Is Justin Bieber Jewish?

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Justin Bieber Drives Mexico Wild

By Alexandra J. Gratereaux

Justin Bieber mesmerized 60,000 screaming fans in the Mexican Capital's Foro del Sol stadium.

His current Latina:



http://latino.foxnews.com/slideshow/lat ... d/#slide=1
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Rabbi Jason Miller

Is Justin Bieber Jewish?  

Posted: 12/28/10 11:48 AM ET

Is Justin Bieber Jewish? Is Natalie Portman's fiance, Benjamin Millepied, Jewish? Based on my Web research, neither one is Jewish. However, there are many people wondering these questions and doing what curious people do in the Digital Age -- turning to Google.

There are two components to blogging I enjoy most. First, I love writing. Second, I love looking at the analytics to see through which portals visitors have arrived at my blog. Looking at the referral statistics, there is an overwhelming number of Web surfers who are referred to my blog after inquiring about a celebrity's faith -- specifically, whether they are Jewish.

While Jewish people may only account for less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, we have provided society with a vastly disproportionate number of celebrities -- from actors and musicians to authors, producers and directors. No, Jews don't own Hollywood in the anti-semitic canard conspiracy theory way, but there are certainly a lot of "Members of the Tribe" in Hollywood.  

When celebrities do the things that only Jewish people have traditionally done, everyone wants to know if they are Jewish or just playing the part. For instance, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) has been embraced by Madonna, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, and Brittany Spears, but none of them were born Jewish or have converted to the faith. Robin Williams does a great Yiddish accent on stage while telling Jewish jokes, but he's an Episcopalian. The former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson has announced plans to open a kosher restaurant, but converted to Islam. LeBron James gets counsel from an Orthodox rabbi. The French dance choreographer Benjamin Millepied will marry the Jewish Natalie Portman, with Israeli roots, but he doesn't appear to be of the Jewish faith.  

And though the teen pop sensation Justin Bieber is not Jewish, he has a ritual of saying the most important statement to the Jewish people before each of his concerts. It turns out that his agent, Scott "Scooter" Braun, taught Bieber the "Shema Yisrael" and now the 16-year-old says those Hebrew words (in addition to a Christian prayer) before taking the stage.     (Like GWB and Jew "Scooter" Libby... never trust a Jew named "Scooter"--CSR)    

It's human nature to try and know as much as we can about our celebrities. So, it should come as no surprise that fans are curious as to whether Bieber's Jewish or if Natalie Portman is marrying within the Jewish faith. After all, a person's faith can be a private matter, and as the National Enquirer has always said when it comes to celebrities, "Inquiring minds want to know."
 

Follow Rabbi Jason Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rabbijason    
Related News On Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jas ... 01093.html

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Entrepreneurial Rabbi, Technologist & Rabbi Without Borders
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Gilad Shalit Returns to Israel, Moral Dilemma Debate Continues
Posted: 10/18/11 03:33 PM ET

  Israel , Gilad Shalit , Israeli-Palestinian Conflict , Benjamin Netanyahu , Gilad Shalit Deal , Gilad Shalit Release , Gilad Shalit Release Celebration , Palestine , Pidyon Shvuyim , Religion News

I posted a simple status update on Facebook this morning, stating "Extremely happy that Gilad Shalit is home in Israel. A captive has been redeemed." One comment to my post summed up the moral dilemma in a concise way: "It is wonderful that Gilad has been released ... but at what cost? Do you think that the 400 murderers/terrorists that have been released will lead honest productive lives? And the 600 more to come in 2 months?"

The deal is obviously lopsided because it is 1,027 Palestinian prisoners (many of whom are terrorists and convicted murderers) in exchange for one Israeli soldier who has been held captive for over five years without even access to the Red Cross. Having these prisoners freed and back on the streets should be of great concern to Israel's security. It also sends the message to Hamas and other terrorist groups that Israel will free prisoners in exchange for captives.

However, it also sends a strong message to Israelis that the Israeli government will do whatever it takes to bring its captive soldiers home. If Gilad Shalit were my son, it wouldn't matter how many hundreds of prisoners it took to bring him back into my arms. And that's really why this moral dilemma isn't a dilemma after all. We just have to put our own children in Gilad Shalit's shoes, and then ask the question.

I remember my high school years in United Synagogue Youth (USY) petitioning the U.S. government to assist in the redeeming of the captive soldiers Ron Arad, Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman. And in more recent years we prayed for the release of other captives as well. So the video footage of Gilad Shalit's return to Israel today is cause for celebration. It is a beautiful reunion and one that Gilad's parents truly deserve after their tireless efforts of the past five plus years.

As we celebrate the release of Gilad Shalit and the fulfillment of the commandment of pidyon sh'vuyim (the redemption of captives) in the middle of the Sukkot festival, we must also pray that Israel is able to protect itself from any terrorism caused by the prisoners it has agreed to release in this deal. At this time of great joy, we must also remember Lt. Hanan Barak and Staff-Sgt. Pavel Slutzker, the two young men who were killed in the same cross-border raid from Gaza into Israel that resulted in the taking of Gilad Shalit. May their memories be for blessings.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jas ... 17622.html