Former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman died last week at the age of 82. Lieberman was an observant Orthodox Jew and was the first Jew to be part of a major presidential ticket, running for vice president alongside Al Gore on the Democratic ticket in 2000. Lieberman was considered a moderate, and he ultimately became a political independent, while continuing to caucus with the Democratic Party. He was a strong supporter of the Iraq War and advocated for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. He supported unions and free trade, and pushed for greater rights for the LGBTQ community. He was a staunch supporter of Israel, but also worked on behalf of Muslims as a member of the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council. Lieberman endorsed Republican candidate Senator John McCain for president against Barack Obama in the 2008 election, and he was considered as a possible vice presidential candidate on the McCain ticket. But some of McCain’s advisors argued against the selection of Lieberman, and McCain ultimately chose Sarah Palin. McCain later regretted listening to his advisors, saying “my gut told me to ignore it and I wish I had.” Why did his advisors recommend against the selection of Lieberman?

MSC 2014 Lieberman-McCain Kleinschmidt MSC2014 by Tobias Kleinschmidt  is licensed under CC BY 3.0 DE DEED via Wikimedia Commons

A. Some of his advisors were concerned about Lieberman’s observance of Sabbath and holidays, worried that he might be unavailable in times of need.

B. They argued that the best way to draw votes from Barack Obama was to name a female as his vice presidential running mate.

C. His advisors recognized that a portion of the far right electorate who would normally vote Republican (especially against the Black Barack Obama) would never vote for a Jewish candidate.

D. While Lieberman was viewed as a moderate to conservative Democrat, he was a supporter of abortion rights, which McCain’s advisors said would prevent many Republicans from voting for a McCain/Lieberman ticket.

E. They felt that McCain’s religious “family values” constituents would not want McCain to have a running mate whose name means “Lover Man.”

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Jews around the world just celebrated the holiday of Purim by eating hamantashen, pastries traditionally filled with poppy seed or prune filling. Many other fillings are also baked in hamantashen, including apricot, chocolate, nutella, and even pb&j. The triangular shaped treats are said to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat. In Hebrew, the pastry is called Oznei-Haman, or Haman’s ears. There is another traditional Jewish food that is also served on Purim, but which is not as commonly known. What is that food?

Hamantashen by Mark D. Zimmerman is in the public domain

A. Blintzes are served for breakfast on Purim, as they are symbolic of the rolled up Megillah scroll that is read on the holiday.

B. Kreplach, the stuffed noodle dumpling, is served on Purim. One explanation is that the filling inside the kreplach is hidden, which is symbolic of Esther’s hidden secret of being Jewish.

C. Pomegranates are served in Chassidic households based on gematria, the system of converting words to their numerical value. Both Purim and Pomegranate have a value of 379.

D. Some Sephardic communities serve cholent on Purim because there is a traditional Sephardic cholent known as hamin, which is reminiscent of Haman.

E. Hanger steak is traditionally served as a Purim main course meal, in reference to the fact that Haman was hanged on the gallows.

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Purim is celebrated during the month of Adar, but because this is a leap year in the Jewish calendar, Purim is celebrated in Adar II (beginning this coming Saturday night). When that happens, a minor holiday called Purim Katan (Little Purim) is celebrated in the first month of Adar (February 22-23 this year). There are other Little Purim celebrations around the world, commemorating events that could have been tragic for local Jewish communities, but which were averted. Some of these are named after their location (eg, Purim Narbonne and Purim Rhodes), while others are named after the oppressor in the story (eg, Purim Sebastiano and Purim Burghul). These holidays are generally celebrated with the reading of a Megillah which describes the event, along with festive meals and giving to charity. For example, Purim de los Ladrones (Purim of the Bandits) is celebrated in Gumeldjina, a small city in the Ottoman Empire whose Jewish community was blamed for an attack by rebels from the nearby mountains. Ultimately the Jews proved their innocence and the community was spared. Another Purim Katan celebration is Purim Vinz, which is celebrated with the reading of the Vincent Megillah. What does that holiday commemorate?

Rembrandt - School of - The Feast of Esther Haman’s Disgrace, 1580 by Rembrandt is in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons

A. Cardinal Vincenzo Vannutelli praised Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1923, saying that “for his energy and devotion to the country he was chosen to save the nation and restore her fortune.” He was criticized by many for supporting the fascist leader, but his words also prompted some to riot against the Roman Jewish community. Pope Pius XI denounced the Cardinal, however, leading Jewish leaders to declare a Purim Katan at which they thanked the Pope and read the Vincent Megillah.

