Lee Spievak regrows a finger

Man lost his finger and was able to regrow it using a powder composed from the cells of a pig's bladder: BBC Video.

Music Professor Struck by Train in Apparent Suicide

Jorge Liderman jumped in front of a train in February but his music and his web site lives on.

Tonight is the first Yohrzeit of Moshe Kanovsky

Tonight, the 26 of Nissan is the first Yohrzeit of Moshe Kanovsky. mentalblog.com: Moshe Kanovsky leaps to death from the Empire State Bldg.

Book review, Men of Silk

By the way of review on Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society. On the subject of Amshinover saying that “We are Orientals”. The actual name of the book is derived from the name Kitajcy. This word is mentioned twice, once in the description of Chasidim by maskil Avrohom Stern who claimed that Chassidim don’t wear wool for fear of Shatnez. Second time the name Kitajcy appears in a letter from polish General Kobylinski. There is no indication that Glenn Dynner is aware of the literal translation of the word Kitajcy, the word in Polish and Russian means Chinese (who also wear silk)!

There are some interesting points to the book like description of differences between Lublin and Pshischa Chassidim. I found very interesting the history of Berk(e)son family. They became major oligarchs in Poland by virtue of supplying all three armies traversing Poland during the Napoleon War, French, Polish and Russian with horses, supplies and meat. Temerel Sonnenberg-Bergson was a major patron of the early Chassidim in Poland. The woman used to go around in Talis Koton. Choizeh of Lublin called her Reb Temerel. Henry Bergson, the French philosopher and Nobel prise winner in Literature was Temerel's great grandson.

The book is somewhat disappointing and uneven but definitely a worthy read. And this is how a Maskil looked in those days:

Please note an actual "review" by A Simple Jew: Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society (Book Review).

What the Zawiercier Rabbi said during secret Succot prayers in the death camp

JPost:

"One evening around the same time, my father and a group of Jews from Zawiercie were sitting in their barrack when the Zawiercier Rov suddenly said, again in Yiddish, "You know, der Ribboine shel-oilem ken zein a ligner" (the Master of the Universe can be a liar). Asked how this could possibly be, the rabbi explained, "If God were to open His window now and look down and see us here, He would immediately look away and say, 'Ikh hob dos nisht geton'" (I did not do this) - and that, he said, would be the lie."

Inge Marx ice skates with her friend, Hannah Lichtenauer.

Inge Marx ice skates with her friend, Hannah Lichtenauer., originally uploaded by michelle-was-here.

Inge Marx was the only child of Else Zenner and Karl Marx. She born August 24, 1921 in Munich, where her father was a representative for a textile firm. After her father's business collapsed in 1938, the family began the application process to obtain visas to join Ilse's uncles and aunt in the United States. That summer, however, her father suddenly died of a brain tumor. Because of their change in status, the family's visa applications had to be resubmitted. Else, consumed with grief for her husband and reluctant to leave her parents and ailing mother-in-law, was not motivated to complete all the required forms. However, at the urging of other family members, Inge submitted her own application, and in May 1940 left for the United States via Genoa. It was understood that her mother would soon follow. After her arrival in the U.S. Inge lived briefly with her relatives before finding a position as a live-in governess. In early 1941she met Herbert Mosheim at the New American Club in New York. They married on March 28, 1942 in a small ceremony at her aunt's home. Inge's mother was deported on November 20, 1941 from Munich. The transport was taken to Kovno, Lithuania, where they were immediately marched to the Ninth Fort and shot. In the spring of 1942, Inge's grandparents, Paula Marx and Josef and Lina Zenner, were deported to Theresienstadt, where they all succumbed to malnutrition in 1943.

Photo taken in 1932 in Munich, Germany.

the serpent-god of this present age

The above illustration is by the Christian mystic Jacob Boehme (1575-1642) published in his Theosophische Werke, (Amsterdam 1682).

Speaking about snakes, noteworthy is the persistent symbol of Uroboros, a circular snake biting and feeding on its own tail. Dr. Jolande Jacobi interpreted this illustration in her book The Psychology of C.G. Jung:

"From a Christian point of view, the present world system is controlled by, and under the temporary dominion of the fallen angel known as Satan, symbolized in the Bible by a great serpent. Men and women in their natural state are fallen and self-centered. The self-impregnating snake, the uroboros (or ouroboros) is a fitting symbol for this self-referenced framework for our race apart from God. Fortunately, God's sovereign grace operates both from outside and from within our fallen world. The Lord's compassionate identification with human misery, sorrow, and sin is well represented by the weeping eye at the center. The dove, is of course, a well known Biblical symbol for the Holy Spirit...

