Coping Continues

Many years ago I was lucky enough to be at a dinner with Nahum Goldman. Someone

at the table asked him how he coped. Music, he said. I always listen to music. Through

wars and personal crises, music was his answer. Now, it’s one of mine.

Coping is the title for everything. While we can’t possibly ignore all that is happening

every single day now that we have this president, still we have to continue living our

lives.

We share our coping strategies with one another. What we intend to do to fight back,

and to survive, has become our constant conversation.

One example: Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, former chief rabbi of CBST synagogue, is one

of the creators of The Beacon NYCC, a WhatsApp rapid response network mobilizing

diverse community members through neighborhood-based WhatsApp groups. Here’s

what they say:

“Wherever injustice threatens our communities, we respond with visible acts of love

and kindness. Where there is cruelty, we create visible acts of solidarity and

compassion. Where there is fear, we build community and mutual understanding.”

You can join here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHUGbNPzOByeihVTNxj4S-vOp810btq78z9FajdPZB7nzz4A/viewform

We read amazing Amy Siskind, chronicler of the Trump administration. Relentless

activist. Telling us all what to know and what to do.

https://theweeklylist.org

We read many Substacks: Rebecca Solnit, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, and

scores of others.

We send one another lists: books, movies, poems, series, organizations to support.

Endless articles of explanation.

Here’s a Thich Nhat Hahn poem that Diane Levenson sent yesterday.

The Good News

They don’t publish
the good news.
The good news is published
by us.
We have a special edition every moment,
and we need you to read it.
The good news is that you are alive,
and the linden tree is still there,
standing firm in the harsh Winter.
The good news is that you have wonderful eyes
to touch the blue sky.
The good news is that your child is there before you,
and your arms are available:
hugging is possible.
They only print what is wrong.
Look at each of our special editions.
We always offer the things that are not wrong.
We want you to benefit from them
and help protect them.
The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,
smiling its wondrous smile,
singing the song of eternity.
Listen! You have ears that can hear it.
Bow your head.
Listen to it.
Leave behind the world of sorrow
and preoccupation
and get free.
The latest good news
is that you can do it.

Still these times have made us all so contentious. Now we’re even fighting about

humor: what should not be funny because of the subject, or the delivery, or the

politics of the speaker. Or the maleness of the jokes.

These days good friends are often trying to talk me out of what I find funny. One

example is a TV series called BOOKIE.

I watched the first episode, starring a comedian that the whole

world had heard of besides me: Sebastian Maniscalco. He sold out Madison

Square Garden 3 nights in a row. The show’s about two friends who work together

taking bets. They mostly drive around and talk to one another. Two of my personal

favorite activities.

Every Thursday night, the show makes me laugh. Still, one friend in particular is

relentless in her attempts to get me to dislike him. Maniscolo’s wife is Jewish. My

friend explained that he doesn’t get the Jewish thing right.

(Is there a right way to get the Jewish thing?)

I’ve always been grateful to laugh. Humor was a Big Value in my childhood. I

remember the people who were funny. And those who weren’t. We all liked funny

better. These days, I sometimes worry that I will never laugh again.

Last night, when I expressed that worry to my funny Armenian husband (that phrase is

somewhat of an Oxymoron, but it’s true) he told me about a British house show he

was watching. His way of taking a Big Break from everything. The houses were

new and expensive.

One of the guests, a wealthy (non-Jewish) Brit, said the architects had incredible

shootspah.He meant Chutzpah of course. The British filmmakers didn’t correct him.

They probably didn’t know.

We were both happy to laugh.

Tell us how you’re coping.

Love, Esther

PS: Join us at the Puffin Gallery in Teaneck on February 22 at 5 PM for an ALTE reading and celebration of Getting Old Together.

Salvatore Maniscolo