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Jewish Journal

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November 4, 2021

Good at Getting Older

Leave a Comment / Commentary, Opinion /

“Sarah’s lifetime — the years of Sarah’s life — came to 100 years and twenty years and seven years.  Sarah died in Kiriat Arba, now Hevron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her.” (Genesis 23:1-3) The story goes on to describe how Abraham buys a burial plot for her. Then the Torah tells us he is old, and blessed with everything. 

Ancient rabbis believed that there were no extraneous words in Torah so they ask: why not just say that Sarah was 127 years old? Their answer: At a hundred she was as beautiful as she was when she was 20; at twenty she was as pure as she was at 7. So much for ageist assumptions! 100 is the new 20!

But Abraham, Genesis 24 tells us, “was old, advanced in days.” This verse is the first time in Torah someone is called “old.” The Babylonian Talmud (Baba Metzia 87a) teaches that “Until Abraham, there was no old age, so that one who wished to speak with Abraham might mistakenly find himself speaking to Isaac, or vice versa. So Abraham said to God: “ You must make a visible distinction between father and son, between a youth and an old man, so that the old man may be honored by the youth.” God replied, “Good idea! I’ll begin with you.” Abraham went to sleep, and when he woke up his hair had turned grey. He complained to God: “If you have given me grey hair as a mark of old age, that’s not what I had in mind. I don’t find it attractive.”

So much for internalized ageism…. still a challenge for us now. The midrash ends with God consoling Abraham: “On the contrary,” God replies, quoting Proverbs 16:31, “Grey hair is a crown of glory.” 

After he buries Sarah, Abraham goes on to the challenge of finding a wife for his son Isaac. Getting good at getting older involves looking forward to the future, investing in the next generation. When the Torah tells us about Isaac’s preparation to meet his bride, it says that Isaac goes out “lasuach b sedah”—to stroll in the field. The rabbis tell us that the word “lasuach” means more than just “to stroll.” They explain:  Isaac went out to do teshuva in the very same place where Hagar found the well that saved Ishmael ‘s life “Why?”  Their astonishing answer: to do teshuva for what his father did; to find Hagar and Ishmael to ask forgiveness.  To ask for a second chance to rebuild a relationship. 

The next verse: “And Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.”  The rabbis imagine that Keturah is in fact Hagar!  Because Isaac went to that well to apologize to Hagar, Hagar is able to forgive Isaac and Abraham. So Hagar returns with Isaac, and Abraham and Hagar remarry. 

Getting good at getting older requires asking for forgiveness, repairing relationships, believing in second chances and committing to the work one has to continually do to make second chances possible.

Getting good at getting older requires asking for forgiveness, repairing relationships, believing in second chances and committing to the work one has to continually do to make second chances possible.

Isaac finds comfort in the tent of his mother with his wife Rebecca. We mourn and then we move forward. Loss is real, but so is joy.  Then Abraham has more kids, leaves clear instructions as to how to divide his estate, and the parasha ends as Isaac and Ishmael come together to bury him. 

Here’s what we learn about getting good at getting older from Hayei Sarah. First, you really only know the meaning of a life after it is over. Second, as we grow older there is less time ahead than there was behind. People we love die. Plan your funeral – buy a burial plot, make an estate plan and tell your adult children what it is. Third, mourn for those you love and then move forward, investing in the next generation. Fourth, do the work of looking over what is still unfinished, those relationships that need healing, who you need to forgive, and from whom you need forgiveness. And finally, perhaps what is most important… look over your life with gratitude so that you can say: you are blessed with everything.

Rabbi Laura Geller is the co-author of Getting Good at Getting Older.  www.rabbilaurageller.com

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A Moment in Time: Time to Call it Quits?

Leave a Comment / 'A Moment In Time', Blogs /

Dear all,

Last Sunday I set out to ride 36 miles in the Tour de Summer Camps. I so appreciated all those who supported this cause. You helped me raise over $5000 to send kids to Jewish Summer Camps!

I really enjoyed the ride. The air was brisk, my muscles were in pretty good shape, and my lungs were taking in the air. I was keeping a good pace as I completed the 12 mile marker.

But then, it happened. At first it was a gentle thump. But it grew into a thud. And then a hard bump bump bump. Yes, I got a flat!

