Coastie's: Codeword for Jewish American Princesses?

For many of us who attended Midwestern Universities, there was a divide in culture (and often Socio-economic status) between students from the Midwest and students from the coast. A recent video out of the University of Wisconsin tackles the issue of 'Coastie's head on, and it specifically calls out Jewish girls spending their 'daddy's money'.

Props to Jewschool for bringing this to our attention.

Coastie is defined on Wikipedia as

a term used in Midwestern U.S. universities to denote students who come from outside of the region, mainly from the East or West coast. The term is also used to describe students from the suburbs of Chicago. The term is thought to have been coined in the early to mid 90s. Although the most general use of the term denotes only the origin of these students, there are often implicit or explicit associations that use of the term can evoke. One is that coasties do not pay their own tuition because they come from socioeconomically privileged families. Other associations include living in private residence halls and membership in a fraternity or a sorority. Additional associations are fashion-related and are therefore more ephemeral. The most recent coastie fashion consists of Ugg boots, The North Face jackets, plain black leggings, American Apparel v-neck t-shirts, Longchamp Bags, and over-sized sunglasses.

The term took on new life, however, when the following video starting making its rounds:



As you can clearly hear, the performers call special attention to Jewish honeys (attractive girls) spending daddy's money, as well as a clear Jewish American Princess line.

Now, I'm with Talib Kweli when he says

Now if they call you out your name and that's a different thing
Anything but Queen I'll go to war like a King

And normally I'd be willing to go to war for my Jewish honeys, except that... well... it kind of rings true. It's not that 'Coasties' can just be reduced to their material components, but there sure were a lot of girls (and guys) at Wash U who sported the attire described on the Wikipedia article.

Dearest 'Coastie' friends, how does this song resonate with you? Are you infuriated? Flattered? Or does it not bother you since you moved back to the coast after school and haven't thought about the fly-over states since?

For various responses see: the AP article, the Heeb quip and the Sisterhood response.

Read More......

The New Jewish Theatre: Keepin' It Cultural

I just picked up a copy of the new Alive magazine, which has a 'hot list' of top spots in St. Louis, and while the Gramophone made the list as the best place to catch live music, The New Jewish Theatre was nowhere to be found.

It's a common problem, says NJT Artistic Director Kathleen Sitzer, who has been with the Theatre since its creation 12 years ago.

"We've consistently been nominated for and won awards for our shows," she says, "and yet, there are a lot of people who have never even heard about us."

Not to toot our own horn, but didn't we do a story about "Sabina" at the NJT?

But, despite the fact that 2/3 of any given show's seats will be taken by season ticket holders, the New Jewish Theatre is reaching out in some interesting directions.

Take their upcoming show, "The Last 5 Years", for example. "It has developed an almost cult-like following in New York recently," Sitzer explained, "and rock driven score which we think will be quite appealing."

They are also getting a new Theatre, which will be state of the art, and provide a cozy setting for 150 people.

We'll be checking out "The Last 5 Years", if you are interested, or want to find out more about the New Jewish Theatre, visit them here
Read More......

Zeda's Beat Box This Saturday!

Zeda's Beat Box
LIVE
At the JCC (Wohl)
2 Millstone Campus Dr.
Sat. Jan 10
8:15 PM
FREE!



Listen the tracks from the bands new CD "Seven" Read More......

Living Jews: Missouri State Representative, Jake Zimmerman Part 1

The latest in The St. Lou Jew's series on young Jews who are doing big things, today we bring you an interview with State Rep Jake Zimmerman, read on to learn more about what role being Jewish and from St. Louis played in his life, what its like adjusting to Jefferson City (the capital of MO), and a few good digs on Jeff Smith

For those of you regular readers, you may recall a post from a month or two back, in which LC and I were panelists at the St. Louis Jewish Federation's Board of Trustees meeting. Aside from being a great experience, legitimizing our role and voice in the community, and feeding our egos, the event also gave us the opportunity to network.

When Stuart Zimmerman, Principal at The Buckingham Family of Financial Services approached me afterwards and told me that he wanted to introduce me to his son Jake, the State Rep, I jumped at the opportunity.

Zuz and I caught up with Jake for a phone interview while he was on his way to Jefferson City.

Jake took a moment to activate his Blue Tooth headset and call us back to avoid, "hurting someone."

When we asked Jake to describe how he ended up in Politics in Missouri, he asked if we had specific questions or just wanted him to start talking, and have us try to shift the conversation as we went. Seeing as how he is a politician, we figured he would be most comfortable just talking until he made a gaffe.

Background: The Jake Zimmerman Story

STL born and bred, Jake grew up in family that took the whole Jewish thing pretty seriously. They belonged to Bnai Emunah, Jake attended Hebrew school, Camp Ramah, all of that was a big part of who he was.

He remembers leafing through Pirkei Avot, and finding random passages that advised Jews not to get involved in secular politics, only to have his dad point out on the next page another rabbi who thought that sacrificing pigeons was the most important thing. Luckily for fans of Jake Zimmerman the Politician, he quickly came to the conclusion that maybe Pirkei Avot wouldn't be the be all end all in his life.

Like any good aspiring politician, Jake has spent a fair amount of time in DC working on the Hill, and even at one point as an intern in Bill Clinton's White House, to which Jake added, "insert joke here!"

