Update: we tried Silk Elephant over the weekend. Very good. I liked the vegetarian dumplings, the salmon dumplings, and the fresh rolls quite a lot. And the mushroom soup was excellent. My children, who are noodle experts, thought the Thai Noodle Soup was quite good and they were pleased that plain noodles were readily available.
Some notes on the neighborhood:
Free wireless at Rolladin Bakery/Cafe and at Te Cafe. These are two of my favorite new(ish) spots. Te Cafe has lots of tea; very expensive coffee that is good but my taste buds aren't sensitive enough to justify the difference in price; and nice sandwiches. And there always seems to be a copy of the New York Times. Rolladin, my favorite bakery in Squirrel Hill (yummy burekas[im]), has moved across the street and expanded into a full-fledged Israeli cafe with a breakfast and lunch menu. Nice place to sit and hang out. Kosher but gentiles and apikorsim (heretics) welcome.
Taqueria Mi Mexico (only for gentiles and apikorsim, I think) has closed.
Pacific Ring is a new "Pan Asian" restaurant. (Most of the menu is Chinese and Japanese.) I thought it was okay for a neighborhood place (but I prefer New Dumpling House down the street.) My colleague (who has spent considerable time in Asia) was less impressed. However, the City Paper reviewers gave it three stars and I usually agree with them so it's possible I was there on a bad night.
I have yet to try it, but I am pleased that we now have a kosher sushi restaurant (Susheli). I am guessing it's one of the only ones in North America outside of New York. A quick internet search turns up kosher sushi at Rubins in Brookline and a "Kosher Sushi Club" in St. Louis. Personally, I'll take my cucumber and avocado rolls anywhere, but I think it's nice to be able to say I live in a Jewish community with a kosher sushi.
4 kosher restaurants now: Milky Way (which I think has the best pizza on Murray Avenue); Susheli; Rolladin; and Pinati (Israeli Mizrachi, meat).
Two other new(ish) Asian places I want to try: Sweet Basil/La Filipiana which is Thai and Filipino (but apparently not fusion) and Silk Elephant which is "Thai Tapas."
Another Russian food store has opened on Murray Avenue in Greenfield, across from the Giant Eagle. A quick glance through the window suggests that this will be a good source for Wissotzky tea.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Ruth Ann Dailey confused about her profession
Bill O'Reilly gets it, but one of our local pundits is completely confused about the difference between journalism and theology. See here.
Can anybody spot the problem with this analogy between the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage of the Pennsylvania legislature and the Gospel of Matthew's "coverage" of the life and death of Jesus?
"Here's how [journalism] usually works: You have a busy life, filled with jobs and kids and chores and charity work, so you don't have time to attend, say, most sessions of the Legislature in Harrisburg. (If you're lucky, you haven't attended any at all.)
"Instead, you drop 50 cents into a little box and pull out a newspaper with regular, detailed reports on what our fine state reps are up to. The newspaper also carries first-hand accounts of things such as war, natural disasters, crime and government -- or crime in government.
"The newspaper's managers pool together all those quarters you drop at the newsstand (it costs less if you subscribe!) to pay reporters to do the observing and fact-gathering on your behalf.
"It's a good system, don't you think? It also happens to be the reason that I believe Jesus was divine, performed countless miracles, preached radical truths and didn't father children with Mary Magdalene.
"The eyewitnesses who heard his sermons, witnessed his miracles and touched his living body after they'd watched him die wrote about these events in both detail and great accord. Though they give Mary Magdalene credit for arriving first at Jesus' empty tomb, they don't mention a romantic relationship or children. They understood that the gospel concerns his blood, not his bloodline.
"There are far more early copies of their reporting and a far shorter gap between the originals and the surviving copies than for any other document from ancient times. And the authors of these journalistic accounts chose to die rather than renounce what they'd written."
If you are having trouble answering my challenge (to spot the faulty logic in the analogy), I recommend any basic textbook on the history of early Christianity.
In the meantime, two salient points:
1) The earliest of the four Gospels (Mark) dates from at least 3 decades after the death of Jesus. The usual range of dates given by historians for the four Gospels (without total consensus on when each was written) is circa 70 CE to circa 120 CE.
2) The penultimate sentence I quoted from Ms. Dailey is a red herring: yes, there are lots of early manuscript copies of the four Gospels. But all this tells us is that Christian communities in the late first century and early second century accepted these accounts and transmitted them as accurately as possible. It doesn't tell us anything about the reliability of the accounts regarding early first century events.
Ms. Dailey and other Christians are perfectly free to believe that the Gospel accounts are true. But if she is basing her religious faith on a notion that the Gospels have the same epistemological status as the AP wire, she is working from faulty premises.
Can anybody spot the problem with this analogy between the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's coverage of the Pennsylvania legislature and the Gospel of Matthew's "coverage" of the life and death of Jesus?
"Here's how [journalism] usually works: You have a busy life, filled with jobs and kids and chores and charity work, so you don't have time to attend, say, most sessions of the Legislature in Harrisburg. (If you're lucky, you haven't attended any at all.)
"Instead, you drop 50 cents into a little box and pull out a newspaper with regular, detailed reports on what our fine state reps are up to. The newspaper also carries first-hand accounts of things such as war, natural disasters, crime and government -- or crime in government.
"The newspaper's managers pool together all those quarters you drop at the newsstand (it costs less if you subscribe!) to pay reporters to do the observing and fact-gathering on your behalf.
"It's a good system, don't you think? It also happens to be the reason that I believe Jesus was divine, performed countless miracles, preached radical truths and didn't father children with Mary Magdalene.
"The eyewitnesses who heard his sermons, witnessed his miracles and touched his living body after they'd watched him die wrote about these events in both detail and great accord. Though they give Mary Magdalene credit for arriving first at Jesus' empty tomb, they don't mention a romantic relationship or children. They understood that the gospel concerns his blood, not his bloodline.
"There are far more early copies of their reporting and a far shorter gap between the originals and the surviving copies than for any other document from ancient times. And the authors of these journalistic accounts chose to die rather than renounce what they'd written."
If you are having trouble answering my challenge (to spot the faulty logic in the analogy), I recommend any basic textbook on the history of early Christianity.
In the meantime, two salient points:
1) The earliest of the four Gospels (Mark) dates from at least 3 decades after the death of Jesus. The usual range of dates given by historians for the four Gospels (without total consensus on when each was written) is circa 70 CE to circa 120 CE.
2) The penultimate sentence I quoted from Ms. Dailey is a red herring: yes, there are lots of early manuscript copies of the four Gospels. But all this tells us is that Christian communities in the late first century and early second century accepted these accounts and transmitted them as accurately as possible. It doesn't tell us anything about the reliability of the accounts regarding early first century events.
Ms. Dailey and other Christians are perfectly free to believe that the Gospel accounts are true. But if she is basing her religious faith on a notion that the Gospels have the same epistemological status as the AP wire, she is working from faulty premises.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Strange to agree with Bill O'Reilly...
