Congratulations to Randie K. and her husband Larry of Portland, OR for winning the Cool Jew Papa's Day Giveaway!
Once again, we are really touched by the thoughtful answers to our question about what makes your special man a cool Jew. Each entrant get's a $10 gift code for ModernTribe.com. I have tried to contact each of you individually. If you haven't heard from me, please email me for your code: Jennie@ModernTribe.com.
randiedoula said...
The reason my husband is the coolest Jew is that he wasn't a Jew when we met. In fact, I am not sure that my favorite Oregonian knew any Jews before we met! But I can tell you, after 7 years of marriage and two beautiful Jewish daughters, never was there a finer husband and father. He goes to services because he wants to, not because I tell him to. He's sad it's the summer because Mishpicha Minyan is over until the fall. He reminds me to light candles. He spent hours with me, pouring over name books to pick out the perfect Hebrew names for our children. He may not be Jewish by birth but his spirit sure is.
---
"What makes your dad, brother, cousin, friend or husband a cool Jew?"
A winner will be chosen from the answers and announced on Father's Day, Sunday, June 21.
Cool Jew Papa's Day Giveaway
(click on image for a larger view)
(click on image for a larger view)
The Cool Jew Papa's Day Gift Box contains:
* Author Sam Apple's book American Parent: My Strange and Surprising Adventures in Modern Babyland
* Author Ron Arons' Jews of Sing Sing book and t-shirt
* Stand-up comedian Yisrael Campbell's "Circumcise Me" DVD
* Comedy writer Seth Front's set of four Jewish Zodiac placemats
* Author Lisa Alcalay Klug's book Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe
* Author Matthue Roth’s novels, Never Mind the Goldbergsand Losers
* Entrepreneur Jennie Rivlin Roberts' ModernTribe.com products "Can!!Can" CD and Punk Torah t-shirt and "No Limit Texas Dreidel" Game
* Artist Ben Schachter's "Treif" stickers
* Singer/Songwriter Rav Shmuel's "Protocols" and "B'yameinu" music CDs and two t-shirts
Comment below to enter!
(Please make sure your email is available through your Blogger profile. If you are commenting anonymously, you must email us with your comment so that we know how to contact you if you win! contact@moderntribe.com)
Check back here or sign up for our Newsletter to be notified of the winner on June 21! (No purchase is required to enter. This contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.)
* Author Ron Arons' Jews of Sing Sing book and t-shirt
* Stand-up comedian Yisrael Campbell's "Circumcise Me" DVD
* Comedy writer Seth Front's set of four Jewish Zodiac placemats
* Author Lisa Alcalay Klug's book Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe
* Author Matthue Roth’s novels, Never Mind the Goldbergsand Losers
* Entrepreneur Jennie Rivlin Roberts' ModernTribe.com products "Can!!Can" CD and Punk Torah t-shirt and "No Limit Texas Dreidel" Game
* Artist Ben Schachter's "Treif" stickers
* Singer/Songwriter Rav Shmuel's "Protocols" and "B'yameinu" music CDs and two t-shirts
Comment below to enter!
(Please make sure your email is available through your Blogger profile. If you are commenting anonymously, you must email us with your comment so that we know how to contact you if you win! contact@moderntribe.com)
Check back here or sign up for our Newsletter to be notified of the winner on June 21! (No purchase is required to enter. This contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.)
32 comments:
Oooh, I'm the first commenter! (It actually is thrilling.) What an amazing giveaway, what menschen your givers are.
I have to say, as a rabbi, I'm particularly drawn to the "Punk Torah" shirt.
I'd love to use any of these as prizes for my college students (OHIO STATE GO BUCKS!!!)
twitter ID: rabbikopans
My husband manages to ask questions relating to Judaism that I never thought of before. As a result, I learn something new. He's also involved in all of our kids' lives as much as I am or even more.
