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Friday, September 4, 2015
Dear Reader,
The biggest story on our website this week was Hannah Dreyfus' report on the macher rabbi
who dealt a big blow to an independent court trying to free "chained" women from loveless marriages.New York
Leading Rabbi Deals Big Blow To Agunah Court
YU’s Schachter dismisses beit din solution as battle continues in Centrist/Modern Orthodox community.
Hannah Dreyfus
Staff Writer
Photo Galleria:
After major Orthodox rabbi deals blow to agunah court, women's futures lie in the balance. Fotolia In its first year, the New York-based International Beit Din (IBD), headed by Rabbi Simcha Krauss, a widely respected rabbi here and in Israel, has resolved nearly 20 cases of agunot, chained women, freeing them from their loveless marriages.
In doing so, it has incurred the condemnation of some leading rabbinic authorities, most notably, and recently, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, a leading rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s rabbinical school, who last month penned a public letter of protest dismissing the court’s collective rulings and pronouncing Rabbi Krauss unfit to make complex decisions regarding agunot.
(The issue has vexed rabbinic leaders for generations because according to halacha, or Jewish law, the recalcitrant husband must free his wife willingly.)
“From start to finish, this is a mistake,” Rabbi Schachter wrote in a three-paragraph letter, posted on an anonymously sponsored Torah website. The letter, written in Hebrew, says that only “great scholars of the generation” should be dealing with these sensitive matters. Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, head of the Beit Din of America, (the largest rabbinical court), and three other prominent rabbis also signed the letter.
As a result, various elements of the centrist and Modern Orthodox community are caught up in this controversy, which threatens to further divide the movement. And as the IBD struggles for acceptance, the women who have already been freed may face a new kind of limbo, worried if a subsequent marriage will be accepted in the community.
The new beit din has employed a traditional halachic approach, though sometimes using modern technology as well. In five recent cases, for example, the court reviewed videos of the couples' wedding and found one or both witnesses invalid, thereby annulling the marriage.
The ongoing controversy is engulfing Centrist Orthodoxy’s flagship institution, Yeshiva University, with which most of the rabbis involved are affiliated. And it mirrors a fight taking place in Israel today that pits a new, more liberal-minded conversion court — including Lincoln Square Synagogue founding rabbi and YU-ordained Shlomo Riskin and Rabbi David Stav — that is challenging the power of Israel’s charedi-dominated Chief Rabbinate on these issues.
Rabbi Menachem Penner, dean of YU’s rabbinic school, offered a statement on Tuesday, noting that the institution has “played a leading role in the effort to resolve the plight of agunot in a manner that is fully compliant with halacha,” citing its involvement in creating ORA (Organization for the Resolution of Agunot).
He noted that “our Roshei Yeshiva represent a variety of viewpoints, many of them, as well as most poskim [authorities] across the Orthodox spectrum, have expressed serious concern over the status of the beit din while noting the good will and motivation of its proponents.” The statement expressed empathy for agunot, but said efforts to release women from a marriage “must be balanced with the severity, halachic status and social consequences of such matters.”
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, a pulpit rabbi in Englewood, N.J., and former president of the Rabbinical Council of America, the largest body of Orthodox rabbis, spoke of those social consequences.
“The court is not doing a favor for these women if it issues a solution that won’t be acceptable to a large population of Orthodox rabbis,” he said. He compared the court’s actions to efforts made in the 1990s by the late Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, a major figure in Modern Orthodoxy and president of Bar-Ilan University, who convened a beit din that issued divorces on the basis of kiddushei ta’ot, a Talmudic concept for annulment. His rulings were never widely accepted in the Orthodox world and many rabbis refused to officiate at the subsequent weddings of women who had been freed by the rabbi’s bet din.
“This isn’t a democracy, it’s a halachic process,” said Rabbi Goldin. “The power to make decisions has always been in the hands of the few who spend their lives steeped in its wells.”
The Issue’s True Face
For women like “Sarah Jacobs,” who asked that we not use her real name because she doesn’t want her husband to see her quoted in a newspaper, a mother of three in her mid-30s, the outcome of the IBD debate will determine her future. Jacobs grew up in a “yeshivish” Orthodox enclave in Brooklyn. At age 20, she met and married a 21-year-old Talmud scholar studying at a nearby yeshiva. They were engaged after seven weeks, 10 dates. Twelve years, three children and one diagnosis of mental illness later, she left him.
“I stayed until I couldn’t stand it any more,” Jacobs said in an interview with The Jewish Week. She didn’t want to specify her husband’s diagnosis but described it as severe and incurable. Though “things were not right from day one,” divorce, still carrying an indelible taboo in the Orthodox world, was her last resort. Over the course of the marriage, she and her children incurred repeated emotional and physical abuse, she said. He lobbed insults and threats at them, and sometimes even heavy pieces of furniture. Those he would shove onto Jacobs or her children after having pushed them to the ground, she said.
When Jacobs finally found the strength to leave in November 2011, her journey towards attaining a get, or religious divorce, began. Over five years, she visited five different religious courts in three states and two countries. During this time, she was subjected to financial extortion, disrespect, and the perpetual, fruitless waiting, she said.
Determined to remain in the Orthodox community, she learned of Rabbi Krauss’ beit din through an article in The Jewish Week. She met with him in March 2015. After nine hours of testimony and a six-page document explaining their decision, the three-member IBD ruled to annul her marriage on the Talmudic principle that the woman never would have married her husband if she had known he would act in an abusive fashion during the marriage.
“He dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t,’” she said of Rabbi Krauss. “He was so genuine, so compassionate. He is my only lifeline.”
Taking Sides
Rabbi Krauss, a longtime pulpit rabbi in Queens and the former president of Religious Zionistists of America, made aliyah several years ago but returned to New York for two years to launch the IBD. He declined to speak on the record, for the most part, but several prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side, Rabbi Yosef Adler of Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, N.J., and Rabbi David Bigman, a prominent Rosh Yeshiva in Israel, have voiced support for his efforts. A petition is now circulating in support of Rabbi Krauss and has been signed by 100 rabbis, though the rabbi chose not to release the names at this time.