I pulled over and called the hot line to get assistance. “We’ll be there within 45 minutes” they told me.

Sigh. My momentum was shot. I decided right then that I would just get a ride back to my car and head home. It just didn’t seem worth it anymore.

But I then recalled some rabbinic wisdom from Rabbi Tarfon in Pirkei Avot: “While you are not obligated to finish the task, you aren’t free to neglect it either.”

I was so close to calling it quits. But a shift in focus in that moment in time reminded me to keep on going. “Perhaps I’ll quit later. But not now. And not because of something fixable, like a flat tire.”

Yes, I kept going. And it was glorious?

(Well, it actually wasn’t at first. It took a while to get back in sync. But as I rode on it got better and better!)

With love and shalom,

Rabbi Zach Shapiro

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#SadSadIsrael Trends Mocking NYT Article

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, United States /

The hashtag #SadSadIsrael has been trending on Twitter as various users mock a New York Times article depicting Israel as a lachrymose place.

CAMERA’s [Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis] Gilead Ini wrote that the Times’ October 26 front-page story from Jerusalem Bureau Chief Patrick Kingsley describes Israel as an “unwanted child” and “an ‘unsolvable’ puzzle of ‘incompatible’ factions burdened by ‘grievances’ and ‘consequences.’ And that’s only in the first seven paragraphs.” Kingsley’s article goes onto depict “underlying tensions and inequities,” “ethnic abuse,” “oppression” and “apartheid,” according to Ini. 

Ini noted that Israel is consistently ranked among the happiest countries in the world in the World Happiness Report and polling data shows that the overwhelming majority of Israelis are “satisfied with their lives.” “In a country whose history of conflict makes all the more remarkable its resilience, vibrancy, and happiness, the New York Times, whose reputation of anti-Israel advocacy has grown in recent years, bends itself out of shape to curate malcontent,” he wrote. “It isn’t following where the Israeli roads leads, letting chance encounters eventually paint an accurate picture. Rather, it’s flipping a two-headed coin to get the intended result.”

The Times article prompted the #SadSadIsrael hashtag mocking Kingsley’s portrayal of Israel.

“In a recent article, @nytimes tries to falsely portray Israelis as sad and miserable,” StandWithUs tweeted. “Israel is now open for tourists, come see for yourself. Fun fact: According to the UN’s annual World Happiness Report, Israel was ranked 11th happiest country in the world. #SadSadIsrael.”

Writer Sarah Tuttle-Singer tweeted, “We stay out all night and swim in warm sea water, or argue with our friends on crowded corners, or drink whiskey until sunrise or dance until our feet hurt and then stop for a minute and keep on dancing… we chose life with our arms and eyes wide open.”

Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, who heads the International Legal Forum, tweeted out a photo of himself smiling in water. “Greetings from the Dead Sea! You should check it out @PatrickKingsley @nytimes. Beautiful place. Just beware all those happy people!”

Shlomi Ben-Meir, a researcher for CAMERA in Israel, tweeted out photos of children playing in school and wrote, “My kids’ schoolyard, this week. Look at all the shabbiness these Israeli kids experience! The horror!”

Journalist David Collier tweeted, “Just come back from a walk through Tel Aviv. Everywhere I went – pubs were full, restaurants were overflowing, kids were out playing – and the promenade was packed. Israel truly is a sad place. #SadSadIsrael.”

Writer Emily Schrader tweeted out a photo of Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad proposing to her and wrote: “Just two sad sad Israelis in the middle of a war, getting engaged. Look how sad we are! I guess @nytimes and @PatrickKingsley hate this since they want to portray Israelis as sad miserable people in their latest absurd article. #SadSadIsrael”

Even Israel’s official Twitter account joined in on the #SadSadIsrael hashtag, sarcastically tweeting at the Times: “We’re sooo sad” with a photo of people eating what appeared to be shawarma.

Kingsley declined to comment on the matter.

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Wisconsin DSA Calls for Bowman To Be Expelled Over Voting for Israel Aid

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, United States /

The Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter in Wisconsin called for the national DSA chapter to expel Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) over his recent vote to provide aid to the Israeli government.

