After being educated by
quiz_boy as to what what was special about November 5th; I think it’s interesting that I haven’t seen someone draw a parallel yet between Guy Fawkes and the fact that Fawkes in Harry Potter is a Phoenix.
For those of you who aren’t aware, my Arabic Professor, Issa G. Roustum, works tireless at his real job (he teaches Arabic at the University because he enjoys it, not for his living). His real job is teaching children, who are refugees, English as a Second Language in one of the poorest schools in the City of Buffalo. As someone who comes from a family of immigrants, who’s family is here because they had to flee their homes in the schtettles of Eastern Europe, his work means a great deal to me.
Well, someone (or some people) vandalized their school; trashed the computers, destroyed their piano, and caused damage either out of hate, or for no other reason than to cause damage to children who have next to nothing. They didn’t even have the decency to steal the computers, no, instead they left them there, a wreck, so the children could see what was no longer theirs.
I’ve emailed Prof R. and asked if there’s anything we can do to help – if you would care to join me in whatever rebuilding effort they start, please let me know through comment in this entry, or via email. I’ll be bringing this up at the UBULS meeting this Friday, we, perhaps above all else, have an obligation to help this professor who’s gone above and beyond the limits for us, when he and his students need it most.
Me and Brigitte are staying at the hostel on:
76 Church St
Toronto, ON
Canada
For one night only (Wednesday Night). I meet with Dr. Smyth tomorrow at 3:00ish P.M.
I have phone call’s to make tomorrow to confirm everything, I need to print confirmation numbers. I’ll add cell phone minutes to my cell phone tomorrow morning. In other news, I love Virgin Mobile Stash. Now it’s time for some Hookah, Brain Storming…and then laundry…because I do have to look professional…I mean, not that I’m not professional…I just have a fondness for rubber ducky pajamas…it’s okay kids, after five years of University…this will be you.
Me and Brigitte are staying at the hostel on:
76 Church St
Toronto, ON
Canada
For one night only (Wednesday Night). I meet with Dr. Smyth tomorrow at 3:00ish P.M.
I have phone call’s to make tomorrow to confirm everything, I need to print confirmation numbers. I’ll add cell phone minutes to my cell phone tomorrow morning. In other news, I love Virgin Mobile Stash. Now it’s time for some Hookah, Brain Storming…and then laundry…because I do have to look professional…I mean, not that I’m not professional…I just have a fondness for rubber ducky pajamas…it’s okay kids, after five years of University…this will be you.
Been a long, sleepy, allergy-esque day…but I voted! (I’m a little sad they didn’t have stickers…I would have added it to the scrap book collection that my date book seems to have become).
The little old lady and the little old man were so cute this morning at the voting place. One guy wanted to know if I knew this other Schwartz, and then when I went into the booth started talking to my friend about all the people he knew who’s name was Schwartz. The little old lady told me I looked too young to be voting (I’m 22) I thanked her kindly and I’ll just tuck that behind my ear in case, in 40 or so years, I feel old.
And now I’m going to get into Pajamas, and make some green tea, and get ready to get passed out…been having some really good dreams recently, and also have a bunch of stuff to update on =)
Okay, peace all.
Been a long, sleepy, allergy-esque day…but I voted! (I’m a little sad they didn’t have stickers…I would have added it to the scrap book collection that my date book seems to have become).
The little old lady and the little old man were so cute this morning at the voting place. One guy wanted to know if I knew this other Schwartz, and then when I went into the booth started talking to my friend about all the people he knew who’s name was Schwartz. The little old lady told me I looked too young to be voting (I’m 22) I thanked her kindly and I’ll just tuck that behind my ear in case, in 40 or so years, I feel old.
And now I’m going to get into Pajamas, and make some green tea, and get ready to get passed out…been having some really good dreams recently, and also have a bunch of stuff to update on =)
Okay, peace all.
“You’re about as assertive as a manatee on codeine!” – Me
Okay, I have studied for Arabic (no where near as much as I wanted to, but I’m feeling confident, if not totally insecure…which may or may not be a good thing…) and will study more today, but I’ll be doing myself a disservice if I don’t get at least eight hours flat on my back.