“I have tremendous respect for Rabbi Krauss as a first-rate Talmud chacham [scholar] and somebody upon whom I can rely to make good decisions grounded in authentic and reliable halachic sources,” Rabbi Lookstein told The Jewish Week. In the case of an agunah, “every leniency that the halacha allows should be used,” he said. He also said that Rabbi Krauss’ approach is “entirely different” than the approach used by Rabbi Rackman, though he declined to elaborate.
Rabbi Adler similarly vouched for Rabbi Krauss’ credibility, pronouncing him a “first-class scholar.”
Many others have voiced support for Rabbi Krauss, but only off the record. One prominent New York rabbi who supports Rabbi Krauss but requested to remain anonymous described the situation as a social action problem. “It’s a game of numbers — everyone is waiting for the next guy to jump,” he said. “It’s a zero-sum game — everyone’s in, or nobody’s in.”
A prominent centrist Orthodox rabbi, also speaking off the record, said he was “surprised” Rabbi Schachter didn’t offer a fuller exposition of his reasoning for condemning the IBD in the heated aftermath of his letter. “He’s used to just invoking his own rabbinic authority, and of that being enough, but that doesn’t work anymore,” he said. More than anything else, this controversy foretells the emergence of a new movement, he said. “We’re heading for a split [within Orthodoxy] — at this point, it seems inevitable.”
Rabbi Schachter has not responded to requests for an interview.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a Modern Orthodox yeshiva that provides a more liberal alternative to Yeshiva University, wrote a letter to Rabbi Schachter, strongly criticizing his personal attack against Rabbi Krauss, The Jewish Week has learned. It defended Rabbi Schachter’s right to argue on the merits of his position, but said “no human being, let alone no rabbi, should be dismissed in such humiliating terms.” Rabbi Weiss called on Rabbi Schachter to publicly apologize in the spirit of the upcoming High Holy Days.
Several other rabbis who were interviewed referred, off the record, to Rabbi Schachter’s actions as “bullying.” But Rabbi Heshie Billet, senior rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere, offered a more pragmatic reason for not endorsing the IBD. He described Rabbi Krauss’ actions as “noble,” but said local rabbis can’t afford to undermine their loyalties to the Beit Din of America, the most prominent, mainstream religious court, which is headed by Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, a co-signer of the Rabbi Schachter letter.
“Since I live in New York, that’s my beit din, and I need their stamp of approval,” Rabbi Billet said. “It’s that simple.”
YU’s Internal Battle
The battle for the “soul of Orthodoxy” as one prominent rabbi termed it, is evident within Yeshiva University’s ranks. Two YU faculty members were pressured to disassociate from Rabbi Krauss’ beit din, despite strong personal convictions to support his mission.
Rabbi Yosef Blau, the spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University for nearly five decades and well-known for his advocacy confronting sexual abuse within the Orthodox community, has been a judge on the IBD since its founding. Every decision made by the court included Rabbi Blau, a well-known voice of authority within the community. Rabbi Yehuda Warburg, a dayan, or, religious judge, for the past 15 years, is the third judge on the court.
A few weeks ago Rabbi Blau was pressured to leave the court by colleagues within YU who disagreed with the court’s actions. Though Rabbi Blau declined to comment directly, a letter he submitted to Rabbi Krauss with his resignation cited a desire to “prevent controversy within YU” as his reason for departure.
According to a letter by Rabbi Krauss defending the IBD against Rabbi Schachter’s attack, Rabbi Blau agreed to resign in exchange for an agreement that Rabbi Schachter would not publicly attack the court. But according to the letter, Rabbi Schachter backtracked on the agreement within a few weeks and cited Rabbi’s Blau’s departure as evidence of the court’s questionable status.
Rabbi Moshe Kahn, a faculty member at YU’s Stern College for Women who teaches in the Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Study for women agreed to serve as an IBD judge after Rabbi Blau stepped down. But within a week he was pressured to resign. Though Rabbi Kahn declined to comment, a source within the university said pressure was put on the rabbi to step down for fear that his affiliation with the court would negatively impact funding for the GPATS program. The source also said that there were concerns that the roshei yeshiva at YU, who opposed the IBD, would dissuade their students from dating women in the GPATS program.
To Marry Or Not To Marry
How will this halachic battle play out for women who, after being freed by the IBD, seek to remarry?
Though Jacobs has slowly started to date again, she said she worries about her future status.
“I finally feel like I can breathe. After 15 years of being suffocated, I feel like myself. I feel like a person, not just a victim,” she said. Still, some men have stopped going out with her on learning that she was freed by the IBD.
“People have no problem breaking every other halacha, but when it comes to a get, they need the most stringent of stringencies,” she said. “It starts with the rabbis, this corrupt double-standard, and then everyone else just accepts blindly. In a minute, they can ruin everything I’ve worked towards over the past five years.”
In the last two weeks, since this controversy erupted, two women seeking the aid of the IBD have backed away. Still, Rabbi Krauss is committed to continue. After Rabbi Kahn’s resignation last week, another rabbi has been selected as a judge, though Rabbi Krauss declined to share the name until the appointment is official.
Rabbi Krauss, who is in his late 70s, walks with difficulty. Climbing a short flight of stairs, he paused on every step, making light conversation to distract from his belabored movements.
“You can hurt me, you can insult me,” he said of his critics. “But at the end of the day, this is not about me. This is a war. We’re fighting for these women. And if we win, the whole community wins. And if we lose,” he paused, a question hanging in his voice, “more is lost than we can ever know.”
Hannah@jewishweek.org
Also drawing readers: honey, of course. There's lots of menu-planning going on in these weeks leading up to the High Holidays, and we've got a blockbuster recipe
from Brazil you should consider instead of the traditional honey cakeFrom Brazil, Beyond Honey Cake
Pão de mel is an indulgent, jazzy version of the traditional treat.
Who said honey cake has to be dry? Leticia Schwartz/JW
Many honey cake recipes are dry and bland, so I have adapted Brazilian pão de mel (honey bread) for a jazzy, indulgent version of our traditional treat. This is a dark and decadent sandwich honey cake, filled with dulce de leche and enrobed in dark chocolate. The dulce de leche inspires my hopes of a rich and generous new year to come.
