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Monday, May 29, 2006

My Blog









What is a blog? What is my blog?

I am exploring a new toy.
For the time beeing, my blog is the newspaper I like to have on my morning cofee table. I might find some friends enjoying the same , they are wellcome. An interactive paper, if it is attractive enough. Let's see...
(Bloom by Joyce)

Fashion world : samurai Suzy Menkes in Tel Aviv


A whiz at describing the emperor's new clothes

By Shira Breuer


Last Wednesday morning eight nervous fashion designers waited in their shops on Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Street. Suzy Menkes, the International Herald Tribune's fashion editor and critic, had arrived for a visit, accompanied by a small entourage of guests of the Friends of Shenkar College, which included fashion designer Sylvia Fendi, a second-generation member of the celebrated Italian fashion house.Menkes had come to Israel to Shenkar's annual gala evening to receive an award honoring her work for raising public awareness in Israel and the world of the fashion press and for encouraging young designers. At a gala Thursday evening, Fendi and Vice Prime Minister and Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee Shimon Peres, together with Menkes, received certificates of recognition from Shenkar.Menkes, 63, is no stranger to such honors: She was made officer of the Order of the British Empire and chevalier of France's Legion of Honor. At every fashion show in the world's fashion capitals. she is always given a prestigious place in the front row. Among designers, Menkes is a journalist who arouses fear, if not awe. Her frank comments - phrased in rich, colorful, sometimes cynical, language - decisively impact the fashion world.

With her weird hairdo and exotic clothes, she sometimes looks eccentric. Not surprisingly, she is dubbed "Samurai Suzy." She lives in England and Paris, a mother of three sons and a grandmother. Her husband, David Spanier, who died six years ago, was The Times' diplomatic correspondent and wrote a column on poker. Her father was a Belgian-Jewish cavalry officer killed in battle in 1943, a few months before she was born. She studied history at Cambridge, subsequently working at the London Evening Standard and The Times until she joined the International Herald Tribune 19 years ago.Source of strengthAfter visiting Gideon Oberson's fashion house, she reached Dizengoff Street. She entered Michal Zaiden's shop and Banot, including en route Naama Bezalel's establishment, Comme il faut, and Mirit Weinstock's Reine. "Dessert" was a visit with Dori Csengeri, a designer of embroidered jewelry. Menkes was so intrigued by the visit that she ascended the stairs to Csengeri's workshop in an adjacent building, where she did not conceal her fascination with the embroiderers, most of them Russian immigrants.Later, at a cocktail party held in her honor in the apartment of Castro's owners, Etti and Gabi Roter, she noted the interesting fact that women from different places in the world were able to produce these handicrafts. She was impressed by the presence in Israel of immigrants who had brought with them handicraft skills, considering this a potential source of strength for Israeli designers if they recognize how to effectively tap this knowledge.Menkes refused to disclose the names of the designers who had impressed her the most, although she indicated how happy she was with the visit. She considered it wonderful that young designers could operate their own shops. It reminded her of the Belgian designers in Antwerp. In her view, having their own shop is beneficial for designers because they can maintain direct contact with potential clients.Did she see any problem in the fact that many designers, for commercial reasons, create what consumers are used to wearing, thereby forgoing a personal statement?Yes, she did consider this a problem. Designers must understand their audience and suit their tastes, yet they must be connected to their own individual statement, which makes them and their fashion heritage unique. In Israel, said Menkes, people should be connected to fabrics, colors, the sun, their body self-image and their special Israeli heritage, which included religious, traditional, Armenian, Arab and kibbutz women.The stretch fabric revolutionAt what moments in her career did she sense she was witnessing a breakthrough?She had experienced many such moments: for instance, two years ago, at a Balenciaga fashion show. Nicolas Ghesquiere presented a fresh, different collection. Since the 1980s, Comme des Garcons' Rei Kawakubo has been doing amazing things: for example, her sweaters with holes. The same is true for Miuccia Prada, who last season changed direction, designing clothes for strong women, after producing a fastidious, bourgeois look.According to Menkes, no one pays attention to real-time changes in fashion and instead we regard things retrospectively. Only after five, seven years do we understand fashion has undergone a change. For instance, in the early 1980s, the look produced by Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana with giant shoulder pads appeared unrealistic; nonetheless, after a while, it caught on.Changes, observed Menkes, occurred at two levels: aesthetic and technical. In her view, the greatest change in the last 20 years was stretch fabric. But that is neither sexy nor sophisticated and thus fashion designers would not make such a statement. An additional change noticeable in recent shows is that the body is being covered more extensively and sophisticated collections do not expose everything.What did she think about the fashion problems of women from age 40 on whose needs are not being met by the fashion world, which caters to a very young crowd?Although she did not know how to categorize that problem by age group, she did write an article two weeks ago on working women who must suit their attire to the business community and adjust themselves to the world of male images - for instance, in softly tailored Armani suits. This is already a shopworn look, and she would prefer it if fashion designers could discover a new way of expressing the working woman as a real woman.Can fashion designers exist without a massive system of advertising, marketing and public relations?As she sees things, public relations and advertising are as crucial to designers as bookkeeping services. She believes designers could survive without public relations or advertising; nonetheless, PR and advertising definitely help them. For example, there's John Galliano, whom everybody considers a genius, although he went bankrupt twice before Dior adopted him.Menkes thinks of herself in more modest terms. She does not cultivate fashion designers. She is a writer and journalist committed to basing her views on what she sees and to analyzing fashion history. At most, she makes the public aware of designers by being present at their shows. She cannot turn a designer into a success story or a failure.What was her opinion of the present generation of designers compared to the next generation?Menkes noted that some designers had become superstars, icons, and they were all in the 60-75 age bracket: for instance, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, and Yves Saint Laurent. She lamented the loss of an entire generation of designers who, had they lived, would now be in their 50s, such as Franco Moschino and Perry Ellis, both of whom died of AIDS. There is today a generation of designers in their 40s, headed by Alber Elbaz and Dries Van Noten. Furthermore, there is a new, fresh generation of designers in their 30s who are introducing a new, refreshing approach: for instance, Dior Homme's Hedi Slimane, Balenciaga's Nicolas Ghesquiere and Olivier Theyskens of Maison Rochas who should go far.Menkes is not looking for another Valentino Garavani or Yves St. Laurent, but rather someone who will really be new. She does not believe that there will be any further superstars, because today there is much more competition and there are many more fashion chains that simply swallow up the good designers. Nevertheless, there will always be designers who will change the fashion world.Designer clothes, even those produced by people who are not considered stars, are very expensive. What did she think about that fact?It costs a lot of money to manufacture clothes using good materials and in small quantities that reflect a unique vision and a unique imagination. The moment mass production kicks in, the prices can be lowered.Is high quality essential to designer clothes?According to Menkes, quality is crucial and must express what the designer has planned. There is no reason why designers should not be able to use simple clothes that cost less. The fabric must be suited to the quality and the design. Not everyone, she noted, could design like Alber Elbaz and skillfully use silk to flatter a woman's figure.Can journalistic writing determine the fate of designers, that is, whether they will succeed or fail? Or do perhaps television, public relations and celebrities have a greater impact?In Menkes' opinion, her fashion column cannot produce success for someone who has no chances of succeeding. Fashion writers can only make the public aware of a designer's existence. Over the past decade, the fashion industry has changed dramatically. Thanks to television and the Internet, everything has now become accessible.Celebrities, observed Menkes, who wear designer clothes are the best promoters of such clothes today. However, that trend will ultimately lose momentum and then another vehicle will have to be found. Perhaps "real" women will be chosen to wear designer clothes.Unbiased writingDid the fact that she knew many designers and that she was perhaps on friendly terms with them blunt the force of her criticism?Menkes denied being on personal terms with designers and argued that friendly relations with designers had no impact on her fashion critiques. The only thing that can soften her criticism is the knowledge that a designer may have undergone a personal crisis. In that case, she would write her critique with considerable gentleness. As a journalist, it is vital that she be straight with herself. She tries to distance herself and eliminate any trace of bias so that she can be free of pressures at fashion shows.Was she ever "punished" by designers or fashion houses for a negative critique?Sometimes, she admitted, a particularly harsh critique can produce a negative response; however, the anger does not last very long and then the relationship returns to what it was previously.Do large fashion houses, which are also heavy advertisers, get more exposure in the newspapers in which they advertise?In magazines, notes Menkes, there is more pressure to favor advertisers. But not in the daily press. Nobody can force you to advertise something that you are not interested in advertising.Did she feel that she had contributed to the development of fashion and to the cultivation of her readers' taste in clothes?She considered that her work was to conduct thorough research on the fashion world. She saw herself as a historian and she believed that, if 100 years from now, people wanted to analyze fashion, they could extract all her columns from the archives and could thus know what fashion was current at what point in time. Except for reporting at the precise historical level, she did not change fashions.Menkes enjoys a dominant position in the fashion world.How does she cope with the expectations of those around her about dressing in accordance with her status?She ignores fashion dictates in her own attire. She does not believe that she has to be her newspaper's ambassador in her look, unlike the magazine editors. Thus, she is loyal to who she is, to what she likes in fashion.

Pope's speech at Auschwitz-Birkenau


Excerpts of the Pope's speech at Auschwitz-Birkenau
By Reuters


The following are excerpts of a speech made by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau on Sunday. The Pope spoke in Italian, avoiding using his native German out of respect for Polish and Jewish sensitivities. The excerpts come from the official Vatican translation into English.

"To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man, is almost impossible - and it is particularly difficult and troubling for a Christian, for a Pope from Germany. In a place like this, words fail; in the end, there can only be a dread silence - a silence which is itself a heartfelt cry to God: Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this? In silence, then, we bow our heads before the endless line of those who suffered and were put to death here; yet our silence becomes in turn a plea for forgiveness and reconciliation, a plea to the living God never to let this happen again.""Pope John Paul II came here as a son of the Polish people. I come here today as a son of the German people. For this very reason, I can and must echo his words: I could not fail to come here. I had to come. It is a duty before the truth and the just due of all who suffered here, a duty before God, for me to come here as the successor of Pope John Paul II and as a son of the German people - a son of that people over which a ring of criminals rose to power by false promises of future greatness and the recovery of the nation's honor, prominence and prosperity, but also through terror and intimidation, with the result that our people were used and abused as an instrument of their thirst for destruction and power." "I have come here today to implore the grace of reconciliation - first of all from God, who alone can open and purify our hearts, from the men and women who suffered here, and finally the grace of reconciliation for all those who, at this hour of our history, are suffering in new ways from the power of hatred and the violence which hatred spawns.""Constantly the question comes up: Where was God in those days? Why was he silent? How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil?" "We cannot peer into God's mysterious plan - we see only piecemeal, and we would be wrong to set ourselves up as judges of God and history. Then we would not be defending man, but only contributing to his downfall. No - when all is said and done, we must continue to cry out humbly yet insistently to God: Rouse yourself! Do not forget mankind, your creature! And our cry to God must also be a cry that pierces our very heart, a cry that awakens within us God's hidden presence - so that his power, the power he has planted in our hearts, will not be buried or choked within us by the mire of selfishness, pusillanimity, indifference or opportunism... Let us cry out to God, that he may draw men and women to conversion and help them to see that violence does not bring peace, but only generates more violence - a morass of devastation in which everyone is ultimately the loser.""The place where we are standing is a place of memory and, at the same time, it is the place of the Shoah. The past is never simply the past. It always has something to say to us; it tells us the paths to take and the paths not to take. Like John Paul II, I have walked alongside the inscriptions in various languages erected in memory of those who died here... All these inscriptions speak of human grief, they give us a glimpse of the cynicism of that regime which treated men and women as material objects, and failed to see them as persons embodying the image of God." "Deep down, those vicious criminals, by wiping out this [Jewish] people, wanted to kill the God who called Abraham, who spoke on Sinai and laid down principles to serve as a guide for mankind, principles that are eternally valid. If this people, by its very existence, was a witness to the God who spoke to humanity and took us to himself, then that God finally had to die and power had to belong to man alone - to those men, who thought that by force they had made themselves masters of the world. By destroying Israel, they ultimately wanted to tear up the taproot of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention: faith in the rule of man, the rule of the powerful.""The Germans who had been brought to Auschwitz-Birkenau and met their death here were considered as 'Abschaum der Nation' - the refuse of the nation. Today we gratefully hail them as witnesses to the truth and goodness which even among our people were not eclipsed. We are grateful to them, because they did not submit to the power of evil, and now they stand before us like lights shining in a dark night.""Behind these inscriptions is hidden the fate of countless human beings. They jar our memory, they touch our hearts. They have no desire to instil hatred in us: instead, they show us the terrifying effect of hatred. Their desire is to help our reason to see evil as evil and to reject it; their desire is to enkindle in us the courage to do good and to resist evil. "At Auschwitz-Birkenau humanity walked through a "valley of darkness." And so, here in this place, I would like to end with a prayer of trust - with one of the Psalms of Israel which is also a prayer of Christians: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me... I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long." (Ps 23:1-4, 6)

