The Problem With Posthumous Haggadot

Before I get to the point, I think it's funny that Bill Clinton can give a speech in which he makes the remark that this primary is allowing a lot debate in the Democratic Party, which is a good thing, "And Republicans are participating in it, too!" he adds in that annoying joking-reproving way he has. The crowd, of course, eats it up- anything to bash Republicans and, of course, Rush.

Leave aside that there isn't much of a debate here- the candidates have pretty much identical views and are just fighting out identity politics, nevermind that neither is really a member of their "group"- but isn't the ex-President being just a wee bit ungrateful, considering that the primary beneficiary of Rush's "Operation Chaos" and Republicans voting in Democratic primaries is, well, his wife?

Anyway, to the point. I visited the local Judaica store today to check out new Haggadot, and one in particular I'd heard about. (I won't name it, to protect the innocent, but you should be able to figure it out.) First, I saw an interesting one: A sort of "Seder Leader" edition of the IDF Haggadah I really like. But then I found the one I was looking for. And although I'd really been planning on getting it, after flipping through it, I decided not to. The simple reason? It's basically a plain-vanilla Haggadah with a comment or two every few pages. I counted it all up, and it's about two dozen total pages of commentary with lots of pages with just the standard Hebrew/English text.

Now, don't get me wrong- you can pack a lot of good stuff into those pages, and there are many worthwhile Haggadot that are similar to this (I own some). But I have a sefer of Pesach thoughts, including Haggadah insights, from the same author, so why get this as well? And therein, I think, lies the issue: Some people do Haggadah commentaries when they're alive. They're specifically going through it, line by line, delivering insights that can fill a whole book.

But another type of Haggadah is one done posthumously. Very often, someone will die without ever making a formal Haggadah, and one of their talmidim will do it for them. Problem is, they have to hunt and pick for insights. Often, they're not even giving Haggadah insights, but Pesach insights they're fitting into a line from the Haggadah. And, in cases like that, there's going to be a lot- and sometimes not quite so much- on Maggid, and virtually nothing on the rest of the Haggadah. Worth it? Yeah, sure, sometimes very much so, but it wasn't enough for me today.

Cognitive Dissonance, Funny and Not

How's this one? Two tiny experimental electric cars, festooned with the logo of the manufacturer, parked on a side street. People walking by pause to admire them. One is still sitting on the back of a large flatbed truck; the other seems to have just been offloaded. The truck is just sitting there, engine idling.

News (paraphrased): Obama called for an end to racial obsession. Obama's voice itself: "We can't ignore the issues of racism." (Okay, again paraphrased.) Maybe I'm too much of a libertarian on this (and most other) issues, but am I the only one who notes the difference here?

More on Obama and his crazy uncle later, I hope.

Finally: You're sitting at work, relaxed, not a worry to the world. (OK, maybe a few.) The case involves a product made in Israel. (The Israeli company is in no way at fault, don't worry- quite the opposite, in fact. But the fact that that entered my mind when the case came up should tell me something.) And then you come across a document: "Jerusalem, Israel marked on labels might cause marketing problem in Emerging Markets [i.e., the Third World- NL]. Overlabelling program to be implemented."

That one really got to me. They still hate us. Boy, do they ever.

The product in question, by the way, is an implanted live-saving medical device. Oh, they'll take the help, but God forbid they should know where it's from. I hope the Israelis carved a tiny Magen David into them, so whichever fat, terror-supporting Saudi prince is benefiting can have a tiny visible piece of Israel inside him, whether he knows it or not. And hey, an Israeli company- and Israel and its economy- benefit anyway. Nyah nyah.

Primaries

I have to admit, I was pretty annoyed at the primaries this year: For a while, I've felt that it's simply illogical to allow people to vote in the primary of a party they never bothered registering for- isn't that the whole point of registering? (The same goes even more so for those registered for another party.) This year, with the guy(s) I wanted losing due to this very practice, I was doubly annoyed.

But now that Republicans have turned this on Democrats- in Texas, for example- and helped keep the Dems going through the convention (come what may, that can't be good for them), I'm a little more positively disposed toward it. Selfish of me, perhaps, but I'm even seeing the logic of subjecting candidates to a wide range of voters early and getting the one with the widest appeal come November. Well, we will see. Onward...

P.S. Why does the Amazon certificate always come right after I've ordered something from them?

