The Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים ISO 259-3 Yhudim Israeli pronunciation [jehuˈdim]), also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and an ethnoreligious group, originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation.Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos is equal to those born into it, have been absorbed into the Jewish people throughout the millennia.
In Jewish tradition, Jewish ancestry is traced to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the second millennium BCE. The modern State of Israel defines itself as a Jewish state in its Basic Laws, and Israel's Law of Return states: "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh." Israel is the only country where Jews are a majority of the population. Jews achieved political autonomy twice before in ancient history. The first of these periods lasted from 1350 to 586 BCE, and encompassed the periods of the Judges, the United Monarchy, and the Divided Monarchy of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, ending with the destruction of the First Temple. The second was the period of the Hasmonean Kingdom spanning from 140 to 37 BCE. Since the destruction of the First Temple, most Jews have lived in diaspora. A minority in every country in which they live (except Israel), they have frequently experienced persecution throughout history, resulting in a population that has fluctuated both in numbers and distribution over the centuries.
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was an English American author and journalist whose career spanned more than four decades. Hitchens, often referred to colloquially as "Hitch", was a columnist and literary critic for New Statesman, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Mirror, The Times Literary Supplement and Vanity Fair. He was an author of twelve books and five collections of essays. As a staple of talk shows and lecture circuits, he was a prominent public intellectual, and his confrontational style of debate made him both a lauded and controversial figure.
Hitchens was known for his admiration of George Orwell, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, as well as for his excoriating critiques of various public figures including Mother Teresa, Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and Diana, Princess of Wales. Although he supported the Falklands War, his key split from the established political left began in 1989 after what he called the "tepid reaction" of the Western left to the Rushdie Affair. The September 11 attacks strengthened his internationalist embrace of an interventionist foreign policy, and his vociferous criticism of what he called "fascism with an Islamic face." His numerous editorials in support of the Iraq War caused some to label him a neoconservative, although Hitchens insisted he was not "a conservative of any kind", and his friend Ian McEwan describes him as representing the anti-totalitarian left.
David J. Wolpe (born 1958) is an author, public speaker and rabbi of Sinai Temple (Los Angeles, California). Named the most influential Rabbi in America by ''Newsweek Magazine'' (2012) and one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by the ''Jerusalem Post'' (2012), he is considered a leader of the Conservative Jewish movement. Wolpe was named one of The Forward's Forward 50, and one of the hundred most influential people in Los Angeles by Los Angeles magazine. Author of six books and a regular weekly column in The Jewish Week, Wolpe became the focus of international controversy when he gave a Passover sermon that discussed the historic validity of the Exodus from Egypt. In April 2012 he was named America's most influential rabbi by Newsweek and The Daily Beast.
Wolpe has taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, and served as assistant to the Chancellor of that institution; at the University of Judaism (now the American Jewish University) in Los Angeles; and at Hunter College in New York. At UCLA he teaches modern Jewish religious thought.[citation needed] Wolpe is a regular contributor to several publications such as The Jewish Week, The Jerusalem Post, Los Angeles Times. He frequently is featured on documentaries on Biblical topics produced by A&E Networks (A&E, The Biography Channel, History Channel and History Channel International). He has also appeared as a commentator on CNN and CBS This Morning. Wolpe's most recent book, Why Faith Matters, is both an answer to books about atheism and a recounting of his battle with illness (he has undergone surgery for a brain tumor and chemotherapy for lymphoma). In 2008 and 2009, he had public debates with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Steven Pinker, Roger Cohen, and Indian yogi and mystic Sadhguru, among others.[citation needed]
Anthony David Weiner (pronounced /ˈwiːnər/; born September 4, 1964) is a former U.S. Representative who served New York's 9th congressional district from January 1999 until June 2011. A Democrat, Weiner held the seat previously occupied by Democrat Charles Schumer and won seven terms, never receiving less than 59 percent of the vote. He was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City in the 2005 election, and had begun to amass a campaign fund to run again for mayor in 2013.
Previously, Weiner was a New York City councilman from 1992 to 1998, and a congressional aide to then-U.S. Representative Schumer from 1985 to 1991. A New York City native, he attended the public schools and graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1985 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.
Weiner resigned from Congress due to a sexting scandal, effective June 21, 2011. A special election was held on September 13, 2011, to fill the remainder of his term.
