Sunday, November 26, 2023
The weekend paper contains an article by Joe Berger, longtime New York Times reporter, about his family’s experience among “the 140,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors who came to America between 1946 and 1953,” mostly settling in New York.
It took them four years waiting in a displaced persons camp to gain entry. He contrasts this with present day conditions faced by asylum seekers. Most notable is the support provided by private agencies and the speedy path to assimilation upon arrival available to refugees then. Joe has described the events in full in his brilliant memoir “Displaced Persons: Growing Up American After the Holocaust,” published in 2002, still in print.
. . .
Among the hostages freed Saturday by Hamas was Emily Hand, a nine-year-old girl with joint Irish and Israeli citizenship. Reacting to the news, the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tweeted that “an innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned.”
While that description has a poetic feel, evoking a little girl who wandered away during a family picnic, it doesn’t describe what happened. But, maybe that's the point.Monday, November 27, 2023
I wish that the strife in the Middle East was over so that we can concentrate on critical matters, such as Hunter Biden’s laptop.
. . .
I went downtown today to do some heavy duty holiday shopping. In heading for a place to eat, I came across a new Urban Space, 124 East 14th Street, a smaller version of the food courts that I have patronized at 45th and Vanderbilt and 51st and Lexington. Those two are usually full with lanyard-wearing IT folk and an occasional financial analyst. By contrast, this location looks like a New York University dining hall, full of students, as it sits between two NYU buildings.
Unfortunately, my dissatisfaction with my food choice contrasted with the older establishments where I’ve never been disappointed. I ordered an Original Fried Chicken Sandwich Combo from Bobwhite Counter ($12.19). While the chunk of fried chicken was hefty, it was very dry and the mayonnaise and pickles on the bun did not rescue it. There are 10 other vendors who might save this Urban Space’s reputation, however.
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
I came across a list of allegedly the happiest cities in the U.S.
Today, Burlington, Vermont is unhappily known as the site of the shooting of three Palestinian college students from the West Bank who viewed the U.S. as a safe haven.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/
. . .
The Holy Land would be a happier city if Ample Hills Creamery were back in business. Alas, the latest effort to revive this once great ice cream purveyor has collapsed. https://ny.eater.com/2023/11/28/23980146/ample-hills-founders-fired-jackie-cuscuna-brian-smith
Is there anyone out there with the taste, energy and money to restore this pillar of civilization?
. . .
A public interest group filed suit today against the University of California Berkeley for the “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on campus that has resulted in a current hotbed of anti-Jewish hostility
and harassment. https://brandeiscenter.com/
I'm a big "marketplace of ideas" fan, but I think "anti-Zionism" is very old wine in a relatively new bottle.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Speaking of the shrinking world of intellectual integrity, regard this comment from Jesse Green. "As the chief theater critic for The New York Times, I have been asked not to review certain plays that creative teams apparently felt I, as a white man, could not appreciate."
I had the pleasure of Gary Mindlin's company at my first Rangers game of the season tonight. He is a hardened fan who had already gone to a game this week. We were pleased that the Rangers won, but they made it look hard, which was not pleasing. However, the standings only record wins and losses, not aesthetics. Gary generously treated me to a pretzel, the big, soft street kind closer to a bagel, costing $5 at Madison Square Garden.
It made me think of Raymond the Bagel Man, who stood at the corner of Convent Avenue and West 135th Street, at the heart of the CCNY campus for many years before, during and after my presence. 
He charged a nickel for the soft pretzel that we all called a bagel. Supposedly, at night, he went up to Yonkers Raceway, where he sold them for a quarter.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
It's beyond my research skills to tell you how much a soft pretzel costs in Zurich and Singapore, the most expensive cities in the world, or even Geneva, tied with New York in this regard.
Will someone report back?
Friday, December 1, 2023
The New York Times broke the story today that will haunt us for a long time. "Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago." https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
How could it have happened?, we ask ourselves. We (I think that many American Jews identify with Israel under these circumstances) let it happen.
I do not see how people can be happy in a place frequently threatened by earthquakes and fires.
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