JCULTCHA

Shalom Gorewitz/Harriet Tubman Leads the Jews Out of Eastern Europe & FUNNY PAGES

Autumn 2009 33 34 Jewish Currents Autumn 2009 35 Miriam Boral/Sarah Laughs Jack Myers/Playing God

She suppresses a small snicker, With his arms raised to heaven yet it grows to a giggle, a guffaw, a bellowing Face in holy protest from deep within her wrinkled barren belly. My wooden rabbi glowers She clutches her sides, falls to the ground, rolling On the nakedness of my seductive woman with laughter loud enough to shake the earth under Abraham’s sandaled feet. Thirty years playing God On clay wood and stone creations He shushes her, beseeches her From my couch: a pouting clay redhead to cease, but the roaring swells until Exposing a coy bare shoulder an angry voice bellows from the skies: A walnut nun with downcast eyes “Why does Sarah laugh?” God demands, and An ironwood head half blind Sarah doubles over with renewed peals With mouth agape stares at me as her helpless husband throws hands to heavens and shakes his white-haired head. I cringe to think of my Orthodox zeyde’s censure Were he to see me wherever he may be

36 Jewish Currents Jack Myers/Playing God

Bernard Greenwald/David and Bathsheba #11-12

I. Century/Rules of the Pool, J.H.S. 40

The swimming teacher told the class You would have a red mark on your record not to piss in the pool. for the rest of your life. If you did, a chemical in the water would activate a red dye I didn’t believe him then, that would bubble up around you. I don’t believe him now, You would be taken to the police station but I never, never and charged with violating the Health Code. piss in the pool.

Autumn 2009 37 Harry Wilks/Crane Street, Long Island City, 2005

38 Jewish Currents Autumn 2009 39 Marc Jampole/Uncle Freddy’s Home Movies

In those days they lived on Amboy Street, fathers laid carpet, mothers worked part-time doing hair. Whenever Uncle Freddy aimed his eight-milli Polaroid they shamed him with their jokes. Now they watch in tears as the dead reanimate Ruth Berman/Eden Ornamentals and an ancient comes to life:

Row of Brownstones, Chinese laundry I vertical neon Deli sign. You’d think the plants would’ve had a day. The animals of sea and air had #5. A sweep across the grandstand, , The animals of earth had #6. men and boys cheer and wave their matzos while at a distant second base a player wipes A mist went up in Eden red dust from his shirt and pants. Even before the rivers Rushed from the well Head cut off in black and white, To water the garden Bubby waddles towards us holding infant Ira to her hip. Even before there was Anyone to till the ground Aunt Ruth, hair in pin curls, looks up from ironing, sees the camera, II throws her hands across her face and runs away. There grew in Eden every fruit and herb The seeds of every plant Aunt Fran blows smoke rings at the screen then spits a filterless butt at the stoop. That’s good for food.

Uncle Irving’s head emerges from a racing form But it was, after all, a garden and mouths a silent curse. Out in the east, Where the sun was rising — Cub Scout Harvey casts a hookless line towards a dolphin-patterned Melmac plate. There must have been ornamentals, too, As well as edibles Mom and Dad, thin and living, Rising up as fast as mushrooms dance among a crowd of family, my father counting steps. In the first rain. Dad, cigarette sagging from lips, points to our first TV. And now we see a jiggly approach III to the enormous box with the tiny screen The tree of knowledge was and the wobby lines of Milton Berle in drag. Not only good for food But a delight to the eye. Mom walks down an airplane ladder, points to her swollen body IV thumping with my brother’s life. Still each year the winter passes Flowers appear on the earth And now the artist shoots himself: Roses of sharon Uncle Freddy floating in a mountain lake, Lilies of the valley knees bent round an inner tube, Wildflowers and cultivars bath cap hanging off an ear, teeth hanging from his mouth, Paradise blooming in the grasses and the trees hand waving. Nathan Brenowitz Torah-True BASEBALL Ruth Berman/Eden Ornamentals with authentic baseball cards collaged by Mikhail Horowitz

he very first words of Torah are about baseball: “In the big , God created Tthe heaven and earth.” As you explore Holy Scripture, it keeps getting better:

