I was looking for something in the living room at the front of the house. We call this room, the music room, as that is where Señora’s 123 year old Mason & Hamlin piano resides. This piano is bigger than a baby grand piano, but not quite up to a full size grand. I, humorously(?), refer to it as a teenage grand piano. This particular instrument nearly puts the piano tuner Continue reading “What a Long Strange trip It’s Been”
Robin sings at the Turkish Community Center.
Robin and I spent part of our Christmas Day at an interfaith event at the Turkish Community Center. There was a young man who sang some some songs in Turkish. Anne and Robin then sang some Jewish songs. Some were all in Hebrew and some were a mixture of Hebrew and English.
Before the singing we enjoyed a potluck meal of Turkish food and Jewish food. Although most Jewish food is not of an ethnic, distinct nature. Someone did bring some honey cake.
It was a really nice time.
We should celebrate diversity more.
Shalom.
I Saw Racism Received Like a Body Blow Today
If you grow up in America it is hard not to incorporate some racist attitudes into your being. Sadly, it is just part of the DNA of an American. When I could just barely read I remember seeing signs that read, “Whites Only”, and being perplexed by it. While I could read, I had not assimilated the cultural norm that some people are better than others based solely on the color of their skin. I believe that as a nation we have been working very hard to move away from this paradigm. I believe Dr. King’s dream will be fully actualized someday.
Prejudice and bigotry is something I have thought about a bit over the last few years for a couple personal reasons. One being that when I lived in Jackson, Mississippi I became good friends with a black man a few years older than myself. We remain the best of friends to this day despite the change in my geographical location. He grew up in an area of town not too far from the street now named Medgar Evers Blvd. He has told me stories of the Civil Rights era in that town that left me less than proud to be white. When we first started hanging around together we had a series of discussions about race. It is just something that has to happen in this society in a “mixed” relationship.
The other reason is that a few years ago I started dating a Jewish woman, and eventually married her. Continue reading “I Saw Racism Received Like a Body Blow Today”
The Myth of the Shattering of the Vessels
I heard this Jewish traditional myth about the Hidden Light on Kristen Tippet’s NPR show On Being. So I went looking for it on da’ net as it was such a wonderful concept and a 
wonderful way of looking at other souls.
On the website Tikkum I found the following article How the Ari Created a Myth and Transformed Judaism
An excerpt:
“How is it that a concept rooted in medieval Jewish mysticism has so endeared itself to contemporary Jews? In order to understand this unlikely development, let us first consider the myth itself, known as “The Shattering of the Vessels” (shevirat ha-kelim).
At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring this world into being, to make room for creation, He first drew in His breath, contracting Himself. From that contraction darkness was created. And when God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), the light that came into being filled the darkness, and ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light. Continue reading “The Myth of the Shattering of the Vessels”
For Whom the Law Tolls
For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew- or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist. It was Virginia’s harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson’s statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you – until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.
-Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1960
The local Jewish community newspaper in St. Louis ran the following editorial. It was triggered by Oklahoma passing a constitutional amendment banning judges from considering Sharia (and international laws) in their judicial opinions. The editoralist does not see a lot of legal danger from this amendment, but finds the attitude behind the passing of the amendment very dangerous.
The link: For Whom the Law Tolls
I’m just so proud to be an Okie…not.
Smack Down at Our Lady of Salvation Bingo Emporium
Karol was a tall, somewhat overweight Jewish woman with a pouty lower lip. She had been attractive in her younger days, but age had definitely come to visit.
She was married, but as far as day to day living she was essentially single. Her lifelong spouse had Alzheimer’s disease and he had been in a nursing home for many years. He did not know Karol, or anyone else for that matter. Nevertheless, Karol would visit him regularly, almost daily. It was a large part of her social life. Not her husband per se, Continue reading “Smack Down at Our Lady of Salvation Bingo Emporium”
A Question of Etiquette
Let me see if I can set the situation for you. Relatives of mine were making a trip, and they needed a place to stay overnight. My girlfriend has a large home and was more than willing to accommodate their request.
My girlfriend is Jewish, but is definitely secular. Her spiritual beliefs tend to be more towards Continue reading “A Question of Etiquette”
Would this treaty be signed today?
From the book, Doubt: A History, by Jennifer Michael Hecht:
As second president of the United States, Adams signed into law the Treaty of Tripoli (1797), which declares that “the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion” and is in no way an enemy to Muslims. On this basis “it is declared…that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.” Further, “The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation.” It was carried unanimously by the Senate.
I just have a hard time believing that a treaty containing such language would be passed at all today, let alone unanimously!
I could even see the Okie delegation storming out in protest.