A New Year's Toast: 2012

  

        

Dear 2012,

Au revoir!  You were truly a year of tragedy and comedy.  You brought us some great triumphs but also lots of misery as well.  We had class and style, Gangnam style that is.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  Have you been living under a freakin' rock?  Gangnam style was the most watched You Tube video (over 1 billion) by Psy, a Korean pop phenomenon whose hit video landed him a cameo on SNL and the Today Show.  The song also ended up being sung by 'Glee' and was recreated and dubbed more than any other annoying song in history.  Macarena?  What's that?  Oh and it also helped draw attention to his father's business and stock soar.

Now on to the important stuff.  We saw the ushering in of a second term for President Barack Obama and a historic night for Democrats, especially in the Senate.  Although, this Presidential race was proof that our country was more divided than ever.  This Presidential race was arguable the most contentious and vile in our nation's history.  President elect Mitt Romney and VP elect Paul Ryan used lies and smears; they even tried to prevent whole segments of the American population from voting (ie. African Americans, seniors, and students).  This, however, and their army of rabid GOP Tea Party zombies didn't unhinge the fact that America wanted Barack Obama back in the White House.  Can you tell whose side I was on? 

We, as a nation and world, had some freak weather phenomena that brought NYC, NJ, and the East Coast Hurricane Sandy which will forever leave its imprint.  Tornadoes, earthquakes, record rain and snowfall seem to be permanent fixtures for the future, not just anomalies.  Unfortunately, as the population grows and certain commodities become scarce, namely water and fuel, we will see more people become displaced and end up being environmental refugees.  Will we welcome them?  Will we give up our resources for others? 

This year also ushered in a lot of mourning within the entertainment industry and world of artists.  We saw the passing of: Whitney Houston, Etta James, Donna Summer, Dick Clark, Nora Ephron, Dave Brubeck, Don Cornelius, Adrienne Rich, Andy Griffith, Gore Vidal, Davy Jones, Earl Scruggs, Thomas Kinkade, Robin Gibb, Vidal Sassoon, Ray Bradbury, Richard Dawson, Rodney King, Sally Ride, Neil Armstrong, Phyllis Diller, Sherman Hemsley, Ravi Shankar, General Schwarzkoph, and George McGovern to name a few.  Great talent left this earth but also entered in through every new breath of life.  Is it possible that the next generation is one of peace? 

We saw an increase in gun violence in the US and had tragedies take place in Aurora, CO. and Newtown, CT. claiming the lives of children and adults (12 and 26 respectively).  A debate was launched about 2nd Amendment rights and whether to buy more guns or abolish them altogether.  Will we keep seeing tragedies like this happen in schools, churches, malls, and theaters or will there be legislation that keep guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable.  Will we, as a country, be able to adequately and compassionately deal with our addicts and mentally 'unfit'? 

We also all became Brit-philes as the phrase 'Keep Calm and...' became a rave.  Tea and biscuits anyone?  No surprise, since the London Olympics had everyone glued to the tele and named some winners like: Gabby Douglas, Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Usain Bolt, and Ryan Locthe.  We watched Syria erupt in chaos and civil war while other countries like India and Egypt spoke up for their civil rights.  Many new breakthroughs were made with technology and science while, as humans, we demonstrated that there is still a lot to learn from nature and one another.

It isn't about how much you have but who you share it with.  Let's not focus on who should be allowed to marry, but what relationships define selflessness and charity.  Gay couples are now allowed to marry in more places than before and slowly, we are opening up our very definition of love.  The definition of family is changing.   Women can have a career and children, with IVF women can have babies over the age of 35.   Many men stay at home with the kids while women work. 

Our very livelihood, our core has been shaken in 2012.  One moment, here, and the next gone.  Perhaps the biggest lesson is: LOVE and TOLERANCE.

The world didn't end.  The Mayans were not quite correct, or maybe they were.  Maybe we're at the dawn of a 'new age', an age where we understand one another in ways we haven't in the past.  Perhaps hate and aggression are becoming things of the past.  Maybe the violence and chaos happening worldwide will be a bygone phenomena.  I certainly hope so.  

Here's to 2013, which will bring in positivity and creativity.  May the right side of the brain dominate along with empathy and unity. 

Here, here!

Cheers,

 ~R~

                                                                                           

ISHAH

נשות הכותל (Neshot Hakotel)- Women of the Wall

This is a movement that began in 1988.  It started on December 1,1988, when a group of seventy multi-denominational women met to pray (daven) at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem.  They brought a Sefer Torah with them, as there were not ANY Torahs available in the women's section.  Because it is considered by more religious/traditional Jews that women should not carry or read from the Torah especially at such a place as the Western Wall, there was immediate backlash.  Men from the other side of the mechitzah (wall separating men and women) cursed, yelled, and threatened the women (which to note is not Torah behavior).

However at that time, the Kotel administrator, Rabbi Yehuda Gertz, allowed the service to continue and said that the women were not violated any part of Halakhah (Jewish law).  For the last twenty years, these women have fought to be able to read Torah, wear prayer shawls and even tefillin (prayer boxes usually worn by men) at the Western Wall.  They have been gaining notoriety especially in the States and other Western countries.  There is even a half hour film about the topic, which the clip above is taken from called 'Praying in Her Own Voice'.  I recommend seeing the whole movie. 

For those unfamiliar with why women cannot pray at the Western Wall with a Torah, you need some background.  Within some sects of Judaism, it is not believed to be permissible for women to touch/carry/study Torah.  They also have to sit separately from men and cannot receive aliyot (mitzvah where one is called up to bless the Torah).   This  would mostly be within the Orthodox and Chassidic (ultra-Orthodox) camps.  Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative Judaism generally allow women to read from the Torah openly and accept aliyot.  Within those sects, women can also sit together with men and go up on the bimah (alter) with men as well.  Again, the belief on women and their place and practice differs depending on the degree of religiosity and the sect of Judaism that you speak with.

