GothamGirl has been inundated with many thousands of comments over just a few days.

An ocean of comments. An avalanche of comments.

I think that this is now resolved but I will not re-open the site to readers comments until I am sure this flood is over.

Hmmm….maybe it was writing about the Golem that did it…..

I just can’t get enough of that Golem. The many forms, retellings and spin-off s are always fascinating. 

In the best known version of  legend, The Maharal of Prague, Rabbi Judah Loew, created a living man out of clay with the intention that this creature would protect the Jews of Prague from anti-Semitic attacks.

Things get quite out of hand with this golem just going much too far, and The Maharal has to find a way to kill this creature he created. This story is very moving and works on all  levels, both the allegorical and literal.  Many plays and stories have been based on the Golem, or are a re-telling of the story. Frankenstein’s Monster and  Supermanand other super-heroes owe a great deal of their lineage to The Golem.

The idea of a golem has an extremely long history in Jewish culture:  it  is a living,  human-like creature but lacks a soul, it is always made of clay by a  holy man and implies a good deal of hubris in imitating the divine creation. It always gets out of hand. In some versions, the creator of the golem must write on the forehead of the golemor written place notes inside of its mouth to get it under control or to even kill the  wild,  out of control Golem! 

 Golem Stories is a staged retelling of the golem story by on  May 27, 2009 at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St, at 7pm, followed by a discussion of Jewish legends and midrash. This evening is free but you must register in advance.

While on the CJH site check out their cabaret night called Cities of Light scheduled for June 10 at 6:30pm.

Both of these evening are part of the  Untitled Theater Company’s  Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas May 20 through June 14. They will have over 100 performances at many venues throughout the city.

We walked over to the spectacularly newly rebuilt Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center at Broadway and 65th St. The new construction is part of the extensive renovation of Lincoln Center and this part of the renovation has created:  a beautiful new facade of triangles of glass and metal, a just-below-street level cafe called at65 Cafe, an appealing and welcoming entryway for Alice Tully Hall, which previously did not have an entrance lobby to speak of, and additional space for the Julliard School. They did a splendid job in this renovation!

We slipped into the Starr Theatre at Alice Tully Hall and enjoyed a free concert of new music which was  composed and performed by Julliard students. Free student concerts happen often-check their schedule. This is a pleasant hall and has new lovely wood interior, and wood is always lovely for music. Impressive job of renovation.

Later, we sat in the new, at65Cafe, (which serves drinks and desserts and a few other items), and thoroughly enjoyed the view of the surrounding buildings and busy streets. As you look out onto the street, the bars sparkling colored liquor bottles are reflected in the glass which makes it appear  that there is a a glimmering bar on the sidewalk.

This new Alice Tully renovation is terrific addition to Lincoln Center and a stunning gift for us New Yorkers.

Thanks!

What insensitivity, ignorance, complete stupidity and incompetence was demonstrated by the federal government in yesterday’s fly-over lower Manhattan by Air Force One and 2 fighter jets. If you missed this, it caused upset and even panic in the  towers of lower Manhattan and in near-by New Jersey as office workers fled their offices, assuming that another attack was under way. The reason given for this  insensitive stupidity was that it was an Photo-op for a shot of AF1 and the Statue of Liberty.

Did you notice that the people in the towers did not wait for “instructions” but fled on their own after seeing/hearing/feeling the effect of the low-flying jet? This area has been hit repeatedly by terrorists- not just once on 9/11, and the people feel that it is up to themselves to get out in order to be protected..that should be clear. Also, it s important to understand that Manhattan air traffic NEVER includes such low-flying aircraft which rattle the windows  of tall towers and rattles nerves.

What disdain the Federal government demonstrated when they said that the public was not informed for security reasons.

I know, this happened yesterday and it is “over”.

The Government apologized. The Mayor spoke out for the City saying that he was not informed, pretty remarkable if so, and that he was furious.

OK,  OK, but to tell you the truth:

Apology Not Really Totally Accepted. Along with an apology, the people in the agency who planned and approved this stupid stunt should come to lower Manhattan for a visit and some sensitivity training. Start by speaking to the people in the area that have experienced 2 attacks.

The New York Pops, which is the symphony orchestra that plays music from the Great American Songbook at the sweetest sounding of all places one can go to listen to music, perhaps anywhere, Carnegie Hall, is hosting their Annual Gala on Monday, April 27th. Proceeds support The New York Pops and its education programs and free Summermusic concerts throughout New York City.

In Carnegie Hall, each seat is a great seat for listening to music, never worry about where you are sitting. Just soak up the music! Idina Menzel will be among those performing and the new musical director Steven Reineke will be conducting.  

New York Pops “26^th Birthday Gala”, Monday, April 27, 2009
7:00 PM at Carnegie Hall, Tickets available from $55 - $85

Contact the Carnegie Hall BoxOffice  and remember that GothamGirl readers will receive a 20% discount by entering the code PLAY7861

There is also a Black Tie Dinner/Dance to follow at The Pierre and an online Auction  onCharityBuzz.com.

Each year there are many worthwhile events to mark Yom ha-Shoa, Holocaust Rememberance Day, this year on April 20-21, 2009. Here are some of those events:

RESISTANCE THROUGH ART
“Sixty years ago we performed this opera [Brundibar] at Terezin.  Only a few of us survived.  But when we were performing Brundibar, we forgot where we were, we forgot all our troubles.  Music was part of our resistance against the Nazis.  Music, art, good teachers, and friends mean survival.”    –Ela Weissberger, member of the original cast

Congregation Ansche Chesed’s Yom Hashoah program will be dedicated to the incredible phenomenon of Resistance through Art and will feature music created and performed in Theresienstadt concentration camp. 

