http://www.jweekly.com en Copyright 2011 2011-10-17T19:38:22+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61347/bob-dylan-joining-justin-bieber-megadeth-with-tel-aviv-concert-plans http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61347/bob-dylan-joining-justin-bieber-megadeth-with-tel-aviv-concert-plans#When:17:42:32Z by admin | Nearly two decades after his last concert here, Bob Dylan is making his way back to Israel. Dylan agreed to play Tel Aviv in June during the middle of his world tour following lengthy negotiations between his people and Israeli concert promoters. The folk rock icon last played Israel in 1993; he also had performed here in 1987. He is among several musical heavyweights coming to Israel, notably the teen sensation Justin Bieber, who will be performing April 14. Less than a week later the British singer Bryan Ferry, who reached the heights of his popularity in the 1970s and '80s, also will perform in Tel Aviv. Megadeth will play Tel Aviv in May -- the heavy metal band's fourth appearance in Israel. Its former guitarist Marty Friedman, who is Jewish, will perform a solo show on May 31. Finally, Irish musician Bob Geldof, who in 1985 staged the Live Aid charity concert to help famine-stricken Africa, will visit Israel for the first time in May to receive an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The award will honor his successful musical career and his charitable activities. While in Israel, Geldof also will participate in the conference “Israel in Africa: Past, Present and Future,” organized by IsraAID-The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid. — jta blogs 2011-04-04T17:42:32+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61268/who-does-gwyneth-paltrow-think-she-is http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61268/who-does-gwyneth-paltrow-think-she-is#When:20:23:14Z by rachel leibold | Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, who is currently appearing on "Glee" in a recurring role as a substitute teacher, will be featured on NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" this Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m. The show, an adaptation of a British (of course) series of the same name, takes one celebrity each week on a journey around the U.S. (and occasionally the world) to learn about their ancestry. Previous featured celebs have included Spike Lee, Tim McGraw and Vanessa Williams. The show, which is in its second season, has also featured several Jewish celebrities: Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick and Lisa Kudrow, who is an executive producer of the show. Expect this week's show to have at least some Jewish flavor - Paltrow's father, director/producer Bruce Paltrow, was Jewish, while her mother, actress Blythe Danner, was a Quaker. A press release this week from JewishGen offers a sneak peek at what might be in store for viewers during Paltrow's episode: This week’s episode of the popular show will uncover information about Gwyneth Paltrow’s family history. Paltrow and the show’s researchers were able to delve into her background thanks to information found in the 4.2 million records found on the independent Jewish Records Indexing – Poland, an extensive website, database, and discussion group hosted by JewishGen. The show’s researchers found that Paltrow’s roots go back to a long line of rabbis named Paltrowicz from northeastern Poland and the towns of Suwalki, Lomza, and nearby shtetls.  JRI-Poland, which the show’s researchers called “invaluable,” had 90 records related to her family. blogs 2011-03-30T20:23:14+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61045/charlie-sheen-jewish-almost-certainly-a-fantasy http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61045/charlie-sheen-jewish-almost-certainly-a-fantasy#When:20:17:29Z by nate bloom | I need not detail here the outlandish behavior of actor Charlie Sheen in the last few weeks or months — or for that matter, his history of pretty outrageous behavior and substance abuse dating back decades. I do find it interesting, however, that most of the media examines a lot of his statements to see if they “jive with reality” or “make sense.” However, nobody seems to think that Charlie could have been having a ‘flight of fancy,’ or was inventing a false defense to the charge of anti-Semitism when he proclaimed, on March 4, “that he is Jewish.” Sheen seems to believe that his mother, Janet Sheen, is Jewish on her mother’s side. It’s my conclusion, after extensive research, that it is exceedingly unlikely that Charlie Sheen’s mother, Janet, has any Jewish ancestry on her mother’s side. But let’s back-up for a moment and see why Mr. Sheen might want to say he is Jewish. Well, as the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) wrote on March 6, in an article about Sheen: “Sheen, 45, star of the hit TV comedy ‘Two and a Half Men,’ which has been suspended for the rest of this season and may be canceled, lashed out last month at the Anti-Defamation League following its charge that Sheen had