until now, anorexia and bulimia have been the modeling world's dirty little secret," Barkan told ISRAEL21c. "We in this industry have perpetuated and even glorified eating disorders by celebrating thinness and packaging malnutrition in such an attractive way, that young women everywhere aspire to have 'the look.' It is time that this industry comes clean about this dangerous problem and shows the world that beauty and high fashion do not equal starvation."

The paradox is that Barkan himself used to strictly follow the 'skinnier the better' school of modeling photography.

"Obviously I'm part of it," he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently. "But those were the days when Calvin Klein extended the contract of super-skinny model Kate Moss and everyone was following the so-called heroin-chic style."

The proposed law would require all potential models to submit to a nutritional test with a licensed nutritionist or dietician. Agencies would be forbidden to represent a model without a copy of the test results. Subsequently, the agency would not be allowed to continue representing the model unless she submits to the test every six months. Any agency that does not comply will be fined accordingly and all forms will be monitored by the Health Ministry.

Barkan has been working on this initiative for over two years and has managed to garner the support of many of Israel's top CEOs, persuading them to sign a contract agreeing not to hire models with a BMI of less than 19. Barkan has received commitments from Strauss-Elite, one of Israel's largest food industries; Castro fashion house; Bank Hapoalim; Partner cell phones and others.

He's also contacted dozens of fashion houses in Israel asking them to join him in the anti-anorexia campaign and sign affidavits pledging that they won't use models below a certain weight. The Israeli Health Ministry has given its blessing to the campaign, as have school principals who have asked Barkan to speak to their students to pass on the message that the days of 'thin is beautiful' are over.

According to statistics provided by the Health Ministry, seven percent of all adolescent girls in Israel display signs of an eating disorder. Based on interviews that Barkan has conducted with thousands of young aspiring models and the assistance of a certified nutritionist, he believes that 13.7 percent of these young girls are suffering from an eating disorder.

In advance of the first reading of the bill in the Knesset, a large scale television campaign, produced pro bono by the Tel Aviv-based advertising agency Reuveni Pridan, will be launched. It features a public service commercial focusing on body image and eating disorders.

The commercial will portray four adolescent models in succession - each one thinner than the last. A voice-over introduces each model, stating that none of them is happy with her weight, and that each one wants to be as thin as the next girl. The fourth young woman shown, also thinking she's 'too fat,' is visibly wasting away from anorexia.

Israel's major television channels have each donated over a million dollars in air time to broadcast the commercial beginning in mid-February. The public service slogan is called 'Nothing is Worth This.'

Its goal is to increase awareness among parents and adolescents, demonstrate how to recognize the symptoms and how to help those who have eating disorders. Barkan said that an additional purpose is to raise awareness among young girls that there is a distinction between looking good and being obsessive about one's weight.

Participating in the commercial is Shiran Shaul, an 18-year-old model from Haifa, discovered on the street by Barkan. She supports the bill wholeheartedly.

"I don't mind that I'll have to go to a dietician every six months. If I am eating the way I should be eating, then there shouldn't be any problems," she told ISRAEL21c.

Shaul doesn't suffer from an eating disorder but is participating in the campaign because she believes in showing other girls that they don't have to be anorexic if they want to be a model. Shaul hopes that the campaign will reach beyond the border of Israel.

"I think it will be difficult, but there is potential. With hard work, I think that there is a chance. We need to bring people to the point of realizing that this is the right thing to do."

Unfortunately, the production of the commercial, which was to be filmed last week, had to be postponed due to the hospitalization of one of the participants who is currently being treated for anorexia.

"We need to hold a mirror up to these teenage girls so that they can see the damage they are doing to themselves," said Knesset member Gavrieli. "That mirror starts with this television campaign, but continues with positive body images reflected in magazines, on billboards and on runways.

"The welcome initiative relates to the world of modeling, but we hope it will assist us in reaching all society. The law's aim is to create a new image of beauty - an image that includes beauty and health in one word."

Harry Rubenstein is Associate Director, Youth Media, of ISRAEL21c.

Solved

2004-12-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

Seems that they borrowed from R' Amram Gaon's siddur. I suppose I should have read the introductory sections of the book before complaining about it.

Ah well.