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Sundown: Comic Stylings of the Brothers Foer

A Jewish helpline, eating right, and Crocs nixed

by
Hadara Graubart
September 25, 2009

• Jonathan Safran Foer’s brother Josh on building a sukkah together: “We’re supposed to be the People of the Book, but we’re actually the people of the carpenter’s square. From Noah to Jesus to Norm Abram, it’s a very proud tradition, you know.” The novelist’s reply: “Always hammering or getting screwed….” [Forward]
• Ultra-orthodox Jews in Manhattan and Brooklyn—and maybe soon, around the world—now have a special number for their own emergency needs, that will connect callers to the volunteer ambulance service Hatzolah or Jewish social services, among other things. [VIN]
• In an article offering advice to diabetics for the Jewish holidays, the only tidbit that’s Yid-specific is a suggestion to save high-fat egg yolks “to brown challah or the tops of some kugels,” which would seem to defeat the purpose. [5TJT]
• An ultra-Orthodox rabbi says that wearing Crocs on Yom Kippur, when leather shoes are traditionally prohibited, is “inadvisable,” as the chunks of foam are too comfy. (For alternative footwear, check out Tablet Magazine’s suggestions.) [Ynet]
The Washington Post’s Michael Gershon fears the internet—“The absolute freedom of the medium paradoxically encourages authoritarian impulses to intimidate and silence others”—seeing in it the “specter” of Germany’s transformation to Nazism. [WPost]

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.