Sad news

Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed by the news. In my earlier life, I lacked either intense interest or adequate time to watch or read a great deal. But now that I have more time I seem to have developed more interest. Since reading remains something of a struggle, television is a major source of information for me. But I am learning that there is a distinct downside to this obsession with current events, one that perhaps on some level I knew all along: much of the news is focused on human misery. And because things can only happen so quickly, much of the news is repetitive, which only serves to make things seem more miserable than they already are. Having said that, between the things we do to each other and the things that just happen to us by virtue of being human and living on this planet, there is no lack of sad news even without repetition.

At the end of the day, we humans cannot entirely escape sadness. We awoke yesterday to the news of the death of Gregg Allman on Saturday at the age of 69. I last wrote about The Allman Brothers Band in March of 2014, when we saw one of their final spring shows at The Beacon Theater in New York (they later performed their last Beacon gig in October of that year). The cause of Gregg’s death was liver cancer. After years of hard living, he had undergone a liver transplant in 2010, and from some of what I have been able to read this morning it seems that liver cancer is not uncommon in transplant recipients. Far be it from me to blame the victim: I am just sad that this talented performer is no longer.

Jon Pareles of the New York Times provided his top ten list of Gregg Allman songs:

https://nyti.ms/2s9j15y

Meanwhile, a much less upsetting loss was the 5-0 game that the Boston Red Sox lost to the Seattle Mariners. We were there at Fenway Park, where we remained until the very last pitch with the hope that somehow, miracle against miracle, the Red Sox would score. What is really amazing to me is that it does not seem to matter that Fenway Park is over 100 years old and that the Red Sox are not doing all that well: the fans flock to see them! It is quite a different experience from CitiField. The access, parking, and facilities are woefully inadequate by today’s standards; I was able to make use of a restroom near our seats for people with disabilities and mothers with babies, but the boys had to walk up two flights of stairs just to relieve themselves. It was far from a beautiful day, rather gray and chilly, but every seat was taken. I guess the Red Sox has a very loyal fan base.

Be well, all.

Love,

Rebecca

Finding strength

In November of 2015 I wrote about the murder of Ezra Schwartz, A”H, a native of Sharon, Massachusetts who was spending his post-high school year in Israel and was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist.

Yesterday, Ezra’s mother spoke at the United Nations. I do not know her well but she strikes me as someone who absolutely never craved this sort of visibility yet has found the strength to speak truth to power, and we should all admire her immensely.

(be patient through the couple of ads at the beginning)

Ruth Schwartz addresses United Nations

Love,

Rebecca

Man plans and God laughs

In 2001, Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey starred in “The Wedding Planner,” a romantic comedy. Needless to say, this is not to be confused with a newly released Israeli film called “The Wedding Plan,” which we saw this week.

The film centers on a 32-year-old traditionally observant woman, Michal, who is engaged to be married. But shortly before the wedding, her fiancé begins acting distant and finally, when she presses him, admits that he simply does not love her.

Meanwhile, Michal is determined to continue planning her wedding for the last day of Chanukah, and sets out to find a groom. She “interviews” numerous clearly inappropriate candidates, including one who refuses to look at her on the theory that if he only looks at the woman he marries, she’ll be the most beautiful woman in the world to him. She even joins a pilgrimage to the Ukraine, where she shares a brief flirtation with a nonreligious pop star, but it seems clear that there is no future with him. As the days count down to the end of Chanukah, the possibility of her marriage seems quite dim. Yet she dons her wedding gown, the guests arrive, and she sits and waits.

I do not want to give away the ending here. It is a charming and enjoyable film worth seeing. I only wish that reading those subtitles were not such a struggle for me!

Speaking of movies, here is an adorable short video of our little Noah being entertained by his older siblings.

 

Love,

Rebecca

Time alone

I am writing these opening words on Friday afternoon, May 19^th. As is my practice, I compose in Microsoft Word, and save each posting with the date of its creation. But this one I am saving as “21 May 2017.doc,” because I do not intend to post this until Sunday.

The reason for the delay is to avoid publicizing the fact that I am here in New York by myself for this weekend. Barry is attending a meeting in Ann Arbor. If travel were not so challenging, I would certainly have gone with him. But he will be completely engaged in the conference today and tomorrow, and my limitations would essentially mean that I would be cooped up in a room at the University of Michigan Executive Learning and Conference Center. Staying here at home made a lot more sense.

