tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56082122024-03-07T02:47:31.013-05:00Zackary Sholem BergerYiddish, poetry, science, medicine, vegetarian Indian food, and the Ineffable. In no particular order.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.comBlogger827125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-54227661552645593252011-05-16T10:54:00.000-04:002011-05-16T10:54:07.433-04:00This blog has moved!All new posts will now be found at<br />
<br />
<a href="http://zackarysholemberger.com/">zackarysholemberger.com</a><br />
<br />
I look forward to seeing you there!שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-63691266432592191692011-05-08T06:11:00.000-04:002011-05-08T06:11:14.002-04:00And speaking of Arizona and health care...It's 3 am, I'm writing in the lobby of the Sheraton (grant applications FTW!), and I've struck up a conversation with the guy mopping the floors, who was born in Chihuhua, Mexico, and has two kids. He himself is not a citizen and has no insurance, but on hearing I'm a doctor he says his back hurts. So here I am Googling "free clinic phoenix" and feeling frustrated. Where's Phoenix's Bellevue? I gave him the phone number of Arizona's Medicaid, which I doubt he'd be eligible for - but maybe they can direct him somewhere.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-75116234502380664932011-05-08T05:37:00.001-04:002011-05-08T05:37:31.569-04:00Advocating for advocacyI'm coming down off the high afforded by the Society for General Internal Medicine's 2011 annual meeting - collaborative and inspiring. I was surprised by my own reactions to two plenary addresses. <br />
<br />
One was by Holly Atkinson, former head of Physicians for Human Rights, on the topic of advocacy and professionalism: "Should Medical Professionalism Include Advocacy?" <br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, given Dr. Atkinson's history, her answer was Yes. The most interesting moment of her talk came with a question from the audience. The gist of the question was that requiring advocacy for professionalism implies that those of us who don't participate in advocacy aren't good doctors. In response, Atkinson proferred a definition of advocacy that was disappointingly weak. Everything is advocacy - an individual doctor who goes to bat for their patient is an advocate too! But if that's advocacy, the word loses useful meaning. I wanted Atkinson to bite the bullet and say - that's true! Doctors that don't advocate are lesser professionals. I wouldn't have agreed with her (I think every doctor has their own interests and talents, and politics - which is what Atkinson really meant - needn't always be among them), but I would have had more respect for her advocacy of "advocacy."<br />
<br />
The second plenary was by Michael Marmot - Sir Michael Marmot to you. He was deliberately provocative, acid-tongued, and wholly self-possessed: an example of what an entertaining medical speaker should be. Again, though, I was not wholly satisfied. Marmot's research is unimpeachable - he is the giant whose Whitehall studies established the importance of the social gradient to health. His findings lead to some striking observations: the life expectancy in some neighborhoods of Glasgow is lower than in some poor countries, even though Scotland provides basic services that are often lacking in, say, Africa (drinking water, basic food and shelter, etc.). That's because the poor of Glasgow are sicker and dying sooner than the rich. <br />
<br />
Marmot too is an advocate. But, like Atkinson's, his passionate call didn't echo with me - not because I'm cynical, but because (looking at the two speakers' biographies) they themselves, at the beginning of their careers (where I am now, more or less - not that I'm going to be an Atkinson or a Marmot) did not work as advocates. Marmot did research. Atkinson trained in global health and health juournalism, founding and editing what eventually became Journal Watch. <br />
<br />
I agree wih their call to justice in health, but I think advocacy comes with knowledge. Rather than marching out to demosntrate, I need to gather facts first - in my own way. Then with time, perhaps, I will be able to advocate from my own heart what I have established in my own little corner of research.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-76690910321181520272011-05-08T01:13:00.000-04:002011-05-08T01:13:18.833-04:00Pass the book!I'm very excited at the goodreads reception my new book is getting! And at how many people are lining up for a free copy.<br />
<br />
I'd like to get more people the chance to see the book, of course. So I will release 5 more copies from their gilded cage to anyone who's willing to pass the book (<a href="http://pass-the-book.blogspot.com/">http://pass-the-book.blogspot.com</a>/).<br />
<br />
If you've clicked on the link, understand the system, and would like to participate, send me an email (zackarysholemberger at gmail) or contact me through my web page.<br />