Featuring live performances of chamber music by Gideon Klein, a Czech pianist and composer of classical music, teacher and organizer of cultural life in Terezin, as well as an excerpt from the children’s opera “Brundibar” by Hans Krasa, originally performed by the children in Terezin, and now sung by the children of Ansche Chesed. 

There will also be an opportunity to learn and sing songs of the ghetto and resistance together as a community.   While much of this music did not survive, the remaining pieces impress listeners to this day and make us long for more of what might have been written.

Monday Evening, April 20 at Congregation Ansche Chesed 100th St, West End and Broadway

This year we are reading from Memorial to the Jews Deported from France 1942-1944 by Serge Klarsfeld. This extraordinary volume is organized by the date of the “convoys” which transported Jews from France to the camps in the east.  This year the all-night reading will take place at Congregation Shaare Zedek, 93rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

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HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY: SAVIORS ON THE SCREEN
The JCC honors Yom HaShoah with a special marathon of films remembering the righteous saviors of Jews during the Holocaust. Co-sponsored by the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and The Simon Wiesenthal Center.

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And my friend, Ernie Adams, has had his book published! You have the opportunity to meet him, hear his moving story and experience his warmth and humor.

From Ghetto to Ghetto: An African American Journey to Judaism
A Memoir by Ernest Adams
From Harlem to the south to the Upper West Side, Ernest Adams’ new book is a fascinating memoir that delves into race and religion in America today.
Thu, Apr 30  Meet the Author Talk: 6:30 pm; Reception and Book Signing: 7:30 pm FREE

 JCC of Manhattan. 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue

The strange day,  Wednesday April 8, 2009: Many groups of people joined together for the once every 28 year Blessing of the Sun. The weather in New york cooperated, and sun was seen rising over some clouds which were on the horizon, into a mostly clear sky. Very lovely. There were many morning services, blessings and study sessions held. Lots of singing and dancing too throughout the city. Friends agreed that this was worth getting out at 6:30 am for. Here is the April 8, 2009, sunrise over Mount Sinai…Mt Sinai Hospital in NYC, that is.

Sunrise April 8, 2009 Blessing of the Sun

Then came the snow. Yes, the SNOW, an unpredicted snow squall which whited out the city if you were on a high floor. Just as suddenly, the weather cleared up and it was quite nice again in plenty of time for guests to arrive at the Passover Seders.

Passover is a full moon holiday- that is-  there is always a full moon at the first Seder. Here is a photo of the Passover Full Moon in New York City that evening:

Full Moon Passover 2009

As I write this on April 10, the work and pleasure of the Seders is over. Leftovers are lurking in the fridge. We  read this morning, that for the very first time,  there was a Passover Seder held at the White House! Nice surprise. And now people have moved on to seriously discussing Matzah Brei. Here is a recipe for Banana Matzah Brei from ProfeJeff:

ProfeJeff’s Recipe for Banana Matza Brei:
 
1) Take about 4-5 sheets of matza and break them along the natural fault lines.

Each piece should be about three or four fault lines wide and be about 1/3 to 1/2 the length of a matza.

2) Break them into a large bowl filled about 1/3 of the way with lukewarm water.

3) Soak them for at least a minute. Be sure they’re completely soaked and soft. Then holding the matza with one hand, pour the water out.  Press the matza gently to squeeze out the excess water.

4) Into the matza pour 4-6 eggs that you have already completely mixed so that the yolks and whites are thoroughly mixed. (For a lower cholesterol version, use 4 eggs and 2/3 cup of liquid egg whites; this serves 4).  With a fork, pick up the slices of matza so that both sides of every piece are infused with the eggs!

5) To this mixture add two thoroughly mashed bananas. Stir the mixture together. Pour this mixture into a hot, well-oiled pan. Let it sit and fry for less than a minute. Then Flip. Cook 2 minutes. If using a smaller diameter pan, flip once more, let sit, and flip yet one more time.  Serve with cinnamon. If you want it even sweeter, add maple syrup to your portion.  Best by test!

Editors note: This is delicious and ProfeJeff can speak about 9 languages in addition making Matzah Brei!

And before you need to ask, here is the answer: Passover is 8 days when observed outside of Israel and 7 days within Israel. It is the custom not to eat bread etc, for the legnth of the holiday.  IN NYC, Pizza , Asian food, bread etc again after dark on April 16, 2009.

Enjoy.

The Blessing of the Sun, Birchat haChama, is celebrated only once every 28 years, which means that it is an event that is experienced only a few times in anyone’s lifetime! This year it will be marked on the morning of April 8, 2009.  The sun will rise at 6:28 DST in New York City.

It is an opportunity for expressing appreciation at the beauty and wonder of the world. It is also an opportunity to think back 28 years (if you can) and forward 28 years (may you have many more), and try for some special perspective.

Also, if you give this a little thought and planning, you may be able to have a quick breakfast with friends before the start of Passover that evening.  The service can start anytime within 3 hours after sunrise but many are planning to meet at sunrise, which is much more dramatic than starting at say, 9 am.

In New York City,  people have arranged to meet and have the Birchat HaChama service in many places including: at the observation deck of the Empire State Building, the roof of the  Manhattan JCC, and on the rooftop of many congregations of all and every type, other buildings and in the Central Park Band Shell.

