Keep on Drawing!

 

Drawing is difficult. Well, it feels difficult. To me. Possibly I focus on that too much. Anyway, it's a struggle. One of the great things about our #DrawingTogether group is the support that is given to anyone who dares to share how they feel. I have not yet stopped feeling intimidated by the quality of work so many seem able to produce so quickly. Yet these same artists always find something positive to mention about what I (and everyone else) share onscreen. This is a blessing.

Today's warm-up was 5 minutes to draw the Coronavirus. Quite a few people in the USA seemed hopeful and positive, looking towards the light. I still feel it looms over us, certainly here, so that's what I drew. 

The main exercise was to draw four panels, with 5 minutes for each one. The first was of three new objects with which we have become familiar during the pandemic:

I drew my drawing pencil (gosh it is getting short), with which I entered this group, a mask, and the white hair on my head revealed by the lack of access to a hairdresser (combined with my unwillingness to try and dye it myself which goes back to an incident with some cochineal when I was a teenager).

Then our moderator, the Spanish doctor and cartoonist Monica Lalanda, asked us to bring these three objects to life and name them:

The directions for the next 2 panels were tough for me:  we were to draw our creations interacting with each other. My mind went blank. All I could think was, I cannot do this. I wrote this thought in the chat, I said I couldn't see them interacting. Monica and others encouraged me not to give up. Someone suggested that I should draw them meeting, and I thought ok I will have a go. 

I don't know how Mascherina became the bad one, but that's how she turned out. Wispo appears to have gone to Egypt*. And then Tip found a way:

Not great drawings technically, but important for me because I didn't give up. & Monica made a point of saying to me that when the pandemic is over, I must keep drawing. 

That moment when it seems too hard, and you just want to stop. Or, you can whine for a moment, and then have another go. Thank you for the blessing that is Drawing Together.

* not a Pesach theme but a bad pun (they are in denial. I'll get my coat).

RIP Captain Sir Tom Moore

Sad news from the UK this afternoon as the death was announced of Captain Sir Tom Moore. Yet another victim of the dread coronavirus. If you don't know his story, please look it up - here is a link. In a few short months, during a dark time in the community, he lifted the hearts and spirits of so many people.

The obituary in the Times today concluded with these words:

"Moore, who could offer no recipe for his own longevity, declared simply that he lived believing "tomorrow is going to be better than today, even if today was a good day". As for the risk of catching coronavirus himself, he was pragmatic. "If I get it, I get it, I'm not worried at all," he said. "You have endless chances of dying, in the end everyone has a turn, it has to happen sometime."

Thank you for your service, Captain Sir Tom. Rest in peace.

 

On the Way Home

The Wednesday afternoon class that I teach is so terribly afflicted by Covid restrictions - masks on all the time, everyone must stay in their seats, nobody can touch anything touched by someone else, everyone must work individually, etc. After a full day of school these nineteen 12-year-olds are to be commended for not going all Lord of the Flies on me during our 2 hours together, and I am learning what it is possible to teach under such circumstances.

When it's time to go home, the children find a renewed energy and burst out of the doors of the school. I walk home gently, carefully, saving myself for the three flights of stairs at the end of the journey. Today I stopped on the way, by the door of the now defunct Peccati di Gola (Sins of Gluttony) chocolate shop, and watched this cyclist practice the trick of riding along the wall.

The photo is a little out of focus (low light and an iPhone6) but I enjoyed watching, especially that he kept coming back to try again. I have a week to reset myself, and will try again at the school next week!

Finding Focus

It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last, that I note that I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. This is, of course, compounded by the fact that I think I share the feeling with almost everyone I know. While everything is relative, I think these are really tough times, and I'm definitely seeking direction.

The other day I came upon the note pictured above. If I remember correctly, it was from a WRN Biennial in 1997. I had just escaped from my first job in Toronto for a few days in the sun with  friends and colleagues,  and was really a bit low. There was a group exercise where we shared some thoughts and feelings, and afterwards wrote messages for each other. I have no memory if and what I wrote for someone else, but I kept the message I received:

God's lion

You are so strongly and beautifully

who you are

Shine

Roar

Love (not exactly legible but have always read it as this)

Heal

Heal others

May you be blessed

as you find the

Blessing in others.

