Uncertainty and Joy

Behold Charlie Austin scoring the first goal for QPR last Saturday against Middlesborough from the penalty spot. The game ended 2-0 and QPR remain in first position of the Championship. We have equalled a record for consecutive clean sheets (er, if you are a footy novice and still actually reading this then a 'clean sheet' is a euphemism for not letting any goals in during a game :-)  ), and continue to succeed while appearing to still have much potential yet to be fulfilled. Hurrah! Yet, especially after the dire experience of last season when we played so badly and lost so often, I am finding it difficult to enjoy the current achievements. Except for this moment:



which was quite enjoyable, I spend the rest of the time waiting for our opponents to take advantage of our myriad mistakes. I am afraid to jinx it all by believing in it. I'm afraid of feeling foolish and humiliated when it all goes pear-shaped.

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD IT'S ONLY A GAME.

And yet every fan will know and understand this anxiety. Now pardon me while I go fold my lucky shirt that won't be washed again until we lose ...

Bunny Ears

Manu Tuilagi has announced that he will be writing formally to the UK Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise for making bunny ears during a photo op with the triumphant British Lions rugby team outside Number 10.

It seems to have caused a lot of fuss, or at least attracted the attention of those newspapers that look to entertain rather than inform. I think it's a pretty harmless and utterly daft prank, and must admit that there is a daft part of me that did enjoy seeing the photograph.

If one must make more of the situation, then I might agree with the former England rugby player Brian Moore (and U of Nottingham alum) when he tweeted:

"Tuilagi, if he'd unveiled a banner saying "Why is primary school sport funding being cut in 2 years time?" I'd have been impressed."

If one wishes to make more of a situation and use one's powers for good, then that would make sense. Of course, this was just a spur-of-the-moment thing and luckily for Mr Tuilagi the PM has graciously tweeted his forgiveness.

Meanwhile, in other news:

1. Syria tells Russia it has proof that rebels have chemical weapons
2. How mercury is poisoning gold-miners
3. The truth about life on the breadline in the UK (Jack Monroe blogs)
4. Hong Kong's Chief Imam celebrates openness to multi-ethnic worshippers

and finally, sort of back to where we started ...

5. Yes, David Cameron, 'Yid' really is a race-hate word. Here's why:

PS

A Frabjous Day

This is a picture of Kevin Hitchcock, the QPR goalkeeping coach, hugging his son Tom after the QPR match today against Ipswich. Tom made thousands of people very happy and his daddy very proud. After 89 minutes of a football match where QPR did everything but score, he came on as a substitute for his very first appearance in a QPR shirt and tapped in the rebound from another chance Charlie Austin could not convert. Scoring on your debut. Scoring the winner. One of those dreams-coming-true moments. One of those incredible highs for a fan that justifies sitting through hours of impotence and frustration. That's why I love football.

10 Favourite Books on my Shelf

As the shelves in my study finally begin to be ordered, I thought about which books I would keep if I were only allowed to have ten of them. These are the ones that I treasure the most today:

1. Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs

I have just about everything that I could find by Raymond Briggs from his Mother Goose treasury to his magnificent anti-Thatcher tirade "The Tin Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman". Fungus, however, is my favourite, combining my loves of graphic storytelling and existentialist despair. He always cheers me up. Plus, my paperback edition is autographed. I forced poor 7-year-old Noam to queue with me for ages at the Puffin Club Exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute to collect the inscription.

2. Penguin Modern Poets:  The Mersey Sound

Except for readings by family friends, these guys are the only poets I've gone to listen to voluntarily. My copy of this edition is also autographed by all three after a gig somewhere near the River Thames, or maybe it was just that I was also keeping an ear on the Boat Race via a pocket radio during the poetry reading rather than we were actually near the river. I know we were in central London, and I went with Sophie Manham. Anyway, it's a battered old paperback but they wrote in it and I like reading it.

3. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by E L Konigsburg

No autographs here. Just a cool book that still comes to mind each time I visit a museum and wonder where I'd hide and what I'd do once everyone else had gone home and I had the place to myself. Maybe my niece the daughter of a museum curator will find it on my shelf one day and enjoy it like I do.

4. Hannah Senesh:  Her Life and Diary

It was a choice between this and Anne Frank's diary. Anne is more famous. She is more innocent, more universal, more optimistic; more most things perhaps. Hannah was only 23 when she was executed, not that much older than Anne. Yet she seemed more grown-up to me, and her bravery was more dramatic. That was the appeal of the book itself. In terms of volumes I treasure, however, I choose this because it was always hard to find and the copy that I have is a precious gift from my other sister that reminds me of a time when we were closer to each other.