This desire to get hundreds of feet closer to the sun expresses the New Yorkers love of tall buildings, unique events, as well as loving an opportunity to step outside of their daily routine. The weather prediction is for a chilly and mostly sunny morning. Ok, the weather forecast said partly cloudy, but I am an optimist. Bring your hot coffee or tea. If you need any more details, write  to me.

Some notes about Passover: I have heard 2 complaints about preparing for Passover on the Upper West Side: the high price of foods that are always Kosher for Passover being jacked up higher for the holiday shopping for no understandable reason other than to perhaps feed the ugly monster of greed. The other complaint is how crowded their favorite stores become at this time, especially Fairway -which is always very crowded before any holiday of any type- even before Groundhogs Day. These are the same complaints we all hear each year.

Remember to give donations to the local food pantries, and fulfil the mitzvah of feeding the hungry. The pantries are very low on supplies this year- there are more people in need. They welcome cash, but food is appreciated too.

Instead of burning your Chametz, why not scatter the crumbs for the birds returning on their Spring migration. They may eat chametz any time.

Chag Pesach Sameach= Have a Happy Passover

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is housed in the landmark Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue at 91st Street, NYC. Visiting this mansion is much part of this museum experience as the exhibits themselves. Do not miss the huge Wisteria vines on the south side of the mansion visible from the museum cafe. If your first love is architecture, you could find that this mansion overpowers anything on exhibit.

Atchoo! Despite my allergy to wool, I enjoyed the smallish exhibit of items made of felt, which is made completely of wqool, and about the process of felting. Examples of both modern and traditional felt items and felting methods are included. Felting is the process of turning wool into felt-there was a video of the traditional Mongolian method which made use of camels, horses, shearers, combers and other workers, also there is a video of the modern industrial method of felting—no colorful camels and horses needed.

If you are allergic to wool, I would suggest thatyou remember to take an anti-histamine before going to any exhibit in the museum since you must pass through the Felt exhibit to reach the museum cafe, and considering that this is pollen season, it is best not to pile on the allergens.

The exhibit on Children’s Wallpaper has historical wall-papers and the first ever (was it the last?? Hope so) scented wall-paper of repeating bright cherries meant to be scratched and smelled. 

It was Interesting to see the idea of what to put up in children’s rooms change over time. There are papers which claim to be  “sanitary” paper, that is, it was supposed to be germ-resistant so that it would not have to be removed after an illness - this takes us into quite a different era. 

The museum shop is very well stocked and fun to look through.

Atchoo! I left with itchy eyes but happy to have seen the shows.

We walked by the Mannes School of Music on West 85th Street, as the sky was darkening and glowing that beautiful electric blue, and were drawn right inside by the sound of lovely music. We skipped our dinner plans and instead enjoyed a concert by the students of Susan Woodruff Versage who were performing an Evening  of Opera Excerpts. Ms Versage accompanied them on piano.

These students have splendid voices, great talent and were lively performers with the beautiful grace of youth. Exerpts from 13 operas were performed. This was a true pleasure.

There is so much excellent free music available in New York, it would be  smart to check out all of the music schools performance schedules and select some free concerts in these difficult financial times.

Don’t let the financial downturn limit the pleasures of music and art. It is probably just what you need to better cope with the present times.

Here are some schools and others ideas to check out:
The Julliard School of Music, The Mannes School, The NY Philharmonic Open Rehearsals, The Manhattan School of Music. Remember, the Metropolitan Museum of Art still has a pay-what-you-wish entrance policy.

On the way around town by subway, I changed trains at 59th Street and Broadway, where Soul Acapella, was very soulfully filling the subway platform with his soft and lovely voice and keyboard. Yes, he is called Soul Acapella, and he was accompanying himself on the keyboard. The CD of Soul Acapella has a photo of a large group, which looked like a warm family, but he was alone on the platform singing sweet oldies. He was much appreciated by the people waiting for trains.

At my next stop, the doors opened to the razor-sharp skirl of a lone bagpiper and the simultaneous crashing, clanging (not of trains!) but of a frenzied, young drummer with a complete snare drum set on the platform. They were not playing together, but competing for attention on the same platform. With the sounds of the piper, drummer and trains etc, it was a naturally occurring Charles Ives piece. Much prefer the real Charles Ives.

At the end of the day, I left my office and the street was filled with sound trucks and groups of excited young girls craning their necks hoping to spot a beloved celebrity. 

The young man who works in my office building said,  ”They are waiting for Gotham Girl!”. “Oh really, they are waiting for Gotham Girl?? ”, said I. “OH Yes! Gotham Girl is here!”

The sound truck guys said that Gossip Girl was here. Really funny…

GothamGirl received a comment from someone claiming that he worked on construction of 535 West End Ave which is attached to the to the previous post.

The author of the post, NYCGuy, absolutely stands by his observations about the (lack of) quality of the building construction of 535 West End Avenue and the truth of his article.

“ I just returned from walking around the Ariels & then observing 535 West End Avenue.

The Broadway-96th Street station, which was sloppily extended after WWII, is undergoing reconstruction.

The Broadway thoroughfare is being reconfigured to accommodate a station house in the expanded mall between 95th & 96th streets. This follows upon on the creation of a new station house between 72nd & 73rd streets, in the expanded Verdi Square. The structure there is a riff on the restored, landmark, 1904 entryway, that dramatically improved circulation, created a much used street level public space & somehow managed to visually anchor the Alexandria, David Child’s 1991 cartoon version of the beloved, eccentric Ansonia. Thank you Gruzen Samton.