<br />
Also, I am available to speak about matters Jewish, medical, Yiddishy, or poetical. Contact me if you're interested.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-62757507567432311602011-05-01T07:00:00.022-04:002011-05-01T07:00:01.942-04:00The Book is Out!: Not in the Same Breath: A Yiddish & English Book of Poetry<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span></span><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK3" style="text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;" valign="center"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b>Become a Snake or a Lover</b></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="text-align: left;" valign="top"><strong>"[This] beautiful, sophisticated, deep and playful book just might turn you into a snake or a lover: The power is there. The sorrow and wry humor of Yiddish, leavened with Torah learning, resonate limitlessly, explosively. You're sure to fall for <i>Not in the Same Breath</i>." </strong><br />
<br />
<div>That's what Elinor Nauen had to say about Zackary Sholem Berger's new book of English and Yiddish poetry from Yiddish House LLC. Whether you like English, Yiddish, or fascinating illustrations, you won't want to miss this book. See below or click <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=6gxpj8dab&et=1105324178017&s=0&e=001rtEmqcstvkHpyaKtvjiEhAo7oSwLr6AFtXuaSTW3PzNhjhwOLH2xK6rkfA6O9yBbYXm0PGKTWHRQH9dFPkSRf12XTz8yPaZR0DBCk2AH199Dyo4JmwaEzQ==" linktype="link" shape="rect" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" track="on">here</a> for more details. </div><br />
<div><strong>"I read this book with great eagerness, much enjoyment and a real sense of satisfaction. ... May your readers multiply!" -- Dov-Ber Kerler, poet and chair in Yiddish Studies at Indiana University</strong></div><br />
<div>Stay tuned for information about our launch party, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, July 17th, in Baltimore - featuring live music, poetry readings, special guests, books for sale, and video streaming to an on-line audience of millions!</div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<table bgcolor="#302f11" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK8" style="background-color: #302f11; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="text-align: left;" valign="top" width="100%"><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/NITSBLulu"><img alt="Support independent publishing: Buy this book on Lulu." src="http://static.lulu.com/images/services/buy_now_buttons/us/orange.gif?20110426122507" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><div align="left" style="text-align: left;"><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center"><div align="left"><div><b><br />
</b><br />
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bit.ly/NITSBAmazon"><img border="0" src="https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/amazon_buy1.gif" vspace="0" /></a></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-left;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ebed99; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px;"><b>About the Book</b></span></div><div align="center" style="color: #ebed99; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding-bottom: 5px; text-align: center;"><b>and how to buy it</b></div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Not in the Same Breath is the first original book by the poet and translator Zackary Sholem Berger. The Yiddish and English chapbook, with surprising illustrations and graphic design by Jeremy Kargon, isn't a customary bilingual edition of facing-page translations, but a collection of independent poems in the two languages. Whether you know English, Yiddish, or a little bit of both, there is much here to reward your perusal. Springing nimbly over centuries, the work connects English and Yiddish in unexpected and world-broadening ways.</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The book features "rabbinic approval" (in almost-but-not-quite a parody of the style) by the well-known dissident Chassidic blogger Katle Kanye.</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">After you buy the book (click the buttons above), <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=6gxpj8dab&et=1105324178017&s=0&e=001rtEmqcstvkHpyaKtvjiEhAo7oSwLr6AFtXuaSTW3PzNhjhwOLH2xK6rkfA6O9yBb5J95biT1wwKe65SX6XDhHnzAfWLFx63kzh7eXTQ1qkkZ-0oomANu9m2g81RDshoqnKaGxzuV33GWAwx0Odp7mp5j9Uj7s8-R" linktype="link" shape="rect" style="color: #ff9900; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" track="on">discuss it on Goodreads</a> and join the discussion on Facebook.</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Retailers!