Reports of images of Jesus or Mary are legion, from potato chips to toasted bread to the famous Shroud of Turin, but the sun in the shape of a Star of David? Yep, that's the image that appears in a sunset photo that Potomac's Brett Horowitz took aboard the Norwegian Dawn during a family cruise returning to New York from Bermuda.
The photo was taken with a five-year-old, point-and-shoot Nikon 5200, with no filter or device attached, says Horowitz's delighted grandfather, Aaron Weisstuch of Silver Spring.
He can't wait to see the photos another grandson, Bradley Pasekoff, 8, took.
Moses perhaps?
The tops in kosher are ...
Pomegranate Bistro in Potomac, along with the Kosher Pastry Oven and Shaul's, both in Silver Spring, are the overall winners in the 2008-2009 Washington DC Area Kosher Community Survey, as, respectively, Best Kosher Restaurant, Best Kosher Baker and Best Kosher Store/Butcher.
To qualify as an overall winner, an establishment must have received at least 100 evaluations.
Full results are available at www.kosher-community-surveys.com.
Meanwhile, don't forget WJW's Readers' Choice Survey on the Best of Jewish Greater Washington. Find it at our home page, www.washingtonjewishweek.com.
Kosher chicken brings Nats some wins
Hugh Kaufman, who proclaims himself the Rubber Chicken Man, thinks he knows why the Nationals won four in six games: It's the kosher chicken.
Writing Tuesday on The Washington Post's D.C. Sports Blog, Dan Steinberg notes that about a week ago, Kaufman realized the Nats slump might be because his chickens were treif. We'll pick up Steinberg here:
"And, coincidentally, a big Macher (Google it) from Empire (Google it) was at a Nats game, and helped Kaufman procure an Empire label, which he promptly affixed to his rubber chicken.
" 'Well, they've played better since we sacrificed the Kosher chicken,' Kaufman said. 'The treyf chicken did nothing this year. The treyf chicken, they got creamed.' "
Maybe some more kosher stands would also help with wins.
Win a wedding
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue is holding a wedding giveaway -- valued at $3,500. Just sign up at www.sixthandi.org and include a 30-second video in wmv format, explaining why you should be the one to get the prize.
Of course, you still have to pay for the dress, the tux, the rings, the food, the music, the flowers, the ketubah, the rabbi. But, hey, $3,500 in savings is a pretty shekel and the kippot and chuppah are included.
The Daily Show, with Jonathan Liebowitz
Author Ron Rosenbaum wants Jon Stewart to change his last name back to Liebowitz. In an open letter to the comedian on Slate, Rosenbaum calls the name change an "unnecessary relic of anti-Semitism," and implores him to change it back. "It might even make it easier for young comedians, actors, and rock stars to resist the temptation to try to 'pass.' "
On the other hand, Rosenbaum would prefer that some celebrities don't make their Jewish roots so obvious: "I hope that Gene Simmons of Kiss keeps his origins hidden from those who don't know about them," Rosenbaum says about the Israeli-born Chaim Witz.
-- compiled with reports from JTA News and Features, The Jerusalem Post and other sources