In an October 30 open letter, DSA Madison accused Bowman of being “unfit” to be a DSA member, citing his July 28 vote to allocate $3.3 billion toward Israeli military aid and September 23 vote to provide $1 billion in Iron Dome funding. “In last summer’s bombing campaign, the Israeli state murdered at least 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, destroyed residential building complexes, and displaced over 72,000 people. Bowman’s votes allow these crimes to continue and extend further.”

The letter also pointed to Bowman commemorating the late former Secretary of State Colin Powell as “an inspiration.” “These comments legitimize one of the top architects of the criminal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, who in turn is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis, the plight of countless refugees, and the many working-class veterans killed, disabled or driven to suicide,” DSA Madison wrote.

They concluded their letter arguing that “career aspirations should not be allowed to compromise DSA’s strong stance of support for Palestinian national liberation” and that “Bowman’s further association [with DSA] would only serve to misrepresent our politics as democratic socialists and move us away from our political goals.”

Jacob Kornbluh, senior political reporter for The Forward, tweeted that a spokesman for Bowman declined to comment on the matter. “Don’t hold your breath,” Kornbluh wrote. “Bowman seems to have developed a good working relationship with the pro-Israel community while maintaining his credibility with progressives.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) tweeted, “There was a reason why the @DemSocialists Party of America earned a spot in SWC Top 10 anti-Semites last year. Their brand of Socialism has no place for the Jewish State and they demonize anyone daring to support Israel.”

Alex Zeldin, a columnist for The Forward, tweeted, “I am personally thrilled that the DSA wants to make their tent smaller. Adopt their best ideas and ignore their dumbest ones, as Bowman is doing here.”

Writer Melissa Braunstein also tweeted, “Leftist antisemitism isn’t subtle.”

DSA Madison and the national DSA did not respond to the Journal’s requests for comment.

Bowman was elected in 2020, ousting longtime incumbent pro-Israel Democrat Eliot Engel. Bowman joined Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) in what’s known as “The Squad” of staunchly progressive Democrats in Congress.

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Chabad of Picfair Serving Families Moving East of Pico-Robertson

Community /

While Pico-Robertson has long attracted young Jewish families, now, homes with $1.5 million-plus price tags are out of reach for many of them. Rather than going to the Valley or leaving L.A. altogether, a number of families are moving east into the Picfair Village neighborhood, where they can more easily afford homes. 

The only issue is that they’re farther away from synagogues, meaning they have to walk a mile or more on Shabbat to go to services if they are observant. Rabbi Eli Muchnik, 30, and his wife Bassie, 27, are now looking to solve this problem, with the opening of their new shul, Chabad of Picfair Village. Since last Purim, the couple has been holding events and providing religious services to the community.

“There are many Jewish people in Picfair Village, and some of them are not connected to their Judaism at all,” said Eli. “We thought that if there was a center there, it would give people a sense of community and they’d want to get more involved.”

The Muchniks only knew one family in the Picfair community through Chabad of SOLA, Bassie’s father Rabbi Avraham Zajac’s shul at 1627 S La Cienega Blvd. That family introduced them to others, and it snowballed from there. Eli also goes around the neighborhood looking for mezuzahs on people’s doors, dropping off challah for Shabbat and helping men wrap tefillin.  

“I met a Jewish person walking his dog and he didn’t know what tefillin was,” Eli said. “He said that one of his parents was Jewish, but that train [to be Jewish] had left a long time ago. I said, ‘Hey, listen, you’re Jewish, and I want to offer you to do a mitzvah.’ He agreed and on the street, we put on tefillin and exchanged phone numbers.” 

Since the Muchniks are still trying to secure a physical location for the shul, and eventually a Sunday Hebrew school, they are running events out of people’s homes right now. They held a Purim megillah reading, a minyan and Friday night meal, a Shofar factory where attendees could make their own shofars and a shofar blowing for Rosh Hashanah. On Chanukah, the couple plans to do a combined event with Chabad of SOLA and light a menorah at the Von’s on Pico and Fairfax.

“There are tons of Jews that we’ve been meeting and they are looking for a community and connection.”
– Bassie Muchnik 

“There are tons of Jews that we’ve been meeting and they are looking for a community and connection,” Bassie said. “Every time we knock on people’s doors and drive through the neighborhood, we see another mezuzah.”