exhibited “borderline anti-Semitism” in referring to his producer, Chuck Lorre, by his Hebrew name, Chaim Levine. Sheen has demanded an apology from the ADL.” Sheen’s mocking attack on Chuck Lorre is not the only example of Sheen’s anti-Jewish animus that recently made the media. On March 1, Brooke Mueller, 33, Sheen’s estranged wife, and the mother of his twin, 23-month-old sons, filed a court petition for a temporary restraining order preventing Sheen from contacting her or the twins. Her request was granted, pending further hearing(s). In her court papers, Mueller laid-out Sheen’s history of domestic violence and drug abuse. She also stated that Sheen recently sent her a text message that said: "I must execute mark b [MARK BURG] like the stoopid jew pig that he is."  TMZ.com reports that the text was apparently sent near the end of February, right after Sheen fired Mark Burg as his manager. Sheen re-hired Burg on March 1 or perhaps a day before. On March 2, Burg, who is Jewish, told TMZ.com that Sheen’s three attorneys (including his divorce lawyer) are Jewish. He added, “I've known [Sheen] for 13 years. I don't believe that he actually sent that text…[and] for the record, since Brooke Mueller is Jewish that would make Charlie Sheen's two sons also Jewish." I had never heard that Brooke Mueller is Jewish—and I thought, perhaps, that Burg had made a mistake or was lying—because if Mueller is Jewish—that would “tend” to undercut the claim that Sheen is anti-Semitic. Although it certainly wouldn’t absolutely prove that the drug-addled Sheen didn’t send the text message or doesn’t harbor anti-Semitic views. I checked a bunch of public records (census, obituaries, wedding announcements, and family trees)--- and, it is true, Mueller’s mother Miora Fiore, 57, born Moira Roskin, is Jewish. Brooke’s late father, Allen Mueller, from whom Moira was divorced long before his death, was the son of two Lutheran parents. I have no idea if Brooke was raised in any faith. Brooke has worked as a TV entertainment news reporter and is currently described as a “real estate investor.” Sheen and Mueller wed in 2008 and filed for divorce last year. (See sources, attached). The fact that Brooke Mueller has a Jewish mother is a bit of a surprise. But she isn’t a major celebrity by any means and I wasn’t shocked when Burg’s statement that she is “Jewish” was verified (although in conventional terms, she might be described as “half Jewish”). As I said, Burg mentioned Mueller was “Jewish” to take the edge off the charge that Charlie Sheen was anti-Semitic. But, if you think about it, what better defense could Burg come up with than to claim that Charlie, himself, was Jewish?  Burg, who has known Charlie Sheen a lot longer than he has known Brooke Mueller, didn’t seem to know that Charlie “was Jewish.” ------------ But Charlie seems to think he is Jewish. On March 4, Charlie Sheen told the TV show Access Hollywood that his mother is “Jewish.” Here is what Sheen said; in relevant part: “My mom is Jewish. Here’s where it gets confusing – we don’t know who her father was,” [Charlie told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover during the phone interview on Friday’s show.] “But she is, in fact, Jewish. So, I guess that would make me Jewish, and my children Jewish. And Brooke [Mueller], my ex-wife is Jewish. So, I guess I should’ve rolled all that out too.” (End Quote) If Sheen had claimed that his father, actor Martin Sheen, was Jewish---everyone would have known immediately that he was lying or completely off his rocker. Martin Sheen is well-known to be a devout liberal Catholic and the son of an Irish Catholic immigrant mother and a Spanish (from Spain) Catholic immigrant father.  Martin’s birth—and still legal name is Ramon Estevez.  His children, including Charlie Sheen, were raised in Martin’s Catholic faith. However, Charlie’s mother, usually identified as Janet Templeton Sheen or, simply Janet Sheen, is a lot more obscure figure. Sources all agree that she and Martin Sheen married in December 1961.  She is described as being an art student on scholarship in New York City when she and Martin Sheen met.  Martin Sheen was born in August, 1940.  Janet Sheen is described as being born in July, 1944 in several sources.  If this date is correct, Janet was 17 when she wed, and Martin Sheen was 20. Their first child, Emilio Estevez, was born in May, 1962.  If you do the math re: Emilio’s arrival—you can see why they wed so young. In researching Janet’s background—I tried to “parse” Charlie’s statement to Access Hollywood. He says that his mother’s father’s identity is unknown. One would presume that this means that Charlie’s maternal grandmother either did not know the name of the man who fathered Janet or chose to keep this secret.  