It comforted me then. As I reread it today, it seems clear to me that I need to refocus. I am thinking so much about all the things that are making me feel bad - physical pain, how the coronavirus may and does affect my life, work problems, the deaths of old family friends (& famous people whose work I appreciate), people behaving badly, governments and their actions. This message reminds me not just to seek, but to FIND the blessing in others. It is certainly there.

Thank you to the author:  my colleague and teacher, Rabbi Karyn Kedar.

Shavuatov.

 

MMMMMmiaow

Here is Sara the Cat enjoying some attention from L this evening. I don't want to anthropomorphise our cat so I have to admit I have no idea how she feels about most things. The almost silent rumble deep in her throat however, according to experience, appears to suggest some pleasure on her part.

Sara spends the most time playing with things we would otherwise throw away - empty boxes, an old wickerwork basket, the insides of toilet rolls, bits of string or old ribbons, and scrunched-up paper on its way to the recycling bin. There's clearly some kind of lesson there, but just now I'd rather be playing with her.

The life of a house-cat is certainly appealing. Food that you like is available whenever you wish. Although you spend a lot of time caring for your personal hygiene, all else is the task of others, including the swift removal of your natural excretions and the equally speedy restocking of your litterbox. You may sleep as much as you wish, and with a couple of cute tricks can easily encourage your flat-mates to play with you. You sit at the window and look out at what is happening in the world. Finally, you are loved and caressed and feel safe in your home. 

Come to think of it, life under lockdown sometimes isn't that far away from what I've just described. Miaow!

The Snorkel Solution

It's been a while since I tried to draw anything. I missed the last #DrawingTogetherGM gathering as it took place during Kol Nidre. And I missed several opportunities to sit down and draw something. But my mind was blank. 

Something came to mind this afternoon, so here it is:

O yes, and please wash your hands and keep your distance and wear a mask and wear it properly.

Thank you.

Didn't We Have a Lovely Time the Day We Went to Mantova

The original plan for this birthday was a trip to Venice. A kind friend had offered us the opportunity to stay somewhere, and the city was supposed to be relatively empty for the time of year. However, especially just before the Chagim, and with the numbers creeping up again, it did not seem sensible to travel by public transport, so we decided to wait until a more auspicious moment.

Nu, we needed to find somewhere to go for the day, somewhere reachable in the Pandina. Then L suggested Mantova. I knew sod all about Mantova, and initially wasn't very enthusiastic. How wrong I was!

The weather was lovely - just hot enough for L, but heading for autumn in a way that meant I could wear long trousers and sandals. And this was our first view of the city. With swans. Not the greatest photo, especially because it really cannot convey the WOW factor of suddenly being hit by this view from the car.

We were trying to make it there by 10:30 am so we had a shot at getting into the synagogue before it closed. The lady on the phone said the time was inflexible because of their alarm system. We just made it, and while the docent concluded her previous meeting, Piglet got a chance to pose again:

Our guide began by asking us to prepare a small donation for the work of the synagogue to be given to her at the end of her tour. She then took us straight into the sanctuary. She told us everything, about the past, her past, the current community ... including the incongruent information that the rabbi in Verona had recently divorced his wife. 

It really was a quite lovely conversation in the end. At one point, while I was taking some pictures, she asked L if I was married. L said no, and that we are together, which she took quite well I think as before we left she said next time we come to Mantova we should call her and all go for a coffee together. I do wonder, though, if she had been thinking that I might be a prospective match for the newly-single rabbi!

This visit made our day, and anything else would be icing on the cake. Speaking of which, we then walked to the Centro Storico

and found a cafe with a table partly in the sun & partly in the shade where we could partake of some refreshments and I could receive my birthday bounty.

