My friend Michel forwarded this prayer to me. I do not know its origin, but if someone does, please tell me. I'd love to credit the author. I'd love to meet the author.
I've edited it a wee bit, for gender-neutrality in naming the Deity. Also, as regular readers (all 12 of you) know, I generally follow the Jewish custom of substituting a hyphen for one letter in the name of the Eternal One. We do this, so the teaching says, in order not to write G-d's name on anything that can be easily destroyed - torn, burned, discarded, or, in the case of a blog, deleted or hacked.
Here 'tis:
G-d in Heaven,
Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.
Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.
Remind us, Eternal One, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.
Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.
G-d, please remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.
If you send this to people, then you have a chance to touch people.
Working for G-d on earth doesn't pay much,
but the retirement plan is out of this world.
And let those who will, say:
Amen!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Funny Forwarders Make Blogger's Block Manageable*
A housewife takes a lover during the day, while her husband is at work. Her 9-year-old son as hiding in the closet. Her husband came home unexpectedly, so she hid her lover in the closet.
The boy now has company.
Boy: "Dark in here.."
Man: "Yes it is."
Boy: "I have a baseball."
Man: "That's nice"
Boy: "Want to buy it?"
Man: "No, thanks."
Boy: "My dad's outside.."
Man: "OK, how much?"
Boy: "$250."
In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the mom's lover are in the closet together.
Boy: "Dark in here.."
Man: "Yes, it is."
Boy: "I have a baseball glove."
Man: "How much?"
Boy: "$750."
Man: "Fine."
A few days later, the father says to the boy, "Grab your glove. Let's go outside and toss the baseball."
The boy says, "I can't! I sold them."
The father asks, "How much did you sell them for?"
The son says,"$1,000."
The father says, "That's terrible to overcharge your friends like that. That is way more than those two things cost. I'm going to take you to church and make you confess."
They go to church and the father makes the little boy sit in the confession booth and closes the door.
The boy says, "Dark in here"
The priest says, "Don't start that shit again."
*Thanks Debbie. :)
The boy now has company.
Boy: "Dark in here.."
Man: "Yes it is."
Boy: "I have a baseball."
Man: "That's nice"
Boy: "Want to buy it?"
Man: "No, thanks."
Boy: "My dad's outside.."
Man: "OK, how much?"
Boy: "$250."
In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the mom's lover are in the closet together.
Boy: "Dark in here.."
Man: "Yes, it is."
Boy: "I have a baseball glove."
Man: "How much?"
Boy: "$750."
Man: "Fine."
A few days later, the father says to the boy, "Grab your glove. Let's go outside and toss the baseball."
The boy says, "I can't! I sold them."
The father asks, "How much did you sell them for?"
The son says,"$1,000."
The father says, "That's terrible to overcharge your friends like that. That is way more than those two things cost. I'm going to take you to church and make you confess."
They go to church and the father makes the little boy sit in the confession booth and closes the door.
The boy says, "Dark in here"
The priest says, "Don't start that shit again."
*Thanks Debbie. :)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
One Step Closer to Equal Rights Under Law August 26th, 1920
Colby Proclaims Woman Suffrage
Signs Certificate of Ratification at His Home Without Women Witnesses
Militants Vexed at Privacy
Wanted Movies of Ceremony but Both Factions Are Elated -- Wilson Sends Message
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
The signing of the proclamation took place at that hour at Secretary Colby's residence, 1507 K Street Northwest, without ceremony of any kind, and the issuance of the proclamation was unaccompanied by the taking of movies or other pictures, despite the fact that the National Woman's Party, or militant branch of the general suffrage movement, had been anxious to be represented by a delegation of women and to have the historic event filmed for public display and permanent record.Washington, Aug. 26 -- The half-century struggle for woman suffrage in the United States reached its climax at 8 o'clock this morning, when Bainbridge Colby, as Secretary of State, issued his proclamation announcing that the Nineteenth Amendment had become a part of the Constitution of the United States.
Secretary Colby did not act with undue haste in signing the proclamation, but only after he had given careful study to the packet which arrived by mail during the early morning hours containing the certificate of the Governor of Tennessee that that State's Legislature had ratified the Congressional resolution submitting the amendment to the States for action.
No Suffrage Leaders See Signing
None of the leaders of the woman suffrage movement was present when the proclamation was signed.
"It was quite tragic," declared Mrs. Abby Scott Baker of the National Woman's Party. "This was the final culmination of the women's fight, and, women, irrespective of factions, should have been allowed to be present when the proclamation was signed. However the women of America have fought a big fight and nothing can take from them their triumph."
Leaders of both branches of the woman's movement- the militants, headed by Miss Alice Paul, and the conservatives, led by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt -- some of whom had been on watch nearly all night for the arrival of the Tennessee Governor's certification, visited the State Department, and the militants sought to have Secretary Colby go through a duplication of the signing scene in the presence of movie cameras. This Mr. Colby declined to do, on the ground that it was not necessary to detract from the dignity and importance of the signing of the proclamation by staging a scene in imitation of the actual signing of the proclamation.
In informal conversation with newspaper men late into this afternoon Secretary Colby said that "effectuating suffrage through proclamation of its ratification by the necessary thirty-six States was more important than feeding the movie cameras."
At the same time Mr. Colby congratulated the women of the country on the successful culmination of their efforts in the face of discouragements, and declared the day "marks the opening of a great and new era in the political life of the nation."
"I confidently believe," said the Secretary, "that every salutary, forward and upward force in our public life will receive fresh vigor and reinforcement from the enfranchisement of the women of America. To the leaders of this great movement I tender my sincere congratulations. To every one, from the president, who uttered the call to duty, whenever the cause seemed to falter, to the humblest worker in this great reform, the praise not only of this generation but of posterity will be freely given."