Saturday, May 27, 2006

The sage of Manhattan

No doubt that some of the rich and powerful need God blessing or Devil help. King Arthur's Merlin or Louis's XI astrologer helped with business decisions. Here comes Rabbi Yoshiyao Pinto with his advise to the thriving Israeli big money community in N.Y.





The sage of Manhattan
By Haim Handwerker


NEW YORK - On the dais of Gotham Hall, one the largest and most luxurious banquet halls in Manhattan, Michael Stern, who used to organize such glittering, high-profile events in Israel, tried to calm the audience. Sitting at the head table was Rabbi Yoshiyao Pinto, and admirers in the crowd were trying to rush the stage in an effort to exchange a word with him, clasp his hand, kiss him. "We would like to start the evening," pleaded Stern, who in honor of the event wore a black yarmulke. But emotions were running too high. Earlier, the organizers had placed tables at the entrance, and several ushers were trying to match arrivals with names on lists and hand out tickets with table numbers on them. But the crush was overpowering. Finally, about a thousand people, all men, crowded into the hall, though some had no place to sit. They all wanted to see Rabbi Pinto. It was not difficult to discern that a great many of those sitting at the front tables were Israeli and Jewish-American businessmen, mainly from the real estate, textile and diamond industries. Next to Rabbi Pinto room was made for the Israeli tycoon Yitzhak Tshuva, who rarely attends public events but was there to honor the rabbi. And little wonder, as it was Rabbi Pinto who installed the mezuzah at the entrance to the Park Plaza Hotel after Tshuva bought it.
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Also in attendance were Ralph Nakash, one of the three brothers who bought Arkia Airlines last year; the real estate and clothing magnate Haim Revah, who flew in from Los Angeles; Ofer Yardeni, also in real estate; the president of Israel Bonds, Joshua Matza; Eli Almo, an American Jew from Seattle who owns a large company that builds old-age homes; David Benrimon, owner of art galleries in New York; and many others. Many of those on the guest list make it a habit to consult with the rabbi and spend hours with him in private. They are people who are assiduously courted by charity organizations that hope to add them to their mailing list. Figures around the other tables included Michael Shvo, the owner of a real estate marketing company that handles luxury residential homes and is currently marketing the prestigious project of Africa Israel and Shaya Boymelgreen in the Wall Street area; Moshe Azogui, the director of a large real estate firm; and Yoav Oelsner, who was Tshuva's middleman in the Plaza deal. There were also well-known American businessmen, who were there because they had heard terrific things about the rabbi from their Israeli colleagues; for some of them, it was the second or third time they had come to hear him. Business intuitionYoshiyao Pinto, 35 years old, has enjoyed a meteoric rise among sector-crossing spiritual mentors. He is the scion of a distinguished, centuries-old rabbinic family from Morocco. On his father's side, he is the great-grandson of Rabbi Haim Pinto, a revered Moroccan sage; on his mother's side, he is the grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, better known as the wonder-working Baba Sali. At age 20, Pinto married Rivka, daughter of the chief rabbi of Argentina, Rabbi Shlomo Ben Hamo; the couple has a 6-year-old son. Rabbi Yoshiyao's father, Haim Pinto, is also a well-known rabbi, with a large court in Ashdod. Rabbi Haim Pinto began to cultivate his son from an early age, encouraging him to open an independent yeshiva and sending him supplicants seeking advice and blessings. Yoshiyao Pinto founded his yeshiva, Shuva Yisrael, 13 years ago, after completing his studies at the Maalot Torah Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Rabbi Pinto established a second yeshiva in Kiryat Malakhi, not far from Ashdod, and in time two others, in Ashkelon and Jerusalem, along with soup kitchens that provide meals for some 3,000 needy individuals. Thousands of students attend Pinto's four yeshivas. In the secular sector, Pinto is a spiritual adviser and guide for dozens of local celebrities, who draw from him good advice and strong belief, and pay with generous donations. Businessmen speak of Pinto's amazing intuitive faculty, which guides them both in both professional matters and personal affairs involving family and health. The politicians and businessmen who have attended his yeshiva in Ashdod include MK Danny Naveh, attorney (and former justice minister) Yaakov Neeman, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, tycoon Nochi Dankner, former Bank of Israel governor Jacob Frenkel, advertising magnate Yafit Greenberg and entertainer Dudu Topaz. Serge Hoyda met Rabbi Pinto half a year ago and has become an ardent admirer. "I am not religious, but still, I can say that it was a great honor to meet him," says Hoyda, who arrived in New York from Israel 20 years ago and conducts large-scale real estate deals, mainly in Manhattan. "He has powers that no one can explain, and both religious and nonreligious people alike can feel a connection with him. I do not ask anything of the rabbi. When you meet him, you are filled with energy, you are strengthened, you simply feel great." Eli Almo flew in from Seattle for the Gotham Hall event. "The rabbi is the most amazing person I have ever met in my life," says Almo, who has known Rabbi Pinto for six years. "I am happy to meet him at every possible opportunity. I believe he is a genius, a person who wants only to be a benefactor to others. He has great love in his heart for human beings. "I met him through my father-in-law - the rabbi told him that he wanted to talk to me. He knew things about me that no one had told him. He wanted to bless me. One day, after sending me a new tallit and tefillin [prayer shawl and phylacteries] via a special messenger who arrived from Israel, he invited me to his home in Ashdod to sit next to him on the Seder eve. He invited me for Yom Kippur, and during the Kol Nidrei prayer he held my hand. When my father was hospitalized, the rabbi came especially to Seattle to be with him and put on tefillin. In another case he healed someone else in the family who was sick." Does he give you business advice? "The rabbi does not have a business education, but he has exceptional understanding. Show him an economic or business scenario and he will give advice on it. In 2000 the rabbi gave me important advice that saved me a great deal of money in business. We were heavily invested in the stock market and the rabbi told me to get out of the market. He said that there were going to be four-five hard years when everything would go down. I took his advice, and I thank him for it. He has a great love for humanity and he has tremendous knowledge. He gives you the basic knowledge of Judaism that makes it possible for you to go on living without tension or anxieties." Rabbi Pinto speaks in Hebrew, and when he meets with English-speakers, one of those present acts as an interpreter. A professional interpreter was present at the Gotham Hall event and provided simultaneous translation through earphones for those who needed it. Still, even English-speakers who meet with him say that even with the interpreter they feel something in the air. One of them says that he simply closes his eyes and enjoys the rabbi's voice; there is something very soothing about it. Another says that he feels the energy the rabbi projects. The Gotham Hall event, which took place several weeks ago, was the zenith of Rabbi Pinto's activity in Manhattan. It was not only a demonstration of love for the rabbi, but equally important, it was aimed at raising funds for the establishment of a Shuva Yisrael yeshiva in New York. The event raised $6 million for the project, more than meeting the target. At present, Rabbi Pinto directs a yeshiva in a rented apartment located in what is considered a rundown section of the Upper East Side. The rabbi's aides, in partnership with Israeli and Jewish-American businessmen, purchased an old building on the Upper East Side. Their plan is to tear it down and erect a new structure on the site, which will contain a yeshiva, synagogue, large hall, mikveh (ritual bath) and kindergarten. Among those involved in the project is Ofer Yardeni, who has been a consultant on the purchase. Stern, who organized the Gotham Hall fund-raiser, to which he also gave a donation, says that it was all done within a week. "We said it would be difficult, but the rabbi said we could do it if we did everything fast. We started by organizing an event for 350 people. Two days before the event, the number jumped to 650, and finally it hit a thousand. It was madness, but we did it and it was a great success." Stern, who was born in Manhattan, lived in Israel for 25 years after immigrating in 1979 at the age of 21. He was the owner of a flourishing company that organized prestigious social events (including balls for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Museum, Ted Arison and the Eisenberg family). He returned to New York three years ago; he now works with Ofer Yardeni in interior design. Are you religious? Stern: "I am not religious, but I definitely feel the rabbi's vision. During the whole time I was organizing the event there was tremendous energy in the air. I felt that it was a great privilege to advance the rabbi's vision. Look, the rabbi does not expect me or anyone else to be religious. He says, 'Go on being what you are, but do good deeds.'" According to Stern, "The famous names of the evening donated several hundred thousand dollars, and those who did not attend also gave." One of the donors was Shaya Boymelgreen, the Israeli-American real estate man who this year began to be active in Israel. Boymelgreen bought the public company Gambit and changed its name to his own. A few weeks ago he bought the Azorim construction company from Nochi Dankner, who is also close to Pinto. Two weeks in Israel, two in New YorkPinto has two assistants in New York: Igal Ashur, originally from Kibbutz Dovrat, and Ofer Biton, who owns an apparel business and who also changed the direction of his life. Their mobile phones are the nerve center of the rabbi's activity. The rabbi sometimes matches up people to do business together, and when the business is launched he checks to see that all is going well, offering advice and guidance. In addition to his success in Israel, Rabbi Pinto has developed large-scale activities throughout the world. He has yeshivas in Los Angeles and Miami, among other places, and visits Bulgaria, Argentina and Venezuela, where he also has followers. Pinto first came to New York seven years ago for medical treatment. The treatment obliged him to spend long periods of time in the city, and thus he met many of the Israelis and Jewish Americans who live there. Now that his major base of operations outside Israel is about to be built in Manhattan, he has effectively decided to divide his time. According to his confidants, he will spend half of each month in Israel and half in New York. There is no charge for visiting the rabbi, say his confidants, and if one wants to make a donation to the yeshiva, that is fine. The rabbi, they add, is a modest person who takes nothing for himself. In Israel, he has always been opposed to taking government funding for his yeshiva. He tells his aides that accepting such funds adversely affects the advancement of Torah in Israel and generates hostility toward the religious public. The rabbi has emphasized on various occasions that he has no ties to any political party (despite marital ties between the Abuhatzeira family and the family of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the founder and spiritual mentor of Shas) and that he wants to maintain a separation between religion and politics. When the rabbi's aides are asked why activity is being concentrated in New York, they reply that New York is a central place in the world and one that can have a considerable impact on Israel's future. The rabbi wants to draw American Jewry close to Israel; assimilation is rampant, and there are many people who need advice. Together with the strong and affluent Jewish community in New York, there are also a great many poor Jews who have a hard time providing for their families. The rabbi's staff has begun to supply food to indigent Jews in Brooklyn, but they note that a large portion of the funds collected here are transferred to Israel to provide food for the poor there and make it possible for people to study Torah. Rabbi Pinto's father, Haim, also had followers in New York. For 30 years, Haim Pinto had ties with Edmund Safra, the Jewish banking tycoon, who died in his Monte Carlo home in a fire in 1999. (The nurse who treated him, Ted Maher, was found guilty of starting the fire.) Rabbi Haim Pinto and Safra prayed together on Yom Kippur every year, and the tradition continued even after Safra fell ill - he came to New York especially for the service. At first they prayed in a hotel, but when the number of worshipers grew they moved to Safra's synagogue on the Upper East Side. Worth the waitMidday Monday. In the very modest apartment on East 61st Street in which the Shuva Yisrael synagogue operates, one finds a group of young yeshiva students, along with a number of people wearing business suits. Some of those present relate that there are usually a hundred people here waiting to see the rabbi, but that today it is a bit quiet. Among those present are Morris Missry, an attorney who specializes in real estate and corporation law, and Joe Edri, who is in real estate. This is a working day - so what are you doing here? Missry: "We are both very busy people, but this rabbi has very unusual spiritual power. We came here to take in the holiness and the spirituality from the rabbi. We come to consult on business affairs and personal matters when we have to make important decisions." Edri: "What goes on here has no logic. You come to him and he gives you a feeling of euphoria. We feel fortunate that he is meeting with us." The partnership between Missry and Edri is basically the rabbi's doing. Edri asked the rabbi to meet with the potential partner. The meeting was arranged. The rabbi was impressed by Missry, gave his blessing and the partnership was launched. Now the rabbi is overseeing the new venture they have begun. Nadar Bolor, a 39-year-old who deals in old carpets, emerges from the rabbi's room. He was born in Tehran and eventually made his way to New York. The family has been in the business for three generations. He first met the rabbi three years ago and afterward decided to move his office close to the yeshiva. He sometimes also visits the rabbi in Ashdod. "The only problem is that there are a lot of people here," Bolor says. "But it's worth it. When I reach an impasse and don't know what to do, whether it's business or private life, I come to the rabbi. He has solved very deep problems in my family life. He sat with me and my wife for three hours and we were able to deal with the problem." There are several businessmen in the rabbi's room. Jack Avital, for example, brought with him two local businessmen for an initial meeting with the rabbi. One of them has a problem he wants to discuss privately with the rabbi. A few more businessmen enter; one of them is known as "the manager of the Safra bank." Many of those who come to consult with the rabbi are seeking answers to financial questions. However, confidants of the rabbi say that he sees money as a corrupting influence and asks those who have money to turn it to a good end - in other words, to donate to charity. Ofer Yardeni, the real estate magnate, manages assets worth about $1 billion. He relates, "I came to America from Bat Yam with $600 in my pocket and I built a big business. I even bought myself a couple of luxury cars: an Austin Martin and a Porsche. Rabbi Pinto brought order into my life. He explained to me that money corrupts and that it is wrong to flaunt your wealth, and that all is vanity. He came to my house and saw my cars and told me to get rid of them fast. "Showing off is bad and I don't need that. A simple life is better than all that craziness. And that is what I did. I sold the cars and lost money on them. With the rabbi's advice I improved my family life. He explained that one's wife is the most important and best thing in life." How did you get to the rabbi? "I am not religious. I met him a few years ago through an Israeli friend, a diamond merchant named Atzmon Levy. When I just shook hands with the rabbi I felt a special energy. He started to ask me questions and very quickly told me, 'You are not doing enough with yourself, and it is not a matter of making more money. A person who does not go forward goes backward." He asked to come to my office, installed a mezuzah and started to give me advice in a great many areas. "Buying the Olivia Building in Manhattan was the hardest deal of my life. The price was $240 million and the rabbi pushed me and my Canadian partners, who are not Jewish, to make the deal. The rabbi was with me all the time. He would call and check until in the end we signed the deal. I am now being offered $350 million for the building. The rabbi tells me not to sell. He says that in two more years the building will be worth $500 million." How do you explain this? "I can't explain it. Everything that is happening here is pure fantasy. Beyond what I am capable of grasping, there are many things I don't understand. The rabbi has extraordinary strength, very powerful senses. He has a very high level of morality." Yardeni, and others too, bring to the rabbi's public meetings American Jews who do not speak Hebrew, as well as non-Jews. "My partners from Canada, who are also non-Jews, went to see the rabbi in Ashdod," Yardeni relates. "I also brought a non-Jewish business partner here. His name is Andre Collin; he controls hundreds of millions of dollars, and he too came to meet the rabbi. It is just unbelievable. The rumors about the rabbi's special powers are spreading fast. After they meet him once, they want to come again and again."W