While in law school at Harvard, Jake spent summers in STL, realizing that "I wanted to be in this community and do things here."

After law school, Jake returned to St. Louis, where he worked first for area law firm, Thompson Coburn, saying that, " On the East Coast, Harvard Law degrees are a dime a dozen...in St. Louis, they are a little less common than in New York."

"After law school I knew that I didn't want to work for someone else's agenda to play in the DC rat race game.

Living the Dream, Jake left the firm to work in consumer protection for the MO Attorney General's office, completing what he calls the ultimate tragedy for his concerned Jewish mother.

After his work at the AG, Jake was given the opportunity to be the deputy chief counsel for the governor, an opportunity that you just don't say no to and besides, he recognized that he needed real experience to do something that mattered in the community, "which I think comes back to Jewish values," adds Jake.

Being the Jewish guy in the governor's office was interesting. The Jewish community is small but an influential demographic, and his knowledge of the people and their issues made Jake useful.

When Governor Holden was voted out, Jake returned to STL and Thompson Coburn.

"At that point I knew I wanted to run for office. If you want to work for someone in politics who you agree with 100% of the time, who you think will do the right thing all the time, you have you be that politician.

I had a whole plan to run for the County Council as my first step. It was a complete and utter failure. You see, I wasn't the only one with this idea, but I was the least experienced with the idea. Even though I ended up not running, I made myself a reputation as someone you couldn't throw under the carpet, and luckily caught the attention of the right people.

Running for office is like starting a small business. I was lucky to have a lot of people who put money and endorsements behind my campaign. If not for the parental instincts of the Jewish community, my career as a politician may never have gotten off the ground."

So County Council was out, but party officials encouraged Jake to run for the state legislature in the Fightin' 83rd District in St. Louis County. Was Jake's campaign successful? What are his thoughts on what St. Louis needs to grow and thrive? And what's the inside scoop you can only get here. Stay tuned for Part Two to find out!
Read More......

Leonard Bernstein, on 2 bottles of Scotch

1986, Harvard University, 2 AM. After completing a trip around the world with both the Israeli and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, Leonard Bernstein agreed to speak to students given several conditions, including that there be at least 15, and that there be 2 bottles of scotch. The rest is very relevant history.

Bernstein, jet-lagged but unflagging spoke about the differences between touring with the two groups.

With the Israeli Philharmonic, previously the Palestine Philharmonic, Bernstein remarks on the constant security which accompanied him, creating an environment filled with fear.

On the second half of his tour, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the security was absent, and so was the sense of looming disaster.

He brings up interesting points about the relationships between the two, that seem particularly relevant in today's world.

If you have a few minutes, check out the full copy of the speech, complete with Jewy Rosh Hashanah and Hatikvah references.
Read More......

St Lou Jews Abroad

On the occasion of our 5,000th page view, I wanted to showcase our newest talent, DH1, who will be writing a bit about her experiences as a Jew traveling abroad.
Enjoy.

“Y, tu? Cual es tu religion?” my Mexican host mother asked me excitedly. I couldn’t believe that I actually felt nervous answering a question about my religion. Had I ever, in my entire life, felt anything but glowing pride in making the statement that I was Jewish? If I can recall correctly, the answer was no.

These uneasy feelings were unfamiliar to me. I was confident that my Jewish identity was strong, as I had grown up in a community that welcomed diversity and had never lived far from the security of a supportive Jewish world. As I prepared to embark on a year-long adventure throughout Europe and Central/South America, I recall feeling a strange apprehension with respect to my Judaism. My knowledge that anti-Semitism was thriving in many countries around the world filled me with many questions about how the next year would unfold.

For the first time, I considered the possibility of encountering situations in which I would not feel comfortable expressing my Judaism. I already knew that I would be living with three different host families in Mexico, Spain, and Chile. What if my families didn’t like me because I was Jewish? I had already experienced how unfounded hate continues to be a common thread within the historical memory of many cultures. As I had witnessed in Poland two years prior, I knew that old stereotypes and fabricated tales still hold great sway and power in the minds of many.

Fortunately, I am happy to report that my experience in Puebla, Mexico was nothing of the sort. When I carefully explained to my host mother that I was Jewish, her eyes lit up with a kind of intense happiness that was both shocking and difficult to describe.

As it turns out, my Mexican host family professes to a sect of Christianity that is deeply devoted to Israel and the belief that the Jews are God’s chosen people. A woman of modest means, my host mother had traveled to Israel a few years before, and related vivid accounts of her experience at the Jordan River.

Throughout the summer, she would wheel me into the kitchen (out of sight from my non-Jewish roommate), place her hands on my head, and begin to recite a stream of extravagant blessings and prayers. The shock and humor of the situation was astounding to me. I had been expecting an uneasy welcome. Instead, I was met by an overwhelming fascination with all things Jewish. My host family introduced me to the pastor of the church (“she’s JEWISH!!!”) and asked me to write all of their names in Hebrew. Occasionally, mealtimes would be characterized by interrogations about Israel and its geography, the Jewish holidays (they were especially curious about Passover), and my family’s traditions.

The warmth, love, and acceptance of strangers who welcomed me into their home and their lives were deeply inspiring. They showed me that tolerance does exist, even in the most unlikely places.
Read More......