Reads Message from President
Speaking tonight at the woman's suffrage meeting in Poll's Theatre, Secretary Colby made the following references to President Wilson:
"There never was a man more deeply or profoundly convinced of the justice of the suffrage cause than Woodrow Wilson. And there never was a party leader who held his party with more stern, austere and unbending insistence to the performance of a duty dictated by high principle:
"The President called me on the telephone this morning. It is a private wire that connects the office of the Secretary of State with the library of the President. And he asked me if I had been invited to address this meeting tonight. He expressed his pleasure when I told him that I had, and said: 'I hope you will let nothing interfere with your attendance.' He said:
"'Will you take the opportunity to say to my fellow citizens that I deem it one of the greatest honors of my life that this great event, the ratification of this amendment, should have occurred during the period of my administration.'
"'And he said, further:
"'Please say also that nothing has given me more pleasure than the privilege that has been mine to do what I could to advance the cause of ratification, and to hasten the day when the womanhood of America would be recognized by the nation on the equal footing of citizenship that it deserves.'"
Present Memorial to Wilson
Late this afternoon Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, head of the National American Suffrage Association, and Mrs. Helen H. Gardiner, another active worker in that organization, were received at the White House by President and Mrs. Wilson. The National Woman's Party, known as the militants and a rival organization to that headed by Mrs. Catt, was not represented.
Mrs. Catt and Mrs. Gardiner presented to the President a memorial of appreciation in the form of a bound volume, a page coming from each State, for the work he did for suffrage. They had expected to receive from the Presidency a written message to be read tonight at the big mass meeting and jubilee at Poll's Theatre over the ratification of the amendment, but the President informed them he had handed it to Secretary Colby and that the latter would include it in his remarks to the women at the mass meeting.
One page of the volume presented to the President is taken up with the tribute from the New York organization, the first paragraph of which reads:
"Dear Mr. President: The women of this organization of a million and a quarter enrolled members have a special reason for loyalty and gratitude. Your stalwart advocacy of our campaign last year contributed materially to our victory in New York State."
This is signed:
"New York State Woman Suffrage Party, Harriet Burton Laidlaw, Mary Garret Hay, Laura J. Starko Belknap, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip, Muriel Rosalie Edge, Katrina Ely Tiffany."
The mass meeting was attended by women from every section of the country and a number of officials of the administration, including members of the Cabinet, were present.
Factions Dispute Over Ceremony
Differences between the rival organizations of suffragists as to who should be present at the signing of the proclamation developed yesterday, and as no agreement could be brought about between them, it is believed that Secretary Colby decided to sign the proclamation in his own home to avoid a clash at his office.
"It was decided," said the Secretary in a statement this afternoon, "not to accompany this simple ministerial action on my part with any ceremony or setting. This secondary aspect of the subject has regretfully been the source of considerable contention as to who shall participate in it and who shall not. Inasmuch as I am not interested in the aftermath of any of the friction or collisions which may have been developed in the long struggle for the ratification of the amendment, I have contented myself with the performance in the simplest manner of the duty devolving upon me under the law."
Representatives of both factions visited the State Department this morning. Mrs. Catt and members of her party were photographed by movie operators as they left the State Department. Miss Alice Paul and her associates of the militant wing of the suffragists waited in the corridor of the State Department to be seen by the Secretary of State, who sent word he would receive them, but at this moment the Spanish Ambassador arrived and took precedence over the delegation of militants.
As time wore on the militant delegation thinned and finally left the department without having an audience with the Secretary of State.
Secretary Colby late this afternoon was asked by newspaper men to picture the scene that took place at his home when the final chapter of the story of ratification was reached.
Colby Describes the Signing
"The package containing the certified record of the action of the Legislature of the State of Tennessee," said Mr. Colby, "came in on a train which reached Washington some time during the early morning hours. I was awakened by Charles L. Cooke of the State Department at about a quarter to 4 o'clock this morning, who said that the packet from the Governor of Tennessee had arrived. I told him to bring it to me."
Secretary Colby was then asked whether Mr. Cooke brought the packet to him forthwith.
"He brought it to me in about ten minutes," replied the Secretary. "There were some legal matters connected with the ratification that I wished to have examined by the chief law officer of the State Department with instructions to bring the papers to me at my home at 8 o'clock this morning.
"I had received a large number of messages asking me to act on the amendment with insistent promptitude. Fear was strong in some minds that the 'antis' would effect some sort of injunction from the courts to interfere with my proclamation of the completion of the act of ratification. While it was not my own opinion that it would be becoming for me to resort to undue eagerness to avoid an opportunity for judicial interferences, I saw no reason whatever why I should conspicuously loiter.
"I confess to a disinclination to signing it in the wee morning hours of the night, believing that would not be conducive to a dignified function of so important a character, and thought that 8 o'clock in the morning would be a fair hour for action in the matter."
Secretary Colby was asked whether he had eaten breakfast before he signed the proclamation.
"Breakfast is an unimportant function with me," replied the Secretary with a smile. "I may say that I had time to partake of about one and one-half cups of coffee before I signed the proclamation."
"Then," the Secretary continued, "that about concludes the odyssey of the morning's proceedings."
Paraphrases Dewey at Manila
"You remember," he continued, "the simple way in which the late Admiral Dewey went about the opening of his battle at Manila Bay, how he waited until morning to enter Manila Bay, went up on deck, wiped the egg stains of breakfast from his moustache, observed the disposition of the enemy's ships and of his own, which had crossed the mines during the night, and then taking out a cigar, turned to one of his Captains and said, 'When you are ready, you may fire, Gridley.' So I turn to the women of America and say: 'You may now fire when you are ready. You have been enfranchised.'"
Secretary Colby in response to other questions said that he had used no golden pen prepared for the occasion, but an ordinary steel pen, in signing the proclamation. It was one of his regular pens, he explains, and when asked to whom it would be given, replied: "I have promised it to dozens of persons."
Asked whether he would give the pen to the National American Women's Suffrage Association, the National Woman's Party, or send it to the Smithsonian Institution, Secretary Colby said with a smile, "I should not be surprised if it found its way there."
Immediately after the announcement that Secretary Colby had signed the proclamation. Alice Paul said:
"August 26th will be remembered as one of the great days in the history of the women of the world and in the history of this republic.