At around 11-1115am Jacqueline (
hollow_voice) is taking us to go Vote (which, every U.S. Citizen who is able to do so, should do so. I don’t care if you think voting is a farce and that you’re vote doesn’t count, get out there and make your voice heard for whoever you believe will best represent your interests as a constituent).
Then whenever I’m done with that until 330pm when I have Pauuw’s class, I’ll continue studying Arabic. After Pauuw’s class I will be allowed a quarter of an hour (fifteen minutes) to freak out at which point I will sit for this exam, say a few prayers (amazing how we all get much more religious before we take an exam, before we take off, and before we land) and then tackle this sucker head on.
Then home to pack and prepare for Toronto where I’ll be from Wednesday through Thursday with my lovely research assistant, Brigitte. We leave on Wednesday, right after class (and I need to call Dr. Smyth, get a hold of him on the phone, and solidify plans).
So, right now, going to go do that thing that guys do, and then sleep.
Peace.
“You’re about as assertive as a manatee on codeine!” – Me
Okay, I have studied for Arabic (no where near as much as I wanted to, but I’m feeling confident, if not totally insecure…which may or may not be a good thing…) and will study more today, but I’ll be doing myself a disservice if I don’t get at least eight hours flat on my back.
At around 11-1115am Jacqueline (
hollow_voice) is taking us to go Vote (which, every U.S. Citizen who is able to do so, should do so. I don’t care if you think voting is a farce and that you’re vote doesn’t count, get out there and make your voice heard for whoever you believe will best represent your interests as a constituent).
Then whenever I’m done with that until 330pm when I have Pauuw’s class, I’ll continue studying Arabic. After Pauuw’s class I will be allowed a quarter of an hour (fifteen minutes) to freak out at which point I will sit for this exam, say a few prayers (amazing how we all get much more religious before we take an exam, before we take off, and before we land) and then tackle this sucker head on.
Then home to pack and prepare for Toronto where I’ll be from Wednesday through Thursday with my lovely research assistant, Brigitte. We leave on Wednesday, right after class (and I need to call Dr. Smyth, get a hold of him on the phone, and solidify plans).
So, right now, going to go do that thing that guys do, and then sleep.
Peace.
I was asked (and honored) to write something for my friend to read before the Kaddish at the Kesher Conference which was held a few weeks ago in Florida; below is what I wrote and was read. I was asked what it means to be a Gay Jew. Given the situation in Israel at the moment, I find it timely to post what I wrote:
People often ask me how I fit into the Jewish Community and how I fit into the Gay Community, can I fit into both at the same time…isn’t it a contradiction?
I state this emphatically, no.
I am 10% of ½ of 1% of the world’s population and I am proud of my heritages.
When I attend Kol Nidrei services every year, tears stroll down my cheeks, and my eyes turn red from crying and I physically tremble in Awe of the Lord for it is at this time of the year when the gates of heaven are open, and even the hosts of heaven are judged, that I feel at one with God and who I am.
I do not say Kol Nidrei just for Jews around the world who have to lie about who they are because it is too dangerous to proclaim their faith. I say Kol Nidrei for those who are in the closet as well. I say Kol Nidrei for those who – if they came out – would be slain. I say Kol Nidrei for all the souls I met in the West Village who live on the street because their parents broke their vow of “I’ll love you forever, no matter what.” I say Kol Nidrei for my friends who have had to lie to their parents and say that they’ll never bring home a boyfriend again, because they’re the quarter back on the football team and a Jock can’t be Queer… ‘not in this family’, ‘not my son’.
As I stand before the Ark, I present myself to God as I am and without pretense. When I am questioned about my sexuality by others I answer simply that “if God has a problem with who I love, than he should have made me straight, if he still has a problem with it, he can wrestle me in my tent, but I will not stand before the Ark and lie about who I love, I will not commit a transgression before the eye’s of the lord.”