Genesis 6:9: “Noah walked . . .” Genesis 6:16: “. . . bottom, second and third decks.” Genesis 24:45: “Behold, Rebecca came forth with her . . .” Leviticus 4:18: “. . . out at the base . . .” Numbers 15:25: “. . . for it was an error . . .” Joshua 6:1: “none . . . out, and none came in . . .” Joshua 6:5: “. . . a long blast . . . that all the people shall shout with a great shout . . .” Joshua 8:17: “There was not a man left . . .” Judges 3:8: “ . . . the Lord was hot against Israel . . .” Judges 20: 18: “They said, ‘Which of us shall go up first . . .?’ The Lord said, ‘Judah first!’” Samuel 10: 7: “And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands . . .”

n the summer of 2007 I had the good fortune had three to spend a month in Israel watching my son teams. I watched those games with my dad. Base- I Lukas play in the first Israel Professional ball, fathers and sons: it’s in my blood. Baseball League. One might think that having The Israeli season lasted several months with a son working on a master’s degree in Middle games played almost every day (except Saturday, Eastern history would be a reason for a father to of course). The games all started with the singing be proud. Yes, I am proud of my son’s academic of Hatikvah, and the seventh-inning stretch was achievements, but they take a back seat to having replaced by the minkha service held beneath the the first-ever player in the date trees. The weather was uncommonly hot and family. Now that’s a dream come true! every game was rigorous and extremely exciting. I grew up in Brooklyn, during the era when Lukas was a and for the Bet

Autumn 2009 41 Shemish Blue Sox. He still carries a scar on his Australia, Dominican Republic, the United States arm from a diving catch he made in left field to and Puerto Rico. It came down to a championship choke off an opponent’s rally . . . game filled with drama and tension so thick you Three of the teams were lucky to have retired could slice it with a fleishige knife. In the end, the American Jewish major leaguers as their manag- Bet Shemish Blue Sox, managed by the person- er: Ken Holtzman, Art Shamsky and Ron Blom- able and comical Ron Blomberg, won the cham- berg. The season was a roller coaster, with play- pionship. It was magic! ers flown in from various lands including Japan,

arney Dreyfus, owner of the Pittsburgh cian Konstantin Medvedovsky, the hitters in the Pirates from 1900 to 1932, was the Jew- lineup of a Jewish all-star team would, over the B ish man who devised the in course of a full season, actually score more runs 1903. And the theme song of the game we love, than such powerhouse teams as the 1998 Yankees “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” was written by (114-48 won-lost record), the 1986 Mets (108- a Jewish songwriter Albert Von Tilser (born Albert 54), and the 1954 Indians (111-43). What’s more, Gumm, 1878-1956) and his Tin Pan Alley partner, the Hebrew hurlers would also allow fewer runs Jack Norworth. than the mound men on these legendary clubs. Among Jewish players, the first to come to mind My Jewish all-star team would have Mike are always the Dodgers’ unhittable , Lieberthal behind the plate. Lieberthal played for a three-time winner, and Hank the and in 1996 batted .300 Greenberg, home king of the . with 31 home runs. That’s not chopped liver for The list of noteworthy Jewish players however, a guy forced to crouch behind the plate on every is much lengthier. According to baseball statisti- pitch. of the 1933-’42 New York

42 Jewish Currents Giants would share the catching. My Jewish shortstop would be , , perhaps the greatest Jewish who in 1948 batted .355 while also managing his player ever, would be at first base. His fifty-eight Cleveland Indians to a World Series title. The homers in 1938, which almost broke Babe Ruth’s would consist of , a thirteen- record of 60, brought hate letters to him daily. year major league outfielder and with This was a foreshadowing of the abuse that Jackie the Giants, the Boston Braves and the Pirates; Robinson would experience a decade latter. Elliot Maddox, an African-American player who At second base I would start , who converted to Judaism in 1974; and currently plays for the . In 2008 he of (most notably) the Toronto Blue Jays and Los .319 with a .527 slugging percentage. Buddy Angeles Dodgers, who ended his fifteen-year Myer of the 1925-’41 Washington Senators, who career with more than 2,000 hits and 328 home is the all-time Jewish hit leader with 2,131 hits, runs. On the bench would be Ryan Braun, 2007 would platoon with Kinsler. Rookie of the Year, and Art Shamsky, a member of the Cleveland Indians would be at of the 1969 Mets who batted .538 in the National third base. In 1953, he missed winning the League Championship Series, helped the Mets Crown by a mere point in his batting average. The win the World Series, and made skeptics believe Triple Crown (leading the league in batting aver- in miracles. age, home runs and runs batted in, all at once) has How appropriate that our Designated (or “Cho- been achieved only sixteen times in baseball his- sen”) Hitter is Ron Blomberg. After all, when tory, and not for the past forty-two years (Boston’s Blomberg stepped up to the plate for the Yankees Carl Yastrzemski in 1967), and not in the Nation- on April 6th, 1973, he became baseball’s very first al League in seventy-two years (St. Louis’ Joe DH. Medwick in 1937). Al Rosen had himself quite a On the mound would be Sandy Koufax, Ken year! Holtzman (who keeps kosher and is the all-time

