Everyone knows that Jews have exerted extraordinary influence on popular music throughout history, but it seems that not just one but two members of the Tribe are calling the shots on one of the music industry’s most visible outlets, Fox’s “American Idol.”
It is known that pop diva Paula Abdul is Jewish, and recently it was revealed that Simon Cowell — the show’s brutally honest Brit — is of Jewish descent, too: His paternal grandparents, Joseph Cowell and Esther Malinsky, were married in 1915 at West Ham Synagogue, in East London, the Web site Jewtastic reports.
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Nice that Simon has these roots, but only the Progressive Movement would accept him as a Jew if he chose to fully consider himself as such; the Conservative and various Orthodox Movements do not recognize him as a "member of the Tribe."
Great i'm thrilled
Although Simon Cowell has Jewish roots to his family tree, he is not considered to be Jewish according to halacha (Jewish Law), which bases Jewish lineage according to maternal rather than paternal descent.
so what? does he identify? does he bring honor to the Jewish people? this "who is (nominally) a Jew" is irritating
Berl Sijes' comment is so remarkably inappropriate that it mandates a response: there is so much difference between a Jewish newspaper's four-line notice about a celebrity's Jewish origins and the Nazi Nuremberg Laws that the invocation of the latter in the context of the former is, to put it bluntly, repulsive. It's an established feature of Jewish culture that Jews are interested in the Jewish connections of famous people, just as, for example, other ethnic groups are interested in members of their community that have become famous (or notorious), or gay people are interested in whether a celebrity is gay or not. The purpose of such speculation is not, as was the case with the Nuremberg Laws, to strip that celebrity of his or her citizenship, property, or human dignity. If you can't understand that distinction, why the hell are you reading a Jewish newspaper in the first place?!
Your investigations into jewish roots, reminds me of the Nazis and their investigation in the number of jewish grandparents (Nurnberg laws of 1935).
What seems to be the relevance of this so-called investigative ,mesmerazing and inquisitive revelation and what is the impact of these 2 individuals in terms of their contribution to Judaism.
Mr. Brukhes, one is not a member of the Tribe because one has some jewish grandparent, but because one identifies with the jewish people and is part of this community. We seem to try to make everyone famous a member of the Tribe on the basis of their descent, not on what they factually are. Sarkozy, the new president of France, is not a member of the tribe because his grandfather from his father's side was a jew. Sarkozy is a baptized Roman Catholic.
I often wonder what the world without the Jews as they have blessed us with so much in every way,,Maybe some are to go to the library and get the book "The Pioneers of the Jews of the West " They might find our their precious cell phones, cures for disease, their ford cars, their phones and even Columbus was a Jew..Shame on everyone who does not love them and appreciate them all. Soon their Messiah will come,,and I am happy to say, I am with Israel forever !Most of Hollywood is Jews too, Macy's JC Penny's, the first gov in Ca,first trains, mines , shops of all kinds..We owe them everything and even our G-d to say nothing of them dying for scripture..G-d bless Israel.
SO?
`Brutally honest!` that`s a laugh. Simon Cowell is a study in pretension and self-denial. So, right, he`s a Jew. Were his parents Jewish? Probably. As they lived in Elstree. No doubt there was a period of lapsed Judaism and then poss a conversion. What makes this sick is that this is true poss not only for the Cowells but many European Jews. This self-effacement and assimilation. Why? Because the only Jews which the gentile community is willing to acknowledge (by way of jobs, housing, education, etc) are the Arab Jews. You almost never hear of an European Jew these days. When the gentile community uses the word `Jew` it is always intended for Sasha Baron Cohen or Paula Abdul or some other Arab Jew. European Jewish culture has been savagely manipulated and poss expunged and not by Adolph Hitler either. I wonder what Simon Cowell`s grandfather was like. He was probably `dreamy`; because Cowell, less the defenses and the pretensions and the self-justification, is, in fact, a very sexy guy!!!!
Martin Lipson my freind, you are wrong! There is not any reference in the torah that says that sons or daughters of Jewish parents, wherther it ber father or mother, that says that are not Jews if one of the parents is not Jewish. It only became a myth when the greeks started to invade Israel. This is a rabbinic opinion on the part of elders who decided that it was important to keep the Jewish stock pure while the territory of Israel was being Helenized. In the absense of the Temple and authority in Jerusalem the Greeks took over the law in Israel and the Preistly class in Jerusalem decided to keep control of the population by making the law that the only "real" Jews were those that could actually be witnessed coming out of their mother.
Who cares if he identifies or not....or if he is Jewish or not. I think far too much is made of one being Jewish or not being Jewish> The bottom line is he is a businessman who because of his drive and ambition puts a smile (most of the time) on millions of faces weekly. I just get sick and tired of hearing the world divided into Jews and Non-Jews....get over it...seriously. Its as if being Jewish makes him a better person....I can think of more than a few Jews who do nothing for anyone other than themselves....seriously, give the whole Jew thing a rest, its boring already.
He should go back to Israel. No use here.
oy ......vey
It is nice to hear that simon cowell is partially a jew. What I want to know if he admits to this and if he is in any way proud to be a jew ,even if it it only percentage points................
As far as paula abdul, the name says it all "ABDUL", not very jewish, i hope she is not hiding her faith to much. By the way I saw her on you tube with a rabbi stating how she lights sabbath candles, so who know what is really up with her.......
Slimon is n obvious Wall-Wailer.
You all sound like a bunch of elitist racists. It is ironic that Jews are the most xenophobic elitists on the planet, and are the ones always crying against racism and anti-semitism. You sit on your high horses and wonder why the world is anti-semitic?
Kim Segar wrote: "I often wonder what the world without the Jews as they have blessed us with so much in every way."
Yeah, me too! I wonder what the world would have been like without guys like Lenin and Stalin who murdered 60 million people during their tenure. No, not murdering Jews. They were Jews murdering everyone. Makes you wonder what would happen here in the US if they gained control.........whoops! They already have!
My Great Grandmother (on my dad's side) was Jewish. I did not find out about this until later and I wonder why I was never told about my Great Grandmother. I know that my Grandma's nickname was always Dodie and I later discovered that this is a Hebrew nickname.
My Great Grandmother's last name was Brillinger and she was born in Germany. She moved to Saskatoon, Canada.
I think knowing about one's roots is fascinating!
"Yeah, me too! I wonder what the world would have been like without guys like Lenin and Stalin who murdered 60 million people during their tenure."
Is that a joke? Stalin wasn't Jewish in the least, and Lenin was 1/4 Jewish. At least get your facts straight before you post hateful nonsense.
Oh wait, since Stalin was Georgian, are you going to hate Georgians now and post hate speech about them? Kinda doubt it.