"All women must feel a great sense of triumph and of unmeasurable relief at the successful conclusion of a long and exhausting struggle.
"The suffrage amendment is now safe beyond all reasonable expectation of legal attack. This opinion was secured from high legal authorities by officers of the National Woman's Party, who devoted their efforts after the signing of the ratification proclamation to discover what further steps, if any, would be necessary to protest the Amendment. "Pending injunction cases were automatically thrown out of court by the signing of the proclamation according to the consensus of legal opinion. The only possible legal attack is now through a taxpayers' suit to prevent the women in an individual State from voting."
National headquarters of the Woman's Party will be maintained. A national convention of its members will be called to decide upon the party's future policy. Alice Paul will go to New York probably on Saturday to hold a meeting of the Executive Committee to discuss plans and a date for the convention, it was said.
McAdoo Sends Congratulations
William G. McAdoo was one of the first to congratulate the Woman's Party on the signing of the proclamation in a message to Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, political Chairman of the party. He said:
"I know how justly elated you and all the splendid women who have been working so devotedly with you are today over the consummation of the great thing for which you and they have fought. You have had a conspicuously influential part in the triumphs of woman's suffrage. I know with what intelligence and courage you have gone at the task. I am rejoiced not alone for you, but for all the women of America, at this colossal achievement for humanity and civilization."
Francis J. Heney of Los Angeles wired Mrs. Abby Scott Baker:
"Hearty congratulations on success which is yours. The victory is due to the unconquerable fighting spirit of your little band of irreconcilables. More power to all of you."
"There is absolutely nothing that can be done now to upset or nullify the gratification of suffrage by the Tennessee Legislature," said Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton. Vice Chairman of the Republican National Executive Committee, and President of the Ohio Suffrage Association. "I regard the suffrage victory in Tennessee as perfectly safe right now and nothing can undo it. Otherwise Mrs. Catt and I would never have left Nashville and come to Washington.
"And right here I want to publicly give credit to those stalwart mountaineer Republicans of the Tennessee Legislature who stood pat on suffrage from start to finish and who made suffrage possible. Had it not been for their faithfulness and their devotion to what they believed was right, suffrage would never have won out in Tennessee. You can quote me on that and make it as I really believe."
Mrs. Upton, accompanied by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the International Suffrage Association, confer with Secretary Colby and with officials of the Department of Justice and also to attend the suffrage jubilee held here tonight.
Signs Certificate of Ratification at His Home Without Women Witnesses
Militants Vexed at Privacy
Wanted Movies of Ceremony but Both Factions Are Elated -- Wilson Sends Message
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
The signing of the proclamation took place at that hour at Secretary Colby's residence, 1507 K Street Northwest, without ceremony of any kind, and the issuance of the proclamation was unaccompanied by the taking of movies or other pictures, despite the fact that the National Woman's Party, or militant branch of the general suffrage movement, had been anxious to be represented by a delegation of women and to have the historic event filmed for public display and permanent record.Washington, Aug. 26 -- The half-century struggle for woman suffrage in the United States reached its climax at 8 o'clock this morning, when Bainbridge Colby, as Secretary of State, issued his proclamation announcing that the Nineteenth Amendment had become a part of the Constitution of the United States.
Secretary Colby did not act with undue haste in signing the proclamation, but only after he had given careful study to the packet which arrived by mail during the early morning hours containing the certificate of the Governor of Tennessee that that State's Legislature had ratified the Congressional resolution submitting the amendment to the States for action.
No Suffrage Leaders See Signing
None of the leaders of the woman suffrage movement was present when the proclamation was signed.
"It was quite tragic," declared Mrs. Abby Scott Baker of the National Woman's Party. "This was the final culmination of the women's fight, and, women, irrespective of factions, should have been allowed to be present when the proclamation was signed. However the women of America have fought a big fight and nothing can take from them their triumph."
Leaders of both branches of the woman's movement- the militants, headed by Miss Alice Paul, and the conservatives, led by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt -- some of whom had been on watch nearly all night for the arrival of the Tennessee Governor's certification, visited the State Department, and the militants sought to have Secretary Colby go through a duplication of the signing scene in the presence of movie cameras. This Mr. Colby declined to do, on the ground that it was not necessary to detract from the dignity and importance of the signing of the proclamation by staging a scene in imitation of the actual signing of the proclamation.
In informal conversation with newspaper men late into this afternoon Secretary Colby said that "effectuating suffrage through proclamation of its ratification by the necessary thirty-six States was more important than feeding the movie cameras."
At the same time Mr. Colby congratulated the women of the country on the successful culmination of their efforts in the face of discouragements, and declared the day "marks the opening of a great and new era in the political life of the nation."
"I confidently believe," said the Secretary, "that every salutary, forward and upward force in our public life will receive fresh vigor and reinforcement from the enfranchisement of the women of America. To the leaders of this great movement I tender my sincere congratulations. To every one, from the president, who uttered the call to duty, whenever the cause seemed to falter, to the humblest worker in this great reform, the praise not only of this generation but of posterity will be freely given."
Reads Message from President
Speaking tonight at the woman's suffrage meeting in Poll's Theatre, Secretary Colby made the following references to President Wilson:
"There never was a man more deeply or profoundly convinced of the justice of the suffrage cause than Woodrow Wilson. And there never was a party leader who held his party with more stern, austere and unbending insistence to the performance of a duty dictated by high principle:
"The President called me on the telephone this morning. It is a private wire that connects the office of the Secretary of State with the library of the President. And he asked me if I had been invited to address this meeting tonight. He expressed his pleasure when I told him that I had, and said: 'I hope you will let nothing interfere with your attendance.' He said:
"'Will you take the opportunity to say to my fellow citizens that I deem it one of the greatest honors of my life that this great event, the ratification of this amendment, should have occurred during the period of my administration.'