However, from my standpoint, a woman who wants to daven, especially at a place like the Kotel should be able to do so while carrying a Torah and wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) or tefillin (prayer boxes).  I ask the question, why would a woman want to pray there in the first place?  To serve Hashem (G-d) of course.  So, to deepen a woman's prayer and her connection to Hashem, wouldn't having a Torah make sense?  It's not like these women are going to the Kotel naked or they are doing something overtly blasphemous like cussing and playing loud death metal.  These women are going to the Kotel to pray, to be Jews.  That's all.  Nothing taboo or mysterious. So, by blocking them from praying and expressing their devotion to G-d, one is sinning, right?  Isn't it a sin, within Judaism to prevent a person from praying and showing devotion to the Almighty?  I'd say so. 

Futheremore, there is NO specific stipulation in the Torah or traditional rabbinic sources saying that women cannot carry/read from the Torah or wear a tallis/tefillin.  In fact, the daughter of Rashi (A Jewish Biblical philosopher/scholar) apparently used to wear tefillin while she prayed.  This is similar to how there is no specific stipulation that women (or even men) should cover their hair, or at least wear a wig.  There is a part in the Torah a woman, who is accused of adultery, called a 'Sotah' has her hair 'uncovered' by the priest (rabbis weren't in fashion yet).  It isn't quite known whether the passage from Numbers is meant to be directly interpreted or not.  In fact, the Mishnah (Torah commentary)  says that a woman's hair covering has more to do with the laws of the Jewish community, as it was grounds for divorce, rather than dating back to Moses and being an actual 'sin'.  The whole idea of women's modesty (clothes and behavior) has to do with 'tzinut' (humility/modesty) which is why the signs in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Israel ask women not to wear 'immodest' clothes (pictured below).  One could also say that just because something isn't in the Torah, doesn't mean it isn't followed or practiced.  Take for instance, take the laws of kashrut (kosher).  It says in the Torah that a kid should not be boiled in its mother's milk.



*Women and Head Covering

So, Jews who observe the laws of kashrut, or who keep kosher, do not eat milk with meat.  This goes further to mean that milk and meat shouldn't be on the same table at the same meal and that separate plates and silverware are to be used for each.  The Torah doesn't specify the degree of practice, and one could even say that chicken is not included int he stipulation of being separate from dairy.  However, Jews keep count chicken as meat.  Jewish law and text cannot be taken in a vacuum but there are also many instances where fences are created around fences, meaning laws are extended beyond how they were probably originally meant to be followed. 

I am not trying to say throw out all the rules of Judaism.  I respect and love the Torah and the laws/rules of my religion.  However, Israel is in a major hot spot right now.  It is surrounded by contentious neighbors like Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria.  Hamas and Hezbolah want Israel to be demolished and don't give a rat's tail what happens to the Jews.  So, do we need even more animosity and fighting amongst our very own people?

I mean, again, as a Feminist I speak, but women should be allowed to wear tallit and tefillin.  In fact, supposedly it was my cousin, a rabbi in Minnesota who started the women's tallit movement, or at least was a big hand in getting it off the ground.  I also think women should be able to read from the Torah as well as study it.  I'm all for the opening of more women's yeshivas, and dare I say it, co-ed yeshivas like the wonderfully beautiful Pardes (that I attended) in Talpiyot, Jersusalem.  Now, what I'm not saying is to tear down the mechitzah and have women and men sit together.  Just because I daven egale (men and women together) these days doesn't mean everyone does.  Synagogues and individuals should do what they are comfortable doing as long as it follows the laws of Judaism.  I mean, if I'm invited to a Reform synagogue and the general congregation doesn't say wear tallit or conduct service in mostly English, it doesn't mean I won't attend.  I'd want to welcome other Jews into my house as I'd be expected to be invited into theirs (be it actual house or house of G-d, synagogue).  However, this is not the sentiment of the religious right!

I am disgusted by the behavior and actions of the religious right, who have a major stranglehold on Israeli politics right now.  Women aren't even allowed to accept secular studies awards because it is 'too immodest'.  I, however, am going to say something very controversial right now.  The pigheaded men who lead the religious right movement and those who follow the very extremist line of thinking walk a dangerous line.  Many of them do not respect the state of Israel or recognize the government as an institution.  Many of the religious right families are also using the welfare system in Israel, as they have lots of children and usually only the women work while the men study.  So, they have to use the social services available.  Some would call them 'leaches', though I wouldn't go that far because I still recognize and welcome them as fellow Jews.  My question is to them, why is a person living in a country that you don't formally recognize, while also reaping the benefits of its social services yet tearing it apart?  It hurts my hear and makes me sick to think about it. 

Many of my Israeli friends have thought about leaving and there is a large exodus, especially amongst younger Israelis to leave the country because of the difficulty that the religious right is causing.  They want everyone to 'be Jewish' like them which means black suits and hats with the women in long skirts and wigs.  This is despite the fact that the beliefs held by the Charedi (right wing) Jews are cultural and have little basis off of Jewish law.  However, what they need to realize and appreciate is that Judaism has a multitude of different beliefs, practices, sects, races, ethnicities and dare I say it, sexualities.  That's what makes Judaism so beautiful, in my eyes.  But many folks of the religious right want to erase the rainbow, the keshet, of Judaism.

