OPINION | Shades of ‘Tail-Gunner Joe’ in Michele Bachmann’s comments allegations against Keith Ellison and Huma Abedin

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The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines “McCarthyism” as a “mid-20th century political attitude characterized chiefly by opposition to elements held to be subversive and by the use of tactics involving personal attacks on individuals by means of widely publicized indiscriminate allegations especially on the basis of unsubstantiated charges; broadly: defamation of character or rep

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OPINION | Summoned to a ‘beit din’

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The editorial in the last edition of the Jewish World noted that I and this newspaper were being threatened with a lawsuit, following our coverage of a class action lawsuit against ConAgra Foods/Hebrew National (6-22-12). A company called AER Services, Inc., which does kosher slaughtering at plants in the Midwest, objected to allegations contained in a June 13 story posted on our Web site, and directed their lawyer in Chanhassen to send us a strident letter and a draft copy of a lawsuit. To be clear, we have not been sued.The initial online version of our story broke the news of the lawsuit alleging that Hebrew National products were not kosher, as the company claims. The story was later picked up by Reuters, AP, JTA, Time Magazine, Drovers Cattle Network (“America’s Beef Business Source”), and virtually all of the Anglo-Jewish press in North America. Jon Stewart even staged a Hebrew National skit, with a hot dog circumcision, on The Daily Show.After we went to press with our June 22 edition, things got stranger.Nathan Lewin, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., sent me an e-mail, with an attached “claim letter” to the Beth Din of America, requesting that the group issue a hazmana (summons), to me “and to Minnesota Jewish Media, LLC, which publishes a weekly [sic] newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called ‘American Jewish World.’” The letter to the beit din (Hebrew for “house of judgment”), an Orthodox rabbinic tribunal, alleges that Lewin’s client, AER Services, was defamed in an article “published on June 13, 2012, in the print edition” of the AJW. In fact, there was no print edition of this newspaper published on June 13.So, what’s up with the summons to the beit din (also transliterated as “bet din” or “beth din”)?First, I should mention that Lewin, of the Lewin & Lewin law firm, also sent out a press release, announcing that he was trying to bring me and the newspaper before the Beth Din of America in New York City. Continue Reading

Class action lawsuit argues that Hebrew National hot dogs are not completely kosher

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UPDATED WITH ADDITONAL INFORMATION ON 6/24 | A lawsuit filed in May alleges that Hebrew National, the famous manufacturer of hot dogs and other products throughout the United States, is not living up to its self-proclaimed standard of kosher “as defined by the most stringent Jews who follow Orthodox Jewish Law.”Hebrew National products are certified kosher by Triangle K, and a firm called AER provides the kosher slaughtering services at facilities in the Midwest, according to a class action complaint filed last month in the Dakota County district court of Minnesota.The lawsuit filed against ConAgra Foods, doing business as Hebrew National, a Delaware corporation, alleges that employees of AER complained to their bosses that they witnessed procedures at slaughterhouses that “rendered the meat being processed not kosher.”AER leased space from American Foods Group, LLC, which brought cattle to its facilities — including the Dakota Premium Foods plant in South St. Paul — “to be slaughtered, inspected and certified.”On its Web site, Hebrew National touts its products for adhering to the strictest standards for kosher meat. Update — and threatsThis is a story republished from American Jewish World, one of our media partners. AJW has since revised this story to incorporate new information, including news of a lawsuit threat against AJW regarding their coverage of this case. Here’s a partial description of what happened, from AJW’s updated story:”In an unusual occurrence, on [June 18], a lawyer representing AER Services sent a letter to the American Jewish World, threatening a lawsuit against the newspaper for publishing what he claimed were “false and defamatory allegations” against his client.”The letter from the lawyer, Michael L. Puklich, of the Neaton and Puklich law firm in Chanhassen, came with a “draft” of a lawsuit, which alleges that the AJW knowingly published “false and/or misleading” statements about AER Services. …”In the face of threatened legal action, the AJW stands behind the truthfulness of its stories about the class action lawsuit against ConAgra Foods/Hebrew National.”The complaint, which runs to about 65 pages, notes that employees hired to conduct the kosher slaughtering complained to AER supervisor Rabbi Moshe Fyzakov, and to Rabbi Aryeh Ralbag, co-owner of New York City-based Triangle K, with Rabbi Jehoseph Ralbag, but the higher-ups “did little or nothing to correct the transgressions. Continue Reading

Back to the Dakota stage: St. Louis Park native Peter Himmelman returns to Minneapolis’ premier jazz club on May 24

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Peter Himmelman has made his home in southern California for many years, but his hometown gigs, an annual affair for many years, are eagerly anticipated. The St. Louis Park native played his first date at the Dakota Jazz Club last August; and the renowned Minneapolis jazz joint will welcome him back on May 24.The popular singer-songwriter spoke with the AJW last week about his Dakota gig, a new record ready for release and his Big Muse songwriting workshops for business people.Himmelman’s 2011 show at the Dakota had the feeling of a Bar Mitzva reception, with a big crowd comprised of many friends and relatives. “There’s a nervous aspect to that,” Himmelman allows, but adds, regarding the intimate music room: “I loved the place, absolutely loved it… It works really well for my style.”He’s still working on the lineup for his May 24 show. Jeff Victor, his longtime musical collaborator, will play keyboards. Continue Reading