...about anything, but in an Associated Press dispatch by Richard Ostling, published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Saturday May 20, 2006, p.A2, O'Reilly is quoted as saying: "no gospel is history." Bill O'Reilly apparently shares the understanding of most academic historians regarding the historicity of the four canonical gospels of the New Testament: that they "all have different interpretations of what happened" and that they can not be taken as accurate history. As texts from late in the first century and early in the second century, they are not eyewitness accounts, but do offer us some clues about what may have happened earlier in the first century. However, our use of the text to reconstruct earlier events must be done cautiously given that they are later texts, offering particular theological interpretations to particular early Christian audiences. [The last two sentences are my summary of the views of historians that O'Reilly seems to share. They are not a paraphrase of O'Reilly's comments.]
It's worth keeping this in mind when we hear that The Da Vinci Code is "fiction." It makes claims about certain things being true which are not true. And certainly it is worth pointing out what supposed historical facts are not false lest anyone think that Isaac Newton was a member of a secret society that worshipped the eternal feminine or that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a baby.
But it's quite interesting to read the novel (and I suppose interpret the film) as a particular theological interpretation designed to speak to a contemporary audience.
To loosely paraphrase a famous comment about the study of Jewish mysticism: fiction making truth claims is fiction but the history of the acceptance of such truth claims is Religious Studies.
It's worth keeping this in mind when we hear that The Da Vinci Code is "fiction." It makes claims about certain things being true which are not true. And certainly it is worth pointing out what supposed historical facts are not false lest anyone think that Isaac Newton was a member of a secret society that worshipped the eternal feminine or that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a baby.
But it's quite interesting to read the novel (and I suppose interpret the film) as a particular theological interpretation designed to speak to a contemporary audience.
To loosely paraphrase a famous comment about the study of Jewish mysticism: fiction making truth claims is fiction but the history of the acceptance of such truth claims is Religious Studies.
Free Newspapers Update
The TribPM appeared again on our front steps two days this week.
Have taken no action except to read them.
Have taken no action except to read them.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Free Newspapers
I've been meaning to post for a while about free newspapers. (I've been meaning to post about a lot of things for a while but it's been a busy semester. You can tell the semester is almost over since I'm blogging to procrastinate grading.)
I am basically addicted to the printed newspaper. We subscribe to our daily paper, the Post-Gazette, 7 days a week. We also take the New York Times on Sunday. (I thought the terminology should be as quaint as the practice.) We subscribe to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. And I've been known to buy the Washington Post if I go grocery shopping on Sunday. I like the weekend section of the Wall Street Journal and will often put down a dollar for that newspaper on Fridays (although I try not to think about what portion of that dollar is paying the salaries of their editorial writers). A happy Sunday on vacation in Deep Creek, Maryland is one in which I can buy a Post-Gazette, a Post, a Times, and a Baltimore Sun. A Sunday in the Berkshires when I can pick up a Berkshire Eagle, a Times, and a Boston Globe is pretty satisfying too.
I pick up the City Paper every week and the Pitt News every day that I'm on campus.
And I have often suggested that major dailies should make themselves basically available for free. (I would keep a charge for delivery of the paper.) When free wireless is available across the land, nobody will buy newspapers.
So why I am not so excited about the proliferation of free daily newspapers in major cities? It started a few years ago with the "Metro" paper, a European import that started in Philadelphia and has spread elsewhere. The Washington Post now has it's own free daily and is in competition with a free paper in DC called the Examiner which has a sister paper in San Francisco. And right here in Three River City, we have the "TribPM."
The TribPM is a bit different from the others: For one, it's published in Pittsburgh, not exactly a growing media market and so isn't a defensive measure against potential incursion by the Metro or Examiner chains. It really is an afternoon paper and doesn't hit the streets until mid-day. It's published by the rather conservative Tribune-Review, but doesn't seem to take any kind of political line.
In its apolitical mix of celebrity gossip and somewhat vapid "lifestyle" information, however, its content seems pretty typical of the free dailies.
I am so addicted to the printed word that I will pick up a free paper--on the Washingon Metro; on Septa in Philadelphia; waiting for the bus in Pittsburgh. And I will read it. And I do understand the business model of these papers. Pay very little for content, paper, and ink. Pay out for a distribution system. Rake in advertising dollars.
But I always feel like I've wasted my time after I've read these papers: if I have already read the local daily over breakfast, I learn nothing new in terms of national or international news. The TribPM, as an afternoon paper, does have some news that hasn't made the morning paper, but there isn't usually anything in there that I can't wait to hear about until the next morning. There is some celebrity gossip in the TribPM that I wouldn't find in the Post-Gazette (or for that matter in the morning Tribune-Review), but I can certainly live without that.
A few weeks ago, the TribPM started showing up on my front lawn (er, front weed patch). This was the final straw: if I'm going to read it, I'm going to read it for the 10 minutes I'm waiting for the bus--I don't need it or want it once I'm home! And when we came back from a trip to find 3 days worth of free afternoon paper in front of our house, I realized I had to take action. So I called the office and asked that they stopped sending it. And they said yes and they did. (This may be the most surprising thing.)
I wish, though, that I had stayed on the line a bit longer to ask some questions:
--why did they think people would want this at home?
--doesn't home delivery add to the costs in a way that detracts from the simplicity of the business model?
--how many papers are they distributing to houses and how many "opt-out" calls have they gotten since you started?
I am basically addicted to the printed newspaper. We subscribe to our daily paper, the Post-Gazette, 7 days a week. We also take the New York Times on Sunday. (I thought the terminology should be as quaint as the practice.) We subscribe to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. And I've been known to buy the Washington Post if I go grocery shopping on Sunday. I like the weekend section of the Wall Street Journal and will often put down a dollar for that newspaper on Fridays (although I try not to think about what portion of that dollar is paying the salaries of their editorial writers). A happy Sunday on vacation in Deep Creek, Maryland is one in which I can buy a Post-Gazette, a Post, a Times, and a Baltimore Sun. A Sunday in the Berkshires when I can pick up a Berkshire Eagle, a Times, and a Boston Globe is pretty satisfying too.
I pick up the City Paper every week and the Pitt News every day that I'm on campus.
And I have often suggested that major dailies should make themselves basically available for free. (I would keep a charge for delivery of the paper.) When free wireless is available across the land, nobody will buy newspapers.
So why I am not so excited about the proliferation of free daily newspapers in major cities? It started a few years ago with the "Metro" paper, a European import that started in Philadelphia and has spread elsewhere. The Washington Post now has it's own free daily and is in competition with a free paper in DC called the Examiner which has a sister paper in San Francisco. And right here in Three River City, we have the "TribPM."
The TribPM is a bit different from the others: For one, it's published in Pittsburgh, not exactly a growing media market and so isn't a defensive measure against potential incursion by the Metro or Examiner chains. It really is an afternoon paper and doesn't hit the streets until mid-day. It's published by the rather conservative Tribune-Review, but doesn't seem to take any kind of political line.
In its apolitical mix of celebrity gossip and somewhat vapid "lifestyle" information, however, its content seems pretty typical of the free dailies.
I am so addicted to the printed word that I will pick up a free paper--on the Washingon Metro; on Septa in Philadelphia; waiting for the bus in Pittsburgh. And I will read it. And I do understand the business model of these papers. Pay very little for content, paper, and ink. Pay out for a distribution system. Rake in advertising dollars.
