Monday, August 24, 2020
This story was confined to the sports pages, but I believe that it has broader implications. A baseball game announcer, unaware that his microphone was live, referred to another city as one of "the fag capitals of the world.” This resulted in his suspension from broadcasting and his inevitable apology.
https://slate.com/culture/
The key phrase in his apology was "I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith," and that may be the source of so many problems, his and ours.
I found these two definitions of faith presented in tandem:
• "complete trust or confidence in someone or something"
• "strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof"
I am confident that our announcer was relying upon the second. No proof required; it comes from my heart, it comes from my soul, it comes from my kishkes, it comes from the clouds, it comes from the Book. How can I be faulted under those circumstances?
That's the problem. If the brain were the source of his comments, we might find a way to evaluate them logically. Instead, we are expected to have faith in someone else's faith. The equivalent of the used car salesman's plea "Trust me." I contend that we should keep faith in the pews; like fish out of its element it can reek.
. . .
Tom Terrific responded to last week's riff on cultural appropriation with this recollection:
Speaking of mystery tales & “cultural appropriation,” there was that time in the mid-90s when Yrs Tly was conscripted by Ellery Queen magazine as part of the entertainment for a group of its faithful readers aboard a Caribbean cruise ship:
Mingling with the group of about 200 on the first evening at sea, I was approached by an angry couple, by which I mean spitting fire angry. The husband & wife were middle-aged and African American.
“YOU’RE Thomas Adcock,” the husband spat. I confirmed his suspicion. Next up, the wife.
“The only damn reason we signed up for this is because we thought you were black,” the lady spat. I assumed the context for her assumption were some stories I’d published with prominent black characters—urban and American, New Yorkers just like me.
For once, I had the presence of mind to resist this absurdity. “How dare you object to me being me?”
So, that first night out was frosty. But after a few days of cruising—an awful activity I shall never repeat—my critics came to their senses. We were friendly, and even exchanged a few post-cruise letters (remember those?).
. . .
As a Zionist, I might not be the right person to weigh the relative criminality of the Israelis against the Palestinians versus the Palestinians against the Israelis. I am likely to be more inflamed by attacks that threaten my friends and relatives in Israel. However, there is one area where the disproportionate response of the two sides may be measured -- rhetoric.
In spite of his brutish actions, even Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will occasionally wave an olive branch at the other side. Anti-Arab sentiments are deeply felt by many Israelis, no doubt, but they are usually kept in check. The Palestinians are not as successful in hiding their feelings. When an 11-year old boy in Gaza, being acclaimed for a rap video, said, "I would like to spread love between us and Israel," he was treated as an enemy of the Palestinian cause.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/
Palestinians seem to wage words more effectively than any other means of advancement. It's all symbolic, of course, but symbols can create their own reality. Is 11-years old too soon to banish rainbows and unicorns?
. . .
I have lauded B&H Dairy Restaurant, 127 Second Avenue, in the past. Now, like so many other small businesses, it is struggling with the effects of the White House Flu. https://www.facebook.com/
It's not the same as cancer research or sheltering the homeless or the campaign by Amy McGrath, Mitch McConnell's opponent, but an enterprise that has brightened our lives in the past deserves a bit of a boost today.
. . .
If asked to describe myself, I would not say anything like "approachable without being whimsical." I am a bit of a tease, though, and leave it to you to reveal the subject at hand.
Tuesday, August 24, 2020
I called my brother yesterday and left voicemail. It came out this way from his text translator:
Good morning it's 10:50 and I'm call as soon o'clock in front of the Marriott building(?) if you're Medical Center my life. I was going to have some dental work done nothing(?) with the-message(?) but this this is for Jose Celestine this is genuine table. Anyway she's gonna be probably an hour or more so I'm going to find a productive uses of my time including calling you to find out how you were ... and get orton-i(?) expect. That's bye bye.
. . .
I was going to write something snarky about Jerry Falwell, Jr., but it's sufficient to just mention his name.
This story was confined to the sports pages, but I believe that it has broader implications. A baseball game announcer, unaware that his microphone was live, referred to another city as one of "the fag capitals of the world.” This resulted in his suspension from broadcasting and his inevitable apology.
https://slate.com/culture/
The key phrase in his apology was "I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith," and that may be the source of so many problems, his and ours.