Autumn 2009 43 winningest Jewish pitcher with 174 victories), and José Bautista, who was 10-3 with a 2.82 ERA for Steve Stone, who was 25-7 for the Ori- the Chicago Cubs in 1993. Born to a Dominican oles in 1980 and won the Cy Young Award. father and an Israeli mother, José was a bar mitsve In the bullpen would be Larry Sherry, MVP and would never play on the High Holidays. relief pitcher of the 1959 World Series, in which Other notable characters on my team would his Dodgers defeated the , and be Moe Berg, who may be the only true genius

44 Jewish Currents ever to be a major leaguer. Moe, a catcher on four teams, spoke several languages and served as an undercover spy for the U.S. to determine the de- gree of progress the Germans were making toward building a nuclear bomb. described him as the “strangest man ever to play baseball.” I’d also make use of Andy Cohen, who in 1928 re- placed the great Roger Hornsby at second base for the St. Louis Cardinals. Cohen was carried off the field by Jewish fans after his three hits propelled the Giants to an opening-day win. There have been more than a hundred and sixty Jewish major leaguers, so I could go on . . . I mentioned Elliott Maddox as a starter in my outfield. His story actually holds the answer to baseball’s future, especially with all of today’s steroids scandals. In 1973, Maddox batted a puny .238. During the off-season he was acquired by the and made a monumental life-decision by converting to Judaism. In 1974, Attention all major leaguers, to improve your sta- his batting average improved to a very respectable tistics, forget about the steroids — simply convert .303 (sixth in the league); in 1975, he batted .307. to Judaism!! JC

Elaine Schear/Before She Was My Mother

She glowed before the foaming smash of Niagara that first married summer in upstate New York, her rounded figure dressed for the camera in mother-to-be,

glad to be pregnant, but more than the baby, the belly of success, her bright open face as if to say Look! I’ve got a man and he got me this way!

That was before the infant broke water, before thick snow bore down into rooftops, before she pressed hankies

for his new job in Batavia which she called Siberia. That was before mortar nightmares, malaria sweats. She missed her mother’s cooking,

her sister’s gossip, high-heeled treks across the Brooklyn Bridge, stroking her purse where the latest letter from her sergeant lay waiting.

Autumn 2009 45 Elaine Schear/Lipstick

I watch my mother from the hallway outside the examining room. She sits in the elevated chair dwarfed by its levers and lights.

An eyelid descends involuntarily over one eye. Her face has taken on a lopsided look.

Her Florida sandals dangle above the footrest. She’s been left in this room for almost an hour.

She’s here for the best of the best in this medical Mecca, my scheme for finding the expert opthalmologist.

When my friend told me, if you take your mother to the doctor make sure she’s wearing lipstick, I was appalled.

Studies have proved that sick women get better care when they wear lipstick, even while in their beds after surgery.

I don’t know the names of the specialists here nor do they know my mother. I race to the nearest Walgreens and choose the shade Bold Berry.

My mother’s old but game to try the glamour trick. The doc comes in and greets her by name. She winks at me with her good eye.

Judith Kerman/Imagining Sukkot —Your tents, O Yaacov

The children camped across the desert 40 years with never any rain to fall on them holes in a roof and stares eyes glowing red not solid anyway but thatched into the flashlight with branches starlight gleams through gaps in the dark branches as we the delusion that there could be try to sleep on an air mattress stone palaces on a pressure-treated deck now the kids want to in the backyard of a suburban house put up a nylon tent the silence never absolute next to the barbecue the sound of freeway traffic they giggle at crackling branches carried miles on the wind the possum who lives under the neighbor’s shed once a year for a week scuffles through the leaves hoping it won’t rain.