P.P.S. That was some winter, huh? Global warming my foot.

P.P.P.S. Much more to come soon, I hope, including many reflections on Jonah's book.

Overheard at the Sefarim Sale:

Woman: Should I really be buying books that I'm never going to read?

Man: Well, it's not so much the reading...you buy books as an expression of your values.

Woman: What values are those?

Man: The value of buying books, of course.

Circular, but my feelings exactly.

The #1 item on this list is a bit unfair (for one, I don't think it's exactly true), so I figure I can be a bit unfair in response: What eventually happened to Brando? What's up with Steven Hill today? I can't speak for him, of course, but leaving fame and money aside...who'd you rather be?

Finally, nothing against the Giants, of course, but look at this list and tell me what it says about the development of our society. Eh, I guess it's not so bad. Three cheers...

Speaking of the Super Bowl, I recently saw the following, in this book. After writing the last Peanuts cartoon, Charles M. Schulz thought: "You know, that poor kid, he never even got to kick the football. What a dirty trick- he never had a chance to kick the football." With that in mind, this ad was actually kind of touching.

Book notes

Well, the first item isn't relating to books, but Amazon.com in general: I placed an order Thursday morning, choosing the free shipping, not the two-day. The item shipped Friday morning. It arrived Saturday morning. Granted this doesn't happen all the time, but that's pretty durn good.

Yesterday I checked out an antiquarian Jewish book fair at the Workman's Circle. Wow! I got a first-edition Pathways Through the Bible, illustrations by Szyk, for a few bucks (the other Szyk items were too much), and from Dan Wyman Books- Dan Wyman himself, in fact- I got a Mesillat Yesharim (I just heard R' Schwartz mention it this weekend), published in the 30's, translated by Mordecai Kaplan- for the novelty value, I guess- and a 1940's Yiddish photo magazine with an article on YU. He had lots of other stuff to rich for my blood- a 1937 Israeli phonebook (of course, I looked up, and found, my cousins), a complete set of Leeser siddurim, seven volumes, $750, a Mishnayot from the 1700's, and much more. I've rediscovered, at least for one day, my love of old books.

Oh, and then I went to Jim Hanley's Universe and found a nearly (Abebooks filling in the gap, and more) complete set of Star Trek Fotonovels for a steal. The guy at the counter gasped and said, "We have these?" "Well, they were on the shelf," I smiled.

And next week...the Sefarim Sale!

Of course, books, as I'm learning, are nothing compared to the important things that make you happy in life.

By their stars ye shall know them

I have to confess that the only part of the daily "Iran News Round Up" on The Corner that I click on regularly is the photo. Today's, as it happens, is a doozy. It's the defense ministers of Senegal and Iran meeting, and just consider: The Senegalese one is a civilian, in a suit. The Iranian is the one wearing a uniform. Kind of telling, I think.

Scenes from 47th and 6th

Scene: Rockefeller Center subway station. Two cops are standing in front of what we used to call the "token booth" when a third cop walks over to them from the Metrocard machines, where some tourists are standing.

Third Cop, calling: "Spanish, anyone speak Spanish?"

First cop: "Not fluently..."

Third cop, making a face: "Good enough, I guess..."

They all had a good laugh and headed over to help.

Then I headed upstairs and witnessed a scene I've never seen in real life: Someone yelling, "Hey, I'm walkin' here!" at a car. Didn't look native, but hey, someone's got to say it at least once in a while to remind us of Ratso. I know I've wanted to, but never really had the chance, thankfully.

Starving Artists

You know how you can tell the economy is getting bad? Well, WCBS-AM has been pushing a bad economy for months now, and this morning they found the perfect example: A very recent college graduate, a fine arts major, who'd like to move to Brooklyn to "pursue her painting" or something, isn't at it straight out of the gate, instead "living with a family friend" upstate somewheres. Oh, it's bad out there. Cry me a river. (As to the title of this post, it was used as a headline recently, and I couldn't pick up any irony.)

Me, I notice what I always notice: At the beginning of any crisis, there's a blip of a mention of some wacky liberal cause that led to it, and then nothing. Remember the to-do a year or so back about discrimination in lending? Anyone think that led to over-generous lending? Well, it was floated. Maybe once. And then disappeared off the radar. (To be honest, I'm no economist, so I may be completely wrong there.) Oddly, in all this, I haven't heard Bush blamed, although I'm sure they'd love to and are implying it. I guess they have their hands full hating him for other reasons, or no reason at all.