5. The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Next to the Tanach, to which by virtue of my current profession I refer to constantly, I probably quote the five books of this trilogy more than any other writings I have read. And when I've read this and laughed and felt better, I'm hopeful again.

6.  The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Leonard Q Ross aka Leo Rosten

With this book I have wooed those friends of mine for whom English is a second language. I love to read it aloud to them. And it makes me laugh too. What better way to spend a little time?

7.  Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

If you have strong wrists and an earlier, lighter edition; this is the all-time perfect book for the bathroom. Also useful if you keep forgetting what it means to be hoist on your own petard.

8. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

Having grown up in the UK I take the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood very seriously (I still haven't forgiven Kevin Costner for Prince of Thieves). Don't mess with my legends. Unless you are Mark Twain, and put Sir Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table on bicycles.

9.  The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry

I don't know what it was like in other countries and for other generations, but the romantic heroes of my childhood as I was taught in school came from the lost generation of the First World War - those who died, and those who lived but were forever damaged by their experiences. I preferred Wilfred Owen and my sister went for Rupert Brooke, but we all still cry at the sight of poppy petals falling in November.

10.  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Apparently the fact that this book had a female protagonist in a sci-fi genre was the reason for its initial rejection and of course exactly the reason why I went for it. Anne Shirley, Katy Carr or Jo March but science fiction! Also, I fell in love with the character Aunt Beast. Back then I wished she were my mother. Now I'd like to be more like her.

This list took quite a while to put together. As I review it I think, o no, what about

how could I leave that out and which book should it replace and I really don't want to do any more editing. It is top of the list of near misses which also includes Fahrenheit 451, The Book of Letters and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. But it's time for bed. And there's always another blog post. 

Baseless Hatred

Sinat Chinam, or baseless hatred, is the reason that the rabbis in the Talmud give us for the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE (Yoma 9b). That is, people within our community hated each other for no good reason and behaved badly towards each other. Earlier this week, many Jews observed the fast day of Tisha B'Av. This is the historical date of the destruction of the Second Temple, the First Temple and many other calamities throughout Jewish history. They mourn for what has been lost. Other Jews who may not feel the need to mourn the Temple life still take this time as an opportunity to consider the way we treat each other, and the other in our lives. We note with regret the mistakes we have made, and resolve to improve ourselves in the days to come.  It is thus all the more distressing to look back on the events of the most recent Rosh Chodesh celebrations at the Kotel in Jerusalem. The Haredi community flexed its muscles to try and prevent the monthly service led by Women of the Wall. Noa Kligfield, an 11-year-old girl from Los Angeles who was present that day, describes her experience eloquently:

"Charedi leaders bussed in more than 7,000 yeshiva girls my age and filled up the Kotel plaza to ensure that there was no room for us to pray. Jeering and yelling, blowing whistles and making faces, calling us Nazis and throwing eggs, with their eyes full of such hatred, it terrified me. These girls didn't even know me, yet they despised me. They had been brought up to loathe all of the women I was praying with, and it was somehow deemed a positive learning experience for them to protest against us."

You may read the rest of her report here.

It seems so clear to me that working out how to share time and space with those who do things differently to us is hopefully a path away from all this hatred. At the same time I know that it takes energy and focus that I am not always willing to share. My excuses seem valid - I'm too tired, I have other priorities, it's a hopeless task. So I talk about how depressing it all is, but still do nothing. Then today I read a drash by  Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld. He writes:

"... dislike of others - whether acute or subtle - is an enormously self-satisfying way to live. Nothing forces me to grow, to change, to come out of my own little shell - and that is just the way I want it"
(You can find the rest of it here.)

I thought - ok,  if I give up trying, then at least I should acknowledge that it is because of my own wishes and feelings and ego. Change is so bloody hard as well as scary. It's much easier to cope with current issues than to muddy the waters and have to deal with unknown challenges. As R. Rosenfeld says, if I blame others for the wrongs of the world, it's about my comfort level and nothing else. I'm saying it's their fault and their responsibility. That's an easy way out, free from guilt!

In fact, it's not so easy, because if I continue to be honest with myself, I am quite miserable. It's not just the constant stream of terrible news from the world out there - the travesty of justice for Trayvon Martin, Indian children dying from tainted free school dinners, the famous and infamous struck down by disease and addiction. There are currently too many people that I'm mad at, too many people I think have hurt me, too many people I know I have not treated well. There's no hatred yet, but if I don't sort things out, I can see how our anger could head in such a direction.