</strong> Contact the <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=6gxpj8dab&et=1105324178017&s=0&e=001rtEmqcstvkHpyaKtvjiEhAo7oSwLr6AFtXuaSTW3PzNhjhwOLH2xK6rkfA6O9yBb5J95biT1wwLJC6UiwxtFu9MMVt_ym6CbXkBq5Cc8gRE=" linktype="link" shape="rect" style="color: #ff9933; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" track="on">publisher</a> or order the book through Baker & Taylor (ISBN 0972693947).</div><div style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Not-in-the-Same-Breath-%D7%96%D7%90%D6%B8%D7%92-%D7%9B%D7%90%D6%B8%D7%98%D7%A9-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%91%D6%BF%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9C/173018759416044"><img alt="Find us on Facebook" border="0" src="https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/ui/images1/btn_fbk_160.png" title="Find us on Facebook" /></a></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-36824201235816757982011-04-27T09:02:00.001-04:002011-04-27T09:05:26.329-04:00&cThoughts and experiences from Passover peregrinations:<br />
<br />
1. There needs to be a slow klezmer version of the Doctor Who theme song.<br />
<br />
2. Whenever I tell people I am researching doctor-patient communication, the listener always says, "Oh, yeah, that's a big problem" - which is intenresting in itself, that answer. What are people's experiences, and how does this affect their impression of doctors in general? I'm sure that's been looked into, but there's certainly some rich opinion-making going on there.<br />
<br />
3. I still can't get Goethe.<br />
<br />
4. Today is the anniversary of Hart Crane's death. His last words were not "Goodbye, everyone." He did not speak before jumping.<br />
<br />
<img height="200" src="http://www.crystalarts.co.il/image/users/54539/ftp/my_files/gutman/ma_nishtana.jpg" width="158" /><br />
<br />
5. I need the haggadah done by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudu_Geva">this</a> Israeli comics artist.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-37304539407038888492011-04-11T11:21:00.000-04:002011-04-11T11:21:14.506-04:00I Am ForbiddenIn this morning's Publishers Lunch, the following "new deal" is included as a tidbit:<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">[...] Anouk Markovits's I AM FORBIDDEN, an English-language debut which takes the reader inside the world of the Satmar, the most insular and fundamentalist of Hasidic sects.</span></span></blockquote>Assiduous (just now!) Googling reveals that Markovits is a novelist. No other information is available as we <s>go to press</s> quickly hit the Publish button.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-50057131884524718302011-04-08T11:04:00.002-04:002011-04-08T11:07:45.984-04:00A poem published in the first issue of Happiness Pony<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Pomme</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></span>Tell you what<br />
I’ll divulge:<br />
off the edge of this paper<br />
there’s a huge<br />
orchard. Apples.<br />
If you don’t eat <br />
them, they’ll<br />
still grow.<br />
If you do,<br />
your belly’s full.<br />
All the same<br />
something’s<br />
sustained.<br />
<br />
<i>Yiddish companion poem <a href="http://bit.ly/h59mq4">here</a>.</i></div>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-26950959768014860172011-04-07T15:13:00.001-04:002011-04-07T15:13:27.781-04:00Shaken upI was at my local mincha minyan (afternoon prayer group) today. Someone said, "Did you hear there was another earthquake in Japan today?" Said one of the rabbis, "Well, until they let those boys out..."<br />
<br />
"Those boys," of course, being some <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/japan-sentences-hasidic-israeli-to-8-years-in-jail-after-ecstasy-bust-1.275259">mules in black coats</a> who are currently in jail in Japan. (Other rabbis have <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050133,00.html">spoken in public</a> as obscenely as our local one did.)<br />
<br />
Then another coreligionist of mine said, "Well, the Ran says that evil will be done in the place of those that did it."<br />
<br />
"For that, thousands of Japanese had to die?" I said.<br />
<br />
I don't understand how people can say these things.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-12960599680610374712011-04-04T17:21:00.000-04:002011-04-04T17:21:15.082-04:00Eau du Dove<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">My work is going all to pieces: pieces of Sutzkever's "Ode to the Dove," that is. Part 1 appeared in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/yiddish/three-yiddish-poets-avrom-sutzkever-boris-karloff-yonia-fain">InTranslation</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, and part 2 in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/from-ode-to-the-dove/">Words Without Borders</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. Part 3 is now out in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://bit.ly/gfT3F1">qarrtsiluni</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">.</span>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-33774403727658818072011-03-29T20:37:00.000-04:002011-03-29T20:37:13.360-04:00Dr. Social Media, MD: suggestions for practice integrationIf social media were integrated into my practice: a wish list.<br />
