More news from the Sacha Baron Cohen beat. Apparently, he will be playing famed activist Abbie Hoffman in Steven Spielberg’s The Trial of the Chicago Seven, due out this summer.

The Sunday Times notes that Cohen was a good choice for the role because he’s a Jew, just like Hoffman!

Cohen will not have to undergo a big transformation to play the part. Hoffman, who was Jewish, attended Berkeley University in California, while Baron Cohen, an urbane Orthodox Jew more than 6ft tall, cut his teeth entertaining friends at Christ’s College Cambridge with subversive wit and surreal pranks.

It’s true, you know. Life is just a whole lot easier for everyone when Jews play Jews. Less confusion that way.

I, however, believe that Cohen was given the part because he, like Hoffman, looks rad in shirts that are American flags.

In my 2007 Jew-ish literature review, I wrote that it’s weird that I Just Want my Pants Back has a theatrical trailer, for the obvious reasons (ie. it’s a book, not a movie). But apparently, this isn’t all that uncommon. Foreskin’s Lament actually has not one, but two trailers.

They’re both worth watching, but this second one is about porn. So it’s extra worth watching.

(Photo from 20th Century Fox)
Sorry to break the news, Borat fans, if you haven’t already heard, but Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat and Ali G’s alter ego, has announced the retirement of his two popular characters. That means no more etiquette lessons, no more hearty renditions of “Throw the Jew in the Well,” no more naked pillow fights with obese, hairy men, no more bad rap. Well, someone will take over the mantle for creating bad rap. So long Borat, we hardly knew ye!

I’ve got to hand it to Joel Rothschild. The mastermind behind the Ravenna Kibbutz Commons is certainly making his way around the various Jewish publications of the Internets these days. Last week, we ran a story about the Kibbutz, featuring a photo of Rothschild and two of his housemates in their kitchen. Then, today, I logged on to www.nextbook.com, and what do I see on the very top of the page? A story about the Moishe House program, with a shot of, yep, that’s right, Rothschild and fellow Kibbutzers kickin’ it in the Commons’ kitchen.

The Nextbook piece is by Eli Sanders who’s a staff writer for The Stranger.  It’s an interesting look at the man behind the Moishe House Program, Morris B. Squire, and the general awesomeness of his sponsored houses.  Squire, it turns out, is, at 84 years old, quite the character. Here’s my favorite Squire moment from the story:

“Why do you have three girls and five men?” Squire asked. “Are these girls fuck girls?” He turned to me. “Excuse me for my vernacular.”

“No,” said Felix.

“I would plan a sexualized game,” said Squire. “And recognize what you’re doing it for.” The goal, Squire explains, is to draw young people into the Moishe Mobile orbit for altruistic, not carnal, ends. “You have to figure out something that is not going to make you indecent, but will help you grow.”

Since Sanders is a Seattle resident himself, it’s a rather Seattle-centric piece and he uses Seattle’s previous Moishe House, located in Sand Point, as his primary example of sponsored communal living. Definitely worth checking out, if you’re interested in that whole Jewish youth culture thing.

At the tail end of an AP story about Hamas supposedly making cease-fire overtures to stop Israel’s current air incursion into Gaza was this:

People were trying to make do with what they have, substituting traditional feast staples with local goods. Chocolate has not been coming in, so strawberries- abundant in the market because of an export ban - featured high in holiday handouts.

It’s currently Eid al-Adha, which “commemorates the ancient story of Abraham and his readiness to sacrifice his son, rendered in the Quran as Ishmael, as an act of obedience to God, who provided a lamb to be offered instead.” What with the widespread poverty (which Condi Rice has blamed on Gaza while others blame it on Israel) and air assault going on, things are not feeling quite so festive. But Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has reportedly asked Israel for a truce.

Hamas officials said they were working with other militant groups to try to stop the rocket fire into Israel and also sent overtures to Israel through unidentified third parties.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said no way. Even Shimon Peres, Nobel laureate for his own peace plan and the oldest living Israeli politician blasted the overture, calling it “a pathetic attempt to deflect world attention away from the crimes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” As long as there continue to be rocket attacks in the town of Sderot, one cabinet minister said Israel would continue its incursion.

The borders to Gaza are, for all intents and purposes, sealed with the exception of humanitarian aid and some supplies. So it brings up an interesting question: With all the recriminations back and forth, etc., will we be seeing strawberries on holiday tables in the next couple weeks, and maybe beyond, in solidarity with the people of Gaza?