I can think of no other logical interpretation of this statement. It is totally illogical to believe that Charlie Sheen is claiming to be Jewish by virtue of an “unknown” maternal grandfather. Charlie Sheen must be claiming to be “Jewish” by virtue of some Jewish ancestry on his maternal grandmother’s side---or—much more unlikely—that his mother is a convert to Judaism. As for the latter possibility---I think we might have heard sometime in the past that the “very Catholic” Martin Sheen had a wife who converted to Judaism. Martin Sheen constantly discusses his faith with the press. If his wife had taken a very different religious path, I think he might have mentioned this to the press. But Martin Sheen didn’t mention any such conversion. As a matter-of-fact, in 1968, while talking to the NY Times for a full scale profile, Sheen said this: “Oh, I argue with Janet a lot. She's a devout atheist and I'm a Catholic.”  Charlie was born in 1965. His three siblings were all born before 1968.  If Charlie’s mother (and I am almost getting into ludicrous speculation here)—converted to Judaism—it would almost certainly have to be after the birth of her children. After all, she was a “devout atheist” in 1968, according to Martin Sheen. So, even if Janet Sheen is a convert to Judaism—and we have no evidence for that—her children (including Charlie) would not be Jewish under any wing of Judaism unless the conversion took place before their birth—or if they independently converted to Judaism. But let’s get back to more rational speculation. Perhaps, as I said above, Charlie is saying that his mother, Janet, is Jewish by virtue of Janet’s maternal ancestors. Suffice it to say that it was not easy finding Janet’s mother’s name. It is not in any standard Martin Sheen biography. I had some luck in the Google newspaper archive.  Janet Sheen’s mother is mentioned in three articles in the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator newspaper. The first, dated July, 26, 1963, mentions the visit to North Benton, Ohio of young actor Martin Sheen and his wife, Janet.  They were visiting North Benton residents identified as Janet’s parents---Ray and Lena Conde. During his visit to North Benton, Martin Sheen even stopped by the Vindicator newspaper offices to discuss his career and credits. (Even so, the newspaper mis-spelled his name as “Sheehan”). The article photo is of Martin Sheen and the couple’s then one-year-old son, Emilio (aka, actor Emilio Estevez), is mentioned. I don’t believe that Ray Conde is the father of Janet Sheen (just her stepfather) and I couldn’t find out much about him. Clearly, however, Lena Conde is the mother of Janet Templeton Sheen. On Nov. 13, 1982, a letter to an entertainment columnist appeared in several papers, including the Youngstown Vindicator and the St. Joseph, Missouri News-Press. This syndicated columnist had previously written that Martin Sheen was born in Puerto Rico. The letter writer said that she was Martin’s mother-in-law of over 20 years and gave Sheen’s correct birth place (Ohio). It was signed Lynn Conde; North Benton, Ohio. (I assume that “Lynn” was a mis-print—her name is clearly Lena.) Lastly, on Sept. 13, 1994, the obituary of Lena Conde appeared in the Vindicator.  The obituary said that Conde, a former North Benton resident, a homemaker, died in the home of her daughter in Malibu, California and that her daughter’s name was Janet Sheen. The obit goes on to say that Lena Conde was born on April 30, 1918 in Salyersville, Kentucky. The obituary identifies Lena’s parents as Samuel (also known as “Tom”), and Martha Flynt Martin, and notes that Lena had three siblings who predeceased her—sisters Mary Elizabeth Love and Iva Ryan, and brother Bruce Martin. Lena’s late husband is identified as “Roy Conde” (not Ray). Finally, the obituary says that Lena Conde had 17 grandchildren. If the figure on the number of grandchildren is correct---this means Lena had children other than Janet, but they are curiously not mentioned in the obituary. (Janet only provided four grandchildren for her mother, Lena). There is no mention of anyone named Templeton. (Lena Conde’s 1994 death also appears on the California Death Index, a state run database.) I suspect most readers who have got to this point are thinking---none of these last names sound in the least “Jewish” and where is Salyersville, Kentucky? Well, here is a reference article on Salyersville: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyersville,_Kentucky As you can see, this town (a county seat) is in a very rural area of Kentucky pretty far away from any major population center. It had less than 2,000 people in 2000. It is an almost all-white town. It is quite far away from the few Jewish communities of any size in Kentucky (ie, Lexington and Louisville). Let’s put it this way—a Jewish person in this town would be a rare event, now or in the past century. A check of JewishGen, a major Jewish family history site—discloses no references to this town in their huge database. A Google search of this town’s name and “Jewish” brings up nothing but a few obituaries about Salyersville residents dying at the Cincinnati Jewish hospital. It is almost 100 “tough” hilly miles from Salyersville to the nearest synagogue in Lexington. Lena Martin, later Lena Conde, shows up on the 1920 census. Because non-members might