So what can I do? It's pretty simple, really. I need to get offline and start talking to these people. Maybe we can fix things, maybe not. Time to have a go. L'hitraot.

Equal Marriage now law in England and Wales

It's not perfect but it is done. Today Her Majesty the Queen signed the Equal Marriage bill and it became a law in England and Wales.

I'm proud to have been a minuscule part of the Out4Marriage campaign, and stunned that it is over because it has succeeded.

if any same-gender Jewish couples are looking for a rabbi for their wedding, I'd love to officiate. Just saying!

Read about it here:
Pink News
Parliament's page for the bill
blog piece in the Independent
BBC News
Andy Borowitz compares Her Maj with the Governor of NJ

links to the major papers not yet up - will add later ... they are taking their time!

So far, The Times has a front-page photo and link to the winner of the Apprentice TV show, though, as well as telling us that the Queen is impatient for the royal baby to arrive. The Guardian has a couple of pieces about lethal school dinners in India. Not front-page news? Hmmmmm

Leicester Likely Lad

The year is 1985. Young ravaj is now well enough known by the QPR secretary to receive the occasional photographer's pass for games of lesser gravitas. She's on the pitch! This Leicester City chap seemed rather adorable, and turned out to be quite a good player as well.

Magnificent Murray

Wimbledon winner Andy Murray at his moment of triumph.

Britons across the world will now claim this Scot permanently as one of their own

Please enjoy these few moments of joy. Normal service will be resumed sooner than we'd wish.

Finchley Bee

Trying not to get anxious as the tennis reaches a climax. Calm photo of a bee outside my flat going about its business.

Radio Silence

So when your oldest bestest friend suggests you start a new blog, and you think that's a great idea, howcome you then write nothing at all for the next 6 weeks? I did try, but everything I wrote seemed so self-conscious. So it's back to bees and football and pandas for a while. And maybe a little tennis today. For Mr Andrew Murray is two sets up against the number one player in the world, although he's down a break in the current set. As a QPR fan, I am well accustomed to the constant dashing of hopes. I have no great desire, however, to demonstrate my resilience this afternoon.

The QPRabbi

When your oldest bestest friend suggests you might write a blog about being a rabbi and football you gotta have a go at it. Not a just a blog post mind you, but a regular commentary. So I think that's what I may do.

Liberation of the Wall!

No more arrests for the "crime" of wearing a tallit at the Kotel!

The verdict is in - the police appeal against the overturning of the arrests of five women on 11th April has been rejected. Anat Hoffman, Director of the Israeli Religious Action Centre and leader of the Women of the Wall group, said the ruling has:

"liberated the Western Wall for all the Jewish people."

This story is big enough now to make the major news outlets:

BBC News online Middle East
The New York Times
not to mention the Jewish Chronicle!

Not sure what will happen next - we shall see at the next Rosh Chodesh service in May. For now, though, just delighted at this news.

Tikkun's Analysis of the Sharansky Plan

Abby Caplin wrote about the current situation at the Western Wall site in Jerusalem yesterday in the online daily blog of Tikkun magazine. She reported on a conference call that Anat Hoffman made with various Jewish organisations:

"According to chair of WOW Anat Hoffman, who spoke last week via conference call to the New Israel Fund, and yesterday to the Union for Reform Judaism, the plan calls for opening up the area of the Kotel plaza and extending the length of the Kotel to Robinson's Arch. It includes a single entrance for all and 24/7 access.

The current portion of what is now the Kotel could remain under the jurisdiction of Rabinowitz's Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which collects vast sums of money from often unwitting Diaspora Jews to maintain its hegemony. Robinson's Arch would be raised up topographically to be on par with the Kotel area to create a larger, continuous stretch of Kotel. The newer raised-up section designated for egalitarian mixed gender prayer might fall under the aegis of the Jewish Agency. This leaves some confusion about how and where women-only, and Orthodox-inclusive, Women of the Wall would pray. It could be that, despite the compromise, the power of the ultra-Orthodox men might remain intact at the original site, where Orthodox women would continue to be subjected to gross misogyny in that section.

According to Hoffman, Sharansky's plan will face many obstacles. The plan must be reviewed by Israel's Department of Antiquities, accepted by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf (which claims jurisdiction over the Mughrabi bridge located between the Wall and Robinson's Arch), and Israeli citizens must be willing to spend millions of shekels to accommodate ultra-Orthodox "sensibilities". Successful implementation of Sharansky's plan could take years. But given that some progress has been made, "WOW refuses to be one of those obstacles," Hoffman said.