I prefer not to use regular chocolate to enrobe Pão de Mel, since it’s too big a cake to bite into hard chocolate. The chocolate glaze has to be quite thin to make a beautiful coating. What I recommend here is to use baker’s dipping chocolate (the kind you dip strawberries into). It’s not pure chocolate; it is mixed with vegetable fat. In the past, many pastry chefs looked at dipping chocolate with disdain, but chocolate brands have improved so much on their products that if you use a high quality baker’s chocolate, even their dipping chocolate is fantastic, to the point that you could never tell that is not pure chocolate. I use a brand called Felchlin. Feel free to use other gourmet chocolate brands. If it comes in pistols, you don’t even need to chop it. Another option is for you to add some vegetable oil to regular chocolate
(2 tablespoons of oil for 12 ounces of chocolate).
For this recipe, I use store-bought dulce de leche, but you can also use home-made by cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk at a simmer for 4 hours, or in a pressure cooker for 1 hour.
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2 / 2Hide Servings & Times
Yield:
Makes about 20 Active Time:
30 min Total Time:
1 hr 45 min Hide Ingredients
For the Cake:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup ground walnuts
½ cup honey
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole milk
For the Filling:
1 cup of store bought dulce de leche
For the Chocolate Glaze:
2 lbs semisweet baker’s chocolate (the kind you don’t need to temper), chopped Hide Steps
Make the Cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350˚ F. Coat a 9 x 13–inch baking pan with baking spray, line the bottom with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the ground walnuts and whisk until well combined.
In another large bowl, whisk the honey, eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, condensed milk, and whole milk.
Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until you have a homogenous batter, making sure you don’t have any pockets of flour. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an off set spatula. Bake the cake until the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
Transfer the cake to a wire pan and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, place another rack on top and flip. Peel the parchment paper off, and flip once more so that the cake rests right side up. Cool completely. Cake can be wrapped and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days ahead.
Using a long serrated knife, trim the sides and top of the cake. Slice the cake horizontally in half. I like to slice once more, obtaining 4 layers total in order to have a thin layer of pão de mel. Using a 2¼–inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can from each cake. Discard all the scraps, or have a preview of the finished dessert by spreading some dulce de leche on a piece of scrap and nibble—like I do. Transfer the circles of pão de mel to a baking sheet and arrange them in pairs leaving little space between them. You should have about 40 circles.
Assemble the Pão de Mel: place a mound (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) of dulce de leche between two cakes to make a sandwich pressing down slightly so that it reaches the edges of the cake. Repeat until you have sandwiched them all. You should have around 18.
Make the Glaze: Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl on the top of a pan filled with simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water) heat the chocolate until it’s just melted. Drop each pão de mel into the chocolate glaze and flip to cover the entire outside. Using a chocolate fork, lift them out and let the excess glaze drop. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Repeat the process until all are covered.
Also, brisket tips galore, from a
famous butcher, and all your fave kosher bloggers.Brisket Tips From Fischer Bros. & Leslie
A pan of beef brisket. Wikimedia Commons
Brisket is good for feeding new parents, and it’s a High Holiday go-to.
Paul Whitman
Special To The Jewish Week
The author and his wife just made this brisket for their son and daughter-in-law, who just had a baby. It kept them fed for many days.
1. First and foremost, buy your meat from a reputable butcher and shop early. A quality piece of meat frozen is superior to a lesser quality cut that is fresh. As the holiday rush gets into full swing, the supply of quality cuts dwindles.
2. Cook your brisket several days in advance. Allow it to cool (not chilled), slice it and store it in the cooking juices, wrapped well in the refrigerator. This will help tenderize the meat and allow the seasonings to penetrate well into each slice. You can skim some of the fat before refrigerating and again remove the excess fat, which will congeal on the top of the cooked brisket before reheating.
3. Consider Second Cut Brisket: It is a smaller piece (3 to 5 lbs.) but is more marbled with internal fat, which makes it juicier. Many gourmets now prefer this cut to the much leaner First Cut Brisket. Again, shop early, in years past there was always a surplus of Second Cut Brisket, now we sometimes can’t get enough.
4. Understand that terms First and Second Cut Brisket do not denote quality and are actually a misnomer. They are separate pieces of meat that lie next to each other and might more properly be called Top and Bottom Cut Brisket, second and first cut, respectively.
5. Whichever cut you choose, brown the meat in a heavy skillet on both sides with a little olive oil. This gives the meat a nice flavor. You may even sauté some garlic, scallions or shallots in the oil before you brown the meat.
6. The cooking time is relatively independent of the size of the pieces of meat. Typically, two and a half to three hours either covered on the stove top on a low flame or covered in the oven at 350 degrees. Don't worry if you have to layer one piece of meat on top of another to fit in your pot. As long as they are almost fully covered in the cooking broth it will cook properly.
7. If you decide on First Cut Brisket, ask them to leave a bit of fat on each side. Again, it is best cooked in advance. Allow it to cool, trim the fat, slice and store in the cooking juices. Enjoy!
Brisket: The Kosher Blogger Roundup
One of these recipes actually is ‘the world’s best.’ Or maybe they all are.
Via Flickr.com
First or second, brisket is one tough cut. But it is to Rosh Hashanah – almost – what latkes are to Hanukkah.
So how do you cook it so that everyone loves it? This question can cause a Talmudic-style debate, so I asked some of my fellow kosher bloggers to give me the emmis, the real truth, on how they do it.
There were some modest words from Shoshana Ohriner on her Paleo Kosher Kitchen site. She says she hesitates “to call any recipe the ‘World’s Best,’” but – everyone who has eaten her family recipe agrees it is the best. In fact, it is the one dish that kept her from becoming a vegetarian. Her tip? Keep it savory, first, by marinating the meat for several hours to boost the beefy taste, then load the roasting pan with onions, which caramelize slowly as the meat cooks and pack the dish with flavor.
At the Strauss household, though, they like their brisket with a tart taste. For years, Melinda Strauss of Kitchen Tested made her Mom’s recipe, with bold ingredients such as sauerkraut and canned tomatoes. But Melinda’s creative urges took her farther afield and these days she adds freeze dried cranberries to her roast. In addition, her family prefers the brisket with a crusty brown surface, but instead of searing the meat before cooking it, Melinda has an easier way – oven roast it at a high temperature for a short time first.