Balcania eterna, re-citire de re-citire.

I.L.Caragiale, Mateiu Caragiale –Pasadia,Pantazi, Pirgu si ….Cioran.

Matei Calinescu este un Maestru in recitiri. Se intalneste cu alti mari re-cititori, Kundeira printre ei. Ceea ce distinge marea literature de maculatura este tocmai faptul ca recitirea se poate face numai acolo unde prospetimea se pastreaza intacta.

Recitirea “Crailor”, recitire repetata in diverse perioade si cu felurite nivele de intelegere, aceasta re-citire astazi pe fundalul actualitatii romanesti, este un exercitiu pe atat de fascinant pe cat este necesar, intr-un moment aparent istoric si anume intrarea oficiala a Romaniei in conglomeratul numit Uniunea Europeana.

Craii de curte veche bat caldaramul Bucurestiului anilor 1910-1911. Astazi, aproape o suta de ani mai tarziu, ma intreb cu ce este diferit spatiul dambovitean actual cu cel de pe vremea celui de al treilea hagialac, si imi raspund, uimit, :cu nimic. Gorica Pirgu, “eroul transcendental” a cucerit Romania. Parlamentar sau senator , milionar in EU, a scapat teafar si nevatamat din doua razboaie mondiale, a fost si roman verde si roman rosu, dupa nevoie, a redevenit capitalist flamand si se simte minunat in mediul bizantin balcanic. Rezultat al unui proces de decadere a Imperiului Bizantin care va dura se pare , cum spune Matei Calinescu “pana la sfarsitul lumii celei mari”… O lume care capata si un nume, sau re-nume, Balcania. O lume nu disparuta ci “intr-o stare de perpetua disparitie”.
Din aceasta lume acum o suta de ani, I.L. Caragiale vrea sa fuga cu orice pretz, Mateiu fiul se imparte in trei, in Pasadia ,in Pantazi si in Pirgu, fuge stand pe loc cu primul, calatoreste visand cu al doilea, si se integreaza in Balcania sau se adapteaza “sufletului spurcat si scarnav al Bucurestiului” impreuna cu cel de al treilea.

Marele Ion Luca nu este un pionier al exilului. Voltaire, Hugo, Rousseau, Nietzsche sau Joyce , fratii Mann, un lung sir de exilati din tara lor de bastina. Mi se pare insa ca este singurul care fuge nu dintr-o conjunctura politica nefavorabila ci fuge dintr-un spatiu pe care il cunoaste intim si drept consecinta il detesta.
“Comment peut-on etre roumain” se intreaba Cioran parafrazandu-l pe Montesquieu. Matei Calinescu , face pereche din Pasadia si Cioran si citeaza din acesta din urma: “Quelque bonne volonte que j’eusse depensee, aurai-je pu, sans(mon pays) gacher mes jours d’une maniere si exemplaire? Manquer sa vie, on l’oublie trop vite, n’est pas tellement facile: il y fault une longue tradition, un long entainement, le travail de plusieurs generations. Ce travail accompli, tout va a la merveiile…”

Stateam de vorba deunazi la Bucuresti cu o fermecatoare si tanara doamna. Femeie de afaceri iscusita, cu o cultura insa aproximativa. Am fost surprins sa aflu ca “invatase” la scoala “Craii”- lectura obligatorie.
Daca as fi ministrul invatamantului intr-un guvern roman luminat, as impune re-lectura obligatorie a “Crailor” in contextual acceptarii Balcaniei ca membra in Uniunea Europeana. Caci daca Balcania nu dispare este foarte posibil ca la Bucuresti sa ramana doar Pirgu si fratii lui siamezi. Si cate un Pasadia sau Pantazi, reveniti nostalgici din Exil.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Tolerance hidden in a Museum


About “Tolerance” and tolerance in a museum.

Every Friday, when I am in Jerusalem I meet my friends at “La Belle” a pub located in Rivlin Piazza. Situated in Center Jerusalem the place overlooks at the East the Independence Garden. Jaffa Street, the old neiborghood of Nahlat Shiva, the famous Ben Yeduda street are a few minutes away.

Our table at “La Belle” is an exiting cross section of my Jerusalemites. Nurit the school teacher (of Turkish origin), Shimi, a painter of Ethiopian origin and his British wife, Sara a sales women and a sabra, the one eyed Hans, a land surveyor of German origin who married a Jewish wife and lives in the town, Steve, a British Jew who is the Reuter correspondent in Jerusalem and many others are joining our table , week by week.
We are sharing a few pints, cracking jokes , greatly enjoying our life in this battered city. The owner, Avi, after more than 25 years is one of us.

Now, in between our place and the Independence Garden a fence was raised hiding a new building site, the place where the Center of Human Dignity of Jerusalem – The Museum of Tolerance- will be build in the next few years, an investment of 150 million dollars.
The famous architect Frank O. Gehry is in charge with the design.

A week ago Sara said that this word should be eliminated from the dictionary. I laughed and then I had second thoughts. Indeed, to tolerate someone means that the one who tolerates is in a superior position, a better position than the tolerated one …

Indeed, if our table at “La Belle” is the friendship itself, equality and share of our love for the city, no one at this table agrees with the need and opportunity to build this ridiculous “Museum of Tolerance”. I do not know who was the first coming with this great idea. Olmert, when he was the Mayor of Jerusalem, one of the American friends of Jerusalem who dreams of a plaque over the main entrance with the name of the donor, I do not now.
I could not believe when I was told that someone at the Municipality of Jerusalem , gave the example of Bilbao, how a dying city was “put on the map” by the great architect Frank O. Gehry… The same for Jerusalem… Jerusalem and Bilbao! My God!!!

When the digging started, an old Muslim cemetery was discovered on the site. Lucky guys, they found Arab bones and not Jewish, because one has not the right to move Jewish bones.

Yes indeed we need a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Cause you close in museums extremely rare items. And tolerance is so rare in my town, we have to put it behind glass and steel doors.