not be able to access the ancestry.com federal census records—here it is in lay-out format: Name: Lena Martin Home in 1920: Salyersville, Magoffin, Kentucky Age: 1 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1919 Birthplace: Kentucky Relation to Head of House: Daughter Father's Name: Tom S Martin (Profession—Farmer; Farm Laborer) Father's Birth Place: Kentucky Mother's Name: Martha Martin (born Martha Flynt) Mother's Birth Place: Kentucky Marital Status: Single Race: White Sex: Female Neighbors: View others on page  Household Members: Name Age Tom S Martin 30 [known as “Tom”; In other sources his first name is Samuel] Martha Martin 25 Iva Martin 6 Samuel Martin 3 Lena Martin From this point (1920), assisted by a friend, we traced the matrilineal line (Lena’s mother’s line) back a few more generations via census and other records. Every name is a “WASP” name and this continues back, in Kentucky and Virginia, to the early 1800s. I can provide these records on request. No person familiar with Jewish family history records, Jewish settlement in America, or any general family history expert—would have any reason to believe that there is anyone Jewish in this family line. Obviously, Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen are besieged now with media requests. Understandably, they are barely talking to the press. They certainly aren’t going to issue a special press release saying that Janet “has no Jewish ancestry.” It would be an odd press release in the best of circumstances. What we are left with is a claim of Jewish ancestry by Charlie Sheen that makes no apparent sense. No, I could not find an obituary about a church funeral for his maternal grandmother, Lena Conde.  But everything else I found leads one to the conclusion that it is exceedingly unlikely that Janet Sheen has any Jewish ancestry in her mother’s line. Nor is there any reason to believe she is a convert to Judaism. Galliano Follows Sheen I should say that in my heart I think that Charlie Sheen is not a dyed-in-the-wool Jew-hater. He was not schooled in anti-Semitism; like Mel Gibson was (Gibson’s father is a notorious, life-long anti-Semite). Quite the contrary, everything I have ever read about Martin Sheen makes me think that anti-Semitism is absolutely repugnant to him. I would give Charlie Sheen the benefit of the doubt and say—that unlike Gibson—his nasty statements about Jews are the product of a drug-addled mind that stooped to using anti-Semitic verbiage. This said, I think Sheen, probably unconsciously, tapped into something quite old and something currently in the zeitgeist when he claimed his mother is Jewish—so as to deflect criticism such as that the ADL leveled at him. Anti-Semites have historically twisted any event to blame the Jews. This includes blaming the Jews for their own persecution. For example, while there is no hard evidence that Hitler had any Jewish ancestry—junk history articles constantly appear claiming this are seized on by Jew-haters. Since “everything bad” is the Jews’ fault, anti-Semitic reasoning goes, and most people agree killing millions is bad—it follows that Jewish self-hate by “closet” Jews is the cause of the killing of millions of Jews. This line of reasoning also appeals to unschooled people casting about for a “pop psychology” simplistic answer for why Hitler (or others) hated the Jews so much. Recently, Mother Jones’ magazine published an article in which a friend of Jared Loughner, the alleged Tucson mass murderer, said that Loughner’s mother is Jewish and that Loughner posted his admiration for Mein Kampf on his website “to get a rise out of his mother.” Anti-Semites seized on this statement to cast the blame on the Jews----a crazy guy, perhaps motivated by Nazi ideology, shoots a Jewish congresswoman. Nonetheless, they claim that it was a Jew who did the shooting—motivated by Jewish self-hatred. I cooperated with the JTA and, as with this article, showed via public records that Loughner’s mother is not Jewish. But all it took one was quote to start the “blame the Jews for their own troubles” junk. http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2011/01/13/2742557/nate-bloom-buries-loughner-is-jewish Likewise, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, published in the UK, published a piece on March 5 entitled, “Why Galliano Imploded: The Fashion King is now in Rehab Fighting His obsession with his own Jewish roots.” (John Galliano, as most people know, was recorded saying “I love Hitler” to strangers and is accused of making other anti-Semitic remarks) One word on the Telegraph newspaper—repeatedly, in my experience, they publish articles that read “intelligently”—but are made-up junk. They just make it up. Early on, the Telegraph article say that Galliano was raised a strict Roman Catholic. Then it says that the Telegraph spoke to an unnamed “confidant of Galliano”. This unnamed source says that Galliano was “obsessed with the idea of being descended from Jews.” Notice that the Telegraph article author, Kathryn Knight, does NOT say that Galliano had such roots, but that he is “obsessed” with the “possibility.” She also says that “He [Galliano] always insisted he had Jewish blood from the Sephardi Jews who came from Spain and Portugal in the 19th century.” Not only does Knight quote unnamed sources—she puts an historical error into Galliano’s mouth or Galliano doesn’t know what he is talking about. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492—from Portugal a few years later. It is true that some Sephardim who converted to Christianity later managed to leave Spain/Portugal and reclaim their Jewish heritage. They (or their descendants) continued to flee Spain or Portugal for a century or so after the 1492 expulsion. But there were no Sephardim leaving Spain and Portugal in the 19th century. (A few Jews, actually, started to ‘return’ to Spain and Portugal in the late 19th century.) Obviously, the Telegraph article is sloppy work and may even be completely made-up journalism. Knight’s article certainly is, however, a slam bang attention grabber. They stuck the “Jewish roots obsession” right in the headline—knowing that was the “hot part.” This article also puts Galliano right into the’ box’ I referred to above. He is portrayed by the Telegraph as a self-hating “Jew” who, motivated by his own twisted relationship to his (alleged) Jewish identify, got drunk and said, “I love Hitler.” If Galliano and Charlie Sheen are Jewish—then, in some way, they are off the hook for saying things that probably both of them—in better moments—know are awful and bigoted. They don’t have to take responsibility for their own actions. If they are “Jewish,” the popular reasoning goes, Galliano and Sheen “cannot be anti-Semitic,” and if they say obviously anti-Semitic things, it is NOT because they were drawing on the deep-rooted anti-Semitism in the Christian and Islamic world. No, their anti-Semitism or anti-Semitic remarks are the product of “an obsession with their Jewish roots” or “Jewish self-hatred.” Whether Galliano even believes he has Sephardi ancestors is really unknown. But, I suspect that Charlie Sheen knew he had done wrong---the “Chaim Levine” cracks and the death threat against Mark Burg. So, he invented a story about a Jewish mother---knowing that if he is “Jewish”—the world will say that he really isn’t an anti-Semite. Or that as a Jew, he should get a “pass” about the “Chaim” remark, just like black people get a “pass” when they refer to another black person using the “N” word. In other words, Charlie’s off the hook if he is Jewish: Off the hook to the world---and off the hook in respect to his own conscience. I think it is better than even money that Charlie Sheen has halfway convinced himself that his mother is Jewish. More seriously, this terrible Telegraph piece is being cited all over the Internet for the proposition that Galliano is Jewish. Of course, it is also now all over the ‘net that Charlie Sheen is “Jewish.” So, the focus of the media has partially already shifted from examining why these two (Catholic-raised) men, while drug and drink addled, fell into gutter anti-Semitism—to a false perspective that two alleged “Jews” are spouting anti-Semitism. And it is left to this underpaid writer to troll the pages of the Youngstown Vindicator-- because everybody else just takes a drug addled, crazy actor’s word for it that his mom is Jewish or cannot bother to check it out. ------------- Nate Bloom writes a column on Jewish celebrities, broadly defined, for the American Israelite of Cincinnati, the Cleveland Jewish News, the Detroit Jewish News, New Jersey Jewish Standard, JWeekly of San Francisco, Tampa Jewish Federation. He writes a similar column for Interfaithfamily.com ----------------------- SOURCES:   Fiore/Brooke Mueller Sources I found out Brooke Mueller’s mother’s name from this detailed article in the Palm Beach, Florida, newspaper. Ms. Fiore is a resident of Palm Beach. This article also says that the late Allan Mueller was Broke Mueller’s father.   In the article, Ms. Fiore, Brooke’s mother, is referred to as Moira Wolofsky Fiore. Subsequent research revealed that she was previously married to Kenneth Wolofsky, a wealthy real estate developer who died in 2003. She is his widow. Mr. Wolofsky’s funeral was at a synagogue, so he was obviously Jewish.   The wedding announcement and the obituary both mention the daughter of Kenneth and Moira—a Sydney Lane Wolofsky. She is Brooke’s half sister. The obituary mentions the name of Wolofsky’s stepson—Scott Mueller. He is Brooke’s full brother. Scott lays out his family tree on this website. Scott provides his mother’s maiden name and four married names. He also provides the names of his father (Allen Mueller) parents. Allen’s mother was Minette Rockoff. Minette’s father was a Lutheran minister: Who's who in Chicago and Illinois: Volume 8 A.N. Marquis Company - 1945 - Snippet view ROCKHOFF, Oscar Arnold William, clergyman; b Manltowoe. WIs.. Mar. 23. 