Weiner was born in Brooklyn, New York, one of three sons of Mort Weiner, a lawyer, and his wife Fran, a public high school mathematics teacher. The family lived for a time in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Weiner described his ethnic and religious background in 2011: "We weren't a very religious household," he said, "but we had a very strong sense of our Judaism." His older brother, Seth, was killed at age 39 in a hit-and-run vehicle-pedestrian accident in May 2000. His younger brother, Jason, is a chef and co-owner of several New York restaurants.
Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian comedian, actor and disc jockey. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and has been nominated for four Gemini Awards.
Russell Peters was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada to Eric and Maureen Peters. His family is of Anglo-Indian ancestry and is Catholic. His father was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, and worked as a federal meat inspector; he is regularly mentioned and featured in his comedy work. His mother was born in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He has an older brother named Clayton who was born in Calcutta. Russell attended Chinguacousy Secondary School for grades 9–10, and North Peel Secondary School for grades 11–12 in Brampton.
Peters began performing in Toronto in 1989. Peters' popularity extends to several countries. He has since also performed in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Afghanistan, Sweden, South Africa, India, the Caribbean, Philippines, Vietnam, mainland China, Canada, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, France, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Norway, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Trinidad among other places.
Come Pray With The Mantis
Plot
An intimate ballad following the lives of a mother and daughter who go through topsy-turvy historical times. The plot is divided into four seasons set between 1939 and 1961. A Czech woman named Helga works at a German hospital. Out of her love for a Baltic nobleman named Arno, a volunteer in the Finnish War, her daughter Dorli is born. But Arno commits suicide and after the war is over mother and daughter must bear the victors' revenge alone - Helga is humiliated and expelled from her native region. Mother and daughter survive thanks only to the aid of the Jewish head doctor of the hospital. Years later Arno's body is exhumed and Dorli, who has always felt close to him, wants to trace her father's roots. She and a Greek boy try to escape but Communist repression spoils their plans. In order to protect her daughter, Helga puts herself at the mercy of a secret police torturer.
Keywords: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, africa, based-on-novel, border-region, collaboration-with-communist, communist, convent, czechoslovakian-history
Plot
A brilliant pianist, a Polish Jew, witnesses the restrictions Nazis place on Jews in the Polish capital, from restricted access to the building of the Warsaw ghetto. As his family is rounded up to be shipped off to the Nazi labor camps, he escapes deportation and eludes capture by living in the ruins of Warsaw.
Keywords: 1930s, 1940s, anti-semitism, assault-rifle, atrocity, attacking-someone-in-a-wheelchair, attic, based-on-autobiography, based-on-true-story, bathtub
Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.
Father: Well, to tell you the truth, I thought it would be worse.
Halina: Have you seen this?::Wladyslaw Szpilman: [impatient] What? What? I'm working. What? What is this?::Halina: It's where they're going to put us.::Wladyslaw Szpilman: What do you mean "put us"?
Mother: [crying] 20 zloty, that's all we have left, 20 zolty. What can I buy with 20 zloty? I am sick of cooking potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.
Wladyslaw Szpilman: I don't know how to thank you.::Captain Wilm Hosenfeld: Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.
[Szpilman is discovered by the Polish army, wearing the German dress coat given him by Capt. Hosenfeld]::Wladyslaw Szpilman: No. Please. I'm Polish. I'm not a German.::Polish Soldier: Then why the fucking coat?::Wladyslaw Szpilman: I'm cold.
Wladyslaw Szpilman: It's an official decree, no Jews allowed in the parks.::Dorota: What, are you joking?::Wladyslaw Szpilman: No, I'm not. I would suggest we sit down on a bench, but that's also an official decree, no Jews allowed on benches.::Dorota: This is absurd.::Wladyslaw Szpilman: So, we should just stand here and talk, I don't think we're not allowed to do that.
Wladyslaw Szpilman: So, you play the cello, Dorota. That's nice. And who's your favorite composer? Chopin? Really? Well, you'll have to learn to play his cello sonata, won't you? And what about you, Wladek? Well, perhaps I can accompany? Me on the piano, you on the cello?::Dorota: Mr. Szpilman, you are quite, quite wonderful.::Wladyslaw Szpilman: [kisses Dorota's hand] Call me Wladek. Please.
Jurek: [after Dorota meets Wladek] Come on Dorota, you can write him a fan letter later, this isn't the best time. Come on.::Wladyslaw Szpilman: Jurek! Where have you been hiding her?
Father: What do you think? Should I, should I take Uncle Szymon's portrait?::Mother: Take it, don't take it, take what you like!::[sigh]::Mother: Can't you see I'm worried sick?