Whenever anyone moves into the community or just needs a mezuzah on their home, Eli will go and install it. “I never got a ‘Sorry, I’m not interested,’ when talking to people,” Eli said. “Everyone here is very open-minded and respectful. Many times, they invite us in and we talk about what’s going on and where they are holding with their Judaism.”

Eli and Bassie both grew up in the Chabad community; Eli lived in Crown Heights and is the son of world-renowned Chasidic artist Michoel Muchnik, while Bassie was involved in her father’s Chabad house in Brazil, and then SOLA when her family moved to Los Angeles and started the shul 14 years ago. 

Chabad of Picfair, just like all Chabads, won’t charge a membership fee. It’s non-denominational, and the community it serves will fund 95% of services. 

The couple envisions a future in which the Picfair area is bustling with Jewish families — and they want to be there to serve them, no matter what the request.

“We will be available for anybody living in that area as a beacon of light for anything they need, whether it’s a senior who needs a hot meal and can’t get out of the house or someone who wants to be involved because they have a bar mitzvah or wedding,” said Eli. “That’s the big plan: to have a thriving Jewish community.”

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Table for Five: Toldot

Leave a Comment / Judaism, Torah /

One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist

“And Rebecca took the costly garments of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she dressed Jacob, her younger son.”

-Gen. 27:15

Miriam Mill-Kreisman
President, Tzaddik Foundation and Mother of four

Why did Rivka take Esav’s clothes to mask Yaakov if Yitzchak is blind and won’t be able to see the clothes anyway? Why specify that the clothes are clean? Or in Rivka’s house? A simple verse yet so much going on. 

Under normal circumstances in a holy Jewish home, the wife doesn’t try to deceive her husband. How did Rivka know she had to step in to save the future of the Jewish people? She overheard Yitzchak tell Esav to prepare food to receive the blessing and Esav’s special clothes were ready and available in her house. Let me elaborate. What made Esav worthy of even those blessings? That he honored his father. 

According to the Rashbam, Esav wore these special garments when he would serve his father. It is not the clothes that make a man but what he does with them. Yitzchak may be blind but he could smell a mitzvah a mile away. The verse states these special garments were stored in “her house,” not Yitzchak’s house, because it is the feminine role that was at play. If the garments were in Esav’s house they would have been skunked up by the smoke of the idolatrous fire of Esav’s wives, literally and figuratively. Rivka, the quintessential holy Jewish homemaker, understood the powerful impact of the wife in the home. No way was she going to allow Esav and his wives to receive the powerful blessings that Yitzchak had to give. That was going to Yaakov.

Benjamin Elterman
Screenwriter, Essayist, Bnei Mitzvah Speech Consultant 

There’s so much that’s perplexing about this verse. Why is Rebecca dressing her fully grown son? Why does the Torah need to tell us Esau is the older and Jacob is the younger? We already know this! And why does Rebecca have Esau’s nicest garments? He’s a man with two wives after all. 

The Hebrew words for elder and younger are gadol and ketan, which can also mean larger and smaller. But some of our greatest figures are referred to as ketan, including King David. According to the Or HaChaim, Rebecca literally tailored Esau’s garments for Jacob. I think what the Torah is telling us is that sometimes only a mother can see the greatness of her child. So when everyone, even a father, is ready to give up on a child, a mother must go to great lengths. This can mean literally tailoring tools so the child can leave their comfort zone to succeed. 

For us that can mean finding the right teacher, the right sport, or the right environment. Does that make it okay for Rebecca to have stolen her other son’s clothes? According to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Esau didn’t trust his wives, so he left his most expensive clothes at his parents’ home. How disastrous of a marriage must Esau have had that he prized his clothes over his marriage(s). So too, parents must be careful not to give children too much special treatment, lest they come to value themselves over what is truly important. 

Gershon Schusterman
Rabbi, businessman, mashpia

Rebecca masterminded a scheme to defraud Esau of Isaac’s blessings intended for him, and Jacob, “the wholesome man,” (25:27) contributed to the deception. How could they? In the Torah’s seemingly unnecessary emphasis that Esau was the elder son and Jacob the younger, lie the answers. While the twins were kicking in utero (25:22), they were already living out their rivalry. Rebecca queried God (25:22), Who informed her that her twins would become two nations who will be locked in the historical struggle of Good and Evil and that ultimately, “the elder shall serve the younger.” 

