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Sundown: Breaking! Ashkenazim Are Smart

Plus, Adelsons offer new Birthright gift, King kills Blitzer, and more

by
Marc Tracy
July 25, 2011
Smart Ashkenazi Jew Woody Allen in May.(Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Smart Ashkenazi Jew Woody Allen in May.(Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

• Ashkenazim have a median IQ of 117, according to a new study from Cambridge University, good for first among recognized genetic groups, 10 points higher than second-place (northeast Asians), and 20 percent higher than average. We already knew that because, y’know, our IQs. [Ynet]

• Larry King would “Kill Wolf Blitzer. Even though he’s Jewish, the name sounds German. You have to kill the German when you’re Jewish.” [GQ]

• Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson announced a new $5 million challenge gift to Birthright Israel. [Press Release]

• Joseph Dorman gets much-deserved Joseph-Berger-in-the-Times treatment for his new Sholom Aleichem documentary. [NYT]

• For the first time, an Israeli ensemble performed will perform Wagner at the annual celebration of the famously anti-Semitic composer in Bayreuth, Germany. [Haaretz]

• Has Hank Greenberg been screwed out of the single-season American League RBI record? [Kaplan’s Korner]

The months-long NFL lockout ended today with top players’ representative (and premier center, for the Indianapolis Colts) Jeff Saturday announcing the good news and reserving special thanks for the late Myra Kraft and her husband, New England Patriots owner Robert. It is a very touching video. Meanwhile, there is one other essential video today:

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.