Far and Near

Monday, August 20, 2018

In a letter to The New York Times, a prominent Orthodox rabbi defended the current Israeli government for, among other things, "the maintenance of traditional Jewish religious decorum at the Western Wall" in Jerusalem.  That means the enforced separation of men and women at, what is considered by many Jews, the holiest spot on Earth.  A small section is available to women, but (very) Orthodox men bully (or worse) any woman who attempts to approach the far larger section reserved for men.  This is an extension of the separation of men and women that I discussed last week.  Any random woman might be "unclean" and thereby defile a man or even a wall that she comes into contact with.

I'll skip the hygiene for now.  I'm interested in the history, the supposed "traditional Jewish religious decorum."  In this case the tradition does not even predate Fiddler on the Roof.  

Here is the Western Wall, photographed by Félix Bonfils (1831-1885), well more than a century ago.  That's evidence of a real tradition.

. . .

I am on vacation, if one can be said to be on vacation when one is retired.  I am spending a couple of days at the Harrisville Inn in Harrisville, New Hampshire, reputedly the most photographed village in America.  See https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-hampshire/harrisville-nh-photographs/

I commend the inn to you if you are seeking a peaceful hideaway, although note that it prudently closes for the winter.

http://harrisvilleinn.com

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

The Chinese consider 8 the very luckiest number.  Recall that the Beijing Olympics began on August 8, 2008, 08/08/08.  Today, Paul Manafort, formerly Donald Trump's presidential campaign manager, was convicted of 8 counts of fraud in a federal district court in Virginia.  Meanwhile, in a federal district court in New York, Michael Cohen, formerly Donald Trump's personal attorney, plead guilty to 8 counts tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.  Feeling lucky?

. . .

An op-ed in The New York Times discusses the political liberalism of American Jews.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/opinion/american-jews-israel-liberals.html

The author and I agree that tikkun olam, "repairing the world," is a critical element of Judaism, which leads many American Jews to progressive politics.  This puzzled Norman Podhoretz, a famous convert from left wing to right wing politics.  The author paraphrases Podhoretz asking, if tikkun olam is central to Judaism, why do Orthodox American Jews reliably vote conservative now?

The answer is simple and unflattering.  Many Orthodox Jews view the world to be protected and repaired as only the world of Jews.  Not unlike some other religious groups, charity begins and ends at home for them.  Mormons, for instance, are extremely generous with money and time in support of their own welfare network, which is nominally non-sectarian.

https://religionnews.com/2016/11/29/utah-and-mormons-are-the-most-generous-and-not-just-on-givingtuesday/

However, the state of Utah, the public sector, "has not invested a lot in fighting poverty, nor on schools; Utah is dead last in per-pupil education spending," according to an otherwise laudatory article.    https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-28/how-utah-keeps-the-american-dream-alive

An interesting aspect of the Podhoretz conundrum is the political behavior of the most doctrinally conservative Jews here and in Israel.  Variously identified as Haredi/Black Hats/ultra-Orthodox/Torah-observant, they consistently support a militant stance on Israel -- Trump, Netanyahu.  But, they line up behind the party or politician delivering the most generous public welfare benefits to their  community.  Headline in the Wall Street Journal, of all places:

"New York’s Orthodox Jewish Community and Mayor Bill de Blasio Are In Step"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-yorks-orthodox-jewish-community-and-mayor-bill-de-blasio-are-in-step-1451695796

Thusday, August 23, 2018

We have proceeded to the Berkshires, spending the next several days in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the company of our second and third generations.  Last night, we attended Inside/Out, a program of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, held four nights a week during the summer.  Unlike almost every other offering in a region heavily dependent on tourism, it was free.  Performed outdoors, against a beautiful backdrop of rolling hills, we saw a delightful 45-minute program of tap dancing to the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim.  

. . .

Do I really have to choose between Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions?  That's like watching a World Series between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Bill Hyman sent along a respectable list of cold noodle joints in the Holy Land.   http://gothamist.com/2018/08/23/best_cold_noodles_2018_nyc.php    It may be most valuable if you find yourself stranded in Brooklyn or Queens.  Reflecting on the miles of cold sesame noodles that I have consumed over the years, Shanghai Asian Manor, 21 Mott Street stands out.  They will even give you an extra bowl of their fabulous peanut buttery sauce to slurp even after the last noodle is gone.  If you have room or a companion to share with, their scallion pancake and soup buns are excellent, as well.   

