Wendy Wasserstein Word from: Jake

Wendy Wasserstein passed away today, at 55. Aside from the Shiksah Goddess, which, if you haven't read then at least heard of, she also authored numerous Tony and Pulitzer awarded plays. Here's the NYT obituary.

The Portal of Unity and Faith Word from: Alieza

I have this vision of a Chassidic text I once read, which perfectly mirrored post-modern literary theory with a hint of Lacanian mystical ecstasy. A couple years ago I wrote a senior thesis on it. I reveled in the find: it described the gap between sign and signifier, and the act of God's first words dividing the world, building boundaries in the Real. I was in love.

Alas this week, when I wanted to retrace my reading, the perfection of nostalgia had slipped through my fingers. I originally read the chapter in English, a translation obviously meant to simplify the kabalistic world for an American reader looking for a quick fix of spirituality. After 2 days of pouring over a whole Hebrew book that bears the same title, I am about to give up hope of recovering that text.

For years I talked of it, thought of it as a constant, as this marvelous description out in the world that I could access whenever I needed. Wading through this old unclear printing something has been stolen, a sense of the stability. To share these ideas with my Israeli classmates I need the Hebrew text, a stable object in the world I can offer as proof, an objective citation I can dangle between our subjectivities.

I feel sort of abandoned. But the Chassidic writer himself would have told me- all version of the text are only illusions.

Recent artistic happenings in Jerusalem . . . Word from: tova messer

A local band called Teiku, featuring Shimon and others, drew out some 100 plus fans and friends to the subterranean section of Jerusalem's ex-pat bar, Mike's Place, to applaud the band's covers and original compositions in thealready not-so-uncommon style of fusing Jewish lyrics including Biblical verses with rock-n-roll and other "secular" genres.

A more current event that swept up the hippy-trippy community and thensome, was a party coming on the heels of Hanukah that celebrated the yarzheit of the simultaneously renowned and infamous anti-nomian Ishbitzer Rebbe, aptly called Antinomian Dancehall. The walls of Mamaleh displayed hand-written excerpts of the Ishbitzer's teachings and the beloved former Nahlaot-er Avi Poupko delivered a brief Torah from the Rebbe to the crowded pub. The party featured Crazy Yosef and Mobius mixing music in between outstanding performances by special guest Adam Stotland of Montreal playing, among others, with Simchat Shlomo's teacher-ecologist Shaul and sometimes-teacher Eliyahu. "Fire on the Mountain," which has been half-jokingly referred to as Bat Ayin's theme song, particularly animated the already enthused crowd groovin' to the music.

The final act was Acharit Hayamim, whose fluid reggae-Latino-Eastern fusion succeeded in creating an other-wordly vibration. A velvet curtain gracefully concealed the women-folk going crazy in a sectioned-off area of the bar, while the main portion unfolded into a jumble of traditionalists and Haredim, Israelis and Anglos, ranging in age from 20's to 50's and from the entire spectrum of observance and anti-nomianism. The fiesta continued into the wee hours of the morning, one a work-night no less, synthesizing the Ishbitzer's conviction that everything is in God's hands with the hints of the Messianic potential that Acharit Hayamim's name suggests. The night was an explosion, the culmination of Hanukah's dazzling light ablaze in the holy city . . .

Maimonides Lit. Word from: Mordy

"His book is a guide for those perplexed by Maimonides, as well as those ignorant of him."

The New York Times ran a review last week of a Sherwin B. Nuland's book 'Maimonides,' and while the review said more about the Rambam's life than the book's treatment of it, it was nice to see the above quote, which is of course a reference to the Rambam's seminal work, "Guide to the Perplexed." Personally, I was perplexed by the fact that a 250 word quote from "Guide to the Perplexed," is included in the review, but only one superficial quote from Nuland's book.

Anthony Julius's last book was "T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form," which makes it interesting that he has gone from T.S. Eliot's poetic anti-Semitism, to an article in the Guardian reassuring Jews that they mustn't panic over anti-Semitism, to a review of the Rambam who basically spent his life fighting... anti-Semitism.

Other treatments of the Rambam have until know included a CIS book and Rachel Yaffe's Rambam, published by Hachai publishing in 1992, both are which are more novels than academic treatments of the scholar. Then of course there is the classic Leonard Nimoy DVD, which Berel Wein produced, and I believe Michel Abehsera (writer of "The Possible Man") helped develop.

Sketchbook:Tutorial Word from: Shlomo

Munich, Silver Jews, and Fairy Tales Word from: Mordy

Excuses; Well, there were finals. I had to write a large essay about a Paul Celan piece, attend a Yeshiva University Writing party, throw an engagement party, and write.

Luckily, my break from blogging coincides with a down period in the music industry. And since sometimes it seems like my job is forcing connections between pop culture and Judaism, that means I've had little to comment on.

But then I saw Munich. Actually, I saw it with my fiancee and both my parents. J.J. Goldberg does a great sendup of all the 'controversy' surrounding the movie. I think that mocking anyone who disliked the movie is great, because if Munich is anything, it is gorgeous, powerful, and thought-provoking. I certainly didn't find it dogmatic, pedantic, or biased. My father, with whom I generally disagree with about all things Israel, liked it as well. He said that the movie both showed the right that the Jews have to Israel, and the cost and burden of having it. Which seems fair to me. What did other people on this blog think about the movie?