The main downside of all this is that it would have been nice to be in Sharon, because Friday was Yom Orchim, Grandparents’ Day, at the children’s school. I could have tried to go up to Sharon on my own, but after a hectic weekend last week and plans to go up again next weekend for Shavuot (literally, “Weeks,” as it comes seven weeks after Passover following a daily count), it seemed wise to stay here.

I might have tried to make plans with friends but I cannot really go out because we have concluded that the battery in my mobility scooter has died. Ordinarily, the display shows a string of green lights when the battery is fully charged, and the scooter can be operated for many trips before those lights start going out. But each of the last few times I have fully charged and then driven the scooter, the battery lights began to extinguish into the yellow zone when I have barely gotten half way to the synagogue. So far, I have been lucky not to find myself stranded somewhere along Arlington Avenue returning from a weekday class. We have ordered a new battery which is supposed to arrive this week, and are hopeful that this will solve the problem.

During the past two weeks, the annual Teachers Tournament has aired on Jeopardy. We had been dutifully watching every evening and did not want to miss watching the last two games together. Originally, I figured we would just TiVo the show (which we do anyway so we can fast-forward through the commercials) and watch when Barry returned from Michigan. But instead we thought, “why not just watch together in our different locations?” That turned to be just a bit tricky because Jeopardy is syndicated and shown at different times on different networks in different cities. I went ahead and taped it here in New York, where it is on at 7:00 pm, and then Barry and I got on our respective speaker phones when it came on in Detroit at 7:30. It was a bit tricky getting the New York recorded version started precisely at the same moment as the live broadcast in Michigan, so Barry muted his end. I am glad we were able to watch the last two “together,” but I am happy he will be home for next Monday’s show.

I was telling our daughter about this over the phone on Friday afternoon and I could imagine she was rolling her eyes, wondering when her parents became such boring old fogies. Having said that, I think she may have also been wondering what it is like to have the time for such things; four young children do not allow for such luxuries.

Have a great week!

Love,

Rebecca

An especially lovely weekend

Nothing profound here today, just want to share an especially nice weekend.

We spent a wonderful Shabbat day with Dina and family, including some of the older children’s friends. On Sunday, Eliana was invited to a Bat Mitzvah party at Dave and Busters, an entertainment arcade at the South Shore Plaza Mall in Braintree. To be honest, I was happy to wait in the car while Barry escorted Eliana into this place and later went in to retrieve her!

After Eliana was settled we went with Maya to Build-a-Bear, where she picked out a stuffed dog and some accoutrements. 

We then visited the real dogs at the pet store next door, and stopped in at the Lego store as well, where we bought a project for Maya’s week in New York this summer. Before we knew it, it was time to pick up Eliana.

While we were with the girls, their folks had a nice day including lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Pure Cold Press and a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Our little apple did not fall too far from the tree, did she?

Back in Sharon, we all gathered for dinner at Dina and Aaron’s house, one of those rare opportunities to at least try to get all six grandchildren into one picture.

It looks like the warm weather is finally on its way – I even called this morning to arrange for our annual air conditioning check-up. Enjoy!

Love,

Rebecca

What's in a name?

Our surname has been much in the news in recent days, as it is shared with a fellow who was recently confirmed as the Deputy Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice, Rod J. Rosenstein. As you know, our family pronounces the name as if it were spelled RosenstEEn. Apparently, this fellow’s family uses the other pronunciation, RosenstINE. At 33:32 in the attached video, you can see Mr. Rosenstein stating his name for the Senate Committee considering his nomination. Given his current headaches, I am quite happy that we are not, to the best of our knowledge, related to this Rosenstein!

https://www.c-span.org/video/?424989-1/deputy-associate-attorneys-general-testify-confirmation-hearing

With all the different versions of the same set of events in Washington, DC floating around over the last few days, I could not help but be reminded of the famous story of the capital city’s namesake, George Washington, and his father’s cherry tree. We all grew up listening to that story as a shining example of the value of honesty. It turns out that the story is simply not true: young George never chopped down that tree. But that does not change the moral of the story, and right now a little straightforward honesty would be quite welcome.

Have a nice weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

Trying to stay apolitical

This Sunday was the annual New York City Five Boro Bike Tour, so about the last thing we wanted to do was drive anywhere in those five boroughs! Barry spent the morning and early afternoon working on upcoming lectures, and when he finished we headed to a small theater in White Plains to see “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.” 

