This week, we examined the parallels between Tom Cruise and Tomás de Torquemada, met the only rapping Jewish faith healer in the Presidential race, looked into the toll of war in Gaza, found out what God has to do with Presidential politics, and searched for subtext in the late films of Woody Allen.

In Culture, we revisited the 'Eat Pray Love' backlash (which the Revealer noticed last week) and read a lot of magazines to determine whether or not circumcision makes men wimpy.  In Sex, we worried about whether celebrating Valentine's day makes you a bad Jew (obvs no) and whether JDate is bad for women (maybe, but probably not).

In Politics, we took a hard look back at the time when Bill Clinton pardoned some Puerto Rican terrorists and read some very bad op-eds.  In Religion, we learned how to plan a Shabbat dinner.  And in Lifestyle, we noticed that Israeli restaurant workers are striking and protesting an impending ban on foreign chefs and wondered whether Naked Chef Jamie Oliver's upcoming expose of kosher slaughter was really going to as "anti-Semitic" as critics had feared. 

 

This week, we wondered along with Uri Avnery whether it's fair to call Marwan Barghouti the Nelson Mandela of Palestine. Then we switched tacks entirely and made fun of protesters who are celebrating Israel Apartheid Week by mocking their propaganda, their accessories, and their vocabulary.

We also wondered why all the Hollywood tough guys are played by either Aussies or Jews these days.

We endorsed Obama, in our special way.

Also this week: our own Izzy Grinspan spoke on a panel about whether the Internet was good for the Jews. Jewlicious reports that "one of the nice people attending the event asked me what the difference was between the Web and a Blog," and The Kvetcher complained that "except perhaps for Izzy, [the panelists] didn’t seem to know (or admit they care) about any of the specifics." Other than that, everyone had a good time.

We also celebrated Valentine's Day early, wondered whether critics liked "Orthodox Stance"because it was good, or just Jewish, and found out the secret behind the composition of 'Rehab.'

 

 

This week, we paid a visit to the 92nd Street Y, where Shmuely Boteach and Christopher Hitchens got to the bottom of the whole 'is there a God' thing. People discussed our take on the Huffington Post, as well as here and here.

Two weeks into writing our JDater Of The Week column, Izzy had an ethical crisis and vowed to be nicer. Boinkology noticed.

Our comic artist Eli Valley took on Antisemitism in British textbooks; the Kvetcher wasn't crazy about it.

We watched the new HBO series 'In Treatment' and talked about our troubled childhoods. We thought about what Barack Obama's potential presidency means for Jews.

And we got drunk at a Brooklyn Yeshiva turned bar named Deity.

 

 

She might still win: Grammy voters might not care about Amy's scandalsUSA Today has a searching analysis, complete with timeline, of the "eyelinered, tattooed R&B sensation" whose antics make "reformed bad girl Courtney Love [seem] hatched from a Jane Austen novel." On the bright side, according to Blender Editor in Chief Joe Levy, Amy "has the good fortune of going through this while Britney Spears is making her look like Annette Funicello." How will Amy's position on the Courtney-Britney-Annette-Jane spectrum affect the odds of her actually snagging any of the six Grammys she's nominated for? Maybe not at all: "The album is still a classic, no matter what happens in her personal life or how sad or ridiculous her image becomes," says Entertainment Weekly music critic Chris Willman. Besides, Grammy voting closed Jan. 9 -- before anyone saw that video of Amy allegedly smoking crack.

This week, we met two liberal intellectuals -- hipsters, even-- who believe in God, and we asked them why. We talked to Found magazine editor Davy Rothbart about life on tour, his new movie, and whether or not he has groupies (answer: kinda!). And Tahl Raz mused about how the world's yawning at Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman's nuptials means that "our generation of Jewish women find power ... far less problematic than their predecessors." Or maybe we're just numb.

Ben Shapiro discussed his new book on presidential image-making, and Tamar Fox dipped a toe in the controversy around a Yeshiva that won't allow gay alums' partners at their reunion. We got to the bottom of the whole blood libel thing. And a guy actually volunteered to be featured as our JDater of the Week! His turnons include "NPR," "The Eagles," and "seeking to understand my God."

Last week was so Jewcy we're still hearing about it. Jon Kesselman's Jewy take on Tom Cruise's Scientology indoctrination video was chosen by Radar as one of the 8 best on YouTube! Yess! It was also picked up by Slate. And the story of the smear campagin against Barack Obama -- those emails calling him a "covert Muslim" and a "jew hating bigot" that we noticed circulating -- found its way to Andrew Sullivan, the Jewish Week, and the paper of record.