My Cool-Jew Dad
I don't know what exactly it is that makes my dad so cool, but a lot of people seem to think that he is. He wears a big kippah, sometimes it's a hand-knit one from Africa, sometimes it's an embroidered one like the kind you can buy in Jerusalem, and that right there is pretty unusual. It isn't like he's Sephardic by heritage, but he dresses and prays that way and knows the laws of both 'sides' of Judaism -- and knows that there are more than only two lineages. When we went to my birthday party at an Ethiopian restaurant, he told me Amharic (the main language of Ethiopia) is closely related to Hebrew, being one of the very few semitic languages left (along with Arabic, of course), and always encouraged my studies and travel. He has lots of friends who are converts to Judaism, and conversely, Conversos who came back. He has multi-cultural backyard parties every year at Lag BaOmer, but they aren't intentionally so -- he just happens to meet and befriend people from all over, and they all look up to him. People call him 'Rabbi' sometimes, just assuming that he is but he's not. He goes to synagogue, but he also lets you know when it was boring. He doesn't push on anyone the fact that he's a native speaker of Yiddish, or that he speaks German, but if you happen to start a conversation with him or mention that you're living in Germany and are just here on vacation, he might just blow you away with conversation and teach you more about the language you're struggling to learn than the teachers you've been studying with for the past several months have been able to do.
He makes people feel comfortable, and maybe that's because he can live without them. When he's not giving Hebrew lessons on the pink, wooden legged couch in the living room, he does a lot of geometrical artwork on the computer, which resembles mosaic tilework, being very intricate and colourful. He's taken my list and hemp bags to the health food store and done my grocery shopping for me, and regularly prepares and serves plates of fruits or pickles and olives arranged in a mandala pattern, for no occasion at all.
He makes Judaism fun and brings deep meaning to everyday activities, while keeping this meaning accessible to a wide variety of people, in exactly the way they need to hear, see, touch, feel, taste, and know it.
With my cool-Jew father, every taste of every food or any walk in nature is a gateway to where this plant came from, how it migrated from one place to another, how it's changed the face of the planet and its peoples, what it does for us and what we can do for it. There is nothing bland, nothing pointless in this world -- the world into which you'll soon be led when you sit down for a tiny piece of cheesecake with tea, at first not knowing this treat is anything more special than that.
My husband is a Reconstructionist Jew who doesn't drive on Shabbat; who makes the most awesome brisket that has our guests moaning and picking the burnt parts out of the pan, and a simple yet acclaimed roast chicken that comforts the bereaved and welcomes the newly-born; who spent his 50th birthday at Kripalu but naturally brought his tallis and tefillin with him. He's a specialist who's saving the world from swine flu and a pediatrician whose patients adore him; he's a strong and loving man with five kids ranging from age 19 to age 6, who never needed a son but loves having one (and is raising *him* to be a cool Jewish man)...He's my cool Jew.
My husband (Zeda to the grandkids) is actually the coolest Jew ever lived. He gave his mother bragging rights by graduating from Harvard Law School, he pampers me like crazy (seems to love to buy jewelry, isn't that sweet?), worries that the kids are not raising the grandkids right (I agree), and completely and totally spoils the grandkids. He has an altacocker gang of four that walk every day and solve the problems of the world over coffee, and he leads the best seder ever. You should see the negotiations over the alfokomen! He should definitely win!!
My husband is a totally cool Jew, although he's never admit it. He got me to agree to getting married by a rabbi under a chuppah, and encouraged me to study and eventually to have an adult bat mitzvah. He has always been active in synagogue life, but even morer willing to learn and grow Jewishly. Together we have raised 3terrific kids who have strong Jewish identities. He has accepted that our 2 daughters are in interfaith marriages, and has worked hard to make Judaism accessible to their husbands. Now after 35 years together he is a doting Zeyde to our Jewipino granddaughter, and getting ready to welcome her brother in a few months. He will be the Sandek at the brit milah, and will probably cry more than the baby with the mohel makes the cut. He is a comitted Jew, and is the only Jew at his workplace, which means he has to do a lot of teaching and preaching to the goyim at work. He's a curmodgeon on the outside but soft as a KFP marshmallow on the inside. He may not think he's a cool Jew, but his kids and I sure do, and we'd love for him to win this prize.