Maybe when you get to be this old you are a bit tired and don't want to see everything, or maybe you realise that you don't have to tick all the tourist boxes. We wandered for a while. I learned about a local delicacy - Mostarda Mantovana (more fruit than savoury condiment)

We had a lovely picnic lunch in the garden of the Palazzo Ducale. Mantova is quite a meaty place, and porky also, so L had prepared some delicious panini full of ingredients that kosher and veggie folk could enjoy without fear. Then we went to get a map from the tourist info office, which happens to be in Rigoletto's house, so Piglet was able to pose with the statue in the garden, and "Pigoletto" came to be!

I'd been up late the night before trying to make some peach jam, and was beginning to run out of steam. But there was one other place that I definitely had to visit. We bought a postcard for my niece by the Basilica di Sant'Andrea, and then walked through what was once the Jewish Ghetto.

There is so much to see when walking through a city, and on so many levels: up above eye level & down; shapes and colours of buildings & details of windows, walls and doors; people and what they are doing. This was one of my favourite details, from a door somewhere between the synagogue and the Piazza delle Erbe. Is it a tree, or an alien?

Our final planned destination was the Casa del Rabbino. It is a 17th-century building from the ghetto, and doesn't seem to have an actual rabbi connected to it. Thus this rabbina had to have a look. Unfortunately from a visitor's point of view it is a private building, and cannot be visited. So we took a few pictures from the outside

We considered visiting Palazzo Te, especially the Chamber of Giants, but we passed the car park on the way there, and decided to drive there, and then decided to keep driving. We hope to return to Mantova, and to begin the trip at Palazzo Te with our batteries fully charged. We beat the rush hour on the autostrada, and made it home with time to rest before a celebratory dinner with friends.

What a wonderful day! What a great suggestion by L! Grazie mille!

L'Ègoiste

 

It is a simple equation:  me wearing a mask can help you, and you wearing a mask can help me. How can that impinge on your freedom? Yet it seems that many people believe that their liberties are threatened by this act of reciprocity. If only all our heads of government would lead by example.

Nu, several weeks ago this idea for a political cartoon came to mind, and I sketched it out. Today I inked over the pencil (I was really anxious about doing that, afraid of messing things up, but finally I did do it), and here it is. My first go, so a bit rough I know. Also needs a particular cultural reference to make any sense:  somewhere around 1990 there was a tv ad that I absolutely adored and have never forgotten (you may remind yourself or introduce it to yourself here *).

* a translation of what the women are screaming may be found at the end of the wiki article here

Lost in Modena

 

Usually at this time of year Modena is teeming with tourists. Not so during the time of Coronavirus. On my way home the other day, I noticed a couple who looked a bit lost. She was walking in a wandering style, and he had stopped and was looking at his phone and then around and then back at the phone. As I passed them I heard him say something in English, so I said, "may I help you? Are you lost?" "Yes," replied the woman, "but that is the plan." "Ok, " I said, "enjoy!"

Trending Today: Medieval Wine Windows

 

Lovely story making the rounds today about medieval wine windows (buchette del vino). Read in the Independent (full story here) that a number of establishments in Firenze are reviving a tradition that goes back to the 17th century when bubonic plague ravaged the city:

"During the plague, wine producers would pass the flask of wine through the window to customers in order to prevent contagion.

As for payment, they would pass a metal pallet to the customer, who would fill it with coins, and then the wine producer would disinfect them with vinegar before collecting them."

Not sure which was the original story, but there are now several versions online. I like this one. Don't like wine so much, though. Not at the moment - it's too darn hot. Just one sip of the lovely local Lambrusco and bubbles of my boiling blood burst through my skin. Or something like that. 

#DrawingTogetherGM 9: A Brave New World

In the Graphic Medicine Drawing group tonight, our host read us the following paragraph:

"Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it." (Ahrundhati Roy)

Our drawing task tonight was (in c. 12 minutes) to draw what we see on either side of such a portal. 

This is what I managed to draw (it sounds long, but 12 minutes passes very quickly):

I am gingerly making my way through the portal, but still very tentative. Not sure if I'm ready or able to face this brave new world. And here's the thing about the mask - it is really driving me nuts at the moment to see so many people outside without a mask and not keeping a healthy distance from others. I want to scream at them, PUT YOUR BLOODY MASK ON! I just don't understand why people see it as an attack on their personal freedom. If I wear a mask, it is to try and protect YOU. And it won't work very well if you don't do it as well, since success depends on a mutual commitment to the method. 