God concealed this information from Isaac, indicating to Rebecca that this was her mission to achieve. This ruse was also a follow-up to Jacob’s having bought the birthright, rightfully entitling him to the blessings intended for the first-born. These two issues justified their subterfuge. Isaac knew that Esau was a ruffian. “You shall live by your sword,” (27:40) Isaac acknowledged, but hoped to channel Esau’s aggressiveness and draw him in with kindness, blessing him generously. Only Rebecca was privy to God’s plan and understood that this was the cosmic battle of Good and Evil playing out before her eyes. Kabbalistic gem: back in Paradise, the serpent deceived Eve so she and Adam would eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. For this, they were banished from the Garden of Eden and sentenced to hard labor. Rebecca thus had to use deceptive tactics to wage the same battle.

Rabbi Patricia Fenton
American Jewish University

Our verse describes a turning point in the Torah, a point at which decisions are made that determine our history. Esau, a married man, leaves his costly garments with his mother. Rashi explains that he is suspicious of his wives, whom his mother dislikes. When does Esau, symbol of Edom, Rome, and other enemies of the Jews, wear these garments? In Midrash Devarim Rabbah we read this confession: “Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said: No one honored his father like I honored mine, yet I found that Esau honored his father more than I. I would serve my father in dirty clothes, then put on nice clothes and go out, but Esau wore the best clothes to serve his father.” 

In Pirkei Avot 4:1, “Ben Zoma says: Who is honorable? The one who honors others.” And in Mishnah Peah 1:1, honoring one’s father and mother is included in the list of “things that a person eats the fruit of in this world, and the principal remains for him in the world to come.” 

Esau, favored by his father, honors him by leaving the house to hunt meat for his father’s favorite meal, while Jacob, favored by his mother, honors her by accepting Esau’s clothes in order to trick his father out of the blessing. Rebecca has heard the word of God, but is unable to implement it without wounding her family. Isaac has doubts, but blesses Jacob. This verse reminds us that life is complex and so are our ancestors. 

Yehudit Garmaise
Reporter, Freelance Writer

When we find ourselves in need of a bracha, we must remember that Eliezer chose Rivka as a suitable wife for Yitzchak because he noticed how, with great effort, she repeatedly ran to provide water not only to strangers, but to their camels. Just as Rivka merited to marry Yitzchak and to serve as one of the imahos (matriarchs) because she behaved with zrizus, alacrity for others, and mesirus nefesh, self-sacrifice, we learn that we create our own worthiness for brachos by behaving similarly. 

What lesson then do we learn from Rivka when she tricked Yitzchak to provide Yaacov (whom she perceived was worthier than Eisav), with her husband’s considerable brachos? Protesting his mother’s plan, Yaakov cried, “I will bring a curse upon myself!” “Let your curse be upon me,” Rivka responded. “Just heed my words.” How do we get our children to “Heed our words?” We must show them what we are willing and not willing, to do. 

Only when Yaakov understood that his mother was prepared to sacrifice her own life so that he would receive the blessings, did he become willing to go along with her plan. This episode teaches us that we can only pass down our mesorah (traditions) by showing our children that we are willing to sacrifice for it. Rivka persuaded Yaakov to follow her lead, not because he was relieved that she would bear the consequences of his actions, but because her declaration showed him how intent she was that he receive his father’s blessings.

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The Friday Hustle: Little Meat Ktzitzot

Leave a Comment / Food /

Friday afternoons are always the most rushed time of the week for me. It’s all about the last minute preparations for Shabbat. A pit stop at Pavillions for the strawberries I forgot to buy at the other three markets I shopped at that week. A visit to Starbucks to pick up a venti Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew. A quick photo shoot of Rachel’s exquisite Shabbat food (always shared on our Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on our Facebook page Sephardic Spice SEC FOOD).

Most Friday afternoons, I stop at my parents home to drop a challah, a dessert or a bunch of roses. In my mother’s kitchen, there is always a mound of “ktzitzot,” crispy fried patties. Depending on her mood, these patties are made with ground chicken or beef or completely vegetarian. She always include lots of onion, parsley, cilantro and leek. Depending how hungry I am, I grab one or two. The crispy texture and spice profile always reminds me of my grandmother’s “aruk,” the Iraqi ground beef, herb and potato version of “ktzizot” or latkes that she lovingly prepared every Friday afternoon.