Some say it’s the cut of meat that makes the difference. Chanie Apfelbaum over at Busy In Brooklyn insists that “fattier meat will always yield a tastier product.” She likes second-cut brisket because of its higher fat content. Chanie gives lots of tips for how to make the most of tough cuts like brisket in her handy-dandy Guide to Kosher Meat: Cuts and Cooking Methods.
Other brisket mavens focus on the seasoning and browning. Jamie Geller, founder of the Kosher Media Network, makes a Garlic-Honey Brisket, and now has a video that shows how she makes a brisket.
Cookbook author Norene Gilletz, who blogs at Gourmania, is a brisket maven. Her special touch includes adding cola to the braising fluids because it helps make the meat velvety tender. She changes up the seasonings from time to time and prefers second cut, but for the Gilletz family it’s the what-goes-with-it that glorifies the already fabulous meat. Her family “insists” on kasha and bowties, the perfect foil for that lush brisket gravy.
It’s the way it’s served that makes brisket a special meal for Elizabeth Kurtz of Gourmet Kosher Cooking and her family. Her recipe starts out as a sweet-and-spicy roast, the meat laden with brown sugar, chile powder and cayenne pepper. But when it’s tender, Elizabeth transforms this old fashioned favorite into a more modern Pulled Brisket and serves the meat and lush sauce on a bun or over mashed potatoes or inside lettuce cups.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s the cooking method that counts most. My family wants this boneless hunk of meat to be falling-off-the-bone tender, but they also like a crispy, burnt-end BBQ crust. So here’s my take: I begin with a whole brisket, first plus second cut, (the method works with smaller cuts), place it in a large roasting pan, add seasonings and smother it with sliced Vidalias (common yellow onions are fine). I seal the pan tightly with aluminum foil, place it in the oven and turn the heat to 225 degrees (no preheating).
I go to bed and let the meat cook magically while I’m sleeping.
Oh, how I love that brisket alarm clock in the morning!
You can do this during the day of course, timing the meat accordingly if you use a smaller piece.
Although I don’t add any liquid to the pan – no juice, no beer, no wine – the onions and natural meat juices make plenty of fluids. When the dish is done, I separate the meat (removing excess fat that hasn’t melted), onions and juices. When the juices are cold, I discard the firm fat that rises to the top.
I’ve occasionally served the brisket in the traditional way: Slice the meat, place it in an oven-proof serving dish, cover it with the onions and defatted juices and reheat. It also freezes well, separated into family-size portions in air-tight plastic containers.
But most of the time I use the onions and gravy for something else – mashed potatoes or cooked egg noodles, for example. I slather the cooked meat with homemade barbecue sauce and either roast, grill or broil it until it’s hot and the surface is black and crusty and tasting of rich, flavorful beef and sticky, tangy sauce with just a hint of spice (you can omit the cayenne if you wish).
Does my family love every bite and morsel? Yep!
Ronnie Fein is a cookbook author, food writer and cooking teacher in Stamford. She is the author of The Modern Kosher Kitchen and Hip Kosher. Visit her food blog, Kitchen Vignettes, at www.ronniefein.com, friend on Facebook at RonnieVailFein, Twitter at @RonnieVFein.
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Via kitchen-tested.com
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Via gourmetkoshercooking.com Hide Servings & Times
Yield:
Serves 10-12 Active Time:
45 min Total Time:
8 hrs Hide Ingredients
For the brisket:
One whole brisket (8-10 pounds) or smaller cut*
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika to taste
2 large Vidalia onions (or 3 large yellow onions)
Mango Barbecue Sauce
For the mango barbecue sauce:
1 large ripe mango
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup bottled chili sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup molasses (or honey)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Hide Steps
To make the brisket: Place the meat in a large roasting pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika if desired. Scatter the onions on top. Cover the pan tightly. Place the pan in the oven, turn the heat to 225 degrees and bake for 7-8 hours or until the meat is soft and tender. (For smaller cuts, adjust the time accordingly: a 5-6 pound brisket will take about 6 hours; 4 pounder, about 4 hours – pierce the meat with the tines of a fork to check for tenderness). Remove the meat, let cool, trim excess fat and refrigerate. Strain the onions and refrigerate. Refrigerate the pan juices. When the pan juices are cold, skim the fat that has come to the top. Use the defatted pan juices and onions for other purposes (gravy for mashed potatoes, cooked egg noodles, etc.).
To prepare the sauce, about 45 minutes before serving, remove the meat from the refrigerator and place it in a large roasting pan. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slather some of the barbecue sauce over the meat and roast for about 15-20 minutes, brushing the meat occasionally with more of the sauce (you will probably use a little more than half the amount of sauce). Slice and serve. You can also broil the brisket or reheat on a preheated outdoor grill.
To make the sauce, peel the mango and puree the flesh in a food processor. Heat the vegetable oil in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Add the mango puree, chili sauce, orange juice, molasses, soy sauce and cayenne pepper. Stir to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Cook over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until slightly thickened. Let cool.
Good Shabbos,
Helen Chernikoff
Web Director
THE ARTS
"A moral meeting point." Ethel Dizon
Across The Great Divide
Sandee Brawarsky
Culture Editor
The former wife of Israel's most famous general, and a Palestinian journalist and activist have been talking, meeting, trying to understand each other, fighting, reconciling and laughing together since a chance meeting soon after the Six-Day War.
Read More
Books
Across The Great Divide
Ruth Dayan, Raymonda Tawil and a hard-won friendship amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Sandee Brawarsky
Culture Editor
Photo Galleria:
“A moral meeting point”.Ethel Dizon
The former wife of Israel’s most famous general, and a Palestinian journalist and activist have been talking, meeting, trying to understand each other, fighting, reconciling and laughing together since a chance meeting soon after the Six-Day War.
Ruth Dayan, now 98, was bringing toys to wounded children in a Nablus hospital. Raymonda Tawil, alsot there to visit the children, recognized her immediately and shouted in perfect Hebrew, “How dare you come in here pretending to care for children. Do you know what your husband is doing to us?”
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Dayan replied. “But you should know, I married a farmer and NOT a general. Don’t blame me for all this horror.”