"'And he said, further:
"'Please say also that nothing has given me more pleasure than the privilege that has been mine to do what I could to advance the cause of ratification, and to hasten the day when the womanhood of America would be recognized by the nation on the equal footing of citizenship that it deserves.'"
Present Memorial to Wilson
Late this afternoon Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, head of the National American Suffrage Association, and Mrs. Helen H. Gardiner, another active worker in that organization, were received at the White House by President and Mrs. Wilson. The National Woman's Party, known as the militants and a rival organization to that headed by Mrs. Catt, was not represented.
Mrs. Catt and Mrs. Gardiner presented to the President a memorial of appreciation in the form of a bound volume, a page coming from each State, for the work he did for suffrage. They had expected to receive from the Presidency a written message to be read tonight at the big mass meeting and jubilee at Poll's Theatre over the ratification of the amendment, but the President informed them he had handed it to Secretary Colby and that the latter would include it in his remarks to the women at the mass meeting.
One page of the volume presented to the President is taken up with the tribute from the New York organization, the first paragraph of which reads:
"Dear Mr. President: The women of this organization of a million and a quarter enrolled members have a special reason for loyalty and gratitude. Your stalwart advocacy of our campaign last year contributed materially to our victory in New York State."
This is signed:
"New York State Woman Suffrage Party, Harriet Burton Laidlaw, Mary Garret Hay, Laura J. Starko Belknap, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip, Muriel Rosalie Edge, Katrina Ely Tiffany."
The mass meeting was attended by women from every section of the country and a number of officials of the administration, including members of the Cabinet, were present.
Factions Dispute Over Ceremony
Differences between the rival organizations of suffragists as to who should be present at the signing of the proclamation developed yesterday, and as no agreement could be brought about between them, it is believed that Secretary Colby decided to sign the proclamation in his own home to avoid a clash at his office.
"It was decided," said the Secretary in a statement this afternoon, "not to accompany this simple ministerial action on my part with any ceremony or setting. This secondary aspect of the subject has regretfully been the source of considerable contention as to who shall participate in it and who shall not. Inasmuch as I am not interested in the aftermath of any of the friction or collisions which may have been developed in the long struggle for the ratification of the amendment, I have contented myself with the performance in the simplest manner of the duty devolving upon me under the law."
Representatives of both factions visited the State Department this morning. Mrs. Catt and members of her party were photographed by movie operators as they left the State Department. Miss Alice Paul and her associates of the militant wing of the suffragists waited in the corridor of the State Department to be seen by the Secretary of State, who sent word he would receive them, but at this moment the Spanish Ambassador arrived and took precedence over the delegation of militants.
As time wore on the militant delegation thinned and finally left the department without having an audience with the Secretary of State.
Secretary Colby late this afternoon was asked by newspaper men to picture the scene that took place at his home when the final chapter of the story of ratification was reached.
Colby Describes the Signing
"The package containing the certified record of the action of the Legislature of the State of Tennessee," said Mr. Colby, "came in on a train which reached Washington some time during the early morning hours. I was awakened by Charles L. Cooke of the State Department at about a quarter to 4 o'clock this morning, who said that the packet from the Governor of Tennessee had arrived. I told him to bring it to me."
Secretary Colby was then asked whether Mr. Cooke brought the packet to him forthwith.
"He brought it to me in about ten minutes," replied the Secretary. "There were some legal matters connected with the ratification that I wished to have examined by the chief law officer of the State Department with instructions to bring the papers to me at my home at 8 o'clock this morning.
"I had received a large number of messages asking me to act on the amendment with insistent promptitude. Fear was strong in some minds that the 'antis' would effect some sort of injunction from the courts to interfere with my proclamation of the completion of the act of ratification. While it was not my own opinion that it would be becoming for me to resort to undue eagerness to avoid an opportunity for judicial interferences, I saw no reason whatever why I should conspicuously loiter.
"I confess to a disinclination to signing it in the wee morning hours of the night, believing that would not be conducive to a dignified function of so important a character, and thought that 8 o'clock in the morning would be a fair hour for action in the matter."
Secretary Colby was asked whether he had eaten breakfast before he signed the proclamation.
"Breakfast is an unimportant function with me," replied the Secretary with a smile. "I may say that I had time to partake of about one and one-half cups of coffee before I signed the proclamation."
"Then," the Secretary continued, "that about concludes the odyssey of the morning's proceedings."
Paraphrases Dewey at Manila
"You remember," he continued, "the simple way in which the late Admiral Dewey went about the opening of his battle at Manila Bay, how he waited until morning to enter Manila Bay, went up on deck, wiped the egg stains of breakfast from his moustache, observed the disposition of the enemy's ships and of his own, which had crossed the mines during the night, and then taking out a cigar, turned to one of his Captains and said, 'When you are ready, you may fire, Gridley.' So I turn to the women of America and say: 'You may now fire when you are ready. You have been enfranchised.'"
Secretary Colby in response to other questions said that he had used no golden pen prepared for the occasion, but an ordinary steel pen, in signing the proclamation. It was one of his regular pens, he explains, and when asked to whom it would be given, replied: "I have promised it to dozens of persons."
Asked whether he would give the pen to the National American Women's Suffrage Association, the National Woman's Party, or send it to the Smithsonian Institution, Secretary Colby said with a smile, "I should not be surprised if it found its way there."
Immediately after the announcement that Secretary Colby had signed the proclamation. Alice Paul said:
"August 26th will be remembered as one of the great days in the history of the women of the world and in the history of this republic.
"All women must feel a great sense of triumph and of unmeasurable relief at the successful conclusion of a long and exhausting struggle.
"The suffrage amendment is now safe beyond all reasonable expectation of legal attack. This opinion was secured from high legal authorities by officers of the National Woman's Party, who devoted their efforts after the signing of the ratification proclamation to discover what further steps, if any, would be necessary to protest the Amendment. "Pending injunction cases were automatically thrown out of court by the signing of the proclamation according to the consensus of legal opinion. The only possible legal attack is now through a taxpayers' suit to prevent the women in an individual State from voting."
