Monthly Archives: April 2016

Closed for Passover

Posted on April 26, 2016 by zjb

A high end eatery shuts down for the holiday. On a walk up Amsterdam Avenue during the intermediate days of Passover. The joint is not kosher per se. According to my sources, “the smoked fish is kosher, the family is … Continue reading →

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(Symposium) Comics and Sacred Texts (Haverford College) (May 6, 2016)

Posted on April 25, 2016 by zjb

Across religions, it’s state of the art. You can see the whole program here for this symposium at Haverford College on comics and sacred texts: The last decade has produced critical and expressive studies in sacred canonical texts and comics. … Continue reading →

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JVP Haggadah (2015) & Freedom Seder (1969)

Posted on April 22, 2016 by zjb

Hermetically sealed, the JVP Haggadah is a didactic counter-narrative transforming the traditional text into a statement for Palestinian national rights and liberation. As a political document, readers of contemporary haggadot will instantly recognize it as part of a continuum. Of much … Continue reading →

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Marijuana Kosher for Passover

Posted on April 21, 2016 by zjb

This from the Times of Israel: “Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, widely considered the leading living ultra-Orthodox halachic authority, ruled that marijuana is kosher for Passover and can be either eaten or smoked over the eight-day Jewish festival, during which strict dietary … Continue reading →

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Crude Moralizing, Bernie Sanders, and the Politics of Israel

Posted on April 17, 2016 by zjb

  About the politics of Israel, Bernie Sanders is showing himself to be incoherent. Already failing to coordinate ends and means, the candidate thinks he’s doing one thing only to undercut himself and the cause he sets out to represent. … Continue reading →

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Anyone From Anywhere (Mural) (Harlem)

Posted on April 16, 2016 by zjb

Walking east down E. 115 towards Pleasant Avenue. Wrapped around the corners of this building, the mural has a multi-panel effect.

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East River Ducklings

Posted on April 15, 2016 by zjb

Floating life on the East River on a sunny day in April.

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POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett)

Posted on April 14, 2016 by zjb

On her recent visit to Syracuse in her capacity as Program Director of the Core Exhibition, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett walked us virtually through POLIN Museum of the History. There’s not much that I can add that has not already been said about … Continue reading →

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Philosophical Art Jokes (Peter Fischli & David Weiss)

Posted on April 9, 2016 by zjb

By Peter Fischli (b. 1952) and David Weiss, the philosophical art joke works upon the juxtaposition between the sublime and ridiculous, between the high-concept and cheap material means. With its obsessive multiplication of cheap little clay figures, Suddenly This Overview is Hegelian … Continue reading →

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The Ephesus Church of the Seventh Day Adventist (Harlem)

Posted on April 8, 2016 by zjb

I pass The Ephesus Church of the Seventh Day Adventist on our regular walk through Harlem up Lenox Avenue at 123rd Street. What always calls my attention is the mustard color brick, the long and sharp steeple, the largeness of the … Continue reading →

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