You First

Monday, February 10, 2020

An ancillary benefit of our trip to India was the chance to leave the nutsiness and craziness of our domestic politics far away.  However, one piece of news, although non-political, evoked concern among the six of us from the New York metropolitan area, the bankruptcy of the Fairway Market chain.  I, for one, shop there 5 or 6 times a week and was comforted to learn that some of the stores were surviving, being purchased by a supermarket chain, including "my" store.  However, my experience yesterday has unquieted me.

With company expected for brunch, I went shopping for the judicious that we typically serve and found some yawning gaps.  Missing were mini-bagels, Fairway's house-cured smoked salmon, whitefish salad, all but a handful of Fairway's rugelach, and most Coca-Cola products.  I did not intend to take inventory, simply shopping for our needs.  I am not panicking yet, no need to organize airlifts or food drives.  Just watchful waiting.
. . .

The real estate section this weekend ranked cities according to sitzfleisch, homeowners staying put. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/realestate/here-are-the-cities-homeowners-never-leave.html     

It's hard to make sense of the information.  Detroit and Cleveland were first and third of the stay-puts, although they are cities that have experienced hard time and shrinking populations.  They also have noticeably low property values in contrast to almost all others on the list.  Stubborn, defeated, lazy?  Content to remain where there are four (Detroit) or three (Cleveland) teams in the major professional sports, something only two other of the 20 cities listed can boast?

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

"You first" is the title of a sermon that I have been planning to deliver some future Saturday morning at West End Synagogue, the home of anarchic Jews.  I'm not sure whether it is ultimately aimed at Palestinian Arabs or American Republicans, or both.  In both cases, my folks seems to worry about reaching out to, empathizing with, understanding the folks on the other side to effect some sort of rapprochement.  We must come together is the repeated refrain.  

I'm getting tired of being so humane.  What has it gotten us?  Here's a headline from the Washington Post that sums it up: "Democrats constantly ‘reach out’ to the other side.  Republicans don’t."  If it seems petty to expect reciprocity, consider the practical side.  "Persuasive studies show that if you take people who are deeply into their political identities and make them watch, listen to and read those who have opposite views, it causes them to dig even more deeply into their core identities, not alter them or soften their views of the enemy."  Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute. 

You first.  I am not suggesting that my side in either conflict is flawless, but we ain't as flawed as the other side.  We don't go hunting for civilians to kill on the streets of Jerusalem; we don't accuse pizzerias of fronting pedophile rings; we don't bestow martyrdom on suicide bombers; we don't excuse criminality whimsically.  We tolerate dissent, but I see no reason to indulge ignorance, mendacity or sadism.

I'm here, ready, willing and able to offer goodwill gestures galore, but you first.  I admit that this runs counter to some standards of common and Jewish morality.  There is a wonderful tale about Nachshon ben Aminadav, a son-in-law of Aaron, Moses's brother.  When the Israelites found themselves trapped between the Sea of Reeds and the pursuing Egyptian army, Nachshon stepped into the waters, which parted to allow the Israelites to flee into the Sinai Desert.  There is a time to move into the unknown; boldness is rewarded.  Next time.

. . .

The members of the Boyz Club have many strengths -- education, wit, loquaciousness, sophistication -- all needed to qualify.  They also read newspapers and, as a result, did not hesitate to take our periodic Chinatown lunch to John's Pizzeria, 278 Bleecker Street, which famously advertises "No slices." 

John's is one of New York's oldest pizzerias.  It claims to been founded in 1929 on nearby Sullivan Street and moved to its present location in 1934, but an earlier origin story has emerged.
https://uspizzamuseum.com/2019/02/05/lost-forefathers-of-pizza-in-america-discovered/

I moved around the corner in 1968 and ate there regularly for several years.  Alas, I was exiled to California and, after liberation, I never lived south of 46th Street again.  So, lunch today with six companions was especially satisfying.  Our three pizzas were deliciously adorned with mushrooms, pepperoni, onions, anchovies, olives and sliced meatballs. 

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

I have been reading a book with the intriguing title The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti, with the even more intriguing subtitle IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut Down Production of the World's First Desktop Computer.  However, I am 2/3 through the book without a clue what the "Affair" was.  Instead, I have read about the lives, loves, philanthropies, residences, hobbies, physical appearance and philosophies of the Olivettis, probably the most prominent Italian Jewish family of the 20th Century.  But so far, niente about a desktop computer.  

Nevertheless, he persisted.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Fordham University is a Jesuit institution, but it offers a rich program of Jewish subjects.  Tonight, I went to hear Ayelet Brinn, a post-doctoral fellow (!) at Columbia University and Fordham University, speak about "Dear Editor: Advice Columns and the Making of the American Yiddish Press."   

The huge influx of Eastern European Jews early in the 20th Century to the United States was met with very little support.  Language and cultural barriers were high.  Friends and family often remained thousands of miles away, public institutions offered no safety net, private resources were stretched thin. 

Yiddish newspapers "printed countless letters from readers asking editors to help them navigate personal tribulations, American political infrastructures, and Jewish communal life."  They "became so successful at marketing themselves as fountains of advice that they had to create open office hours and hire staff members whose job it was to correspond or meet with readers eager to receive personal counsel from their favorite papers."

A Bintel Brief is a wonderful collection of letters from Der Forverts (The Forward), the leading Yiddish newspaper in a very crowded field, which introduced the personal advice column to the Yiddish press.  The appropriate term for this material is bubbe meise, grandmother's tale.  Should you read it, you'll find yourself exclaiming "Oy vey" at regular intervals.  Here is a favorite of mine, as translated:

 

Dear Editor,

I am a Russian revolutionist and a freethinker.  Here in America I became acquainted with a girl who is also a freethinker.  We decided to marry, but the problem is that she has Orthodox parents, and for their sake we must have a religious ceremony.  If we refuse the ceremony we will be cut off from them forever.  Her parents also want me to go to the synagogue with them before the wedding, and I don't know what to do.  Therefore I ask you to advise me how to act.

 

One interesting factoid from Brinn: Yiddish newspapers appeared in America 20 years before Europe.

. . .

When appeals are issued for opposing idealogues to come together, the commonality of humankind is often cited.  Well, some of us aren't like the rest of us.  "American conservatives stand out.  Only 26 percent of Americans who approve of Mr. Trump say income differences between rich and poor are unfair.  That’s lower than the country average for all 60 nations.  Only Japanese supporters of [Prime Minister] Abe hold similar views: 23 percent say inequality is unfair.  By contrast, most supporters of conservative governments in other countries such as Israel, India and Britain say inequality is unfair."  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/upshot/trump-supporters-experiment-inequality.html?te=1&nl=the-upshot&emc=edit_up_20200213&campaign_id=29&instance_id=15949&segment_id=21248&user_id=1353d3a345e55ff509b5cbb17ed36984&regi_id=59975620200213