Now, if you want to find more about this planed museum go to:
http://www.museumoftolerance.com/site/c.juLVJ8MRKtH/b.1353937/k.537D/
Center_of_Human_Dignity_of_Jeruselum.htm

Enjoy!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Poetry and machine



Some years ago, how many?, I was in Paris and issue n0.2000 of "Le Point" dealt with the question if literature can be done with the aid of a P.C.
Most of those questioned spoke about the danger of writing without a pen.
But the machine is more than just a pen and the virtual space opened before us has a fantastic impact on creation and creativity:


David Avidan talked to the machine - this was 30 years ago - and the machine talked back. (Dudu Geva)
The Net spawns a shoal of poets
By Ofri Ilani
Avidan talked to the machine about ambition, loneliness, time, politics, sex and marriage, and "the electronic psychiatrist," as he called it, answered him as best it could, by means of dialogue software that was sophisticated for its time, which supplied answers in psychological style. The input and the output were published in almost raw form as the book "My Electronic Psychiatrist" (Hebrew) and was reprinted in 2001 by Babel Publishers. Eight quite amusing - if amazingly frustrating - conversations appear in the book in a kind of parody of psychotherapy. The computer gave Avidan a rather limited repertoire of replies, made up mostly of sentences like: "What are your feelings at this moment?" "What does this say to you?" and "Please go on." The computer that conversed with Avidan was a huge mainframe that took up the area of almost a whole room. It did not belong to Avidan himself: Personal computers had not yet been invented, and he had received the 15 computer hours as a gift form IBM Israel.
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"My Electronic Psychiatrist" was one of Avidan's most innovative books and apparently one of the first literary works in the world in whose writing the computer played a significant role. In the decades that have since elapsed, there have been few examples of such a creative use of the computer in Hebrew poetry. In this respect, it is hard to say that poetry here has leaped the futuristic hurdle set by Avidan. But even if the experience of digital existence does not usually appear in the verses themselves, it is present behind the scenes of the creative work: The Israeli Internet discovered poetry in the early years of its existence, and now the Net is an arena that buzzes with poetic activity. Novels and even novellas are still considered hard to read on the screen but short poetic lines work excellently with the dynamic movement of surfing. This coming Monday the Netvision Institute for Internet Research and the literature department at Tel Aviv University will hold a special evening at 18:30 in the Leon Hall of the university's management faculty, which will be devoted to a discussion: How does the Internet influence poetry and what place does poetry have on the Net? Entrance is free but advance registration is required at niis@post.tau.ac.il. At a time when poetry in print is being pushed to the cultural margins, and many titles sell only a few dozen copies, poetry is prospering on the Internet. At the Internet site Bama Hadasha (New Stage - http://stage.co.il) there are no fewer than 200,000 works in Hebrew in the poetry category. Even if the vast majority of the works published on the Internet would be thrown into the trash by any literary editor, the transformation of poetry from a highbrow art into a popular digital creative means is an interesting phenomenon, at least sociologically. The participants in the evening at Tel Aviv University, most of them poets and literary people who grew up in the world of printed poetry, will reflect on the prosperity of poetry on line with a mixture of anxiety and hope. On the one hand, the Internet apparently has been very beneficial to the written text, whose status had been undermined by television; on the other hand, it is clear that the spreading world of Internet poetry has entirely new rules. "In the contemporary world outside the Net, poetry is a kind of expression that has almost been destroyed," says Tomer Lichtasch, one of the participants in the conference and a founder of Dag Anonymi (Anonymous Fish - www.anonymous-fish.com), which is an online poetry journal that began in 2001 and appeared for three years, over 27 issues. "Poetry has become something very hidden and bashful," says Lichtasch. "Most people don't touch it. The literary world, in the serious sense of the word, is a kind of shrinking ghetto. At the same time, on the Internet you see an explosion of writing in short lines and rhyme - in blogs, talkbacks and e-mails." Lichtasch, who now edits the Hareshet channel at the NRG portal, says: "One of our experiments at Dag Anonymi was to create a more selective place than Bama Hadasha in order to continue the tradition of Hebrew poetry, which in my opinion has reached a dead end. It is hard for me to see any breakthrough, any free nucleus in Hebrew literature. I don't see how something can shake up this world. I see everything much more on the Internet. On the Net it is possible to shock, it is possible to strike a blow." Poetry in response to the cursorOn the World Wide Web, and especially in the United States, in recent years a wide variety of poetic forms unique to the Internet has sprung up that sometimes do not resemble any known form of poetry, even modernist. One such site, for example, is As/Is (www.as-is.blogspot.com) an experimental poetry blog written jointly by a group of American poets. Another is the radical poetry site Moria (http://www.moriapoetry.com). In addition to keyboard signs, emphases and fonts in different sizes, some of the poems that appear on the site include links to other poems and contents as an integral part of the poetic text itself (a genre that has already been given the name "hypertext poetry.") To these are added poems that are written, in part or in full, by computer programs or interactive poems that change their form and contents in response to movements of the cursor. "These are very interesting things, which raise the question of whether they can still be defined as poetry," says literary researcher Dr. Tamar Yacobi of the literature department at Tel Aviv University, who has organized the online poetry conference with Eli Hacohen of the Netvision Institute. At the conference Yacobi will present an overview of developments in the area of computerized poetry, among other things, various engines that create poetry in an automatic way. On the Hebrew Net the attempts to deal with poetry are usually more standard and still subordinated to the forms that have been bequeathed to it by printed poetry. Among the high-quality Israeli poetry sites it is worth noting the Snunit Shireshet site (www.snunit.k12.il/shireshet), which although it has not been updated for several years does offer a fine selection of poems by leading Israeli poets and also makes it possible to listen to them reading their poems. One of the only attempts in contemporary Israeli poetry to deal with the challenge of the Internet environment has been made by poet Zali Gurevitch. He defines his latest book, Zman Bab, which was published about a year ago by Am Oved, as poetry written "in screen time." Unlike most poetry books, this is not a collection of discrete poems but rather a semi-controlled continuum of text that came up on the screen one after the other and were printed, in an attempt to delay the situation of consciousness of sitting in front of the computer. Gurevitch has also included in the text the clock that is in the bottom right corner of the screen, which shows the time at which the poem was printed. He has also chosen to relinquish the standard look of a poetry book and printed it in the rawest Arial font, with the intention of imitating the way in which the text appears on the screen. "This is the real truth," says Gurevitch. "The moment I finished writing, what was written on the screen went into the book. This is running writing, with small hops, a few minutes between poem and poem. This says something about the pace at which we live - a kind of continuum of minutes, but also a kind of 'pile' of time." Gurevitch, who was born in 1949, is about to publish a new book, "Doubleclick," which will focus even more on the inspirational situation that takes place in front of the computer. It is hard to believe that before "Zman Bab" he published six acclaimed books that were originally written with a pen. "I lived until the age of 36, quite old, without knowing what a computer is. At a certain moment, a few years ago, I went from writing with a pen on paper to writing on the computer. This was a decision that astonished some of the poets. They think of this as a kind of betrayal of poetry, of the sanctity of scratching on paper and leaving real tracks of ink. But as I see it, there is something liberating and spontaneous about this."

Monday, May 22, 2006

Barenboim at La Scala


Barenboim changes direction to La Scala
By Noam Ben Ze'ev

(Haaretz-May 22)


Last week, theories abounded before the appointment of the Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim to a major position in La Scala, the most prestigious opera house in Europe. Personnel is changing in orchestras and opera houses around the world. Barenboim leaves the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in June, and Riccardo Muti left last year following a very public falling-out. However, commentators in the world's newspapers see Barenboim's move, whose appointment was officially announced on Tuesday, as expansion of his European power base. One music critic even hinted that it was a step by Barenboim to shift the center of gravity of his activity from Berlin, where he serves as musical director of Staatsoper, to Milan, where La Scala is located. Barenboim denies it. "What are the congratulations for?" he responds from his home in Spain to the pleasantries expressed at the start of the telephone interview with him. "I wasn't appointed to anything. I didn't receive any title or responsibilities of any sort, certainly not administrative ones. I didn't leave the Chicago Symphony only to take on administrative responsibility for an orchestra again."
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Q. Nor will you shape the repertoire in Milan in the next few years? "Certainly not. The association is based on cooperation between La Scala and Staatsoper ? that is the object. And, therefore, the work in Milan will not detract from the work in Berlin, not in terms of time or of interest. It will only help. Joint operas will be staged both in Berlin ? for instance, when La Scala is closed for the season ? and in Milan. With the same singers and the same production. A great deal of time will be saved on rehearsals and everything will become more efficient. Most of the rehearsal time will be devoted to working with the two different orchestras." Barenboim conducted the La Scala orchestra this year in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. "For me, this is an adventure," he says. "The last time I conducted there was in 1975, and since then all of the musicians have changed, aside from maybe two. Therefore, it is an entirely new orchestra, and this is the first time in the past 16 years that I am conducting an orchestra with which I am not familiar. The last time that happened was when I stood on the podium in front of the Staatsoper." And what orchestra did you discover? "I expected a good orchestra, but not one this good. This is a very flexible and inquisitive orchestra, and after six or seven rehearsals, I felt as if I had been conducting there my whole life." Is there a difference between the orchestras in Milan and Berlin? "A different type of playing, the sound is different and so is the phrasing, and, mainly, the way that they hold the sound. Maybe our biggest secret in the Staatsoper is how we hold the sound, from the moment it is created until it is ended. That is what gives it its depth and weight. In Milan, it's different." At the press conference, you mentioned that you would contribute to music education in Milan. "When I will be there, for around two and a half months every year, I want to start doing educational work with children. We have the experience we gained in Ramallah from the teaching program and from the musical kindergarten we set up there, experience that we expanded upon with the orchestra in Berlin. In Italy, there is a great deal of interest in this. I have no interest ? and it is obvious that you cannot foment a social revolution through music education. Maybe only to create a model. People are always complaining that the young people don't come to concerts, but why should they come? "Most of them were not raised in musical families, in kindergarten and in school they don't get to know music, and in university they take up general studies. All of a sudden, when they are 30 years old, they are being pushed to go to a concert. What does that have to do with anything in their background? My object is to bring the children to consider music a part of life, part of general education and culture. Anyone who is not affected by it or is not open to it has a more dreary life."

Sunday, May 21, 2006

From Jerusalem -More about the Da Vinci Code


If a humble linguist with the Hebrew University might be a secret agent of a very special organization, it seems that the money tainted scandal around the "Da Vinci Code is not just smoke and hidden advertising:


Da Vinci decoded?
By Yair Sheleg


Christophe Rico did not want to read "The Da Vinci Code" at all. "If I want to read fiction, I'd rather read Russian novels," he says. But Rico had no choice, because he heads the information center (a kind of combined minister of foreign affairs and communications) of the Opus Dei organization in Israel, and the organization he represents is depicted in a very unsympathetic way in Dan Brown's book. In the novel, this organization is supposed to guard the darkest secrets of the Catholic Church (among them the notion that, ostensibly, Mary Magdalene was not just a disciple and admirer of Jesus, as she is described in the New Testament, but rather his wife and the mother of his children). The group is supposed to ensure - using even acts of murder to do so - that these secrets never become public knowledge.
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Ever since the novel became an international best-seller, Opus Dei representatives around the world have been busy rebuffing criticism of their organization and of the Church. The film based on the novel, which was released worldwide last week, has given this public relations campaign both extra impetus and a target date. The campaign slogan was formulated by the chief spokesman of the organization in Rome, Marc Carroggio: "If someone gives you a lemon, make lemonade." In other words: If we have become famous despite ourselves, we'll try to take advantage of it for our own benefit. Indeed, at Opus Dei they are saying that the book and the film have been very useful in giving exposure to the organization, which until now has been shrouded in secrecy. Rico relates, for example, that "in the United States alone, this year there have been 2.5 million entries to our Internet site." Refuting Brown's story is a relatively easy job, since experts on Christianity have already made it clear that the book has no connection to reality: There is no Catholic group that believes or "knows," supposedly, that Jesus had a wife and children. The Priory of Sion, which Brown describes as an original order established during the time of the Crusades in order to keep the terrible secret, never existed. The entire story is a falsification created in the mid-20th century, which Brown has transformed, whether innocently or cynically, into a best-seller. In this spirit, Rico is happy to declare unambiguously: "There is not a grain of truth in the book. Not only is the historical story inaccurate, the facts from our own day are incorrect. The murderer in the book is described as an albino monk called Silas, from Opus Dei. In reality, we do have a member of our order in New York called Silas, but he is not a monk, but someone who works on Wall Street, and he is not albino, but rather a black man born in Nigeria. The only correct detail is that we do have a large center in Manhattan, but it is not owned by the organization; it is privately owned by a number of people, only some of whom are members of Opus Dei." 'Holy mafia'The question, then, is not the extent of the book's authenticity, but rather what in Opus Dei could have led Brown to attribute to it the dark side of his plot. This is a very young organization in the world of the Roman Catholic Church: It was established less than 80 years ago (in 1928) by a young Spanish priest, Josemaria Escriva. Dr. Aviad Kleinberg of Tel Aviv University, an expert on the history of Christianity, says, "Escriva was a reactionary right-winger and the organization was founded in the context of tension between the democratic Republican circles and the Church and the fascist right [tension that reached its peak in the Spanish Civil War, which broke out in 1936 - Y.S.] In this violent struggle the Republicans executed clerics, and the Church for its part supported a similar counter-reaction." After Franco's forces won, many of the Opus Dei people were identified with his regime, and in the 1960s they constituted a large part of the ruling elite. The mystery and suspicion surrounding the organization can be attributed in part to the fact that despite its young age and its relatively small membership (about 86,000 worldwide), it has managed to win a significant place in the Vatican establishment. This was especially the case during the pontificate of the previous pope, John Paul II, who was known for his conservative views. Kleinberg says, "John Paul II replaced a considerable number of the holders of offices that were traditionally filled by members of the Jesuit order with Opus Dei people. The reason for this is that in recent centuries, the Jesuits have been becoming more liberal." In addition, in 1992, only 17 years after Escriva's death, John Paul II began the processes of canonizing him, and in 2002 Escriva was indeed declared a saint in one of the hastiest canonization procedures in Vatican history. The uniqueness of Opus Dei among Catholic organizations lies in the fact that its members do not live in monasteries and do not serve as clerics, but rather lead a layman's life - ostensibly. They establish families, have ordinary jobs and wear ordinary clothes, but their loyalty is to the Church and their lives are supervised to a large extent by the numeraries - the group's highest level. Numeraries, even if their garb and occupations are secular, live a sequestered life in communes (all income and expenses, as in the old-style kibbutz, are administered from a common fund). No wonder, then, that these characteristics have created the image of an arm of the Church that aspires to take control of society by means of members who are planted in every area of life - so much so that in Spain the organization is called the "holy mafia." An investigation by the German newspaper Der Spiegel in 1995 supported this suspicion. According to the investigative report, Escriva repeatedly preached to his followers that they were destined "to lead." He also preached total obedience ("Obey the way the tool obeys the hands of the craftsman") and one of the organization's leaflets states that it has a strong ambition to sanctify and Christianize the national institutions - including science, culture, civilization, politics, art and social relations. The Der Spiegel report also states that members of Opus Dei are trained in self-abasement. The numeraries' day begins with kissing the earth and the repetition of the vow "I must serve." Once a week, the member is called in for review by his "personal supervisor" and Escriva himself is cited as having written in his book "The Way" the following instruction for his disciples: "You are filthy, you are sawdust. Do not forget what you are: a garbage pail." Even though in 1996 the Vatican cancelled the Church's list of proscribed books (among them the writings of the founder of Protestant Christianity, Martin Luther, and the playwright Bertolt Brecht), in Opus Dei, the list of banned books still applies. Prior to the canonization of Escriva in 2002, Der Spiegel again took up the topic of Opus Dei and noted that the organization had been close not only to the fascist regime in Spain but also to fascist regimes in Latin America (like that of Pinochet in Chile and the generals' junta in Argentina). This time the newspaper published testimonies from a number of former members of the organization. Czech priest Vladimir Palzman, who was a senior figure in Opus Dei for 23 years, for example, testified that Escriva once told him that "Hitler was not as bad as they say. He also couldn't even have killed more than three or four million Jews." Service to GodRico wants to refute these accusations. According to him, these are simply distorted images. He himself is a numerary: He has been living in Israel for 14 years in one of the organization's two communes here (one for men and one for women, both in Jerusalem). Like the other members of the organization, he looks like an ordinary Westerner. By profession he is a linguist; he works as a lecturer in the French studies department at Hebrew University (he comes from Provence). Yes, his day does begin with kissing the earth and the vow of service, but "this is not service to any human being, but rather to God." Most of the members of the organization lead normal lives, he explains, not because of an ambition to control the world but rather because of Escriva's theology, the thrust of which is, "The sacred must be sought in everyday life, not in the roles of monk or priest." According to Rico, Opus Dei is a kind of commando for an intra-Christian return to faith; the organization has no missionary aim toward anyone who is not Christian, and Escriva's words "to Christianize civilization" relate only to the desire "to remind Christians of their obligation to a life of sanctity." This is also how he explains the operation of the organization's centers around the world, including in Israel: "The activity is aimed only at the Christians who live here." According to Rico, it does not operate clandestinely and does not intentionally conceal the names of its members. The obligation to obey and the manifestations of abasement that are cited from Escriva "have been taken out of context, because in the book he talks about tension between two poles: On the one hand, the tremendous value of the human being as having been created in God's image, and on the other, indeed, the man's nullity relative to God." There is no list of banned books, only "books that the organization recommends not reading before the individual is mature and able to deal with their contents, and this recommendation exists in the entire Catholic Church." The organization is not especially identified with fascist regimes, says Rico, and its members are "free to hold any political position." According to him, it is not possible that Escriva tried to minimize Hitler's monstrousness or the extent of the Holocaust, because "he always stressed that his first love was for two Jews: Jesus and his mother Mary." In the press kit Rico prepared for Haaretz, he included an article by Rabbi Angel Kreiman, formerly the chief rabbi of Chile, in which he thanks Opus Dei members for having always helped him and other rabbis in their work. The bottom line: If there is one error that Rico is prepared to admit and that he regrets, it is the fact that "we did not open up to the media earlier. This happened because we are a young organization, and it takes time to find the exact framework that suits us within the Church. This is apparently what created our negative image among some people."

Monday, May 15, 2006

O plimbare pe strada Mateiu Caragiale




Prietenul Ion Vianu are amabilitatea sa-mi permita sa public pe blog aceasta plimbare printr-un Bucuresti care ne cere sa-i reconstruim istoria distrusa de anii domniei lui Nicolae Ceausescu. (publicata in urma cu o luna in Revista "22"). Plimbare care poate va fi deschiderea unei calatorii mai substantiale prin orasul celor trei crai, oras in care spiritul lui Pirgu se pare ca a triumfat, fara drept de apel. Ion Vianu, Matei Calinescu, si alaturi de cei doi, subsemnatul, dorim sa facem totusi apel.

Lucian D. Cismigiu





O plimbare pe Strada Matei Caragiale.


A trecut câtăva vreme după ce am aflat că există, undeva în Bucureşti, o stradă Matei Caragiale, pentru a mă hotărî să fac o plimbare în acel colţ îndepărtat al oraşului nostru.
Pornesc la drum, cu domnul Marius, într-o dimineaţă de primăvară născândă. Parcurg, în toată lungimea ei, Calea 13 Septembrie, pornind de la lungul, tristul maidan de bălării care este parcul Palatului Parlamentului. Plimbarea mea a început "pe cheul drept al Dâmboviţei ceva mai sus de Mihai Vodă", nu departe de casa "Adevăraţilor Arnoteni". Azi nici solul pe care se găsea casa nu mai există, dealul Spirii a fost ras, nivelat. Înaintez, ceva mai departe îmi imaginez cum va arăta într-un apropiat viitor Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului, alături de cei doi mastodonţi mai mici, Ministerul Apărării şi Hotelul Marriott. Suntem în plină postmodernitate, zic unii. (Adevărat, s-a "deconstruit" masiv, în Puişor). Traversez şoseaua Panduri, strada Sebastian (da, în amintirea lui Mihai Sebastian!); las în dreapta cimitirul Ghencea, însufleţit, dacă pot spune, în acea dimineaţă de sâmbătă, de mulţimi venite la parastase. Mă încearcă o uşoară ispită necrofilă, aceea de-a vizita mormântul unui cuplu vestit. (Nu puţin a făcut el pentru ca oraşul să-şi capete forma actuală). Trecem prin faţa stadionului unui club sportiv nu mai puţin celebru, închis acum, fiindcă gazonul s-a prefăcut într-o baltă de noroi.
Înaintăm spre Domneşti. Pe dreapta, blocurile continuă, vaste ansambluri socialiste la baza cărora s-a însămânţat libera întreprindere: magazine de calculatoare, case de amanet, servicii funerare . Pe stânga, zăresc un vag peisaj industrial, câtva hale părăsite, maidane, ierburi cât omul (ca la Parlament). Pe plan, reperez "drumul Cooperativei", la stânga.
Denumirea străzilor din cartier e demnă de un inventar suprarealist: Borsec se învecinează cu Amza Pellea, Alexandru Bocăneţ cu Ursa Mică, Lavei cu Asachi, Mistreţului cu Condorului... Înaintăm, la pas. Cu o atenţie de arheologi, observăm urmele unei vechi pietruiri. Modernizarea a trecut pe aici cândva.
Domnul Marius negociază hârtoapele.
Înainte să se înfunde drumul – la limita geografică a oraşului – ajungem: pe "strada Matei Caragiale, fostă Constituţiei" . Oprim, fotografiez, aproape pios, privit cu suspiciune de trei bătrâni ce gustă soarele aşezaţi în stradă. Pe dreapta, pe stânga, nu numai cocioabe dar şi câteva case noi, cu etaj, cu ornamentaţii de stuc ("viaţa s-a îmbunătăţit", spunea odată cineva).Tineri, siluete simpatice în blugi, pleacă în oraş. Îmi închipui că sunt plini de speranţe, iubesc, fac planuri, ar vrea să-şi facă viaţa aiurea, poate chiar departe de aici. E multă lumină, azi. Ajungem la capătul străzii, de fapt a fundăturii. La urmă, zărim şi o gospodărie mizerabilă, neîmprejmuită, făcută din tablă şi carton (şovăim dacă e casă sau cort), aruncată de vânt, în câmp. Locuită de oameni ai unui neam mult îndrăgit de Pantazi.
Un om cu aerul bănuitor mă întreabă de ce fotografiez? – Sunt de la ziar. Asta-l linişteşte, deşi n-ar trebui.
Strada Arefu n-are canalizare. A plouat, maşina noastră, devenită amfibie, trece prin bălţi de o adâncime nedefinită.
Pe un zid cenuşiu, o inscripţie cu spray albastru: ISUS VINE.
Prin Dantelei, revin în Ghencea. Plimbarea s-a terminat. Din nou blocuri, oraşul...

