Monday, August 23, 2021
A Gentile woman, married to a Jewish man who became a Jew for Jesus and now is an Orthodox Jew, is buried in a Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. In an act that can hardly be labeled Christian charity, Israel's Chief Rabbi has ordered her body exhumed or her grave fenced off.
https://forward.com/fast-forward/474442/israel-s-chief-rabbi-wants-exhumation-of-jerusalem-woman-who-allegedly/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_2757529
. . .
Realtor.com has identified "The Hottest Zip Codes of 2021," based on market demand and the pace of the real estate market. https://www.realtor.com/research/hottest-zip-codes-2021/
I'm not sure that I could have guessed the results, topped by East Colorado Springs, West Irondequoit (Rochester, N.Y.), and Peabody, Massachusetts. For whatever it's worth, the list ranges across the country coast-to-coast, top to bottom. The bottom, of course, would be the traitorous Confederate states, which take two slots of the top 15.
However, one important study finds some virtue in Dixie; "Southern states have lower overall levels of [residential] segregation" than most of the rest of the country.
Most shocking to me was the finding that "Out of every metropolitan region in the United States with more than 200,000 residents, 81 percent (169 out of 209) were more segregated as of 2019 than they were in 1990." The unhappiest news was that "New York City is also the most segregated metro region in the US."
There are few, if any, success stories among multi-racial, multi-ethnic societies. Many countries go to great lengths to avoid the challenges. For instance, if not born to a Japanese citizen, a person born on Japanese soil must begin a five-year naturalization process after the age of 20 in order to become a citizen. It is the exception, generally, that birth in a country itself conveys citizenship. Accordingly, the literal and figurative complexion of most societies around the world is fairly monochromatic.
Our country has taken on a daunting task and is doing a lousy job at it.
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
I read this tidbit in a story about a Silicon Valley divorce. "Ms. Huynh, who finished her degree at Stanford last year, . . . was trying to launch new businesses, including a mobile game, the Adoraboos, which aims to teach children about blockchains and cryptocurrencies." Presumably, those children are already competent in Potsy, punchball and Crazy Eights.
. . .
America's Favorite Epidemiologist notes that many of the Covid-19 vaccine opponents claim that they object to introducing unknown material into their body, but rarely refuse a hot dog.
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
In a highly informative feature, the New York Times charts the demographic standings of Asian citizens and residents in America, based on the latest U.S. census. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/21/us/asians-census-us.html
While the overall success story is generally familiar, the dimensions are remarkable in some cases. Indians have twice the median household income of the U.S. population, while only five of the 24 groups reported have less than the national figure. Similarly, only six have a lower percentage of college graduates.
However, it wasn't the wealth or educational attainment of the Chinese that brought the Boyz Club to Chinatown for lunch today. We sought to satisfy more primitive desires when five of us gathered at Shanghai Heping Restaurant, 104 Mott Street. The medium-large space has been unattractively carved up into plexiglass-shielded dining nooks. Fortunately, this did not seem to intrude upon the competency of the kitchen.
We enjoyed together pork and crab meat soup dumplings (8 pieces for $8.95), steamed vegetable dumplings (8 pieces for $6.95), scallion pancake ($3.95), cold noodles in peanut and sesame sauce ($6.95), beef chow fun ($11.95) and the lunch specials, which warranted hot and sour soup, curry chicken ($6.95), spicy stewed beef brisket in brown sauce ($7.95), sesame beef ($7.95) and sesame chicken ($7.95). Needless to say, no one left hungry.
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Here's a question primarily for my co-religionists: Is he still Jewish? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/us/harvard-chaplain-greg-epstein.html
Since many inside and outside the faith view Judaism as a birthright (or birthwrong?), the question ain't so easy. You might also want to distinguish between Judaism and Jewishness in parsing this out. Parse away.
Friday, August 27, 2021
I just learned that
Albania, unique among all European countries, ended WWII with more Jews
than it started with, 10 times as many, in fact. Albania kept its borders open and refused to deport Jews. The recognition of
this, the conscious defiance of the Nazi occupiers, was long delayed by
the hermetic isolation of Albania under the post-war Communist regime.
The predominantly Moslem Albanians adhere to the ethos of besa, holding
that there are no foreigners, only guests, who are to be treated as well
or better than family.
It's a remarkable tale obscured by Cold War politics, but deserving of
the widest recognition. https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/besa/index.asp
Start spreading the news.