When asked to speak about my drawing to the group I said, I'd like to leave behind the idea that one is protecting oneself, and bring with the idea of supporting each other. The reason I am still neither in nor out of the portal is because I am conflicted. I want to do the right thing, but still hold onto some worry for my personal safety. 

Nu, governments everywhere are opening life up much more this coming week. I hope we can find a balance between relief from the stress of lockdown, and needing to maintain the most scrupulous standards of protection against the virus. The hot weather that is expected for the next few months may keep the germs at bay for a while, but we shouldn't forget all the asymptomatic carriers out there. 

Stay safe and stay well!

Who is a Mumpsimus?

We all know who they are. Now we have a name for them. Thank you, Susie! 

(NB for future reference, when the context may be too distant to remember, I suspect this might be connected to the current fuss about the PM's aide Dominic Cummings who helped to format the lockdown laws, but apparently believes they do not apply to his own behaviour)

Living under Lockdown Phase 2 Day 2: The Sounds of Spring

It's May in Modena, and the temperature is rising. People are starting to leave their windows open, and forget that everything that happens at home is now audible to all. We will get used to it again, but it will take a while. For now, well ...

Parshat Acharei Mot Kedoshim

Here are a few words I wrote for the Liberal Judaism website for their Thought for the Week page

Greetings from Modena!

Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

Thoughts of the world outside our current Lockdown bubbles turn first to those stricken by Covid-19 – may they be healed in body and spirit.  We also think of those who do their best in myriad ways throughout the system to care for the sick. There are no words to describe the magnitude of their service. We thank them with all our hearts. 

To protect ourselves, and each other, we have remained physically within our homes. Hopefully they are places of safety, even if we feel constrained. We reach out into the ether via unstable internet connections to continue work, if we still have a job; to contact loved ones far and near, and to occupy our minds and hearts. Much time has been spent in alien worlds, ranging from a Borg cube to the imagined centre of ultra-orthodox communities in Brooklyn & Bnei Brak. And people have come to synagogue! Zoom[1] has brought us together to pray, to celebrate our festivals, and to study Torah.

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim is one of the double Torah portions that can be split when there is a leap year in the Hebrew calendar and extra portions are needed for the extra leap month. 5780 may not be a leap year, but 2020 is. And in 2020, I see a split between the portions.

Acharei Mot is set in the period after the death of Nadav and Avihu, the sudden, inexplicable and devastating death of Aaron’s sons. In the wake of this shocking event, Moses is given instructions for Yom Kippur, followed by a list of sexual prohibitions that define the Biblical boundaries of family relationships. God says that following these mitzvot will protect the Israelites from spiritual corruption, and keep them safe in their land. While now we have a different interpretation of some of these ancient laws, we can certainly empathise with tough measures as an initial response to a severe threat to the entire community.

Kedoshim takes us into Phase 2. Having turned our faces from the yetser ra, our evil inclinations, God teaches us what we should be doing, pointing us towards the yetser tov. The topic sentence of the portion is:  “Be holy, because I, Adonai your God, am holy.”[2] But what does it mean to be holy? This is a question that we don’t often discuss. We might talk about being separate, but what does that mean? Different? Special? Each word leads to a further examination of its own meaning, and even further from the original question. What does it mean to be holy? Rabbi Joe Black reminds us that we are created b’tselem elohim, in the image of God, which means that we have holiness naturally within us.[3] We don’t have to define it. We just need to learn how to find it.

Could this be the purpose of the mitzvot? When we are in lockdown, there’s not much we can do but think about things, turning them this way and that. As the windows and doors open, and we are able to interact with each other again, what are we going to do? How shall we behave? Will we do anything differently? Kedoshim commands us to leave the corners of our fields and the gleanings for the poor and the stranger.[4] We must not deal deceitfully or falsely with one another.[5] We must not stand idly by while the blood of our neighbour is shed.[6] There are a lot of marvellous mitzvot in Kedoshim, but if I could choose one with which to start it is, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”[7] It all begins with compassion.