National headquarters of the Woman's Party will be maintained. A national convention of its members will be called to decide upon the party's future policy. Alice Paul will go to New York probably on Saturday to hold a meeting of the Executive Committee to discuss plans and a date for the convention, it was said.
McAdoo Sends Congratulations
William G. McAdoo was one of the first to congratulate the Woman's Party on the signing of the proclamation in a message to Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, political Chairman of the party. He said:
"I know how justly elated you and all the splendid women who have been working so devotedly with you are today over the consummation of the great thing for which you and they have fought. You have had a conspicuously influential part in the triumphs of woman's suffrage. I know with what intelligence and courage you have gone at the task. I am rejoiced not alone for you, but for all the women of America, at this colossal achievement for humanity and civilization."
Francis J. Heney of Los Angeles wired Mrs. Abby Scott Baker:
"Hearty congratulations on success which is yours. The victory is due to the unconquerable fighting spirit of your little band of irreconcilables. More power to all of you."
"There is absolutely nothing that can be done now to upset or nullify the gratification of suffrage by the Tennessee Legislature," said Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton. Vice Chairman of the Republican National Executive Committee, and President of the Ohio Suffrage Association. "I regard the suffrage victory in Tennessee as perfectly safe right now and nothing can undo it. Otherwise Mrs. Catt and I would never have left Nashville and come to Washington.
"And right here I want to publicly give credit to those stalwart mountaineer Republicans of the Tennessee Legislature who stood pat on suffrage from start to finish and who made suffrage possible. Had it not been for their faithfulness and their devotion to what they believed was right, suffrage would never have won out in Tennessee. You can quote me on that and make it as I really believe."
Mrs. Upton, accompanied by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the International Suffrage Association, confer with Secretary Colby and with officials of the Department of Justice and also to attend the suffrage jubilee held here tonight.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
O.K., Maybe the World isn't Going to Hell in a Handbasket, After All
This comes from the front page of today's Washington Post.
As soon as I read it, I had to share it.
Hoorah!
As soon as I read it, I had to share it.
Hoorah!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Universal Health Care Coverage
This column by Nat Hentoff has set off a lot of chattering. I think he's wrong to denigrate end-of-life planning and advance medical directives. I think his condemnation of a mythical regime in which an ultimate, life-deciding federal board "...decides whether your quality of life, regardless of your political party, merits government-controlled funds to keep you alive," is inaccurate and unethical.
Here's what I wrote on my shul's listserv today:
(A) Every competent, responsible adult should have
a valid, legal, living will, with clear instructions, and
a valid, legal, detailed advance medical directive.
If you have a good will, you’ve only tried to resolve matters that will come up after you’re dead. You haven’t touched stuff that’s, arguably, much more important.
A living will and an advance medical directive relieve, comfort and advise those you love when you are no longer able. These are excruciating decisions. Life is better if the person for whom decisions are being taken has made his or her wishes crystal clear, in advance.
(B) End-of-life concerns are being turned into a tactical, political “wedge issue,” raised not so much to bring light as to generate heat. It’s pretty loathesome.
The President’s health care reform efforts are big, broad ideas, worthy of debate and action. But most especially important is his effort to establish universal health care coverage. In my view, the absence of universal health care coverage in these United States is a shameful blemish on our record.
Let’s keep our eye on the ball.
(C) Nat Hentoff is the gold standard as a jazz music writer. The same goes double for his writings on the Bill of Rights, civil liberties and integration.
On medical ethics in the pre-natal and end-of-life contexts, not so much.
Here's what I wrote on my shul's listserv today:
(A) Every competent, responsible adult should have
a valid, legal, living will, with clear instructions, and
a valid, legal, detailed advance medical directive.
If you have a good will, you’ve only tried to resolve matters that will come up after you’re dead. You haven’t touched stuff that’s, arguably, much more important.
A living will and an advance medical directive relieve, comfort and advise those you love when you are no longer able. These are excruciating decisions. Life is better if the person for whom decisions are being taken has made his or her wishes crystal clear, in advance.
(B) End-of-life concerns are being turned into a tactical, political “wedge issue,” raised not so much to bring light as to generate heat. It’s pretty loathesome.
The President’s health care reform efforts are big, broad ideas, worthy of debate and action. But most especially important is his effort to establish universal health care coverage. In my view, the absence of universal health care coverage in these United States is a shameful blemish on our record.
Let’s keep our eye on the ball.
(C) Nat Hentoff is the gold standard as a jazz music writer. The same goes double for his writings on the Bill of Rights, civil liberties and integration.
On medical ethics in the pre-natal and end-of-life contexts, not so much.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A Girls' School Exercise in Not Getting the Point
The Dean of Women at an exclusive girls' school was lecturing her students on sexual morality."
We live today in very difficult times for young people.In moments of temptation," she said, "ask yourself just one question: Is an hour of pleasure worth a lifetime of shame?"
A young woman rose in the back of the room and said, "Excuse me, but how do you make it last an hour?"*
*Thanks Michel
We live today in very difficult times for young people.In moments of temptation," she said, "ask yourself just one question: Is an hour of pleasure worth a lifetime of shame?"
A young woman rose in the back of the room and said, "Excuse me, but how do you make it last an hour?"*
*Thanks Michel
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Squirrel Obstacle Course
Here's Monkeyboy's video pick of the week.
Sometimes, laughter really IS the best medicine.
Sometimes, laughter really IS the best medicine.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunrise, Sunset
Many many thanks to my cousin Deb, in Buffalo, for sharing this awesome photo.
Here's the note that accompanied it:
This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point last week. A scene you will probably never get to see in person, so take a moment and enjoy.
And, you also see the sun below the moon . An amazing photo and not one easily duplicated.
You may want to pass it on to others so they can enjoy it.
The Chinese have a saying that goes something like this:
'When someone shares with you something of value, you have an obligation to share it with others!'
I just did. Your turn.
Here's the note that accompanied it:
This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point last week. A scene you will probably never get to see in person, so take a moment and enjoy.