In lighter news (or heavier, depending on whom you ask), the Silver Jews are touring for the first time ever. At some point I want to tackle the questions of the "Jewishness" of the band considering the secular aspects of their music, their apparent lack of identification with anything Jewish, and yet, their name.

Also, reading Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" I wonder: Why is the most popular manifestation of Jewish spirituality and superstition manifest in the Golem? We have dybiks, demons, and kabbalists as well. Yet it seems like when the token example of Jewish mysticism need be conjured (reference the X-Files episode; "Kaddish") the Golem arises. It's certainly a popular myth, but must it be the only one? We need a better publicist for our fairy tales.

Top Ten and Pinter Word from: Jake

I accidentally bumped into this site, which lists us as one of the Top Ten Jewish Sources. These people are smart. They know what's what. Mazal tov.

Lehavdil. This shouldn't even be in the same post. But has anyone read Harold Pinter who won the Nobel prize this past year?

Bara Sapir, Museum of Psalms, and the Theatre-Bris Word from: Jake

I've met Bara Sapir a few years ago, but only yesterday got to see her website. The artwork is very diverse: in theme, medium, and style. The conceptual mixed-media pieces are my favorite - I like their experimental-intellectual vibe, with hints of the New Age and Feminism (ok, maybe more than just hints.) I'm not very well versed in Visual Arts, and maybe this is an obvious remark, but: looking at Bara's pieces I really understood that the whole kick of mixed media is the extended symbolism of each separate item. There are way more options here than in regular painting. I can't think of a direct analog of that in writing - mixing of the styles, perhaps, but it's not the same thing. Definitely check out her gallery, there're lots of great works to dig. The painting in this post is called Jepthah's Daughter. Bara is an educator, certified hypnotist and the Arts editor for Zeek magazine.

On the VA-note, I'm curious what people think about the degrees of interpretation happening on the Museum of Psalms. Abstract interpretations of King David? There's a commercial undertone to the site, and I don't love that, but the gallery is very accessible and extensive.

Lastly, this Sunday is the Theatre-Bris show, 10 plays in 90 minutes. It's organized by a great crew; I'm not going to be in NY, otherwise I would definitely have gone. Though, I must admit, both of the names "Theatre-Bris" and "Shomer Shabbat theatre company," make me shudder. Words that come to minds are "ghetto" and "distasteful." Almost as bad as Jewsapalooza and Yidstock. Or Heeb. But what's in a name - show is going to be great. I hate to criticise anything about these wonderful super-talented folks, and will try to smooze it out with a joke. About another "Theatre-Bris."

A guy with a broken watch is walking down the street in Odessa. He sees a store with a big clock hanging over the front door. He rushes in and asks
-Do you fixes watches here?
The guys answers, "No, I'm a moel."
-So then why do you have a clock hanging over your store-front?
-Why, what do you expect I should hang there?

(Talking about ghetto and distasteful. We're all in for it.)

Shul on the Beach: Shades of Sand Word from: Sipai

Between the beaches of Santa Monica and Marina Delrey in Los Angeles, there is a synagogue on the boardwalk of Venice that has began talking about renovations and membership drives. Ahvat Shalom its Hebrew name, it is commonly known by the title scripted on the blue awning that welcomes its congregants: Shul on the Beach. Outside its wooden doors are tourists with cameras strapped around their necks, Rastafarians with orange-black knitted caps who sell boxes of incense at discounted prices, and benches crammed with clans of homeless men and women who mark their territory with filled-to-the-brim black plastic bags.

I visited the synagogue for the first time last summer where, on the Shabbath before my older brother's wedding, my family gathered for pre-wedding celebrations. As the layman chazzan's voice quieted during the amida, the humming bustle of outside lingered through the shul and the scent of incense slid in between the congregants. When the door creaked open for a latecomer the sounds of rushing waves and buzzing crowds crept toward the shuckling congregants. The young rabbi began his speech by calling out one of the congregant's first name and asking the member to shut the doors. Even with the doors shut though, the beach's light morning summer air settled among the daveners.


After shacharit we stepped back onto the boardwalk and crossed path with Harry Perry, the famous turban-wearing, guitar-playing, roller-skating street performer. As quickly as we disappeared from the sidewalk while entering the shul, we blended into the rushing crowds - just as strangers appeared and disappeared into the tall red-brick building, a half-way home for those recovering from substance abuse, to the left of the shul and to the two-floored adult sex shop to the right of the shul.

In recent visits back to Venice, the shul appeared to coexist more easily in its environment, a semblance of either acculturation to my generation's information overload or an ever-increasing eye glasses prescription. In my most recent visit, the winter sun seemed to equally bare down on the shul as on the rest of the commercial and residential buildings. It was a weekday and a young woman with a long floral skirt suddenly stepped outside, turned around to place the key in the front door and lock the doors. She turned her head back toward the horizon, and as she began wading through the crowd, she quickly glanced at the shimmering blue.

*Pictures taken by Jake Marmer.

Sketchbook: Staying the Same...? Word from: Shlomo

One of my favorite drawings--I love the simplicity. The original is actually pretty small.