I would go as far as to say that the religious right who are against the Women of the Wall don't even respect women.  They revile women and fear them.  They are scared misogynists who want to keep women quiet and subdued.  And the only reason their women don't fight back is because they're brainwashed to accept their lifestyle as the ONLY way.  And I say this as a proud Jewish feminist who thinks women should be treated and respected like the women in the Torah.  What would our matriarchs, prophets, and other notable women of the Bible- Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Ruth, Esther, Deborah, Miriam and Judith- say?  These women were strong and fierce fighters for the Jewish faith.  These women would be disgusted and outraged that such a travesty in Israel is taking place right by their very tombs. 

Plus the fact that it is women who are the carriers of Jewish tradition.  The religion was patrilineal in the Biblical ages but changed to matrilineal religion.  The women teach the children about Jewish laws and customs while keeping the Jewish home (also keeping the idea of maintaining a 'kosher' home).  The ideas of having a 'kosher' home are imbedded within the laws of 'niddah' (female cleanliness)  and 'taharath hamishpach' (family purity).  Women are at the forefront of this.  So, why, if women are so important, are they so shunned and kept waiting in the wings?  I'm not saying we should undo Jewish law, but why can't women be allowed to daven WITH a Torah at the holiest of Jewish sites?  WHY??  Because a few men find it offensive?  Because they don't respect women enough to give their own a voice?

What's even more disgusting is the thought that many of these religious right individuals act with violence and aggression to keep their so -called version of the Torah.  So they end up being total hypocrites because the behavior they show when they spit, cuss, and use violence toward women or other Jews is definitely definitely forbidden in the Torah.  No questions asked.  Their behavior shuns Jews and converts away from the religion.  Is that Torah living?  To drive people away from being closer to G-d and Torah?  Are these members of the religious right acting within G-d's sense of light and truth?  When you spend so much time creating fences around fences around fences, you forget the bigger picture.  

Plus, the other thing is that we, Jews and Israel, have enemies who want to see Israel blasted into the ocean.  Why do we have to be fighting amongst ourselves.  The messiah will NEVER come at this rate, with the Jewish people being so divided.  The Torah DOES say that.  It also mentions how being divisive and tearing the Jewish people apart is WORSE than idol worship.  The nation of Israel's unity and the idea of AM YISRAEL CHAI (people of Israel living and being whole) is very important.

WE HAVE TO BE ONE PEOPLE!!!  We have no one else.  We have been smitten throughout history and many cultures and people have tried to wipe the Jews out.  Coming on the heals of Hanukkah, and thinking about the strength of the Maccabees and the miracle of the lamp burning for eight night, we should consider another miracle, the one that has Jews living through major times of strife and evil.  The fact that Jews are still here and that we have a nation to call our own, is the biggest miracle of all.  What better way to celebrate that than to come together and elevate one another to being not only better Jews, but better people as well.  Though this is my view both as a rabid Feminist and Zionist. 

My hope for the future is that the Women of the Wall are allowed to daven there freely and are not met with the ferocity of animosity that they've experienced.  I hope that Israel will become a place where Jews of many shades and beliefs are not met with discrimination and disgust.  None of us, as Jews, or as people are perfect.  We should be trying to encourage each other to live and breathe Torah and the customs/laws of Judaism.  We should elevate one another upward rather than holding each other back.  A Jew is a Jew is a Jew.  Nu?

I will leave you with a song, 'Henay Matov', Psalm 133:

'Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for bretheren to dwell together in unity'

Jewishly yours,

  ~R~




LINKS:

~ Women of the Wall site

~NY Times article on Women of the Wall

What's a Jew to Do: Part 1

This is the beginning to a play I'm working on.  It will be written in three parts, and as always with my writing, especially my fiction, I appreciate feedback.  I will be continually editing this.  However, this is a first, rough draft of the play.  I'll be updating it periodically as I edit and make changes.  Thanks and enjoy! 

NOTE: It started as a short story but I changed it to a play because, well, it was funneling out more as a play in my head.  I think it sits better as a play; that's how I was visualizing it.

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What’s a Jew to Do?

(this is my original work and any attempt to reprint or copy needs my written permission)

Part 1

Lights up on a stage set to look like a college apartment.  There is a couch set at a diagonal CSR.  A computer desk is across from it SL.  Daniel’s bedroom is DSR and Ethan’s bedroom is DSL.  The kitchen area is UCS and the front door is USL.  The stage can be pretty bare except for the necessities like a couch and a desk with a laptop. 

Daniel and Ethan are dressed like typical college students.  Except that Daniel is much more clean cut than Ethan.  Ethan is a ‘hippie Jew’ and can have tie-dye, dreads, overalls, the works.  Daniel is wearing jeans and a college sweatshirt.  Though they contrast, it shouldn’t be too apparent.

ETHAN

(with a Santa hat, singing)

“Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday.  Everyone dancing merrily in a new old fashioned way.”

DANIEL

(annoyed)

Cut that shit out, Ethan!

ETHAN

Daniel, chill, the song was written by a member of the tribe, after all!

Daniel walks across the apartment to the computer and turns the speakers down.

ETHAN

I mean, it’s not like you’re going to synagogue these days.  The last time you went was Yom Kippur nineteen ninety what?

DANIEL

Ethan, I don’t mind the Christmas carols, really I don’t.  I just wish you wouldn’t blast them and sing along like we’re Santa’s fucking elves or something.

ETHAN

Okay, okay.  I get it.”  Ethan walks to the computer and begins typing something that Daniel cannot see.  He, in fact, changes the Pandora station on the computer which changes the mood entirely.  “Maybe you vant a little bit of the old country, nu?  Daniel, boychik? (pinches Daniel’s cheek)

Some very “Jewish” sounding klezmer band music starts to play.  Ethan begins to clap his hands together first left, then right.  He then begins to stomp on the floor making it look like he knows what he’s doing but in fact he is ad-libbing a ‘tribal’ looking Jewish dance.

DANIEL

That’s not much better.  Why can’t you just turn on some indie or 70’s power rock?  You know, like a normal person?