The barrel vaulted structure envisioned for 96th Street seems to reference the suburban London Underground stations of the 1920s & 30s. Fingers crossed. There’s no stylistic context on the boulevard nor acknowledged pallet of colors or textures.

The interior tile work so far leaves everything to be desired. Whereas the past two decades of station modernizations have seen prefab tile panels hung over existing, deteriorated or missing stock or the older tiles scored before new are applied, neither format is being followed. Thin, low quality, rectangular  white tiles are being applied directly to the post-war tiles. There is no effort at evenness, a fact revealed by how light plays on the tiles + the grouting varies from dark to white. Some of the new tiles have been painted over. Most are filthy. On the west wall of the station, a section is already grease stained. This doesn’t bode well for a project of this scope & cost.

A section of the remaining 1904 Art Nouveau style terra cotta & tile banding was removed for storage & ostensible restoration before this section of old platform at the northeast corner of the station, was sealed forever. For the moment, an adjacent, perfectly intact section remains.

Given the haphazard installation of the white, evidently background tiles,  I was amazed this past week to first  notice new “96’s” & then a frieze pattern, actually two. That work is beautiful. Everything else is shit. …. There is a section of rebuilt staircase at 93rd St (w/s) where the tile changes from something really stolid to what looks like cheap, bathroom tile… It would seem no one is officially observing this. Where will the old tiles & terra cotta go? Why is the station being given a new, albeit necessary, entryway, for which the closest New York reference is what’s now Asphalt Green but with an interior that’s not IND ’30s, industrial modern nor does it speak to nearby Symphony Space’s De Stijl citation courtesy of James Polshek: Boogie Woogie Mondrian.

If you think it’s impossible somethings amiss, please take a walk or a ride up to the next station at 103rd, restored in 2004 & see the difference in craft & care for materials.

Nine blocks south& 1 block west, the so-called grand luxe 535 West End Avenue, has just applied, factory-made composite panels with 1″ inch thick, brick-like veneers to most of two floors.

Apparently, there will be only four narrow, vertical sections of raised pseudo-brick on the entire West End Avenue & West 86th Street facades. The color might be described as muddy brown. The pre-World War II West End Avenue from 70th to 107th streets is solid masonry. Not here. The brickwork on the adjacent buildings ranges in a pallet of beige, cream, tan andyellow. The more daring buildings are white - not the failed 1950s & 60s white or orange to red. Brown tends to be found on the side streets are much further north or south on West End.

All of those buildings have trim & ornamentation, even modest ones. A urbane building would reference that pallet & at least nod occasionally to vertical banding.

Not this one.

It towers legally above the surrounding streetwalls in a suburban manner, meaning it’s there by itself. Some commercial avenues in Midtown & Water Street Downtown are like this but this is one of the city’s great boulevards of apartments - broken here & there by preceding townhouse blocks. A really good International Style residential structure, like, yes, Morris Lapidus’ Presidential on West 70th Street might have interrupted things with flare.

Not here.

The developer - which has given the Upper West Side the unangelic Ariels  at Broadway between 99th & 100th streets (without the promised LEED certification for “greenness”) has made a big deal of their Chicago architect. That architect, it seems, is to the Windy City - a great architecture town - what Costa Kondylis & his late mentor Philip Birnbaum are to New York - a developer’s dream. Someone who can squeeze the last salable square inch out of the zoning envelope.

That’s very useful, but it doesn’t always yield great buildings. Developers will often pair that skill with an architectural firm known for stunning exteriors.

Humdrum would be a step up at this site.

Meanwhile, this building & threats to others, has yielded a grass roots movement to get the entire aforementioned stretch of West End Avenue covered by a New York City Historic District. Take that Extell& please take Mr Lagrange with you.

For those wondering about terra cotta, until 1960, a great New York City architectural medium, check out the books by Susan Tunick. For a look at the 96th Street station plans -albeit sans the tile work, visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/mancb7/downloads/pdf/irt_96.pdf. In keeping with renderings for all too many public commissions hereabouts, the commuters & pedestrians drawn are all white. This is 96th Street?… Lastly, to learn more about & maybe join the efforts to landmark WEA, see http://www.westendpreservation.org/.

Editors Note: Please be sure to read the comments below. Lily

From  Ars Choralis:

In the darkest times, music provides solace and illustrates what is best in the human spirit.

During the depths of World War II, Jewish women musicians incarcerated at the Auschwitz/Birchenau concentration camp were required to play for their Nazi captors. This is a story about how music saved the lives of those women. It is also the story of a small-town chorus that has brought back the music, hope, grief and resilience of these women.

Over one million people, mostly Jewish, were murdered in Birkenau gas chambers.  In exchange for their survival, a women’s orchestra was formed by the S.S. at Birchenau.  During the year and a half it existed, 54 women participated in the orchestra.  All but the conductor survived.

Two years ago, Barbara Pickhardt, conductor of the Woodstock, NY chorus, Ars Choralis, researched survivor’s memoirs and created Music in Desperate Times: Remembering the Women’s Orchestra of Birkenau.  The concert interwove orchestral music of Schumann, Chopin, Puccini, Mendelssohn and others, with spoken memoirs and songs of hope, peace and resistance sung by the chorus.

Wearing the simple lavender scarves and white blouses worn by the Birchenau musicians, the members of the reconstructed orchestra felt a shiver of connection to the original orchestra as they played arrangements of the same music played in the camps.