As Dayan would reply many times to the woman who would become her dear friend, “I am NOT Moshe Dayan.” She then went on to listen to the stories of the women who gathered.
Last week, on the phone from her home in Malta, with Dayan on the line from Tel Aviv, Tawil, 74, who is the mother-in-law of Yasser Arafat, recalls, “We were not kind to her. But we felt her humanity. She looked at us with light in her eyes.”
In “An Improbable Friendship: The Remarkable Lives of Israeli Ruth Dayan and Palestinian Raymonda Tawil and their Forty-Year Peace Mission” (Arcade), Anthony David transports readers across the divide. It’s a well-written book about empathy, hinting at possibilities for peace.
David provides valuable reading, especially for American Jews who will see the history of Israel anew through the life of Dayan, and will come to see a perspective they don’t often encounter firsthand, in the experience of Tawil.
Dayan, the daughter of Jerusalem lawyers well connected to the Zionist leadership, was born in Palestine in 1917 and raised in part in London. Her grandfather Boris from Kishinev had studied at the Sorbonne and moved to Palestine in 1903. In 1934, Ruth met Moshe while at Nahalal, the farming village where his family lived, and they married in 1935.
David points out parallels between the women’s distinguished family backgrounds without suggesting that their experiences were equivalent.
Tawil’s father Habib Hawa, who also studied at the Sorbonne, was called “the Syrian Prince” by the British. His family had a castle not far from Nahalal. Her mother, who was raised in New York and returned to her village near Haifa, had “New York attitudes about gender, democracy, equality” that were, as David writes, the source of her daughter’s feminism. Tawil’s mother also taught her about avoiding hatred. After her parents’ 1947 divorce, she was raised in convent schools.
In our telephone conversation, both women remember the days following the Six-Day War differently. Dayan, with her phenomenal memory, recalls walking in the Old City of Jerusalem and feeling very comfortable, reconnecting with friends not seen since 1948. For Tawil, while she had the freedom to travel back to Haifa, “it was not the opening of the gates but the Occupation. For us it was defeat.”
In 1953, Golda Meir, then the Labor minister, asked Ruth Dayan to head up a department for women’s work. Dayan founded Maskit, promoting handicrafts and training new immigrants and Arab villagers to produce items for sale. The business flourished, and she still travels to visit villagers and see their work. Meanwhile, Tawil was reading voraciously, finding her feminist voice in her traditional marriage, advocating against honor killings, eventually becoming the first woman to drive on the West Bank, and turning her home into a salon for journalists, intellectuals and left-wing Israelis. The book includes the difficult-to-read account of her solitary confinement by Israeli authorities.
While their friendship wasn’t a secret, it wasn’t well known, outside of their close circles. They would meet to talk, share ideas about their work, and Dayan would use connections to pull strings and carry messages from Tawil to the Israeli government. She is the sister-in-law of Ezer Weizman, aunt of Uzi Dayan, who built the Separation Wall, friend of Shimon Peres (and the list goes on).
“Raymonda has been working politically, and Ruth has been working practically, and they have a moral meeting point,” David says.
David began working with them in 2009, and would meet with Dayan in Tel Aviv, and Tawil in Malta, in person or by Skype. Once, the three were together in Baltimore. Along the way, there were flare-ups between the two, usually over a small detail that pointed to a more fundamental difference.
“Both of them were right from my perspective – it was a ping pong match going back and forth,” David says. They’d argue and then they’d be back in each other’s arms. “They really love each other,” he adds.
David, an author of books on kabbalist scholar Gershom Scholem, publisher Salman Schocken and of “Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life,” with Palestinian leader Sari Nusseibeh, brings a biographer’s eye for detail and nuance, and the sensibility of a Middle-Eastern insider and outsider to the project. The 50-year-old scholar was first drawn to visit Israel while studying philosophy in Berlin in 1992; he and a friend were beat up by skinheads after attending a Kristallnacht service. In Jerusalem, he immediately felt at home, particularly among Sephardic people, who reminded him of his relatives in New Mexico, where he was born.
On both sides, David is a descendent of Sephardic Jews who left Spain for the American Southwest; all became Catholic. He was raised with an awareness of his family history.
“When in Israel, I identify as Jewish, without denying the Catholic side. I feel like I’m a hybrid. I have no problem going to synagogue on Saturday and mass on Sunday, without theological beliefs, but appreciating beautiful ceremonies,” he says.
“It’s easy for me to fit into other people’s skin. I have so many different layers of skin.”
On the phone, the women praise each other. Each favors a two-state solution and would like to see the walls separating the two peoples lifted.
“I hope the book will be a strong message to end the bloodshed, that we can talk,” Tawil says.
Dayan adds, “The only thing is to communicate. To stop running around in circles and trying to kill each other.”
FOOD & WINE
Maine Mead Works' Honeymaker Dry variety, made from 100 percent wildflower honey.
A Honey Of A Wine
Gamliel Kronemer
Special To The Jewish Week
On Rosh Hashanah, honey plays a significant role in the holiday bill of fare: honey on challah, honey on apples, perhaps a honeybraised brisket, and of course honey cakes. Once upon a time that menu would also have included mead (honey wine). In places like Poland, Russia, Lithuania and Belarus - where kosher wine was an expensive commodity - there was a very common custom of serving mead for the holidays.
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A Honey Of A Wine
Maine Mead Works' Honeymaker Dry variety, made from 100 percent wildflower honey.
Back in the old country, mead used to be a traditional High Holiday beverage.Gamliel Kronemer
Special To The Jewish Week
On Rosh Hashanah, honey plays a significant role in the holiday bill of fare: honey on challah, honey on apples, perhaps a honeybraised brisket, and of course honey cakes. Once upon a time that menu would also have included mead (honey wine). In places like Poland, Russia, Lithuania and Belarus — where kosher wine was an expensive commodity — there was a very common custom of serving mead for the holidays.
Until very recently mead has been a rare beverage in the United States, but in the last few years it has been gaining popularity. New meaderies are opening frequently, and according to statistics from the American Mead Makers Association, U.S. sales of mead from 2012 to 2013 increased 130 percent. As kashrut poses little challenges for the mead maker, a few of these meaderies have started to produce under kosher supervision.
