Justice Antonin Scalia and the Jewish People

Much is being written about the late Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court justice who passed away over the weekend. Much of the "talk" is of a political nature as a debate has ensued in Washington as to whether President Obama should appoint a replacement or wait for the next President to do so. Of course, it's the President's job to appoint justices to the highest court in the land, regardless of whether there is less than a year left in his term.

Some liberals immediately took to social media to gloat about Scalia's passing, knowing that an Obama replacement would shake up the court and lean it toward liberal decisions. I saw a couple of posts humorously playing on the Hebrew phrase we say when someone dies, "Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet" (blessed is the true judge). Scalia was generally not liked by Jewish people as his very conservative rulings often came into conflict with the Jewish community's feelings with regard to freedom of religious expression. In a 2009 article in the Jewish Daily Forward, J.J. Goldberg wrote that Scalia is bad for the Jews and laments his legal opinion about an eight-foot metal cross erected as a war memorial.

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, writing on the Religion News Service website, did a wonderful job criticizing those who gloated over this news. Salkin writes, "To all of my fellow liberals: I know that you didn’t like Antonin Scalia’s rulings. We get it. Frankly, I don’t blame you. I found Scalia’s positions on church-state relations, sexuality, guns, abortion, death penalty, and pretty much everything else to be very problematic... Because, based on what I am seeing on social media, there has been a lot of inappropriate snark about his sudden passing." Salkin goes on to demonstrate how Jewish tradition informs us about how to handle the death of a person we don’t like.

Natan Sharansky's 30th Anniversary of Freedom

Natan Sharansky was freed as a Prisoner of Zion 30 years ago today. Sharansky is one of the most famous former Soviet refusniks and should be treated as a hero of the Jewish people. In the 30 years since he gained his freedom Sharansky has become a devoted Israeli politician.

In 1973, Sharansky applied for an exit visa to Israel, but was refused on “security” grounds. Following this denial, Sharansky became more involved with the refusnik movement and became an activist for Soviet Jews. On March 15, 1977, he was arrested by the KGB, accused of treason and espionage. I remember marching at the Rally to Free Soviet Jews in D.C. with my mother. Somewhere in the crowd with her own mother, was a 14-year-old girl, who would become my wife 11-and-a-half years later.

The human rights activist arrived in Israel on February 11, 1986, where he was greeted by Prime Minister Shimon Peres. In 1988, he was elected President of the newly created Zionist Forum, the umbrella organization of former Soviet activists. He also served as an associate editor of the Jerusalem Report. In November 2006, Sharansky resigned from the Knesset and assumed the position of Chairman of the then newly-established Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. In June 2009, he was elected and sworn in as Chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, a post he holds today. He is credited with creating a space at the Western Wall for men and women to pray together. This plan for egalitarian prayer at the Kotel, which Sharansky worked on for several years, took effect late last month.

Gun Loving Ted Nugent's Jewish Problem

Whenever Mitch Albom launches a new book, he throws a big event in Detroit and invites some of his celebrity friends to join him on stage. I've been to a few of these and was surprised to see Ted Nugent at the most recent event. Nugent, the ultra-right wing Rocker, was invited along with his wife Shemane because of the couple's Freedom’s Angels Foundation, which helps wounded soldiers and their loved ones. Apparently, he and Albom have become friendly over the years and bonded over their love of music.

Ted Nugent, his wife Shemane, and Mitch Albom with Michael Bolton and musician Olivia Millerschin
(Regina H. Boone, Detroit Free Press)

I must say that in my brief discussion with Ted Nugent at this event, I began to reconsider my preconceived notions about him. Nugent has a reputation for being an offensive, abrasive, loud mouth who is equal parts racist and misogynistic. However, he actually seemed like a nice guy at this event (he was still loud) and I enjoyed watching Mitch Albom interview him in a fireside chat style. Before the event began Nugent was even gracious enough to join my list of celebrities who have offered "Shabbat Shalom" greetings on video.

With Ted Nugent in Detroit last year. I always add the disclaimer that a photo with someone does not constitute my agreement with their opinions. Never has that been truer than with this photo!

