A truly liberating Yom Kippur

I got back in touch with my Jewish roots today after 3 years in the wildnerness of Japan. I was kindly given a ticket to sit with my fellow Jews in a reform church cum synagogue uptown. There was a choir, a small orchestra and a very verbal Rabbi. He bruskly announced that we are living in the time of a 'holocaust' with so many people dying everyday from poverty. He even managed to include 'weapons of mass destruction' as a part of his sermon. Still, he was a more compassionate Rabbi than I'm used to. At one point, late in the day, he paused to ask the congregation, with a wry smile on his face, "So, how are you? tired?" These occassional comments along with the strong rythm generated by the musical contingent helped the day go by quickly and relatively painlessly. There was even a first-hand recounting of WWII by an elderly lady from Lithuania who had worked in a labor camp. I managed to hear another first-hand account from Auntie Miriam, who I visited in between the morning and afternoon service.

After the sounding of the shofar I went to break my fast at the apartment of the couple who had donated their ticket to me. They have a wonderful home on fifth avenue, their display cabinets contained exhibits you would only find in a museum. The host Michael has the uncanny knack of, when knowing he's meeting a young available person, simultaneously shaking their hand, finding out their age and thinking of the best available person to match them with. I think he found a tricky customer. I have become his work-in-progress.

After meeting more people than names I can remember I accompanied some of the 'younger' guests to a second party across town. There I drank far too much tonic until one of the kind hostesses added vodka into the mix. Just a few hours after cleansing my soul I was back again filling my head with unclean thoughts. Naughty me...

Bourne Supremacy, 9/11

I went to see the Bourne Supremacy this afternoon. The car chase scenes were cool. Matt Damon was born for this role (no pun indended:) After eating at my favourite Japanese restaurent with a friend we walked down eighth avenue looking up at two huge blue beams being projected up from the base of Ground Zero through clouds in the sky. For one night the people of New York had their two towers back. Not that many seemed to notice. Most people were walking and talking not really stopping to look up. Maybe they're happier to just get on with their lives.

New Canaan

I went to a Jewish house party in New Canaan today, my first time in Connecticut. The family of my boss's wife live up there. It was an hour's train ride up. The neighbourhood is very attractive, lots of big houses with white picket fences. (Note: while the train station is in New Canaan, the house lies over the State line in Lewisboro, New York -- thanks Shelby!)

The house I visited was very special. The grounds are extremely vast, the swimming pool could be viewed from within a little cove, there's a pond where swan's paddle, a paddling boat shaped like a swan, trees everywhere, a pretty little treehouse, a garden where a dozen busts of some of the most famous people in history sit in a semi-circle and a number of other unique features you don't see very often. I now have the setting for my first Dickens-sytle novel!

Police

What a week it's been! I've never seen so many police officers spread around so much of the city. When I leave my apartment in the morning, I see 4 officers at each corner of my street, one at the entrance of the subway, another in the subway, one standing on the platform, another waiting on the platform of Grand Central as I get off the train, another as I exit the subway, more in Starbucks and in the building where I work (some holding automatic rifles). They're everywhere! 50,000 New York Police Department officers, FBI agents and private security agents in total. The city has certainly been a safer place with the Republican Party around!