And, you also see the sun below the moon . An amazing photo and not one easily duplicated.
You may want to pass it on to others so they can enjoy it.
The Chinese have a saying that goes something like this:
'When someone shares with you something of value, you have an obligation to share it with others!'
I just did. Your turn.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
2044 - Buy This Book
Eric Lotke is a pal. Our sons have been in Hebrew school together for years.While I was frittering away time tutoring on Wednesday nights, Eric was often hunched over a laptop in the lobby, in the library, and, during a period of shul renovation, in all sorts of more out-of-the-way nooks and/or crannies.
Sometimes, at a free moment, we'd visit. Sometimes, I'd see he was so utterly engrossed in his work, I wouldn't even bother approaching.
Now Eric is a do-gooder. Like me, he's one of those people who went to law school with visions of putting the law to work for the marginalized, the poor and the powerless. I wound up at Legal Aid. Eric wound up at a prisoners' legal services project.
So I figured, on the nights he seemed engrossed, that he was busy writing some critical piece of policy analysis or maybe some brief that would get a Muslim prisoner some decent kosher food.
This is a man, after all, who once flushed every toilet in the District of Columbia Correctional Facility in pursuit of the barest of minimal hygiene facilities for D.C. prisoners, whether they were incarcerated in D.C. or warehoused in Ohio, where the D.C. government had subcontracted out its responsibilities to a rapacious, for-profit corrections company.
I was wrong. He was birthing his first novel, 2044.
It has now come out. You should read it.
Better yet, you should buy it.
This blog post is waaaay overdue. I had hoped to put it up long ago, when Eric first gave me the word that it was out and he'd already put up a posting on his own blog.
But events intervened. I love the guy, but I'm not about to mislead a loyal readership that numbers, at last count, in the high teens. I finally picked up the book this week and finished it. Voraciously.
Here's where I get to pretend to be both Siskel AND Ebert:
Two thumbs up for 2044!
It starts from an interesting premise, it's a good read, and it's thought-provoking. I daresay it's the best first novel you'll read this year.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Who Said That?
It was the first day of school in the USA for a new Indian student named Chandrasekhar Subramanian entered the fourth grade.
The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History. Who said 'Give me Liberty or give me Death'?"
She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrasekhar, who had his hand up. "Patrick Henry, in 1775," he said.
"Very good! Who said 'Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth'?"
Again, no response except from Chandrasekhar. "Abraham Lincoln, in 1863," said Chandrasekhar.
The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed... Chandrasekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do."
She heard a loud whisper, "Damn those Indians."
"Who said that?" she demanded.
Chandrasekhar put his hand up. "General Custer, in 1862."
At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke."
The teacher glares around and asks, "All right! Now, who said that?"
Again, Chandrasekhar says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, in 1991."
Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? Suck this!"
Chandrasekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, in 1997!"
Now with almost mob hysteria someone said, "You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you."
Chandrasekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, "Michael Jackson to the child witnesses testifying against him, in 2004."
The teacher fainted.
And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone said, "Oh crap, we're screwed!"
And Chandrasekhar said quietly, "I think it was the American people, November 4, 2000."
The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History. Who said 'Give me Liberty or give me Death'?"
She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrasekhar, who had his hand up. "Patrick Henry, in 1775," he said.
"Very good! Who said 'Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth'?"
Again, no response except from Chandrasekhar. "Abraham Lincoln, in 1863," said Chandrasekhar.
The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed... Chandrasekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do."
She heard a loud whisper, "Damn those Indians."
"Who said that?" she demanded.
Chandrasekhar put his hand up. "General Custer, in 1862."
At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke."
The teacher glares around and asks, "All right! Now, who said that?"
Again, Chandrasekhar says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, in 1991."
Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? Suck this!"
Chandrasekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, in 1997!"
Now with almost mob hysteria someone said, "You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you."
Chandrasekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, "Michael Jackson to the child witnesses testifying against him, in 2004."
The teacher fainted.
And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone said, "Oh crap, we're screwed!"
And Chandrasekhar said quietly, "I think it was the American people, November 4, 2000."
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice
Harvested, and slightly re-written, from an internet e-mail my friend Michel circulated:
The media is incorrect about President Obama selecting the "first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice".
The first Hispanic U. S. Supreme Court Justice was Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, a Sephardic Jew of Spanish ancestry. He served was one of the Supremes from 1932 - 1938.
His father, Judge Albert Cardozo, was Vice President and Trustee of New York City's Congregation Shearith Israel, a well-known Spanish-Portuguese synagogue. Cardozo became a Bar Mitzvah there.
Shearith Israel is the oldest congregation in the Western Hemisphere, having been founded in Recife, Brazil ca. 1630 and moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1654. Its present location is at 70th St. and Central Park West.
Most American Jews, are of Ashkenazi origins, and many neither know of, nor understand, the culture and history of our Sephardic cousins.
Jews were a major component of the populations of Spain and Portugal for 800 years (circa. 700 - 1500 CE). Ladino, based on pre-1500 Spanish, is still spoken by 200,000 Jewish descendants around the world, mainly in Mediterranean regions.
45 of the 50 most common Hispanic family names are of Jewish origin. All Hispanic given names ending in "el" are Hebrew phrases with reference to G-d. Like Gabriel, Emanuel, or Rafael.
A recent analysis of the DNA of a statistical sample of men of Spain found that 20% have the Jewish genetic haplography, viz. they descend from Jews. The only way this is possible is that there was already massive assimilation of the Jews of Spain in the centuries leading up to the Inquisition.
Today, there are organized groups of B'nei Anusim --- descendants of Jewish victims of Inquisitions in Spain, Portugal and Latin America who were forced to convert, or who hid and abandoned their Judaism out of fear of persecution --- who seek acceptance as Jewish returnees.
It is estimated that a significant fraction of the Hispanics of the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico are of Jewish ancestry and don't know it.
The media is incorrect about President Obama selecting the "first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice".