But I always feel like I've wasted my time after I've read these papers: if I have already read the local daily over breakfast, I learn nothing new in terms of national or international news. The TribPM, as an afternoon paper, does have some news that hasn't made the morning paper, but there isn't usually anything in there that I can't wait to hear about until the next morning. There is some celebrity gossip in the TribPM that I wouldn't find in the Post-Gazette (or for that matter in the morning Tribune-Review), but I can certainly live without that.
A few weeks ago, the TribPM started showing up on my front lawn (er, front weed patch). This was the final straw: if I'm going to read it, I'm going to read it for the 10 minutes I'm waiting for the bus--I don't need it or want it once I'm home! And when we came back from a trip to find 3 days worth of free afternoon paper in front of our house, I realized I had to take action. So I called the office and asked that they stopped sending it. And they said yes and they did. (This may be the most surprising thing.)
I wish, though, that I had stayed on the line a bit longer to ask some questions:
--why did they think people would want this at home?
--doesn't home delivery add to the costs in a way that detracts from the simplicity of the business model?
--how many papers are they distributing to houses and how many "opt-out" calls have they gotten since you started?
Monday, January 16, 2006
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Updates
It's been about a month so here is what I have been doing:
1. Attending the Association for Jewish Studies meeting in Washington. This starts to feel less and less like a conference and more and more like a reunion.
2. Saying good-bye to Philadelphia friends.
3. Relocating self and family back to Pittsburgh.
4. Unpacking boxes.
5. Saying hello to Pittsburgh friends.
6. Continuing to be out of touch with most of our NY, Boston, New Haven, Indianapolis, Chicago, California friends.
7. Enjoying the little stove-top espresso maker that our Italian tenants left us (really they left it for me since I'm the only coffee-drinker in the family).
8. Getting ready for the start of the semester.
9. Going to Pittsburgh Housing Court. Let me put it his way: The citation was dismissed because I did get the alarm permit after receiving the summons in the mail and I explained to the judge that I hadn't known about the ordinance before that. But a word of advice: if you are reading this and you have a burglar alarm in your house in Pittsburgh, and you don't have an alarm permit, google "Pittsburgh Alarm Permit" right now, fill out the application, and save yourself some hassles.
8. Starting the semester: 2 classes and undergraduate advising.
9. Updating the links to other blogs on the sidebar.
1. Attending the Association for Jewish Studies meeting in Washington. This starts to feel less and less like a conference and more and more like a reunion.
2. Saying good-bye to Philadelphia friends.
3. Relocating self and family back to Pittsburgh.
4. Unpacking boxes.
5. Saying hello to Pittsburgh friends.
6. Continuing to be out of touch with most of our NY, Boston, New Haven, Indianapolis, Chicago, California friends.
7. Enjoying the little stove-top espresso maker that our Italian tenants left us (really they left it for me since I'm the only coffee-drinker in the family).
8. Getting ready for the start of the semester.
9. Going to Pittsburgh Housing Court. Let me put it his way: The citation was dismissed because I did get the alarm permit after receiving the summons in the mail and I explained to the judge that I hadn't known about the ordinance before that. But a word of advice: if you are reading this and you have a burglar alarm in your house in Pittsburgh, and you don't have an alarm permit, google "Pittsburgh Alarm Permit" right now, fill out the application, and save yourself some hassles.
8. Starting the semester: 2 classes and undergraduate advising.
9. Updating the links to other blogs on the sidebar.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Historian Detectives
Careful readers of my sidebar will note that I have been on a bit of mystery novel kick since the summer. But what has been more interesting is that I keep running across detectives who are (former) historians.
First, I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Ohayon of the Jerusalem Police department when I happened to pick up a Batya Gur novel to read on the plane to Israel last summer. Ohayon has an MA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in medieval history. Then, when I mentioned to my stepfather that I had read and enjoyed a couple of the Batya Gur novels, he dug out a thriller from the mid-80s from one of his shelves--William Bayer's Pattern Crimes. At one point the detective mentions to another character that history is a passion or interest of his. Then, a few weeks ago, I noticed Gaudy Night on the shelf in my friend's new bookstore (see "My AAR-SBL" below). I had read all the Lord Peter Wimsey novels when I was a lad (I think circa 8th grade but I can't be sure now) but had completely forgotten the plot of Gaudy Night. I can't imagine that the musings on academic life, returns to places of one's youth, or the questions of marriage, family, career meant anything to me then. In any case, I had completely forgotten (if I ever paid attention) that Wimsey of Balliol had taken a First in history.
Dear reader, please leave the names of other literary historian detectives in the comments. Many thanks.
First, I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Ohayon of the Jerusalem Police department when I happened to pick up a Batya Gur novel to read on the plane to Israel last summer. Ohayon has an MA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in medieval history. Then, when I mentioned to my stepfather that I had read and enjoyed a couple of the Batya Gur novels, he dug out a thriller from the mid-80s from one of his shelves--William Bayer's Pattern Crimes. At one point the detective mentions to another character that history is a passion or interest of his. Then, a few weeks ago, I noticed Gaudy Night on the shelf in my friend's new bookstore (see "My AAR-SBL" below). I had read all the Lord Peter Wimsey novels when I was a lad (I think circa 8th grade but I can't be sure now) but had completely forgotten the plot of Gaudy Night. I can't imagine that the musings on academic life, returns to places of one's youth, or the questions of marriage, family, career meant anything to me then. In any case, I had completely forgotten (if I ever paid attention) that Wimsey of Balliol had taken a First in history.
Dear reader, please leave the names of other literary historian detectives in the comments. Many thanks.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
File under: Headlines that make a Pittsburgh medieval historian a tad nervous
Allegheny County says goodbye to the Middle Ages
Turns out it's just a story about the demise of the Coroner's office.
Whew.
Turns out it's just a story about the demise of the Coroner's office.
Whew.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Sibling Relations
Sibling relations are complex. Consider the following Thanksgiving message our Daughter composed to go on her Thanksgiving art project at school:
"I am thankful for my family, my brother, my friends."
"I am thankful for my family, my brother, my friends."
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
A Little More AAR
This morning, I went to this session:
A22-12 Study of Judaism Section
Tuesday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Randi Rashkover, York College of Pennsylvania, Presiding
Theme: Jewish Thought: Culture and Curriculum
Alan Verskin, Princeton University
"Teaching Philosophy to the Multitude: The Thought of Nissim B. Moshe of Marseilles"
Ellen Haskell, Franklin & Marshall College
"Metaphor, Transformation, and Transcendence: Toward an Understanding of Kabbalistic Imagery in the Book of Zohar"
Marc Krell, University of Arizona
"The Prophetic Narrative as a Basis for Religious Socialism in Weimar Germany: Jewish and Christian Attempts to Navigate between Historicism and Dialectical Theology"
Kenneth Koltun-Fromm, Haverford College in Pennsylvania
"The Art of Writing: The Diaries of Mordechai Kaplan"
(It was actually Martin Kavka presiding.)
