Remembering Sept. 11
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September 11, 2015
At end of life, Oliver Sacks craved gefilte fish, and Judaism
On August 30, at age 82, noted neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks died after succumbing to a cancer that first plagued him nearly a decade ago, paused, and recently reappeared.
One of his last essays, published posthumously, appears in the September 14 issue of The New Yorker and is, surprisingly, an ode to gefilte fish.
“Our gefilte fish was basically carp, to which pike, whitefish and sometimes perch or mullet would be added,” he wrote of his mother’s recipe. “The fish had to be skinned, boned, and fed into a grinder – we had a massive metal grinder attached to the kitchen table, and my mother would sometimes let me turn the handle. She would then mix the ground fish with raw eggs, matzo meal and pepper and sugar.” Sacks first shared his cancer diagnosis in a February article in the New York Times.
Over the next six months, the writer, best known for his compassionate studies of patients with rare afflictions, turned his keen eye on himself, reflecting on his life through several essays and a memoir, “On the Move,” published in April.
Gefilte fish has long inspired both passionate defense and ire. It is also having something of a cultural moment, thanks to a recently surfaced, cryptically titled email from Hillary Clinton, which was revealed to refer to a shipment of carp facing Israeli tariffs in 2010.
But for Sacks, the traditional Eastern European dish represented the taste and smells of his Orthodox Jewish childhood in northwest London, and the full circle of life.
Though Sacks was not religiously observant as an adult, this food, it seemed, served as an unbroken tie to his Jewish identity throughout his life.
He recounted in The New Yorker essay, titled “Filter Fish,” the successful efforts of his late housekeeper, Helen Jones, an African-American Baptist woman, to fashion a homemade gefilte fish that rivaled his mother’s.
He also found himself craving the food in his last days: “Deliveries now arrive daily from one shop or another,” he wrote, naming a number of well-known New York delis.
A newfound appreciation for Jewish tradition defined much of Sack’s final writings. He articulated this most explicitly in an August 14 article in the New York Times called, simply, “Sabbath.”
In it, he recounted the rituals of his childhood Shabbat in a household headed by two surgeons, who, though they didn’t work or drive, kept the phones operational in case of a medical emergency.
Though he wrote fondly of these times, Sack’s homosexuality was not received well by his parents, and their reaction pushed him away from Judaism.
Over the next several decades, he studied medicine in Los Angeles, dabbled in body building in Venice Beach, struggled with drugs and gained international recognition for books such as 1973’s “Awakenings” and 1985’s “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.”
In 2014, Sacks visited family in Israel, his first visit to the country in 60 years, since spending a few months on a kibbutz as a 22-year-old.
In the New York Times essay, he recounted a Shabbat meal during that trip in which he finally felt embraced by his faith, and contemplated what he may have missed by keeping it at a distance.
“The peace of the Sabbath, of a stopped world, a time outside time, was palpable, infused everything,” he wrote, “and I found myself drenched with a wistfulness, something akin to nostalgia, wondering what if…”
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AJC shows U.S. Jews split on Iran deal, back Clinton more than other candidates
An American Jewish Committee poll found U.S. Jews virtually split on the Iran nuclear deal and showed Hillary Rodham Clinton well ahead of the pack among preferred presidential candidates.
The annual AJC poll published Friday showed 50.6 percent of respondents approved of the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions deal reached in July between Iran and six major powers, and 47.2 percent disagreed with it.
That’s a virtual tie, based on the 4.7 percent margin of error. The poll of 1,035 Jews was conducted by GfK between Aug. 7 and Aug. 22. Recent general population polling has showed support for the deal plummeting to the 20s.
Asked about presidential candidates, 39.7 percent of respondents listed Clinton as their first choice, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, who is vying with Clinton for the presidential nod, came in as a second choice, with 17.8 percent. Among Republicans, billionaire Donald Trump was in the lead, with 10.2 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, with 8.7 percent.
The poll suggested gains for Republicans, who have struggled for years to top 30 percent among Jewish voters: Overall, Democratic candidates garnered 58.5 percent of support while Republicans added up to 37.4 percent.