I chanced across a video of the famous Buckley-Gore Vidal debate. I gotta say, Buckley's famous line looks a lot better in writing than it does live, with him hemming and hawing and talking through his nose in some pompous accent, and the two of them grinning at each other like it's a big joke. In his defense, the various videos are of poor quality, with lots of three-way crosstalk, and Vidal certainly seemed offended later (much as Buckley felt bad about it later). So, again, it may just be me. It is a beautiful line.

So long, Fred...

Only a few days after I put one of his stickers on my bag, Fred Thompson dropped out. Ah well. It was a nice dream. My choice in the New York primary is a little easier now, though.

Speaking of Chutzpah...

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, fresh off a visit to Kassam rocket-besieged Sderot this past Thursday, says he found in the city - as well as the agricultural communities in the vicinity - 'impressive determination, staying power, and less complaining.'"

Less complaining? There are no words.

"They're not wiping the grin off this face!"

(Title is lifted from David Gerrold's introduction to the novelization of "Trials and Tribble-ations".)

Last night, I went to hear Jonah Goldberg speak about his new book, into which I am already making headway. He was sponsored by the local Young Republicans (one of the clubs, apparently, and I recall Jonah's Republican/conservative dichotomy as well) at the Women's Republican Club, and, as always, it was great hearing him. I've heard him a few times already, but it struck me this time what a great mind he has. He's really up on the topic, and his delivery just makes it better.

As he spoke, I remembered something I posted here a few days ago: He mentioned how fascist movements were popular, and I recalled that I had wondered what was wrong with people electing who they want- and, by extension, deserve. (This was, indeed, Jonah's point when the California Gubernatorial recall was going on, but that wasn't Nazi Germany.) But as he spoke, and implied his overall point about freedom being important, it hit me that I was making a left-wing error. (The horror! The horror!) Just because the people- a majority, a plurality in this case- want something, there'll always be at least one person they're trampling on. And even if there isn't, lack of freedom is objectively wrong. Thus I am enlightened.

But the best was yet to come. I went up to him to get the book signed...allow me to digress. Jonah has his "guys" (and some "gals")- people who fill him in on various details, about the military, medicine, odd links, business, and so on, that he's not up on as much. A few weeks back, I wrote to him with some flag information appropriate to a point he was making and added that I'd love to be his "flag guy." Last night, as it happened, he made a point about the Nazi flag, red so as to deliberately match the Soviet flag, and so when I went up to him, I mentioned my previous email(s). He remembered me- "'L-a-m-m,' right?" (I wanted to give a yell, but simply told him I was flattered)- and signed (he was personalizing everyone's), "Nathan- You are my probationary flag guy! Congrats. Wear it proudly. Jonah Goldberg".

I will, Jonah. You rock. I told him how much I enjoyed the talk, got some Thompson '08 stickers, and walked out there floating on air, giving an occasional hoot of joy aloud.

And the best part of the evening was yet to come, but that's for another day. Shabbat Shalom, y'all!

Can you say "chutzpah", boys and girls?

The surge is working because of the 2006 election? Because of Democratic threats to withdraw? Please.

John Edwards actually said "Those who believe that real change starts with Washington politicians have been in Washington too long and are living a fairy tale"? Wow. Well, read it in context: I guess it's OK if we're talking about liberal achievements in their own endeavors (and in this case, at least, it's fine with me too), not about ordinary Americans doing their thing. Otherwise we need the Breck Girl.

Yesterday, I mentioned living in a normal country like the US. Then I read pieces like this (in the Washington Post/Newsweek! And don't even ask about the comments!) and start to worry. Ben Hecht said much the same thing about making pronouncements about anti-Semitism in the US. Sure, it's a Gandhi, and we know about them. But I've always known that the camps in this country (and let's not even bring up Canada) would come from the Left rather than the Right. Thank God their power is still limited, for now.

Soutine's Lost Masterpiece

A wide-ranging conversation this past Shabbat began with family, moved to technology, then Philistine cities and their modern equivalents, before settling on, of all things, tattoos. (Don't ask.) I then took the opportunity to mention a story I've recently seen for the second time, Roald Dahl's "Skin." (Available in this collection.) Basically, it's about a man who discovers that his back is worth a fortune because it was tattooed by Chaim Soutine (an unknown when they were acquainted), whose paintings have skyrocketed in value after his death during World War II. A typically macabre Dahl story, I didn't supply the ending. (I did correct the plot in the Wikipedia entry; also provided handy-dandy wiki links for Jewish terms below for those who need them.)