Ben Alexander is the mead maker of Maine Mead Works, which recently started producing under the supervision of the Star-K (it had previously been under the supervision of a local rabbi). He says that he first learned about mead in 2007 from his wife’s grandfather, Gerald Cope, who grew up in a household that made its own. Later that year Cope and Alexander helped found Maine Mead Work. Alexander said they decided to seek kosher supervision because they believed that it “would be a good product to offer the kosher market.”
Maine Mead Works produces four different meads that are available in stores in New Jersey and Connecticut, and which will be distributed in New York starting in November. I recently tasted all four, and any one of them would be a pleasant addition to your holiday table.
As with all of the meads I tasted, the Honeymaker Dry Mead was made from 100 percent wildflower honey, utilizing a continuous fermentation system. Medium bodied, with a dark-straw-toamber color, it has a fragrant nose of honey, with notes of citrus herbs and spice. Honey and spice dominate the front of the palate, while a rich earthiness takes over mid-palate and runs through the finish. Well balanced, with nice acidity, this would make for a good aperitif.
Score B/B+ ($15.97. Available at Wine Chateau, 85 Central Ave., Metuchen, N.J., [800] 946-3190.)
The Honeymaker Semi-Sweet Mead has a slightly darker color than the Dry Mead, and this medium-tofull bodied mead has a somewhat muted nose of honey with a hint of spice. While honey dominates the flavor, look for notes of candied citrus, and an intriguing ryebread- like element on the finish. Although pleasant, this mead does not seem to be wholly balanced.
Score B ($15.99. Available at Super Wine Warehouse, 42 E. 30th St., Paterson, N.J., [973] 684-2337.)
Flavored with English lavender, the Honeymaker Lavender Mead is dark-straw colored and was the sweetest in the tasting. The bouquet is redolent of honey and lavender, with just a hint of orange blossoms. The flavor is creamy, with tastes of honey and lavender, notes of oak and citrus and just a hint of cinnamon on the finish. This mead would be a lovely digestif.
Score B+ ($15.97. Available at Wine Chateau, 85 Central Ave., Metuchen, N.J., [800] 946-3190.)
The Honeymaker Blueberry Mead is crisp, semi-dry and refreshing; it is medium bodied, ruby colored and was made with blueberries that were added during the latter stages of fermentation. The bouquet, which is faint, is dominated by honey notes. However, the flavor is dominated by blueberries with a note of orange rind, and has a light, honeyed finish. This was the most wine-like mead in the tasting, and would be a good accompaniment for a cold fruit soup, citrusy salad or citrus-flavored fish dish.
Score B+ ($17.99. Available at Super Wine Warehouse, 42 E. 30th St., Paterson, N.J., [973] 684-2337.)
Alexander says that his meads are best when drunk within two years of release. He also says that mead oxidizes much more slowly than wine, and that open bottles, kept in a refrigerator, will remain drinkable for at least a week, if not for a few months. Always drink mead chilled.
This Rosh HaShanah why not revive an ancient custom and add a bottle of mead to your holiday table?
Please note: Meads are scored on an ‘A’-‘F’ scale where ‘A’ is excellent, ‘B’ is good, ‘C’ is flawed, ‘D’ is very flawed, and ‘F’ is undrinkable. Prices listed reflect the price at the retailer mentioned.
Back of the Book
On Causes And Causality
Erica Brown
Special To The Jewish Week
Soon enough, we will stand in synagogue hungry and self-deprecating if we are doing our jobs correctly. It will be Yom Kippur, and we will raise a closed fist to what we hope is an open heart and say words of contrition, apologies to those we love and hurt. We will think about the long and non-linear path to repentance. For a moment, please personalize this Al Chet: "...for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips." What comes to mind?
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Jew By Voice
On Causes And Causality
Erica Brown
Special To The Jewish Week
Erica Brown
Soon enough, we will stand in synagogue hungry and self-deprecating if we are doing our jobs correctly. It will be Yom Kippur, and we will raise a closed fist to what we hope is an open heart and say words of contrition, apologies to those we love and hurt. We will think about the long and non-linear path to repentance. For a moment, please personalize this Al Chet: “…for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips.” What comes to mind?
For me, any number of my own misstatements surface in an embarrassing mountain of personal speech failures, and those are only the ones I remember. There are words — thousands of them a year — that we say that can never be taken back. It is no wonder that a family member likes to say that every person gets an allotment of words in one lifetime. When you use all those words up, you die. How’s that as an incentive to keep your mouth shut? Oy, the utterance of the lips.
Two particular leadership utterances come to mind this year: statements about causality and about slippery slopes.
In the past many years, an anti-gay preacher told congregants that Hurricane Sandy was because of the marriage equality act. More than one rabbi publically attributed Hurricane Katrina’s devastating casualties to the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza. A Muslim New York-based imam blamed America for the 9/11 attacks. A rabbi publically stated that the Holocaust happened because of Jewish Sabbath transgressors.
Maimonides writes that we must scour our deeds when bad things happen. He does not, however, say that someone else should do that for us. That’s an inside job. It’s time religious leaders get out of the casualty business and back to the cause business: ethics, prayer, consolation, study. Accusatory statements are a huge distraction to a clergy’s main order of business. Controversial, incendiary statements suck up psychic energy and precious time. Religious leaders are either stuck apologizing to others or defending themselves. What is to be gained when so much is to be lost?
It is a biblical prohibition to attribute a cause for someone else’s suffering: hona’at devarim. Words maim and damage, sometimes permanently. When said by a representative of the faith, they can cause the listener to abandon religion altogether, a causal relationship no one needs. Causality statements also hurt the institutions leaders represent. Individuals make statements that are associated with organizations. People wonder: is that the view of this synagogue, this Jewish nonprofit, this university? The biggest institution at peril is Judaism itself. Many years ago in Israel, a bus of middle school children was in a fatal accident. In the midst of collective mourning, a rabbi publically explained the accident: the boys on the bus were not wearing tefillin. This did not get anyone to wear tefillin. It may have inspired some people to stop wearing tefillin.