Ars Choralis performed Music in Desperate Times: Remembering the Women’s Orchestra of Birchenau to great acclaim in Hudson Valley churches, colleges and synagogues. The audience response was so powerful that repeat performances were demanded. Now Ars Choralis has been invited to perform this concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan and in Germany.

• The performance of Music in Desperate Times at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine will be on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8 PM.  This landmark church is the largest Anglican Cathedral in North America.

If you have never visited this cathedral, or perhaps any other cathedral, it is quite a place to see and I would recommend setting aside some time to look through this vast and fascinating space.

• Survivors of the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Furstenberg, Germany have invited Ars Choralis to perform at their annual Liberation Day ceremonies on April 18 and 19, 2009 on the grounds of the camp.

• Heilig Kreuz Passion Church in Berlin has invited Ars Choralis to perform Music in Desperate Times on Friday, April 17, 2009.

The cost of producing the concerts and traveling to Germany is unprecedented for Ars Choralis.  We hope to gain support for this magnificent endeavor through ticket sales and donations.  

Tickets to the March 28th performance at the Cathedral are:

• $45.00 front section, reserved seats
• $35.00 front section, unreserved
• $25.00 general seating

Many  thanks to Rochelle Saidel of the Remember the Women Institute for bringing this concert to our attention.

The Valmadonna Trust Library is on display at Sotheby’s (72nd Street and York Ave, NYC) until Thursday February 19th at 5pm. Rush over and see this extraordinary collection while you can. This exhibit is for lovers of old books, manuscripts, Jewish learning, world and Jewish history and beautiful hand made book bindings.

If you cannot go, take the time to read this exhibit catalog.

The shelves are lined floor to ceiling with unique books, many open to particularly fascinating pages for viewing. The collection includes examples of nearly half of all of the earliest Hebrew printing, books from the Ottoman Empire, all of Europe, India and the Far East and Africa.

Open Haggadda

Each book is a story; it is awesome to see the complete Bomberg Babylonian Talmud, originally acquired by Henry VIII (hoping to find something in support of divorce), which arrived too late to help him out of his dilemma. These volumes of Talmud sat unused for 400 years in Westminster Abbey until acquired by the trust in exchange for a copy of the original charter for the Abbey. They are in perfect condition. It is wonderful to see them in great condition, especially after considering the  history of Talmud burning and censorship in Europe by Christian authorities.

On display are many volumes from various cities in Italy from the golden age of printing, also a small volume which was first book ever published in Africa, there are ”broadsides”, that is, calendars and public notices and a charming Alef-Bet chart with illustrations of animals for teaching young children to read, all meant for temporary use which have somehow survived for so many centuries, and there are books from every community that had a Jewish population.

Samaritan Torah

Also, a room of fine manuscripts which includes a  Samaritan Torah Scroll in the original ancient Hebrew alef-bet. The Samaritan Torah contains an eleventh commandament: to meet at Mount Seir for the annual sacrifice of a lamb for Pesach (Passover). There are other much less dramatic differences as well.

The books are secular as well as religious.

This is the largest collection of Jewish books in private ownership. The Trust intends to sell this as one collection to an institution. This photo was taken with the permmission of Mr. Lunzer and his daughter, when we went back for a second visit.

Jack Lunzer and Daughter

A steady stream of visitors fill the galleries of the exhibit and the curator gives a tour full of explanations and colorful stories about this wonderful collection. You can feel the viewer’s pleasure with these volumes. It feels like a pilgrimage of love of the book, a love of learning and Jewish history. We are going back again today and take our time looking over favorite parts of the exhibit.

Why is it called the Valmadonna Trust? The Trust’s custodian, Jack Lunzer of Britain,  considered buying land near Valmadonna, Italy before WWII, he didn’t buy but he liked the name and used it for the Trust.*** Before you all ask: He made his money in industrial diamonds.

Let’s hope that this library is acquired by a great institution, a university or museum and available in the future. Perhaps it belongs at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

*** Caroline corrected this and says that Mr Lunzer did buy the land near Valmadonna Italy after WWII.  Please see her full comment below the photos.

Since the exhibit is now closed, I have added these photos, all by Jeff French Segall, for those of you who were not able to see this exhibit at Sotheby´s.

In Search of the Bene Israel by Sadia Shepard is a moving and compelling documentary about the 2000 year old Jewish community of the Mumbai region. The film-maker is a descendant of this community and she shares the story of the BeneIsrael and of her beloved grandmother very tenderly and thoughtfully with us, the lucky viewers.

Her Jewish grandmother eloped as a young person with a Muslim man, they moved to Pakistan and then to the US where eventually, the film-maker was born. SadiaShepard returned to spend a full year working with the remaining Jewish community in and around Mumbai. The majority of this community has emigrated and now lives in Israel.

Also, the Bene Israel say that they have never experienced anti-Semitism in their 2000 years in India, -what a wonderful heritage. They clearly love India deeply but want more economic opportunity and to stem the tide of assimilation.

The documentary explores the myths, history and current reality of this fascinating community.

We saw this in a screening at the Walter Reade Theatre as part of the Jewish Film Festival and this film  will be screened again at the 13th Annual Sephardic Film Festival at the Center for Jewish History. It is a marvelous film not to be missed.

See the post below this for more details about the 13th Sephardic Film Festival.

At the same afternoon screening, we travelled from crowded Mumbai of the Bene Israel, and a community in the midst of emigrating to Israel, into the lush Amazon rainforest in Peru in The Fire Within: Jews in the Amazonian Rainforest by Lorry Salcedo Mitrani. This film is about a community of Jews from the Amazon who have relocated in the Negev desert in Israel.