Now, I've always known that my maternal grandfather and Soutine knew each other- they were from the same shtetl, and my grandfather used to write him, after Soutine had hit the big time in Paris, to ask him to help out his siblings back in Eastern Europe. (Soutine apparently responded generously.) We've always had a few Soutine books and prints around the house, and there's a certain hometown pride when there's an exhibit or article about him.

"Ah," I said, talking of my grandfather, "He should have asked him for a picture! Imagine what it would be worth today!"

"Oh, but he did!" my mother answered. "You don't know the story?" I didn't. It's really something.

Apparently, my grandfather, true to his later calling as a melamed, was retained, in his late teens, as a sort of tutor to Soutine, who was about the same age but, rebellious already, not to apt in his religious studies. Soutine had begun painting by this time, and my grandfather asked him if he could paint a portrait (from a photograph) of his eldest brother Leibe, who he admired greatly. (Leibe actually delivered a drasha, a discourse, before the Chafetz Chaim when the latter's yeshiva relocated to Shmilovitz- we have letters from the yeshiva's secretary attesting to this- and was known in the family as the one who, in a time and place when education typically stopped at around Bar Mitzvah age, made it further, to the "Gemara melamed.")

Soutine took the photo and painted the portrait. Later, my grandfather came to see him, and saw the portrait on the floor, leaning against the wall. He admired it, but Soutine, who was a perfectionist, said, "You think this is a good painting? Look at this! Look at that!" pointing out various (in his eyes) flaws. He then proceeded to rip the painting up.

Ahhh, a lost masterpiece. And an amazing story.

A few more random thoughts:

Speaking of young accomplished people, see this amazing story. (The first column is here.) I had a classmate in law school- actually my partner in one course- who was a World War II veteran. He once showed me a picture of himself in uniform and said, "I was, oh, about your age when this was taken." Still, as Rush and Clarence Thomas both had pointed out to them by veterans of the current war, we all do our part. I hope I am doing mine.

I just finished this book. I have to say, I began it somewhat disappointed- the author states that he's no expert in science, religion, or history, which makes it kind of tough to accept a book he writes about, well, science, religion, and history- and, sure enough, his points on the first subject are not clearly written, and his points on the second two subjects are often hopelessly wrong, often with a mistake in each paragraph on a page. Add to that a cliche-ridden style, and I was wondering if the book was worth it.

Fortunately, it really picks up as it progresses. The problems get less and less egregious and the information gets more and more interesting, so while I mostly skimmed the last chapter, I found most the rest of the book very satisfying indeed. It's a brave new world, and books and articles like this are helping us understand it well.

Now on to Jonah, I hope, whose whole book makes a point I've long argued, about the left-wing nature of fascism. I think the local bookstore is hiding it. Oh, and Zev's. I hope there's a Sefarim Sale event for it, his ideas about IBC notwithstanding. (That's the second time I've replaced an "o" in a link with an "a," by the way. Yay!)

Oh, speaking of Jonah, I had a bit of a thought recently- just a bit, mind. There's a constant refrain along the lines of "Hitler came to power with democratic elections," blah blah. (True or not, relevant or not, let's leave that aside.) Often it's used to suppress unpopular parties and the like. But the thought finally struck- so what? If that's what they wanted... (UPDATE: See above. I was wrong, of course, as I suspected.)

OK, a bit Oliver Wendell Holmes-ish of me, and maybe because I don't live in a country where people do that sort of thing. But the thought occurred to me, and I don't block that out.

M'chaven

Interesting article linked to at The Corner today. (You can also try here if that link doesn't work.) Now, you can believe me or not, but this is actually something I've thought of a few times as Obama has ascended. (I posted on a similar situation once.) Good to see it's getting wider play- I even posted it to my Trek group.

Well, the "holidays" are over, and things are settling down. I like that some areas have left the lights up for a bit longer, sue me. Many places did leave the menorahs up all the way through, a matter about which I've complained in the past, but, wonder of wonders, the building I work in took it down as soon as Chanukkah was over. (The Christmas stuff came down quickly too, come to think.) Yay! The title of the post applies to both halves.