My original plan was to hear the first three papers and then duck out and head to another session to hear one of our graduate students. But I didn't have a chance to get a cup of coffee before hand, and I was feeling really tired, so I decided that I would just stay for the first paper since medieval philosophy and curricula are things I'm interested in. I apologized before the session began to the other panelists for needing to duck out (I left out the part about needing/wanting a cup of coffee, so if Professors Haskell and Krell read this, now I owe you both a bigger apology.) Alan Verskin's presentation of Nissim's conception of why one should teach the masses some philosophy but should certainly not yourself believe that there is any philosophical truth in scripture was compelling. Someone asked him why Nissim would write that scripture had no philosophical truths if he didn't want the masses to know this. Well, Verskin answered, it's not clear why he didn't do a better job writing this part esoterically. I think I would answer differently: Maaseh Nissim (the work in question which survives in only a couple of manuscripts and was printed for the first time only 4 or 5 years ago) was probably not intended as a philosophical textbook for the masses; rather, I would guess that it was intended as a manual for philosophically inclined preachers who could use it to prepare sermons which could inculcate some philosophy in the multitude.
Then on to the aforementioned coffee in the super-crowded Starbucks in the Marriott Philadelphia lobby. Some people reading the New York Times; some earnestly chatting; some staring into space; some staring into their bagels; some (okay one person) reading a pocket edition of the Mishnah.
And then to:
22-7 History of Christianity Section
Tuesday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Arun W. Jones, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Presiding
Theme: East Meets West: Intra-Christian Tensions and Relationships
Jennifer C. Lane, Brigham Young University, Hawaii
"Comos and Communion: The Orthodox and the Other in Thirteenth-Century Central Asia"
Korinna Zamfir, Babes-Bolyai University
"An Overview of the Tensions Related to Mixed Matrimony in Transylvania during the Eighteenth–Twentieth Centuries"
István Keul, Free University of Berlin
"Denomination and Ethnic Affiliation in East Central Europe: Past and Present"
Brian P. Bennett, Niagara University
"Western Christianity as Other: The Discourse of "Latinism" in Russian History"
Amy A. Slagle, University of Pittsburgh
"The Internalized Other: Narrative Constructions of Ethnicity among American-Born Converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity"
Responding:
Milica Bakic-Hayden, University of Pittsburgh
I came in time for the second half of Brian Bennett's talk--interesting material on Russia's version of "Occidentialism." Amy's paper (obviously the reason I went) is part of her dissertation on converts to Eastern Orthodoxy. This talk was on her ethnographic fieldwork in an Orthodox parish (Orthodox Church of America if anyone is interested) in Pittsburgh. I am on her dissertation committee so I may be accused of bias, but it was an excellent talk. My colleage, Milica Bakic-Hayden, responded to all the papers. Milica raised an issue about Amy's paper that I was thinking about as well: how typical is Pittsburgh? Ethnicity matters a lot in Pittsburgh. I realized this shortly after moving there when I saw the bumper-sticker: "Proud Hungarian-American Democrat."
A22-12 Study of Judaism Section
Tuesday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Randi Rashkover, York College of Pennsylvania, Presiding
Theme: Jewish Thought: Culture and Curriculum
Alan Verskin, Princeton University
"Teaching Philosophy to the Multitude: The Thought of Nissim B. Moshe of Marseilles"
Ellen Haskell, Franklin & Marshall College
"Metaphor, Transformation, and Transcendence: Toward an Understanding of Kabbalistic Imagery in the Book of Zohar"
Marc Krell, University of Arizona
"The Prophetic Narrative as a Basis for Religious Socialism in Weimar Germany: Jewish and Christian Attempts to Navigate between Historicism and Dialectical Theology"
Kenneth Koltun-Fromm, Haverford College in Pennsylvania
"The Art of Writing: The Diaries of Mordechai Kaplan"
(It was actually Martin Kavka presiding.)
My original plan was to hear the first three papers and then duck out and head to another session to hear one of our graduate students. But I didn't have a chance to get a cup of coffee before hand, and I was feeling really tired, so I decided that I would just stay for the first paper since medieval philosophy and curricula are things I'm interested in. I apologized before the session began to the other panelists for needing to duck out (I left out the part about needing/wanting a cup of coffee, so if Professors Haskell and Krell read this, now I owe you both a bigger apology.) Alan Verskin's presentation of Nissim's conception of why one should teach the masses some philosophy but should certainly not yourself believe that there is any philosophical truth in scripture was compelling. Someone asked him why Nissim would write that scripture had no philosophical truths if he didn't want the masses to know this. Well, Verskin answered, it's not clear why he didn't do a better job writing this part esoterically. I think I would answer differently: Maaseh Nissim (the work in question which survives in only a couple of manuscripts and was printed for the first time only 4 or 5 years ago) was probably not intended as a philosophical textbook for the masses; rather, I would guess that it was intended as a manual for philosophically inclined preachers who could use it to prepare sermons which could inculcate some philosophy in the multitude.
Then on to the aforementioned coffee in the super-crowded Starbucks in the Marriott Philadelphia lobby. Some people reading the New York Times; some earnestly chatting; some staring into space; some staring into their bagels; some (okay one person) reading a pocket edition of the Mishnah.
And then to:
22-7 History of Christianity Section
Tuesday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Arun W. Jones, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Presiding
Theme: East Meets West: Intra-Christian Tensions and Relationships
Jennifer C. Lane, Brigham Young University, Hawaii
"Comos and Communion: The Orthodox and the Other in Thirteenth-Century Central Asia"
Korinna Zamfir, Babes-Bolyai University
"An Overview of the Tensions Related to Mixed Matrimony in Transylvania during the Eighteenth–Twentieth Centuries"
István Keul, Free University of Berlin
"Denomination and Ethnic Affiliation in East Central Europe: Past and Present"
Brian P. Bennett, Niagara University
"Western Christianity as Other: The Discourse of "Latinism" in Russian History"
Amy A. Slagle, University of Pittsburgh
"The Internalized Other: Narrative Constructions of Ethnicity among American-Born Converts to Eastern Orthodox Christianity"
Responding:
Milica Bakic-Hayden, University of Pittsburgh
I came in time for the second half of Brian Bennett's talk--interesting material on Russia's version of "Occidentialism." Amy's paper (obviously the reason I went) is part of her dissertation on converts to Eastern Orthodoxy. This talk was on her ethnographic fieldwork in an Orthodox parish (Orthodox Church of America if anyone is interested) in Pittsburgh. I am on her dissertation committee so I may be accused of bias, but it was an excellent talk. My colleage, Milica Bakic-Hayden, responded to all the papers. Milica raised an issue about Amy's paper that I was thinking about as well: how typical is Pittsburgh? Ethnicity matters a lot in Pittsburgh. I realized this shortly after moving there when I saw the bumper-sticker: "Proud Hungarian-American Democrat."
Monday, November 21, 2005
My AAR-SBL
Some 8000 people (this is hearsay) are in Philadelphia now for the annual joint meeting of the American Academy of Religion and Society for Biblical Literature. It's always strange to go to a conference in the city you are (temporarily) living in. [An aside: my four year old daughter has told us that the proper term for what we are doing in Philadelphia right now is "half-living".] Unlike going to a conference in another city, one's normal life is right there.