1895; ». Fred William and Emma (Franke) R.; ed. Parochial School of First ... Oct. 20 1919: children— Minette Isabel, Eileen Louise. Or'dnined ministry Lutheran Ch.. ... Allan Mueller’s father was buried out of a Lutheran church. Scott Mueller lists Solomon and Carolyn Roskin as the parents of Moira Roskin.  Ancestry.com (via social security and other multiple records) lists Solomon Roskin as being born in 1918 in New York, moving to Miami in 1966, divorcing Carolyn Roskin in 1979, and dying in 2002. Miami Herald - October 30, 2002 - Death Notice - Classified Death Notice - Classified   FL United States ROSKIN SOLOMON, 84, of Aventura, FL, passed away on Monday, October 28, 2002. He was born in New York and graduated from Pratt Institute. Sol was a wonderful artist and an exceptional photographer. In 1966, he moved to North Miami Beach with his wife and five daughters and founded Hallmark Press, a printing company. He was a great humanitarian and philanthropic with many charities, including The Alzheimer's Care Committee/NOTABLES of Douglas Gardens, the... In the 1920 census, Solomon Roskin is listed as the son of Russian immigrants and his parents are described as Yiddish speakers. So, he (Sol) was Jewish, for sure. The social security death index lists Carolyn Roskin as being born in April, 1933 and dying in Boca Raton Florida in May, 2008. Carolyn Roskin’s obituary in the Palm Beach Post mentions family “sitting shiva”. So she was Jewish, too.   Martin Sheen/Janet Sheen/Lena Conde sources The ancestry of Charlie Sheen’s father, actor Martin Sheen, is well known and is accurately reported by many sources (even on Wikipedia). He was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a Spanish Catholic immigrant father and an Irish Catholic immigrant mother. Janet Templeton Sheen birth date Martin Sheen recalls meeting Sheen, says she was a student The article in which Martin Sheen says Janet Sheen is a devout atheist must be paid for, or you have to be a subscriber to the print edition Martin Sheen’s wife, since December 1961, is Janet Templeton, more often known as Janet Sheen. August 11, 1968 Everything's Coming Up Roses for Romeo; Everything's Roses for Romeo Abstract summary: He picked the name "Martin" from a friend and "Sheen" because he was a ... Oh, I argue with Janet a lot. She's a devout atheist and I'm a Catholic. ... ---------------------- The articles about Janet Sheen in the Vindicator, Ohio newspaper are referenced by web address in the text. They cannot be copied and pasted, because of the storage format. The 1920 census lists Lena Martin Conde and family. I am not sure if Ancestry.com non-subscribers can access it. The census is available for free through other sources, like public library interfaces.   blogs 2011-03-08T20:17:29+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60977/jerry-seinfeld-and-wife-win-cookbook-battle http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60977/jerry-seinfeld-and-wife-win-cookbook-battle#When:23:41:32Z by admin | by evan agostini, the associated press A judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a cookbook author who accused comedian Jerry Seinfeld of hurting her reputation by mocking her on national television. In a ruling filed with the court Friday, state Justice Marcy Friedman said it was clear the comedian was joking when he called author Missy Chase Lapine a "wacko'' during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2007. The judge said Seinfeld also has a constitutional right to express his opinion. The suit stemmed from a legal battle in which Lapine accused Seinfeld's wife, Jessica, of stealing her idea for a book on how to get children to eat healthy. Both women had published their books that year. Lapine's was called, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals. Jessica Seinfeld's was titled Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. The case became tabloid fodder, and Seinfeld addressed it on Letterman with a heaping of ridicule. "One of the fun facts of celebrity life is wackos will wait in the woodwork to pop out at certain moments of your life to inject a little adrenaline into your life experience,'' Seinfeld told Letterman. "So there's another woman who had another cookbook,'' he continued. "My wife never saw the book, read the book, used the book ... But the books came out at the same time. So this woman says, 'I sense this could be my wacko moment.''' Seinfeld said Lapine was accusing his wife of "vegetable plagiarism.'' "She comes out and says, 'You stole my mushed-up carrots. You can't put mushed-up carrots in a casserole. I put mushed-up carrots in the casserole.''' A federal court eventually agreed with Seinfeld that the copyright suit was baseless and tossed it out last year. The judges said there was nothing original about the idea of "stockpiling vegetable purees for covert use in children's food.'' Friedman's ruling, signed Wednesday but filed Friday, noted that you can't sue someone for libel in the U.S. merely for hurling an insult. You must show that a person lied about facts in order to damage a person's reputation and did so in such a way that a reasonable person would have believed that those false