Of course, a more cost-effective and common sense option would be for Jews to share time, rather than space, at the Kotel."

the entire article may be read here.

Bearing in mind the strong bias of the author as reflected in the way she describes the situation, I still think this is a clear depiction of it at the moment. On the one hand, Sharansky's proposal is unclear, uncertain  and expensive. On the other hand, WoTW have hope, flexibility and strength enough to compromise for the sake of progress.

Women of the Wall Update

Last Thursday was Rosh Chodesh Iyar, and once again the Women of the Wall and their supporters met at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to celebrate this Jewish holiday through prayer and song. Once again, women were arrested for the crime of wearing tallitot (prayer shawls). This time the story was apparently newsworthy enough to be reported by
the BBC News website
the Guardian online
the Sydney Morning Herald (via the Washington Post) and other august publications available via your Google searches.

A few hours earlier the chair of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky, as per his appointment by Prime Minister Netanyahu, announced his plan to resolve the situation. He has suggested that the Western Wall plaza should be extended and divided into three equal places of worship, i.e., for men, for women and for egalitarian services. The mixed services would be held at Robinson's Arch. Strangely enough, that is the area currently used by the women for Torah reading and yet they are still campaigning for the opportunity to be treated equally. Sharansky has suggested that the site will be upgraded. Is this enough for it to count as a legitimate offer?

I worry that this offer is a smokescreen. If it is not treated seriously, then the WoTW could be accused of intransigence. In any case, what kind of offer is one which suggests it is a bold new step but in fact is offering something that already exists?

On the other hand, what if this is really a step on the path to a viable compromise? There are many Progressive Jews who do not consider the Western Wall to be a holy site. If Robinson's Arch is placed beyond the control of the Orthodox Rabbinate, might it become a focal point for non-Orthodox Jews to join together in prayer? In the Jewish Journal, Shmuel Rosner writes:

"There comes a time in any successful movement for change or reform for cashing in, and it is often a time of crisis. Getting so close to achieving a goal, one has to struggle with two challenges:  the temptation to overreach - and pass on a deal that might be the best realistic one - and the difficulty of having to accept the less glorious (and more mundane) missions of a reformed reality." (the rest of the article is here.)

In the past few months, I have heard many Jews say that the issue of prayer at the Western Wall is not a priority for them. While the question of religious pluralism in the Jewish homeland is vital and current, they would rather focus on issues such as segregation of women on buses, or the radio stations that bleep out the voices of women (including female members of the Knesset). On the one hand I think I can see their point. On the other, I cannot stay silent when women are being arrested for wearing tallitot, something which I am able to do in this country any time I wish. As for Mr Sharansky's plan - I remember being part of protests and vigils with the Women's Campaign for Soviet Jewry as we fought for his release. Many of the Women of the Wall were part of that campaign or are daughters of such activists. I think he really should be able to do a little bit better for them!

I'm (not) a Belieber

So a young Canadian popstar, a boy with millions of fans and the crazy life such attention can bring, has made a comment in the guestbook at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. What he wrote has caused rather a lot of fuss and bother.

The Guardian reports on it here. I'm not a big fan of the lad or his music, but I have to say that I agree with the Indy reporter (here) in that it is a pleasant surprise that this young man took the time to visit the Anne Frank House and show an interest. Indeed, his visit may bring Anne's story to many people who otherwise would never have encountered it.

Meanwhile, if people need something about which to make a fuss, perhaps there are other issues that could use their energy, e.g., how would you like to help children no longer be hungry and die from malnutrition? Check out Live Below the Line for their 2013 initiative here. If this doesn't appeal, I am sure you can find something that does. Ok, preaching over.

The Jew in the Box

I don't know if you have come across the phrase "The Jew in the box"recently, but it has been all over. The mother of ravaj is proud to note that CNN, Time magazine, The New York Times and NBC's Today show have all shown an interest in the latest exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It is actually called "The Whole Truth:  Everything you always wanted to know about Jews". A sister of ravaj happens to be one of the curators. We are proud of her. While it is a pity that the media have fixated on one element out of thirty showcases in the exhibition, at the same time the international exposure has probably helped the profile of the museum. If you wish to form an opinion of your own, and are unable to visit Berlin before September, here are a number of links for various commentaries to help out:


Museum defends 'Jew in a Box' exhibit by CNN_International

version viewable by American viewers may be found here.

