Long Island Calling

So for the loyal friends and family, some of which actually read this thing, I apologize for my lack of posting.

So here is a quick post- I read this article yesterday in the NY Times:

Many Florida Jews Express Doubts on Obama
By JODI KANTOR
Jewish voters are vital to Barack Obama’s hopes, but among many older Jews, he has become a conduit for anxiety about Israel, Iran, anti-Semitism and race.

What really struck me beyond the obvious generational divide between would-be young and old jewish voters, was just flat out how many old, stereotypical Broward County type Jews are ready to give Obama the hook for all of the wrong reasons. It’s one thing to hate on him for his potential policies, willingness to talk to Iran, Rev. Wright, or the uncertainty of his Israel stance. These are all legitimate issues and worthy of discussion.

I’m not even talking about the ones basing their info on Internet rumors and wrong information. That is not so bad because with a little research, viewpoints can shift. I’m talking about the ones in the article who don’t want to vote for him based on association, like this for example-

“Other voters called Mr. Obama’s endorsement by the Rev. Jesse Jackson problematic, because Mr. Jackson once called New York “Hymietown” (even though he later apologized) and has made other comments offensive to Jews.”

Gimme a break! You can only take guilt by association so far. I mean Obama was like 23 at the time and nowhere near public office when Jackson said that. How is that even relevant?

But if you read between the lines, ultimately most of these old school Jews don’t want to vote for him because as some would put it- “He’s a schvatza!”

Black and Jews haven’t had the greatest relations in the past couple of decades, but this old type of racism  doesn’t really help.   My people are always very keen on remembering the past and that is a great thing when you can learn from it to move forward.  But it is unproductive  when you still live in it, letting it always decide how you should proceed in the future.

With this in mind, it should be interesting to see how Obama does in Florida when he really starts to campaigning down there.

This past weekend, the wifey and I headed upstate to the Town of Kingston. When we first arrived to the jewel of Ulster County, when we drove down Broadway, it kind of had that run down, rustic, slightly depressing Upstate NY feel you get from towns like Elmira, Buffalo and Genesee. But then when got to another part of town with a long hill, we discovered the heart of a thriving art community, which was the reason we were there in the first place.

We came to The Arts Society of Kingston, for the opening night of great exhibit celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday and the Jewish experience in the US and Israel. Normally you can find something like this in the LES while noshing on Guss’ pickles, but this was different. Wifey and I went to this opening because of my sister-in-law. On this night, emerging photography artist Dina Hodara had her first art exhibit of her work. Great Success!

Here are some photos from ASK Center on Saturday Night.

The center itself.

Here is a shot of Dina’s photos, focusing on the U.S. Jewish experience celebrating the holiday Purim. These were mostly taken at festival in Williamsburg, where Dina was able to infiltrate the system and get some great, candid photos. Those krazy kidz! So cute, dressing up as sailors, rebbis and postal workers. At least they didn’t dress up like this guy…

The artist, Dina Hodara and one of her works of art.

The artist, Dina Hodara, leaving the building.

Reminder- Dina’ s work will be on display (and for sale) at ASK until April 26th. So go…NOW!

For another take on this event, you can visit the wifey’s blog here.

And just when I thought it was safe to watch football today…

If anyone needs me, I’ll be sitting shiva for the Cowboys between now and the Super Bowl.   Also, if anyone sees Tony Romo’s betzim,  please return them.  He’s going to need them to deal with the media for the next couple of weeks.

Not really.  According to this BBC article,  aliyah is down this year.   Frankly, I’m surprised that the article wasn’t angrier about the thought of more Jews staying in Europe, considering the way the BBC usually covers anything Israel related.  But don’t take my word on it, check out this post on Jewlicious from earlier this year about the BBC’s coverage of the 40th anniversary of the 6 Day War.

Also, I was shocked that Jewlicious had a fresh post up this morning.  I figured they would still be sleeping this morning after last night’s Heebonism events.  As for the wifey and I, we got our gentile on and went to a great Christmas party last night.  For us, being near a Chistmas tree was so fascinating, plus the tree itself was very impressive.   Big up to Lea and Jason for the good food and good times!

And a big up to Uncle Fred for sending me the link to the BBC article.