Norman Oppenheimer, played by Richard Gere, is a New Yorker who dreams up financial schemes and maneuvers himself into the lives of the rich and famous, an example of networking run amok. Along the way, he meets Micha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi), a charismatic Israeli politician to whom he gives an expensive pair of shoes that ensure Eshel’s lifelong devotion to him. Three years later, Eshel is elected Prime Minister of Israel. Oppenheimer’s attempt to use his friend’s name to enhance his own deals does not go quite as planned, so the intricate web of connections and lies begins to unravel around him.

Definitely worth seeing if you have a chance.

A bit of levity (thanks to my friend Orah for posting this on Facebook) seems appropriate as good has prevailed over evil in France:

After careful planning, a thief in Paris entered the Louvre, got past security, stole some paintings, and made it safely to his van.

However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas.

When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, 'Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings.'
'I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh.'

Do you have De Gaulle to send this on to someone else?
I posted it here because I figured I had nothing Toulouse.

Finally, I try very hard to stay away from politics on this blog, but over the past few days I have been repeatedly reminded of two things our beloved Rabbi Avi Weiss often says:

1.    There are only two categories of people, the sick, and the not yet sick

2.   The best measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members (variations on this have been penned by politicians, clergy, and others)

Love,

Rebecca

Incredibly moving music

It has been a busy week and a half, with routine medical appointments and still trying to catch up from having been sick for a while. But we have managed to squeeze in some fun.

Last Sunday we went to Film Forum to catch “Le Doulos” (The Finger Man), a 1962 film screening as part of a Jean-Pierre Melville retrospective. I am still struggling with reading so keeping up with the subtitles was not easy. In addition, it was often the case that both the screen and the lettering were white, which makes it nearly impossible to see. Hence, to be honest, I barely knew what was going on, so I will share this brief summary I later read about the movie, which makes a lot more sense now that I’ve read this. You can find more detailed descriptions on line if you are interested.

Maurice Faugel has just been released from prison when he kills his friend Gilbert Varnove. Maurice then attempts to commit a robbery. The police appear and he tries to run but the police shoot at him and he is wounded. He loses consciousness and awakes in his friend Jean's apartment. He believes that his friend Silien (played by Jean-Pierre Belmondo, the only actor with whom I was familiar) told the police about his plans because Silien is rumored to be a police informant. Silien is questioned by the police about the murder of Gilbert and the robbery before the police collect Maurice from a bar where he is reading a newspaper report about his girlfriend, Therese's death. Therese has been found in her car at the bottom of a quarry. Silien is released and goes to meet his ex-girlfriend Fabienne. With Fabienne's help, Silien frames someone else for the murder and robbery, leaving Maurice in the clear. Maurice is released from prison and discovers that it was Therese who told the police about the robbery and Silien and Jean who killed her. Maurice reveals that he killed Gilbert because Gilbert killed his girlfriend Arlette four years ago to keep her quiet. Silien returns home but once Silien has left, Maurice remembers that he hired a man to kill Silien because he thought he had betrayed him and chases after him.

So basically, this movie went from one murder to another, with the star, Jean-Pierre Belmondo, dying in the final scene (he had shot his killer, who managed to fire that fatal bullet at him before his final collapse). This really was quite a dark view of the world, probably best not taken too seriously.

A couple of months ago we had tickets for a New York Philharmonic concert in David Geffen (formerly Avery Fisher) Hall at Lincoln Center that we were unable to attend, and were able to exchange them for another concert this week.  There were just two pieces on the program. The first was a piece by Arnold Schoenberg, “A Survivor from Warsaw.” I am including here the program notes as well as the text of the piece. The notes tell of his conversion to Lutheranism in his early 20s and his return to Judaism in his late 50s following the Nazis’ rise to power in 1932. While I have to admit that Schoenberg’s music does not comfortably find a way into my ears, this was a very compelling performance.

The second piece was Beethoven’s Symphony #9 in D minor. Most of us who grew up in the United States in the 1960s are familiar with the second movement of this piece, which was the “theme” for the NBC Nightly News with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. And then there is the very famous 4^th movement, commonly known as “Ode to Joy.” I have attached recorded versions of both here, as well as the text of the 2^nd and 4^th movements.

There was a huge orchestra and chorus on the stage, and all in all it was quite an experience to see this performance. This composition was quite an accomplishment, especially when you remind yourself that Beethoven was deaf when he wrote it! If you ever happen to have a chance to see it performed, I would highly encourage you to do so.

We are expecting a lot of rain here in New York over the next few days. We have some friends coming to join us for lunch tomorrow who fortunately live near by.

Be well, all.

Love,

Rebecca