ETHAN

Damn, dude.  Are you still pissed after Alana dumped you?  What did she say, that you weren’t ‘Jewish’ enough or something?

DANIEL

Ethan, can we please not talk about this.  Daniel sulks for a second and takes another swig of his Sam Adams Winter Lager.  Okay, for your information, I went to dinner with Alana and her parents.  It was a complete fucking disaster.  We went to this kosher deli over in Brookline and it was, what do you call it when you can only eat meat?

ETHAN

Ethan clears his throat and makes a sound like he is going to spit.  ‘Fleishig?’

DANIEL

Yea, and so we sit down to eat.  Me, being a dumbass, asks the waiter for a cheeseburger.

ETHAN

So?  Dude, there are lots of Jews who eat cheeseburgers.

DANIEL

Yea, but Alana’s parents are pretty Jewish.  They didn’t even want to eat at this restaurant that Alana picked because they didn’t think it was ‘kosher’ enough.

ETHAN

What do you mean?  A restaurant is either kosher or not, end of story.

DANIEL

Ethan, apparently, some restaurants are like SUPER kosher because of the rabbi blessing the food or something.  So this restaurant ended up being fine, but believe me, Alana’s parents had to talk to the owner and chefs for like twenty minutes.  They flipped out because they saw a woman eating a bagel with cream cheese.  But, the cream cheese was tofu and therefore..

ETHAN

Therefore, it wasn’t dairy.  It was pareve, so the restaurant wasn’t mixing meat and milk.

DANIEL

Right.  But Alan’s mother nearly had a coronary right then and there.  That woman is so uptight.  But anyway, so we sit down and Alana’s father is even wearing a yarmulke.

ETHAN

Alan’s mom is hot, dude.  Does she wear a sheitel though?

DANIEL

A what?

ETHAN

You know, a wig.  I think Orthodox women who wear wigs are even hotter than those who don’t.

DANIEL

You’re fucked.  No, she wears hats.  You know, those big frilly elaborate hats that probably cost $300 each.  But, you’re getting me off the point, shitwad!

ETHAN

Okay, well go on.  I’m all ears.

DANIEL

Well, so anyway, everyone is ordering, and I ask for a cheeseburger.  Then, Alana’s parents stare at me in shock.  They didn’t know, though, that the restaurant also had vegetarian cheese.

ETHAN

Okay, so they think you’re a little out of it.  But, why is that such a big deal?

DANIEL

Well it’s what happens next.  Do you remember the story of when I was a kid?

ETHAN

Which one, your family is really fucked up.

DANIEL

The one where I go to Sunday School and learn about being kosher.  I then go home and tell my parents that I want to keep kosher.  So they agree and try it, though they continue eating shrimp and ham.  So, every Saturday morning, my mom would cook a special, big breakfast.

ETHAN

You know that if your parents were respecting your wish to keep kosher then they should have also told you about not cooking on the Sabbath.

DANIEL

Whatever, will you let me continue?  Ethan nods.  Okay, so every Saturday morning, my mom liked to cook eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, the works, ya know?  So, me wanting to keep kosher, she tries to buy these tofu sausages that taste like cardboard.  So, usually I just eat what everyone else has except for the pork products.  So, there’s this one specialty she makes called ‘backahn’.  I used to think it was out of some special Jewish cookbook.  It was so good.

ETHAN

Dude, I’ve never heard of ‘backahn’.

DANIEL

That’s because it doesn’t exist.   While I was at lunch with the Nissenbaums, I take some ‘backahn’ out of my coat pocket.  You know, I carry it around and eat it like beef jerky sometimes.

ETHAN

That’s weird, dude.

DANIEL

 So when I get my burger, I put it on my plate.  Everyone, including the waiter just stares at me, horrified, like I had just slaughtered a baby deer right on the table!

ETHAN

Why? I don’t get it.

DANIEL

After Alana refused to every see me again, I called my mom and asked her about it directly.  I asked her why my eating the ‘backahn’ caused the restaurant to temporarily close and Alan’s parents to cover their eyes, run out the door, push Alana in the back seat of their car, and speed away like...

ETHAN

Like they had seen Satan in the flesh?

DANIEL

Ethan, Jews don’t believe in Satan!

ETHAN

Yes they do.  He’s in the story about Adam and Eve.  Anyway, what did your mom tell you?

DANIEL

You know for someone so knowledgeable about Judaism, you sure don’t act very ‘Jewish’.

ETHAN

What does that mean?  I’m a Rasta Jew, mon.  I smoke da herb like my forefathers did.

DANIEL

Not this bullshit again how Moses and Abraham got high.

ETHAN

How else do you explain burning bushes and oceans moving?  Totally psychedelic!  But, back to you.  What about this ‘backahn’ thing?

DANIEL

So, when I called my mom and told her about the Alana incident, she told me, very matter-of-factly, that this entire time I had been eating bacon.  ‘Backahn’ WAS bacon.  She told me that I enjoyed it so much that she didn’t have the heart to tell her six year old that it wasn’t kosher for Jews to eat.  Apparently, even after I stopped trying to be kosher, she never told her twenty two year old son either.

ETHAN

Oh damn.  I didn’t realize your family was that fucked.  So that’s why Alana dumped you.  She had big tits.  That’s too bad.

DANIEL

Dude, is that all you think about?

ETHAN

Pretty much. Ethan takes gets up to turn off the music and gets another beer. So we’re all set to go to New York for New Years, right?  We’ll stay at my cousin’s apartment.  He’s in Israel with his family right now.

DANIEL

Your cousin Josh?  Isn’t he gay?

ETHAN

That’s why his parents are taking him to Israel.  To find him a ‘nice Jewish girl’ and a rabbi who will ‘cure him’.