These 300 to 400 Jews are the descendants of Jewish men who came to the Amazon seeking their fortunes in the rubber boom during the late 1800’s, and their indigenous wives and girlfriends. We follow their journey to become fully recognised as Jews, their mass conversion to Judaism, and their emigration and stunningly remarkable adjustment to life in Israel. We meet the scholar, Ariel Segal, and the Rabbis who took part in this remarkable education and conversion. Engrossing.

Clearly, the Jews of the Amazon have a real historical and cultural claim on their Jewish ties as certainly do the Bene Israel of Mumbai. 

These films also brought to mind what we learned when we were in Israel in the summer 0f 2007.  We learned that many desperate people from Africa make their way across the African continent each year to the Egyptian border with Israel and beg for political and economic asylum and the right to live in Israel. They say that the Jews should know what it is to be homeless, destitute and war-tossed, and not wanted by other countries, and they ask to be admitted into Israel for a chance to make a new more prosperous life.

Israel sorts through their claims and tries to find the true political asylum seekers for admission into Israel and sort them out from the economic immigrants since no country can admit all comers.  We do not know why this human story has not been the topic of any reporting we have seen in the regular press.

The 13th New York Sephardic Film Festival will run for one week screening 15 films from 14 countries.

These will be shown at three venues: The Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, The JCC of NY on Amsterdam Avenue at 76th st and in Miami,  Sunrise Cinema at the Intercoastal Mall.  Please click on their site above for ticket and event details.

February 5 through February 12.

GothamGirl hopes to have at least 3 reviewers attend the various screenings and events.

Each year we love this festival!

The Limmud conference was a disaster. No heat in the bedrooms, freezing cold conference rooms..water pouring from a lobby ceiling into a garbage cans, fire alarms going off on Saturday morning..people had to attend sessions in their coats, hats , gloves and scarves. The steering committee knew that there was a heating problem and assured attendees on Friday that the problem was fixed and that the conference would not be cancelled.

Many people were quite smart and didn’t bother to go up to the Nevele Grande. Those that arrived on Thursday were sent to a nearby resort but friends told us that the place where they were sent had no heat either, so they made their own private arrangements and stayed 20 minutes away from the conference.

We spend a completely sleepless frozen Friday night and along with about 1/3 of the attendees, at 12:30 am Friday someone using a master key, opened our door without even knocking (!) and asked if we had any room for more people, up to 5 people were sharing rooms.

We fled back home to New York City on Saturday. The conference had to supply a bus (maybe buses?) to bring home some of the attendees that wanted to flee the awful conditions at the Nevele.

When we returned to NYC Sat evening by car and we took home a friend that swore he would have nothing to do with Limmud again.

He said that the organisers did not consider the safety and health of the participants. We felt very responsible for encouraging him and others to attend.

I ended up quite sick with fever, cough and chills, I am writing this today because it is the first day that I feel a bit better and can sit up and write.

Limmud knew that there was a heating problem, they almost cancelled the conference and then sent out emails and a website notice that all was well and the conference was on after all. This was a terrible (perhaps cynical) action. There were hundreds of cold people.

An elderly woman sat with us at Saturday lunch and  said that she would have nothing more to do with Limmud and hoped to go home as soon as possible. So sad after all of the planning and hopes for a good conference.
  
They should have cancelled the conference for safety and health reasons. There were infants, the elderly, and many who could not take these unexpected severe conditions.

The LimmudNY website has a lovely thank you letter for a great conference from a presenter, and nice photos of smiling people, many bundled up in their outdoor clothing although they are indoors.

The Steering Committee worked hard to cope with the problems but it was all beyond their most decent efforts. We understand that when they had a lot less people attending and they could consolidate rooms and presentations spaces, that the conditions improved somewhat.

This was all such a  deep disappointment.

We asked if there would be any refunds of the fees but have not yet received the courtesy of a response.

Please click the comments button below and read these insightful comments from readers and join the conversation…and a follow up note: just learned that two more friends became sick after returning from the weekend.

We will be heading off to the extremely frozen Catskills for a warm, long MLK, JR weekend to attend LimmudNy 09. I hope to tell you about it as it occurs.

There is so much scheduled for the convention ….a constantly running Film festival, theatre, classes, workshops, musicians and a cafe to sit around with friends, catch up and compare notes and choose what to do next.

About 1000 people will be at the Nevele Grande for this four-day convention.

We will drive 2 hours north and west from NYC, park the car, and let Limmud and the resort absorb and take care of us for the next few days.

No work. Just art, Shabbat and learning, a true pleasure.

My 7 year-old neighbor, Hannah,  informed me during an elevator ride yesterday, that the Nevele Grande will shut down after this coming summer season.

This was shocking. First because this savvy 7 year-old was in the know. Her friends summer there each year and they are very sad that this will be their last summer, and the Nevele is among the very last of the old time Catskill resorts.

It is so remarkable to learn that such young New Yorkers care so much about this and that we all share such affection for “the mountains” and for this not-new resort.

The Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery is a salon-style gallery located in a brownstone at 46 West 90th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.

We dropped by with friends for the opening of the new show called Passages in Black and White, featuring photos by Jessica M. Kaufman and Heather Boose Weiss.  We enjoyed the photos of both photographers, the very positive crowd and the warm atmosphere. You must call in advance to see the show.