My husband is the coolest Jew I know simply because he's not cool at all. He is such a huge nerd, but his passion for all things nerdy and all things Jewish makes those things cool. He learns gemarah every day - something which I have never had much of an interest in - yet when he tells me about what he's learned I find myself asking questions and wanting to hear more about it. He's already decided that our 5 month old son is going to be a future nerd and he'll take him to comic-cons, watch Star Trek with him and teach him the ins and outs of whatever computer game he happens to be into at the moment. No matter how big of a nerd my husband may be, his passion makes him the coolest Jew I know.
The reason my husband is the coolest Jew is that he wasn't a Jew when we met. In fact, I am not sure that my favorite Oregonian knew any jews before we met! But I can tell you, after 7 years of marriage and two beautiful Jewish daughters, never was there a finer husband and father. He goes to services because he wants to, not because I tell him to. He's sad it's the summer because Mishpicha Minyan is over until the fall. He reminds me to light candles. He spent hours with me, pouring over name books to pick out the perfect Hebrew names for our children. He may not be Jewish by birth but his spirit sure is.
Dear Modern Tribe friends,
I am so proud of my husband as both a spouse and a father. In July we will be married for twenty years! I will share with you some important facts about Mitch. He has been teaching Special Ed for over twenty five years. What is especially interesting about Mitch is he chosen this profession after overcoming his own learning disabilities. Mitch has devoted his life to helping both children and adults overcome their learning disabilities. Mitch is definitely my hero! In addition, Mitch has also made a huge commitment to our Synogogue. He has been a dedicated Temple President for several years. It is a stressful position at times, but as Mitch says, "it is for our children." Not only for our children, but for everyone's children -- the next generation that will carry on the traditions after we are gone.
My husband, Mitch, definitely deserves to win the Father's Day Package. He is a humble, hard working man who always thinks of others. Our son and daughter, ages 17 and 11 are quite proud of their father, too!
Sincerely,
Ellen G. Berozofsky
My husband Brian's father, Walter Blum z"l, passed away March 22, 2009. It's the first time either one of us lost a parent after 21 years of marriage. Observing Brian's grieving process since his dad died has been fascinating for me. It's mostly around saying or not saying Kaddish and therefore what his place in the community is. You see, we are in an observant community. That means that we cook for one another during shiva, births, deaths, etc. We celebrate together all the holidays, we pray together every shabbat and that includes saying Kaddish which is actually meant to be said 3x a day, 7 days a week, for 11 months following the death of a parent.
Brian considers himself part of this community, but he struggles with his belief in God and has little relationship to prayer. He is therefore trying to figure out his relationship to saying Kaddish. Also, his dad wasn't a religious man at all which adds to Brian's difficulty with the kaddish tradition. Mostly, the words don't speak to him. This is why Brian is such a COOL JEW: In order to make the 11 months meaningful to him, he decided to do a series of events throughout these months, to commemorate his Dad.
He planned his first event for June 9, 2009. An evening with 2 guitarists song writers. Together we chose 7 songs from Torah that they wrote the tunes to that have to do with justice, death, the world to come, and the last one is a line from Kaddish: Oseh Shalom Bimromav, Hu Yaaseh Shalom Aleinu - That there should be peace amongst us and our bretheren - that they put to a new tune. It was a very moving and lovely evening memorializing his dad who was a songwriter composer musician. Completely creative, completely unique.
Mostly I love and respect that my husband is true to himself. That he looks for meaning in Judaism and it's customs and doesn't do things out of rotely, even though he highly respects tradition. I think he is the "coolest" Jew ever and have learned much from him.
Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! Jody Blum, Jerusalem
My papa is a super cool Jew because when i had my bat mitzvah he built the aron kodesh himself so it would be nicer than the cardboard one the rabbi had. He's a member of a synagogue now, something he thought he would never be, and goes to shul every week for Jewish meditation night!
