tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-149626825782442228.post55741578915421118..comments2024-02-07T22:33:08.606-05:00Comments on Dawn Ponders: Pesach: Spiritually Uplifting or Soul Crushing? Discuss!Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13377990352000842532noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-149626825782442228.post-29924540355641023772009-05-02T18:25:00.000-04:002009-05-02T18:25:00.000-04:00David,
I am fascinated by these stories. Please te...David,<br />I am fascinated by these stories. Please tell your mother to have a wonderful time at a once in a lifetime experience. If she can send you a few pictures and she doesn't mind, I will post them. You have a history to be proud of.<br /><br />DawnDawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13377990352000842532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-149626825782442228.post-82924219328995620862009-05-02T18:16:00.000-04:002009-05-02T18:16:00.000-04:00Hi Dawn: David Kreuter here. While I have to confe...Hi Dawn: David Kreuter here. While I have to confess I am not a folkie (jazz fiend for 40 years since my first album at age 12 of Lester Young, Buddy Rich and Nat King Cole) I have strong connections to Pete Seeger and protest song folk movement.<br /><br />My mother courtesy of two tix I purchased for her and a friend will be going to the Pete Seeger gala tomorrow. My mother's life and in turn that of my family mirrors the politics and voices of Pete and company.<br /><br />When I was growing up in Queens Judaism, Zionism were not core values. Instead politics, yiddishism, education, civil rights, the Vietnam War and the TEACHERS UNION,were the topics of conversation and interest. This naturally led to the folk music of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, others.<br /><br />You may be aware of the Peekskill beat down put on by right wingers in the 1950s when Paul Robeson was appearing. My oldest brother Paul, who unfortunately died years ago was named after Robeson.<br /><br />My mother reminisced to me about her first cross country trip in the late 1940s? and singing Tzena, Tzena, Tzena from Wyoming back to Brooklyn. Pete was very involved in Peekskill - maybe the event was on his property even!<br /><br />There is some connection perhaps mythic with Ramblin' Jack Elliott? I think he lived in the same housing project we did in the late 1950s, or his mother did or something ...<br /><br />I will get a report from Fran on the event tomorrow.<br /><br />We should do a folk music night. Well, maybe not.<br /><br />The blacklist was a terrible period in U.S. history. My father, although not blacklisted, was denied a job as a high school principal because of a whisper campaign about his politics. That's all it took. In any case it wasn't that much of a setback but there it is anyway.<br /><br />We had a close family friend who lost his job as a language professor at a private college. Irony of ironies the only company that would hire him was a Japanese company (1950s) ... and by the 1970s he was a multi-millionaire scholar sought out for opinions on far east markets! <br /><br />Pete's relevancy is stronger today that it has been years. He has never vacated the struggle, maybe it's us who have!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-149626825782442228.post-80498499755250953622009-04-07T11:17:00.000-04:002009-04-07T11:17:00.000-04:00Whilst I agree with your comments I find myself st...Whilst I agree with your comments I find myself struggling with how to impart spiritual meaning into a seder where the participants are spiritually constipated. I am leading the seder and wanting it to be more than an eight glass whine fest. Yet the focus seems to be on having it not too "jewish" least we should offend the non tribal members.<BR/><BR/>I guess it comes down to why are we honouring this event in our history. For me as I hear about the new laws in Iran that seek to enslave women,I am abundantly grateful to enjoy the freedom that is all to often taken for granted. <BR/><BR/>I like the idea of calling Pesach "The Festival of Freedom", because for me it resonates in a way that isn't about religousity, but more akin to the connection between historic and contemporary themes. From this vanatage point I think that it can truly be an uplifting experience.<BR/><BR/>Oh...gotta go...I think my brisket is burning!<BR/><BR/>ElaineAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com