Politics Plus

During the recent Holidays I came across a photo that was described as “historically iconic” – but I had never seen it before:

Even on its face the photo is quite compelling, juxtaposing the Hanukah menorah against the Nazi flag.  But the story behind it with its poem on the back resonated with me as a possible preamble – although assuredly (… hopefully) not at all on the same scale – to our impending travails come January 20^th.

The picture was taken on the last (eighth) night of Chanukah in 1931 by Rachel Posner, the wife of Rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, in the small town of Kiel, Germany.  As tradition suggests, the menorah was displayed prominently in a street-side window, and the Posners happened to live directly across the street from the Nazi headquarters.

On the back of the photo Rachel composed a poem in German:

Chanukah, 5692 (1932)

"Juda verrecke"

die Fahne spricht

"Juda lebt ewig"

erwidert das Licht"

 

 “Death to Judah”

So the flag says –

“Judah will live forever!”

So the light answers.

When posters began appearing around Kiel declaring “Entrance to Jews Forbidden”, Rabbi Posner was angry and wrote a protest letter that was published in the local paper.  Subsequently he was summoned by the chairman of the local branch of the Nazi party to participate in a public debate which took place under heavy police guard.

As anti-Semitic sentiment rose, and then scattered violence began to rear its ugly head, the Posner family fled to then-Palestine (Eretz Israel) in 1933.  Fortunately they were able to convince most of their fellow 500 Jews in Kiel to also leave.  And they also brought the “Light in the Window” with them. 

The menorah is on permanent display at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust Memorial.  But the family is allowed to use the menorah every year at Hanukah.

To me, the lesson is that we must all stay on guard, lest we deceive ourselves into believing “That could never happen again – at least not in America!”

Sadly, there is a vile person who will lead our nation come January 20, 2017.  We must not let our guard down.

 

RESOURCES

[PS: I know Rachel wrote “1932” – but authorites agree that the eight days of Chanukay in the Jewish year of 5692 was 1931]

A Jewish Hanukkah menorah defies the Nazi swastika, 1931

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2014/12/22/this-photo-of-a-hanukkah-menorah-captured-a-dark-moment-in-history-the-same-candelabra-now-offers-light-and-inspiration/

http://yad-vashem.blogspot.co.il/2014/12/holocaust-menorah-home-for-holiday.html

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1931&country=34

Having just returned from a delightful and low-key Christmas visit to my Mom’s in Illinois, this one will be brief.

While Donald may strut the world-stage thinking he’s cock of the walk (well, he is a dick – so there’s that), China has taken a different approach to his impending presidency disaster.  They’ve decided to mock and ridicule him with a 23-foot tall statute of a cock.  (23-feet?  Right … with those tiny fingers?  In your dreams, Donald!)

Since the coming January 28^th Chinese Lunar New Year will be the “Year of the Rooster”, the company that owns a shopping mall in the Chinese city of Taiyuan (in the northern province of Shanxi) commissioned a giant statue of one to stand outside welcoming shoppers to their complex.

But this rooster comes complete not only with Donald’s peculiarly curious coif, but also his overgrown bushy eyebrows and strange semaphore hand gestures.  (And you don’t have to be familiar with American Sign Language to know that Trump’s hands signal he’s a schmuck.)

So while Trump in just the short time from his “election” has managed to ruffle the feathers of China, they’ve managed to make money by mocking him.  You can buy replicas of the Trump cock rooster being sold by the Shenghe Yangtai Business for anywhere from $57 up to $1,739 for one standing 32-feet tall.

http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/311990-giant-trump-rooster-statue-erected-outside-chinese-mall

And it’s not the first time the Chinese have enjoyed mocking Trump.  Back in November a visitor to the zoo in Hangzhou noticed a golden pheasant had a striking resemblance to Donald.

Meet the pheasant-elect: Bird sporting 'Donald Trump's hairstyle' soars to internet fame in China https://t.co/qYUbMcDYmV pic.twitter.com/VTPlDcaBcp

— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) November 14, 2016

My PSA of a Personal Note:

This was brief because, as I mentioned, I just got back from my Christmas visit, and spent this morning paying my county’s Personal and Real Property taxes, and doing my year-end charity donations online.

From my own experience, for those of you interested in taking advantage of your tax-deductible donations, it may not be common knowledge that while some organizations are fully designated as 501(c)(3) [for me, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Doctors Without Borders, Southern Poverty Law Center] – others that you may want to give to [like ACLU and Planned Parenthood] are not.

SO to work around that obstacle and get a tax deduction, you can instead donate to the ACLU FOUNDATION (both national and state ones) and the Planned Parenthood FEDERATION of AMERICA, Inc.  Those are 501(c)(3) and fully tax-deductible.

Oh and don’t forget our duty for the next four years is to …

 

OK, I’m sneaking a small reprise in from last year.  But you can’t create traditions without repeats.  Besides, few things are cuter at any time of the year than Penguins – whether singing, dancing, waddling … or helping raise money for leukemia research. 

Let’s start with my reprise from last year – and feel free to join in the singing to the tune of “Hark the Herald Penguins … err ANGELS Sing” …

 

“Hark!” the Herald Penguins sing:

“Please don’t eat our little wings!

“Eat a goose down to the bone,

“But leave Penguins all alone.

 

“Baby ducks are very sweet;

“Tastier than Penguin meat.

“Find us in your grocery store?!?

“Please don’t shop there anymore!”

So how exactly do Penguins help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society?  Well, right here in the KCMO Metro we can find that answer by meeting a Scrooge who had an epiphany.