. . .

The best meal that we had this week and for many weeks past was served to us last night in the rental house.  It was the work of Austin Banach, a talented young local chef that we engaged for the second straight year to treat the family in high style.  banachaustin@gmail.com

The kids first had their penne pasta, grilled chicken and chocolate pudding.  After a decent interval, the grownups indulged in roasted beet tart tatin with herbed chevre and arugula, hake with leeks and white wine beurre blanc, farro grain salad with wild mushrooms, asparagus with orange hollandaise sauce, herb and olive oil glazed fingerling potatoes, chocolate tart with raspberries and salted caramel ice cream (from Soco Creamery, the only item not from Austin's loving hands).  We supplied the beverages, Macon-Lugny Les Charmes Chardonnay 2016 and Price Chopper Original Seltzer 2018.  

Soft Touch

Monday, August 13, 2018

Perri Klass is a doctor and a successful writer.  She had a piece in The New York Times this weekend, not addressing vaccinations, nutrition, or pain management, but rather about growing up in a household of 5 people with one bathroom, first in a Manhattan apartment and then in a suburban house.  Actually, the latter had a half bathroom (toilet, sink) inconveniently located, which, she claims, they never used, adults and children continuing to crowd into the one full bathroom.  
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/06/well/lessons-from-life-in-a-one-bathroom-house.html

Of course, this resonated with me and probably everyone that I went to high school and college with.  We all lived at home in apartments with one bathroom.  In my case, I shared the bathroom with my parents and my brother until I left for graduate school.  It never got that crowded again. 

While my first marriage was rocky, two bathrooms in the apartment and then the house we shared allowed us to focus on other things to fight about.  My current and eternal marriage is buoyed by two amply-sized, well-equipped bathrooms at a distance from each other.  A definite component of marital bliss.
. . .

If you marvel at the obtuseness of elected Republican officials in dealing with the racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, chronic liar in the White House, relax; history is merely repeating itself.  Most national Republican legislators in 1974 hung on to the sinking Nixon administration even as it was swamped with evidence of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and "a cancer on the presidency."  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/opinion/watergate-republican-party.html

May we only hope for a similar resolution in the near future.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

I continued my exploration of Lower East Side/East Village Chinese restaurants at lunch today at Mimi Cheng's Dumplings, 179 Second Avenue, where 8 to 12 people can huddle on 4 picnic benches, another 9 perched on stools at two ledges around the perimeter.  Additionally, there are 6 two tops on the sidewalk.  The room itself is painted white, with simple artwork on the walls.   

The menu is also simple -- 6 types of dumplings, spicy Dan-Dan noodles, scallion pancakes and "12-Hour Organic Chicken Noodle Soup."  I ordered pan-fried chicken and zucchini dumplings (6 for $9.95) and a scallion pancake ($5.75).  The dumplings were very good; the scallion pancake, very flaky, more phyllo dough than crêpe, most memorable for being overpriced.  
. . .

Today's obituary for Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz, a feminist author and activist cited her proposal for "radical diasporism," a version of Jewish identity without the centrality of Israel.  She wrote: "What do I mean by home?  Not the nation state; not religious worship; not the deepest grief of a people marked by hatred.  I mean a commitment to what is and is not mine; to the strangeness of others, to my strangeness to others; to common threads twisted with surprise."  Her partner cogently stated that Jews should "take the fullness of their Jewish traditions and values and put them into practice wherever they are, wherever they call home.”  I am quite comfortable with this latter proposition, although I find the former a bit hard to parse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/nyregion/melanie-kaye-kantrowitz-dead.html 

Wednesday, August 15, 2108

Mark Dilman and his family are visiting from the Left Coast.  Besides offering me the pleasure of his company, he supplied this photograph.  

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Lunch yesterday was with Mark Dilman, originally from Tbilisi, Georgia, his Parisian wife and his Roumanian sister-in-law.  Today, I had lunch for the second year in a row with Aron Sebagala and Solomon Walusimbi, members of the Abayudaya tribe, Ugandan Jews, now numbering about 2,000.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abayudaya

Aron, a medical student, and Solomon, a law student, spent this summer, as they had last, as counselors at a children's camp run by the Jewish Reconstructionist movement.  Before July 2017, they had never left Uganda.  Their schedule allowed time for some sightseeing here each summer.  They return home tomorrow, but only for two days before traveling to Israel with other young members of their community.  I can't imagine the kaleidoscopic rush of their experiences at this time of their lives.  I hope that we can read about it someday.