The World We Live In

Well, 2008 is here. And, while it's arriving as quite a good year, I got a grim reminder of the world we live in last night.

I work only a couple of blocks from Times Square (although I rarely go there), and I pick up the subway to go home even closer nearby. Yesterday evening, well before midnight but with the crowds already arriving, I walked to the train along West 43rd Street, where the local firehouse is. And the entire block, Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue, was packed with Fire Department vehicles of all sorts. There was something that looked like a shipping container, painted red, being offloaded off a flatbed truck, marked "Mobile Decontamination Unit". There was truck after truck- huge ones- from the Hazardous Materials unit. Command cars, Emergency Service trucks, ambulances, police cars, more. A large crowd in uniform being briefed outside the firehouse itself. Thank God it all went well, but it was one of the scariest things I've seen. (I was at Ground Zero a few days after 9/11, but it had already happened there, if you take my meaning.)

It used to be they only had to worry about people getting drunk and rowdy in Times Square. Now crime has dropped- all the news outlets are touting the "less than 500 murders" number (of course, so long as a Republican is president, the Times will find the dark lining in the silver cloud), but what strikes me, as good news, is the "400 of those knew their killer" number- and now we have to worry about people who, at least officially, don't get drunk and still get rowdy, in a deadly way.

That said, it's important to note that things are cheery. (Well, things are cheery anyway, but I'm talking about the War here.) The radio informed me yesterday that this was the deadliest year for American troops in Iraq. (We never hear about the other side, of course, but I'm sure it wasn't a picnic for them.) Now, this is technically true, but it's outright dishonesty if...well, I was waiting for the next sentence to begin "But..." as in, "But this month saw the least deaths since the beginning of the war," and it never came. They just went on to the next story. Twenty-two deaths, about eight of them not even combat related, and they went on to the next story, and the AP simply reported the overall numbers as well. Disgusting. This morning, yet again, "New Year's in Iraq is just another day for soldiers...The war griiinds on." (I'm typing it exactly as he said it.) I suppose it'll keep "grinding on" until President Hillary, r'l, can take credit for a victory and be declared Woman of the Year, but it's good to know things have much improved, and we've taken the fight to them instead of having it come to Times Square, c'v. (Sorry for the Hebrew abbreviations.)

Anyway, a Happy New Year to all. I was wishing people (jocularly) a "Happy Sylvester" (yes, I ignore their note on spelling) yesterday, and only realized too late that I should be wishing them a "Happy Hirsch Day." Ah well, I'll do it next- whoops, this- year, for his 120th, if I can remember for 365- whoops, 366- days. Yup, it's a leap-Olympics-election year. Full of fun, excitement, and good times, for all of us, I hope, wish, and bless.

"Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy..."

"...got a clean bill of health from the people of Venezuela!"

(And yeah, I'm a bad Trekkie for thinking it was "click my heels.")

Russia, not so much. Didn't really expect anything better.

As for Sudan, I think the funniest line is this:

This case has done quite a bit of damage to how the Sudanese government will be
perceived...

Oh, because before they were the most admired country on Earth, huh?

Chutzpah Redux

Looking over my archives, I see I've already once used the phrase "It takes some kind of chutzpah..." Well, I'm going to use it again regardless, and still about charedim:

Reading reports from the Agudah convention (and posts done before then), it takes some kind of chutzpah to carry on for over seventy years about how modern Zionism is wrong, is un-Jewish, has failed (a favorite meme among them, and patently false to anyone who can see), the modern State means nothing, etc. etc., and then, when access to your precious Koysel is threatened, to moan and complain and say that Yerushalayim must remain under Israeli control. Can't these people see the cognitive dissonance they live with? Didn't they realize, all these years, who it was who was enabling them to go to the Kotel, to have yeshivot, to live off the dole? Do they even recognize it now?

Come to think, it takes a really special kind of chutzpah to have actively enabled the turnover of territories and expulsion of Jews for years, and then only wake up now. What, the people of Gush Katif weren't "black" enough for you?

Eventually, it all becomes quite sad, as even halakha is trampled underfoot. Poor man. I wonder if I could ever be a mouthpiece.

Speaking of which, yasher koach to the Machon HaMikdash. When I heard the tzitz was being remade a year or so ago, I was a little nervous they'd mess up the lines to be more "frum" or something, but they did a really good job. (Didn't touch the lines, in fact.) There's a group I'll depend on over the Agudah (and their spokesmen) any day. That said, I think I'm a bad Jew for laughing when I hear "New research has come to light."