<br />
1. Patients could willingly sign away bits of their confidentiality so they could participate in a conversation with other folks suffering from the same problem. "What did Dr. Berger not tell you about diabetes," they could ask each other, and I - listening in - could improve. (Or get sued, too. Malpractice reform is another discussion.)<br />
<br />
2. There are so many issues many of my patients face together, here in Baltimore: poverty, single parenthood, substance abuse, tobacco use, food deserts, obesity, etc. Couldn't we share information and experiences, without the sterility of anonymity?<br />
<br />
3. The Perils of Procedures: talk about your history, what tests you underwent that Dr. Berger recommended (or advised against!), and share what happened.<br />
<br />
4. Patients could recommend specialists they have seen, medications they have taken...<br />
<br />
5. In short, it's like wrongdiagnosis.com or the innumerable disease-discussion boards, but connected to a particular doctor and his/her environment.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-52820122290345284262011-03-18T14:01:00.001-04:002011-03-18T14:02:02.008-04:00A quiet masterpiece set in 1920s BaltimoreIt's a book about a steel worker in 1920s Baltimore. In less sure hands it might not have worked out so well. What about this self-published paperback made me, an inconstant and flightly reader, read all the way to the end? I'll let <a href="http://charmcitycurrent.com/baltimorebooks/2011/03/14/venable-park-by-tom-flynn/">Celeste</a> take it from here.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-31992780183422158092011-03-17T09:43:00.000-04:002011-03-17T09:43:34.647-04:00A poem with the word "fibrillate"I always thought my medical vocabulary would come in handy somehow...<br />
<br />
A poem of mine won a contest in the Forward to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. You can read it <a href="http://forward.com/articles/136231/">here</a>.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-76602017122165143542011-03-16T21:39:00.001-04:002011-03-16T22:34:13.453-04:00Is Medicine Permitted?In the 14 Adar issue of Simcha Lerner's <i>Machshovos Zoros</i> ("Outside-the-Box Thinking") there is a very interesting <a href="http://torahmusings.com/2011/03/toward-a-halakhic-philosophy-of-history">essay</a> which I have excerpted below.<br />
<br />
<i>Toward a Halakhic Theory of Medicine</i><br />
<br />
The study of medicine is an important and often enjoyable way to learn about humanity and illnesses but it is also morally dubious. Most people enjoy discovering important details about the workings of the human body, complex diseases from different times and places that inform their health and life expectancies. But because learning about the body involves discovering and repeating uncomfortable facts about bodily functions and human desires, we must ask whether Judaism permits it. Are we allowed to publicly discuss unclean biological and physiological acts merely because someone is sick? For example, Rabbi Shtraussfogel, in his work "Fees for Divine Service," points out that if we discuss sexually transmitted infections, we might come to permit mixed dancing. Also, medicine might teach us that homosexuality is not an illness to be cured and genital herpes is a communicable disease. According to Rabbi Shtraussfogel, medicine serves to inspire. "We do not need tales of death, we need stories of miraculous cures." Rabbi Shtraussfogel's son-in-law, Rabbi Zamdkopf, used to say, "If God wanted there to be Jewish doctors, He wouldn't have made people sick on Shabbos." Indeed, Rabbi Shtraussfogel used to make sure that he would fall ill only in a town that was at least 51% non-Jewish or non-observant.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-5133223087137372832011-03-11T09:01:00.002-05:002011-03-11T10:25:15.986-05:00Robust God-Talk and Wimpy Moral ScruplesIn his <a href="http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2011/3/10/main-feature/1/identity">essay on Jewish identity</a> in Jewish Ideas Daily, Yehuda Mirsky makes the following comment:<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the language of "Jewish identity" is at best a pale substitute for the robust God-talk whose place it tries to fill</span></span></blockquote>To be fair, he does conclude that the yearning for Jewish identity is better than nothing. (He doesn't go out of his way to ground his assertions in anything more than anecdote, but I won't go into that here.) What does "robust God-talk" mean, though? This is reminiscent of similar terms, like "maximalist," "heteronomous," and "rigorous," which are thrown around by some to show how Strong and Committed they are. Religious Jews are Robust, while Jews that care about Jewish identity (as if that issue has not preoccupied Jews for thousands of years!) are decaffeinated.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, a lot of Robust God-Talk is indefensible. "The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews," said Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. This talk is certainly robust, and delivered by someone held by many to be one of God's foremost authorities. Other God-talk, similarly robust, called for Jews not to rent their apartments to Arabs.<br />
