by DAN CALLOWAY
Published September 19, 2009; The Chronicler’s Web
WEAVERVILLE, NC - The New York Times reports that an unlikely bit of radio history is making it big on the Internet.
Nearly 65 years ago, American soldiers gathered in a open German field under gray skies for a Jewish religious ceremony. NBC broadcast it, amid the sounds of artillery as Allied troops continued to advance in Germany.
It was the first Jewish service broadcast in Germany since Hitler took power.
The cantor for the service, then a 22-year-old solider and now a 87-year-old retiree, is the focus of the Times story.
Here’s a video clip of commemorating the service with segments of the broadcast. It seems a good day to post it. At sunset Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins.
Ben Stein on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary
by Dan Calloway
Published August 30, 2009 at 5:50pm EST; The Chronicler’s Web
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
Ben Stein
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu .. If people want a crèche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat. (more…)