May this holiday season and our new year of 2016 be blessed with more Understanding, Cooperation and Kindness. We need less Hatred, Bigotry, Greed which are all evil forces that bring about war, bloodshed and sorrow…unless of course, The Force is of Light and Goodness like the Jedis possess. Yes, we saw Star Wars last weekend and it brought back memories of the original 1977 film (episode IV, A New Hope). The mysteries and connections of this new episode (VII, The Force Awakens) keep you thinking till the very end when Rey’s father is foreshadowed. The film will break all box office records as the franchise is a goldmine for new owners, Disney.

Helping to end destructive rhetoric needs more voices like (US Attorney for Eastern District of Michigan) Barb McQuade. Bravo to her Free Press opinion on how anti-Muslim speech is threatening our National Security and is immoral, bigoted and damaging. Wise words according to Barb…“when it comes to national security, united we stand, divided we fall”

Fear and ignorance fuels divisiveness and the country ofBrunei is feeding right into these irrational fears with their ban on Christmas.  Remember when the Sultan of Brunei was the richest man in the world, well now he’s only the 4th richest Royal in the world and with oil values declining, so too is he wealth.  But this hasn’t stopped him from declaring Christmas songs and decorations damaging to the Muslim faith.  About 32% of Brunei (pop. 429,000) is non-Muslim, yet obviously religious freedom is vacant in the country.

After 5 years of a bloody civil war and 100s of 1,000s of displaced refugees, the world and the UN have finally decided to help resolve the conflict in Syria with a joint resolution orchestrated by US and Russian efforts. There are too many cooks in this kitchen between Russia, US, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Assad himself for any easy accord to occur, but more power to the forces to help get this trainwreck off its disastrous track.

The UN is housed in New York City where various religious holidays are widely observed; where all school are closed on Good Friday, Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur . But for the 70 years of the UN’s existence, Christian and Muslim holidays were recognized on their calendar but they have never acknowledged any Jewish holiday…until this week. Yom Kippur is now an official holiday at the UN with the support of 32 Ambassadors but of course there were objections. Ali Abunimah, leader of the BDS movement stated “Making Yom Kippur a UN holiday to honor the genocidal ‘state’ of Israel would be sure way to increase global anti-Jewish sentiment.”   Isn’t it so sweet how he is concerned about increased anti-semitism?

Pope Francis acknowledge the 2nd miracle to the road to Sainthood for Mother Teresa. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for all her work with the impoverished.  If all goes well, she will be canonized Sept. 2016. She was a role model while living and as a Saint, she will continue to inspire good deeds to all.

Jerry Seinfeld performed 4 sold-out shows in Israel this week to 44,000 lucky ticket holders. His aspiration to become a comedian was ignited when volunteering on a Kibbutz in 1971. His 90 minute show was well received as a good time was had by all in attendance.

We are headed to NYC midweek so this email was sent to the system Wednesday evening.  Any big news that may have happened after that will be included in next week’s email. As you read this, we’ll have attended David Broza‘s annual 92nd Street Y “Not exactly Christmas Eve” concert. Also, we plan to see the Play of the Century, Hamilton, (on Sunday) but there is another play creating chatter. A revival of Fiddler on the Roof opened recently to rave reviews and references to current events. Fun Fiddler Facts: Bette Midler made her early Broadway appearance as Tzeitel in the original 1968 production.  Bette is also quoted below in this week’s political section.

And for Christmas Day, here’s a fun Seasonal video with dancing Hunks and (various) Holiday greetings. Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5c_YHRb-8

And this last holiday gift comes from Paul and Ringo with their announcement that as of Midnight Dec. 24th, all Beatles tunes will be available on streaming services like Spotify, Rhapsody and Google. “Come Together, right now, over me”. http://tinyurl.com/StreamBeatlesDec-24

I’ve always loved this holiday classic tune made famous originally by José Feliciano (who we once saw perform on a Kibbutz stage in the 80s). This rendition has a unique and creative spin and seems appropriate for today.