[first lines]::Dorota: [running from bombing] Mr. Szpilman?::Wladyslaw Szpilman: Hello.::Dorota: Oh, I came specially to meet you. I love your playing.::Wladyslaw Szpilman: Who are you?::Dorota: My name is Dorota. I, I'm Jurek's sister... You're bleeding.
Plot
It is the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Maria does not like what is going on during the "Auto De Fe". When she speaks out, she is arrested and accused of being a witch. Torquemada has plans for her! He orders her tortured, and her tongue to be cut out. Her husband attempts to free her...
Keywords: 1400s, 15th-century, accuser, baker, based-on-story, based-on-the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe, betrayal, blade, blasphemy, blood
A bizarre descent into hell from the creator of re-animator.
[As Torquemada has the Cardinal bricked behind a wall]::Cardinal: For the love of God!::Torquemada: Yes, for the love of God.
Torquemada: Take them to their cells.::Maria: You swore you'd show mercy!::Torquemada: In this place, death is mercy.
Mendoza: Savior.::Torquemada: What are you doing here? Why don't you go torture some heretics!
Francisco: I'm sorry, mistress, that you weren't properly able to confess. There just wasn't enough time to torture you.::Esmeralda: Thanks anyway.
Torquemada: Surely Rome understands that public executions discourage sin?::Cardinal: The good Lord, you know, padre, he want us to love our neighbor, no roast him, mmm? No roast him ...
Dr. Heusos: You idiots, why did you tear out her tongue?::Gomez: We didn't. We don't do tongues.::Francisco: Of course not. How can they confess if they don't have tongues?
Cardinal: No!::Gomez: No!::Cardinal: No, I tell you, I havea de seal of de Pope!::Gomez: Oh! He hasa de seal of de Pope!::Cardinal: NO! Help me!::Gomez: Help me!::Cardinal: Someone help me!::Gomez: Someone help me!::Cardinal: No! No, I tell you! No, Help me! Help me someone!
Cardinal: The Pope also want the Inquisition to stop the use of torture. And declare an amnesty on all heretics and witches. Hmm?::Torquemada: Rome is behind the times. His Holiness is old and lost his zeal!::Cardinal: He is the Pope!::Torquemada: And I am the Inquisition!::Cardinal: His Holiness also DEMAND...order you to return to Rome with me for an audience.::Torquemada: I've received no such demand.::Cardinal: [chuckles] I just deliver it!
Cardinal: [about to be killed] No!::Gomez: Yes!
Plot
Set in the Polish Galicia in 1914, on the eve of World War I. Three nationalities are living in the area: Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish. The country inn (Austeria in Galician) is run by an old and wise Jew, Tag. The neighboring village is abandoned by the Jews, who left only few steps ahead of advancing Cossacks. Soon the inn is full of desperate Jews, there is also an Austrian baroness on the run and an Hungarian hussar cut off from his unit.
Keywords: based-on-novel, jewish, male-frontal-nudity, male-nudity, male-rear-nudity, nudity, skinny-dipping, world-war-one
Plot
Everything in town appears calm, placid, lovely. But Woyzeck, a rifleman assigned as an orderly, hears voices -- the times are out of joint, at least in his cosmos. To his captain, Woyzeck is a comic marvel: ignorant but courageous, full of energy to little purpose. To a local doctor, Woyzeck is a curiosity, the object of cruel study. Woyzeck, 40, has a young wife, Marie, and a small child. He dotes on them, but Marie, even though she has periods of guilt and remorse, carries on affairs and flirtations. When the captain lets drop broad hints of Woyzeck's being a cuckold, his inner demons and the voices of the spheres take over. Will madness bring action? Of what sort?
Keywords: adulterous-wife, based-on-play, brutality, character-study, despair, military, one-word-title, soldier, underdog, uniform
Marie: [to her man during a fight] I'd rather have a knife in my body than your hand on me.
Plot
The story is an odyssey of a little man through Poland of 1930 to 1950. It shows his attempts to cope with a changing world which seems to have no place for him. He has no consciousness of any kind but is always on the verge of turning into a more coherent human being, only to be slapped down. It begins with the hero's childhood. Then comes the first love marred by his unwilling involvement in fascict politics, him being taken for a Jew because of his nose. Later he decides to join the army to charm the girl, but arrives too late for any fighting. He is arrested by entering German troops while he dresses in officer's uniform and mistakenly sent to POW camp as an officer.
Keywords: based-on-novel, communism, post-war