My dad didn't want us to feel left out in December so each year for Hanukkah he would hang non-Christmas ornaments and streamers that read Happy Hanukkah from the ceiling in our family room. As kids this meant the world to us. I remember one year my brother convinced him to leave it up through his birthday in February! It was a really great tradition for us that helped us celebrate our roots and we looked forward to it all year. It was just one of many great things my dad did for us.
My brother is the quintessential cool Jew. Every tradition in Judaism involves food. Don Lerman combines his love of food and religion. He is a competitive eater, who's "professional" name is DON MOSES LERMAN. He has been written about in Jewish newspapers and periodicals, as well as the mainstream press. He has dressed up as Moses, including the ten commandments at many venues. He is truly the modern cool Jew!
Awesome! My husband and father in law would dig this stuff!
My dad is one super cool Jew. At age 80, he has been invited to give talks on the topic of Jews in the military, his own experiences in the Korean war and Jewish humor. His own synagogue has invited him and he has been asked to come to other groups as well. He's shown incredible resilience, especially as he's been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma two years ago and has been going through chemo treatments. It has not slowed him down much, though. He remains committed to speaking with people about topics close to his heart, and how it's been for him to learn he has cancer. (He loves that book "the last lecture".) My dad has a good sense of humor and it's been very touching to see him connect in these later years with his military experience, knowing that being a Jew was a real minority. He's way cool and totally deserves this box!
Happy Fathers day to me!
Well I think what makes my Dad a cool Jew is doing the little things. But even though he may not go to synagoge every Saturday morning (shabbat services) he still does make an effort. He keeps Kosher and does mitzvahs a lot. And on shabbat he does Kiddush and prayers. During the High Holidays he always comes to synogoge along with my whole family. He always fasts on Yom Kippur even though he may not want to. And next year on my Barmatzvah he will be the best Jew he can be. But all that counts is that he tries his best and does the little mitzvahs one step at a time.
My husband is a cool Jew because he lives openly and Jewishly in the world.
My husband is the coolest Jew in town. He's a drumming, meditating, dancing, thinking, Israel-loving, peace-loving, vegetarian-kosher, most gorgeous and unique kippot wearing, feminist, gay-rights supporting, inclusive, counseling, thought-provoking, essay and d'var torah writing rabbi in los angeles (and maybe in the world). He is active in the world around him and eager to share his love of living Jewishly with his congregants and his kids. Yes, congregants - he's a rabbi. But he's a rabbi because he is all of the above, not the other way around. He rocks!
Found You in HEEB Mag, and have chatted with you a few times on facebook, Love everything I've ordered, and I'm a father too hehe...
My mensch of a husband is a very cool Jew. He's a Jew by choice -- and really by choice! When we decided to get married, I tried not to influence his decision at all; he chose to convert because of a genuine sense of connection to Jewish practice and spirituality. He undertook his conversion studies with a sense of humor and a questioning mind along with deep commitment and a sense of scholarship. He loves being Jewish and doing Jewish -- in big ways and small he thinks about tikkun olam. He wears with price the buchari kippah I knit him for our wedding, and he beamed over the Shehechiyanu when we put up the mezuzot on our doors. But I think the coolest thing about the way in which he's Jewish is the sense of humor with which he approaches it all. He loves it when I light Shabbat candles, but he is totally content if Shabbat dinner sometimes ends up being take-out from the local place that serves kosher chicken hot dogs and Dr. Brown's Cel Ray soda (which is as Jewish as it gets!). (I have a video I can send you of our baby son eating the WHOLE CHALLAH on a take-out Shabbat; it's pretty cute.) He can crack a mean joke about kashrut even while observing the laws, and has developed a Hebrew "ch" that would put a lot of the Ashkenazim I know to shame. Mostly, I just think he's the coolest guy I know; and it's icing on the pesadich cake that he's Jewish, too.
