Saturday, March 22, 2025
Texas A&M University has banned performances “involv[ing] biological males dressing in women’s clothes.”
There goes Shakespeare.
. . .
On the other hand, tolerance has gained a foothold at Yeshiva University, a school based on Modern Orthodox Jewish values. An LGBTQ club on campus is being recognized after several years of opposition by the administration.
. . .
If you’d like to hear about intolerant Jews, I have something for you. A group of adult Jews met recently to discuss a gift to their progressive synagogue. The consensus choice was a Torah cover, both as an adornment and protection of the sacred text.
Some group members, who are apparently more sensitive than others to perceived grievances, objected to the first choice because it was made in Israel. Then, they made a blanket objection to any cover with a notable presence of blue, as in the Israeli flag.
I repeat: A group of adult Jews met recently to discuss a gift to their progressive synagogue.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
A study of the 1,839 largest American cities and towns for the period 2013-2023 found that the typical home is newer almost everywhere.
While this is no surprise for new and expanding communities in wide open spaces, two of the top 10 are immediately adjacent to New York City and two more are in commuting range.
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How did we get to Carnegie Hall? By bus. It was the annual concert by HaZamir, the International Jewish Teen Choir. The specific attraction was Boaz, #1 Grandson, looming large at age 17. There were hundreds of Jewish kids on stage from the United States and Israel. Imagine the level of swelling adoration among the relatives who packed the hall. Boaz, in addition to towering over his peers in the back row, introduced one of the numbers in clear, self-assured tones.
Before the concert, the rest of the family met for lunch at Wagamama, 100 West 55th Street, the British-based, pan-Asian restaurant chain starting to expand here. I had Steak Bulgogi,
marinated sirloin steak, miso-fried eggplant, soba noodles, bulgogi sauce, kimchi and half a tea-stained egg ($24.50). It was good and spicy and filling. It went well with Diet Coke.
. . .
“Liberals used to be the counterculture, today they’re the defenders of traditional norms and institutions.” Andrew Marantz in The New Yorker.
Monday, March 24, 2025
“According to figures released Sunday by the French Interior Ministry, 1,570 antisemitic acts were recorded in 2024, representing 62% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the country.”
Do Jews make up 62% of the French population? Not even close. 1% actually.
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Corporate sponsorship is now being sought for the White House Easter Egg Roll.
In what may be the last gasp for DEI, I am seeking corporate sponsorship for our Passover Seder. So far, Toyota has expressed interest in underwriting the Four Questions.
My brother is five years older than I am. He went to Stuyvesant High School and CCNY before I did. He was a far better student than I was and started a collection of pins from the two schools among others, as well as various political candidates of the time. I added to it.
This minor trove sat untouched for decades until future president William Franklin Harrison came over today to help me sort it out. The Stuyvesant and CCNY piles will go to the respective alumni associations. We have no destination for the others at present, mostly candidates, Alf Landon-Adlai Stevenson-Eugene McCarthy, among the more interesting ones.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
“The average American leaves 53 pounds, or $329 worth, of food on the plate at restaurants every year, according to 2023 data from ReFed, an organization that works to reduce food waste.”
If you have ever eaten with me, you know that I am not the average American.
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While I might like to fill these columns with birthday greetings, odes to Spring and news of Mets victories, other stuff keeps drawing my attention. For instance, Hunter College just redrafted a job posting for a faculty position in Palestinian studies. It originally mentioned “settler colonialism, genocide and apartheid.”
The new listing also omits reference to murder, rape and kidnapping.. . .
Speaking of happiness, the latest World Happiness Report has emerged from Oxford University.
For the eighth year in a row, Finland is the leading happy place, with other Scandinavian countries taking most of the top spots. Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan are at the bottom of the heap. The good old USA comes storming in at 24th. Maybe we need more saunas. I found it interesting that Israel sits at eighth, obviously comfortable with blood and guts.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
With that long trek across the Sinai Desert rising on the horizon, the Boyz Club gathered at Wo Hop, 17 Mott Street, to assign roles, who would lead the camels, who would feed the camels, who would clean up after the camels.
We ate heartily, egg rolls, honey crispy chicken, Singapore chow fun, chicken chow fun, beef with scallions and mushroom fried rice. With our generous, as always, gratuity, we spent $20 each. Ain’t no mountain high enough.
Friday, March 28, 2025
I had a late lunch at Lim's Kitchen, 242 East 40th Street, a small, neat Korean restaurant. It is a long rectangle, with seven four tops. The ceiling and upper half of the walls are painted white giving a bright feel. Below, there is one long strip of exposed brick, opposite faux wood planks. As soon as you sit down, three little dishes are put down, kim chi, the traditional Korean fermented cabbage, macaroni salad and tiny slices of cold omelet. Forks by request.
I ordered japchae, a large portion of glass noodles with shaved bulgogi beef, mushrooms, onions, scallions, red peppers, sesame seeds and carrots in a rich, salty soy sauce ($17.95, 5% discount for cash). They also serve Korean fried chicken, my target for a future visit.
. . .
In these dark days on the international front, there is an unusual little bright spot. Gazans are mounting demonstrations against their Hamas rulers, seeking peace and freedom.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/26/middleeast/why-gazans-are-protesting-hamas-now-intl-latam?cid=ios_app
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/
Can Bibi Netanyahu curb his blood lust sufficiently to allow a bit of civilization to return to the birthplace of Western civilization?
So that’s where the pins are!
ReplyDeleteRe: The "progressive" synagogue.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of Woody Allen's line about his rabbi: He was so reformed--he was a Nazi.
Clean your plate. There are children starving somewhere. Literally!
ReplyDelete"objected to the first ... because it was made in Israel. ... made a blanket objection to any cover with a notable presence of blue, as in the Israeli flag."
ReplyDeleteBut they let down their guard so much that they didn't object to the Torah scroll itself?
And didn't object to *reading from it* at services?
Do they realize the word "Israel" appears in the scroll?
More than once?!