O batjocură? Răzbunarea târzie împotriva snobului impenitent? – Nu sunt sigur. Nu pura întâmplare, ci un destin ar putea să fie la originea bizarei atribuiri. Da, Matei a locuit mult timp în locuri dosnice. Scrisorile către N.A. Boicescu poartă adrese de mahala: Crângaşi-Grant, unde tânărul snob, arivistul fără mijloace, făcea foame, "jecmănit" de moştenire de propriul lui tată; Atelierului 10, lângă gară. Ajunge în Popa Rusu într-un moment fast. Mai târziu, există acea relatare a lui Al. Bilciurescu despre locuinţa din Strada Francmasonă, unde proprietarul îi confiscă cheia fiindcă n-a plătit chiria. ("Boema, odioasa, imunda Boemă ucide şi adesea nu numai la figurat") ... în tot acest timp, face planuri, vrea să ajungă prefect, ministru plenipotenţiar ... visează decoraţii, cu atâta intensitate încât le şi primeşte ... dar, mai ales, caută o soţie vârstnică şi bogată... cu "paraferne", desigur. Şi o găseşte. Matei reuşeşte să aibă ce căutase atâta vreme, onorabilitatea, sub forma condiţiei moşiereşti. Acum are o adresă, demnă de el, în Bucureşti: Robert de Flers 9bis.
În niciun loc al mărturisirilor lui, între atâtea orgolii rănite, preschimbate în vanităţi, între atâtea proiecte nebuneşti, odioase pe alocuri, până la acela de-a jefui, (de-a ucide?) pe estetul-escroc, "fanfaron al viciului contra-naturii", Bogdan Piteşti, nu transpare, cred, decât odată ( în "Jurnal" la data de 3 noembrie 1928), singurul orgoliu care l-ar fi putut mântui – îl şi mântuieşte – în ochii noştri: talentul.
Am început să citesc "Craii" acum cincizeci şi cinci de ani. Bucureştii lor nu mai existau, de mult. Rămâneau, totuşi, repere. Mai puteam ghici locurile pe unde, printre ulucile din spate ale casei Arnotenilor, "undeva mai sus de Mihai-Vodă", se insinua naratorul, ignorând intrarea din stradă. Eram şi atunci conştient că mă confruntam cu o lume dispărută, din care rămăseseră abia câteva urme. Era cu ani buni după anii compunerii Crailor. Atunci când scrie, Mateiu vorbeşte despre un trecut înmormântat, un univers scufundat. Pantazi, Paşadia, aparţin unei lumi revolute: între momentul când se desfăşoară intriga şi cel în care e povestită, a avut loc "fin de l' Ancien Régime (în 1916, mai precis, aşa cum aminteşte în finalul Efemeridelor). Ameţitoare coborâre în trecut: aventurile crailor au sensul unei reveniri, unui nostos odiseean, de vreme ce adevăratul început al povestirii urcă la epoca trecerii prin oraş a trupelor ruseşti, în 1877, a unei Pena Corcoduşa trezind pasiunea "frumosului Serghe".
Plimbarea mea pe strada Matei Caragiale, dar mai întâi marşul de apropiere pe locurile unde nu se mai găseşte nimic din Bucureştii aceia, nici măcar pământul pe care a stat odată decorul, mi-a apărut ca o continuare a acelei mise- en- abîme care e Cartea Crailor: un trecut înfăşurat în alte trecuturi... O înşirare de regrete, de căutări. Azi, cititor peregrin, contribui la perpetuarea oglindirii în timp. Nu mai există Bucureştii copilăriei mele, nici cei de după primul război mondial; cu atât mai puţin oraşul patriarhal de mai 'nainte; târgul doamnelor de odinioară, al Penei, al Sultanei. Azi există Casa Poporului, creaţie "postmodernă"... Plimbarea mea în periferie, la dimensiuni pe care Mateiu n-o putea imagina (el, pentru care oraşul se întindea cel mult "din Duşumea în Vitan, din Geagoga în Obor"), adânceşte şi mai mult perspectiva ameţitoare a succedării evurilor.
Revăd înaintarea mea: buruienile din Curtea Parlamentului, mastodonţii din jur, toate clădite, nu pe ruine... pe un sol nou!... mormântul Ceauşeştilor... undeva, la marginea marginilor oraşului meu, o mahala a mahalalelor lui Mateiu; în marginea ei, o stradă, un nume: "Matei Caragiale, scriitor". Un trecut de multe ori ucis, îngropat. În siluetele adolescenţilor care se grăbesc spre bulevarde, cu speranţa de-a părăsi pe veci aceste locuri triste, întrevăd reînvierea dorinţei. De-a trăi.
Nu încetăm să murim.
Ion Vianu
P.S Am consultat ediţia "Mateiu I. Caragiale, Opere", alcătuită de Barbu Cioculescu

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Plimbare intr-o duminica de mai in Cismigiu

O plimbare in gradina, in dupa masa cea mai animata , o duminica de mai, zi frumoasa, nici cald , nici racoare, asa cum scrie la carte. O galerie de bucuresteni si de vizitatori din provincie, negustori ambulanti, tiganci la treaba si in vacanta, cu mic si mare la plimbare. O galerie de personaje, bucurestenii asa cum arata ei. Si fete inmarmurite de statui poate indiferente, poate putin dispretuitoare pentru muritori de rand care n-au apucat sa faca nimic pentru natiune. Dar care, fara sa-si dea seama , imita poza impresionanta a nemuritorilor din bronz si marmora. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, May 13, 2006

O fosila aproape de cheiul Dambovitei




Calea Victoriei pleaca de la sud, de pe malul Dambovitei. Desigur, ne putem referi la dumneaei si invers, pleaca de la nord, si ajunge la ga^rla. Depinde cum privesti, de la intrarea in oras dinspre aeroport, sau din buricul targului, aproape de Curtea Domneasca si mai nou, kilometrul 0, spre munti.
In orice caz, la poarta de sud a acestei nobile axe a orasului, Calea Victoriei, se gaseste pe mana dreapta un calcan pe care sta inca agatata o reclama ONT din apuse timpuri, timpuri in care pentru mine nu exista un pasaport cu care as fi putut trece legal frontiera Romaniei spre alte meleaguri. Nu puteam contempla atunci decat "turismul intern"..., "in excursie eu sa plec
din economii la CEC "

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

De Ziua Regelui, sunt oare monarhist?



De cate ori am fost intrebat daca sunt monarhist, am raspuns mai in gluma, mai in serios:Da!Sunt pentru o monarhie in care eu sunt monarhul! Lasand insa gluma la o parte, ma gandesc uneori, zarind cefele groase din cafenelele Bucurestiului ca n-ar strica Romaniei niscaiva aristocrati adevarati care sa le dea peste bot mitocanilor.
Cum Casa lui David, din care s-ar putea sa ma trag, n-are pretentii la tronul Romaniei, nu-mi ramane decat sa-l salut pe Mihai, Regele descoronat al Romaniei, in numele blogului Urban Friends Family. Sa ne dorim impreuna zile demne pentru Romania!

Ziua Victoriei asupra nazismului comemorata pe blog...


Sarbatoresc Ziua Victoriei asupra Germaniei naziste si fortelor axei cu recenzia cartilor lui Anthony Beevor despre batalia de la Stalingrad si despre caderea Berlinului



Stalingrad Berlin
Caderea-1945
Trad. Delia Razdolescu Trad. Diana Elena Puscasu
Daniela Truia
Editura RAO 2005 Editura RAO 2005




Istoria se face, despre istorie se scrie. In lumea de azi, flamanda dupa senzationalul care se vinde bine, se scrie istoria razboaielor in care se mai poarta inca batalii, in care se mai aude zarva luptelor. Nu mai este nevoie de perspectiva oferita de timp, de detasare. Nu s-a racit gura tevii pustii de vanatoare, o carte se publica detaliind traseele alicelor care cauta umbre de infractori. Senzationala, galbena. Se vinde.
Praslea al meu n-a auzit de Marele Razboi. N-a auzit nici macar de Razboiul al doilea. Nu stie de Stalin, n-a citit (inca) despre Hitler, mai aude cate-o vorba prin casa despre Ceausescu si-l confunda cu serviciul de ceai.
Pentru noi astia mai trecuti prin viata, care am apucat sa stam de vorba cu parintii, sa mai prindem in viata un bunic ba chiar un strabunic, care avem un neam disparut la Stalingrad, la Treblinka sau in puscariile comuniste, povestea celui de al Doilea Razboi Mondial, care a ucis, schilodit, ars si distrus si a schimbat lumea mai mult decat toate celelalte razboaie ale omenirii luate la un loc, nu numai ca isi pastreaza interesul major, dar devine cu trecerea timpului din ce in ce mai fascinanta.
Istoricul, asemenea vulturului care se inalta deasupra pamantului , cu trecerea anilor capata avantajul privirii de ansamblu si tot precum vulturul se napuseste asupra detaliului surprins la sol, pe care, acolo jos, nimeni nu-l stie.
Englezul Antony Beevor (nascut in 1946) militar de cariera, descendentul unei familii cu bogata traditie literara , este considerat astazi unul dintre cei mai insemnati istorici militari. “Stalingrad” ,opera publicata in 1998, este incoronata cu primul premiu Samuel Johnson, premiul de istorie Wolfson si premiul pentru literatura(!) Hawthornden(1999). Urmeaza publicarea in 2002 “Berlin, Caderea –1945”.
Prabusirea imperiului sovietic duce la neasteptata, surpinzatoarea si, dupa unii, temporara deschidere a arhivelor secrete, pastrate sub belciuge grele, departe de ochii lumii in beciurile rusesti. Acest eveniment impune reconsiderarea istoriei, si Beevor, combinand priceperea militarului de cariera cu talentul, imaginatia si curiozitatea scriitorului, se afla in pozitia ideala, la timpul potrivit, sa ne aduca in fata, proaspata, teribila, in fine demistificata si adevarata, povestea inclestarii pe viata si pe moarte, dintre Hitler si
Stalin, dintre milioanele de “Ivan” si de “Fritz”.
De la Berlin la Stalingrad si inapoi la Berlin, pe aceasta axa s-a jucat soarta razboiului. Pe aceasta axa s-a jucat si hotarat soarta lumii care avea sa fie dupa razboi caci Hitler care si-a trimis trupele sa “apere” Marele Reich de bolsevici, odata cu infrangerea, i-a adus in inima Europei unde aveau sa ramana pentru aproape jumatate de secol.

1.