Case in point: I spent Saturday (day 1 of the conference) at home with the family and went Saturday afternoon and evening to the grand opening of a new bookstore, owned by a friend of mine from grade school and high school who also ended up in Philadelphia. On your next visit to Northwest Philadelphia, please visit the Big Blue Marble Bookstore on Carpenter Lane in West Mount Airy.
Sunday, I went to Center City and went to a couple of sessions, had lunch with a new colleague in Pittsburgh who arrived in Pittsburgh as we were leaving this summer, had coffee with an old friend, went to the Pitt-PTS-Duquesne reception.
Of couse, I didn't pay enough attention to the SBL side of the update booklet and missed out on the special session devoted to Ron Tappy's discovery of what may be the oldest Hebrew alphabet. You may have seen this in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Chicago Tribune, or the New York Times. PaleoJudaica.com was there however so you can read his report.
The first session I went to was:
(1) A20-13 Study of Judaism Section
Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Shaul Magid, Indiana University-Bloomington, Presiding
Theme: Gender, Feminism, and Orthodox Judaism
Gail Labovitz, University of Judaism
"Assent to Ascent: Rabbinic Negotiations of Exile, Marriage, and Gender Relations"
Rochelle L. Millen, Wittenberg University
"Theological Approaches in Orthodox Feminism"
Jerome Gellman, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
"Cumulative Revelation and Orthodox Feminist Theology"
Nora L. Rubel, Connecticut College
"'Muggers in Black Coats': Gender and Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Jewish American Imagination"
All four papers were excellent although discussion was dominated by Gellman's presentation in which he argued that while (a) the concept of cumulative revelation can be accommodated within contemporary Orthodox Judaism, (b) the sort of new revelation that a "moderate radical feminism" envisions would cause changes that could not be accommodated and that thus (c) the most Orthodox Jewish feminists can do is "bargain with patriarchy." Much discussion and contention over whether the changes he outlined could not in fact be accommodated and over the question of what he meant by "Orthodox." (Strangely many seemed to interpret him as arguing for a normative definition of Orthodox rather than a sociological one and also for arguing somehow against the changes that feminism advocates. These both seem to be misinterpretations of his position.) Only a little discussion about point (a) which I consider to be as interesting and much more problematic. He argued that Hasidism believed in cumulative revelation and was nonetheless accommodated in Orthodox Judaism. The problem is that all of his examples of Hasidic notions of cumulative revelation were 18th or early 19th century and one can argue that Hasidism is only included in Orthodox Judaism when it tones this stuff down. (One audience member and the chair of the panel made this point, more or less.) But nobody pointed out that there was no "Orthodox" Judaism in the 18th century for Hasidism to be part of or not part of.
The second panel I went to was:
A20-110
Study of Judaism Section
Sunday - 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
Steven D. Kepnes, Colgate University, Presiding
Theme: Place as Elsewhere: Home and Homelessness in Jewish Text and Commentary
Panelists:
Adam Zachary Newton, University of Texas, Austin
Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Hebrew University
Jacob Meskin, Hebrew College
Responding:
Martin Kavka, Florida State University
Newton and Ezrahi dropped out and Shaul Magid substituted. Meskin spoke on Levinas' attitudes toward Zionism and state sovereignty; Magid spoke on the Slonimer Rebbe's views of exile and diaspora. Kavka's response sparked off an excellent discussion although one that subsequently got a bit subtracked in my humble opinion on the question of whether a Zionism without messianism was or was not a viable option in the early 21st century. Some were arguing about whether it was or was not viable in a theological sense; others were arguing about whether it was or was not viable in a sociological sense.
There is usually very little at the AAR in my area (medieval and early modern Jewish intellectual and cultural history) which might explain why I don't often go to AAR. (This was my first visit since the 1999 meeting in Boston). But when I do go, I like to go to these sessions that are mainly contemporary Jewish thought and indulge in a little bit of constructive thinking. I also like to step back a bit and watch the theologians and philosophers at work. But it is a bit strange to find a wholly different model of "religious studies"--theological, "insider," constructive--at the AAR than the one I am used to in the department in which I do my work--historical, "outsider," and descriptive.
Today I went to the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and actually did some work in the morning and then heard a fascinating presentation by Piet van Boxel in our weekly seminar series (moved to Monday from Wednesday because of Thanksgiving). Piet dealt with a project, run at the highest levels of the Church, in the late 1570s and early 1580s, to systematically survey Jewish biblical exegesis as represented in the commentaries published in various Biblia Rabbinica editions for objectionable passages, to translate them to Latin (sometimes via Italian), and then to comment on what was objectionable. This was not done for the simple purpose of expurgation, apparently, but for more complex reasons: to prepare material for missionary efforts, especially conversionary sermons; to set out official Church positions on Jewish exegesis; and to prepare a kind of encyclopedia of Jewish beliefs for reference purposes.
Then I headed back over to the Philadelphia Convention Center and had coffee with another Pittsburgh colleague. Then home to make dinner.
Tomorrow: a little more conference and then back to work.
Case in point: I spent Saturday (day 1 of the conference) at home with the family and went Saturday afternoon and evening to the grand opening of a new bookstore, owned by a friend of mine from grade school and high school who also ended up in Philadelphia. On your next visit to Northwest Philadelphia, please visit the Big Blue Marble Bookstore on Carpenter Lane in West Mount Airy.
Sunday, I went to Center City and went to a couple of sessions, had lunch with a new colleague in Pittsburgh who arrived in Pittsburgh as we were leaving this summer, had coffee with an old friend, went to the Pitt-PTS-Duquesne reception.
Of couse, I didn't pay enough attention to the SBL side of the update booklet and missed out on the special session devoted to Ron Tappy's discovery of what may be the oldest Hebrew alphabet. You may have seen this in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Chicago Tribune, or the New York Times. PaleoJudaica.com was there however so you can read his report.
The first session I went to was:
(1) A20-13 Study of Judaism Section
Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Shaul Magid, Indiana University-Bloomington, Presiding
Theme: Gender, Feminism, and Orthodox Judaism
Gail Labovitz, University of Judaism
"Assent to Ascent: Rabbinic Negotiations of Exile, Marriage, and Gender Relations"
Rochelle L. Millen, Wittenberg University
"Theological Approaches in Orthodox Feminism"
Jerome Gellman, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
"Cumulative Revelation and Orthodox Feminist Theology"
Nora L. Rubel, Connecticut College
"'Muggers in Black Coats': Gender and Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Jewish American Imagination"
All four papers were excellent although discussion was dominated by Gellman's presentation in which he argued that while (a) the concept of cumulative revelation can be accommodated within contemporary Orthodox Judaism, (b) the sort of new revelation that a "moderate radical feminism" envisions would cause changes that could not be accommodated and that thus (c) the most Orthodox Jewish feminists can do is "bargain with patriarchy." Much discussion and contention over whether the changes he outlined could not in fact be accommodated and over the question of what he meant by "Orthodox." (Strangely many seemed to interpret him as arguing for a normative definition of Orthodox rather than a sociological one and also for arguing somehow against the changes that feminism advocates. These both seem to be misinterpretations of his position.) Only a little discussion about point (a) which I consider to be as interesting and much more problematic. He argued that Hasidism believed in cumulative revelation and was nonetheless accommodated in Orthodox Judaism. The problem is that all of his examples of Hasidic notions of cumulative revelation were 18th or early 19th century and one can argue that Hasidism is only included in Orthodox Judaism when it tones this stuff down. (One audience member and the chair of the panel made this point, more or less.) But nobody pointed out that there was no "Orthodox" Judaism in the 18th century for Hasidism to be part of or not part of.
