Here in Highland Park, New Jersey

Rhododendron in bloom, May 2009

In S. Y. Agnon’s short story “The Sign” the main character learns that all the Jews in his hometown in Europe have been killed by the Nazis. He learns this at the same time his house in the Land of Israel has been decorated for Shavuot in the traditional way, with flowers and plants:

The sun shone down on the outside of the house; inside, on the walls, we had hung cypress, pine, and laurel branches, and flowers. Each beautiful flower and everything with a sweet smell and been brought in to decorate the house for the holiday of Shavuot. In all the days I had lived in the Land of Israel, our house had never been decorated so nicely as it was that day. All the flaws in the house had vanished, and not a crack was to be seen, either in the ceiling or in the walls. From the places where the cracks in the house used to gape with open mouths and laugh at the builders, there came instead the pleasant smell of branches and shrubs, and especially of the flowers we had brought from our garden. These humble creatures, which because of their great modesty don’t raise themselves high above the ground except to give off their good smell, made the eye rejoice because of the many colors with which the Holy One, blessed be He, has decorated them, to glorify His land, which, in His loving-kindness, He has given to us.

A little later in the story Agnon teaches us a little of the halachot (laws) of Shavuot:

Although on the Sabbath and festivals one says the evening prayers early, on Shavuot we wait to say Maariv until the stars are out.

For if we were to pray early and recieve the holiness of the festival, we would be shortening the days of the Omer, and the Torah said, “There shall be seven full weeks.”

Later, the main character is standing in the synagogue, facing the six memorial candles shining among the roses and the wildflowers and the garden flowers that have been used to decorate the sanctuary. “Is it possible that a city full of Torah and life is suddenly uprooted from the world, and all its people—old and young; men, women and children—are killed, that now the city is silent, with not a soul of Israel left in it?”

Who is S. Y. Agnon? Shmuel Yosef Agnon was born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes in Buczacz, Galicia. In 1908 he immigrated to Israel and in 1913 he went to Germany, where he married his wife. He returned to Israel in 1924. If you have heard of Saul Bellow or Isaac Bashevis Singer, S. Y. Agnon won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966, years before Saul Bellow and Isaac Bashevis Singer won their Nobel Prizes. Agnon wrote his stories in Hebrew, one of the first modern writers to do so. I hope one day to read his stories in Hebrew, as one loses a lot in translation.

Many thanks to Lorri of Jewwishes for recommending A Book That Was Lost: Thirty Five Stories (Hebrew Classics),a lovely book of short stories. The holiday of Shavuot, which is a major Jewish holiday (as opposed to say, Chanukah, which is only a minor holiday) begins on Thursday night, May 28th. It is traditional to decorate one’s home with flowers, to stay up all night learning Torah, and to eat dairy dishes (we’ll be having ice cream for dessert).

I took this in January in response to a Thursday Challenge for “MANY” and chose a different shot of many books.

Please click on the bookshelf pic and see if you’ve read any of these. Or would like to read. Or recommend a book!

Since readers said they couldn’t read the title, I uploaded by shelves:

Thursday Challenge theme for this week is “MANY” (Lots of People, Lots of Space, Lots of Things: Buildings/Candy/Toys/Animals, Countless,…).

I took many photos of the books in our living room and dining room before choosing these children’s books that were hanging around on a shelf of a bookshelf that badly needs replacing. See anything familiar?

Several bloggers recently wrote some great posts about books they are reading, have read, would like to read:

• Hellibrarian: All Harry, All the Time
• Ilana-Davita: Different Options
• SuperRaizy: What I’m Reading
• Westbankmama: Like Mother Like Daughter (at least in one area)
• Baila: Three Books, Three Reviews
• Mother in Israel: Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong

I recently finished Natan (Antatoly) Sharansky’s Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy. Sharansky, born in the Ukraine, was involved in Jewish refusenik activities until his arrest in 1977, when he was sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment. He was released in 1986 at which time he rejoined his wife in Israel and became involved in Israeli politics. In the book he talks about his years in confinement and how felt fortunate to be able to read the classics while in prison. He found he identified with some of the tragic Greek heroes. The book is quite pro-America and gives a good burst of what is great about America. I found the contrast between his talk at Rutgers several years ago and his talks in Europe a bit scary: when he spoke at Rutgers, he got a pie thrown his face (my husband was actually at that lecture). He then assumed he would have an unsupportive audience, but the Rutgers audience proved to be welcoming (mostly). On the other hand, at a European university he was surprised by the hostile questions he received.

I was reading a biography of Bach to my daughter this morning, because we are now both fans of the Brandenburg Concertos.

I took out a book on the Flu of 1918 and started reading that last night (and the 1918 flu is in the news: Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic). I also started reading The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, because my son has been reading this series (the series is called The Wheel of Time). It is a fat, fat, fat book, and I don’t know if it will hold my interest long enough for me to read the whole thing.

What’s new on the book scene for you? Anything you would like to read, have read, would recommend for a child?