I found these two definitions of faith presented in tandem:
• "complete trust or confidence in someone or something"
• "strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof"
I am confident that our announcer was relying upon the second. No proof required; it comes from my heart, it comes from my soul, it comes from my kishkes, it comes from the clouds, it comes from the Book. How can I be faulted under those circumstances?
That's the problem. If the brain were the source of his comments, we might find a way to evaluate them logically. Instead, we are expected to have faith in someone else's faith. The equivalent of the used car salesman's plea "Trust me." I contend that we should keep faith in the pews; like fish out of its element it can reek.
. . .
Tom Terrific responded to last week's riff on cultural appropriation with this recollection:
Speaking of mystery tales & “cultural appropriation,” there was that time in the mid-90s when Yrs Tly was conscripted by Ellery Queen magazine as part of the entertainment for a group of its faithful readers aboard a Caribbean cruise ship:
Mingling with the group of about 200 on the first evening at sea, I was approached by an angry couple, by which I mean spitting fire angry. The husband & wife were middle-aged and African American.
“YOU’RE Thomas Adcock,” the husband spat. I confirmed his suspicion. Next up, the wife.
“The only damn reason we signed up for this is because we thought you were black,” the lady spat. I assumed the context for her assumption were some stories I’d published with prominent black characters—urban and American, New Yorkers just like me.
For once, I had the presence of mind to resist this absurdity. “How dare you object to me being me?”
So, that first night out was frosty. But after a few days of cruising—an awful activity I shall never repeat—my critics came to their senses. We were friendly, and even exchanged a few post-cruise letters (remember those?).
. . .
As a Zionist, I might not be the right person to weigh the relative criminality of the Israelis against the Palestinians versus the Palestinians against the Israelis. I am likely to be more inflamed by attacks that threaten my friends and relatives in Israel. However, there is one area where the disproportionate response of the two sides may be measured -- rhetoric.
In spite of his brutish actions, even Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will occasionally wave an olive branch at the other side. Anti-Arab sentiments are deeply felt by many Israelis, no doubt, but they are usually kept in check. The Palestinians are not as successful in hiding their feelings. When an 11-year old boy in Gaza, being acclaimed for a rap video, said, "I would like to spread love between us and Israel," he was treated as an enemy of the Palestinian cause.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/
Palestinians seem to wage words more effectively than any other means of advancement. It's all symbolic, of course, but symbols can create their own reality. Is 11-years old too soon to banish rainbows and unicorns?
. . .
I have lauded B&H Dairy Restaurant, 127 Second Avenue, in the past. Now, like so many other small businesses, it is struggling with the effects of the White House Flu. https://www.facebook.com/
It's not the same as cancer research or sheltering the homeless or the campaign by Amy McGrath, Mitch McConnell's opponent, but an enterprise that has brightened our lives in the past deserves a bit of a boost today.
. . .
If asked to describe myself, I would not say anything like "approachable without being whimsical." I am a bit of a tease, though, and leave it to you to reveal the subject at hand.
Tuesday, August 24, 2020
I called my brother yesterday and left voicemail. It came out this way from his text translator:
Good morning it's 10:50 and I'm call as soon o'clock in front of the Marriott building(?) if you're Medical Center my life. I was going to have some dental work done nothing(?) with the-message(?) but this this is for Jose Celestine this is genuine table. Anyway she's gonna be probably an hour or more so I'm going to find a productive uses of my time including calling you to find out how you were ... and get orton-i(?) expect. That's bye bye.
. . .
I was going to write something snarky about Jerry Falwell, Jr., but it's sufficient to just mention his name.
. . .
A couple of months ago, I listened to a virtual discussion by Famous Author during which he threw out a comment that intrigued me. He said that St. Francis of Assisi went up a mountain alone to ponder the world, in contrast with the typical Jewish philosopher whose work, though individual, emerged from a group or urban setting. What an interesting observation, I thought, so when I saw Famous Author this morning I asked him about it. He responded approximately, "I said that, huh? I don't know about that."