On the Iran deal, the AJC pollsters went for a straightforward question: “Recently, the U.S., along with five other countries, reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Do you approve or disapprove of this agreement?”
A range of other polls of U.S. Jews on the Iran issue have been accused of bias because of questions that attempted to contextualize or explain the deal.
In a follow-up question, the AJC respondents showed a lack of confidence in the ability of the deal to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Those who replied “very confident” numbered just 4.9 percent, while “somewhat confident” were at 30.7 percent; The “not so confident” came in at 30.1 percent and the “not at all confident” were at 33.2 percent. Overall, that showed 35.6 percent expressing confidence in the deal and 64.3 percent expressing a lack of confidence.
The White House and other backers of the deal have lobbied the Jewish community hard for its support, as have the deal’s opponents, including congressional Republicans, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Respondents were slightly likelier than not to believe that ties between the United States and Israel were strained. Asked if U.S.-Israel ties were getting better or worse, 4.7 percent said “better” and 42.2 percent said they were the same, while 51.9 percent said they were worse.
Respondents were culled from a pool of 55,000 people who had been asked through a system of random selection to participate in such surveys. They responded via email.
Traditional pollsters prefer cold-calling, saying that self-selection — in this case, by agreeing to be part of a survey pool —inevitably skews results, leaving out respondents who might otherwise not have prepared themselves for polling. However, with the advent of cell phones, cold-call surveys have become for some groups prohibitively expensive, and an increasing number of polls are conducted through email among respondents who have expressed a willingness to be surveyed.
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Does Iran deal rift mean Jews will go GOP in 2016?
One conspiracy theory making the rounds is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s various Iran-related confrontations with President Barack Obama are part of a Sheldon Adelson-plot to turn American Jews into Republican Party voters in 2016.
Even if one rejects this theory out of hand, the question still stands: Will Obama’s championing of the Iran deal trigger a significant realignment, with Jews jumping to the GOP in 2016?
The answer is maybe — but probably not, judging from the latest annual Jewish survey from the American Jewish Committee. (Before jumping in, keep in mind the survey’s margin for error is 4.7% — more than some of the shifts discussed.)
Let’s start with Obama and the Iran deal. The survey would seem to give Jewish GOPers reason for optimism.
Yes, the majority of American Jews back the deal, but only by a sliver — 50.6 percent approve and 47.2 percent disapprove. And when you dig deeper, you find that the depth of disapproval is much stronger: 16.4 percent approve strongly and 34.2 percent approve somewhat; versus 27.4 percent disapprove strongly and 19.8 percent disapprove somewhat.
About 63 percent of American Jews are not confident that the deal will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and 42.8 percent believe Israel will be more threatened because of the deal. Only 4.9 percent are very confident that the deal will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and 17.9 percent believe Israel will be less threatened.
About 53 percent approve of the way Obama is handling United States-Israel relations — a low number in light of the 70 percent or so of the Jewish vote that he won in 2012. And only 8.9 percent approve strongly.
You’d think all that would open the door to big GOP gains in 2016. Sure enough, AJC’s 2015 survey found 37.4 percent of American Jews backing a Republican presidential candidate. So if that number holds, GOP Jewish donors and activists will have plenty to smile about — that would amount to the best Republican showing since Ronald Reagan took 39 percent of the Jewish vote to best Jimmy Carter in 1980.
On the other hand, that’s not much of a GOP boost considering Obama and Netanyahu are in the middle of a full-frontal, existential slugfest. Obama won’t be on the ticket. Odds are it will be Hillary Rodham Clinton, with a deep bench of longtime Jewish backers, validators, donors, etc. She talks tougher on Israel than Obama. If you believe Michael Oren, her chemistry with Netanyahu is better. Ditto on all counts for Vice President Joe Biden.
Clinton was by far the most popular presidential candidate among Jews — with 39.7 percent identifying her as their first choice. Next up was Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with 17.8 percent. The socialist in the race almost doubled the top Republican, Donald Trump, who registered 10.2 percent. (Side note: The Donald appears to be less popular among Jewish Republicans than he is with Republicans overall — Jeb Bush is a close second in the Republican field with 8.7 percent.)