My hubby, Adam, is one cool abba.
1. He does just as much (er, actually more) around the house and with the twins.
2. He is an awesome cook—really, if it was up to me it’d be pasta every night.
3. His Jewish identity is as strong as I’ve ever seen (even has it tattooed on his chest—but sshh, don’t tell anyone “official”).
4. He will do anything for his twin boys.
5. He’s studying for his doctorate in Jewish Studies in his “free” time.
6. He believes in and will fight for equality for everyone.
7. His belief in the importance and meaningfulness of Jewish tradition is hardcore.
8. He writes a really cool Jewish blog: www.notquitemainstream.blogspot.com
9. He does all the grocery shopping.
10. He loves his family more than anything.
My father is the coolest jew of all. In fact, we have always called him Captain Jew or sometimes Super Jew! We joke that he needs a cape with CJ or SJ on it. He loves being Jewish more than anyone I know. He knows so many interesting facts about the religion. I am always impressed by his expertise. He attends Synagogue faithfully, has served on their board, attends the minyans and volunteers in so many ways especially with the elderly. He is also an author and gives so much to his Synagogue- books, talks, etc... Although as a child I felt that Judaism was forced on me, I know am so thankful for the wonderful knowledge I got from him and completely identify with my Jewishness. He has also influenced my step-siblings regarding how cool being Jewish is and they aren't even Jews. My dad is amazing, he gives so much of himself that he deserves the title of "Coolest Jew." Not to mention, if we did make him that cape with CJ on it, it would be interchangeable for Coolest Jew and Captain Jew. Thanks.
My dad wears a gold star of david chain on his neck and a big "ani l'dodi..." wedding ring
18 reasons why Brother Joel Sisk is a cool Jew (in no particular order).
1. He has red hair
2. He sings in the synagogue choir.
3. He brags about me
4. He married a Jewish girl.
5. He has a burgeoning wine collection
6. He lives in Denver, CO.
7. He doesn’t have any kids yet, but he will and when he does he’s going to raise them Jewish just like we were.
8. He has an incredible malamute and named her Chaya.
9. He’s a really good cook and baker. –especially Challah.
10. He calls his mother.
11. He always orders a Guinness.
12. He has scars from adventure sports.
13. He plays piano.
14. He still rocks his earring.
15. He owns 3 homes.
16. He keeps Kosher.
17. He drives standard not automatic.
18. He wears a lot of black.
My husband is a cool Jew in many ways. He has spoken only Hebrew to our three children so now they are all bilingual. He prepared them himself for their Bar and Bat Mitzvot. When he was asked by their Jewish Day School to read the Megilah for Purim, instead he taught children in the class to read themselves. He loves chanting Torah, Haftorah, the Megilot and other traditional melodies such as during the Seder. Our sons have learned some of these and have used this knowledge to actively participate in their college Hillels. He even taught me how to read Torah. He taught all of us to blow shofar and all of us have been able to blow shofar during services.
My brother Fred is the coolest Jew I know, and just about everyone who has met him would agree. While he isn't the most observant, he will always stop what he's doing to make a tenth for minyan, is fiercely protective of the Torah, carrying it with love, and watching to make no one touches it with their fingers and ruins the hard work of the Sofer. He's better at the "who is a Jew" game than anyone I know, and will gladly hold court for hours to his friends and people he's never met on why he's proud to be Jewish. He may not be the role model who does everything exactly the way the Rabbi's would hope, but he's absolutely a guy who would make you proud to be Jewish, too.
My brother, Randy Weiss, is a cool Jew because not only does he play the fiddle, but he also runs a Jewish concert series at his shul, Sha'ar Zahav in San Francisco. His group, The Bridge Players (thebridgeplayers.com), specializes in Jewish music, including several composers who died in Terezin. My brother also learned Hebrew, and learned how to chant the tropes. He just got back from a vacation in Israel, where he visited members of our extended family, and he's trying to figure out how he can get me to visit Israel, too.