DANIEL

Dude, you think my family’s fucked up.  Look at yours.

ETHAN

It’s just my mom’s sister’s family.  They’re all whack jobs.  My mom hardly ever talks to Aunt Miriam.  You know, she was in a cult in the sixties.  She lived on a commune out in California and did tons of LSD.  I think it fried her brain a little bit.  She ended up marrying this really religious guy with lots of money and she’s become kind of frum.

DANIEL

Huh?

ETHAN

You know, Orthodox.  She covers her head and doesn’t wear pants.  When she found out Josh was gay, she flipped out.  So now, they’re all in Israel, finding their Jewish roots as a family.  And finding Josh a nice, quiet Jewish girl who will put up with his ‘eccentricities’.

DANIEL

Aren’t there gay people in Israel?

ETHAN

Yea, totally.  Josh will be fine.  I’m sure he’ll meet some big butch army guy and come back here and get married right here in gay old Massachusetts.

DANIEL

I’m sure your aunt would love that.  She’d have him committed.

ETHAN

So, dude, anyway, their apartment is huge.  It’s in Brooklyn Heights in this really expensive neighborhood.  Plus, we’ll have it all to ourselves.  Think about it.  What could two dudes like us do with such a situation?  It’d be like ‘Big Lebowski’ or ‘Hangover’ proportions minus the scrawny, nerdy guy.

DANIEL

Right, and you’re Jeff Bridges or Zach Galifianakis.

ETHAN

Exactly.

DANIEL

You’re such a douche.

Daniel gets up and gets another beer.  He looks in the fridge and realizes that there’s only one more beer.  He grabs it and takes a swig.

ETHAN

(annoyed)

Is that the last beer?  Aw man.

DANIEL

Yep, and it’s mine.  So, when are we leaving for New York?

ETHAN

We’ll probably leave tomorrow afternoon.  It depends on when I can get a hold of my dealer.

DANIEL

Fuck it all to hell.  Fuck, no.  Don’t bring drugs on this trip.

ETHAN

Look, it’s only some shrooms, some pot, and a little bit of hashish.  No big deal.  Besides, what’s a trip without a ‘trip’? Huh?

DANIEL

Ethan, look, I love ya man, but you are really going to fuck up your brain doing that shit.  I mean, not that there’s much in there to begin with.

ETHAN

Daniel, chill.   You should consider harshing your mellow a little, man.  Anyway, there’s a Phish show on New Year’s Eve and I need the right vibes for it.

DANIEL

Ethan, I hate Phish!  And anyway, you don’t have tickets.

ETHAN

Scalpers.  New York is full of ‘em.  I’m sure I’ll snag some good seats.

DANIEL

Well you’re flying solo on that one.

ETHAN

Don’t worry, Melissa is there.  (sings) “Sweet Melissa.”

DANIEL

Isn’t her dad a rabbi?

ETHAN

Yea but she’s a child of the earth who lovves shrooms and Phish.  Plus, I know she’ll have sex with me if she’s tripping.

DANIEL

Only if she’s tripping?

ETHAN

Well, I know she digs me, but she’s a little shy.  I actually think she likes chicks but if she’s tripping, she won’t know the difference.

DANIEL

Great for you. Daniel’s phone rings.  Hold on a sec.  He motions to Ethan and walks into the kitchen. 

(on the phone) Mom?  What?  What do you mean?  No, I’m not planning on coming home.  Where?  To New York with Ethan.  Why?  I wasn’t planning to come home for Christmas.  Why is it so important?  Wait, what?  Are you drunk?  Have you been mixing your pills with wine again?  That is outrageous!  Why the hell would I come home?  WE’RE JEWISH!  No, I know we don’t go to synagogue but that doesn’t mean we all have to be home and spend Christmas together!  I’m going to New York and that’s final.

Daniel hangs up the phone and sits back down on the couch.  He takes a long sip of his beer.

ETHAN

What the hell was that about?  Helen flipping out again?

DANIEL

Well, if you want to know, she suddenly wants everyone home on Christmas to spend it ‘together as a family’.  That doesn’t make any sense at all.  I mean, no we’re not the most Jewish family but we never celebrated Christmas either, well except that one time that I woke up on Christmas morning and found a Voltron castle by the fireplace.

ETHAN

Dude, your family is weird.  What is Helen’s problem anyway?  Her son doesn’t do drugs..

DANIEL

Though he hangs out with ‘druggies’.

ETHAN

Is that what Helen calls me, ‘druggie’?

DANIEL

She says that I could find better company to be with, that’s all.

ETHAN

That bitch!  Well, she won’t ruin our fun, right boy-o?

DANIEL

What do we have planned anyway?

ETHAN

Well, Mister DEA, I thought we could hit up some NYU parties.  Go down to the Village and bar hop.  There’s supposed to be this killer Christmas Eve show at Brooklyn Bowl.  It’s a Jewish party put on by one of those culturally Jewish magazines TRIBE or something.  They’ve got strip dreidel and Manishewitz body shots.  Plus, I think Matisyahu is playing too.  A whole bunch of Jews hanging out on Christmas eve?  C’mon?

DANIEL

Yea, I guess that sounds like fun.

ETHAN

We just gotta get a brotha laid!  And there will be plenty of hot pootytang to sample when we get to the Big Apple. 

DANIEL

I don’t know.  I always seem  to fuck things up.

ETHAN

You just have to try dating girls that aren’t psycho.  Or maybe just date girls who aren’t Jewish at all!  There’s a thought.

DANIEL

Not all the girls I date are psycho, are they?

ETHAN

Freida the Dorrito freak?  She passed out at just the smell of Dorritos and that was before she took hits on the bong.  She also meowed and purred like a cat.  That was bizarre.

DANIEL

What about the girls you date?