<br />
I am sure Mirsky finds such robust God-talk repugnant. The question is, then, what robustness means, and why it is better than serious grappling with the difficult matter of Jewish identity. Mirsky contrasts the wimpy omphalocentrism of Jewish identity with "real, durable responsibilities." Which responsibilities, exactly, and what makes them more "real" then our commitments to our own ideals and the communities we inhabit by our choice?<br />
<br />
Undefined, rhetoric like this serves only to validate a particular type of Jewish identity to the exclusion of others. Certainly we can do better.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-71979343098522706692011-02-23T16:17:00.002-05:002011-02-23T21:34:34.557-05:00Call me on your cell, sugarYou've probably heard about <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/cellphone-use-tied-to-changes-in-brain-activity/?src=me&ref=general">glucose metabolism and cell phones</a>. This sentence in the <a href="http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/8/808.abstract">abstract</a> got my attention:<br />
<blockquote>[M]etabolism in the region closest to the antenna (orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole) was significantly higher for on than off conditions (35.7 vs 33.3 μmol/100 g per minute; mean difference, 2.4 [95% confidence interval, 0.67-4.2]; <em>P</em> = .004). </blockquote>If anyone can tell me what 2.4 μmol glucose/100 g means - is this a lot or a little? - I would feel more informed. For now, though, I will continue to shrug at the <a href="http://zackarysholemberger.blogspot.com/2010/12/maybe-cell-phones-do-maraud-little-bit.html">marauding cell phones</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Update</b>: In <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/jm8pr543776484h8/">this study</a>, the regional cerebral glucose consumption rate was about 37 μmol/100 g per minute. So 2.4 μmol/100 g per minute is less than a tenth of the normal value (if I understand correctly). Whether a change of less than 10% is significant - again, I'm trying to find the relevant literature.<br />
<br />
<strong>Historical Update</strong>: A friend comments:<br />
<blockquote>The first author [of the glucose and cell-phones paper] is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Volkow">Trotsky's great granddaughter</a>. Maybe she should have tested whether ice picks near the head change glucose metabolism.<br />
Ouch.</blockquote>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-18492542944984982412011-02-22T10:06:00.001-05:002011-02-22T10:07:31.383-05:00The jerky hominemIn his perfectly reasonable <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/02/14/110214crat_atlarge_gopnik#ixzz1EhSypr4V">essay about the Internet</a> (a topic crying out for an extended treatment in the New Yorker), Adam Gopnik says<br />
<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">But if reading a lot of novels gave you exceptional empathy university English departments should be filled with the most compassionate and generous-minded of souls, and, so far, they are not.</span></blockquote>Ideals, philosophies, abstractions always fail - then what? Gopnik's point is clever but not, on further thought, true at all. We don't say that the jerkiness of some English professors proves that the novel doesn't build empathy. We say, "The jerky ones aren't doing it right." Similarly, the abuses of corrupt rabbis, priests, and imams - or the jerkiness of many religious people - serve to convince no one (except perhaps Christopher Hitchens) that religion is untrue by virtue of that fact. The abusers and the religious asshats aren't doing religion right, is what we say.<br />
<br />
I often think of the ad hominem argument as one against a particular hominem, but sometimes, it turns out, you can make it against a group. Since all groups have human frailties, you can always point at a group and say, "Look! It contains twits!" Unfortunately for human beings, that proves nothing at all.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-57758987671060043812011-02-21T14:30:00.000-05:002011-02-21T14:30:37.874-05:00What's the word for mustard?Check out my <a href="http://wp.me/p6kvT-2Lk">poem</a> <em>Zeneft </em>- and my reading of it - at the literary journal <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/">qarrtsiluni</a>, currently featuring its Translation issue.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-88847990730233822172011-02-10T22:11:00.000-05:002011-02-10T22:11:34.734-05:00In Which Leon Wieseltier, Writer of Long Sentences, Lets Sense Plummet Into Disrepute"I have watched ideals and traditions that I cherish -- a certain sort of liberalism; a certain sort of philosophy; the speaking of Hebrew; easel painting; the joyful making of books; long sentences; and even the sound of a voice, in personal communications--fall into disrepute. (We all have such a list.)"<div><br />