46 Jewish Currents Lawrence Bush/Teshuvah 1-3

Autumn 2009 47 Serena Stamler was liberated from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany in 1945 by an American battalion consisting primarily of black soldiers. It was the first time that Serena had seen a black person, having been raised in pre-war Hungary, a homogeneous European society. To Serena, they were heroes. “I could kiss their feet,” she said. Upon coming to America, Seren was surprised how badly blacks were treated here. She was a mother of eight children when she arrived in Brooklyn in 1946. She supported herself as a kosher cook in hotels. Serena lived in Borough Park with her 77-year-old widowed daughter. Although she lived in this country for nearly half a century, Serena spoke no English, managing with her Hungarian and Yiddish in her community. She could be found on most Sundays in Amnon’s Kosher Pizza shop, where her relatives in Brooklyn visited her at her regular table. Serena died in her sleep on August 18, 2003, at the age of 107.

Nina Talbot/Serena’s Story

48 Jewish Currents JCULTCHA & FUNNY PAGES BIOS

Ruth Berman’s poetry and fiction have appeared in Judith Kerman is a poet, performer and artist who Jewish Frontier, Shofar, Saturday Review, Asimov’s has published eight books or chapbooks of poetry, Science Fiction, Birdwatcher’s Digest, South Dakota most recently Galvanic Response (March Street Press) Quarterly, Poem, and other journals. and the bilingual collection, Plane Surfaces/Plano de Incidencia (Santo Domingo: CCLEH). Kerman was a Miriam Boral lives in Austin, Texas. Her poetry has Fulbright Senior Scholar to the Dominican Republic appeared in Visions International. in 2002. A book of Dominican translations, Praises and Offenses, is forthcoming from BOA Editions. Nathan Brenowitz is a diehard Mets fan whose own baseball career began at age 43 when he organized Jack Myers is a retired teacher who has been pub- an over-40 baseball league in Kingston, New York. lished by the New York Times and the American He is a co-founder of the Woodstock Jewish Congre- Poetry Society. gation. Elaine Schear is a writer, swimmer, tutor, and man- Lawrence Bush edits Jewish Currents and is the ager of a household for her tween and teen daughters author of American Torah Toons: 54 Illustrated Com- and mate. She is cofounder of a nonprofit foundation mentaries, among other books. supporting teachers and students at her daughter’s high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her poetry I. Century is the author of From the Coffeehouse of and fiction have been published in literary journals Jewish Dreamers, among other books of poetry. and newspapers.

Shalom Gorewitz (www.gorewitz.com) has been Joel Schechter is the author of Messiahs of 1933: working with new communication technology since How American Yiddish Theatre Survived Adversity the late 1960s creating poetic, intellectual, and politi- through Satire. Spain Rodriguez is an underground cally charged art videos relating to faith, relationships, comic artist, illustrator, most recently, of Che: A and social issues. Most recently, Gorewitz produced Graphic Biography, and a founder of the United Hot Stains, inspired by a term scientists use to describe Cartoon Workers of America. Joel and Spain recently places that have run out of clean water. His Harriet published Rivington Street, a book of comics about Tubman collage (page 33) references Elizabeth Catlett Yiddish culture, most of which have appeared in and Camille Pissarro. Jewish Currents.

Bernard Greenwald was a professor of studio arts Nina Talbot (http://ninatalbot.com) lived in the at Bard College for four decades until his retirement Bronx with her maternal grandparents, immigrants this year. He works extensively with Hudson Valley from pre-WWII Poland. Her paintings have been landscapes and also creates paintings and etchings on shown at the Bread & Roses/1199 gallery, the Wil- Biblical themes. liamsburg Historical Center, the Ingber Gallery, and in the Bronx Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and in Mikhail Horowitz is a performance poet, musician the Smithsonian Institute’s traveling exhibition “Three and collage artist, author of Big League Poets, The Brooklyn Artists.” Opus of Everything in Nothing Flat, and Rafting Into the Afterlife. His baseball cards are collages built upon Harry Wilks (www.harrywilks.com) has been hauling authentic cards. his cameras up to New York City rooftops for twenty- five years to reveal an urban landscape that people Marc Jampole is the principal of a public relations wouldn’t ordinarily see on their own. His photographs agency in Pittsburgh. His poetry has been published in are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Mississippi Review, Oxford Review, Janus Head, Nega- Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum tive Capability, Main Street Rag,and other journals, of the City of New York, the George Eastman House, and has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. and numerous other museums.

Autumn 2009 49