Profile: David Binn

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=810

We do get some criticism from European readers that our website is too American-centric. That might be true... but so is most of our readership. Can't please everyone...

Profile: Harvey Keitel

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=811

Wow, a lot of suggestions on this one. Cameron from Slovenia, Jeff from Boulder, CO, Mayeli from Tehran(!), Sam from Massachusetts, Sarah from Hull, and Joe from Connecticut.

Profile: Jorge Luis Borges

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=809

Heloisa from Brazil, who suggested Borges, wants us to be more serious and profile more Latin Americans. More Latin Americans, sure. Serious? NEVER!

Profile: Cristina Yang

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=808

According to Moishe, Cristina Yang was suggested by.....me!? I have no idea how this happened. I haven't watched Grey's Anatomy in 2 years. Haven't cared about it for 3. Can't imagine what conversation we were having that brought it up. Anyway, it's Cristina Yang! Hooray?

Yeah, I know, we all would've been a lot more excited about this in 2005. Maybe I can profile some random Jewish character from Ally McBeal next...

Profile: Samuil Marshak

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=807

As far as we know, the conversation depicted in this profile is entirely fictional. As far as we know.

Profile: Usher

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=806

This is just horrible on so many levels.

Update: Jew for Jesus is now with Jesus

Moishe Rosen, the founder of the oxymoronic Jews for Jesus, kicked the bucket earlier this week.

And... we're quoted in the NY Daily News!

The web site JewOrNotJew.com labeled Rosen "Barely a Jew" in 2008.

"Jews for Jesus? How does that fit?" the site wrote. "What's next, Atheists for God?"

Profile: Philip Seymour Hoffman

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=805

Oscar Best Actor winners profiled:

Marlon Brando (1954, 1972)
Yul Brynner (1956)
Jon Voight (1978)
Dustin Hoffman (1979, 1988)
Robert De Niro (1980)
Ben Kingsley (1982)
Paul Newman (1986)
Michel Douglas (1987)
Daniel Day-Lewis (1989, 2007)
Adrien Brody (2002)
Sean Penn (2003, 2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (2005)

Hoffman was suggested by Moishe from La Jolla and Fema from Brooklyn.

Profile: Chesty Morgan

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=804

Chesty Morgan was suggested by Gary from Washington, DC. He was also kind enough to include this article, from which most of this profile was written.

Thanks Gary!

Profile: Haym Solomon

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=803

Solomon was suggested by Yosef from Eilat. Snopes.com goes in detail about the dollar-bill rumor.

Jews in the News: Potential Senator lies

Richard Blumenthal was the favorite to win the open Senate seat in Connecticut, and if he did, we might have just added him to our roster of current Jewish Senators.

But now it turns out Blumenthal lied about serving in Vietnam, most likely undermining his campaign.

Tsk tsk, Mr. Blumenthal. This is no way to get yourself profiled on Jew or Not Jew.

Profile: David Bowie

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=802

The following is an actual (paraphrased, my memory isn't THAT good) quote from my freshman year Myths and Mythology class, mentioned in the profile above:

"Now, the woman holding the cornucopia is a transvestite. We know this because the cornucopia represents both a penis and a vagina. As she's holding it, she's also holding a piece of fruit toward the opening of the cornucopia. So she is actually stuffing fruit into her vagina."

Now, the Detective Fiction course I took four years later, on the other hand - that was awesome.

Mark from Toronto and Mel from California suggested Bowie... yes, there is a rumor out there that he had a Jewish mother. Looks to be false.

Profile: The Japanese

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=801

Our fine, giant robot-piloting friends were suggested by Ed from Israel who points out the many similarities between Jews and the Japanese, including similarities between Shinto and Judaism and ancient Hebrew and Japanese. If you google it up, you'll find there are a bunch more.

I am, clearly, more than a little skeptical. After all, even the ultimate non-comparators of apples and oranges are exactly the same if you look at them the right way.

Profile: Mary Magdalene

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=800

Miriam from California suggested we profile Mary because she "hung out with that yid"... That she did, Miriam, that she did.

Woo-hoo! 800 profiles! Who would have thunk it?

Profile: Ethan Zohn

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=799

You might notice that Ethan is listed under "Athletes and Coaches". This is because he was listed on Survivor as "Professional Soccer Player" due to his minor league career as a goalkeeper. He later hosted the Metro Soccer Report on New York's MSG television station, with co-host and fellow Jew Shep Messing.