A struggle for marriage equality: Question One shows May 14-19 at MOA

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On May 6, 2009, Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill making same-sex marriage legal in the state. However, opponents of the law petitioned to stop its implementation and forced a statewide referendum on the measure, which was dubbed “Question One.” Less than six months later, the opponents of same-sex marriage prevailed — by a vote of 300,848 to 267,828 — and the law was overturned.The dramatic events in Maine, which pitted gays and lesbians and their supporters against the Catholic Church and evangelical Christians, are depicted in Question One, an entirely fascinating, 95-minute documentary that will have its first theatrical release May 14-19 at Theatres at Mall of America.Joe Fox, director, writer and producer of Question One, talked to the AJW last week about the film, marriage equality and Minnesota’s upcoming vote on a ballot measure to chisel a definition of traditional marriage into the state constitution.Fox, 51, is the gay son of an Orthodox rabbi and an accomplished journalist. His series for USA Today, “Voices of Peace,” which investigated the peace process in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel, was the paper’s submission for the Pulitzer Prize.Previously, Fox and James Nubile, the associate director, editor and producer of Question One, made the documentary Passing Poston, about a Japanese internment camp during World War II. That film aired on PBS affiliates across the United States.One supporter of the Question 1 ballot measure in Maine holds up his Bible, in a scene from the documentary Question One. (Photo: Courtesy of Fly On The Wall Productions)Question One achieves its substantial intellectual and emotional impact by covering the Maine vote on rescinding the same-sex marriage law from the vantage of both camps. Continue Reading

“Time Stands Still”: Laughter amid the war stories

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GRETE: All I am suggesting, Mr. Waxman, is that the artist, like the Jew, prefers to see himself as alien from the mainstream culture. For the Jewish artist to acknowledge that the contrary is true, that he is not an alien, but rather, assimilated into that mainstream culture — JONATHAN: Wait a minute, wait a minute. What is this Jewish stuff creeping in here?— From Sight Unseen, by Donald MarguliesPulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies has described his play Time Stands Still as “essentially a love story.” The play centers on the relationship between two journalists, James and Sarah, who have returned to their Brooklyn apartment from assignments in Iraq.Sarah Goodwin, a veteran news photographer, has sustained serious injuries from a roadside bomb blast — in the play’s opening scene, she is on crutches, leg in a cast, an arm in a sling, her face pocked by shrapnel scars. James Dodd, her longtime romantic companion, tends to her recovery; and it emerges that he had some kind of mental breakdown, and left the war zone before Sarah was injured.Richard, a magazine editor who has had a lengthy personal and professional relationship with James and Sarah, pays a visit to the couple. He is accompanied by his much younger girlfriend, Mandy, who leavens the serious goings-on with her ditzy questions and commentary.In a recent phone interview with the Jewish World from his home in New Haven, Conn., Margulies responded to a question about Richard’s young girlfriend, who provokes roars of laughter among playgoers.Left: Donald Margulies: Writing dialogue is a little bit like improvisation. Continue Reading

Idan Raichel: Creating a new musical language

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It’s not every day you talk with an Israeli superstar.After a series of e-mails over recent weeks with his manager, the AJW finally caught up with peripatetic and popular musician Idan Raichel, who has become a luminary on the “world music” scene.Raichel, who last played here in 2005, will perform with Vieux Farka Touré, a sensational guitarist from Mali, who has been dubbed the “Hendrix of the Sahara,” on Monday, April 16 at the Dakota Jazz Club (3-30-12 AJW).During a chat last week with the Jewish World by phone from Tel Aviv, Raichel talked about his gigs this month with Touré; their new album, The Tel Aviv Session; and upcoming projects.Asked about his history of performing in Minnesota, Raichel drew a blank. “I have to admit that when we are touring… we keep touring airports more than cities.”He explains that tours involve a round of arriving at an airport, going to the venue for a sound check, performing the concert, and then back to the airport for a flight to the next town, all in a 24-hour time span.Vieux Farka Touré (left) and Idan Raichel are touring the U.S. in April, including a stop on April 16 at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. (Photo: Nitzan Treystman)In any case, Raichel says he’s looking forward to meeting fans, old and new, when he plays the Dakota. He admits to being “surprised,” when touring in the Midwest with his band, the Idan Raichel Project, by the warm welcome he has received, even though he performs a “non-English music,” which apparently is understood “as a universal language.”I mention that the AJW published a story about Ravid Kahalani, the vocalist and frontman for Yemen Blues, who performed at a well-attended show in January at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis (12-23-11 AJW). Kahalani, an Israeli of Yemenite ancestry, attained prominence several years ago as part of Raichel’s eclectic musical group.“He’s still a member of the Idan Raichel Project,” the 34-year-old musician affirms. “He’s playing with us these days, and going on his solo tours. Continue Reading

People of the film

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The Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival has concluded, but movie lovers of the Jewish persuasion need not go into a funk.The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) is underway, and the schedule is chock-full of Jewish- and Israeli-themed films. I have had a chance to screen a few of these films, in the comfort of my home or laptop. I have been impressed with several of the MSPIFF entries. (Click here for a summary of the Jewish films in the festival.)Free Men (trailer below), an Algerian and French production, takes us to Paris, under Nazi occupation in 1942. Director Ismaël Ferroukhi, in this excellent fictional narrative film, focuses on Younes, an unemployed Algerian whose black marketeering lands him in the clutches of the French police. Continue Reading