Norman Lear and Starbucks

With the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike meaning no Daily Show with Jon Stewart or Colbert Report (although the writers are putting funny stuff on YouTube), I've been forced to find other TV shows to watch.

One of my favorites has been the Iconoclasts series on the Sundance Channel. I first saw one of these programs several months ago when they featured Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and surfing icon Laird Hamilton. The other day I watched the Iconoclasts episode matching Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz (with me at below) and Norman Lear. The two men are very fond of each other, have much more in common than anyone would imagine, and have teamed up in some very lucrative ways. The combination made this a very Jewish episode.

I actually knew a great deal about Howard Schultz before I saw this program. I heard him speak about his upbringing, influences, and vision at a Jewish Federation event in Ann Arbor a few years ago. Earlier in the day of the event, I happened to be at a local Ann Arbor Starbucks having a meeting with a Hillel donor and Howard Schultz walked in. I observed him doing exactly what he says he does and what is portrayed in the Iconoclasts episode about him. He walked up to each worker ("partner") in the Starbucks store, shook their hand, patted them on the back, and told them that he genuinely was proud of their hard work. He then made his way over to our table, sat down, and shmoozed for a few minutes as if he wasn't the busy executive running a billion-dollar corporation that opens eight new stores per day. At the Jewish Federation event later that evening he remembered our conversation without any prompting.

Schultz speaks openly that his Judaism influences his code of business principles and I have used him as an example many times when teaching about Jewish business ethics. Our nanny, who has become a part of our family, moonlights as a part-time Starbucks manager and has confirmed to me that it really is a great place to work (full health care benefits for all part-time staff).

How much I knew about Howard Schultz is how little I knew about Norman Lear, the Jewish creator of all those 70's TV shows (All in the Family, Good Times, the Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, etc.). As Norman Lear describes in an online interview with Aish.com, Judaism has infused his life's work. In the interview, as in the Iconoclasts presentation, Lear explains the Talmudic story that he loves and and lives by:

There's a Talmudic story that I love, that seems to cover everything to me. A man should have a jacket with two pockets. In the first pocket there should be a piece of paper on which is written, "I am but dust and ashes." In the second, a piece of paper on which it is written "For me the world was created." That's mama loshon to me, real common sense. The person who can live between that ying and yang has it made.

The two men appear like a loving father and son that had been separated for years. They share similar ethics and have each revolutionized their own trade (Schultz by selling coffee in new ways and treating his workers in better ways, and Lear with racy TV characters like Archie Bunker to get Americans to think about racial and religious tolerance in new ways). Together, they have teamed up on entrepreneurial initiatives like selling music at Starbucks (the award-winning Ray Charles CD -- the last of his life -- being their first attempt) and on social and political issues (getting young people to vote).

The highlights of the presentation are in Lear's home, where he shows his original copy of the Declaration of Independence to Howard Schultz, and in their tour of the Seattle warehouse where Starbucks coffee is produced. Each man shows remarkable pride in the other and the Jewish people should take great pride in these men. It is their Judaism that has made them who they are.

Sam Woll - A Charismatic, Passionate Pursuer of Peace and Justice

“Rabbi, our Hillel needs to stop buying Coke products.”

This was the first thing Samantha Woll said to me when I started my new job at the University of Michigan Hillel Foundation in 2004. It was odd hearing Sam call me “Rabbi.” First, I had only very recently been ordained so I still wasn’t used to the title. And, second, I had known Sam since she was in elementary school – a classmate and friend of my younger brother – so the formality felt unnecessary and perhaps dramatic. But Sam was being respectful.

Ban Coke at Hillel? I thought the request seemed odd. I grew up in a home that never had Pepsi because that company adhered to a boycott of Israel when I was a kid. I seem to recall my mom telling me that Jews drink Coke and non-Jews drink Pepsi. Looking back it seems like she was getting her information less from Middle East politics and more from Lenny Bruce.

Magen David Adom (MDA) Saves Lives in Israel with Advanced Technology

In the ever-changing medical industry, Israel stands out as a frontrunner in making significant technological strides in the field. Leading this advancement is Magen David Adom, an organization founded almost 100 years ago that has harnessed Israel’s advanced technology to develop faster ways of saving lives throughout the country. On a recent visit to Metro Detroit, MDA leaders spoke about the tech innovations that are helping the organization respond quicker to medical emergencies, both large and small. This tech innovation is also being shared with other emergency response organizations throughout North America.