Zohn is now battling Hodgkin's. Best of luck to him as he fights to recover. He truly is a mensch.

Thanks to Tali from South Africa for the suggestion.

Profile: Meyer Lansky

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=798

Multiple-time suggester Bruce from Cambridge, IL, writes:

"You suggest in his profile that Bernie Madoff stole $50 billion. Well, they're going to recover a lot of that, and he also paid back early investors with stolen money, so the true amount stolen is a lot lower. If you consider a lifetime at the highest levels of organized crime, adjusting for inflation and remembering that Lansky paid no taxes on his wealth, I think he might give Bernie a run for his ill-gotten money."

So we got the #1 and #2 thieves in history? Hmmm...

Lansky was also suggested by Sofia from Florida, John from New York, as well as returning suggesters Michael from Maryland, Avi from Amstelveen, and Moishe from La Jolla.

Profile: Elena Kagan

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=797

The other rumor about Kagan? That in college she dated Eliot Spitzer. Ewwww. No, they are just friends...

Kagan was suggested by returning suggesters Bruce from Cambridge, IL and Mara from Kansas, as well as Mark from Indiana and Lou from Tampa.

Profile: Anne Bancroft

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=796

JONJ husband and wife (and ex-wife) pairs to be added to our original list:

Mel Brooks and Anne Bancfort
Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner
Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach

Jews in the News: Kagan to the Supreme Court

According to CNN, Barack Obama has chosen Elena Kagan to fill the Supreme Court vacancy opened by John Paul Stevens' retirement. If Kagan is indeed selected and then confirmed, this will give us 3/9 Supreme Court judges.

Go Jews!

Profile: Ewan McGregor

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=795

Once again, a profile based on an actual email, this one from Mor from Israel. She also wanted us to check in on Jude Law... No such luck there, I'm afraid.

Profile: Yosef the Mountaineer

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=794

Poor Yosef was written waaaaaaaaaay back in February but has been gathering dust till now while other, "more important" people jumped ahead of him. If we're not profiling giant, dopey, obscure team mascots, frankly, I don't know what we're doing with our lives...

In any case, Yosef was suggested by Moishe from La Jolla, who writes "He has the name, he has the beard, and he has the hat."

Yes Moishe, but he doesn't have the shirt. And that makes all the difference.

Profile: Barbara Bach

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=793

Yakov says he knows somebody who swears that George Lazanby was the best Bond. Sure, Yakov, sure. And Brandon Routh was the best Superman. Riiiight.

Bach was suggested by Ron from Dallas.

Profile: Rachel Maddow

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=792

Maddow was suggested by... Steve from Wisconsin, Elizabeth from Columbus, Lauren from Denver, Jamie from Nevada, Judith from Cleveland, and Mark from Pennsylvania. Why is it that the most requested profiles are of... NOT JEWS?

Profile: Alexander the Great

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=791

The Talmud (Yoma 69a) ascribes righteousness to Alexander the Great. Incited by enemies of the Sages, Alexander intended to destroy the Temple in Jerusalem. On the way, he was approached by R’ Shimon HaTzadik who headed a delegation of rabbis. When Alexander saw him, he got off his horse and bowed on the ground at his feet. The enemies of the Sages questioned why “The Great” should prostrate before the lowly. He replied that at the head of all his conquests he was led by the image of a righteous man, and this image was the countenance of non other than R’ Shimon. The rabbis asked Alexander, “Is it conceivable that your enemies should mislead you into destroying the House in which prayers for your success and for that of your kingdom are offered?” At which point Alexander recalled his soldiers and turned over the enemies of the Sages to the Jews. According to tradition, the Jews accepted several practices to honor Alexander for this event – one of which was to call Jewish children in his name.^[1]

Top 10 Profiles: April

1. Sandra Bullock (DUH!)
2. Scarlett Johansson (+3)
3. Meryl Streep (0)
4. Mel Gibson (+3)
5. Gwyneth Paltrow (+8)
6. Tina Fey (+5)
7. Adolf Hitler (-3)
8. Kevin Bacon (0)
9. Pamela Anderson (+14)
10. Helen Hunt (+22)