The second panel I went to was:
A20-110
Study of Judaism Section
Sunday - 4:00 pm-6:30 pm
Steven D. Kepnes, Colgate University, Presiding
Theme: Place as Elsewhere: Home and Homelessness in Jewish Text and Commentary
Panelists:
Adam Zachary Newton, University of Texas, Austin
Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Hebrew University
Jacob Meskin, Hebrew College
Responding:
Martin Kavka, Florida State University
Newton and Ezrahi dropped out and Shaul Magid substituted. Meskin spoke on Levinas' attitudes toward Zionism and state sovereignty; Magid spoke on the Slonimer Rebbe's views of exile and diaspora. Kavka's response sparked off an excellent discussion although one that subsequently got a bit subtracked in my humble opinion on the question of whether a Zionism without messianism was or was not a viable option in the early 21st century. Some were arguing about whether it was or was not viable in a theological sense; others were arguing about whether it was or was not viable in a sociological sense.
There is usually very little at the AAR in my area (medieval and early modern Jewish intellectual and cultural history) which might explain why I don't often go to AAR. (This was my first visit since the 1999 meeting in Boston). But when I do go, I like to go to these sessions that are mainly contemporary Jewish thought and indulge in a little bit of constructive thinking. I also like to step back a bit and watch the theologians and philosophers at work. But it is a bit strange to find a wholly different model of "religious studies"--theological, "insider," constructive--at the AAR than the one I am used to in the department in which I do my work--historical, "outsider," and descriptive.
Today I went to the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and actually did some work in the morning and then heard a fascinating presentation by Piet van Boxel in our weekly seminar series (moved to Monday from Wednesday because of Thanksgiving). Piet dealt with a project, run at the highest levels of the Church, in the late 1570s and early 1580s, to systematically survey Jewish biblical exegesis as represented in the commentaries published in various Biblia Rabbinica editions for objectionable passages, to translate them to Latin (sometimes via Italian), and then to comment on what was objectionable. This was not done for the simple purpose of expurgation, apparently, but for more complex reasons: to prepare material for missionary efforts, especially conversionary sermons; to set out official Church positions on Jewish exegesis; and to prepare a kind of encyclopedia of Jewish beliefs for reference purposes.
Then I headed back over to the Philadelphia Convention Center and had coffee with another Pittsburgh colleague. Then home to make dinner.
Tomorrow: a little more conference and then back to work.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Edmund Bacon, 1910-2005
You have probably heard of his son Kevin. But unless you are a Philadelphian and/or someone who follows urban planning, you might not have heard of Ed Bacon who died last week. In case you haven't heard of him: he was the director of city planning in Philadelphia from 1949 to 1970 and was involved in nearly every one of the big projects that shaped Philadelphia (especially Center City) as it appears today. If you like Philadelphia, you have Ed Bacon to thank. If you don't like Philadelphia--well, I would question your judgement. Inga Saffron, the Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic has a thoughtful piece about Bacon's legacy in today's paper. I can't disagree with her about some of the flaws in Bacon's approach but I would point out that he was hardly alone in his thinking. He was certainly not the only mid-century planning official to support expressway bulding in central cities and (sadly) he was far from alone in seeing slums where later observers saw thriving "urban villages." But let's give credit where credit is due: if anything, Bacon stood out from the pack in appreciating some of the things that urban planners emphasize today. Given what the redevelopment of Society Hill could have turned into (cf. the West End of Boston or Southwest Washington), I can forgive Bacon for emphasizing the colonial period.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Boston HUBris Watch
My motto for Boston is "Not as nice or important as the people who live there think it is." (My motto for Philadelphia is "Nicer than the people who live there think it is.")(Needless to say neither city is about to hire me as a marketing consultant.)
So I tend to notice little things that suggest or reinforce an over-inflated sense of Boston's importance.
Today's entry comes from Richard Florida in the October Atlantic (p.49): "Together New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston have a bigger economy than all of China."
Florida's point is interesting, but he leaves us with the misleading impression that Boston is the 4th largest metro area in the US. But there are at least three other US metro areas (CMSA's) bigger than Boston: San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose; DC/Baltimore; and Philadelphia. (I also assume he's talking metro areas and not city populations since Boston doesn't even crack the top 10 in city size.)
Perhaps the Boston CMSA has the 4th largest economy in the US? This is possible although I am doubtful that it surpasses the three larger metro areas I mentioned.
So I tend to notice little things that suggest or reinforce an over-inflated sense of Boston's importance.
Today's entry comes from Richard Florida in the October Atlantic (p.49): "Together New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston have a bigger economy than all of China."
Florida's point is interesting, but he leaves us with the misleading impression that Boston is the 4th largest metro area in the US. But there are at least three other US metro areas (CMSA's) bigger than Boston: San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose; DC/Baltimore; and Philadelphia. (I also assume he's talking metro areas and not city populations since Boston doesn't even crack the top 10 in city size.)
Perhaps the Boston CMSA has the 4th largest economy in the US? This is possible although I am doubtful that it surpasses the three larger metro areas I mentioned.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Walking in Philadelphia
A couple of months ago, I posted a rant about bad driving behavior. I suggested that drivers were bad everywhere. After two weeks back in beloved Philadelphia, and having processed how much our car insurance premium will go up for the 4 months we are (yes, I know we could have not told the insurance company but we have many moral scruples), let me amend that post: I had forgotten how bad Philadelphia drivers were. And by bad, I do not mean that they do not have control over their vehicles or mastery of the technical skills involved in braking, steering, or accelerating. No, I mean that they are evil.
Here is one of the many elements of sociopathic behavior I noted in Pittsburgh:
"Not yielding to pedestrians at intersections. (How many of you remember from driver's ed that the pedestrian has the right of way at every intersection, not just controlled ones?)"
When I wrote that post, I should have been clear: many drivers in Pittsburgh fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections. But not all. Indeed, the majority stop, especially when turning. Not in Philadelphia. Not one. Never.
Here is one of the many elements of sociopathic behavior I noted in Pittsburgh:
"Not yielding to pedestrians at intersections. (How many of you remember from driver's ed that the pedestrian has the right of way at every intersection, not just controlled ones?)"
When I wrote that post, I should have been clear: many drivers in Pittsburgh fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections. But not all. Indeed, the majority stop, especially when turning. Not in Philadelphia. Not one. Never.
