Hitler

Conservative commentator Glenn Beck caused a stir at the National Rifle Association's convention by presenting an image of Mayor Michael Bloomberg giving a Nazi-like salute.

In his address to the gun lobby, Beck complained about Bloomberg's efforts to curb illegal guns and impose other controversial health measures in New York City, then presented the image as a joke, suggesting that the mayor's new motto for the Big Apple is "you will love New York."

Apple has been criticized by mobile app makers for the difficult process involved in getting their apps into the AppStore. The reason for all the red tape in this process, however, is so Apple can approve each app for content ensuring there is no hate speech or racist material in the app. In France, Apple has even removed an app that was in violation of that country's strong policy on anti-Semitism.

Books have been written about the role of many immigrant-offspring Jews in creating the comic book universe and such colorful, tights-clad denizens as Superman, Spiderman and Captain America. So there’s no point in predictable shepping nachas about how The Tribe has helped capture the imagination of three generations with inspiring tales of preserving truth, justice and the American Way.

For years, German scholars and the country’s most prominent Jewish organizations have argued that Germany should allow “Mein Kampf” to be published in Germany before the copyright expires, in 2015.  It is not illegal to publish the book in Germany, but the state of Bavaria, which holds the copyright, had adamantly refused for decades, saying that the longer the book was out of print, the better.

Nothing quite gets the public going like a Spielberg movie.  Even if you hate his movies (not that I do), it's hard to avoid the excitement they engender. Especially come Christmas.  This year, Spielberg's big holiday release, you may have heard, is "The Adventures of Tintin," an animated 3D film about the legendary children's book.  And this year, I'm predicting a minor controversy about it.

The easy thing to do after Kanye West's poorly chosen words this weekend--in which he likened the noxious stares he gets these days to ones people might give Hitler--is to ask for an apology.  No word yet on whether any Jewish groups are asking for one, but my bet is that it's in the offing.  But perhaps a better thing to do is to ask: are his comments a reflection of philo-semitism?  

Shavuot, which starts tonight, is all about learning.  Jews are supposed to stay up all night reading in celebration of God giving Jews the Torah.  What makes the holiday rare, though, isn't the reading part--what Jewish holiday doesn't involve that?  It's that there's no bad guys in the story.  Unlike Passover, we don't commemorate Jews escaping a pharaoh in Egypt, or, as in Hanukkah, a revolt against the Romans. No matzah, no latkes, just books and books and books.