A story from the New York Times is here. This is a quote from it:

"Michal S. Friedlander, a curator at the museum and an American-born German Jew, said that most of those who criticized the show had not actually seen it. 'That's the whole point, what's appropriate and what's inappropriate and letting people come to their own conclusions.'"

btw, having always considered this sis to be a bit of a Luddite, I was delighted today to discover that she has at least one blogpost to her name!

Benjamin Weinthal's report and review in Foreign Policy may be found here.

Time magazine online

Criticism in the Jewish Daily Forward

Last for now, a link to an interview on the Today Show in the USA on the NBC channel. If you want more, you're on your own!

Favourite Oscars

Many of the media have been mildly distracted today, turning briefly away from the story of the South African athlete who shot his girlfriend towards a little awards ceremony taking place tonight in Los Angeles. I thought I'd add a little to the mix and thus present for your delectation and delight some other famous Oscars:

This is the Oscar Fish. Surely you recognise Astronotus ocellatus? It's a species of fish from the cichlid family and has many common names including Oscar, Tiger Oscar, Velvet Cichlid or Marble Cichlid.

If you are an amateur radio ham, you may have heard of the satellite OSCAR. No?

To be honest there don't seem to be any other particularly interesting Oscars. Except of course for the one and only, and my great favourite, Mr Wilde. As a teenager, I was so enamoured of him that I wrote a little poem of celebration

Am I in ernest when I say
That of puns I read as a child
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills'
Always drove me wild.

I am still waiting for the day when knowing Oscar Wilde's full name will be the answer to a vital quiz question. Meanwhile, I am always entertained by his wit. This quote seems apt for the end of this piece:

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."

More Arrests at the Kotel

Anat Hoffman wrote the following this morning:

"A unique gathering happened this morning at the Western Wall. During Women of the Wall's usual Rosh chodesh prayer service in the women's section of the Kotel, we were fortunate to be supported by some very special visitors. Veterans from the IDF's famed Paratrooper Battalion 66, the men who liberated the Western Wall in 1967, were with our supporters in the men's section. These men are living legends and among Israel's modern heroes.

It was only after the prayer service was over and the paratroopers had left that the police detained ten women, including myself, for committing the crime of wearing a tallit at the Western Wall. This group included two Conservative rabbis who were supposed to meet with Natan Sharansky today to discuss the Kotel issue, one Reform rabbinical student who is 8 months pregnant, two congregants from the Reform congregation in Kiryat Tivon, and several other women. As of this writing, we have all been released without restrictions."

This happens every month now, and perhaps it's no longer news for many people. Nevertheless these women continue to fight for our right to pray equally. Perhaps this month there may be a little more interest because there is a minor celebrity tangentially involved, i.e., the comedian Sarah Silverman, currently in London to promote her latest venture, has tweeted her support:

"SO proud of my amazing sister @rabbisusan & niece @purplelettuce95 for their ballsout civil disobedience. Ur the tits! #womenofthewall"

There is a report of the morning's events in HaAretz. Of particular interest is the quote from one of the paratroopers, Yitzhak Yifat, well known from his place in the centre of the famous photo taken at the liberation of the wall in 1967. As he stood in the men's section with other male supporters he said:

"I decided to come here to show my support for all those who wish to pray at the Kotel whatever way they wish, so long as they are not doing anything immoral ... It breaks my heart that the ultra-Orthodox have decided the Kotel belongs to them."

Happy Birthday Grand Central!

Grand Central station (officially known as Grand Central Terminal) in New York City will be 100 years old this month. It is one of my favourite places in which to wait if one has to wait for a train. I've experienced an impromptu Carly Simon concert in the main hall, walked within the giant glass windows at the far end, and am pretty sure that I once saw Kay Francis on her way to platform 220.

Happy birthday Grand Central!



Celebratory events for the year listed here.
Let Wikipedia tell you more about it.
Odd tidbits about Grand Central here.
festivities began last week - report here.
100 facts for 100 years via the Daily Beast

Save the Bees Update

It's been a while since anything about bees appeared on this page I know. However, 2013 began with some excellent news for the bee community:  two giant DIY/garden centre companies have agreed to stop stocking products containing pesticides linked to the current decline of the bee population! Well done B&Q and Wickes ... now who shall be next?
(Read about it here.)

The insecticides in question are called neonicotinoids. And yes, they are chemically related to nicotine. No good for humans, and no good for bees. Who knew?!