Dig a little deeper and you find that the underlying data hasn’t shifted much. In the 2013 survey, 47 percent of American Jews identified as liberal, 35 percent as moderate/middle of the road and 20 percent as conservative. This time around it was: 45.1 percent liberal, 33.8 moderate/middle of the road and 20.9 percent conservative. There is a little more movement on the Democrat-independent- Republican question — with those identifying with the GOP jumping from 15 percent to 19 percent (those identifying as Democrats dropped from 52 percent to 48.6 percent and independents stayed the same at about 32 percent).
(The deeper question behind all of these numbers — for a future column — is how much any Republican Jewish gains are attributable mainly to the growing numbers of Orthodox Jews and their nearly two decade shift to the GOP column as opposed to a wide Jewish realignment.)
The survey data also suggests that Israel-Iran issues are unlikely to be the main decision point for Jewish voters. About 75 percent identified a domestic issue as their top concern, with nearly 42 percent citing the economy. National security finished second with 12.3 percent, barely beating out health care (12 percent) and income equality (11.6 percent). U.S.-Israel relations (7.2 percent) edged out Supreme Court appointments (5.6 percent). Republicans can hope that they can make inroads via these various domestic issues — but previous polling results (not to mention their own previous campaign messages) suggest that Jews skew relatively liberal on these issues; and with the GOP candidate likely to stake out solidly conservative positions, a domestic-based case will be hard sell to most Jewish voters.
One final issue that might shed light on where the kishkes of American Jews are at: Anti-Semitism in Europe. About 90 percent said that it was a problem (with 45.5 percent calling it a very serious problem). Where it gets interesting is the follow-up question, about the extent of the problem on the far right versus the far left — respondents were twice as likely (20 percent versus 10 percent) to say that most people on the far right were anti-Semitic.
In short: There is just enough here to fuel another election cycle-worth of speculative articles on whether this is the year that Republicans make major strides with Jewish voters — but odds are most of them will (again) prove to be full of hot air.
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In defense of aging
“When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not.”
-Jedi Master Yoda
My patients occasionally ask me “do you have something that will make me younger?” Sometimes they’re just joking and want to complain a bit about some indignity of getting older. But frequently they’re serious and would like me to reverse some ravage of time. What I find fascinating is that they don’t ask “Do you have something for wrinkles?” or “Can I have a medicine for erectile dysfunction?” or “My hot flushes are terrible. Can you do anything for them?” They blame their symptoms on their age and have decided they’ve had enough of aging.
I hope I’m not the first to break this to you, but your age is just the elapsed time since you were born. The only way to be younger is to be born later. If you’re unhappy with when you were born, take it up with your parents. But if you’re unhappy that you’ve gotten old, I’d like to try to change your mind.
Lots of my older patients are nostalgic about their youth. And many are much less healthy than they were a decade or two ago. And seen through the haze of imperfect memory, it’s tempting to romanticize the past. But would any of us really want to relive our youth? Would we give up the wisdom and experience that we’ve amassed over decades in exchange for painless joints? Would we trade the deep committed relationships we have now to fall in love for the first time again? If we could get rid of every one of our chronic illnesses to reenact all the mistakes we made in our twenties, would we?
I hope not.
We live in a youth-obsessed time in a very youth-obsessed place. But like youth itself, this phase must pass. All philosophies that have stood the test of time and all civilizations that have lasted more than a few generations venerate their elders. Movements that celebrate youth are either shallowly materialistic or radical revolutions. Eventually both consumers and hippies grow up and the bubble bursts. Pete Townsend, who wrote the lyrics “Hope I die before I get old”, turned 70 this year, and I hope he has many happy healthy years ahead of him.
In Los Angeles, patients are likely to be exposed to many types of quackery. There’s the chronic Lyme disease quackery, the intravenous vitamins quackery, and the homeopathic herbalist quackery. But the quackery that makes me saddest is anti-aging quackery. It’s just as ineffective as any other form of quackery, but it’s sadder because it’s based on a double lie. It preys on patients’ irrational fear of aging, and rather than convince them otherwise, it sells them hormones and supplements and other nonsense. There’s never been a better time to be old. I’m a pro-aging doctor; if I do my job well my patients get older.