Yoni Yagodovsky, senior paramedic and director of international relations, along with his colleague, Raphael Herbst, senior paramedic, and trainer, visited Midwestern U.S. cities to conduct life-saving training sessions called “First 7 Minutes.” The program’s name is derived from the first seven minutes it typically takes for first responders to arrive on the scene of an emergency. Yagodovsky and Herbst taught participants at local Metro Detroit synagogues how to remain safe and offer critical first-aid assistance during the hectic time following an attack. Rather than focusing on specific protocols, the training covered seven principles for the first seven minutes: safety, call for help, saving lives together, organizing the scene, bleeding control, reporting, and assisting EMS.

L to R - Richard D. Zelin (American Friends of Magen David Adom in Chicago MDA), Yoni Yagodovsky, Raphael Herbst, Rabbi Jason Miller, Jonah Miller, and Robert Rosenthal (American Friends of Magen David Adom in NY)

Snapchat’s Effect on Our Teens’ Mental Health

Co-authored by Joshua Miller

Parents are more concerned than ever about their children’s mental health. Studies show that social media use has a strong effect on our teens’ daily emotions and behavior. Rather than write yet another article lamenting teens’ social media usage, I invited my nineteen-year-old son, Joshua, to co-author this Jews in the Digital Age column with me to ensure it includes perspectives from both a parent and a teen. 

Parents of teens are familiar with and use social network applications like Facebook and Instagram. They have also, in recent years, begun to use TikTok, the popular video application. However, Snapchat is different since most parents do not use it and are generally unaware of their teens’ activity on the platform.

Snapchat’s own annual reports explain that it is used primarily by high school and college students. The mobile application allows users to share photos, videos, and messages. As of February 2023, Snapchat has approximately 750 million monthly active users, 63% of which use the application regularly, and more than three billion snaps are created and exchanged each day.

Snapchat causes negative mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, in high school and college students, making it an activity that should be high on the concern list of parents, teachers and mental health professionals. There exists a worldwide mental health crisis among teens and college students, and the use of Snapchat is prevalent among this age demographic. Studies have been conducted to show a causal relationship between Snapchat use and this mental health crisis.

Many teens will be enjoying a fun experience with family or friends, and then experience a sudden mood swing upon opening the Snapchat application on their phone. The phone screen will display photos of their friends' activities, who they’re with, and where they are currently located using Snapchat’s “Snap Map” GPS (global positioning system) feature. The teen who seemed to be happy and content is now feeling lonely, anxious and depressed thanks to the “fear of missing out.” Commonly known by the acronym “FOMO,” Snapchat contributes to this fear by making it appear that others in the teen’s peer group are enjoying life more. The teen often feels that they have not been invited or included in a competing activity even though they were satisfied with their situation prior to looking at the “Snap Map.” Seeing what others are posting on Snapchat, the teen loses focus and cannot be present with the people they are actually with in real life (“IRL”).

The Off-the-Derech Viral YouTube Star from Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Jews and non-Jews alike were drawn to “Unorthodox” and “Shtisel,” the two popular Netflix miniseries dramas about Hasidic life. These voyeuristic deep dives into the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle of the adherents of Hasidism were the first exposure many had to these insular communities. “Unorthodox” is based on the book by Deborah Feldman, who cut ties with her ultra-Orthodox Williamsburg, Brooklyn community in 2006. Her insider’s perspective was candid and insightful, revealing much of the secretive culture of the Satmar neighborhoods.

I too was mesmerized by both “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox,” binge-watching them during the early months of the COVID pandemic. So when I was asked to take a guided walking tour of Williamsburg with tour guide Frieda Vizel, whose “Off the Derech” (the label for those who leave their ultra-Orthodox lifestyle behind) biography sounded a lot like Deborah Feldman’s, I was intrigued. 

 

I had planned to be in Brooklyn to officiate a bat mitzvah, so I scheduled the tour for a Friday morning, which is a wonderful time to walk around Williamsburg as men, women and children are hurriedly shopping to prepare for the Sabbath. My mother and my teenage daughter joined me as well. They had already planned to spend the weekend in New York, and I thought it would be meaningful for these two Jewish women in my life to see how Hasidic women live.