Kesher Talk: 09/05/2004

Friday, September 10, 2004

The anniversary approaches, cont. Previous 9-11 anniversary post here.

Jeff Jarvis writes again about the people who fell or jumped.

Terry Teachout writes about returning to NYC after 9-11.

A 9-11 memorial at a campus has been vandalized.

Michelle Malkin writes about denial. I have said many times that, when I was a teen, I used to wonder how people could just let Hitler come to power in the 1930s. When I visited the Holocaust museum as an adult, the most striking exhibit (after the pile of shoes - everyone is blown away by the pile of shoes) was the 20 or so issues of the daily New York Times, where one could read, sometimes even on the front page, how the Jews' civil rights were being recinded one by one, how deportations to the East were taking place. It was not taking place in secret; everybody knew. And even many people who thought it was wrong kept figuring out ways to not take it seriously. And I wondered how that could happen. And - watching the mental gyrations of the liberal/left around the world, after 9-11 - now I know.

This year 9-11 also happens to be the night when we recite pentitential prayers to get us in the frame of mind for the Days of Awe. In NYC at least one selichot service will explicitly work with the theme of 9-11.

What I wrote about selichot last year.
What I wrote in 2002.

Gerard van der Leun also resurrects a year-old post, and it is well worth rereading: The First Terrorist War.

Next installment here.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Arrival Day Blogburst. I am remiss at not noting Arrival Day, September 7th. Yesterday was the 350th year since Jews landed at what was then called New Amsterdam, and Head Heeb Jonathan Edelstein has been blogging about this impending date for over a year now. He has collected a very impressive blogburst on the topic, so go check it out. And I hang my head in shame I did not contribute; I had other things on my mind. Thanks to Shoshanna for reminding me.

If you are in the NYC Metro area, you might want to mosey down to South Street Seaport for a day-long Jewish Music & Heritage Festival.

UPDATE: The Jewish Week has a huge special section devoted to this topic, with lots of articles on jewish history and life in the US.

The Jewish Carnival of the Protestors. Are you all wondering how bad was the antisemitism during New York Metro Anti-Bush Arts and Culture Festival Week? Not too bad, according to the Forward.

UPJ's ascent to the leadership of the biggest protest this year was seen by many Jewish observers as connected to a larger sensitivity among progressive groups toward the concerns of Jewish groups in their coalition. Just two weeks ago, a non-Jewish academic hosted a three-day conference for progressive activists in Oakland, Calif., to address the issue of antisemitism among leftist activists. "It's something the progressive groups are really beginning to deal with," said Martin Schwartz, who helped organize the participation of the Workmen's Circle, a Jewish labor organization, in both the Oakland event and Sunday's march.

Thank the Lord for small favors. UFPJ's national co-ordinator, Leslie Cagan - who has an impressive leftist heritage and resume - has put a friendly (nominally) Jewish face on a movement that has never been shy to scapegoat Jews.

Cagan said her Jewish identity is not "the main motor force of my activism, but I certainly don't shy away from it either." Last year, at a Washington rally commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, Cagan, speaking as a representative of UPJ, pointedly introduced herself as "part of a community of Jews who have never broken with the civil-rights movement . . "

She has good things to say about Castro and is "noncommittal" on the Iraqi insurgents. Never broken with the civil-rights movement, Leslie?

But Leslie sounds more cogent, if not more wrong-headed, than this motley assortment of Jewish anarchists planning their RNC activities. (There are also a few paragraphs about Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, which achieved notoriety a few years ago by giving an award to ISM founder Adam Shapiro).

Previous Carnival of the Protestors here, and follow the links back for all the others.

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

The anniversary approaches. Howard's memoir of 9-11, one year later.
That week - a month after I joined Kesher Talk - I wrote about what the Jewish tradition can offer about how to memorialize 9-11.
My favorite Jewish story from 9-11 - in fact, the story that moved me the most of all from that horrendous time, and still makes me cry every time I read it - is about the shomrim from Stern College. What's a shomer? Read and cry.
Last year I collected an enormous number of links of 9-11 statements from bloggers and news sites, including many personal stories from people who were there.

I'm not sure what we will post this year. Since 9-11 falls on Shabbat, we won't post on the day itself.

Jeff Jarvis - who was taking the PATH train into the station when the planes hit - writes about how the scars from that day have turned into political bickering.

Michele is moving on from the Voices Project, which will still be up for people to read, but not to add to.

Monday, September 06, 2004

Divine Divahn. My favorite Jewish world music band will be at Satalla on Wednesday with new musicians on cello and violin. Oi Va Voi will be at Makor at the same time, which is one of those Manhattan cultural cornucopia hard choices. If you have a free evening Wednesday and you are in the NYC area you should definitely see one of these bands.

UPDATE: Seems like Oi Va Voi cancelled. Now you have to see Divahn.

Kesher Talk

Friday, September 10, 2004

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Monday, September 06, 2004

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