My oldest patient is 101. I saw her this week. She walks without a cane. She’s mentally sharp. She’s happy. Her biggest complaint is that her friends are so much younger than her. She’s never asked me to make her younger.
I wish my Jewish patients and readers a sweet and healthy year. And I hope that all of us, Jew and gentile, get a year older.
“Live long and prosper.”
Vulcan benediction
Learn more:
” target=”_blank”>Meditations (Marcus Aurelius)
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Rosner’s Torah-Talk: Parashat Nitzavim with Rabbi Morley Feinstein
Our guest this week is Rabbi Morley Feinstein of L.A.’s University Synagogue. Rabbi Feinstein attended the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors. Ordained in 1981 at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Rabbi Feinstein served as the assistant and first associate rabbi of Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Texas. From 1987 to 2002, he served as senior rabbi of Temple Beth-El in South Bend, Indiana. During his tenure there, he received Indiana’s highest citizen honor – The Sagamore of the Wabash – from its governor for his efforts in promoting peace and justice. Named a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of Jerusalem’s Shalom Hartman Institute, Rabbi Feinstein brings his deep commitment and passion for Torah, filled with energy, a zest for learning, and his love of music to his sacred work. He has devoted time for thirty one summers teaching at the camps of the Union for Reform Judaism. Rabbi Feinstein serves on the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders and is the president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California.
This week's Torah portion – Parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20) – begins with Moses gathering the people of Israel to enter them into a covenant with God. Moses then warns of the great desolation that will befall them if they stray from the covenant, but he assures them that if they repent God will bring them back together again from the ends of the world. Our discussion focuses on the difficulty of doing mitzvoth, repenting, and making Jewish choices.
Our previous discussions of Nitzavim:
Rabbi Marc Margolis on the evolution of Moses as a leader
Rabbi Richard Block on the nature and the scope of the special covenant with God
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In 5775, the White House met with Jewish leaders a ton of times (and it was mostly on Iran)
***This story has been updated to account for additional meetings between the White House and the Jewish community. (Sept. 11, 5:15 p.m. EST)
As the Jewish year of 5775 comes to a close, Jewish Insider looked back at the White House’s calendar of events as it pertains to Jewish outreach since Rosh Hashanah 2014—and it was a busy Hebrew calendar year indeed for the Obama administration’s outreach efforts to American Jews, with at least 63 events, or an average of about one every week.
“A lot had to do with the Iran deal,” said Matt Nosanchuk, an official in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement, and a White House liaison to the Jewish community, “And, you know, with concerns that have been voiced by some in the Jewish community regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
The list (below) of White House events with the Jewish community came from a “>webcast in late August with the Jewish Federations of North America “turned a corner.”
And asked how the White House determines which organizations and which Jewish figures get invites to the dozens of events, Nosanchuk said, “The priorities of the Jewish community [and the White House] overlap to a great extent…[We] invite people who are working with us to help further those priorities, and we also invite community leaders who may disagree with us on particular issues.
On that note, here’s the list of Jewish community events held by the White House in 5775. There are so many different meetings with different visiting delegations of Jewish Federations, and with a multitude of groups and people throughout the year, that we can’t promise this list is ironclad, but its close:
2014
Sept. 23 – President Obama’s “>host an event for Jewish leaders at their Naval Observatory residence.
Nov. 10 – Biden “>ceremony.
Dec. 17 – National Security Advisor for the Vice President Colin Kahl, Gordon and Matt Nosanchuk address Policy Briefing in connection with White House Hanukkah Reception.
Dec. 17 – White House Chanukah ” target=”_blank”>event at German Embassy honoring Ronald J. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress.
Jan. 22 – Power participates in U.N. General Assembly meeting on anti-Semitism and hosts reception for Jewish leaders at her residence.
Mar. 2 – National Security Advisor Susan Rice and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speak at AIPAC’s annual “>J Street’s annual conference.
Mar. 24 – Biden speaks at World Jewish Congress’s “>Passover seder.
Apr. 8 – Secretary of State John Kerry and Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman meet with “>meet with Jewish leaders about the Iran deal in the Roosevelt Room.
Apr. 13 – No. 2 – Obama meets with other Jewish leaders on the Iran deal.