Paul Craig of Olathe, KS lost his Mother to leukemia shortly before Christmas back in 1999, and his sorrow at Holiday time carried over for several years. 

"For the next few years, I was no fun to be around during Christmas," Craig explained.

But then in 2003 he saw some of colorful giant inflatable penguins in a big box store, and decided to play joke on his wife who has been collecting penguin tchotchkes for years.  So he bought three of them to surprise her by putting them up in the yard.

(Below is just some of his wife's Penguin tchotchke collection)

And like his wife's, Paul's inflatable penguin collection continued to grow and grow until there are now over 150 inflatable, motorized-moving, music-playing, bubble-blowing, illuminated display of penguins that fill his entire yard (and spill over into a neighbor’s) from Thanksgiving to New Year. 

And thus was born Paulie’s Penguin Playground – to the delight children of all ages.  And to make the Penguins – plus Santa, elves and other Christmas characters – feel right at home, he has now even added a snow-making machine!

Craig begins the work (with help from neighbors and friends) of putting the display up right after Halloween of setting up the display which requires over two miles of 12-guage extension cords!  He estimates that the cost over the years for purchases, storage and financing the running of the display has mounted to over $100,000 – all of which he pays for out-of-pocket. 

His biggest ongoing cost is the electricity bill.  It jumps from a typical $300/month to more than $2,500 for the month of December!

Friends have pointed out to him that he could use the $2,500 to pay for a vacation to go and see REAL LIVE PENGUINS in their natural habitat. 

But Craig says, “When you see the eyes of the little kids light up as much as the lights in the penguins, it just brings such joy to your heart.  Then the other part, the good part we’re doing is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.”

All the donations visitors leave go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society – none are used to help pay Craig’s bills.  And he’s raised over $50,000 in donations!

The past year Paul had surgery and was worried the Penguins were not going to get off the ground.  But friends and neighbors pitched in, and Paulie’s Penguins were soon flying high again

Well, okay – Penguins don’t actually fly.  But they sure make Holiday spirits soar!  And all while helping to find a cure for a disease that had robbed him of the Joys of Christmas Season …

[NOTE: The Slideshow is NOT AutoPlay, so hopefully it won't so loading down too much.  Click on the thumbnails to manually advance them at your own pace.]

 

(FOOTNOTE:  I’ll be heading up to spend Christmas with my Mom in Illinois, so this will be the last "Friday Fun" for a bit.  So hope you all have a Joyous Holiday – however, you spend it.)

Artist Gabriel Dawe believes that we can never have too many rainbows in our lives – and to that end, he is creating them … out of thread!

(Since, as typical for my “Friday Fun” posts, it’s graphic-heavy, I had hoped to start using slideshows to take up less real estate – but that feature was just added yesterday and the learning curve is steeper than I had hoped.  Sorry.  The photos from hereon will be medium-sized, but you can click on them to view full-sized.  Unfortunately they can’t be formatted to open in a separate window just by clicking – but you can do that with a right-click and select “Open in New Tab”, or a scroll-wheel click if your mouse is programmed for that.  And I would strongly encourage you to open them to full-size to appreciate their impact.)

Dawe explains that his rainbow art is a rebellion against his machismo upbringing in Mexico City.  His mother was the first, and only, woman in his family to ever have a job outside their home.  As a consequence, his maternal grandmother largely raised Gabriel and his sister.  But while grandma was happy to teach his sister embroidery, and despite his strong desire to also learn, she refused because it ran counter to Mexican machismo gender traditions.

Fortunately that only steeled his resolve to learn – so maybe paradoxically we have Grandma to thank.

Dawe has numerically titled his rainbow creations “Plexus” – which is an intricate network of nerves or blood vessels.  He explains he chose the term “Plexus” because “it refers to the connection of the body with its environment, but it also relates directly to the intricate network of threads forming the installation itself, and to the inherent tension in the thread, vibrating with an almost tangible luminosity.”

And although the main impetus to his rainbow creations was to challenge the gender stereotypes he had to deal with as a youth, he says they are not intended to be a political statement in support of equality for the LGBTQ community. 

Dawe explains, “I’ve never made it about that.  It’s that a rainbow represents light, not dark – and the idea that everything is one, and inclusion and unity.”

 

So let’s enjoy some of his creations, and I’ll add information as we proceed.

 

Plexus #19 (Villa Olmo in Como, Italy)

Amazingly enough he does not use any computer software in drafting his art – just detailed sketches.

Obviously it varies depending on the size of the venue displaying his creations, but typically Dawe will use between 60 and 90 MILES of cotton embroidery thread.  And it takes up to ten days for his crew to install the very exacting work.

 

 

Plexus #29 (BYU)

As you can imagine, this is not an easy task.  It involves hard work on the ground …

 

And in the air …

 

To create this …

 

Plexus #34 (Carter Museum, Ft. Worth)

And to create something like this …

Can be both vertiginous and dangerous …

 

But worth it …

 

Plexus #18 (San Antonio Airport)

To say that his rainbow creations make our spirits soar is an understatement …

 

 

This installation will remain on display in the airport for three more years.

 

Plexus #30 & #31 (Newark Museum)

Some of his installations that seem simple and straightforward …

Turn out to be anything but when viewed from different perspectives …

 

 

Plexus #35 (Toledo Museum)

His current exhibit is at the Toledo Museum

  

 

Plexus A1 (Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Art Museum)

We’ll close as we begun with what, to my eye, is the most sensational creation at the Smithsonian – and full-sized …

Hard to believe that something so mundane as cotton embroidery thread …

Could be used to create something so beautiful …

For more information about and examples of his artwork, view Gabriel Dawe's website:

http://www.gabrieldawe.com/