statements were true. Given all of the hyperbole in his jokes, one of which implied that people who went by three names, like Lapin, were predisposed to become assassins the judge said she found it "inconceivable'' that a reasonable viewer thought he was serious about fearing for his safety. And as for Seinfeld's suggestion that Lapine was an opportunist making up baseless plagiarism claims, the judge wrote that he was entitled to voice his opinion. "If the law were to the contrary, the protection of the First Amendment would be unacceptably denied to persons who publicly defend themselves against what they believe to be baseless charges or lawsuits,'' she wrote. The judge also absolved Deceptively Delicious publisher HarperCollins of any wrongdoing. Lapine had accused the company of lifting ideas from a book proposal she sent the company in 2006. Lapine's lawyer, Howard Miller, said he and his client were evaluating the opinion and would decide later whether to appeal. He had no other comment. blogs 2011-02-25T23:41:32+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60914/novelist-ian-mcewan-criticizes-jewish-settlements http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60914/novelist-ian-mcewan-criticizes-jewish-settlements#When:17:35:04Z by admin | by daniel estrin, the associated pressRenowned British novelist Ian McEwan accepted an Israeli literary prize in Jerusalem Sunday with harsh criticism of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, after British writers called on the author to stay home because of Israel's policies toward Palestinians. At an acceptance ceremony for the Jerusalem Prize, McEwan praised Israel's technological and artistic advances but asked, "Where is Israel's political creativity?" The novelist rebuked the "nihilism" of the Islamic militant Hamas, which has called for the destruction of Israel and has fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli towns. He also criticized Israel with the same term, saying "it is nihilism to make a long-term prison camp of the Gaza Strip." Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade of the seaside Palestinian territory since Hamas took over the enclave by force in 2007. Israel, the U.S. and EU consider Hamas a terror organization. McEwan, author of works including the best-selling book "Atonement," has won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award, among other literary prizes. The Jerusalem Prize, Israel's most prestigious award for foreign writers, is awarded biannually. Other authors who have received the Jerusalem Prize include Simone de Beauvoir, Milan Kundera, Arthur Miller and Haruki Murakami. A jury selected McEwan "for his love of people and concern for their right to self-realization," said jury chairman Menahem Ben-Sasson, president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. McEwan told a Jerusalem audience, including Israeli President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, that the "distinguished judges" of the jury "seem to be demanding that I mention, and I must oblige, the continued evictions and demolitions and relentless purchases of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem." Except for one man who booed the novelist as he delivered his speech, the audience warmly applauded McEwan. The author was under pressure by a group of British writers not to travel to Israel and to reject the prize because of Israel's policies toward Palestinians. The writers urged McEwan to join an international movement advocating a boycott of Israel. In response, McEwan wrote that he is concerned about the situation of the Palestinians but said he supported "dialogue, engagement, and looking for ways in which literature, especially fiction, with its impulse to enter other minds, can reach across political divides." On Friday, McEwan attended a weekly protest against Jewish settlers who bought a building and evicted longtime Arab residents of an east Jerusalem neighborhood. blogs 2011-02-22T17:35:04+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60848/golden-globe-winner-claire-danes-in-israel-shooting-tv-movie http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60848/golden-globe-winner-claire-danes-in-israel-shooting-tv-movie#When:22:50:45Z by admin | American actress Claire Danes arrived in Israel Feb.7 for the shooting of "Patriots", the American version of Israeli TV series "Kidnapped".In the FOX version, the Israeli hostages returning after 17 years in Lebanon are replaced with American hostages returning from Iraq, 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks. The fate of one of them will remain a mystery throughout the series.Danes, 31, landed in Israel on a private plane and was taken directly to a boutique hotel in Tel Aviv.Filming began Feb. 9 in the village of Barta'a in Samaria, which was turned into an authentic Iraqi street.Many of the co-stars and extras are Israelis and Arabs, some locals and some who arrived with the production team. But not everyone was happy with the cameras and action, as some merchants complained