Signs of the times
The following caught my eye while traveling to the foreign lands of the Newark airport and Israel:
a) Sign noticed in Newark airport: “Ground Transportation. Información sobre Autobuses.” Part b is not a literal translation of part a.
b) In the new Ben Gurion Airport, probably 80% of signs are in Hebrew and English without Arabic. The remaining are in Hebrew and Arabic without English. I could discern no pattern.
c) A banner hanging from a building at the corner of Ha-Histadrut and Ben Yehuda streets in Jerusalem (at the top of the Midrachov): “Cannabis for a Peaceful Disengagment.” In Hebrew: Ha-am im Gush Hashish.
d) A banner hanging from an apartment balcony at the corner of King George and Agron streets in Jerusalem: “Ask me [picture of American Indian] about land for peace.”
I assume this was put up by an opponent of the withdrawal from Gaza. But, um, is this really an analogy that works in favor of Israel and Zionism?
a) Sign noticed in Newark airport: “Ground Transportation. Información sobre Autobuses.” Part b is not a literal translation of part a.
b) In the new Ben Gurion Airport, probably 80% of signs are in Hebrew and English without Arabic. The remaining are in Hebrew and Arabic without English. I could discern no pattern.
c) A banner hanging from a building at the corner of Ha-Histadrut and Ben Yehuda streets in Jerusalem (at the top of the Midrachov): “Cannabis for a Peaceful Disengagment.” In Hebrew: Ha-am im Gush Hashish.
d) A banner hanging from an apartment balcony at the corner of King George and Agron streets in Jerusalem: “Ask me [picture of American Indian] about land for peace.”
I assume this was put up by an opponent of the withdrawal from Gaza. But, um, is this really an analogy that works in favor of Israel and Zionism?
A little about the Jerusalem trip
I divided my work-time in Jerusalem between the Jewish National and University Library on the Givat Ram campus of Hebrew University and the Humanities and Social Sciences campus of Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. In 93-94, I was a student taking classes at Mount Scopus and formed a great antipathy to the physical environment. Since 1996, when most of my time in Jerusalem has been devoted to library research rather than taking classes, I’ve spent my time on Givat Ram. While the campus plan on Mount Scopus seems to be based on the blueprints for something out of Star Wars, Givat Ram is an adaptation of Thomas Jefferson’s plan for the University of Virginia adapted to a desert.
As much as I prefer Givat Ram to Mount Scopus, it does seem a bit quiet and lonely sometimes. The science departments are on the Givat Ram campus but the larger number of students in humanities, social science, law, and education as well as the many overseas students makes Mount Scopus a more bustling place. Reading Batya Gur’s Literary Murder on the plane on the way to Israel, I came across these passages describing the thoughts of her protagonist, Michael Ohayon, police detective and M.A. in History from the Hebrew University, as he visits Givat Ram:
“He walked slowly through the gate and stared at the well-tended lawns where no one sat anymore, and the old pictures rose before his eyes--the dozens of liberal arts students who used to be sprawled on the grass between lectures or who were on their way from the library to the cafeteria, the green grass dotted with their bright clothing, the paths where everyone would stroll, as if there was all the time in the world then. Then, before they moved the humanities to Mount Scopus. Only five years ago, thought Michael, you never saw science students here on the lawn, they were all in the back wing of the university, poring over their experiments in the laboratories. And now that all the buildings had been turned into laboratories, the science students walked on the paths with a brisk, purposeful efficiency that made Michael wonder what purpose people could have in a world that no longer seemed to have purpose. He stopped to look at the new name on what had once been the Lauterman Building: it was now the Berman Building. There were piles of broken chairs in the entrance lobby, but he didn’t go inside, remembering that on a previous visit he had seen that the rooms had been converted into offices. What had been wrong with this campus that they found it necessary to build the monster on Mount Scopus and turn Lauterman into a ghost building? What kind of generation was growing up inside that stone fortress? he asked himself again, and then he shook himself and hurried toward the National Library building.” (Batya Gur, Literary Murder: A Critical Case; A Michael Ohayon Mystery, trans. Dalya Bilu, HarperCollins, 1993, p.219).
The book is set in 1985. In 2005 science students do sit on the lawn sometimes. The broken chairs have been removed (although I seem to recall a lot of junk in the lobby of one of the buildings as recently as 1998). Otherwise, Gur could have put these thoughts in her character’s mind just last week.
Earlier comes this description of Mount Scopus:
“The lab crew were still busy with the fingerprints, and then, in flagrant violation of the unwritten rule that demanded his presence at the scene of a crime as long as the forensics people were still there, Michael went out to the corridor. where he leaned against the wall and waited them to finish their job. Actually he hoped that outside the wall room with the corpse in it, he would be able to breathe. But the long, angular hallway was airless. He walked along it until he came to a juncture of three corridors, which, like a traffic island, constituted a kind of little square surrounded by purple walls, and he sat down on a wooden bench, on the other end of which set Ariyeh Klein, his head buried in his hands.
“Klein raised his head and looked at the policeman..... It was surprisingly quiet. There were no doors in the purple walls, only mailboxes, bulletin boards, and two benches...” (pp.72-73).
On the other hand, my visit to Mt. Scopus last month was relatively pleasant. The organizers of the World Congress of Jewish Studies cleverly set up a tent in the outdoor courtyard of the Humanities building with a refreshment stand and vouchers that could be redeemed only at this refreshment stand. Aside from the damage to my body of eating 10 burekas (burekasim if you wish) washed down by 10 iced coffees in the space of 4 days, it was quite pleasant and provided a nice place for socializing during the conference. I avoided all angular hallways and had a nice time.
I also heard some interesting lectures but you can read the proceedings of the conference in a few years. Meaningless thoughts on the physical environment of Hebrew University campuses have to go on the web now, however.
As much as I prefer Givat Ram to Mount Scopus, it does seem a bit quiet and lonely sometimes. The science departments are on the Givat Ram campus but the larger number of students in humanities, social science, law, and education as well as the many overseas students makes Mount Scopus a more bustling place. Reading Batya Gur’s Literary Murder on the plane on the way to Israel, I came across these passages describing the thoughts of her protagonist, Michael Ohayon, police detective and M.A. in History from the Hebrew University, as he visits Givat Ram:
“He walked slowly through the gate and stared at the well-tended lawns where no one sat anymore, and the old pictures rose before his eyes--the dozens of liberal arts students who used to be sprawled on the grass between lectures or who were on their way from the library to the cafeteria, the green grass dotted with their bright clothing, the paths where everyone would stroll, as if there was all the time in the world then. Then, before they moved the humanities to Mount Scopus. Only five years ago, thought Michael, you never saw science students here on the lawn, they were all in the back wing of the university, poring over their experiments in the laboratories. And now that all the buildings had been turned into laboratories, the science students walked on the paths with a brisk, purposeful efficiency that made Michael wonder what purpose people could have in a world that no longer seemed to have purpose. He stopped to look at the new name on what had once been the Lauterman Building: it was now the Berman Building. There were piles of broken chairs in the entrance lobby, but he didn’t go inside, remembering that on a previous visit he had seen that the rooms had been converted into offices. What had been wrong with this campus that they found it necessary to build the monster on Mount Scopus and turn Lauterman into a ghost building? What kind of generation was growing up inside that stone fortress? he asked himself again, and then he shook himself and hurried toward the National Library building.” (Batya Gur, Literary Murder: A Critical Case; A Michael Ohayon Mystery, trans. Dalya Bilu, HarperCollins, 1993, p.219).