</div><div>Thus Leon Wieseltier in The New Republic (on what should be known, for as long as he occupies the real estate, as the Back Page Without Paragraphs). Do you know what is on my list, Leon? Making sense.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The "speaking of Hebrew" is in disrepute? </div><div><br />
</div><div>There's a country where they speak Hebrew, Leon. All the time. </div><div><br />
</div><div>And I'm not sure what you mean by "the sound of a voice, in personal communications," but I spoke to a fair number of people today.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-328718633731228092011-02-10T12:23:00.002-05:002011-02-10T12:23:47.816-05:00Banal midrashAre Velveteen Rabbi's "Torah poems" any good? My review gives the <a href="http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/135344/">answer</a>.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-64498732515923027672011-02-05T21:22:00.000-05:002011-02-05T21:22:48.366-05:00Herring and CoconutsTwo translations of mine are featured in the new issue of the journal Eleven Eleven from the California College of the Arts: one of Dvoyre Fogel's <a href="http://www.elevenelevenjournal.com/issue%2010%20finished%20pages/Poetry/dvoyre_fogel.html">Herring Barrels</a>, the other of Moyshe Nadir's <a href="http://www.elevenelevenjournal.com/issue%2010%20finished%20pages/Poetry/Moyshe_nadir.html">My Pedigree</a>. Let me know what you think!שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-38176971612056552302011-02-04T15:59:00.000-05:002011-02-04T15:59:03.089-05:00What have I just started translating?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>These sentences are the beginning of a famous Yiddish novel. If you guess what I'm translating, you will win a hearty congratulations and a drink the next time I see you in person</i>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
The city of N is built in three rings. First ring: the very center, the trade market. Second: the great city itself, with the many houses, streets, byways, alleys around the market, where most of the dense habitation is located. Third: suburbs.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-36431141090247419222011-01-27T13:23:00.000-05:002011-01-27T13:23:29.236-05:00What should be translated?The Yiddish Book Center (<a href="http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2011/01/14/yiddish_book_centers_shift_makes_many_uneasy/">that</a> Yiddish Book Center) has a blog post up by David Schlitt where he asks the question, "What Yiddish titles and/or authors would you most like to see translated?" An excellent question, that (and it's no surprise that I left a comment there). <a href="http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/blog/10/12/which-yiddish-texts-would-you-like-see-translated">Follow the discussion</a>, if you would.שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-7588578330815178872011-01-18T09:50:00.001-05:002011-01-18T09:52:29.747-05:00I Have a Hat TodayYesterday, I spent a fascinating 15 or 20 minutes looking at video of King's famous speech. ("Why is it in black and white?" asked my seven-year-old, and I resisted the temptation to give her the <a href="http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/calvin-father-on-black-and-white-pictures.gif">Calvin and Hobbes answer</a>.) Two things I noticed:<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>1. The white folks were acting stereotypically white, sitting on their hands, pained smiles pasted on their faces, occcasionally nodding.</div><div><br />
</div><div>2. 1963 straddled an important boundary in history - in this case, between massive hat-wearing and widespread hatlessness. I didn't notice whether the white folks or black folks wore more hats, but it seemed to me like the split was about 50-50 total between hatteds and bareheads. </div>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5608212.post-35416986508267557622011-01-11T09:04:00.002-05:002011-01-11T09:04:40.829-05:00Expectations<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm doing about as well as I'd expect.<br />
I'd expect to turn half cartwheels.<br />
I'd tear up the floorboards<br />
to find more floorboards<br />
printed by my pacing.<br />
You expect a letter<br />
but you'll get a palimpsest.</span>שלום בערגער Zackary Bergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921542043459008887noreply@blogger.com0