Holy shit this is fascinating. Academians build data sets from medieval records and correlate expulsion of medieval Jewish communities in Europe to droughts and traumatic weather events.

Nice exclusive for @foreignpolicy. According to Delaware Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Egyptian President Morsi told him that Jews control the American media.

Classy!

I just saw the excellent documentary Punk Jews, about… yup, you guessed it.

Highly recommended. It isn’t perfect—at times it feels like a series of really cool, short biopics rather than a coherent film—but a fun time was had.

If nothing else, you can learn about Hasidic oi!/hardcore bands and Yiddish guerilla street theatre. Apparently they actually are out there.

Two things I love - Jews and horror movies - together in one article. Also, goddamn AWESOME upcoming Sam Raimi movie.

So I think the article linked to above is the finest internet trolling effort in the history of the Jewish people. Yes. It’s that bad/good. Money quote:

Give me a break! Does anyone genuinely believe that celebrating the Fourth of July will strengthen Jewish identity? Yom HaAtzmaut is Independence Day for the Jews, not the 4th of July. Boker tov, my friends, but Israel is our nation, not America. How can you expect to strengthen Jewish identity by having Jewish kids celebrate a gentile country’s Independence Day? Even if you play “Hava Negilla” to remind the kids that they’re Jewish and have them dance a Hora, you are leading them astray, and in many cases, leading them into the arms of a shicksa or shagetz. After all, if they are Americans like everyone else, why not marry an America like everyone else? In America, everyone is equal, Jew and gentile alike. So why not marry a gentile? Why not get married to Sally Jane or Wendy Sue and watch the 4th of July fireworks together? All I can say is, “Thank you, God, for having taken me out of America. Thank you for letting me realize that George Washington isn’t my nations’ founding father, that the Pilgrims aren’t my ancestors, that Plymouth Rock isn’t the Foundation Stone, and that the Boston Tea Party has nothing to do with my past. Thank you, God, for bringing me to the Land of the Jews, where we sing “HaTikva” in Hebrew at national gatherings and not the “Star Spangled Banner.”

For your daily quota of forbidden history, here’s the story of how elements of the Imperial Japanese government in World War II wanted to import more than a million Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe into occupied China as colonists. The craziest part? It almost happened.

For all my fellow Jews and fellow beer lovers, here’s a link to a beer brewed with matzoh.

L’chaim?

This is the most interesting article on infertility, artifical insemination, and ultra-Orthodox Jews that you’ll ever read. Money quote:

For secular couples, obtaining a sperm sample for artificial insemination is as easy as, well, you know what. But ultra-Orthodox men aren’t allowed to masturbate. Instead, the man dons a non-spermicidal condom when he has sex with his wife, and then brings the sample to the fertility clinic. When the woman reaches peak fertility, the doctor inseminates her with her husband’s sperm. Some couples poke a hole in the condom before they have sex, a symbolic act that the sperm is not actually going to waste.

When religion, journalism, and crime intersect…

Photo gallery of the wedding of a Hasidic dynasty scion. Absolutely mesmerizing.