Monthly Archives: July 2015

This is a Jewish Act, We Do Such Things (The Murder of Ali Saad Dawabsheh)

Posted on July 31, 2015 by zjb

About the terrorist attack, the murder 18-month old Ali Saad Dawabsheh, from the NYT, which you can read here, a quote from Yinon Magal, a member of the Israeli Parliament from the pro-settler Bayit Ha’Yehudi: “This is not a Jewish act,” … Continue reading →

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Politics of Religious Terrorism In Israel Today (The Problem is “Judaism”)

Posted on July 31, 2015 by zjb

In the United States many people tend to have a benign, warm and fuzzy view of “Judaism.” Even on the anti-Zionist Jewish left, Judaism is let off the hook, as if the political task was to free Judaism by separating … Continue reading →

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Chinese Restaurant (Max Weber) (No, Not That Max Weber)

Posted on July 30, 2015 by zjb

Say what you want about painter Max Weber, born in Bialystok. But this painting here, one of his best, dates the American Jewish love for Chinese food earlier than one might have thought, back some one hundred years at the dawn … Continue reading →

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(No Place to Rest) New York City Park Bench (Defensive Urban Design)

Posted on July 30, 2015 by zjb

Friend and colleague Gail Hamner posted on FB this article, which you can read here, about “defensive urban design.” Looking a little like installation art in the article, the use of dull little spikes has as its main social function … Continue reading →

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Looking Forward to New York State Fair?

Posted on July 29, 2015 by zjb

Now’s the time to get your dirt cheap discounted tickets and ride passes for the Great New York State Fair here. But you’ll  have to get yourself to Syracuse.

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A Sad & Sorry Story About Jewish Thought (Gossip From the Hebrew University)

Posted on July 29, 2015 by zjb

I’m not going to say too much about this sorry story concerning the Department of Jewish Thought (machshevet Yisrael) at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. At its center is a popular professor and department chair who is being transferred by … Continue reading →

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Harlem Green Lung (116th Street)

Posted on July 28, 2015 by zjb

Green lung running down from Morningside Park along 116th Street.

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Whitney-High Line (Gesamtkunstwerk) (Distraction)

Posted on July 28, 2015 by zjb

Aficionados of Richard Wagner and Walter Benjamin take note. Walking out of the new Whitney Museum of Art out to and up the High Line extends the museum experience. You’ve actually left the building. You’re outside, but remain inside –i.e. … Continue reading →

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(Petty & Mean) The Village of Susiya & the Israeli NGO That Wants To Uproot It

Posted on July 27, 2015 by zjb

On social media, I’ve been noting but not really following the ongoing concern about attempts by Israel to demolish the village of Susiya in the Israeli controlled Area C of the Occupied West Bank, and to move its inhabitants to … Continue reading →

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Tisha B’Av (Vicarious) (Misery)

Posted on July 26, 2015 by zjb

I’m fasting now for Tisha B’Av. I could mention habit, cultural memory, and ideological commitments as component features that give “meaning” and narrative drama to the day. But as I’ve gotten older, I’m not so interested in these kinds of … Continue reading →

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