to the producers that their presence was affecting their business.Last month, Danes won a Golden Globe for best actress for her performance in the HBO production of "Temple Grandin". In the past she starred in the films "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet ", "The Hours" and "Stardust".Danes will spend the coming days in shooting locations across the country, and will stay a few nights in Jerusalem.Eran Bar-On. Hassan Shaalan contributed to this report — ynetnews.com blogs 2011-02-10T22:50:45+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60763/celebrity-posse-escorting-johnny-depp-to-israel http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60763/celebrity-posse-escorting-johnny-depp-to-israel#When:19:22:51Z by admin | Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis announced their upcoming visit to Israel months ago, but what was expected to be a quiet family trip has since turned into a convoy of celebrities set to arrive together in the Holy Land next week. French singer Paradis, who will perform at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center on Feb. 10, plans to arrive two days earlier with boyfriend Depp, the couple's two children and a glittering entourage. German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is rumored to be accompanying them, along with French actress Isabelle Adjani, French singer and actress Bambou (best known for being Serge Gainsbourg's last girlfriend), and several other French and American VIPs. "There is a long list of important people from the music and film industries who have expressed their desire to come here," said David Stern, the producer responsible for Paradis' Tel Aviv performance. He refused to expose the names on the list, but hinted that it will be a star-studded event. "I had no idea when we started the journey that the Tel Aviv opera house will turn into the equivalent of the opening ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival for one night," he said. Stern noted that Paradis decided to make the trip despite being pressured not to. "It was a one in a million chance that she would accept the invitation to visit here," he said. "The Israeli people are not familiar with the long way that Paradis has come since her famous song 'Joe Le Taxi.' She really is a huge star, and we are preparing an unforgettable night for the Tel Aviv audience." — ynetnews.com blogs 2011-02-04T19:22:51+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60762/adam-sandler-hits-high-note-with-hollywood-star http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60762/adam-sandler-hits-high-note-with-hollywood-star#When:18:43:56Z by admin | Adam Sandler was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sandler brought his two daughters, ages 2 and 4, to Tuesday's ceremony in front of the W Hollywood Hotel. His is the 2,431st star awarded on the walk. The girls stole the show, taking the microphone from their father several times during his acceptance speech to say "I love my daddy." "Let's hear it for my kids, who are now showing you that I cannot control them," Sandler joked. Actor Henry Winkler spoke on Sandler's behalf, telling the crowd that the location of Sandler's star is "bashert," Hebrew for meant to be, since it is located directly across the street from his own.  Sandler, who gained fame on "Saturday Night Live," has starred in such films as "Big Daddy," "The Wedding Singer" and "50 First Dates." His new film, "Just Go With it," in which he stars with Jennifer Aniston, opens later this month. Also a singer -- among his notable tunes is "The Chanukah Song" -- he has released five albums. — jta blogs 2011-02-04T18:43:56+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60761/israel-rejects-aliyah-request-from-streisands-cousin http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60761/israel-rejects-aliyah-request-from-streisands-cousin#When:18:41:08Z by admin | Israel reportedly has refused to allow the cousin of singer Barbra Streisand to make aliyah.The Interior Ministry, via The Jewish Agency, rejected Dale Streisand's request because it saw on his Facebook page that he had been previously involved in Christian missionary activity, Haaretz reported Thursday.Streisand, 57, has lived in the Philippines for the last year, since he moved there to get married. His wife is pregnant and he told Haaretz that he wants the baby to be born in Israel.Streisand said he was told originally that there was a problem because he was marrying a Philippines citizen, and then was told he was rejected because there was a link on his Facebook page to a Christian Missionary website. He has since created a new Facebook page that features an Israeli flag as his profile picture, and is friends with Chabad of the Philippines.Streisand told Haaretz that he is newly religious and is studying Jewish texts. The interior minister can prevent a Jewish person from making aliyah under the Law of Return if they "work against the Jewish people" or have been proven to have converted. — jta blogs 2011-02-04T18:41:08+00:00