The book is set in 1985. In 2005 science students do sit on the lawn sometimes. The broken chairs have been removed (although I seem to recall a lot of junk in the lobby of one of the buildings as recently as 1998). Otherwise, Gur could have put these thoughts in her character’s mind just last week.
Earlier comes this description of Mount Scopus:
“The lab crew were still busy with the fingerprints, and then, in flagrant violation of the unwritten rule that demanded his presence at the scene of a crime as long as the forensics people were still there, Michael went out to the corridor. where he leaned against the wall and waited them to finish their job. Actually he hoped that outside the wall room with the corpse in it, he would be able to breathe. But the long, angular hallway was airless. He walked along it until he came to a juncture of three corridors, which, like a traffic island, constituted a kind of little square surrounded by purple walls, and he sat down on a wooden bench, on the other end of which set Ariyeh Klein, his head buried in his hands.
“Klein raised his head and looked at the policeman..... It was surprisingly quiet. There were no doors in the purple walls, only mailboxes, bulletin boards, and two benches...” (pp.72-73).
On the other hand, my visit to Mt. Scopus last month was relatively pleasant. The organizers of the World Congress of Jewish Studies cleverly set up a tent in the outdoor courtyard of the Humanities building with a refreshment stand and vouchers that could be redeemed only at this refreshment stand. Aside from the damage to my body of eating 10 burekas (burekasim if you wish) washed down by 10 iced coffees in the space of 4 days, it was quite pleasant and provided a nice place for socializing during the conference. I avoided all angular hallways and had a nice time.
I also heard some interesting lectures but you can read the proceedings of the conference in a few years. Meaningless thoughts on the physical environment of Hebrew University campuses have to go on the web now, however.
Yo, the blog returns
I thought I would blog a bit from Jerusalem, but I was too busy. I thought I would blog a bit when I got back to Pittsburgh but I was too busy packing for our temporary move to Philadelphia and getting our house ready for our tenants. I thought I would blog a bit while on vacation but I was on vacation. Who blogs on vacation? I thought I would blog a bit when I got to Philadelphia but we were too busy settling in.
But now we’re settled in and now I’m really back at work and so now the blogging urge returns.
Yes, we are in Philadelphia for a semester. I have a fellowship at a research institute for Judaic Studies located near Independence Hall and affiliated with a major university founded (sort-of) by Ben Franklin. Again, I am not announcing my last name on the blog but if you can’t figure out who I am or what the research institute is, your Google skills are really weak. Again, nothing I say on this blog represents the opinion of either the University of Pittsburgh or the University of Pennsylvania. (And by the way, in case the question arises, I don’t blog from office computers or over internet connections provided by either university. Always on the personal machine via slow, slow dial-up that I pay for myself.)
I sent a change of address to relatives and friends and included a FAQ that some people said was funny. Here’s an excerpt (names of wife and children and other identifiers related to them changed):
Why are you going to Philadelphia?
--Adam has a fellowship to do research at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at Penn. This is a post-doctoral research institute where junior and senior scholars come for one or two semesters to do research on individual projects centered on a common theme. The theme for the 05-06 academic year is “History of the Jewish Book.” Adam’s research project is on the impact of print on the transmission and reception of medieval Jewish texts in Renaissance Italy.
What will Wife be doing?
--Wife is taking a 4-month leave from Wife’s Place of Employment and will be taking a temporary job in Philadelphia.
What will the kids be doing?
--Daughter and Son will be attending the excellent day care/pre-school at Un-Disclosed Philadelphia Synagogue. They will also be learning the difference between “water ice” and “Italian ice”.
Are you coming back to Pittsburgh?
--Yes.
Really?
--Yes.
Could this turn into a permanent job in Philadelphia for Adam?
--No.
So you’re coming back to Pittsburgh?
--Yes.
And you’re not staying in Philadelphia?
--Right.
Why Philadelphia?
--Good library; good research institute; Wife doesn’t need to apply for an unnamed professional license from a different state; and we only have to file one state tax return for 2005.
4 months in Philadelphia--was that first prize or second prize?
Ha. Ha. Actually we like Philadelphia a lot. We’re excited to be going back for a little while.
So you might stay in Philadelphia and not come back to Pittsburgh?
No. We like Pittsburgh too. See above.
Eagles or Steelers?
Steelers.
Pirates or Phillies?
Orioles.
Penguins or Flyers?
Who?
But now we’re settled in and now I’m really back at work and so now the blogging urge returns.
Yes, we are in Philadelphia for a semester. I have a fellowship at a research institute for Judaic Studies located near Independence Hall and affiliated with a major university founded (sort-of) by Ben Franklin. Again, I am not announcing my last name on the blog but if you can’t figure out who I am or what the research institute is, your Google skills are really weak. Again, nothing I say on this blog represents the opinion of either the University of Pittsburgh or the University of Pennsylvania. (And by the way, in case the question arises, I don’t blog from office computers or over internet connections provided by either university. Always on the personal machine via slow, slow dial-up that I pay for myself.)
I sent a change of address to relatives and friends and included a FAQ that some people said was funny. Here’s an excerpt (names of wife and children and other identifiers related to them changed):
Why are you going to Philadelphia?
--Adam has a fellowship to do research at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at Penn. This is a post-doctoral research institute where junior and senior scholars come for one or two semesters to do research on individual projects centered on a common theme. The theme for the 05-06 academic year is “History of the Jewish Book.” Adam’s research project is on the impact of print on the transmission and reception of medieval Jewish texts in Renaissance Italy.
What will Wife be doing?
--Wife is taking a 4-month leave from Wife’s Place of Employment and will be taking a temporary job in Philadelphia.
What will the kids be doing?
--Daughter and Son will be attending the excellent day care/pre-school at Un-Disclosed Philadelphia Synagogue. They will also be learning the difference between “water ice” and “Italian ice”.
Are you coming back to Pittsburgh?
--Yes.
Really?
--Yes.
Could this turn into a permanent job in Philadelphia for Adam?
--No.
So you’re coming back to Pittsburgh?
--Yes.
And you’re not staying in Philadelphia?
--Right.
Why Philadelphia?
--Good library; good research institute; Wife doesn’t need to apply for an unnamed professional license from a different state; and we only have to file one state tax return for 2005.
4 months in Philadelphia--was that first prize or second prize?
Ha. Ha. Actually we like Philadelphia a lot. We’re excited to be going back for a little while.
So you might stay in Philadelphia and not come back to Pittsburgh?
No. We like Pittsburgh too. See above.
Eagles or Steelers?
Steelers.
Pirates or Phillies?
Orioles.
Penguins or Flyers?
Who?
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Light Blogging
If you have been checking here in the last month or so, awaiting my latest insignificant thoughts on important issues and significant thoughts on unimportant issues, sorry to have been disappointing you. I've been busy getting ready for a trip to Israel for a conference and research.
If I have a chance, I'll make a few observations from Jerusalem--but I wouldn't make plans around this blog.
If I have a chance, I'll make a few observations from Jerusalem--but I wouldn't make plans around this blog.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
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