For the record, lunch yesterday was at a branch of &pizza, 15 West 28th Street, where individual pizzas are made right in front of you from an almost unlimited list of ingredients that you choose.  Pizza was not only a common denominator for my international companions, but it also satisfied their four (American-born) children accompanying them.  

Today, Aron, Solomon and I ate at Hummus Place, 305 Amsterdam Avenue, Israeli and Kosher (not as commonplace as you might expect), respecting the dietary rules that the Abayudaya observe.  They had falafel, while I had shakshuka, eggs stewed in a tomato and pepper sauce.

Friday, August 17, 2018

A Swedish Muslim woman has successfully sued a company that refused her a job when she would not shake hands with her male interviewer.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/world/europe/sweden-muslim-handshake.html

 

I found this particularly interesting because the same issue arises in parts of the Jewish community.  Many orthodox men and women avoid physical contact with unrelated people of the opposite sex. 

https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/no-handshake-dont-take-it-personally/

 

The women are following general rules of modesty and chastity, Shomer Negiah.  I remember being introduced to the new wife of a Jewish neighbor, a woman he met and married in Belgium.  I stuck out my hand to congratulate her and welcome her to the Big Apple.  Her reaction was immediate, crashing into the wall behind her to avoid contact with me.  Recollecting that my neighbor was relatively observant, I understood what had just transpired.

Orthodox men's behavior has a murkier basis.  According to scripture, menstruating women are unclean, to be avoided even by their husbands.  See Leviticus 15:19, 18:19 and 20:18.  To play it safe, all unrelated women at any time are kept at a distance.  Alan Dershowitz, in his presycophant days, told of a friend devoted to  Judaism and the New York Mets.  When the man headed to Shea Stadium, he purchased all the adjacent seats to avoid accidental contamination.  

Brush Up Your Shakespeare

Monday, August 6, 2018

We heard from some movie mavens about multiple remakes of the same story under the same title.  Susan Beckerman cited Little Women, which was made in 1933, 1949 and 1994, with a new version scheduled to be released next month.  Susan Schorr pointed to Romeo and Juliet, which I don't think can be challenged with dozens of filmed versions, starting as early as 1908.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_Romeo_and_Juliet
 

Cindy Wilkinson McMullen also referenced Romeo and Juliet, but threw Hamlet into the mix.  Indeed, counting silent versions, there have been at least two dozen Hamlet's since 1907.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_on_screen
 

By the way, A Star Is Born, unlike these other movies, was an original work.  Its only antecedent was a 1932 movie What Price Hollywood?, which borrowed some real-life plot elements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Price_Hollywood%3F

On the other hand, would anyone like to suggest a singular movie that should never have been made in the first place?

. . .

With the Dow-Jones Average over 25,000 and Apple stock valued at $1 trillion, numbers that would have been hallucinatory in the past, I imagined that almost any economic measure (including the gap between the haves and have-nots) would be at or near record heights.  To my surprise, I learned that one economic area has been steadily shrinking -- the number of publicly-traded companies on exchanges in the United States.   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/04/business/shrinking-stock-market.html
 

In brief, in the mid 1990s, there were 8,000 or so publicly-traded companies.  "By 2016, there were only 3,627," even as the U.S. population grew by 20% in the decade.  One factor for the sharp decrease is the inexorable merger activity in the global economy.  Another was the presence of so many eager enterprises in the dot.com era, hoping to emulate Microsoft and Amazon with the deft use of smoke and mirrors.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

"Tradition" is the opening number in Fiddler on the Roof and last night I heard it in Yiddish, the natural language of the characters on the stage.  However, with the exception of a Yiddish version in Israel in 1965, the Broadway hit, several revivals and the successful movie were all in English, with a variety of Eastern European accents.  Now, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (people's stage) is presenting a complete Yiddish version of Fiddler on the Roof, with English and Russian supertitles for the linguistically challenged. 

