Daily Archives: January 21, 2007

Texas DPS Marks Amber Alert Awareness Anniversary Date


AUSTIN

Sen. Averitt Retains Key Committee Assignments


AUSTIN

Susan G. Komen for the Cure


WACO

Jail Advocacy Group Protests Deteriorating Jail Conditions In Dallas

DALLAS

Touring Play Advocates For U.S. Department of Peace


DALLAS

Symbolic Clock Signals Five Minutes To


CHICAGO

Democrat Introduces Military Draft Bill


WASHINGTON

Diesel Truck Engines Move Closer To Near-Zero Emissions


WASHINGTON

Obama Announces Bid For White House Race


WASHINGTON

California Medical Students Demand Single-Payer Healthcare


SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Americans Charging Medical Expenses To Credit Cards More: Study


NEW YORK

Jewperheroes: Rabbi Reclaims Jewish Roots To Superheroes — Interview With Rabbi Simcha Weinstein


Interview With Rabbi Simcha Weinstein


NEW YORK CITY All Rabbi Simcha Weinstein wanted to do was some reclaiming.


He wanted to tell folks that the values of their favorite comic book superheroes were based in part by the traditions and culture of Jewish artists, writers, and publishers.


The links between these characters and Judaism is extensive.


Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two teenagers from Cleveland who invented Superman, were Jewish.


Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the two guys who created the Batman character, were Jewish.


Jerry Robinson, the inventor of Batman’s archenemies the Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, and the Riddler, was Jewish.


Martin Nodell, the man behind the Green Lantern, was Jewish. (Nodell passed away late last year.)


Julius Schwartz, the man behind the revival of superheroes such as the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Atom, and the superhero team, the Justice League of America, all of which led to the Silver Age of comic books, was Jewish.


Will Eisner, the graphic novel pioneer and creator of The Spirit, was Jewish.


Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, the team that developed Captain America, were Jewish. (Simon is still alive and kicking.)


Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, is Jewish.


Max and William Gaines and Harvey Kurtzman, the men responsible for publishing Detective Comics (DC Comics) and the satirical MAD magazine, were Jewish.


Martin Goodman, the publisher of Marvel Comics, was Jewish, too.


And if I had more time and talent, I would have put the list to music like Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song.”


But be that as it may, Rabbi Weinstein’s book “Up, Up and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero” documents how these Eastern European Jewish immigrants expressed their cultural heritage while entertaining American youths through comics starting back in the 1930s.


In an interview with the Iconoclast, Weinstein, 30, said he could relate to these artists since he himself is a Jewish immigrant to the United States from Manchester, England with a “vast” comic book collection.


Weinstein also said he wrote his book almost on accident. After a spiritual re-awakening, he quit his job in the film industry to live his life as a rabbi in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., where he resides with his wife and two children.


Weinstein is the founder of the Jewish Student Foundation of Downtown Brooklyn and serves as the rabbi of Pratt Institute and Long Island College Hospital.


The Iconoclast caught up with Weinstein to talk about his trek through pop culture and spirituality.


Peace Prone


Peace Prone



Americans are war prone, and it

Highway Privatization Needs a Roadblock


Highway Privatization Needs a Roadblock


If you

Letters To The Editor


To The Editor:


“Fiscal Insanity”


When Congress adjourned on Dec. 9, the nation should have breathed a great sigh of relief. The old saw telling us that “no man

Like Football? Like Super Models? Then I Hope You Like Sleeping On The Couch


Like Football? Like Super Models? 
Then I Hope You Like Sleeping On The Couch


Men everywhere are preparing for the Super Bowl. They are finalizing their list of snack foods. They are brushing up on Super Bowl trivia. And, most importantly, they are trying to come up with a reasonable answer to the following question:


Why are there 14 half-naked super models tackling each other on TV?


This question will come up at halftime.


It will be posed by wives everywhere.


And, depending on the answer, it could result in a full-body tackle over the sofa.


I

LBJ Fills CIA Vacancy With Texas Admiral


LBJ Fills CIA Vacancy With Texas Admiral


The first test-fire of the Polaris missile on Jan. 10, 1960, was a spectacular success that put the low-profile career of a Texas admiral into public orbit.


A native of Decatur and a 1928 graduate of Annapolis, William F. Raborn passed the tests of war and peace with flying colors. But nothing could prepare the can-do sailor for his final assignment as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.


During the last days of the war in the Pacific, a kamikaze pilot scored a direct hit on the aircraft carrier “Hancock.” Repairing the severely damaged flight deck in an amazing four hours, Executive Officer “Red” Raborn made possible the safe return of a fighter squadron, a remarkable feat rewarded with the Silver Star.


The Texan

Who


Who

Is It High Treason Or Just A Simple Case Of Dereliction Of Duty?


Is It High Treason Or Just A Simple Case Of Dereliction Of Duty?


All the available information indicates that at least one of these crimes was committed and the finger points squarely at the Bush administration.


On Dec. 13, 2001, the Pentagon released a tape of Bin Laden in which he confessed to his visitor, Khaled Al-Harbi, of prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks.


The tape was billed as the smoking gun that proves Bin Laden

The British Are Coming!


The British Are Coming!


Not since the musical “British Invasion” of the Sixties have American media gone so nutsy over the prospect of some Brits coming to the United States. Unless you

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