Oh, and here's a good piece from R' Mandel. An oldie and a goodie.

Anyway, it was a good weekend. At the Kollel Yom Rishon this morning (two very good shiurim, as always), Dr. Goldberg asked me what R' Leiman spoke about. "Well, there's this new Artscroll book on Aleppo..." I began, "...and he ripped it to shreds," he concluded. Hee. What's especially pleasing is that I smelled something fishy about that book lo these two years plus past, but you need a scholar like him (and Dr. Zohar) to put their finger on it. That, a Carlebach Friday night, and a good session with the chavrusa, and...

...yes! Take a look at these photos. Sorry they're a bit dark- it was snowing today and not much natural light was coming in. The Eldridge Street Synagogue has been undergoing renovations for decades (I've visited a few times during that period, so I can attest to the huge amount of work that's gone into it), and they finally reopened to the public today:The view from outside, which my ultra-cool camera flipped automatically.

A few interior shots- the western rose window, the ceiling, and the eastern view- note how one of the two luchot is new, as they had to replace it, while the other was left in the state they found it. Finally, the famous pushke. When we visited with Dr. Gurock once, he pointed out how the shul collected for Yeshivat Etz Chaim (later YU) when it needed it, and we should reciprocate the favor- which I did today.

Finally, here's a shot from a month or two back. The Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society (I am a member of the latter) sponsored a book tour for Clarence Thomas consisting of luncheons around the country. He spoke marvelously, and the book is magnificent as well. Here he is signing a copy for me. If he looks a bit distracted here, it's because some tables accidentally fell over at that moment and he was concerned about his wife. But he was very nice, gave me a hearty handshake- but my camera didn't get that. Ah well. It was great meeting him.

Still no Wilde, I know. Soon. Instead, here's a funny video. My apologies to those I forwarded it to whole instead of looking for a link first. (And before learning, from YouTube, that it isn't an uncommon "shtick," although this is one of the better ones.) And speaking of wedding dances and YouTube, I had no idea.

Vindication of History

A few random thoughts before I get to my main point:

-Well, first, about random thoughts: There are some good Jewish blogs out there, and I find myself exhausting all I have to say on certain topics in their comments sections, and then unwilling to go through all of it again here. Unfair advantage for them, perhaps, but they deserve it for posting more often (somewhat akin to my old point of stuff I want to post about sitting around and getting stale)- and hey, more people will read me over there, alas. Onward...

-The Straight Dope posts a new piece (usually one from the archives) every day. Do you see a progression in the choices for this last week? Cults and then...Christianity?

Speaking of religion, the latest National Geographic made me take notice of something very interesting. (And no, it wasn't their cliche-filled article on Bethlehem.) I'm the last person to start crowing about intelligent design and the like, but just reading their article on dinosaurs, I couldn't help but notice that virtually every mention of the word "evolution" and "nature" could have been very easily been replaced by "God," and the article would have flowed just as easily if not better.

And, speaking of National Geographic, I guess I've read it for so long that when I saw a mock image of Spitzer in a pilgrim hat, I thought the buckle was the Geographic logo at first.

-Today is Oscar Wilde's 107th yahrtzeit. I have to mention that here now, and hopefully will be able to post a funny related story later.

-So Katie Couric, I hear on the radio, interviewed Rudy Giuliani last night about these allegations he charged visits to his paramour or whatever. He denies it- convincingly enough- but Katie also asked if he feels that even if these specific allegations are not true, they get noticed because the undeniable parts of the story (i.e., adultery) are tawdry, "something [he]'d be sorry about." Rudy didn't respond to that part, perhaps because he wanted to get to the substance, but Katie's going to have to learn something: Rudy regrets nothing. He is not sorry for anything he ever did. Now, this may be good in some contexts (and I've always liked Rudy, just not decided if he's "my man"), but it can be pretty bad in others.

-Well, thank God for little favors. Of course, as always with such things, I wonder about their exact language: If she had meant it, punishing her would be OK?

-Apparently, the street on which I work (45th) was once known as the model train capital, lined with stores selling equipment for them. I read an article about it some time ago (Yay for free archives!), and walked past the two remaining stores for years without going in. I finally went into both one day a couple of months back when I had a free moment. Now, I see one of them (the one that seemed half-dead when I went in) has closed as well. Dor holekh...

