Here’s what we’re reading: Bernie Sanders played a rabbi in a ’90s comedy; the life of a Jewish soldier in the contermporary German army; and, while the Washington Post is done with Iran, the New York Times is all in.
Esquire points us to this amazing clip from the low-budget 90s comedy, “My X-Girlfriend’s Wedding Reception,” in which Bernie Sanders (yes, that Bernie Sadners) plays a rabbi who just can’t stay on topic:
Bernie goes off on an extremely Larry David-like tangent about the Brooklyn Dodgers, the the perils of free agency in Major League Baseball, and he more or less forgets he’s supposed to be talking about the bride and groom. It could literally be a scene from “Seinfeld” or “Curb [Your Enthusiasm].” Feel the Bern.
London’s Jewish Chronicle has a fascinating look at what it’s like to be a Jewish soldier in the Bundeswehr, the modern all-volunteer army of Germany. Along with her mother, Anne Kulow converted to Judaism as a child. When she was 15, fellow students at her Jewish high school mocked her for wanting to join the German army instead of the Israeli army, but:
Today, Ms Külow – who wears her gold Star of David pendant next to the gold heart from her fiancée – is not only a Bundeswehr captain. She is also co-chair of the Bund Jüdischer Soldaten, a 10-year-old organisation dedicated to teaching members of Germany’s armed forces about the history of Jews, as well as to advocating for Jews in today’s Bundeswehr. No one knows exact numbers, but insiders guess there are some 200 Jews in a military of about 200,000.
Tablet points out that, while the Washington Post has pulled out of Iran entirely, the New York Times is getting into business with the regime. At the same time that Iran was holding Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian in prison, the Times was sponsoring posh tourist expeditions:
[A]s Rezaian languished in prison, it set up a travel business to send tourists to the land of his captors. “Travels from Persia” is one of the pricey travel packages put together by “Times Journeys,” which is operated by “the business side of the New York Times Company.” (The Times did not reply to requests for comment.) You can be pretty sure that the regime in Tehran doesn’t recognize the business/journalism distinction, and the paper of record didn’t help matters when it pulled down the firewall with both hands, by having name reporters like Roger Cohen, Elaine Sciolino, and John F. Burns moonlight as tour guides.