But then yesterday afternoon a friend told me to go look at Ted Nugent's Facebook page in which Nugent posted a very an anti-Semitic image. In the post, Nugent blames prominent Jewish people for pushing gun control by overlaying Israeli flag icons on each Jewish person's photo. The image is titled "So who is really behind gun control?" and Nugent made a photo grid of 12 Jews (Senators Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, former Senator Carl Levin, Michael Bloomberg, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Alan Dershowitz, etc.). The graphic wasn't created by Nugent, but it has appeared on anti-Semitic websites in the past.

Conservative Rabbi Asks Hillary Clinton "What's in Your Pocket?"

In last night's Democratic Town Hall in New Hampshire, hosted by CNN, Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett of the Conservative synagogue Temple Beth Abraham in Nashua made headlines with his question to Hillary Clinton.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett (Salon.com)

Rabbi Spira-Savett, a Harvard graduate who was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, beautifully phrased his question about humility to Mrs. Clinton:

Another rabbi, Rabbi Simcha Bunem taught that every person has to have two pockets and in each pocket they have to carry a different note. And the note in one pocket says the universe was created for me. And in the other pocket the note says I am just dust and ashes. And I want you to take a moment and think about what you would tell us about your two pockets. How do you cultivate the ego, the ego that we all know you must have, a person must have to be the leader of the free world, and also the humility to recognize that we know that you can't be expected to be wise about all the things that the president has to be responsible for?

Getting Marco Rubio to Say Shabbat Shalom

Can Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio speak Yiddish? Marc Daniels of "Weed Out Hate" has made yarmulkes with all the presidential candidates' names on them. He was in Iowa earlier this week and tried to get Rubio to say Gut Shabbes! on video while wearing a Marco Rubio kippah. Fortunately Lauren Selsky, who covers the Rubio campaign for CNN, was right there to video his three attempts. The first thing Rubio had to do was learn that it's Gut as in "good" and not Boot Shabbes. Here's Selsky's tweeted video:

'Gut' Shabbos or 'Boot' Shabbos? You decide. #2016 #Iowa @mikiebarb pic.twitter.com/7Z3W6s12RB

— Lauren Selsky (@LJSelsky) January 31, 2016

Maybe it's becoming more popular to get famous people to say Shabbat Shalom. After writing about my friend Lisa Lis, who collects video Shabbat Shalom greetings from celebs, I decided to try it myself. I've found it's much easier to get celebrities or politicians to say the much easier "Shabbat Shalom" on video rather than the Yiddish expression of Gut Shabbes. Too bad Marco Rubio didn't have that option! Here are some famous Shabbat Shalom greetings from the past couple of years:

Shaquille O'Neal Says Shabbat Shalom:

Tina Fey Says Shabbat Shalom:

Charles Barkley Says Shabbat Shalom:

Michael Bolton Says Shabbat Shalom:

Russell Simmons Says Shabbat Shalom:

Bill Cosby Says Shabbat Shalom (Not really!):

Kevin Pollack Says Shabbat Shalom:

Conan O'Brien Says Shabbat Shalom:

J.B. Smoove Says Shabbat Shalom:

Joe Torre Says Shabbat Shalom:

Henry Winkler Says Shabbat Shalom:

Best Tech Gadgets at CES 2016

When I returned from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a few weeks ago, everyone wanted to know what was hot this year. I get that same question every year following CES and once again I rattled off the usual hot categories of virtual reality, 3D printing, robotics, and drones. This year, however, I feel like everything was taken up a notch. The tech gadgets of the future have finally arrived, they're available to consumers and they are quickly becoming mainstream.

This year, the connected home became more of a reality as well with smart technologies now available in all our home appliances -- think smart fridges, washing machines and garage doors. Looking around CES, it was clear that drones and VR headsets are becoming ubiquitous. And just like in previous years, everyone was excited about the high-quality audio and video gadgets.

I've put together a list of some of the coolest things I saw at CES. Of course this list isn't exhaustive and it's impossible to see everything CES has to offer in just a few days. It's also too time consuming to try to demo all the cool gadgets that are in the tech market now. I have tried to feature gadgets in differently categories and have included affordable items so cost will not be a barrier for new technology. The future is definitely accessible to us and changing our lives quickly.