-Michael Miller, of the Jewish Community Relations Council, spoke at the event last night which I describe below. When I got home, I looked him up in my YU Alumni book (yes, I do have one), and, as long as I was at it, looked up his brother as well. It was odd- there were two entries- and one of them read, "Gruss Institute, RIETS Jarvis Island." Surprisingly (premature senior moment? Or as Helen Marshall put it last night, "intellectual overload"?), it took me a few moments to remind myself what Jarvis Island is. And when I remembered, I laughed long and hard.

Speaking of intellectual overload (see how these posts work?), it's funny how the brain controls the brain, as Holmes would say. To this day, in order to remember which is Medicare and which is Medicaid, I remember and old Tom Lehrer lyric I first heard as a kid: "Just go out for a breath of air, and you'll be ready for Medicare..."

OK, enough of this gay banter. Yesterday was November 29th, the sixtieth anniversary of the U.N. resolution partitioning Palestine. The vote took place in Flushing Meadows Park, not far from where I live- the Israeli government made a little grove there in honor of the event- and there was an event last night at the Young Israel of Hillcrest, one neighborhood over, commemorating it. It was nice- some good speeches, lots of politicians pumping Queens, and a rare video of the actual vote was shown.

But one thing really struck me. You see, the State of Israel has a new line. "Are you willing to accept Israel as a Jewish state?" What they mean is, "OK, we'll give you your state in the territories. But it's not enough for you to recognize us. You have to recognize us as Jewish- that is, you can't keep hoping to flood what's left of Israel with refugees and/or babies and vote us out of existence." Now, personally, I think it's a good line. Does Olmert mean it? Knowing him, probably not, but his people are saying it for some reason I can't figure out, try as I might, so good. Do all the American politicians who've latched onto it- including one prominent one from last night- mean it? Probably, if only to keep delaying having to make a deal with people they know, deep down (even if they don't admit it, even to themselves), shouldn't be dealt with. Do all the Jews who've latched onto it- including one prominent one from last night- mean it? Again, probably, if only to keep from having to hand over land they don't really want to hand over but don't want to sound "messianic" and "fanatic" about. But, again, I like it, even though I'm perfectly willing to add the idea that Israel should give up nothing and there should be no state, and it would still be true.

And there's the irony, and the vindication. You see, the same Young Israel of Hillcrest was the only place I ever heard Meir Kahane speak, almost exactly eighteen years ago. It was that speech that turned me into a Kahanist. And, of course, this was his single major theme: How you can't call Israel a "Jewish State" and still be unwaveringly committed to democracy. And here, with a slight twist, are all these people who wouldn't look at him, then or now, saying the same thing. Are they thinking it through? Probably not. Would they admit in a million years he was right? Of course not. (See the post below, about which one of my valued readers has shared outrage.) But like I said to that correspondent, R' Kahane wasn't doing what he did for public recognition. He's probably satisfied enough that he's been proven right on so many issues, and laughing at the rest. Here's hoping it only keeps getting better.

Shabbat Shalom, y'all!

"Something's missing, all right."

Well, not that I expected it- in fact, I was expecting not to see someone's name on this list (pdf). But the absence is glaring nonetheless.

By the way, I find it entertaining to see how, now that the violent aspect of the Iraq situation has turned around, liberals have started to crow louder and more exclusively on the political aspect- no government or whatever. To which I respond, maybe we should apply the same logic to Belgium as well? True, no one's being killed there, but there's a country I'd say "good riddance" to faster, perhaps for that very reason.

"1957 was a big year..."

"...The Russians put that Sputnik into outer space, the Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field to say goodbye to Brooklyn, that guy shot Frank Costello in the head, and missed, and the Gallo brothers whacked Albert Anastasia in the barber shop of the Sheraton View hotel. It was total chaos. With Anastasia out of the way, Vito Genovese figures he's the big boss. But Carlo Gambino and Joe Bananas, they had other ideas. So they called a meeting. A big meeting."

Well, the fiftieth anniversary of each one of the events in that monologue has passed. (I still find the sudden transition after the first two items hilarious. And I think it's ...and say goodbye...", or maybe just a verbalized pause. A trifle, but you know what Sherlock Holmes said about those.) And today, the radio brings us news that it is the fiftieth anniversary, today, of that "big meeting." Most people I tell are surprised it really happened.