This week, I see my neighbours in the UK in Acharei Mot, in the valley of the shadow of death. Your phase of the journey still has some way to go. But it will end, hopefully very soon. Here in Italy, we are a couple of weeks ahead of you, and about to enter Phase 2, Kedoshim. Our nerves are terribly frayed, and it is so easy to take offence at words said or typed by others. As we move towards more social interaction, we should recognize how sensitive we are. We should begin with compassion, being kind to others, and gentle with ourselves. And, as we regain our strength, we can return to the holy work of reconnecting with our loved ones, and rebuilding our communities. We will be holy, because it is an essential part of our nature. Learn from what we do well, and from where we falter. Meanwhile, we look forward to the time when we can continue that work together with all of you.

Shabbat shalom.

---

[1] and, of course, other platforms, e.g., Google Hangouts, Skype & FaceBook. But mostly Zoom.

[2] Leviticus 19:2

[3] CCAR RavBlog 28.04.20

[4] Lev. 19:9

[5] Lev. 19:11

[6] Lev. 19:16

[7] Lev. 19:18

Living under Lockdown Day 40something: Saturday Afternoons

There are many of us who feel bereft on a Saturday afternoon (and, since the takeover by the TV companies; Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and all the other days of the week as well as the nights) because the pandemic necessitated the closing down of our favourite sports. Although I'm now an Ex-Pat, I still follow my beloved R's religiously. Last weekend, however, I found myself strangely captivated by what RAI Sport had offered up to fill the aching hole in my supporting schedule. Instead of tracking the Luton v QPR match, I watched Italian billiards. Long enough to have to go and look up some rules. After I got over the fact that there were no pockets on the table, and that points seemed to be scored by knocking over some upended Q-Tips balancing precariously in the middle, I found the blue of the cloth quite calming, and soon managed to fall asleep. It was truly a Shabbat of Shalom.

Here today ...

Yesterday afternoon, the sun shone briefly through the living-room window (our street is narrow and the buildings are tall) and I took this picture of the cyclamen on the windowsill. This morning, the flower, and the plant were dead. It is a different experience from being together as two living things, yet something of this lovely flower continues to exist when I look at the picture, and it reminds me of the moment yesterday and how I felt.

Living under Lockdown Day 38: Farmacia

Had to go and refill my monthly prescriptions last week. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and I was just a bit anxious to be anywhere near anyone at all. Par for the course, I suppose. And a great pity that I couldn't enjoy even that brief walk.

NB I'm saying, "I'm a little afraid to go outdoors". The pharmacist's reply is, "You're not the only one."

The Belper Moo

Of all the different ways so far that people have gathered together despite the lockdown in order to express their feelings and share a moment, my favourite has to be the story I just read on the BBC website about the Belper Moo!

This is a link for you to enjoy.

Living under Lockdown Day 32: A Thought About Bitter Herbs

I've come across various versions of this thought over the last couple of days as I've been working on our online Haggadah for tomorrow night. The first was this animated film by Hanan Harchol. It's one of those lessons about which we need a regular reminder. Bitterness itself is part of life, and things that taste bitter can still have value for us. That value is the sweetness that we taste when we eat the charoset with the maror on our Seder plate. The problem comes if we let ourselves be consumed by bitterness. So I had a go at a drawing!

In fact, I thought I'd add this drawing to our Haggadah for the Or 'Ammim Seder. Lior helped me with an appropriate Italian translation. Italian-speakers, che cosa ne pensate?

Chag Pesach Sameach!

Before we who are preparing and all who are celebrating disappear in the direction of the Sea of Reeds, just wanted to wish everyone a safe and healthy and happy Passover. 

This Pesach may be very different from those we have known in the past, but it gives us the opportunity to experience the story of our ancestors' journey from oppression to freedom in a more visceral way. 

Here's a drawing I did back in 2017. Chag sameach!