For all who are willing, God offers each of us an inner transformation of identity from self-centered to self-giving. At enormous cost to Himself God has made a way of escape for all who discover that they have been born into an evil, selfish, fallen world. By nature we do not have the resources to change ourselves into something better---this is the resource the grace of God provides freely. Receiving Jesus as Lord and Master into one's heart and life breaks our inborn bondage to sin. Likewise shattered is our slavery to the world and to the serpent-god of this present age."

modern Jewish illustration as an art of subliminal

Let’s take look. There is giant bold head, the face below the receding hairline is not visible but we see that the head extends above the clouds. The modest hut situated on top of the bold spot is the presumed throne of wisdom.

Humanity is once again faceless, it forms an entity void of individuality, cohesively clad in historically inaccurate Muslim turbans. Moreover the humanity forms a snake that crawls upwards to obey the bold head above the clouds. The snake is full of phallic expectation as it extents obediently in romantic anticipation between the mountain loins.

CrownHeights.info Information

I don’t know if you got the memo but no I don’t want to write an expose on (as Autotheist comments) איזאגווי איז-א-גוי. I don’t want to blog about that world and the characters. This legacy needs to be put to sleep.

CrownHeights.info: Photo Gallery: Seudas Moshiach in 770! You look at these photos and you don’t need subtitles. You know what each of the characters will say; heck they played from the same tired script for the past 30 years. No imagination, no courage, no love. Emotionally molested by the cunning manipulator. Everyone will do his shtick in that room, pretending like nothing happened and certain that nothing will happen.

I was wondering last week why Shabbtai Zvi didn’t have the courage to die for his ideas. Many simple Muslims do. And he didn’t live that long anyway, perhaps 10 years after the shmad he was lonely and broken, exiled to Montenegro. I sometimes wonder what would the so called leaders do if faced with a test. Would they go up with their hands held high, like brother Jesus? Would they put their heart where there mouth is? I wonder.

Brooks on the new American divide

New York Times: Demography Is King:

"Over the years, different theories have emerged to describe the educated/less-educated divide. Conservatives have gravitated toward the culture war narrative, dividing the country between the wholesome masses and the decadent cultural elites. Some liberals believe income inequality drives everything. They wait for an uprising of economic populism. Other liberals divide the country morally, between the enlightened urbanites and the racist rednecks who will never vote for a black man.

None of these theories really fit the facts. It’s more accurate to say that the country has simply drifted apart into different subcultures. There’s no great hostility between the cultures. Americans have a fuzzy sense of where the boundaries lie. But people in different niches have developed different unconscious maps of reality. They have developed different communal understandings of what constitutes a good leader, of what sort of world they live in. They have developed different communal definitions, which they can’t even articulate, of what they mean by liberty, security and virtue. Demographic groups have begun to function like tribes or cultures."

Oy Warszawa!

Amazing film of Warsaw in May, 1939 or 69 years ago, four years before it all perished. No words:


Lubavitchers are moderner freaks, they stopped wearing beautiful kaskets, but why poilisher gave up this beautiful cap? Blame Hungarians.(via theantitzemach)

Who needs professional panhandlers?

There is this amazing TV report about a busted panhandler: watch it. So when I say that Chernobeler Rebbes Twerskys done nothing for Ukrainian Jews, I am told that they played an important role, "gave people pleasure to be close to royalty". That panhandler girl plays an important role as well, even when she accepts payment for her important service from the trailer lady. I mean it.

Selma Schwarzwald's communion

Selma Schwarzwald's "communion photo", originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84.

Young Selma Schwarzwald, like a number of fortunate Jewish children throughout Europe, found refuge in a convent school. This is a photo of her on the day of her communion. She survived the war and became a doctor, dying in NY in 2002.

Tricia Walsh-Smith 2.0

Trciaia with her husband the President of Schubert Theaters.

OK the new YouTube star posted a second video (you don’t want to see the 1st one). This one is pretty good:

New York Times and WaPo Staffers, Here's Your Future...

