That Sounds Like a Lot of Money

Sunday, September 17, 2023 

A couple of weeks ago, I met Rabbi Jonah Rank in a social context.  Once I learned about his professional role, I wanted to share it with you.  He is the President & Rosh Yeshivah (leading scholar) of Hebrew Seminary in Chicago, A Rabbinical School School for Deaf & Hearing.  Founded over 30 years ago, it trains people as rabbis, pararabbis, and educators to serve all Jewish communities, including the Deaf community.  This is the right time of year to give a little.  https://hebrewseminary.org/donate/

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This list of allegedly the best bagels in New York omits Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish, 273 Columbus Avenue and half a dozen other locations, my personal favorite.  https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/guides/best-bagels-nyc

However, in the prevailing spirit of forgiveness, I will grant that the collection overall is pretty good.  If a Zucker’s is not close by, many of these are worthy alternatives.  

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Is it inevitable that the rich get richer?  “Since 2000, the most expensive U.S. homes have nearly quadrupled in value, while homes in the lowest tier have not kept pace with inflation."

https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/most-expensive-us-homes-continue-hold-most-value/

While many ordinary folks seem to have benefited by the hot housing market, in the immortal words of Mel Brooks, “It’s good to be the king.”  So, go out and get rich.

Monday, September 18, 2023

I haven’t polled every Jew out there, but several who heard the following said “Of course.”  "Wartime Pope Pius XII knew details about the Nazi attempt to exterminate Jews in the Holocaust as early as 1942, according to a letter found in the Vatican archives that conflicts with the Holy See's official position at the time that the information it had was vague and unverified."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/letter-shows-pope-pius-xii-probably-knew-about-holocaust-early-on/ar-AA1gQf9c

Understand this, while I would rather focus on bagels, history has another story to tell.

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Roger P. and Michael R. were both at Cornell University in the early 1960s, but I only met them individually two decades later.  Four decades after that, we had a hearty lunch at Kung Fu Kitchen, 610 Eighth Avenue, its third location.  It concentrates on dim sum and hand-pulled noodles.  We stuck to dim sum with great delight.  We had soup dumplings (6 for $10.95), vegetable steamed dumplings (6 for $9.50), scallion pancake with sliced beef (4 for $9.95), pan-fried Peking duck buns (4 for $18.50), steamed shrimp dumplings (4 for $8), Shanghai pan-fried pork buns (6 for $14). 

Ironically? Fortuitously? Kung Fu Kitchen sits directly next to Awe Sum Dim Sum, 612 Eighth Avenue, another top notch dim sum joint, although far more casual.  Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. 

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

You can run, but you can’t hide especially from a Jewish hurricane.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/19/middleeast/tunisia-saied-storm-daniel-zionism-mime-intl

Thursday, September 21, 2023

I read an interesting statistic today in the sports section.  The average Notre Dame football season ticket holder lives 500 miles away from the university.  It reminded me asymptotically of a study done many decades ago by Andrew Hacker, then an American government professor at Cornell University, comparing the mobility of American political leaders and American business leaders.  He found that U.S. Senators resided a few miles from their birthplace, returning home even if they left for higher education.  CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, on the other hand, lived a great distance from their birthplace, moving on a trajectory determined by opportunity and company policy.  It may no longer be the case, but IBM was referred to as I've Been Moved.  

 

Meanwhile, among other Senators, J.D. Vance returned to Ohio after Yale Law School, Chuck Schumer to New York after Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Amy Klobuchar to Minnesota after Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School, and Mike Crapo (closer to crop than crap) to Idaho after Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School.  

 

Friday, September 22, 2023

Trying to end 5783 with a clean slate, I attacked the pile of bills that failed to disappear by being ignored.  The one that stood out by far was the "Doctor/facility charges" for my recent hip surgery, which included two nights in the hospital (my first hospital stay since birth).  I paid $21.29, not bad for a new hip even if I am still limping after 15 weeks.  But, that's the bottom line.  The amount billed was $160,465.20, which is why I'll never pretend to understand the economics of the American health care system.       

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Restaurants I understand better.  We had dinner tonight with Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins, at Masseria dei Vino, 887 Ninth Avenue.  This place has not only high quality, expensive Italian cuisine, but a stunning decor created by hundreds of backlit wine bottles.  Madam and I started by sharing a carciofi salad, that is artichoke leaves with roasted pistachio nuts, avocado and slices of Parmesan cheese, an excellent, though pricey concoction ($24.50).  My main course was fettuccine with short rib ragú, hearty, generous and expensive ($36.50).  While I didn't need more food, I took a piece of Madam's quarttro formaggi pizza ($28.50), if you'll pardon the expression, very cheesy.  On the whole, better than a commensurate number of hours in the hospital.