Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stars in an Israeli TV ad

As a marketing professional, I could not help but admiring the inventiveness and the chutzpah of the people from McCann Erickson that created this ad for cable network Yes.

"My brothers," says the mock Iranian president in a speech broadcast through loudspeakers across the country, "the uranium is in our hands and after Monday it will be goodbye to Israel."

Unexpectedly, the Iranian leader's supporters - dressed in Shiite religious garb - take exception to the speech, dismayed at the prospect of missing their favorite Israeli television series.

"What are you talking about?" asks one of his followers. "It's the last episode of Danny Hollywood on Monday."

The declaration of Iranian president's intent to destroy Israel is met with riots, and the police are deployed to control protests which suddenly take the form of a big budget musical.

The commercial, produced by advertising company McCann Erickson, is entirely a parody of "Cazablan," a hit Israeli musical of the 1960s.

Go to YouTube by clicking here and have a look. It is in arabic with hebrew subtitles, but even if you cannot understand the language it is a lot of fun.

New Owner

Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, this blog will be given to its rightful owner. On the meantime, I will keep on posting sporadically. But please keep on visiting !

US Presidential candidates at the AIPAC

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, the presumptive contenders in november's election, spoke at the AIPAC conference last week. While parts of Sen. Obama's speech focused on the relationship between Jews and African-Americans, Sen. McCain preferred to focus his speech on the threat that a nuclear Iran would pose and offered his strong support to the state of Israel (which was also unequivocally offered by Sen. Obama). 

Let's hear your thoughts...

This week's Parsha: Naso

This week's Parsha is the longest in the Torah, and it starts with a continuation of the Levite census and a discussion regarding their Tabernacle duties. The laws of the sotah woman and the Nazirite follow. The portion concludes with the Priestly Blessing and the offerings which the Tribal leaders brought in honor of the Tabernacle inauguration.

One interesting analysis can be found here - it states one of the most basic tenets of Judaism, and what has distinguished Jews from all other religions: G'd does not owes us anything - quite the contrary, it is our duty to be devoted to him, and to perfect the world. 

Another perspective, this coming from a Reform rabbi, can be found here. It argues that the two extremes depicted in this Parsha - the sotah (wayward woman) and the nazirite (extremely pious) have their humanity affirmed by the Priestly Benediction. 

You want my take ? Come to temple this Saturday... ;-)

Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv

This last Friday Tel Aviv saw once again its Gay Pride Parade - its 10th edition ! Of course the Haredis were incensed, but the parade once more showed the world how diverse is the israeli society. Pictures can be seen here. 

On the other hand, some religious MKs are promoting a bill to ban the same parade from Jerusalem. Do you think this is right ?