In zorii zilei de 22 iunie 1941, trei milioane de soldati germani impreuna cu celelalte armate pro-axa,( romani,unguri, finlandezi ), in total peste patru milioane de combatanti au atacat Uniunea Sovietica, din Finlanda pana la Marea Neagra. Hitler, strategul de fotoliu, bantuit de umbra lui Napoleon, dirijeaza atacul din Barlogul Lupului (Wolfsschanze ) pe trei axe, spre Leningrad in nord, spre Kiev la sud si in fine spre inima imperiului bolsevic, Moscova. Diviziunea fortelor axei pe trei directii, neasteptata rezistenta a inamicului, intarzie atat inaintarea trupelor germane cat si decizia Fuhrer-ului de a ocupa Moscova, tarziu in septembrie, operatiunea Taifun este lansata, dar Generalul Iarna, in retragere din 1812, isi face aparitia si Moscova este salvata. Odata cu primavara, Hitler cu ochii spre campurile petrolifere din Caucaz relanseaza operatiunea Barbarossa, incearca sa inainteze rapid catre est, catre Volga si Don.
Orasul Stalingrad (Volgograd) se afla acolo unde cele doua fluvii isi dau buna ziua fara sa isi amestece apele. Stalingradul, orasul care pana atunci era doar un nume pe harta, devine tinta atacului german pe frontul de est in directia Caucaz, iar pentru Stalin devine locul pe unde nu se va trece niciodata. Ofensiva spre Stalingrad este intarziata de probleme logistice ale germanilor, incepe si ea tarziu spre toamna in asa fel incat, si aici ca la Moscova, Generalul Iarna preia comanda. Din august 1942 pana la sfarsitul lui ianuarie 1943 se desfasoara cea mai sangeroasa batalie din isorie, batalie in care aveau sa dispara peste un milion de oameni, soldati si civili, batalie in care intreaga armata a sasea germana (peste 300000 de soldati sub ordinele generalului de armata Friedrich Wilhem Paulus urma sa fie incercuita si nimicita). Pe 31 ianuarie generalul Paulus aflat in incercuire este ridicat la gradul de feldmareshal, caci nu exista un precedent in istoria Germaniei in care un feldmaresal se preda viu. Paulus intelege mesajul lui Hitler si declara generalului Pfeffer:”Nu intentionez sa ma sinucid pentru acest caporal din Boemia”. Semneaza capitularea , este luat in captivitate , eliberat in 1953 , isi sfarseste zilele in Germania de est, unde incearca sa se dezvinovateasca si sa isi apere locul in istorie. Cand nemtii isi numara mortii de la Stalingrad descopera ca peste 500 000 de soldati germani , romani si unguri pierisera pe campul de lupta.
Pentru romani, istoria bataliei de la Stalingrad prezinta un interes special. Aflam ca trupele romane sunt dispretuite de germani, prost echipate, fara armament, munitii si combustibil. Aruncati in lupta, sunt sacrificati fara mila Apare in paginile lui Beevor figura unui roman, generalul –locotenent Mihail Lascar, decorat cu Crucea Cavalerilor la Sevasopol si care, comandand “grupul Lascar” adunat din ramasitele Corpului 5 armata, rezista eroic. “Intoarcerea armelor” de dupa 23 august 1944, s-a facut cu atat mai mare usurinta cu cat soldatii si ofiterii romani au pastrat in memorie tratamentul la care au fost supusi de aliatii germani la Stalingrad.
La sfarsitul luptei, la 1 februarie 1943, un ofiter sovietic mana din spate prin ruinele orasului un grup de prizonieri germani. Le spune: “Asa va arata Berlinul, cand vom ajunge acolo”.
La Stalingrad, drumul spre Berlin a fost deschis. In fruntea trupelor se afla generalul de armata G.K. Jukov care nu se va mai opri decat cand va ajunge in barlogul “fiarei naziste”.

2. Armatele sovietice pornesc spre Berlin insetate de razbunare. Nu razbunare pentru infrangeri in lupta, ci pentru bestialitatea comportamentului , distrugerea si moartea semanate fara discernamant de catre trupele axei.
In noiembrie 1944 Armata Rosie se grupeaza pe granitele de est ale Reich-ului, iar Hiltler considera ca ghinionul Germaniei incepuse “o data cu avansarea armatelor rusesti pe frontul romanesc de pe Don”. El, “dadea vina pe nefericitii lui aliati, insuficient inarmati si uitati pe flancurile vulnerabile de-o parte si de alta a Stalingradului si nu pe refuzul sau obsesiv de a da atentie avertismentelor despre pericol”. Propaganda nazista dezumanizase pe comunisti, pe slavi si pe evrei, iata-I pe acestia la portile imperiului, gata de jaf, viol si distrugere, ceea ce avea sa urmeze nu era decat implinirea profetiilor Fuhrer-ului…
Cat despre Stalin cel viclean, desigur Berlinul reprezenta un simbol important la care nu era dispus sa renunte, dar mai cu seama dorea sa ajunga acolo inaintea aliatilor in asa fel incat sa puna mana pe documentele, echipamentele si uraniul care se aflau in institutele de cercetare atomica din Berlin. Stalin si Beria pregateau deja razboiul de dupa razboi.
La 13 ianuarie 1945 generalul Cerniahovski lanseaza ofensiva impotriva Prusiei Orientale. O zi mai tarziu, maresalul Rokossovski ataca spre nord si nord-vest cu scopul izolarii Prusiei de est. Armata Rosie, dezlantuita si pestrita, tanchisti, cazaci calare pe cai cu seile incarcate cu trofee de razboi, masini de toate marcile fie rechizitionate fie din doatare, carute trase de cai, camile, se napusteste la un jaf si viol greu de imaginat. Peste doua milioane de femei, de toate varstele urmeaza sa fie supuse violului, de cele mai multe ori viol in grup. Prusia de est este trecuta prin foc si sabie, ceasul razbunarii sunase.
La 30 ianuarie Hitler se adreseaza pentru ultima oara poporului german.
La 8 martie Jukov este chemat de Stalin la Moscova, si asaltul final asupra Berlinului este hotarat si pus la punct. Berlinul era un trofeu dorit si de britanici, Stalin trebuia sa-I pacaleasca, sa se bizuie pe naivitatea lui Eisenhower si sa o joace impotriva inteligentei lui Chrchill. De fapt americanii nu isi doreau decat sa-si termine razboiul cu cat mai putine victime si sa se intoarca cat mai curand acasa. Pentru ei Berlinul nu insemna mare lucru.
Armata Rosie era pregatita sa atace barlogul “fiarei naziste”.
2,5 milioane de oameni, 41600 de tunuri si mortiere, 6250 de tancuri si tunuri autopropulsate si 7500 de avioane se gaseau la portile Berlinului.
La 30 aprilie in zori, Reichstag-ul este luat cu asalt. Se dorea ca pe 1 mai, la parada oficiala din Moscova, steagul rosu sa fluture peste Reichstag.
In buncar, Hitler se pregateste de moarte, isi incearca una din capsulele de cianura pe adorata lui , Blondi, femela de ciobanesc german, si pe cei patru pui ai ei. Cianura are efectul dorit, atat pentru catea si puii ei cat si pentru cei sase copiii a lui Goebbels care urmau sa fie sacrificati putin mai tarziu de propria lor mama.
La 1 mai 1945 Marele Reich, o data cu sinuciderea lui Hitler si a anturajului lui imediat, incetase sa mai existe.

3. Atat “Stalingrad” si “Berlin” se citesc cu rasuflarea taiata. Daca atunci cand l-am citit pe “Stalin” a lui Edvard Radzinsky (editura Aquila’93, 2003) il simteam pe diavol impreuna cu mine in biblioteca, la lectura celor doua opere, atat Sarsaila cat si Aghiutza sunt prezenti. Cei doi, Hitler si Stalin, personajele cele mai sinistre produse de istorie inclestati intr-o lupta gigantica care a lasat in urma ei o distrugere pe care mintea omeneasca nu o poate cuprinde. Despre cruzimea nazista mai aflasem , insa
Beevor spulbera intr-atat mitul omului sovietic si bravului soldat rus, incat ambasadorul Rusiei in Marea Britanie protesteaza oficial si denunta “Berlin-Caderea 1945”drept o “colectie de minciuni si insulte impotriva poporului care a salvat omenirea de nazism” iar O.A. Rzhevsky, presedintele asociatiei de istorie a Marelui Razboi pentru Apararea Patriei, considera ca Antony Beevor reinvie opiniile rasiste si discreditate ale istoricilor neo-nazisti care descriu trupele sovietice drept hoarde asiatice sub-umane”…
Beevor spulbera si mitul contributiei americane pentru victoria finala asupra celui de-al treilea Reich, considera semnificativ ajutorul American oferit atat prin echipament penru Armata Rosie cat mai ales bombardamentele intensive asupra Germaniei care au avut drept consecinta retragerea de pe frontul rusesc a 80% din escadrilele aviatiei germane. Autorul considera ca vestul nu a inteles pentru foarte multi ani suferinta uriasa prin care a trecut armata si poporului rus.
Intr-un interviu acordat in 2005 dl.-ui Tony Jones de la televiziunea australiana, Antony Beevor considera ca lectia care trebuie invatata din aceasta uriasa confalgratie mondiala este pericolul reprezentat de dezumanizarea dusmanului prin propaganda. Aceasta dezumanizare reciproca create respectiv de propagandele naziste si bolsevice care au dus la cel mai ingrozior razboi din istorie. Si, putin surprinzator, Beevor citeaza din actualitate, dezumanizarea infidelilor (civilizatia iudeo-crestina) de care fundamentalistii musulmani.
Si invers, as zice.

















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Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Cu Ana Blandiana la Ierusalim





Ana Blandiana , invitata de Institutul Cultural Roman, de pe langa Ambasada Romaniei din Israel, a fost prezenta zece zile in Tara Sfanta.
Lucian D. Cismigiu s-a intalnit cu poeta la Ierusalim, mai intai la cinemateca orasului si apoi la pub-ul lui preferat- “Barood”-, a impartit cu dumneai si cu dna Madeea , directoarea Institutului , preparate culinare specifice rasaritului si au stat de vorba:


Lucian Damboviteanu Cismigiu:
Paradoxala coincidenta, un amic din Bucuresti (Radu Ilarion-Munteanu) mi-a oferit posibilitatea sa va intalnesc intr-o seara organizata de “Carturesti” in Centrul Anador din Bucuresti si unde urma sa fiu, alaturi de “Carturesti” un fel de gazda, la un eveniment legat de “Memorialul de la Sighet”- Memorialul victimelor comunismului si rezistentei-. Urma sa plec la Ierusalim, amicul m-a informat(cu intarziere) ca si evenimentul se amana, nu sunteti in tara. Sosesc ieri la Ierusalim si gasesc invitatia la intalnirea de astazi(16.3.06), organizata de Institutul Cultural Roman, in biblioteca cinematecii din Ierusalim…

Memorialul de la Sighet , dupa cate am inteles, materializeaza conceptul memoriei ca forma de justitie. Ierusalimul, oras multimilenar, este un simbol al memoriei, bineinteles prima mea intrebare se refera la impactul pe care acest loc numit Ierusalim l-a facut asupra dvs…..


Ana Blandiana:
Ce-as putea sa va spun, care sa nu mai fi fost spus, din seria superlativelor,devenite banale prin repetare,prin care oamenii incearca sa defineasca de mai multe mii de ani acest loc unic al spiritualitatii oamenesti?Ierusalimul este pamantul sfant al celor trei mari religii monoteiste si inrudite ale lumii,punctul de pornire al marilor ordine cavaleresti care au tulburat,modelat si stapanit secole la rand istoria Europei,locul disputat din vremuri imemoriale de toate imperiile,maturat de toate razboaiele si reconstruit mereu ca insasi speranta.Felul in care, pe cativa kilometri patrati, stau alaturi Zidul Plangerii,Catedrala Sfantului Mormant si Moschea El Aksa spune totul despre ceea ce ne inrudeste inainte de a ne desparti.Faptul ca Ierusalimul exista asa cum exista,locuit de toate semintiile si religiile, dovedeste cum nu se poate mai convingator ca toleranta este singura solutie de supravietuire,ca ,daca vrem sa continuam sa locuim pamantul,suntem cu totii condamnati la toleranta.Mai mult decat o cetate straveche,Ierusalimul este simbolul acestui stravechi adevar.
Daca n-ati fi arhitect,as putea sa va vorbesc mult despre admiratia pentru orasul modern,cu piatra lui galbena,mata,reusind sa scoata blocurile din anonimat si sa imblanzeasca indrazneala liniilor prea noi.