Afterwards, 6 of us went to a nearby local favorite: Bella Luna Restaurant ( Columbus Avenue between 89 and 90th Streets) for dinner and we really lucked out. It was Jazz night! This welcoming, delicious, northern-Italian style restaurant has live Jazz guitarists on Tuesday nights. They are excellent.

The hostess welcomed our group and sat us, even without reservations, the food was quite good as always, the service is always positive, and the same gang seems to be at the bar anytime you drop in adding to the welcoming ambiance. The price is very reasonable too.

OK, OK, it is really happening in Washington, DC but considering that our 44th President received about 95% of the Upper West Side vote, we can have a special party for him and feel it is ours too. 

Symphony Space  will open it’s doors for free on January 20 and the Inauguration will be shown on their big screen. (Peter Jay Sharp Theatre). They have invited everyone to come, bring or buy lunch, or in true West Side style you may order in, and enjoy this stunning, historic, happy event. Starts at 10 am. 95th Street and Broadway.

In addition to the many private Inauguration parties that evening, many community places are have community viewing parties of the inaugural events. Our building has a party room which will have a special big-screen gathering of neighbors so that they can celebrate this inauguration together.

There has never been an inauguration like this one.

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The first time I travelled from NYC to DCwas on an old schoolbus full of demonstrators with banners tied to the sides of the bus that read “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom“.  We entered DC through the poorest neighborhood I had ever seen.  It was intensely, painfully shocking to realize that this was our national capital.

The  neighborhood residents in the street read our banners, saw our faces and greeted us with waves and lovely , big smiles. We had arrived a few days early for the great March on Washington. We took part in passive resistance training sessions at our host church (meant for future demonstrations), and slept on cots or sleeping bags in a basement of the church whose members welcomed us and treated us like we were their own (but slightly strange) children. I will always have their wonderful, personal hospitality in my heart.

The demonstration and Martin Luther King Jr’s speech were thrilling.

After these few days in DC I badly needed a shower, so I was told to go to the YMCA, deny that I am a demonstrator if asked, and I could pay $2  to use the “Y”s gym shower facilities. Would they really ask if I am a demonstrator?? They sure did! Two women drawled that question through very suspicious blue eyes at me. I denied that I was a demonstrator in my most excellent NY accent back at them and smiled. I showered. I learned that DC was quite southern and that I was categorized as “white” in the South.

It made me remember the Chelm story about the goat which was female in one town, exchanged along the road by pranksters and is male when it arrives in the next town, and back and forth again.  So, Jewish in NYC, white in the south. I got it. But I had not been “exchanged”, I just learned how people choose to see so differently.

We all dreamed with MLK Jr, and now we thankfully have a very changed world from those times, MLK, JR National holiday, and amazingly, President Barack Obama.

Bless him to be able to do the work we need to be done to repair our country and to make a great future.

With so many wonderful places in New York City to have Tea with friends, I would recommend skipping the Mandarin Oriental Lobby Lounge in the Time-Warner building at Columbus Circle. We received dreadful service, they did not prepare correctly for our reservation, and the sandwiches were on the verge of being dried out. Go anywhere else.

New York has places with so much more warmth, character and lovely views than this disappointing spot.  The 35th floor view of Central Park does not make up for their poor service. Our host arranged well in advance for a table at the window for 9, when we arrived, it was set for 7 and could not be expanded. We stood and waited (at least a half hour, until we asked to sit while waiting) , while they put together a space for us. The manager and hostess were not in any way accommodating and the busy staff had no idea what to do. 

Instead of being welcomed guests we were “in the way”…

Considering that Tea service is $38 per person, this proves that they have no idea that their real business is hospitality. Just ridiculous.

We are adaptable New Yorkers so it takes much more than just stupid rudeness to stop us from having a good time–We had an excellent time in each other’s company,  enjoyed the lovely snow over the park,  and we will have an afternoon Tea together again,  though we will not be back to the Mandarin Oriental.

The Bard Graduate Center Museum will have on exhibit English Embroidery from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Twixt Art and Nature through April 12, 2009. The exhibit features extraordinary examples of embroidery from 1580 through 1700. Many materials are used: tiny pearls, hand made spangles, gold wire wrapped cord, silk and other threads etc. It is a mixed media of it’s time. The skill level is amazing, it is as if the sewers thought that they could hold together the very order of society with their tiny stitches.

There is a stunningly embroidered woman’s jacket that seems to be so tiny, perhaps today it might be girl’s size 10.  A video of sewers re-creating this jacket plays in the next gallery, and there is copy of a painting of a woman wearing this style jacket, plus the thoughtful information cards makes this exhibit satisfying and special. The exhibit explanation cards are excellent, locating the objects in time and in culture.

The embroiderers created 3-D figures, and faces of cherubs which reminded me of the type of needle work seen on old Torah Mantles which  often have lions and arks but not human figures. There are portraits of British nobility whose heads are surrounded by gold reminiscent of halos in Byzantine mosaics of saints. There personal items such as gloves and purses and household decoration some with biblical scenes.

Adam and Eve were popular motifs as was the story of Queen Esther.  It is remarkable to think that the English of that time period thought of the story of Queen Esther as glorifying obedience to one’s husband (the King), since in Esther’s story the King Ahashverosh is clearly described as a distracted king easily manipulated by his aide, Haman. Actually, the story of Queen Esther has quite a different meaning.

Bard Museum

The Center also offers an exhibition-related education program of workshops and lectures and there will be an all-day Symposium on January 23 held at the MAD Museum on Columbus Circle relating to this exhibit.