B. A German-Jewish art collector, Paul Cassirer, presented the first showing of Vincent Van Gogh’s works in Berlin in 1901. The show was vandalized, however, with antisemitic graffiti written on the window of the gallery and paint splashed on some of the artworks. The German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm, was close to the Jews at that time (he later blamed them for his election loss in 1918) and he had the perpetrators arrested. The local Jewish community proclaimed a Purim Katan and wrote a Megillah which they named after the artist.

C. Vincent Ferrer was a Dominican friar in Valencia in the late 1300’s to early 1400’s. During his lifetime, Valencia (and much of Europe) was still recovering from the Black Death, the epidemic of bubonic plague which killed more than 25 million people. An outbreak of violent antisemitism arose in Valencia as those who were still suffering from hunger and economic problems attacked local Jewish residents, destroying businesses and synagogues. Friar Vincent defended the Jewish community, preaching from his church against the hatred and reaching out to King James II of Aragon, who put down the revolt and restored peace and order to the Jewish community. A Purim Katan was declared, with the Vincent Megillah written to thank Friar Vincent for his efforts.

D. In 1614, Vincent Fettmilch, an antisemitic leader of Frankfurt’s bakers guild, led a rebellion against the local city council over financial concerns. The revolt, known as the Fettmilch Uprising, included attacks on the local Jewish community, who the attackers blamed for much of the financial problems. Despite some deaths and the destruction of synagogues and Torah scrolls, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias eventually restored order, leading to the celebration of a Purim Katan with the reading of a Megillah about the event, the Vincent Megillah.

E. A Bensonhurst Jewish community was being oppressed by a local gang called the Sweathogs, under the leadership of a thug named Vincent Barbarino. Because they honored hogs, they did not like the Jews who considered pigs unclean. Barbarino threatened a local Jew, Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein, saying “Up your Nose with a Rubber Hose!” This led the leader of the Jewish community, the Kotter Rebbe, to plead with the local authorities for protection, resulting in Mr. Woodman giving Vincent Barbarino a detention, thus saving the Jewish community. The Jews now celebrate Purim Vinz by reading the Vincent Megillah and drawing lots to decide when to hang Vincent Barbarino in effigy, while singing, “Yeah, we’re drawing some lots/Cause we think we’re gonna plotz/Hamentash. Hamentash, Hamentash, Hamentash.”

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The mikveh is the ritual bath that is utilized by Jews to achieve a state of purity. Most typically women go to the mikveh at the end of their monthly period, though mikvehs are also used for other purposes, including as part of the conversion ceremony. A group of Orthodox women are participating in a “mikveh strike” for what reason?

Mikvah Mei Chaya Mushka in Crown Heights by Mk17b is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED via Wikimedia Commons

A. Women in Williamsburg are protesting the conditions at a local mikveh. They say that they have been unable to get the owners to sufficiently clean the facility, and as a result they have called for a “mikveh strike” until the men who are in charge of this mikveh commit to providing a clean and hygienic facility.

B. A mikveh on the Upper East Side of New York has begun providing services to patrons who belong to Conservative and Reform communities. Some of their practices are not as strict as those of the Orthodox. For example, converts who want to go to the mikveh have not completed a conversion process according to Orthodox standards. Orthodox patrons of that mikveh have called a “mikveh strike” in protest of this facility allowing uses which they do not approve of.

C. A group of Orthodox women in Brooklyn are protesting against a man who will not give his wife a get, a Jewish divorce. These women have begun a “mikveh strike,” refusing to go to the mikveh at the end of their menstrual cycles, which then means that they cannot have marital relations with their husbands as would traditionally be the case at that time.

D. Men can visit a mikveh for a number of reasons. For example, some men go to the mikveh to regain purity after contact with the dead, while others routinely go before Yom Kippur. A group of Orthodox women in Monsey, New York have started a “mikveh strike” against a local mikveh, because the hours available are skewed towards the men’s needs, and not sufficiently conducive to women’s schedules (especially citing the lack of women’s hours during the day when children are at school).

E. A mikveh was recently built in the basement of a building in Crown Heights in Brooklyn. The first floor of the building happens to be the site of a bowling alley. To promote the new mikveh, the facility is offering a special wherein users who first go bowling upstairs will receive a 10% discount for each “mikveh strike” they roll during the game. Anyone bowling a perfect game earns a free mikveh visit.

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