Apr. 21 – McDonough briefs UJA Federation of New York.
Apr. 23 – Biden and Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer attend an ” target=”_blank”>welcomes Chabad to the White House.
Apr. 30 – Biden speaks at the “>tribute for Abraham Foxman, ADL’s former head.
May 21- Obama sits down for “>Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.
May 29 – Obama “>Jerusalem Post Conference in New York.
June 8 – Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken “>speaks at an Abe Foxman tribute in New York City. Obama sends a pre-recorded video tribute.
June 24 – Kahl briefs Reform Jewish leaders on the Iran deal.
July 2 – Biden meets with Jewish former members of Congress to discuss Iran, including Carl Levin, Mel Levine, Henry Waxman, Jane Harman, Howard Berman, and Robert Wexler.
July 14 – Nosanchuk briefs Jewish leaders on the day the Iran deal is announced.
July 20- Biden holds a conference call “>discusses Iran deal with about 120 Jewish leaders at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
July 24 – Kerry meets with AJC Board
July 24 – Sherman meets with AJC on Iran deal.
July 24 – Sherman and Szubin brief Reform Jewish leaders on the Iran deal.
July 24 – Sherman and Szubin brief Conservative rabbis on the Iran deal.
July 29 – McDonough and Sherman “>meet with 22 Jewish leaders in the Cabinet Room.
Aug. 6 – Moniz, Sherman and Nosanchuk brief 30 Jewih leaders in Detroit.
Aug. 7 – Moniz and Nosancuk meet with Jewish leaders “>broadcast on JFNA webcast.
Aug. 24 – Nitin Chadda, the White House’s Director for Iran Affairs, “>interviews Obama.
Aug. 28 – Obama interview on Iran deal “>Jewish leaders in Florida to discuss the Iran deal at an event organized by Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL).
Sept. 3 – Biden “>speaks at an Iran forum at Shaarei Tzedek synagogue in Southfield, Michigan.
Sep. 4 – Sherman meets with Jewish leaders from Maryland at the White House.
Sept. 8 – Szubin joins Jewish constituents in New Jersey to “>speaks about the Iran deal at Temple Rodef Shalom in Arlington, Virginia.
Sep. 9 – The Bidens “>holds a conference call with rabbis in advance of Rosh Hashanah.
“That Face”
“That face, that face, that wonderful face!
It shines, it glows all over the place.
And how I love to watch it change expressions. Each look becomes the pride of my possessions.
I love that face, that face, it just isn't fair. You must forgive the way that I stare, But never will these eyes behold a sight that could replace
That face,That face, That face.”
Donald Trump is about my age, so he should remember the lyrics of Alan Bergman’s “That Face,” sung by Fred Astaire. Of course, he himself is more reminiscent of another Astaire standard—“Funny Face”—but sung on a bad drug trip.
What makes this topical is Trump’s latest misogynist slap in Rolling Stone—this time at rival candidate Carly Fiorina—as “What a face! Can you imagine that face on a president.” I would like to ask The Donald about his mythological references: is he comparing her look to the Medusa—or the Gorgon?
He’s an expert on female pulchritude though he uses other slang expressions that would make Damon Runyon blush. So enquiring minds want to know.
Of course, The Donald explained that he was really referring to Fiorina’s “persona” or “aura.” If I were advising him, I would have urged throwing in a reference to his favorite Roman philosopher—and emperor—Marcus Aura-relius.
A week or two ago, The Donald was stumped when asked to quote his favorite bible verse. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has now speculated that Trump could not answer because he never reads books—like the Bible—in which he isn’t quoted.
Again, if I were his historical advisor, I would have suggested that he answer about his least favorite bible verse: “Let thee who is without sin cast the first stone.”
A concluding thought about “American exceptionalism” and The Donald. The notion of “American exceptionalism” is very much under attack these days. The left is contemptuous of it, and even the right may be losing faith. But think about this: should not we all be grateful that Trump is not a political demagogue of caliber of Mussolini or Hitler? The U.S. has never produced such a demagogue—not, anyway, with enduring appeal at the national level.
Should not we all be proud about this negative accomplishment of American exceptionalism?