This small museum is located in a town house at 18 West 86th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Admission is only $3 and less for seniors.

The Bard Graduate Center and this museum are treasures of New York.

Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story,  by a very youthful director from Oz,  Julian Shaw, will screen just twice on Thursday, January 29 at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, as part of the 18th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival. Ironically, it’s paired with another doc, The Woman from Sarajevo, about a Muslim woman from the city famous for its Haggadah, the daughter of a Righteous Gentile, who becomes an Israeli and a Jew.

Evita Bezuidenhout, the Most Famous White Woman in South Africa, was profiled by the Gray Lady during the height of apartheid and the hype of its  supporter, Ronald Reagan. (If you recall, he was an actor who added politician to his CV while retaining a, um, TV presence.) 

Mrs Bezuidenhout, the ambassador to a Bantustan just outside her posh suburban Johannesburg door, was and still is satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys. Pieter/Evita remains a national presence as his/her country transitioned to democracy. As Uys - pronounced “ace” notes - “politics no longer kills, it just irritates.”

The son of two concert pianists - a Calvinist Afrikaner father and a Jewish Nazi-Berlin refugee mother - with a London-resident sister who hewed to her parents’ career tradition, Uys is clearly a concert artist him, um, her self.

Nowadays this good friend of two giants, Nelson Mandela & Desmond Tutu, uses the tricks of his/her trade - to battle public ignorance about HIV/AIDS, a serious problem in what is supposed to be the moral beacon of much of the continent.

The audience is the rainbow of South African youth.

They love the Pieter/Evita transformations. These personalities, the subject of a documentary, Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story, by Julian Shaw, will screen just twice on Thursday, January 29 at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, as part of the 18th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival. Ironically, it’s paired with another doc, The Woman from Sarajevo, about a Muslim woman from the city famous for its Haggadah, the daughter of a Righteous Gentile, who becomes an Israeli and a Jew.

If you’ve been culturally closeted of late, you may have missed, but must go see the much praised performance of Sean Penn,  the straight, agnostic son of a once backlisted Russian-Lithuanian Jewish actor/director father and an Italian-Irish Catholic actress mother as the Long Island-reared,  closeted , athletic, funny  Jewish guy in the gray flannel suit - Harvey Milk - who makes a break from New York to San Francisco, at the tender age of 40. The Gus Van Sant eponymous film traces the stirred up ex-New Yorker’s emerging political clout in the western city of seven hills and the Shaar Zahar state.

This emotionally powerful, dramatic work weaves in documentary footage reaches a crescendo in a nationally-observed statewide political referendum that mirrors the recent, closely-watched referendum that rolled back marriage right.

Released on the 30th anniversary of the protagonist’s assassination, Milk can be seen at several New York area theaters.

Perhaps imbibing Milk’s coalition-building skills, a New York State LGBT rights group ESPA has linked with major unions, a tenants rights organization and progressives to
challenge three Democratic State Senators who’ve threatened to block the voters will and much legislation in Albany.

No documentary or dramatic film, as yet.

“Waiting for Armageddon” will be screened at the NY Jewish Film Festival in January 2009. This fascinating and absorbing documentary brings us into the personal lives of extreme Evangelical Christians. It is a troubling film and I would recommend seeing it.

These Christian fundamentalists believe that the Jewish people and the state of Israel will play a central role in an apocalypse that will happen so soon, that they believe that their own children do not have time to grow to adulthood before the destruction of the world. The film also examines the effect of Christian fundamentalism on American policy in the Mideast.

The film travels with them from their homes and churches in America to Israel and we hear their alarming views, such as their happy expectation that the Dome of the Rock will be destroyed at any moment. We stand with them on peaceful looking Har Megiddo in Israel, which is the Armageddon of the Christian Bible, as they happily anticipate the ingathering and total destruction of the Jewish people closely followed by the destruction of everyone else in the world who does not believe as they do. They have that weird glow in their eyes of strange cultists with sweet smiles.

Christianity teaches that God is love, yet these fundamentalists are steeped in a happy anticipation of graphic, cruel, death and destruction by means of horrible violence. The film asserts that there are about 50 million American Christian fundamentals of this sort. They seem to be close cousins of the Americans who believe in alien abductions, although the “abductees” are not as violent in their visions.

Both groups seem to have mental health issues. Perhaps a poor adjustment to the truly hard realities of the world. A therapist friend says that the “abductees” are pshychotic, that is they are already living in a complete delusion while the “Soon-To-be-Raptureds” have a different disorder: they are incomplete as individuals and are afraid of disappearing or being erased.

Watching the fundamentalists at home, indoctrinating their children, raises questions about what kind of parents they might be considering that they believe these children will not reach adulthood. It is very troubling.

 The film includes a clip of Ehud Olmert happily welcoming these nuts to Israel, how extremely naive Olmert appears in this film. It is said that you should choose your enemies with care, this goes for choosing friends as well.

A Jewish extremist who would like to rebuild the Third Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock and re-establish the ancient rituals of animal sacrifice appears in the film. The Jewish people substituted prayer for sacrifice 2 millenia ago. I wish he had been better defined in this film so as to be clear that here presents a minority of extremists. Main stream Judaism hopes for a Messianic Age brought about by the positive actions of people, such as treating each other with compassion, and not by apocolypse, Armageddon, animal sacrifice, or tearing down other’s sacred places etc.

It is creepy to watch these Christian fundamentalists who are so normal looking, and seemingly educated people happily expecting the most violent end of the world and death of millions of human beings.