()L.D.C.:
Ati fost intrebata daca scriitorul/poetul se poate implica in “imediat” , in polititc. fost citat dialogul (inedit pentru mine) dintre Ion Rebreanu si M.Sebastian, pe aceeasi tema, “Rascoala” a fost scrisa la patruzeci de ani dupa, Rebreanu vorbeste despre nevoia distantei, neimplicarii….
(raspunsul dvs. s-a referit la rolul scriitorilor/poetilor/artistilor din anii si mai ales anii 80 –“ultimul deceniu” in supravietuirii societatii romanesti, “respiratie prin cultura”, rolul artistilor ca “repere ale opiniei publice”

A.B.:
Liviu Rebreanu pledeaza in raspunsul dat lui Mihail Sebastian pentru neimplicarea politica a scriitorului,in sensul neaderarii sale la anumite forte politice,care intotdeauna reprezinta o viziune partiala asupra realitatii(partid vine de la parte).Scriitorul trebuie sa aiba distanta fata de faptele despre care scrie si fata de fortele pe care le infatiseaza ciocnindu-se.Este de altfel ceea ce a facut in “Rascoala”.Nu ma indoiesc ca are dreptate.Dupa cum nu ma indoieasc ca marile romane despre comunism vor apare in urmatoarele decenii.In ceea ce priveste implicarea,am facut intotdeauna diferenta intre implicarea politica si implicarea civica.In epocile dramatice,de criza,scriitorul devine cu sau fara voia sa O VOCE prin care se simt exprimati si cei ce il asculta.O voce a carei tacere devine complicitate.



L.D.C.:
Ati vorbit despre “cel mai greu an”, anul 90 cu as putea spune, nostalgia anilor 80,
ani maniheisti, ani in care lumea era impartita intre Ceausescu si ceilalti-victime-.
Si descoperirea surpinzatoare, dureroasa, halucinanta, ca cei care taceau, “taceau lucruri diferite…

A.B.:
Intr-adevar,mai mult decat in timpul dictaturii,cand – cu exceptia familiei Ceausescu – pareaca toti suntem victime;mai mult decat in timpul revolutiei, cand descoperirea libertatii era prea orbitoare pentru a mai putea deslusi manipularea din spatele ei;anul 1990 a fost anul despartirii apelor de uscat,al nasterii societatii civile intr-o tara in care alfabetul democratiei fusese uitat pentru ca fusesera pur si simplu exterminati cei care se incapatanasera sa si-l aminteasca.A fost anul unor tensiuni aproape insuportabile si al unor eforturi eroice de a nu lasa vechile structuri si noii lor conducatori sa impinga lucrurile pe vechiul fagas.


L.D.C.:
Ati afirmat ca “viata publica(in Romania- si nu numai, as adauga eu) este o apa
din ce in ce mai murdara”, cu concluzia care se impune, in aceasta viata “nu am ce sa caut”. Mi-au venit in minte versurile lui Maiakovski:
“ Tovarasi,
dati-ne o noua forma de arta---
o arta
care va scoate republica din noroi”
(Ordinul nr.2 catre Armata Artelor)….

A.B.:
Republica despre care vorbea Maiakovski nu trebuia scoasa din noroi,ci din sange.


(5.) L.D.C.:
Daca citatul din Maiakovski ilustreaza (dupa parerea mea) rolul pe care artistul/
poetul il poate juca atunci cand Republica este in pericol, atunci nu exista ilustrare
mai percutanta a fortei si “pericolului” pentru sistem
reprezentat de artist/poet decat “Parabola Palatului” a
lui Borges.

A.B.:

Am organizat in 1995 ca presedinta a PEN Clubului Roman o conferinta internationala pe tema “Scriitorul si puterea”,pe parcursul careia s-a glosat fascinant, borgesian,despre ciudata legatura si concurenta dintre scriitor si putere,despre spaima de puterea cuvantului pe care o are orice putere si despre mijloacele prin care incearca sa-l anihileze – prin cumparare sau prin distrugere - pe scriitor.


L.D.C.:
Doriti sa sublimati sau sa “convertiti prestigiul intr-o opera de durata, fara caracter politic”. Memorialul, spuneti, nu este o opera politica, ci este o opera facuta pentru viitor. Caci in Romania lui Ceausescu comunismul a invins, memoria a fost distrusa prin spalarea creerului, “omul nou” a fost zamislit, si acest lucru a fost simtit dupa 89.
Cum s-a comportat dupa “revolutie” “omul nou”? (eu as imparti “omul nou” in doua categorii, cei(multi) care s-au blocat –volens, nolens- in mizerie, si cei (putini) care s-au descurcat de minune in perioada “de tranzitie” a capitalismului primitiv…)


A.B.:
”Omul nou”- despre care inainte de 89 nu eram siguri ca reusise sa fie produs - s-a dovedit dupa 89 ca este cea mai mare realizare a comunismului.El este cel care la alegerile din ’90 a votat in proportie de peste 80% cu fostii comunisti care nu se mai numeau comunisti,cel care ii aclama pe mineri in timp ce reprimau Piata Universitatii,cel care spunea mai tarziu”tot era mai bine pe vremea lui Ceausescu”.Cat il priveste pe "omul nou" din a doua categorie,il puteti vedea multumit de prezent si de sinepe fotoliileParlamentului,in banci si holdinguri,mai convins de capitalism decat fusese de comunism.
In ceea ce priveste Memorialul de la Sighet,el nu este o pledoarie impotriva sau pentru o anumita coloratura politica,ci pentru nevoia de adevar si de respect a fiintei umane,care trebuie sa apartina tuturor.Nici o ideologie din lume nu poate justifica o crima,iar intr-o crima politica nu-i vorba de raportul dintre dreapta si stanga, ci de acela dintre victima si calau.Sighetul este simbolul importantei si necesitatii societatii civile si a statului de drept,in absenta carora popoarele devin populatii,iar istoria povestea incredibila a malformarii sufletului colectiv.In acest sens,Memorialul de la Sighet, ca instrument de resuscitare a memoriei colective, este operatia inversa crearii “omului nou” si este un drum spre viitor.


L.D.C.:
.“Memorialul de la Sighet” este dedicat viitorului, il comparati cu “Yad Va Shem”- memorialul holocaustului din Ierusalim, si el destinat pastrarii memoriei pentru generatiile viitoare.( Evreii au un talent special la memorie. Vechiul Testament include marile evenimente ale acestui batran popor, sarbatoririle din fiecare an amintesc fuga din Egipt (pastele), victoriile asupra grecilor (Hanuka) , si asa mai departe.) Ce impresie v-a facut Yad Vashem-ul?

A.B.:
M-a impresionat profund. Atat prin enorma munca de cercetare,care continua neobosita("Rotonda numelor",cu vartejul fotografiilor si dosarele inca anonime ale mortilor care isi asteapta restul biografiei,necunoscut),cat si prin forma artistica.Este vorba de o mare opera de arta si de stiinta in acelasi timp pe care voiam de mult sa o vad si care – desi auzisem si citisem despre ea si-i cunosteam in mare masura continutul – mi-a dat sentimental unei mari descoperiri.Evreii au intr-adevar un cult , o traditie si o neoboseala a memoriei de la care cred ca ar trebui sa invete toate
popoarele.Leon Volovici, care m-a condus prin muzeu, imi povestea despre un ucrainean care a izbunit in plans in "Rotonda numelor" gandindu-se la milioanele de ucraineni ucisi carora nimeni nu s-a gandit sa le pastraze numele.In ceea ce priveste comparatia cu Memorialul de la Sighet,material,nu poate fi vorba de vreo comparatie:Yad Vashem este o instutie a statului Israel ,in timp ce Memorialul de la Sighet a fost realizat aproape prin absurd,de o organizatie neguvernamentala avand impotriva ani de zile ,la inceput, institutiile statului.Teoretic insa,definitia celor doua memoriale dedicate urii de rasa si ,respectiv,urii de clasa, merge in paralel si sunt nascute din aceeasi nevoie de a intelege cum a fost posibil pentru ca sa nu mai poata fi posibil niciodata din nou.



L.D.C.:
Rezistenta din munti” pare aici un subiect delicat. Localnicii sunt sensibili, pe buna dreptate, la tot ce este legat de miscarea legionara. Ori este stiut ca multi legionari se gaseau printre rezistenti. Apare problema definirii statutului de victima. Care este definitia limpede si clara a acestui statut?

A.B.:
Rezistenta armata este un fenomen care, asa cum a existat in Romania, a existat si in Tarile Baltice si in Polonia .In Romania se pare ca a durat mai mult,ultimele nuclee au fost lichidate in ’62.Nu stiu cine au fost luptatorii in celelalte tari,dar in Romania au fost tarani care se impotriveau colectivizarii,ofiteri deblocati,elevi,studenti.Majoritatea au fost tarani fara apartenenta politica ,darsi taranisti sau chiar...Frontul Plugarilor. Printre elevi si studenti au fost si legionari sau membri ai Fratiilor de cruce.Acest fenomen trebuie studiat(istoricul iesean Dorin Dobrincu este unul dintre principalii specialisti in domeniu) , asa cum a fost,asa cum este studiata colectivizarea,Canalul,sovietizarea institutiilor,nationalizarea industriei,valurile de arestari,persecutiile religioase,persecutiile etnice,etc. Totul trebuie spus in intregime.Atunci cand vorbim despre nationalizari,nu discutam despre ideile politice ale celor carora li s-a luat tot ce aveau si au fost scosi din propriile case si adesea bagati in inchisori.Ceea ce discutam este fenomenul incalcarii dreptului la proprietate si la libertate.

L.D.C.:
Ati pomenit numele lui Traian Pop, taranul rezistent din Maramures care a salvat din Holocaust tarani evrei din satul lui. Un simbol sau o exceptie?

A.B.:
Un simbol.Simbolul acelor oameni intregi capabili sa se impotriveasca indiferent de riscuri oricaror nedreptati,indiferent ca erau facute de nazistii unguri impotriva evreilor sau de comunistii romani impotriva romanilor.Padurarulul maramuresan Nicolae Pop,luptator in Muntii Tiblesului impreuna cu fiul si cu fiica lui,Aristina, au fost numiti drepti ai popoarelor.Ca nu au fost exceptii o dovedeste si un impresionant text - semnat in “Vointa Transilvaniei”( 1945) de Armin Gutman,seful Comunitatilor Evreesti din Sighet – despre solidaritatea taranilor din Maramures cu evreii persecutati.Este de altfel vorba de o solidaritate fireasca nu doar din motive umane,ci si pentru ca prin Diktatul de la Viena maramuresenii erau ei insisi persecutati si fara drepturi in propria lor tara.(A se vedea masacrele de laIp si Traznea, Sarmas si Moisei ).

L.D.B.:
Am amintit scrierea extraordinara pentru mine a lui Ion Ioanid. Am avut norocul sa-l intalnesc la Muenchen si sa ne imprietenim. Cum considerati opera lui, “memorialul” lui? Caci este un memorial…

A.B.:
Este un memorial si in acelasi timp o importanta opera literara,atat de importanta incat obliga la revederea ierarhiilor din proza romaneasca de dupa razboi.

L.D.C.:
V-am auzit pentru prima oara recitand din poeziile dvs.
Marturisesc ca am fost vrajit. Recitati si din poeziile altora?….Caci cine are talent(mare talent!) are talent la multe…

A.B.:
Imi place sa-mi spun poeziile si ma emotioneaza faptul ca la recitalurile din strainatate adesea aplauzele izbucnesc inainte de a se auzi traducerea(s-a intamplat si in cadrul spectacolului “Vocea cuvantului” din Ierusalim),ca si cum as fi reusit prin voce sa transmit poezia dincolo de sensul ei.

L.D.C.:
Va multumesc Doamna pentru atentia si timpul pe care mi l-ati acordat.