A subtler form of causality is the slippery slope argument. Labeling something a slippery slope suggests a series of events that move quickly, is hard to control and that lead in the direction of disaster. This was recently articulated by an influential rabbi who suggested that advanced women’s Jewish learning needs to be re-evaluated. It has led to too much acceptance of egalitarianism and homosexuality within traditional Judaism. Get off the slippery slope.
Problem: one thing always leads to another. We just don’t know what that other is. It’s pure speculation. And the fact that one thing leads to another is not always a bad thing. Sometimes we call this progress. One person’s slippery slope is another person’s ladder of opportunity. One of the early innovators of artificial intelligence, John McCarthy, said, “When I see a slippery slope, my instinct is to build a terrace.” Take it slowly. Create mindful way stations so that potential pitfalls are negotiated with skill.
Underlying the slippery slope argument is that we can and should turn back time, but just how far? Should we close universities to women or make sure that a woman’s dollar is worth even less than a man’s? Should we repeal women’s suffrage? It’s the slippery slope in reverse, and it ain’t pretty. It is also unrealistic. I don’t love cellphones. I think the Internet is often dangerous, but it’s here to stay. Harsh pronouncements don’t help anyone negotiate complex current realities. We need leaders to help us negotiate a more sacred reality in the here and now.
Religious leaders should not be in the causality business. Faith is strong, but people are weak. Things get misconstrued, and travel fast. One wrong utterance of the lips can do too much damage to an already fragile spiritual eco-system. So hold back before you hold forth. Please.
Via Flickr
Featured on NYBLUEPRINT
Cheers... Or Not
Hannie Everett
Special to Blueprint
Why is it that a religious Jew will fill his cup to the brim with wine on a Friday night, while a religious Muslim would never touch a drink?
The world's three major monotheistic religions have overlapping yet distinct relationships with alcohol. The evolution of alcohol in religion can be traced back over 4,000 years to pre-Abrahamic times. Its lineage continues throughout the Old Testament, moving into the New Testament, and the Quran. You probably know the basics-Islam forbids alcohol consumption, which is permissible in both Judaism and Christianity. How did each community develop its practices?Read More
Wine Not?
Cheers ... Or Not
Via Flickr
Alcohol through the eyes of three religions
Hannie Everett
Special to Blueprint
Why is it that a religious Jew will fill his cup to the brim with wine on a Friday night, while a religious Muslim would never touch a drink?
The world’s three major monotheistic religions have overlapping yet distinct relationships with alcohol. The evolution of alcohol in religion can be traced back over 4,000 years to pre-Abrahamic times. Its lineage continues throughout the Old Testament, moving into the New Testament, and the Quran. You probably know the basics—Islam forbids alcohol consumption, which is permissible in both Judaism and Christianity. How did each community develop its practices?
The word “yayin,” meaning wine, appears over 130 times in the Old Testament. Its very first mention is in the Book of Genesis. Noah, infamous captain of the ark, planted a vineyard after the flood (Genesis 9:20). We observe the dangers of alcohol early on, when an intoxicated Noah passes out after drinking too much and is found naked. The next mention of wine is also ominous, and occurs when Lot’s daughters get him drunk in order to sleep with him. Somehow, alcohol exists in the desert, because Aaron’s sons entered the holy sanctuary drunk and they’re subsequently swallowed up by the Earth (Leviticus 10:1-2).
Since alcohol earns a less than savory reputation in the first few chapters of the Bible, it’s easy to assume that drinking would be forbidden – or at least frowned upon – in Judaism. But quite the opposite is true. God requires the Israelites to bring wine to the altar as a sacrifice (Exodus 29:40) and tells people to enjoy wine during the festivals (Deuteronomy 14:26). In Judaism, wine is required on certain occasions and encouraged on others. Wine plays a significant role in the Jewish tradition and is considered a holy drink, the only drink over which a prayer is said. Wine is a requirement of the Sabbath, Passover, high holidays, at circumcision ceremonies, and weddings. According to Rabbi Eitan Webb, a Jewish chaplain at Princeton University, “To welcome the Sabbath with a glass of wine is to meld together our spiritual and material existences. It is a meeting of body and soul.”
Like the Torah, the Christian Bible is direct about the dangers of excessive drinking, perhaps even more so than the Old Testament, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Still, Christianity has no qualms about moderate drinking. As in Judaism, the main idea behind alcohol consumption in Christianity is to honor God, as well as to build and strengthen community. The chief element is conviviality and the ability for two people, whether they be lords or peasants, to enjoy one another’s company.
Jesus’ first public miracle, of course, concerns alcohol: He changes water into wine. He performs this miracle at a wedding, a celebration of love and togetherness. According to the Christian Bible, the wine had run out at the occasion and so Jesus took six large stone jars filled with water and transformed the water into wine, the finest wine yet to be served (John 2: 1-11). His marvel furthers the idea that wine is an encouraged drink for festive times. Jesus drank in a Christian setting and if His followers aspire to live in His way, then they too should drink (in moderation!) for the purpose of joy and togetherness. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam strictly forbids alcohol consumption. While Muslims consider the Hebrew Bible and Gospels of Jesus to be relevant scriptures, the Quran supersedes previous scriptures. For Muslims, the Quran is the ultimate criterion for judging the true, ethical, and moral way of life.
The Quran addresses the question of alcohol in three, seemingly contradictory ways. First, the text makes clear that there is some good that comes from drinking, but that the potential for harm is greater (2:219). Secondly, the Quran indicates to believers that they should not approach their prayers in a state of intoxication (4:43); this restriction severely curtails when one could potentially drink, given that Muslims are required to pray five times each day. Thirdly, the Quran clearly prohibits alcohol consumption altogether, “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it so that you may be successful” (5:90). According to the Jurists, the authoritative religious scholars, alcohol interferes with a person’s obligation to preserve themselves and their intellect.
“For many Muslims, alcohol is a question of identity,” Sami Zubaida, a sociologist at Birkbeck College in London, told the Economist. It’s possible that the stigma towards alcohol in Islam stems partly from a desire to distinguish the religion from Judaism and Christianity, in the same way the wearing of yarmulke distinguishes Jews from others. So while some, including Zubaida, believe alcohol consumption is “a question of identity,” traditionally Islamic tenets are truths handed down to Mohammed directly from Allah.