Silicon Alley Insider: Sorry, New York Times and WaPo Staffers, Here's Your Future...

"A newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, just took the step that many newspapers will be forced to take over the next decade, many sooner rather than later: It shut down its print business, fired a third of its staff, and restructured its business to focus exclusively online. We think similar fates will eventually befall most properties owned by the New York Times (NYT), Washington Post (WPO), Gannett, (GCI), et al."

Chaïm Soutine in Kunstmuseum Basel

Soutine and Modernism.

Was Miguel de Cervantes a Converso?

EJP: Was Miguel de Cervantes a Converso? OK, you don't need textual analysis for that, its the spirit of the book.

You’re an Author? Me Too!

Book Review - New York Times: You’re an Author? Me Too! - Essay:

"In 2007, a whopping 400,000 books were published or distributed in the United States, up from 300,000 in 2006, according to the industry tracker Bowker, which attributed the sharp rise to the number of print-on-demand books and reprints of out-of-print titles."

Renaissance Era Costumes

Italy, originally uploaded by peacay.

BibliOdyssey: Renaissance Era Costumes.

Shmuley Boteach paraphrasing Hyam Maccoby

Iyov: Shmuley Boteach paraphrasing Hyam Maccoby. Once again Shmuley rams a one sentence question in a long article. But the question is not his, it is from Hyam Maccoby - Why there is not any criticisms of Roman power found in the teachings of Jesus while there is plenty criticisms of Jews? I would guess they were afraid to write it down before and especially after the destruction. I have no doubt that the brother Jesus spoke against Rome in most vociferous terms. They killed him.

Subprime Crown Heights

NY Daily News: Builder flees & 40 Hasidic families face eviction in Brooklyn swindle. I assume that people who lived in the apartments also paid the mortgages, would a bank issue a mortgage without a deed? If there were double mortgages on the same property, would they be crossed checks in realtor's data bases? What happens now to the payments that were made by the owners assuming they all didn't pay cash? (via failedmessiah) You goto love this:

"Ezagui named his building's corporation Chaisom Inc. Chaisom, which means "live here," is also Mosiach - Hebrew for Messiah - spelled backward."

Heck, may be they all did pay 100K cash? I also don’t understand if he is a developer, should bank pay him the money to issue mortgage on a property? Someone has to sell the apartment? Unless I miss something he got paid twice. He gets 100K cash, then he as developer sells the apartment to his mother for $370K, his mother then takes out mortgage on the property. So the money is still in his pocket.

a degree and influence

I changed my views radically on many things often completing a full 360, i.e. arrived to the conclusions that not so long ago I strongly rejected. There is this annoying thingy that we assume the same thinking throughout the millennia. When someone said something in Holland in 1650, we now know what he meant. I find this assumption preposterous. Sometimes we can get lost in motivation or subtexts of our own contemporaries. To underestimate a degree and influence of an environment on thinking is an expression of reckless futility.

Vegetarian Peysekh Survival Guide

אין מױל ארײן: The Chocolate Lady 2008 Vegetarian Peysekh Survival Guide.

Hashomer Hatzair of Eisiskes

members of Hashomer Hatzair Zionist youth movement in Eisiskes. Breine Plotnik, Sara Ginunski, unknown, and Mikhele Plotnik. All were killed in Sept. 1941 mass shooting., originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84.

Four Jewish teenage girls who are members of the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist youth movement in Eisiskes, pose in their uniforms. Pictured from right to left are: Breine Plotnik, Sara Ginunski, name unknown and Mikhele Plotnik. All were killed by Germans during the September 1941 mass shooting action in Eisiskes.

Soviet wartime animation

buy railroads

Now I have seen it all, a dude on CNBC just recommended railroad stocks, eveidetely railroads are in a competitive advantage to the trackers and airlines because of the gas praises. Unimaginable reversal in commodities and in everything else that has been written off for decades.

Welcoming the 19th century

Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield, 1804-1881 death mask by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm. (Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks)


Heine, Heinrich, 1797-1856 death mask, from the original done in Paris.

A single fir-tree, lonely,
On a northern mountain height,
Sleeps in a white blanket,
Draped in snow and ice.

