For the past few months, I've had the New York Times Sunday paper delivered to my doorstep. I usually read the paper -- or at least scan the headlines -- online each day. But the Times had a special offer and I find that I really enjoy the tactile sensation on a Sunday morning -- the newsprint that comes off on my hands, the snap and crunchy sound of pages being turned as I follow a jump, the sharp creases when I fold the paper to fit on my lap.
Today's A section alone kept me occupied for a good morning:
G.O.P. Glum as It Struggles to Hold Congress (Poor babies!)
The town of Aberdeen, Wa. is trying to become known as more than the place that gave Kurt Cobain his first guitar and a heroine habit.
An article about Legacy.com (the online obituary site where mourners can post memories of the deceased). Paid screeners constantly troll for mean-spirited postings and the airing of dark family secrets. "I think it's true that death brings out the best and the worst in people."
An article on page 3 -- With Jewish Roots Now Prized, Spain Starts Digging -- looks at how cities and towns across Spain are searching for the remains of medieval synogogues, excavating old Jewish neighborhoods, etc. -- 500 years after forced expulsion and conversions. Some towns are even faking old synagogues and neighborhoods, hoping to cash in on the tourism biz (We know how rich those Jews are!). How's this for a quote: "It's the opposite of 300 years ago when people chnaged their last names ...now it's trendy to say you have Jewish roots."
The same appears to be happening in other previously anti-semitic hotspots. The old Jewish Quarter in Prague is now basically a Jewish theme park drawing tourists and young people with its trendy coffee shops, pricey restaurants, and 1,000-year-old graves. Seems that Kafka -- His Eminence of alienation and paranoia -- is to Prague what Frida Kahlo is to Mexico City -- the ubiquitous icon whose compromised image rests on everything from billboards to coffee mugs.
Ironically, this burgeoning of Jewish pride coincides with a burgeoning of anti-semitism in Europe.
I am constantly amused and amazed (and yes, depressed) at the ability of our species to hold conflicting realities in their minds, and their inability to recognize inconsistencies of thought. Reminds me of one of my juvenile hall students, a handsome, agreeable young man with neo-Nazi tattoos. When I took a chance and told him I was Jewish, he really lit up and pumped his fist in the air. "Me, too!" he said. "Jewish power." Then, he asked me to bring him in a dreidel.
1 comment:
Post a Comment