11-April-99 Shoah Concert and writing

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I got up earlier than most Sundays recently, untangled my beater bike (a rusty yard-sale 10-speed held together with cable ties and orange plastic tape) from the other bikes in the garage, and took it down the block for bagels. For a trip that short it's ideal, because I don't need to lock it up -- nobody would steal it, and if anybody did I would curse a little and walk home. Rosenfeld's had a line half the length of the store today, which I was glad to see. I don't know if it's just because I was earlier than most recent weeks or because they don't have as many people working behind the counter as they used to; if the latter is the reason, I'm not happy about it.

The Yom haShoah (Holocaust remembrance) concert at Temple Emeth was today, and took up the whole middle of the day. The concert was good, but I was disappointed by how little the rabbi said about any other people who've been driven out of their homes and killed in this century. I feel strongly that Jews have to stop thinking they're the biggest victims in history and figure out more ways to apply their experience to help the world at large. There have been news reports and pictures of Israeli aid to the Albanian Kosovar refugees, and that's the kind of thing we need to emphasize.

I put my writing energy (and then some) into some things I've been thinking hard about for a long time. You can start at this link back to April 1962 and go on for three more pages.