Kaaterskill Falls, oil painting by Thomas Cole, 1826

I had the pleasure of reading Ilana-Davita’s review of Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman, and I decided I would re-read the book. Ilana-Davita tells us that Allegra (whom I knew years ago, when she was an undergrad at Harvard and I was living in Cambridge, MA) follows the “show, don’t tell” admonition. So instead of telling you about the characters of the novel, I’m going to offer a few favorite passages:

Elizabeth

A luminous work on the east wall, unmistakable, even from a distance, Kaaterskill Falls. She rushes over to examine it, leaning forward, hands clasped behind her. FALLS OF THE KAATERSKILL, THOMAS COLE, reads the plaque on the wall. Cole must have set up his easel on the trail — just where she and the girls climbed down from the overhanging park, far down until they reached the stream, the wet hems of their skirts slapping against their legs, the water pouring down from above them over the cliff. She stood there like Cole’s tiny painted Indians, barely visible on the rocks. She has looked out to those mountains and that sky. The place is much more dramatic on canvas, of course, the exuberant water flinging itself below—nothing dirty in this froth. Cole’s trees are straining upward towards the clouds, leaves just turning —burnt orange and gold mixed with green.

Thomas Cole painted more than one Kaaterskill Falls paintings; the one Elizabeth is viewing is probably this one, which is in Alabama at The Westervelt-Warner Museum of American Art.

Chani

Chani is Elizabeth’s older daughter. She has discovered Zionism and a love for the country of Israel, which is frowned upon in her community.

“So what good is it going to do if we’re all waiting over here in New York? Shouldn’t we be in Israel now?” she suggests recklessly.

“Well,” says Elizabeth, “if you wanted a house and I gave you a model of a house, would you take it?”

“I don’t want a house,” Chani says, and she puts the newspaper down on the counter. Houses in Chani’s mind are made up of chores. A house means making beds and preparing dinner. Picking up toys and washing dishes every night. But a country, a whole country, would be big and full of mountains. Places to climb and places to swim. Bare land. Those words sound good to Chani, like bare feet.

Elizabeth’s Food

In the book, Elizabeth opens a store. I can’t resist a good, descriptive food passage, so:

Every Thursday, James Boyd and Ira Rubin make the trip to the city for Elizabeth Shulman’s kosher provisions. They drive back with warm challahs, and coffee cakes, dozens of rugelach, bags of cookies, meat wrapped in plastic and packed in ice, briskets, rib eye roasts, ground beef, corned beef, and roast beef from the deli in Washington Heights. And then the kosher cheese. Blocks of Swiss and creamy Muenster, round Gouda in red wax, crumbly cubes of feta, balls of mozzarella packed with water in white plastic. There are the cartons of ice cream sandwiches, and Popsicles striped cherry, lemon, blueberry—red, white and blue. And there are special deliveries this week. Smoked fish wrapped in white paper, dozens of miniature Danish, an enormous cake in a pink bakery box tied with string.

Do you have a favorite food description passage from a book? I remember fondly the meal from The Dead, by James Joyce, where the food was more alive than the people in attendance.

When I told a friend who is a doctor that I read a book about Traditional Chinese Medicine, he at first retorted, oh, we [Western doctors] are taught to make fun of that stuff. But then he added more seriously that Asian medicines were developed over many centuries and have a solid basis, we just don’t understand it.

Dr. Stephen Fulder, the author of Ginger: The Ultimate Home Remedy, seems to have spent a fair amount of time delving into Asian medicine. Here’s how he explains the body types of Ayurvedic medicine, a system of medicine from India:

Vata type. This body type tends to be tall, thin and bony with dry, cool skin. These people generally are erratic in their habits, adaptable, indecisive, nervous and sensitive. They talk fast, sleep lightly, and generally do not sweat. They lean toward air-type illnesses, including nervous-system problems, arthritic and rheumatic complaints, and all kinds of pains.

Pitta type. This body type tends to be medium in build and muscular, with warm, rosy skin and soft hair. Pitta-type people are marked by moderate speech, a strong appetite and loose motions. They sweat more than normal, sleep soundly and are critical, argumentative and prone to anger. The ailments that tend to affect them include inflammations, infections, liver problems, ulcers and skin rashes.

Kapha type. This body type leans toward being heavier, stouter and slower than the other two, with a pale complexion, oily hair, and thick skin. These are people of constant habits, with a moderate digestion and a tendency to have mucus. They are likely to be calm and sentimental and are sometimes dull. They speak slowly and speak deeply. The illnesses that affect them include bronchial problems, edema, mucus problems, swollen glands, growths, stomach problems, and ear, nose and throat problems.

And what of ginger and these body types? Ayurveda recommends ginger in particular for Kapha types, as it helps to counterbalance too much sugar, too much dairy, too much alchohol, too much fruit and too much meat. In general, Fulder writes: “ginger is good for Kapha types to counteract a tendency toward lethargy, congestion and stagnation.”

Vata types can use ginger to help with digestive problems, since it helps absorption, warms the intestines and treats cramps, gas and colicky pain.

In contrast, he says, Pitta types do not do well with ginger because by nature they are fiery enough. Instead of ginger, Ayurveda recommends coriander, cumin, caraway or fennel.

Some of the techniques of Ayurvedic medicine, according to Fulder: “Ayurveda employs herbs and spices, oils, yoga, massage, dietary principles, colors, gems, minerals, and almost anything imaginable as a therapeutic tool.”

Do you see yourself or anyone you know in these body types? Any of the ailments seem familiar? Or does this seem totally foreign to you as a way to treat an ailment?