In fact, before writing this, I did a little research and found that Francis devoted himself to good works, particularly the plight of the poor, after a sybaritic upbringing in a prosperous household. While he fasted for 40 days on a mountain shortly before his death, he actually led a fairly peripatetic existence, traveling throughout Italy and Sicily, to Spain and the Holy Land, coping with the vicissitudes of the early 13th Century.
What I learned briefly is that Francis's philosophy grew out of living and working with the poor, not from contemplation or rumination. This does not defeat the Jewish part of the imaginary insight. Jews are social animals; they need other Jews to be Jewish. Services/rituals inside or outside the synagogue require 10 adult Jews. Kosher food, until recently a requirement of Jewish life, needed a community to support it. Yeshivas, the traditional Jewish learning institution, put small groups of students (usually 2-5) together to analyze, discuss, and debate a shared text (chavrusa). Students are usually matched with partners of similar knowledge and ability; adult Jews in informal settings use chavrusa as well to continue their studies.
A couple of months ago, I listened to a virtual discussion by Famous Author during which he threw out a comment that intrigued me. He said that St. Francis of Assisi went up a mountain alone to ponder the world, in contrast with the typical Jewish philosopher whose work, though individual, emerged from a group or urban setting. What an interesting observation, I thought, so when I saw Famous Author this morning I asked him about it. He responded approximately, "I said that, huh? I don't know about that."
In fact, before writing this, I did a little research and found that Francis devoted himself to good works, particularly the plight of the poor, after a sybaritic upbringing in a prosperous household. While he fasted for 40 days on a mountain shortly before his death, he actually led a fairly peripatetic existence, traveling throughout Italy and Sicily, to Spain and the Holy Land, coping with the vicissitudes of the early 13th Century.
What I learned briefly is that Francis's philosophy grew out of living and working with the poor, not from contemplation or rumination. This does not defeat the Jewish part of the imaginary insight. Jews are social animals; they need other Jews to be Jewish. Services/rituals inside or outside the synagogue require 10 adult Jews. Kosher food, until recently a requirement of Jewish life, needed a community to support it. Yeshivas, the traditional Jewish learning institution, put small groups of students (usually 2-5) together to analyze, discuss, and debate a shared text (chavrusa). Students are usually matched with partners of similar knowledge and ability; adult Jews in informal settings use chavrusa as well to continue their studies.
Moses may have been the last Jew alone on a mountaintop and he rushed down to show everybody, "Look what I got."
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Herr Professor Doktor David Goldfarb gave me the excuse to leave the former Fun City before it is overrun by the Visigoths. It was only for a day, mind you, but we ventured up to Ulster County to buy tomatoes and apples at the source.
Here is what the outdoors looks like, in case you have forgotten.
Thursday, August 27, 2020
46 Down = 50 or more letters?
. . .
"The impulsiveness and grandiosity, the bullying and vulgarity, were obvious from the beginning; if anything, they accounted for Adolf Hitler’s anti-establishment appeal." Need we say more?
https://nyti.ms/2EwlK4X
Friday, August 28, 2020
I admit to some sympathy for my Gentile brethren when they have to endure Jewish hyper-sensitivity -- our sometimes exaggerated reaction to missteps, misunderstandings or oversights misread as targeted bigotry. On the other hand, the circle on our back has barely shrunk over the centuries.
For instance, today's paper informs us:
"Several documents that have emerged from the newly opened Vatican
Archives on the papacy of Pius XII bolster accusations of indifference
to Jewish suffering." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/world/europe/pope-pius-xii-jews-vatican-archives.html
"German Automotive Giant Admits It Was a Nazi Accomplice." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/business/german-auto-parts-continental-nazi.html
The lesson here applies for African Americans as well: It's going to take a long time before you can trust Them.
. . .
Joan E., the devoted administrator of West End Synagogue, solidified her standing as someone that I can definitely trust today when she brought me two (the last two actually) pieces of deep-fried gefilte fish from Dovid's Fish Market, 736 Chestnut Avenue, Teaneck, NJ. I used to attribute this marvelous creation to Aunt Judi, because she served it each year at her bountiful Passover seders, until she confessed to purchasing it from Dovid's. My esteem for her cuisine and hospitality remains constant, however, and Joan now joins her in the ranks of women of valor.
. . .
Answer = AARP
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