ETHAN

Continue.

DANIEL

Heidi?  I seriously thought about calling the National Enquirer to tell them that I had proof of Bigfoot.

ETHAN

Just because she didn’t shave her legs or pits and had big feet.

DANIEL

And smelled like she showered five years ago.

ETHAN

Well, she wasn’t psycho.  Not like Mindy.

DANIEL

Mindy was nice.

ETHAN

Mindy would talk to herself and give lectures even if no one was listening.  Remember when we were on the T and she was holding a conversation with herself in third person?  What the fuck was that?

DANIEL

Okay, okay.  So some of the girls I’ve dated are a bit odd.  So maybe on this trip you can be my wing man.

ETHAN

That’s what I want to hear.  Get back in the game.  Maybe Melissa has a friend.

DANIEL

I’m not into hippie chicks. 

ETHAN

What about the Dixie Chicks?

DANIEL

What?

ETHAN

(fakes a Southern accent) There’s that Coyote Ugly bar in the East Village.  We could saddle you up with a cowgirl like Natalie Maines.  Pause.  You know the lead singer.  She’s hot.  I’d bang her. 

Daniel shakes his head in disgust. 

ETHAN

What about chicks with dicks?  There’s Lucky Cheng’s, a drag karaoke bar on the Lower East Side.  Ladies with large adam’s apples. 

DANIEL

Gross!  No!  You’re sick.  How about a nice normal Jewish-ish girl?

ETHAN

In New York?  You’re lucky to hook up with a girl who doesn’t have STDs.  Normal and Jewish?  You don’t even…(cut off by Daniel’s phone)

DANIEL

Daniel’s phone rings again.  Hold on, man.  Daniel picks up the phone and walks toward the kitchen again.

Mom? Now what?  No.  No.  You ARE NOT doing that.  Fuck no.  Are you seriously nuts?  What about dad?  What about Leah?  Oh, I see.  Well, thanks for ruining my life.

Daniel hangs up the phone and throws it across the room.

ETHAN

What now.  What is Helen going on about now?

DANIEL

She’s coming to New York to (makes air quotes sarcastically)‘spend time with her son’.

ETHAN

What?  When?  How?  What?

DANIEL

She’s flying out tomorrow morning.

ETHAN

Oh holy hell.  Is she coming with us?

DANIEL

Well, she said that she’ll meet us in New York.  It’s another one of her batshit crazy ideas about ‘seizing the moment of the present time’.

ETHAN

Has she been indulging in the self-help section at Barnes and Noble again?  (lightens up, smiles) Well look on the bright side.  She’s not driving with us, so I can still bring the goods.

DANIEL

Dude, no.  Oh shit, this is bad, really bad.

ETHAN

Hey, Daniel.  It’ll be fine.  Besides, when I said I was going to get drugs, I meant I already got them.  There is an awkward pause. So, your mom will also be in New York the same time as us.  So what?

DANIEL

I just want to go pass out and deal with this tomorrow.

ETHAN

Okay, fine with me.  I’m gonna stay up and watch ‘Yellow Submarine’.

DANIEL

You’ve seen it like fifty gazillion times.

ETHAN

Yea, but I think I got an idea for my thesis.

DANIEL

Whatever, I’m going to bed.

Daniel goes into his room and shuts the door behind him.  Ethan stays on the couch watching tv.  Eventually, he passes out on the couch until morning.  The sound of the buzzer wakes him up.  Ethan gets up off of the couch and goes to the door.  He presses the buzzer goes back to the couch.  Then, the doorbell rings and Ethan, confused, goes to the door and looks out of the peephole.  He runs to Daniel’s room and bangs on the door.

ETHAN

Dude, Daniel, wake up.  It’s your mom.  She’s outside our door.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------

End of Part 1

-----------

creatively yours,

~R~

'Suffer the Little Children'

   The Lamb

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb;

He is meek and he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!

-William Blake 'Songs of Innocence', 1789

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

-William Blake 'Songs of Experience', 1794 

Above are two of William Blakes' most notorious and most analyzed poems.  They compare the age old dichotomous relationship, between good and evil.  How can the same G-d have created both good, the lamb, and evil, the tiger?  How can a world be filled with innocent little lambs, children and babies, while also hiding monstrous tigers, murderers and rapists?  I know that sounds like an extreme, but really that's what the two images conjure.  

Lambs, in this sense, represent everything that is innocent and pure about our lives.  So, reasonably we would think of children, as they are innocent, having what many would call a 'tabula rosa' (clean slate).  Then, there are lions who devour the lambs without a second thought.  The lions being all the sex offenders and kidnappers, murderers and psychopaths out there lying in wait with bloodthirsty jaws.  Perhaps, however, there is more to this metaphor than first meets the eye.  

Perhaps all of us are both the lion and the lamb at once.  Or, maybe when we see acts of evil, we fear that becoming the lion might not be so far-flung and unusual.  This is true, especially since acts of terror and carnage are becoming more commonplace.  So what is it that we fear most at hearing stories like what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT?  

As a parent, I put a new spin on things when I read about terrible tragedies like the one that just transpired in Newtown, Connecticut.  Why would anyone want to sire children in a world so full of evil and wrongdoing?  We cannot protect our 'lambs' from the 'tigers' than what's the point?  That is the reverberating phrase that keeps repeating in many of our heads in the past few days.  If we cannot protect our children, our 'lambs' from the 'tigers' of the world then who can?   

Hearing about 20 children getting shot alongside of 6 adults in what is otherwise a very safe, low-crime town, it is shocking to all of our senses.  When I first heard about it, I thought that the gunman must be insane.  How can anyone shoot children?  Although, I would also ask, how can a person shoot anyone (though that brings up questions of survival and self-defense).  So, I go back to the former question.  HOW CAN ANYONE KILL/HARM A CHILD?  It is so distanced from the reality that I imagine we live in, a place where even murderers shun this thought.  In fact, in prisons, child molesters are often killed/beaten because they are considered low on the totem pole.  Even many hardened criminals would shun the idea of hurting a child.

