News Roundup – Tue. 2/9

One day you’ll be able to hear a Mozart violin concerto played by a Bais Yakov girl. And have a Mir yeshiva student instructing you on body building. And that’s no mere premonition. A music conservatory in the Charedi Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem is training around 500 Charedi girls to play and teach classical music. And 24 yeshiva students are training at a new program for Charedi men to become gym trainers. Is change afoot in the ultra-Orthodox world?

What’s the result of a “disputed wedding”? A ticket blitz by state troopers, apparently. In Kiryas Joel, state police have been aggressively ticketing motorists in the wake of three days of unrest and mayhem. Maj. Edward Raso, commander of State Police Troop F, said the tickets were only a byproduct of more troopers stationed in the village because of the recent violence. But this tapped phone conversation between Joseph Waldman and Sgt. Bruce Furbeck shows otherwise. KJ residents now feel “terrorized,” some of them say. Although one has to wonder if they felt as terrorized when a mob of Yeshiva boys aligned with the majority faction vandalized and overturned vehicles last week.

Do shtreimels have religious significance? That’s going to be the big question if Israel moves forward with a proposed ban on all fur products except those used for religious purposes. I suspect Chasidim will get to keep their $4000 shtreimels, but their wives mink and sable coats will have to go. I’m sure Borough Park and Williamsburg women are breathing a sigh of relief that they don’t live in Jerusalem, B’nei Brak, or Ramat Beit Shemesh.

Can YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter become kosher? Apparently so. But only if it’s “l’shem shamayim”. A one-day conference in Jeruslaem will be held next week to discuss how Charedi women can use social media to build their businesses. It’s a conference for women only, but of course, the only featured speaker is a man. Unless a woman decided to go by the name Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits. (Hey, I’ve heard stranger things.)

Chabad really tackled this one. Alan Veingrad, who spent six years in the NFL, playing for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys and earning a Super Bowl ring in the process, now gives about 40 speeches a year on how Orthodox Judaism changed his life. Mr. Veingrad was taught about his religious heritage by several Chabad rabbis over the years. And at a recent talk at the Chabad House in southern California, he told a spellbound capacity audience, “The Torah is a playbook for how someone can live their life.” Whatever works for you, Alan. Whatever works.

The French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, has a spanking new baby grandchild. A Jewish grandchild. Sarkozy’s daughter-in-law, Jessica Sebaoun, is married to Jean Sarkozy, the French president’s son, and is said to be “a very observant Sephardic” Jew. The French president “sees no problem with that,” Jean Balkany, a friend of Mr. Sarkozy, told Jewish radio Radio J. The baby had a traditional circumcision, “with a rabbi and a mohel,” Mr. Balkany said. But President Sarkozy was too busy to attend. I suppose he didn’t think a meetup with Elijah the prophet would gain him much political capital. Then again, we at Unpious don’t attend too many brissen ourselves these days.

News Roundups appear twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Send news tips to unpious.editor@gmail.com.

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