Category
June 17, 2004
In ‘Control’
Gullibility cuts both ways. I try to remember this as I reflect on "Control Room," a fascinating documentary on the Arab news channel Al Jazeera.
What Men Want (To Say)
How much more interesting the first date would be if we both were to communicate our true emotions. Still, those actual thoughts and feelings are definitely present, whether uttered or not. They\’re simply bubbling under the conversation\’s surface; biding their time until we feel more comfortable and trusting with one another.
History Behind the Cross
Once again, Jews are embroiled in a controversy about a cross. A Los Angeles Times article (June 9), about a demonstration in favor of keeping the cross on the L.A. County seal, noted a Jewish presence there and quoted a Jewish demonstrator as saying, \”The cross … reminds us, even as Jews (sic), that religion is free here.\”
Our Cross to Bear?
At first blush it seemed an odd thing for an observant Jew to do: Slogging my way through morning rush-hour traffic to get downtown to demonstrate against the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors\’ decision to remove a small cross from the county seal.
And yet, I felt compelled to be there. The supervisors had already capitulated, in a 3-2 vote, to a threat by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to sue the county over the cross. Surprised by the public outcry, the supervisors called for another vote to consider a so-called \”compromise\” with the ACLU in which the cross on the seal — just one of a dozen various symbols of the region\’s history — would be replaced by a mission. But as one clever observer noted, a mission without a cross just looks like a Taco Bell.
A Blessing for the Father
A few months ago I flew from Long Beach to Brooklyn. It was a long, sad and lonely trip. A few days earlier, my mother had turned 82 years old and was looking forward to a special birthday, when tragedy struck. A fire broke out in her home. Quickly, her life was taken by fire and smoke. No goodbyes or time to prepare for closure, just a cruel death.
My father survived the fire but lives daily with his memories. He now spends his time living a day or a week with different children and grandchildren. He recently came to California to join our family for the holidays. Even though the children and grandchildren were here something big was missing. Yes, our dear mother, the grandmother, was missed.
Mikveh Plunges Into Uncharted Waters
Since the klezmer revival exploded a quarter century ago, the Ashkenazi musical tradition has experienced more variations than deli sandwiches. There has been klezmer-infused jazz, hip-hop, bluegrass and most any other permutation one can imagine. But as klezmer has morphed from shtetl to nightclub fare, one of the most unusual things it has added is women, said musician-scholar Yale Strom.\n\n\”Traditionally, the purveyors of Yiddish songs and culture were women, but that didn\’t occur outside the home,\” said Strom, author of \”The Book of Klezmer\” (Chicago Review Press, 2002). \”Women did not play in klezmer bands because of the Orthodox prohibition against hearing a woman\’s voice and because nice Jewish girls stayed home.\”
Lewis Black Hits It Big by Seeing Red
Lewis Black is pissed off.
In his HBO special, \”Black on Broadway,\” the black-clad Jewish comic from New York with the tobacco-tinged rasp unleashes a torrent of four-letter words and razor-edged observations about the world around him — a world that could be so much better, so much kinder, so much gentler. But isn\’t.
A Concert of Conscience
In choreographer Roni Kosmal-Wernik\’s piece about the aftermath of a suicide bombing, a dancer prowls the stage as if searching for a lost loved one. Her movements become heavy, brooding, as if she is burdened by an invisible weight.\n\nInspired by a family friend\’s death in a 2001 attack, Kosmal-Wernik\’s work will help kick off a June 20 event at Temple Emanuel to support other victims of terror. Performers such as pianist Sha-Rone Kushnir will appear to benefit ATZUM, a Jerusalem-based charity that provides necessities for families not covered by Israel\’s overburdened welfare system.\n\n\”Artists for ATZUM,\” is the latest Los Angeles response to Israel-based violence.
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