The first Hispanic U. S. Supreme Court Justice was Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, a Sephardic Jew of Spanish ancestry. He served was one of the Supremes from 1932 - 1938.
His father, Judge Albert Cardozo, was Vice President and Trustee of New York City's Congregation Shearith Israel, a well-known Spanish-Portuguese synagogue. Cardozo became a Bar Mitzvah there.
Shearith Israel is the oldest congregation in the Western Hemisphere, having been founded in Recife, Brazil ca. 1630 and moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1654. Its present location is at 70th St. and Central Park West.
Most American Jews, are of Ashkenazi origins, and many neither know of, nor understand, the culture and history of our Sephardic cousins.
Jews were a major component of the populations of Spain and Portugal for 800 years (circa. 700 - 1500 CE). Ladino, based on pre-1500 Spanish, is still spoken by 200,000 Jewish descendants around the world, mainly in Mediterranean regions.
45 of the 50 most common Hispanic family names are of Jewish origin. All Hispanic given names ending in "el" are Hebrew phrases with reference to G-d. Like Gabriel, Emanuel, or Rafael.
A recent analysis of the DNA of a statistical sample of men of Spain found that 20% have the Jewish genetic haplography, viz. they descend from Jews. The only way this is possible is that there was already massive assimilation of the Jews of Spain in the centuries leading up to the Inquisition.
Today, there are organized groups of B'nei Anusim --- descendants of Jewish victims of Inquisitions in Spain, Portugal and Latin America who were forced to convert, or who hid and abandoned their Judaism out of fear of persecution --- who seek acceptance as Jewish returnees.
It is estimated that a significant fraction of the Hispanics of the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico are of Jewish ancestry and don't know it.
Monday, June 15, 2009
FROM THE US HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
In Memoriam
“Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time.” —
President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama
There are no words to express our grief and shock over the events on June 10, 2009, at the Museum, which took the life of Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Officer Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty, served on the Museum’s security staff for six years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Johns’ family. We closed the Museum Thursday, June 11, in honor of Officer Johns and our flags will be flown at half mast in his memory for a week, then will be presented to his family.
Bouquets of flowers were left at several places around the Museum in honor of Officer Johns.
These are a portion of those set next to the guard booth on 14th Street.
Condolences and Services
The Museum will send flowers and a gift basket and Museum Director Sara Bloomfield will extend condolences to the family on behalf of the staff. Also, a commemoration will be published in the Washington Post, and a memorial fund for Officer Johns’ Family is being established. Special comment books are being provided at the Museum for members of the public to record their thoughts, and flowers and other items left on the grounds by well wishers are being photographed and collected. We will work closely with Officer Johns’ family as we establish a fitting tribute for our dear colleague in the Museum.
* * * * * *
The funeral for our beloved colleague, Officer Stephen Johns, will take place on Friday, June 19, at Emmanuel Baptist Church 2409 Ainger Place, SE. In his honor, the Museum will be closed until 3 p.m. that day so that security officers, staff, volunteers, interns, and contractors who wish to attend will be able to do so. We will have special hours that day from 3-7 p.m. to accommodate our visitors. Transportation will be provided to and from the Museum and the church. The viewing will begin at 10 a.m. and the funeral will follow. Additional details will be provided in the coming days.
The Museum has established a special fund for the benefit of Officer Johns' family. Checks payable to USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund may be mailed to USHMM, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington DC 20024 or forwarded via interoffice mail to Marianne Haggerty. You may also contribute by calling toll free 877-91USHMM (877-918-7466). In the coming days, we will provide a link for on-line donations.
Until further notice, condolence cards may be forwarded to Tanya Barbour, Office of the Chief of Staff.
The Museum has placed an "In Memorium" which will appear in the Saturday and Sunday editions of The Washington Post .
The Museum will send flowers and a gift basket and Museum Director Sara Bloomfield will extend condolences to the family on behalf of the staff. Also, a commemoration will be published in the Washington Post, and a memorial fund for Officer Johns’ Family is being established. Special comment books are being provided at the Museum for members of the public to record their thoughts, and flowers and other items left on the grounds by well wishers are being photographed and collected. We will work closely with Officer Johns’ family as we establish a fitting tribute for our dear colleague in the Museum.
* * * * * *
The funeral for our beloved colleague, Officer Stephen Johns, will take place on Friday, June 19, at Emmanuel Baptist Church 2409 Ainger Place, SE. In his honor, the Museum will be closed until 3 p.m. that day so that security officers, staff, volunteers, interns, and contractors who wish to attend will be able to do so. We will have special hours that day from 3-7 p.m. to accommodate our visitors. Transportation will be provided to and from the Museum and the church. The viewing will begin at 10 a.m. and the funeral will follow. Additional details will be provided in the coming days.
The Museum has established a special fund for the benefit of Officer Johns' family. Checks payable to USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund may be mailed to USHMM, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington DC 20024 or forwarded via interoffice mail to Marianne Haggerty. You may also contribute by calling toll free 877-91USHMM (877-918-7466). In the coming days, we will provide a link for on-line donations.
Until further notice, condolence cards may be forwarded to Tanya Barbour, Office of the Chief of Staff.
The Museum has placed an "In Memorium" which will appear in the Saturday and Sunday editions of The Washington Post .
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Population Transfer - 1948
This New York Times Op-Ed provides some important facts that must be on the table when negotiating any final settlement in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
June 9, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention
By ANDRÉ ACIMAN
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S speech to the Islamic world was a groundbreaking event. Never before has a young, dynamic American president, beloved both by his countrymen and the nations of the world, extended so timely and eager a hand to a part of the globe that, recently, had seen fewer and fewer reasons to trust us or to wish us well.
As important, Mr. Obama did not mince words. Never before has a president gone over to the Arab world and broadcast its flaws so loudly and clearly: extremism, nuclear weapons programs and a faltering record in human rights, education and economic development — the Arab world gets no passing grades in any of these domains. Mr. Obama even found a moment to mention the plight of Egypt’s harassed Coptic community and to criticize the new wave of Holocaust deniers. And to show he was not playing favorites, he put the Israelis on notice: no more settlements in the occupied territories. He spoke about the suffering of Palestinians. This was no wilting olive branch.