The New York Times gave it a rave review, but, more important, I liked it.  In a word, it was tradition that stirred me, not just the song, but the sound of the Yiddish words, the personalities of the characters, their problems, their aspirations.  While I was born here, my Brooklyn was, to a degree, an extension of the Pale of Settlement.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement
 

My grandmothers spoke Yiddish; my aunts and uncles understood it and responded.  My father was expert, reading and writing as well as conversing in Yiddish.  Hearing the very familiar Fiddler libretto in the mama loshen (mother tongue) was incomparable.  Tradition grabbed me and pulled me back in time and space.  Fiddler is set in 1905 when pogroms and harsh Czarist edicts added to the misery of life for many Eastern European Jews.  Grandpa Goldenberg (né Chelchowsky) and Grandpa Gotthelf left the region in 1905 and 1906, respectively.  I didn't know either one, but I imagine that their lives over there resembled much of what was portrayed on stage, with much less singing and dancing.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Thanks to the generosity of Amy C., I went to the Mets game today and, mirabile dictu, they won resoundingly.  The afterglow of this rare victory should help me in the days ahead, until at least the next set of Robert Mueller's indictments.

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Here is more information on the issue of admission to New York City's specialized high schools, notably Stuyvesant High School, my alma mater, where one test solely determines access.  After a redesign in 2017, the test has English and math sections, each with 57 questions.  The English section, which is all multiple choice, focuses on reading comprehension and correcting grammar in sentences.  The math section is made up of multiple-choice word problems, as well as computational questions.   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/nyregion/what-is-the-shsat-exam-and-why-does-it-matter.html

The redesign still produced a radically skewed student population compared to the overall ethnic composition of city schools.  

https://insideschools.org/news-&-views/8th-graders-get-high-school-admissions-results

This year, Stuyvesant made offers to 10 black students (1% of all offers), 613 Asian (68%), 27 Latino (3%) and 151 white (17%).  The current citywide ethnic breakdown of eighth graders (the potential test takers) was 26% black, 16% Asian, 41% Latino and 15% white.  https://tcf.org/content/report/new-york-city-public-schools/?agreed=1#easy-footnote-bottom-2
 

The ethnic disparity appears even as the students sit down to take the test; 29% of black eighth graders took the test this year, 72% of Asian, 21% of Latino and 45% of white.  This produced a testing pool 20% black, 31% Asian, 23% Latino and 18% white.  In other words, Asian eighth graders turned out heavily for the specialized high school test*, while black and especially Latino students stayed away.  Here is an obvious starting point for improving the testing process. 

*The one test serves 8 schools; offers for admission are based on test scores and student preferences.

Discussion of this issue usually focusses on the disadvantaged, the black and Latino student population that seems to be pushed aside.  It is a zero sum game, however, and New York’s Asian student population have mastered it, at least for the present.  While we obsess over our identity politics, it is not our problem exclusively.  "British Chinese youngsters are the highest performing ethnic group in England at GCSE [General Certificate of Secondary Education, a nationwide, multi-subject test for secondary students], which has been known for years.  It also showed that this group seemed to be singularly successful in achieving that goal of educational policy-makers everywhere: a narrow performance gap between those from the poorest homes, and the rest."     https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/feb/07/chinese-children-school-do-well?CMP=share_btn_link    

If educational success and the benefits that accrue to it are our goals, more attention should be paid to those who have done it right. 

I Do

Monday, July 30, 2018

The New York Times calls it the Styles section, but to me it will always be the society pages.  While it is now full of frou-frou that proper society would be disdainful of, it contains the vital building blocks of society and Society, wedding announcements.  Yesterday was particularly fruitful, 26 weddings reported.  Somewhat atypically these days, none were same sex, although one wedding joined  a trans man to a trans woman.

What caught my attention was how each couple met, so I counted:

Dating app/on-line           9

At work                               2

On a trip/vacation             2

College/school                    5

Introduction by friends     2

Party                                     4

Grew up together               1

Apartment mates                1

Think of it, without computers, 18 of 52 people would be walking around looking for love. 
. . .

