Jewish American Heritage Month: Americans Jews Who Made an Impact

May is Jewish American Heritage Month. With antisemitism on the rise in frightening numbers, the easier thing would be to hide who we are. Instead, we should be loud and proud of who we are. In honor of this month, I would like to offer a small list of American Jews who have made an impact on this nation.

• Haym Solomon financed the Revolutionary War.
• Steven Spielberg has entertained us for nearly half a century.
• Emma Lazarus‘s poem, The New Colossus, greeted immigrants for generations via the Statue of Liberty.
• Jonas Salk saved countless lives via his polio vaccine.
• Golda Meir was one of the first modern female political leaders.
• Betty Friedan fought for the rights of American women.
• Harvey Milk paved the way for LGBTQ Americans to be themselves and have the same rights as any American.
• John Berman has kept us informed on CNN.
• Jessica Meir went into space with NASA.

P.S. Last week was both Yom HaZikaron and Yom Haatzmaut. Happy Birthday Israel and may the memories of those who gave their lives for their country be a blessing.

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Flashback Friday-Armageddon (1998)

The end of the world is always an interesting prospect for a story.

In Armageddon (1998), the world is going to end via a asteroid strike on earth. A team of deep core drillers is commissioned by NASA to break up the asteroid before it kills millions.

After an asteroid destroys a shuttle and hits New York City, NASA discovered that another asteroid, as big as Texas is hurling toward Earth. They have 18 days before it hits the atmosphere. The solution comes in the form of Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), an expert in deep core drilling. He bring together a team of expert, but ne’er do well deep core drillers and geologists. Their mission is to implant a nuclear device on the asteroid before it arrives on Earth. While preparing for his mission, Harry is slowly warming up to the idea that his daughter, Grace (Liv Tyler) is not a little girl anymore. She is seriously dating A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck), a member of his team.

While the plot of the movie runs a bit thin at times, it is an engaging, entertaining movie. Add in an iconic theme song by Aerosmith and you’ve got a nice diversion from the realities of our lives.