And yet, for all the president’s talk of “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world” and shared “principles of justice and progress,” neither he nor anyone around him, and certainly no one in the audience, bothered to notice one small detail missing from the speech: he forgot me.
The president never said a word about me. Or, for that matter, about any of the other 800,000 or so Jews born in the Middle East who fled the Arab and Muslim world or who were summarily expelled for being Jewish in the 20th century. With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) “proud tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.
Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle. We are, each one of us, not just defined by the arrangement of protein molecules in our cells, but also by the things we call our own. Take away our things and something in us dies. Losing his wealth, his home, the life he had built, killed my father. He didn’t die right away; it took four decades of exile to finish him off.
Mr. Obama had harsh things to say to the Arab world about its treatment of women. And he said much about America’s debt to Islam. But he failed to remind the Egyptians in his audience that until 50 years ago a strong and vibrant Jewish community thrived in their midst. Or that many of Egypt’s finest hospitals and other institutions were founded and financed by Jews. It is a shame that he did not remind the Egyptians in the audience of this, because, in most cases — and especially among those younger than 50 — their memory banks have been conveniently expunged of deadweight and guilt. They have no recollections of Jews.
In Alexandria, my birthplace and my home, all streets bearing Jewish names have been renamed. A few years ago, the Library of Alexandria put on display an Arabic translation of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” perhaps the most anti-Semitic piece of prose ever written. Today, for the record, there are perhaps four Jews left in Alexandria.
When the last Jew dies, the temples and religious artifacts and books that were the property of what was once probably the wealthiest Jewish community on the Mediterranean will go to the Egyptian government — not to me, or to my children, or to any of the numberless descendants of Egyptian Jews.
It is strange that our president, a man so versed in history and so committed to the truth, should have omitted mentioning the Jews of Egypt. He either forgot, or just didn’t know, or just thought it wasn’t expedient or appropriate for this venue. But for him to speak in Cairo of a shared effort “to find common ground ... and to respect the dignity of all human beings” without mentioning people in my position would be like his speaking to the residents of Berlin about the future of Germany and forgetting to mention a small detail called World War II.
André Aciman, a professor of comparative literature at the City University of New York Graduate Center, is the author of the memoir “Out of Egypt.”
Copyright 2009
The New York Times Company
June 9, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention
By ANDRÉ ACIMAN
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S speech to the Islamic world was a groundbreaking event. Never before has a young, dynamic American president, beloved both by his countrymen and the nations of the world, extended so timely and eager a hand to a part of the globe that, recently, had seen fewer and fewer reasons to trust us or to wish us well.
As important, Mr. Obama did not mince words. Never before has a president gone over to the Arab world and broadcast its flaws so loudly and clearly: extremism, nuclear weapons programs and a faltering record in human rights, education and economic development — the Arab world gets no passing grades in any of these domains. Mr. Obama even found a moment to mention the plight of Egypt’s harassed Coptic community and to criticize the new wave of Holocaust deniers. And to show he was not playing favorites, he put the Israelis on notice: no more settlements in the occupied territories. He spoke about the suffering of Palestinians. This was no wilting olive branch.
And yet, for all the president’s talk of “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world” and shared “principles of justice and progress,” neither he nor anyone around him, and certainly no one in the audience, bothered to notice one small detail missing from the speech: he forgot me.
The president never said a word about me. Or, for that matter, about any of the other 800,000 or so Jews born in the Middle East who fled the Arab and Muslim world or who were summarily expelled for being Jewish in the 20th century. With all his references to the history of Islam and to its (questionable) “proud tradition of tolerance” of other faiths, Mr. Obama never said anything about those Jews whose ancestors had been living in Arab lands long before the advent of Islam but were its first victims once rampant nationalism swept over the Arab world.
Nor did he bother to mention that with this flight and expulsion, Jewish assets were — let’s call it by its proper name — looted. Mr. Obama never mentioned the belongings I still own in Egypt and will never recover. My mother’s house, my father’s factory, our life in Egypt, our friends, our books, our cars, my bicycle. We are, each one of us, not just defined by the arrangement of protein molecules in our cells, but also by the things we call our own. Take away our things and something in us dies. Losing his wealth, his home, the life he had built, killed my father. He didn’t die right away; it took four decades of exile to finish him off.
Mr. Obama had harsh things to say to the Arab world about its treatment of women. And he said much about America’s debt to Islam. But he failed to remind the Egyptians in his audience that until 50 years ago a strong and vibrant Jewish community thrived in their midst. Or that many of Egypt’s finest hospitals and other institutions were founded and financed by Jews. It is a shame that he did not remind the Egyptians in the audience of this, because, in most cases — and especially among those younger than 50 — their memory banks have been conveniently expunged of deadweight and guilt. They have no recollections of Jews.
In Alexandria, my birthplace and my home, all streets bearing Jewish names have been renamed. A few years ago, the Library of Alexandria put on display an Arabic translation of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” perhaps the most anti-Semitic piece of prose ever written. Today, for the record, there are perhaps four Jews left in Alexandria.
When the last Jew dies, the temples and religious artifacts and books that were the property of what was once probably the wealthiest Jewish community on the Mediterranean will go to the Egyptian government — not to me, or to my children, or to any of the numberless descendants of Egyptian Jews.
It is strange that our president, a man so versed in history and so committed to the truth, should have omitted mentioning the Jews of Egypt. He either forgot, or just didn’t know, or just thought it wasn’t expedient or appropriate for this venue. But for him to speak in Cairo of a shared effort “to find common ground ... and to respect the dignity of all human beings” without mentioning people in my position would be like his speaking to the residents of Berlin about the future of Germany and forgetting to mention a small detail called World War II.
André Aciman, a professor of comparative literature at the City University of New York Graduate Center, is the author of the memoir “Out of Egypt.”
Copyright 2009
The New York Times Company
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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