June 12, 2017
There are so many unicorns in New York. The specific search we made today was for a soft pink unicorn for Orit's daughter, and it took us from Chinatown to the upper East side. No museums, no elegant department stores, (with a single exception in the evening) almost no friends. In the past I always spent a great deal of time with friends, but Ann Birstein's death somehow made me wary of attachments, meeting the usual people in our usual spots. With very few exceptions I prefer searching for unicorns.
The thing about NY is the sudden intimacies that are created and the overwhelming loneliness that is pervasive among so many of the people. I share secrets with the cosmetics salesgirl and I am pretty sure that is the closest she will come to human contact this weekend. That sounds horrible, I know. horrible and supercilious. but i really like her. and there are dozens of people i've met this week that have been wonderful to me and are really nice people. and this wouldn't happen in tel aviv.
June 14, 2017
Less and less I see the Judaism of the US related to the Judaism of Israel. Israel is definitely been marginalized as an embarassment to the religion and the people. Nevertheless for me it is not marginalized. it needs
June 14, 2017
What does it need? I forgot.
Regards from Rainchester, where the lake has flooded out some of the businesses on the shore, and the unfairness of climate change is apparent. We're drying up in the Middle East and Rochester is being covered with water and in danger of flooding her neighbors. alevei alei.
this example just intensifies the need we're going to be feeling for cooperation in a world of change. sharing, helping, uniting.
We listened to Sessions testimony yesterday and the opposite was apparent. the hunger for division, for self-protection, for accusation.
June 15, 2017
Someone reminded me today of how my father visited Bobby Kennedy in 1967 to ask for his support of Israel after the six day war. There is a photograph of the little delegation in my computer at home - i'll have to find it.
The fervor for Israel then was so great - it was as if every individual was involved in the effort to save the country. I am now in the same place as I was in 1967, and the sense of salvation feels so different.
June 15, 2017
The past becomes present. Today we heard CDs of my parents talking about their history, many things i didn't remember or never knew. We visited their graves. we saw photographs of my old teachers. we spoke with old friends. In Israel my childhood is a fantasy, a story i try to tell people like the ancient mariner. in rochester it is palpable.
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