My father can be a royal pain in the neck yet I still think he is rather cool. The man is approaching 80 (the day before Fathers' Day 2009!) yet he can walk a healthy clip that many folk in their 50s couldn't. He'll walk for a few miles to see the sights or go to his fave discount store.
He also goes to freebie concerts of all stripes. He has seen Gogol Bordello and klezmer and soul bands because they were free shows. Oh, and he and my mother saw Stevie Wonder when he was Little.
He is also cool because he puts up with my daughters' shenanigans. Free babysitting, tax help and gardening-- I have to appreciate that. Thanks, Pop.
My husband is the coolest Jew I know - why? Because he was raised another religion but has not only helped me but supported me in my own education and immersion in Judaism and our children's.
Why is my support so important? I was raised with Judaism and Christianity; and always felt torn and, somewhat empty as I felt I needed more on the Judaism end.
For YEARS he encouraged me to seek a temple and helped me to find the temple that would fit our lifestyle. We blend more to the culture and community, and on the outreach. We focus on challenging each other and our children so that we can help strengthen our bonds to the religion and culture.
Another reason this matters, is that he would share his gift with our teen children (and me :) and I know this would be a family gift - not just a gift for him; which is totally what makes him a cool jew!
My husband Jonathan is a cool Jew. To start, he buys me funky head coverings and takes me to Matisyahu concerts. He is truly one in a million. This spring, he did ALL the Pesach cleaning. He gave me an Eishet Hiyal t-shirt for Mother's Day. And when he says Amidah, he adds Bilhah and Zilpah to the list of matriarchs.
We met on j-date, initially drawn to each other's profiles by having a Hillel reference in common. At our wedding, two years ago, he put together the entire CD; our first dance was to "Little Wing" and the soundtrack included everything from Johnny Cash to the Ramones.
When he married me, he took on a wife with a chronic illness and a 7-year old daughter. A typical day in his life includes many acts of caring, compassion and love. He juggles two separately difficult tasks: working on a Ph.D. dissertation about Isaiah 53, and the often thankless job of (step)fathering.
Jonathan grew up in a non-observant family, but has focused his adult life studying Judaism from every perspective: history, texts, prayers and tradition. Now, he inspires our daughter to learn, and he teaches her how cool being Jewish can be. She says, "you can ask him almost any question about the Torah or anything, and he knows the answers," "he can help me with my Hebrew School homework really well" and, "when he celebrates the holidays, he always makes it fun."
For all these things, I love him so very much, and feel blessed to have found such a wonderful father for my little girl. And, I am grateful because at our conservative suburban shul, I am no longer the only one with piercings and Doc Martins.
There is so much about being Jewish (or just Jewish stuff in general) that I love!! Where to start?? The schticky clothing I get to wear:
I stole the show at a recent wedding with my golden star of David belt buckle, My Def Jew t-shirt, SuperJew t-shirt, SuperJewGirl t-shirt for my daughter, etc...
As much as it makes me feel like an alien at work (especially during the holidays), somehow people consider me the biblical expert and come to me for explanations. I can totally make stuff up and f with them but, I don't. I do get away with some good Jesus jokes though. So, that's cool...
I love that my wife converted without me prompting her at all. There's true beauty in that.
I love having a solid foundation at home with the kids. I don't get why my oldest daughter (3yrs) love Christmas though - We don't celebrate it at home but somehow Walmart and daycare have brainwashed her. Must push Chanukah, must push Chanukah...
I love that there's a band called Black Shabbat. So smart. There's not enough Jewish rock bands. Lots of rap and reggae, not nearly enough Jewrock.
I'm proud of my nose. There's no doubt I'm Jewish "can't hide the hook".
I read something, a while back, that talked directly to the beauty of being Jewish. Albert Einstein (or was it Hell Boy's Ron Perlman...) once said that he wished he wasn't born Jewish so that he could discover the beauty of on his own, then convert. That's just cool.
Post a Comment