I am not as faithful to this Iraqi Friday lunch tradition. I make meat patties only when the mood strikes. But whenever I do, I wish that I made them more often. The beauty of these delicious little patties is that the herbs and finely chopped onions make a small amount of meat go a long way.

As with all my recipes, I take shortcuts. With this recipe that means no frying—I simply lay the patties on a greased baking sheet and broil them. I also substitute the mashed potato with a half cup of potato starch, which makes the patties impossibly light and creamy, saving the step of boiling and mashing the potatoes. Instead of measuring out each spice individually, I just use a generous helping of shawarma spices. The combination of coriander, cumin, turmeric, sweet paprika, allspice and garlic powder gives a wonderful warmth and aromatic flavor. Pereg Brand from Israel makes one that is indispensable for Sephardic cooking.

Cooking with fresh herbs is a wonderful way to load food with nutrition and flavor. Rachel and I love to include Italian parsley and cilantro in practically every recipe. Well, Rachel includes both, I’m mostly a parsley girl because I inherited the “cilantro tastes like soap gene!” But over the years, I’ve learned to coexist with cilantro.

We soak our herbs in a cool water bath, then rinse with more cold water. We dry them completely before chopping in one pass with a very sharp knife.

When you make these patties, be sure to knead all the ingredients thoroughly to melt the fat in the ground beef and to incorporate all the spices and herbs. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for half an hour, then briefly knead again. Make sure to rub the palms of your hands with oil, the form small flat round patties.

These little “ktzitzot” taste incredible straight out of the oven, served with salad, hummus, pickles and fresh pita.

These little “ktzitzot” taste incredible straight out of the oven, served with salad, hummus, pickles and fresh pita. Perfect for a midweek dinner because after all, Friday afternoon is all about the hustle. — Sharon

Ktzitzot

(Makes between 12-18 ktitzot)
Avocado or vegetable oil for greasing
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, grated
1 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup potato starch
1 large egg
3 teaspoons shawarma spice mix
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

  • In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion, herbs, potato starch, egg and spices.
  • Knead ingredients for two to three minutes until the mixture is soft and creamy.
  • Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  • Grease a baking sheet and set the oven to broil.
  • Reknead the meat mixture and form into 3 inch flat patties.
  • Drizzle a small amount of oil over the patties, then sprinkle a dash of shawarma spices over the patties.
  • Place in middle of the oven and cook until meat is browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Rachel Sheff and Sharon Gomperts have been friends since high school. They love cooking and sharing recipes. They have collaborated on Sephardic Educational Center projects and community cooking classes. Find recipe video clips and recipes on Instagram SEPHARDIC SPICE GIRLS and Facebook SEPHARDIC SPICE SEC FOOD.

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The Water Waited

Leave a Comment / Poetry /

The water waited for him to start again,
the water that had swallowed other worlds,
the worlds that hadn’t pleased either of them.
The water waited for a new boundary,
a new glory and a new beyond,
for God to trace the foundation with his finger
and find new words for another world,
for a heaven and an earth that wouldn’t be swept away,
for a remaking that wouldn’t require regret.

The water waited for his spirit to seize the waves,
for God to layer himself in a shawl of light
and dress his feet with clouds
and set precious stones and pearls in the firmament
for when the mountains would find the sky again
and when land would be pulled from the depths
and every valley and desert and garden
would sit with an open face to the sun,
to wind and thunder, to growth and drought,
to spring color and colorless winter.

The water waited to see the animals again,
the shapes they would assume and the sounds they’d make,
the water waited for the hugeness of the great whale
and the water waited for its own dispersal
and its own long life in rivers and streams,
and it waited for the warmth of the sun and the pull of the moon
and every lesser, greater, and holy light.

The water waited for words, a hedge of syllables
and a border of song, speech, and atonement,
the water waited for the first fire, the sparks,
God’s hot hands and his heated anvil
and the fashioning of the four corners and the firmament.
The water waited for firmness and shape, for a fence,
for structure and demarcation and design, for form –
the water was wasting away as chaos
and waited for God to get up again,
to see what eyes God would give him, what ears,
what spreading, rippling, swelling skin,
to try again for an eternity of life and change.