I realize I'm making some generalities, but it is a commonly accepted fact that children deserve to be shielded from the pain, strife, and suffering that adults face.  This includes watching the news and rated-R movies.  But I digress.  My point is that, most people would agree that shielding children from danger is a top priority of our society.  We have countless numbers of organizations that help runaways, feed and clothe children, find shelter for homeless or orphaned kids.  We invest a lot of
 money, time, and resources into helping hurt, neglected, and abused children, as we should.

So, I will make a point that we should also be investing a lot of money, time, and resources, the very same that goes into helping our little 'lambs' into helping the 'tiger'.  The addicts and mentally unstable people in our society need help.  It is a fact that the majority, if not all of the shooters in recent massacres have had mental instability.  So, does this mean to bring back the asylum where we dumb the mentally/criminally insane and throw away the key?  Should we invest more energy into in-patient facilities where patients can deal with their addictions, compulsions and mania?  I think the key question to helping our 'lambs' is to help the 'tigers' as well.  In fact, shouldn't we do this in the thought that the little 'lambs' could one day become 'tigers'?

Also, many people lump together categories that describe anyone who has mental or physical limitations.  However, there are degrees that separate a schizophrenic from a person who is bi-polar or someone who has severe meth addiction.  I know it seems strange to put drug addiction and mental illness in the same category, but many who suffer from mental issues use drugs as a salve to their suffering.  And, everyone knows that drugs, especially meth and heroine can only further one's mental mania.

Remember, Charles Manson?  Well, I would argue that he did LSD and speed way too many times and actually fried his brain, like the old 'this is your brain on drugs' frying pan 'say no' eighties drug ad campaign.  The same thing happens all the time with addicts.  They use the substance to mask and hide the real issue.  I would venture to say that there must be a strong correlation between addicts and people with mental issues.  If I were a betting man, I'd bet the whole ranch, in fact.

Now, back to Sandy Hook.  Many people are discussing how we can prevent this tragedy from happening yet again.  One way, is for the media to change how it portrays and responds to tragedies of this nature.  The media have been obsessed with details, often telling us what the shooter's father drives or what the shooter's mother's last meal was.  I really don't care.  In fact, what I want the media talking about (and some are) is solutions.  How are WE, as a nation going to put our heads together and stop mass shootings from being a common headliner.

It wasn't too long ago that we read about a gunman opening fire on a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in July of this year.  Then, the Tuscon shooting that left US Representative Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition.  Or how about the student who went on a rampage at Virginia Tech in April, 2007?   Or the first major event of its kind, the Columbine shooting in April of 1999?  Then there are all of the smaller incidents that aren't front page.  The shootings at shopping centers, places of worship, schools, malls, and department stores.  Then, taking it further, all the shootings in South Central LA or South Side Chicago, East St. Louis or Newark and Detroit.  The violence has to end somewhere. Otherwise, there's no end to this cycle.

Now, I'm not advocating for a ban on guns.  I partially am an advocate for arming oneself, as my family's history conjoins with that of the Holocaust, and one of Hitler's first proclamations to Jews was to take away their guns.  So, this is partially why I am not fully pro/anti gun.  I am pro using guns/weapons wisely and only in situations that warrant their use (like self-defense or zombie apocalypse).  The latter was a joke, to add humor to a very grim subject, but I do think we need to reexamine our relationship with guns.

First of all, there is no reason why ANY individual should have military grade weapons, like the Sandy Hook shooter's mother, for instance.  Regardless of the fact that she thought the end of the world was coming (2 days to be exact).  People can hunt and use guns for recreational use, fine.  But, they should do it responsibly.  Guns should be locked up.  They should not be easily accessed by children or people with diminished mental capacity.  The mentally/criminally insane should NEVER be allowed to own/carry a weapon AT ALL.

So what am I saying?  We need severe restrictions on who can own, carry, and use a weapon.  I know, I'm sounding like a hypocrite.  If Hitler took guns away from certain people because they were 'inferior' doesn't that mean I'm arguing the same thing?  Hell no!  If a person has a history of serious addiction or mental illness, then that person should not be able to own/carry/use a gun (or weapon of any kind).  People who are not living in the confines of everyone elses' reality are my definition for those who shouldn't have weapons, meaning people who have issues discerning reality from fantasy.  In other words, people who suffer from dissociative, manic, psychotic episodes.

So, again, I'm not saying to take away the 'right to bear arms'.  But while I'm on the topic, the second amendment, let's bring up the point that many people misuse and abuse it constantly.

Here's what the Second Amendment ACTUALLY says:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

 ~2nd Amendment 

 ~Bill of Rights 

~2nd Amendment up close 

However, within context, it has to do with keeping state militias intact, as the nation was just beginning.   I'll give you a 'brief' history lesson.  The army (as we know it now) didn't even begin 'formally' until June of 1775.  Though the army, as an institution, was formed when the Bill of Rights was submitted and ratified (1791), it was more like a militia then an organized enterprise that we know it as.

Also, I'd like to add that each state had its own militia and that the amendments and the entire Bill of Rights and Constitution was not only a guarantee of certain rights but also a system of checks and balances.  Each branch, executive, legislative, and judicial were supposed to keep the others in check, so that no one branch gained too much power (like a monarchy).  Remember, we had just fought off the British and declared ourselves as a nation free from the King of England (George III).  

However, there were still loyalists who were sympathetic to the British cause, otherwise known as Tories.  Then, the Whigs, were Patriots and helped object to and rebel against the British Crown.  There were also Federalists, those men who wanted more power within the government's hands and anti-federalists, those who wanted more power in the states'/colonies' hands.  

