Of Kidneys, Politics and Shame

Mired so deeply in what I hope are the final stages of my job hunt, it's admittedly been difficult to gather my thoughts together on various events of my life and the world around me. Diligent readers will note I completely failed to describe my trip to Montreal at the beginning of July. It's not that it was a lousy trip - actually we had a pretty great time butchering the French language, exploring the sights, working on our tans and loving Jazz Fest.

I've got a few other blog-orific ideas up my sleeve that I'm hoping to tackle before I take off for Costa Rica in early August. For now, I just wanted to offer a few reflections on the staggering FBI round-up that went down in New Jersey yesterday.

The story is pretty much lead news on every major media outlet so I'll let you take your pick of the Star Ledger, New York Times, CNN, etc. What I do want to highlight is this fantastic story from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show about medical anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes who tipped the FBI off to the despicable illegal organ trafficking perpetrated by Levy Itzhak Rosenbaum of Brooklyn. Listen here and be both proud of the power of journalism and shamed by the power of human greed.

I also can't possibly ignore the utterly shameful connection of the Jewish community, and the Orthodox enclaves of Brooklyn and Deal, NJ, to this story. As if the Jews needed worse press and the rumor mills needed further fodder for their hate-filled ideas that Jews run the international banking system.

Since its so repugnant, I'm just going to resort to an old Yid tactic and make a joke...If it's true that the Jews run the banks and ostensibly,the world, then why is it that I'm still job hunting after 3 1/2 months!?

For an angle on the story from those inside the Orthodox world, I'll recommend Vos iz Neias. Normally, I wouldn't direct people to a source pretty beyond my own frame of reference or politics, but in this story which such clear villians, I think it's safe.

I'm off to a much-needed Shabbat island of relaxation in the Outer Boroughs, but I'm eager to see how these stories pan out and how far-reaching the corruption will go. With any luck, the one silver lining will be quality reporting, interviewing and research that goes to the heart of high-caliber investigative journalism... and maybe a few friends' jobs saved.