While Gawker has been marveling at the extent to which this past week has been "the week of the Jews," proud New Yorkers can rest assured that their cultural institutions pull weight worldwide. After Jewish-focused features and cover stories in publications as diverse as, well, Time Out New York and New York magazine, it seems those notorious anti-semites in "Old Europe" have taken a cue and gotten smart to the New York publishing world's "hip factor".

Officials in France are now considering "breaking centuries of European tradition by making an Islamic feast and a Jewish holy day official school holidays...'France will be the first non-Muslim country to recognize Eid al-Fitr and the only country apart from Israel to celebrate Yom Kippur,' said Patrick Weil, a member of the special commission that proposed the new holidays."

Expect this to make the cover of The Economist next week (they're sooo "yesterday's news").