The water waited to hear God say again
that this struggle and this wrestle
was all the radiance and splendor he meant,
and the water looked off to where God sat,
still and cool in an evening he was afraid to make into day,
and the water waited.

Tim Miller‘s poetry and essays have appeared in Parabola, The Wisdom Daily, Jewish Literary Journal, Crannog, Southword, Londongrip, Poethead, and others across the US and UK. Two recent books include Bone Antler Stone (poetry, The High Window Press) and the long narrative poem To the House of the Sun (S4N Books). 

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71-Year-Old Fashion Star Tziporah Salamon Has Ageless Style

Leave a Comment / Fashion /

Tziporah Salamon is not your typical fashion model. Though she has a colorful, unique style and wears beautifully tailored clothing like other models, she didn’t start her career until she was 62 years old. Now, at 71, she has over 36,000 Instagram followers, shows up in campaigns for Gucci, H&M, Kate Spade and Sunglass Hut and has put out a book called “The Art of Dressing: Ageless, Timeless, Original Style.”

“I feel very blessed in my life,” Salamon, who is based in New York but visits Los Angeles frequently, told the Journal. “I really didn’t plan on being an author or a model. Life has only gotten better and more expansive for me.”

Salamon was born to two Holocaust survivors. Her father was in a labor camp, where he had to dig ditches and cut down trees with 100 other boys. Eventually, though, he was assigned a job as a tailor.

“It was my father’s luck that he sewed the Nazi uniforms for Hungarian soldiers. He mended the Jewish boys’ overalls, and that saved his life.” — Tziporah Salamon

“One day, the SS guard asked for a tailor, and 20 hands shot up, of course, because many of the Jews were tailors,” Salamon said. “It was my father’s luck that he sewed the Nazi uniforms for Hungarian soldiers. He mended the Jewish boys’ overalls, and that saved his life.”

Salamon’s mother had been working at the fanciest dress shop in Budapest when she was captured and taken on a death march. She and her friend had a jar of jam they shared while on the march, which ended up saving their lives. 

After the war, Salamon’s parents moved to Netanya, Israel; her father opened up a tailoring shop, and her mother opened a dress store. 

“My childhood in Israel was incredibly blessed,” said Salamon. “I was Tzipy the tailor’s daughter. I grew up with the country, as the busses were starting. It was beautiful.”

However, the family soon decided to try to make it in the United States, and they moved to Brooklyn. “I really didn’t want to leave,” said Salamon. “I begged my parents to let me stay in Israel.”

Though Salamon was the daughter of a tailor and a dressmaker, she didn’t think to go into fashion as a career. Instead, she got her masters in English literature from UC Santa Barbara and a doctorate in psychology at Berkeley University. When she returned to New York, she worked at Barneys as a sales girl, and then began assisting stylists.

“I hated what we were working on,” she said. “Most of the commercials were for Tide laundry detergent. I thought, ‘What does this have to do with taste?’”

She dropped out of the industry and worked in the restaurant business for 30 years, amassing a collection of vintage clothes along the way. 

“I knew to go vintage because I saw how the clothes were made so much better,” she said. “They were one of a kind.” 

One Simchat Torah, when Salamon was wearing her vintage clothing and dancing on the street, she met a Holocaust survivor named Lucie Porges, who was teaching a course at the Parsons School of Design. She asked Salamon to bring her clothes to the class and teach students about vintage style, which she ended up doing twice a year for 10 years. 

Then, Salamon started her own course, “The Art of Dressing MasterClass,” and she became legendary New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham’s muse for his “On The Street” page. Nowadays, she keeps herself busy with modeling gigs and posting on Instagram. 

In reflecting on her life and career, Salamon said, “Style is very important to me. I grew up with very stylish parents, and I think it’s really important because it makes a difference in how you show up. When you look good, you feel good.”

She continued, “Style is something that takes you through life and adds beauty to the world, and God knows we need beauty. It uplifts us and the energy wherever we go.”

71-Year-Old Fashion Star Tziporah Salamon Has Ageless Style Read More »