Have I felt discrimination from the Jewish community at times? Yes, of course. And when these people tell me that I’m an abomination, that by being truthful, that by loving my boyfriend, that living an honest life and making an honest living I’m living in sin all I can say is “WHAT ABOUT MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO BORE THE WEIGHT OF THE PINK AND BLACK TRIANGLE!? What about us!? Were we not identical as skeletons at the gates of the camps? Did our skin not burn the same as yours when we were murdered? Did our blood not bleed the same crimson red when we were shot as the Nazis used us, together, as target practice? Did we not waste away just the same as we were herded like cattle onto the trains? Did our souls not rise up to heaven together through plumes of black smoke, on the backs of angels, to the sky? Did our deaths together at the ghetto uprisings mean nothing to you? Are we not all created in the image of God? Do we not all return to dust?
Ani L’Dodi, V’Dodi Li – I am my beloveds and my beloveds is mine.
The world is a scary place and when you say you are a Jew you take on a responsibility. When you say that you are Gay, you do the same. But when you embrace God, when you feel the eternal flame burning within you, when the letters of the Torah jump out at you and when Hatikvah is sung you feel something in your core tremble and you know that you are in the presence of the divine…then…then you know you have found home, you walk without fear, without the judgment of others, because then you know the judgment of the one person who matters most and he’s telling you to go forth, to live life, to love.
This is what it means to be Gay and Jewish.
I was asked (and honored) to write something for my friend to read before the Kaddish at the Kesher Conference which was held a few weeks ago in Florida; below is what I wrote and was read. I was asked what it means to be a Gay Jew. Given the situation in Israel at the moment, I find it timely to post what I wrote:
People often ask me how I fit into the Jewish Community and how I fit into the Gay Community, can I fit into both at the same time…isn’t it a contradiction?
I state this emphatically, no.
I am 10% of ½ of 1% of the world’s population and I am proud of my heritages.
When I attend Kol Nidrei services every year, tears stroll down my cheeks, and my eyes turn red from crying and I physically tremble in Awe of the Lord for it is at this time of the year when the gates of heaven are open, and even the hosts of heaven are judged, that I feel at one with God and who I am.
I do not say Kol Nidrei just for Jews around the world who have to lie about who they are because it is too dangerous to proclaim their faith. I say Kol Nidrei for those who are in the closet as well. I say Kol Nidrei for those who – if they came out – would be slain. I say Kol Nidrei for all the souls I met in the West Village who live on the street because their parents broke their vow of “I’ll love you forever, no matter what.” I say Kol Nidrei for my friends who have had to lie to their parents and say that they’ll never bring home a boyfriend again, because they’re the quarter back on the football team and a Jock can’t be Queer… ‘not in this family’, ‘not my son’.
As I stand before the Ark, I present myself to God as I am and without pretense. When I am questioned about my sexuality by others I answer simply that “if God has a problem with who I love, than he should have made me straight, if he still has a problem with it, he can wrestle me in my tent, but I will not stand before the Ark and lie about who I love, I will not commit a transgression before the eye’s of the lord.”
Have I felt discrimination from the Jewish community at times? Yes, of course. And when these people tell me that I’m an abomination, that by being truthful, that by loving my boyfriend, that living an honest life and making an honest living I’m living in sin all I can say is “WHAT ABOUT MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO BORE THE WEIGHT OF THE PINK AND BLACK TRIANGLE!? What about us!? Were we not identical as skeletons at the gates of the camps? Did our skin not burn the same as yours when we were murdered? Did our blood not bleed the same crimson red when we were shot as the Nazis used us, together, as target practice? Did we not waste away just the same as we were herded like cattle onto the trains? Did our souls not rise up to heaven together through plumes of black smoke, on the backs of angels, to the sky? Did our deaths together at the ghetto uprisings mean nothing to you? Are we not all created in the image of God? Do we not all return to dust?
Ani L’Dodi, V’Dodi Li – I am my beloveds and my beloveds is mine.
The world is a scary place and when you say you are a Jew you take on a responsibility. When you say that you are Gay, you do the same. But when you embrace God, when you feel the eternal flame burning within you, when the letters of the Torah jump out at you and when Hatikvah is sung you feel something in your core tremble and you know that you are in the presence of the divine…then…then you know you have found home, you walk without fear, without the judgment of others, because then you know the judgment of the one person who matters most and he’s telling you to go forth, to live life, to love.
This is what it means to be Gay and Jewish.
moocowinthecity