In reviewing what I wrote last week about my high school yearbook and homeroom, America's Favorite Epidemiologist said that the homerooms at Teaneck High School were organized alphabetically.  Since her last name began with a P, she sat surrounded by other Ps.  That strikes me as pretty dull.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

To the relief of many of you, I will skip discussing the admissions policy of Stuyvesant High School and address a less controversial topic -- peace in the Middle East.  The New York Times today has an op-ed piece on the codification of second class citizenship for Israeli Arabs, written by an Israeli Arab.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/opinion/israel-nationality-law-palestinian-citizens.html

I agreed with it on the whole, but one phrase, I thought, illustrated a significant flaw in the Arab mindset: "Israel was founded on the ruins of the Palestinian people in 1948."  This is consistent with Arabs labeling Israel's founding and the consequential displacement of approximately 700,000 Arabs as Al Nakba, the catastrophe. 

Both ideas attempt to portray the Palestinians as passive victims, not unlike the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  This is both facile and ahistoric.  Arab governments and populations made choices before and after 1948, many often bad choices.  Arab villages emptied, voluntarily and involuntarily as the armies of 7 Arab nations attempted to destroy the new Jewish state.  All of these regimes refused to accept the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, adopted on November 29, 1947, which called for the establishment of two states.  A few transnational Arab forces joined in as well.  One, the Arab Liberation Army, had an emblem that must have stimulated Zionist recruitment.

So, now, the Israeli government is acting brutishly toward its Arab citizens (along with many of its Jewish citizens attempting to live in the 21st century).  But, their honorable quest for justice should not be based on fake history.  I think that the Arabs generally do better with defeat than they might have done with victory.
. . .

The Boyz Club gathered at 21 Shanghai House, 21 Division Street, a joint with food inside that tastes much better than the appearance of the place outside.  In fact, the food was uniformly very good and inexpensive.  We had soup buns (8 for $5.95), scallion pancake ($3.25), vegetable dumplings (6 for $5.25), orange beef ($14.50), chicken chow fun ($8.95), beef chow fun ($8.95) and pork fried rice ($5.25).  Portion size for each dish was ample for the 5 of us.  Definitely a hit.

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

In the company of Stony Brook Steve, I reversed the flow of finding new Chinese restaurants.  After eating at Dun Huang, 300 East 12th Street, last week, we went to its uptown version at Dun Huang Upper West, 1268 Amsterdam Avenue.  Physically, it couldn't be more different.  Instead of the predominantly glass and mirror surfaces in the wide downtown space, uptown was narrow, dark and woody.  As you enter, only three tables are visible, two rectangular six tops and one round four top.  Further back, the joint jogs right, holding another eight tables of varying size. 
 

The uptown menu also differs, not conceptually, but in detail.  Most dishes were spicy, mildly to heavily.  We ordered Dunhuang* Cold Noodles with chili oil, chicken, bean sprouts and scallion ($9.95); Crispy Fish Roll, 4 very thin, deep-fried, fish-filled tubes ($4.95); Jerked Mutton, marinated with cumin, chili and sugar, dried to almost leathery consistency ($8.95).  To cool our palates, we ended with Dunhuang Orange Noodles with fermented orange flavor sauce ($10.95).  In all, it was food that we respected more than enjoyed. 

*Dun Huang is apparently a two-word noun and a one word adjective.

. . .

The most important food news of the week is the expansion of Ample Hills Creamery at 421 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, increasing their capacity for superior ice cream many times over.  If they can maintain their quality control, ice cream might take the place in our lives left by the absence of truth.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

I saw the coming attractions today for the October release of a movie starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born.  That should be a familiar title to anyone reading this slag, regardless of age.  It is the fourth film version, under the same name, of the story of the male show biz pro guiding the young female performer until her career eclipses his.  In 1937, Janet Gaynor and Frederic March were the first pair.  Then came Judy Garland and James Mason in 1954.  They were followed by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in 1976. 

Following the progression 1937, 1954, 1976, 2018, I'm going to ask grandson Boaz to keep his eye out for version 5 around 2045, because 27 years is the average interval.  Is there a movie maven out there who knows of another film that was repeated as many or more times?  

Friday, August 3, 2108
Reagan, we hardly knew ye.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/03/melania-trump-policy-director-leaves-white-house-761886

As to the news about Paul Ryan, speaking for the Reconstructionist Jews of America, I apologize.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/01/a-surprise-in-paul-d-ryans-ancestry-hes-slightly-jewish/?utm_term=.d621786d3200