October 25th, 2009

We Get IT Michelle, Now Stop!

I loved you during the campaign, especially when you wore that little Gap plaid empire-tie dress. While I admitted to myself that being significantly less fit and curvy than you and with twice the bosom, wearing a plaid empire dress would make me appear as if I’ve got a table strapped to my chest—I still felt pangs of pride that you looked so together for Fourth of July.

Just watching you be you made it a true Independence Day for me.

I experienced delight watching news stories about your post-holiday shopping frenzy as women lined up to buy themselves that same dress.

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By Patricia Ljutic

April 17th, 2009

Oy Vey! Matzoh in the White House

There is a Jewish holiday called Purim that was celebrated just last month. It’s the story of a Jewish Queen, Esther, who with the help of her beloved uncle Mordechai saved the Jews from being slaughtered at the hands of the evil Haman who had a position of power in the government of King Ahashverus, Esther’s new husband. Esther was ordered to marry him after his first wife Vashti refused to dance naked for his friends. Traditional interpretations say that he beheaded her, but the more modern story is that she left him to go to med school. The story ends by Esther throwing a party for her husband and after making sure he’s had a few drinks tells him of Haman’s awful plans. The King is quite smitten with his beautiful Jewish wife and the story ends well for the Jews. Haman is killed and Mordechai is given a role in the government! 

Anyone who is familiar with the plight of the Jews knows that this story is a fantasy. The end tells of the possibility of what could happen if things went well and good won out over evil. Recently something occurred in our own American government that gives hope that fantasy does sometimes become reality.

There was a Seder in the White House!  A Seder is the ritual meal that commemorates the Jewish festival of Passover; the retelling of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt and slavery. This was the first time that an American president and his family took part in a Jewish ceremony in the home of our leader. As the story appeared in the papers and various on line sites, rumors of a Jewish cousin appeared! Michelle Obama has a cousin who converted to Judaism and became a rabbi! This is so exciting that every sentence might have to end with an exclamation point!

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By admin

November 1st, 2008

Presidential Race

Back in the good old days of late August, the Democratic Party held a convention to nominate the first African-American from a major party for president of the United States.

That was before Sarah Palin sucked all the oxygen out of Obama’s candidacy, and before Katie Couric, with an assist from Wall Street, sucked all the air out of Sarah Palin.

During the nanosecond when the public’s attention focused on the convention, Americans contemplated the meaning of this historic event.

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By Lorrie Goldin