There was a lot of tension within early America, and the Bill of Rights was answering a lot of that animosity going on.  The second amendment needs to be taken within context.  We were a) worried that the British would try to come back and tax our tea again and b) worried that the federal government would gain too much power and start acting like King George III of England.  So, to guarantee that this didn't happen, we had state militias and a promise to allow them to stay armed.  There was also threat of American Indian warfare; the French and Spanish also had expeditions in America so they had to be contended with as well.  

Look, to say that the Second Amendment ONLY says that we each have a right to own guns is not exactly correct.  Within a historical frame, it is saying that we have a right to arm ourselves in regards to being a young and volatile nation.  Also, the weapons in those days took much longer to load and reload.  There were no automatic rifles or glocks.  The guns were muskets, or closer to it, where you had to stuff the ammo inside, much like a cannon.  The concept we have of 'modern' guns is not applicable. 

~Constitution and Bill of Rights Colonial History 

Am I saying the Second Amendment is null and void?  No, absolutely not.  But the threats and context that the writers of the amendment were dealing with is certainly not applicable to us.  So, where does that leave us?  Where do we go from here?  Should we have more guns, thereby arming every principal and teacher?  Hell no!  Do you know how many crazy people I've met while in the field of education?  A former colleague of mine used to take bets on which of our faculty or staff would snap and come in with a semi-automatic.  I know, it's not funny, but really we should not arm our educators.  That is ridiculous.  

At most, a few SELECT individuals should be trained in hand-to-hand combat as well as having the knowledge of how to shoot and disarm a gun.  Should schools have tighter security?  Yes!  Should parents have outlets for when their children are displaying behavior that is all but the norm?  Yes!  Should we stop pointing fingers and actually sit down together and discuss a plan of action?  HELL YES!

So, I hope I leave you with some thoughts.  By no means do I consider myself an expert on any of this.  I just wanted to offer my opinions on the matter.  And if you read this and you want to write something in response, please e-mail me.  I am much more receptive to having an intellectual discourse (minus insults and curses) via e-mail.  Writing to say I'm a #$% or a moron or any other choice word will just cause me to ignore whatever else you have to say and not only delete your comments but also report you to Blogger.  I have no tolerance for small minds and even smaller tolerance for bigotry and well, intolerance.  

My heart goes out to the community of Newtown, Connecticut.  I have cried and cried thinking about how many parents lost their children and how many children lost their parents.  It is unspeakable.  You are in my thoughts and prayers every day, Newtown.  May G-d grant you strength and peace in the oncoming months.  My blessings to you! 

(for the families of and those healing from Newtown)   

Psalm 20:  

 

 English translation to psalm 20

  

Have a pleasant day and remember to love each other.

Lovingly,

   ~R~

Rockin' in a Winter Wonderland

 For the past 10 years or so, I have been making mixes of eclectic music that I listen to over the course of the year.  I used to have rules for this, like no same artist could be repeated year-to-year or all songs had to be modern.  I have thrown out those rules, and now I just go for putting together an array of songs that tell a story.

A story of what's happening in my life and perhaps the world at large. Hopefully, the emotions and thoughts gained from each song have some similarities which forms a connection between us.  As you listen, I listen, and others listen.  We form similar pictures and thoughts in our head while also composing our own poem.

 I look at my mixes like art, so I wanted to share this year's collection with the world.  You can download these songs yourself and you'll have my mix in your hot little hand.  I usually give out my mixes as I see friends, new and old, throughout the year.  I expose friends to, what is hopefully, new and intriguing sounds while connecting people together through music.  I hope you enjoy this year's special collection.

   Rafi's Holiday Mix CD- 2012

1) This is a Test: Y-Love

2) Get Outta Dodge: Bosco Delrey

3) Revolution: Dr. John

4) A Lonely Jew On Christmas:  (4 & 5) The University of Wisconsin Mad Hatters

5) Don't Stop Me Now

6) Goin' to the Party: Alabama Shakes

7) Aw Ah Ah Ah (Party Cakes): Dan Deacon

8) (All I Wanted Was) Danger: The Milk

9) Year of Living Dangerously: Scissor Sisters  

10) Burn it Down: AWOLNATION

11) Abducted: Cults

12) A Truly Happy Ending: Junior Boys

13) Terrified: Among Savages

 

14) The Wave: Animal Kingdom

15) Circles: Apparat

16) Z: Tanlines

17) A Spool of Thread: House of Waters

18) Crystal Ball: J.K & Co.

19) Winston Cigarette Commercial: Allen Smithee

20) Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Dusty Springfield

21) Commando spatial (Space Patrol): Virginie Rodin

22) (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me: Sandie Shaw

23) Frosty the Snowman- The Ronettes

24) Medicine Spoon: Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics

25) Christmas: Rouge Wave (btw I didn't make this 25 on purpose..weird coincidence, I swear)

26) Happy Days: Doran Danoff

27) Home Again: Michael Kiwanuka

28) Without You: Eddie Vedder

29) This is Not the End: Clare Maguire 

30) Lonesome is Humanity: Olafur I Hvarfi

31) Farewell and Goodnight: Birdy

Disclaimer: To artists/musicians reading this, if you are on this CD.  All songs are purchased on I tunes (and always have been as long as I've been making these mixes).  You can look in my I tunes library..all the songs are there.  I do not sell or promote this CD for sale/monetary value.  I burn these CD's legally and give them to friends.  They listen, and hopefully go onto I tunes or the music store and purchase the whole entire CD.  The point is to expose friends to new music and connect people through music.  None of this is done for commercial or $$ purpose! 

 
Rockin' and rollin',

~R~