His dreams are of a palm-tree,
Who, far in eastern lands,
Weeps, all alone and silent,
Among the burning sands.

find a key, everyone has one

Don't give up, you will have a chance to plough another day. When disconnect is so thick, your despair so thin, don’t give up. Go around again. I find that engaging people despite disappointments is the cure. Often the same people come with the same disappointments. Just persevere, there will be a reward, the other will care for this very moment. Find a key, everyone has one.

ארקדי דוכין - דמיון חופשי

Can creativity be contained?

Yesterday I stoke to a PHD/Meshichist. I asked him what he does in his new job? He said that he is "an idea man". I never heard any ideas from him, to me he is a borderline aspergers introvert, boring and unimaginative to the core. Is it possible that he is an idea man in science and a moron in all other aspects of life? I am very skeptical about this possibility even though I know there are many cases of aspergers with an overdeveloped single skill.

Dafen, China - Where All the Paintings Come From

lines and colors: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration, comics, concept art and other visual arts � Dafen, China - Where All the Paintings Come From

בן ארצי - אפס

Auctioned

Lamina I., originally uploaded by antiguedadesperuanas.

Lamina I. Monarchical legacy of Peru.

Salvatore and Elena in Cinema Paradiso

This is the directors cut partial scene missing from the movie released in the theaters. But why? This is the entire point of the masterpiece. I remember that I saw Cinema Paradiso in Lincoln Square Theater when this movie came out in 1990, I think. But what a difference seeing it again, now.

How could Weinstein brothers release this movie without 15 minutes of the key Freudian footage? They key to the relationship between Elena and Salvatore and to the relationship between Alfredo and Salvatore, the very subject of the movie. Alfredo orchestrated Salvatore’s life, making him what Alfredo was not or dreamt about. The key to that was to deny love for Salvatore and trick him away from Elena. And the most profound part of that dialogue is that Salvatore allowed himself to be tricked, he covered her note with his hands ... "not to see it".

childlike emotional intensity

DAVID BROOKS: The Great Escape - New York Times:

"As many historians have written, Europeans in the Middle Ages lived with an almost childlike emotional intensity. There were stark contrasts between daytime and darkness, between summer heat and winter cold, between misery and exuberance, and good and evil. Certain distinctions were less recognized, namely between the sacred and the profane."

Do we have less "emotional intensity"?

monkey business continues with the Lubavitcher Rebbe photos

May be there are two different shots, anyone has a better resolution 1st? Must be the first one in Riga and the second one in Warsaw... I am not sure:

Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own?

If God Is Dead, Who Gets His House? The fastest-growing faith in America is no faith at all. And now some atheists think they need a church. Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own? -- New York Magazine.

Who stole the family tree of the Mezericher Maggid?

There is this famous story about a fire in Maggid’s house. His mother was crying about the lost family tree and the young Maddig consoled his mother” “Don’t worry; I will start a new tree”.

This has to be one of the most brilliant PR tales. Firstly it implies that Maggid indeed had an illustrious yichus. You see the first generation of Chassidim overwhelmgly came from significant families. Glenn Dynner writes that 44 out of 50 first generations Rebbes were from yichus families, like Alter Rebbe from Maharal, the Berdicherver from the long line of dayonim, etc. But there were exceptions: Rymanover, the Shpoler Zeide and interestingly it seems that both the Maggid and Besth had simple backgrounds.

The Maggid’s biological inheritors, the Ruzhiner dynasty was the most nepotistic dynasty amongst all Chassidim , they imitated absolutist monarchy. No surprise, yishus was the only thing going for them.

Is there a better way to kill two birds with one stone? Say there was a fire, implying that indeed there is a yichis (when there is non) and at the same time dishonestly imply that you don’t care for the yichus at all and it's not really important.

Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God

Take a dollar out your pocket. The pyramid with Masonic eye is the back of The Great Seal the front of The Great Seal is the eagle. The original design for the Seal was submitted by Benjamin Franklin: Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God - Ben Franklin's Motto for America

"Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand, passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in Pursuit of the Israelites: Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Cloud, expressive of the divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who stands on the shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh."

Initiation of Voltaire into the Nine Sisters Lodge

Death mask of Napoleon (bronze) by Quesnel, from the original by Dr. Antommarchi (via Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks).

I need to think something through about Benjamin Franklin. Let’s just start here, at the initiation of Voltaire into the Les Neuf Sœurs Lodge. Most based on Parisian Masonry, the Lodge of the Nine Sisters,& the French Enlightenment by R.William Weisberger.

