February 19, 2015

Storm shmorm. We're going out. The thought of watching news is terrifying.

So we went out and talked to our friends about all the horrors of the election, the smothering of culture by the government, the antisemitism we're all encountering in the world, the anti-left propaganda, the corruption of Bibi - all the things we escaped our televisions to find in the restaurant. But at least we had great food - There is something about Papa's that is always good, and I didn't mind braving the weather for the lentil-caviar soup and the fish.

Back home we went out to tie down the trees in the garden in anticipation of the big storm. I got most of the house plants in this afternoon. Think of the millions of new refugees from Syria in their tents. Brrrr.

And what do you know? Papa's was full. And we forgot the hail outside as we ate our carbonara and drank our grappa.

February 20, 2015

Rivka Basman is 90, and her party drew an impressive audience. Lectures, readings, music and singing, films and letters from all over praised and demonstrated the importance of her work. Even a facebook friend from Bangalesh translated her to Bengali.

יידיש

ווי גוט איז מיר
אז איר פארשטייט ניט
וואס איך שרייב.
א פויגל פריי
וואס מעג אנטפלעקן
תהום און הימל.
נאר ווען איך האלט ביים סוף,
ווען איך פארשרייב
דאס הארץ=געקלטפ אויף יידיש
אנטהילט זיך פון באהעלטעניש
א טרער פון מיין געמיט
צום ניט פארשטיין
מיין יידיש ליד.

רבקה באסמאן בן-חיים

How wonderful for me
That you can’t understand
What I write.
A bird released
That can reveal
Abyss and heaven.

But when I’m nearing the end
Writing the heartbeat of Yiddish
A tear escapes
That you cannot know
My Yiddish poem.

Saif Ibne Rafiq

Dhaka, Bangladesh

ইডিশ
[পূর্ব ইউরোপের বিলুপ্তপ্রায় ভাষা ইডিশ (Yiddish)। ওই ভাষায় লেখা Ravika Basman-এর কবিতার ইংরেজি করেছেন Karen Alkalay-Gut
তার ফেসবুক ওয়ালে প্রকাশিত ইংরেজির বাংলা ভার্সন]
কী আশ্চর্য,
তুমি বুঝতে পারছো না
আমি কী লিখছি!
স্বর্গ-নরকের গোপনীয়়তা ফাঁস করতে
একটা পাখি ছেড়ে দিলাম।
শেষপ্রান্তে, যখন আমি
ইডিশ হৃদস্পন্দন লিখছি;
এক ফোঁটা অশ্রু পালিয়ে বাঁচে,
কারণ, তুমি আমার ইডিশ কবিতাটি
বুঝবে না।

February 21, 2015

Snow covered many of our cities, sometimes for the first time, and we too were wakened by thunderstorms all night, but the day was glorious in Tel Aviv. Except for some morning rain that fell exactly when I was getting out of the car to meet friends for brunch, the day was sun-drenched. While some of our residents were making snow balls with what was left on the grass in Jerusalem, we wandered around Tel Aviv to see what was new and what is falling apart. We even examined the Norman Hotel with its really elegant architecture and fine looking restaurants. The contrast between the refurbished homes and the neglected buildings is so great, it is s truly remarkable element of Tel Aviv. But here's an example of the old elegance, the Pagoda building