I think I’ve finally solved my book storage problem! Over Thanksgiving I visited daughter Orli who is spending an exchange year abroad in Dublin, Ireland, and my sightseeing included the Trinity College Library Long Room. Nearly 65 meters in length, this room houses 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books. I’ve now tasked Orli with getting a set of architectural prints for an addition to our home. Among the many books that I bought during my annual end-of-year binge were memoirs by Etgar Keret (“The Seven Good Years”) and Lucy Dawidowicz (“From That Place and Time”), the Lieberman Open Orthodox Haggadah, “Chinese Jews” by William Charles White, “Nine Essential Things I’ve Learned About Life” by Rabbi Harold Kushner, and the fictional “Einstein’s Dreams” by Alan Lightman, recommended to me by a congregant whom I met at the progressive synagogue in Dublin. Dawidowicz’ title echoes Einstein’s discovery of the interdependency of space and time.
Both time and space were involved in some precious memories while in Dublin. I had a wonderful, nearly three-hour personal tour by Edwin Alkin of the Irish Jewish Museum, housed inside a former synagogue; his sister, coincidentally, lives in Northern New Mexico. I also attended services conducted by Rabbi Emeritus Charles Middleburgh on Friday night and Saturday morning, receiving the honor of an aliyah during the Torah service. And Orli and I spent a lovely, albeit somewhat rainy, day visiting museums, eating Asian fusion food, and watching a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Traveling overseas gave me significant reading time, and among this quarter’s features were “The Exiles Return” about the Jewish experience in Vienna after World War II by Elisabeth De Waal, a depiction of the Shanghai Jewish escape route during the Holocaust entitled “Ten Green Bottles” by Vivian Jeanette Kaplan, “Humboldt’s Gift” by Saul Bellow, “Two Novellas: In the Sanitarium and Facing the Sea” by David Vogel, translated from the Hebrew by Philip Simpson and Daniel Silverstone, and “Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician” by Allen Shawn.
Rabbinic highlights for the past quarter were both time- and space-centric. Beverly and I jointly led a Friday night service at the Los Alamos Jewish Center (LAJC), and I had the usual opportunities to lead services at HaMakom in Santa Fe and the LAJC. The progressive synagogue in Vienna, Austria, celebrated its twenty fifth anniversary, and while I couldn’t attend, my words about how much Or Chadasch meant to me, especially in 2008 when I lived in Vienna, were captured in their commemorative booklet. I was also unable to drive up to Salida, Colorado, to help light a Hanukkiah for the first night of the holiday (I got to spend that night with my Mom and lit candles outside in balmy southern California). Nonetheless I sent the Salida Jewish community some thoughts for the occasion which were read at their public hanukkah lighting. I also offered teachings and blessings after meals on a variety of occasions including a Hanukkah party and the annual Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival’s Flix and Chop Stix event where I gave a quick summary of our China Jewish experiences. With Beverly’s slides as visual aides, I presented an hour-long talk on this topic at the LAJC with attendance from the non-Jewish community as well thanks to publicity from our local radio interview and a press release featured in the local papers. I’ll be reprising this talk next month at the annual Albuquerque Taste of Honey Adult Jewish education event. The Santa Fe Jewish Book Council invited me to speak at the Santa Fe Jewish Book Fair, and I described the process by which I assembled my Jewish library. I’ve written up that talk and hope to publish it soon. Beware – you’ll need lots of book shelf space if you follow the guidance (but Orli might offer you a set of architectural plans, too).
B’shalom,
Rabbi Jack