There is some explanation for what appear to be incremental dicta when it comes to Islam and alcohol consumption. The concept of abrogation, or presenting laws in subsequent stages with the understanding that the later ruling takes precedent over the earlier, is common in the Quran. In the context of wine, abrogation may serve practical purposes. Historians widely agree that alcohol has its origins in the Middle East, and so the region was a haven for alcohol production. Given that alcohol was both a large part of Middle Eastern culture and business, Muslims needed to gradually step away from it. According to an Imam we spoke with, here the Quran practices situational ethics in order to avoid causing chaos within the Muslim community and the greater economy.
Though variation exists across the three, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam each has a distinct and nuanced relationship with wine and with alcohol, more generally. Interpretations of alcohol’s place in each religion have shifted over the course of centuries, and will likely continue to evolve based on politics, culture, and the religious figureheads of the day.
BLOGS
POLITICAL INSIDER
10 Reasons I'm Voting For Trump
1. Ideology. He's not a rigid ideologue like most of the other Republicans. He believes in The Donald and that says it all.
2. Flexibility. He has been on all sides of many issues and knows that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.
3. Family values. He knows the meaning of marriage and fidelity. Just ask any of his three wives.
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10 Reasons I'm Voting For Trump
Douglas Bloomfield
Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump. Getty Images
1. Ideology. He's not a rigid ideologue like most of the other Republicans. He believes in The Donald and that says it all.
2. Flexibility. He has been on all sides of many issues and knows that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.
3. Family values. He knows the meaning of marriage and fidelity. Just ask any of his three wives.
4. Religion. He's not a phony bible-toting churchgoer like many of his rivals. He rarely bothers going and doesn't need to. He worships The Donald and The Almighty Dollar.
5. Role Model. He lives the life style of the rich and famous that most Americans aspire to.
6. Business acumen. He didn't get so rich by being stupid or a pushover.
7. Negotiator. He can apply his methods of handling investors, partners, banks, unions, bankruptcy courts, lawyers and employees to dealing with foreign governments, starting with Mexico and China.
8. National Defense. He'll start by building a fence along our southern border and making Mexico pay for it, then he'll look at Scott Walker's plan to build one along the Canadian border. His ancestors didn't come to this country to see it flooded with immigrants.
9. Self-confidence. Not boring. The Donald is not another politician trying to please everyone by saying nothing. Don't bother asking him for details for solving problems, just be assured he will take care of everything. He's not afraid to tell everyone else they're stupid, pathetic, losers, clueless, dumb as a rock, a clown or a disaster. That kind of honesty is what will restore American respect and leadership at home and abroad.
10. Just kidding
WELL VERSED
Remembering Oliver Sacks
One thing I'll never forget about my 1997 interview with Oliver Sacks was that, after trying for weeks to get to see him, I neglected to turn on the tape recorder. When I left his Greenwich Village apartment and tried to play back the tape, I realized it was blank. And his voice was so soft-spoken and gripping that I barely took notes. I felt like a character out of one of his studies: The Reporter Who Mistook Her Finger for a Microphone.Read More
Well Versed
Remembering Oliver Sacks
Sandee Brawarsky
Oliver Sacks. Photo by Elena Seibert
One thing I’ll never forget about my 1997 interview with Oliver Sacks was that, after trying for weeks to get to see him, I neglected to turn on the tape recorder. When I left his Greenwich Village apartment and tried to play back the tape, I realized it was blank. And his voice was so soft-spoken and gripping that I barely took notes. I felt like a character out of one of his studies: The Reporter Who Mistook Her Finger for a Microphone.
But he was more than kind. Since my interview was to appear as a “Q and A” in the British medical journal The Lancet, I needed to do the interview again. I returned a few days later, and we both had tape recorders going. He answered with the same thoughtfulness as the first time. It was a pleasure to listen, a second time.
He was then 63, and as he kept fidgeting in his seat or jumping up to adjust the window or to get an amusing item from another room, he reminded me of Robin Williams’ portrayal of him in the 1990 film “Awakenings.”
A neurologist and author who was a professor of neurology for many years at the New York University School of Medicine, Sacks died on Sunday of cancer at age 82. His many books, opening up various aspects of the workings of the brain for a general audience, include the international bestseller “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” “An Anthropologist on Mars,” “The Mind’s Eye” and “Seeing Voices.” His most recent book, the memoir “On the Move,” was published earlier this year by Knopf.
“I would like to be seen as a sort of explorer, driven by, and trying to share, a strong sense of wonder,” he said in our interview. His humanity and empathy are reflected in his writings, in which he would frequently share the narratives of his patients’ lives and afflictions, constructed through his well-honed skills in listening. While he did not invent the idea of a clinical narrative, he brought together clinical and human elements to address puzzling questions. “I think of it as being on the intersection of biology and biography,” he said, about his technique.
When I asked about the stunning metaphors throughout his work, he said, “Typically, I like to see my patients in the morning and then I need a gap. My Beth Abraham office is opposite the New York Botanical Garden. I go out for a walk and think about other things, nothing to do with neurology. But when I come back, narratives and metaphors have somehow formed inside me.
In “On the Move,” he explains how each of us “constructs and lives a ‘narrative’ – and is defined by this narrative.” Composing our lives into a narrative is a way of composing the self.
In several recent autobiographical, very powerful essays in The New York Times, he shared intimate aspects of his own narrative, including his knowledge that he was dying, his homosexuality (he didn’t hide it, but was private) and his Judaism. In the most recent essay, “Sabbath,” published on August 14th, he recalled the Sabbaths of his youth in England, filled with family visits and synagogue –- where he didn’t understand the cantor’s Hebrew, but loved the sound. He grew indifferent to Judaism after his 1946 Bar Mitzvah and later felt a rupture after his mother, upon hearing that he thought he might be attracted to men, called him an abomination. Much later in life, he traveled to Israel with his lover for an aunt’s 100-year old birthday, and felt embraced in a way he hadn’t since childhood. He writes with a wistful quality, wondering what might have been.
He closes the essay with an unforgettable flourish, wondering about what makes a good and worthwhile life. As he wrote, he felt to be in the seventh day of his life, “when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest."
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