Now that the Centers for Disease Control has approved vaccinations for children ages 5-11, Big Bird tweeted “I got the COVID-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy.” In response, Senator Ted Cruz wrote, “Government propaganda…for your 5 year old!” Big Bird has been a part of Sesame Street since the first episode in 1969. It has been speculated that the most “Jewish” characters on Sesame Street are Statler and Waldorf, the curmudgeonly critics in the balcony. What actual Jewish event has occurred on Sesame Street?

Big Bird by Selena N. B. H. is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Jay Black, lead singer of Jay and the Americans, died last week at the age of 82. Black, whose real name was David Blatt, was raised in an Orthodox family in Brooklyn. His first public performance was as a member of the choir at Temple Beth-El in Borough Park, singing under the leadership of the renowned Cantor Moshe Koussevitzky. But Blatt went on to be expelled from three different yeshivas and his musical interest shifted to doo-wop. He then replaced Jay Traynor, the original singer of Jay and the Americans, and he adopted the name Jay Black. He and the band went on to record such hit songs as Only in America, Cara Mia, and Come a Little Bit Closer. Yet Jay Black never lost his Jewish connections, and Jay and the Americans included what song of Jewish interest on their 1967 album Try Some of This! ?

Jay and the Americans 1963 is in the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The House of Representatives has voted to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress, and the Justice Department will now decide whether to pursue charges against Bannon. The vote resulted from Bannon’s refusal to appear under subpoena before the House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection and the role that President Trump might have played. In the past, Bannon has been accused of being anti-Semitic, an issue that particularly came up when President Trump appointed Bannon as Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor in 2016. At that time, which of the following people offered a defense of Bannon against the charge?

Steve Bannon by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A. Joel Pollack, a Jewish senior editor-at-large at Breitbart News, the website which Bannon headed at that time, offered “proof” that Bannon was not anti-Semitic, based on his relationship with Bannon. “I have Saturdays off, Jewish holidays off and Steve Bannon always wishes me a ‘Shabbat shalom’ on Friday afternoon.”

B. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke said of Bannon, “I’m thrilled with this appointment. You have an individual, Mr. Bannon, who’s basically creating the ideological aspects of where we’re going. But anti-Semitic? Trust me. I know an anti-Semite when I see one, which I often do. And Steve Bannon does not fit that category.”

C. President Trump responded to the charge of anti-Semitism at the time of Bannon’s appointment to the White House staff, saying, “Why would I appoint an anti-Semite to any job now that I have a Jewish son-in-law?”

D. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich defended Bannon against the charge in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation program, saying that Bannon’s past credentials prove he isn’t anti-Semitic. Said Gingrich, “He was a managing partner of Goldman Sachs. He was a Hollywood movie producer.”

E. Bannon was the director, and co-writer with Sarah Palin, of the 2011 documentary The Undefeated, which explored Palin’s life and political career. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Sarah Palin about the charge of anti-Semitism against Bannon. Palin replied, “I can see anti-Semites from my porch. But I can’t see Steve Bannon.”

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A teacher in the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas who had an anti-racism book in her classroom was reprimanded, with the district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction issuing a statement requiring teachers to offer books showing both sides of controversial issues. The administrator stated, “Make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives.” Her comment led to a huge outcry by parents, Jewish organizations, and many public officials, leading to an apology by the District Superintendent. There has long been a history of politicians, school administrators, and others attempting to further their personal, political or religious perspectives by controlling the books used for instruction in schools or offered in libraries. Which of the following books was banned, or proposed for banning, and why?

Banned Books Week 2012 by Rod Library is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A. The Baker Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas banned Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl because parents said that the book was pornographic.

B. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl was challenged in Wise County, Virginia because parents were concerned that Anne’s criticisms of her mother would undermined adult authority.

C. The Culpeper County, Virginia school system banned the The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition because parents complained about the sexual content and homosexual themes.

D. Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, the United States military prison in Cuba which currently houses fewer than 40 detainees, has banned Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl for unspecified reasons.

E. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl was challenged by four members of the Alabama State Textbook Committee because the book was “a real downer.”

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