March 2001 - אֲדָר .. נִיסָן תשס״א Adar..Nisan 5761

From the Offices of the President - For Immediate Release:

While you were not looking Lex Luthor was elected President of the United States of the DC Universe.

Because of his unwavering lack of support for the recently appointed President of the United States of America and the newly elected Prime Minister of Israel, our Rabbi has been selected by President Luthor to serve as the new ambassador to Chad. Originally tapped for the position of special envoy for peace negotiations in the Middle East, the president decided that there would be more to do in Chad.

As Ambassador to Chad, Rabbi Manhoff will help the government of Chad hold open and free elections on the model of the State of Florida, United States. Rabbi Manhoff was especially suited for this task because of his proficiency in Hebrew and other ancient Semitic Languages. Therefore on the model of the State of Florida, the elections will be held from right to left (as in the Hebrew Language. The rabbi has often stated: “English goes backwards because Hebrew came first!”) The right-to-left model allows for the counting to begin with the winner, and then to count backwards to the first votes. Of course for the winner to end up as the preselected choice, the counters will be instructed to stop counting at any point where necessary for the numbers to verify the predetermined results.

The most complicated part of Rabbi Manhoff's responsibilities will be to design a ballot for the newly enfranchised butterflies. These so called “butterfly ballots” will not be available to the other newly enfranchised populations, the goring bulls and the burnt up bushes, as these latter groups were considered too mentally challenged to vote properly. As with the human population, the votes will be assigned to the gorers and the bushes according to the personal preferences of the high court.

President Luthor has extolled Rabbi Manhoff's exceptional lack of credentials for this assignment, but has assured the public and the people of the nation of Chad that the Rabbi has read enough comic books to become expert in any field of make-believe.

Please join the members and friends of Temple Beth Sholom as we wish Rabbi Manhoff a fond farewell on Thursday, March 8th beginning at 7:00 PM. The Purim Megillah will also be read!

It's Adar, be happy!

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

Lehrhaus Judaica presents:

From Jesus to Christ: Jewish Perspectives on Jesus. In this class we will explore the numerous Jewish texts surrounding the birth of Christianity, which indicate the Jewish roots of the movement of Jews who followed Jesus as the Messiah (the Christ). The instructor will assert that the New Testament was a book written by Jews for Jews about a Jew, placing this early messianic movement in the context of the Dead Sea Community at Qumran, the Gnostic Jewish community in Egypt, the conflict between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and then squarely within the tradition of the Jewish Sages (Chachamim).

The Semitic roots (Hebrew and Aramaic) of the New Testament will be compared to the Jewish literature of Philo, Josephus, the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and finally the Mishna and Midrash. The images we will encounter are complex and include a wide range of current and original research on the historical Jesus and the origins of Christianity.

RABBI HARRY MANHOFF, ABD in Religious Studies at UCSB, is a scholar of Judaism of late Antiquity and Christian origins.
4 sessions: Mondays, 7:30-9:00 PM, March 5-26
Site: Berkeley-Richmond JCC, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley

Rabbi Manhoff to Offer a New Three Week Mini-Course:

Judaism and the Popular Cultural - (Who are we kidding, its really Jews and the Comic Book Question). What's new in Adult Education at Temple Beth Sholom? A brand-new three-week mini-course entitled Judaism and the Popular Culture. Oh what the heck, we all know what Rabbi Manhoff is passionate about. The real course title is Jews and the Comic Book Question. What is this course about? No one really knows. But this is the month of Adar and by Jewish law we are required to be happy and perhaps a little silly. So what better course than one on comic books.

Rabbi Manhoff and his son, Eitan, have been collecting Superman and Batman comics for over eight years and have a collection of thousands of books and hundreds of related toys. So now you know how the Rabbi relaxes (read: wastes time). He will share some of his "startling" discoveries. OK they are not startling, but it should be fun anyway.

Jews and the Comic Book Question will be offered on three successive Thursday evenings, March 15, 22 and 29, from 7:30 - 9:00 PM in the library. Join us for the fun.

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