"Because of Voltaire’s age and poor health, the Master Lalande [Jérôme de Lalande, the founder of the lodge, the first master and an astronomer], was constrained to abbreviate the initiation ceremonies. Leaning on the arm of his guide, Benjamin Franklin [succeeded Lalande as the second master] , the blindfolded Voltaire was escorted into the lodge chamber and was asked several questions about his moral conduct. Without being required to receive the three mandatory degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry, he was informed of the signs, secrets, and symbols of the Craft and then was proclaimed a member of the order and the Nine Sisters. During this meeting, more time was devoted to paying tribute to Voltaire than to inducting him into the Nine Sisters. Benjamin Franklin, Count Stroganoff [as in the beef or more accurately the family of Russian aristocrats, an art school in Moscow still bears his name and is know as Stroganovka], Dr. Guillotin [the designer of the devise, an ominous sign before the revolution], and other lodge members extended their congratulations to Voltaire, and then the minor painter Monnet presented this eminent enlightener with a portrait. After the lodge orchestra played several pieces, Court de Gébelin delivered a short lecture about ancient and modern Masonic ceremonies; Gébelin maintained that, like Voltaire, the ancient and modern ceremonies of the Craft emphasized the importance of the Supreme Creator, natural laws, religious toleration, and natural liberties. Lalande then gave a major speech, explaining the importance of the occasion and assessing from a Masonic perspective the achievements of Voltaire.

The climax of the ceremony came when Brother Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia handed to Voltaire the Masonic apron which the great Helvetius had worn before him. Voltaire raised the apron to his aged lips."

Chris Botti - Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone

A man in the middle of 18 taken off the plane

NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI): Praying man kicked off airplane.

"A passenger said the man refused to sit down after he left his seat and stood in the rear of United Airlines Flight 9 to San Francisco to say a prayer before takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, WABC-TV, New York reported. Passenger Ori Brafman said two of the man's friends tried explaining that he had to complete his prayer before stopping and it would take him about two minutes to finish."

Ecumenical Passover Seder

Commemorating the exodus of the Jews in conjunction with Easter, this annual celebration was held for all faiths at the Newport Naval Base. The special dinner, called a seder, focused on themes of liberation and the meaning of freedom. Slideshow click here.

colea-080319-passover-037, originally uploaded by Adam_Cole.

Password Passover

Passover, originally uploaded by Boaz Arad.

Aliza Shvarts, Yale Student, Artificially Inseminates Herself, Tapes Miscarriages For Art Project

Aliza Shvarts, a senior art major at Yale, artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages for her senior art project. The Yale Daily News has more details on Aliza Shvart's miscarriage art project: The Huffington Post.
UPDATE: The New York Sun: Yale: Student's Art Project Only "Creative Fiction"

"Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art," a Yale spokeswoman, Helaine Klasky, said. "She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body."

Lucien Freud, Sigmund’s einikle set for a record with painting

Lucien Freud painted a naked fat woman; the painting is set to fetch between $25 to 35 mil. Allegedly a record for a LIVING artist:

Oy! Zaha Hadid beats Libeskind for Guggenheim in Vilno

Bustler: Zaha Hadid wins Guggenheim Museum in Vilnius. I will have something to say about this later.

How good are the advices you get from people?

We live in a fragmented world, more than ever. People like to give advises, less they are familiar with a certain area, more conviction they have in telling you want you should do. Are the advices valuable or harmful? I tend to think that the answer is valuable, with caution. In most cases the content of the actual advice is absolutely useless. Still as if you are standing in front of a fork in a road, if an advice prompts you to move, it is worth it. But it doesn’t mean than the one direction is better than the other. The key is moving, it increases the chances of stumbling onto something, completely randomly.

toxic brains from slaughtered pigs

Sickened pork workers have new nerve disorder, Reuters: "CHICAGO (Reuters) - Eighteen pork plant workers in Minnesota, at least five in Indiana and one in Nebraska have come down with a mysterious neurological condition they appear to have contracted while removing brains from slaughtered pigs, U.S. researchers and health officials said on Wednesday."

Israelis will drink 10-15 million bottles of wine on Passover

Globes: Israel business news - Israelis will drink 10-15 million bottles of wine on Passover.
Eric Asimov, New York Times: You Don’t Have to Be Jewish to Love Them.