Archive | December, 2023

Big Black PickUp Trucks and SUVs Cause Me Angst

29 Dec

I think I have been reading too many murder mysteries about people being run off a winding narrow road high in the mountains of Colorado or Tennessee or Kentucky or California.  In these mysteries the offending car is always black and big.  Usually, it is a black pickup truck or some gigantic SUV.

Sometimes it is the victim being killed at the start of the novel.  Then later in the novel that same black car starts following the detective or other person who is starting to connect the dots and soon will identify the murderer.  The same car attempts to force them off the road as well.  But this time, the person is prepared and although the car might be pushed off the road, the hero/heroine survives.

The evil seems to be the car and not the driver inside, even though I know that the car has no soul. I have become highly suspicious of large black pickup trucks and SUVs, especially Ford F-150s, Dodge RAMs and Cadillac Escalades.  Nothing against any of these car companies. But to be honest these trucks are big and scary, making me a bit paranoid when I see them.

Lately I have been noticing big black pickup trucks and SUVs everywhere. At the grocery store, in Costco parking lot, roaming the streets.  In my area, there are many, many black Ford 150 Pickup trucks. I am not imagining it.  There is a Ford plant in the Kansas City area that manufactures regular F-150s, as well as a larger commercial size F 150.  So, I do not think it is my imagination that these cars are everywhere around town.  Alongside them, the RAMs and Escalades also populate our streets.

My problem deals with my new obsessive behavior when I see one.  With my heightened feelings of angst with the war waging in Israel and the unprecedented rise in antisemitism, I get a feeling of dread whenever I see one of these ultra-gigantic trucks entering the driveway of my synagogue or the Jewish Community Center, or any of the other Jewish community buildings.

I think I transferred my fear of those who hate and commit acts of terror onto these black vehicles!

In my mind I hear the police officer who came to teach us about safety saying “If you see something, say something.”  Is seeing a large, black truck a reasonable reason to call the police or even to say anything? Last week one entered the synagogue parking lot as I left.  No, I did not call the police, but I did have a little twitch in my heart.

There are probably thousands of these vehicles in the metro area.  Heck, I even know people who own these mammoth. Honestly, I do realize this is a ridiculous fear …  I hope.

I am trying, when I see one, to lower my angst level.  I say to myself.: “Hey this is not a murder mystery or a thriller.  Lots of people own these. Calm down.”

No one is going to chase me down a mountain here!  Because we do not have winding, narrow mountainous roads in the Kansas City metro. I actually can only think of one such road along the river bluffs on the Missouri side, Cliff Drive.  It is closed to car traffic.  So I think I am safe.

What it really indicates to me is that the intense social media attacks on Jewish and Israeli people, Jew hatred apparent and emerging, as well as the media reports of these happenings, is causing me, among the many of the people I know, to have a bit more angst and fears, which leads me to look at things that use to be routine differently. I am constantly trying to determine if something is or is not a truly a threat. Hence the obsession with big black trucks.

Ten years ago a crazy hater drove to the Jewish community center and the Jewish elder care facility and shot and killed three people.  The irony is that in his effort to kill Jewish people, not one of the three people he murdered was Jewish. They were all Christian.  It was a tragedy that those who are Jewish and live in KC area will never forget.   So my fear is not without reason.  I will admit though, he was not driving a black truck. 

But you know, years ago, after the Oklahoma City bombing, I was afraid of yellow Ryder trucks.  I do not think I am the only one.  There are no longer any yellow Ryder trucks. The company was sold, and the name and color were changed.  In my mind, the bombing created the need for the change.

I do not think we will rid the world of black trucks.  People like them.  Murder mystery and spy novelists like them.  I am probably the only person who views them askance. But I do need to rid myself of the fear of big black trucks.  It is not the car who does the evil, it is the person inside the truck. 

What I need to do is to help to rid the world of hatred. That is the more important goal. We should not have to have the police guarding the buildings of the Jewish communities throughout the world.  We should not have to deal with swatting attacks on synagogues during Shabbat. We should not have to see people on the streets chanting for the elimination of the Jews on our city streets. We should not have the UN stay silent against the acts of Hamas and the rape of both women and men. 

I have hope.  If Kayne West, now known as Ye, can apologize in Hebrew on Instagram, maybe the tide is turning.  Perhaps in a few months I will be able to once again ignore large black vehicles driving alongside me.  Maybe my angst will dissipate. That would be a blessing.

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Illinois Holocaust Museum: A Response to Jew Hatred

12 Dec

During Covid, I tried to do as many activities that I could from the confines of my home.  I took online classes, I attended family life events, I even toured museums and their special exhibits.  One of the best ones I toured was the Ruth Bader Ginsburg exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum located in Skokie, Illinois.  So when I knew my husband and I were going to Evanston, Illinois, for a wedding, I put visiting this museum in person at the top of my list.  It did not disappoint.

The museum opened in 2009.  It was a work in process for 40 years after the Skokie Jewish community was the object of a neo-Nazi group who decided to march through Skokie, a suburb of Chicago that is home to many Jewish residents.  The Jewish community started with a small space.  But their aim was to fight against anti-Semitism and hatred through education.  It looks like they are succeeding in their mission. 

The Illinois Holocaust Museum is worth the visit. It was designed by architect Stanley Tigerman. The building is made is to bring the visitor through the darkness of the Shoah and then back out to the light. As we went through the exhibit we could see this change. The entrance to the exhibit is dark and moody with narrow halls lined with photos, videos and memorabilia. But by the end, when we learned about the resistance and the survivors, the light increased.

While we were there on a Friday morning, there were four different school groups also going through the museum with docents.  Every so often the group would fill the space available, so we would stop to hear the discussion.  In this time of great turmoil and rise of Jew Hatred, seeing these students and their teachers learning about and basically experiencing what happened was important. 

There are many short films/videos and photographs throughout the museum that were taken by the Nazis during their killing spree as well as films taken after the war by survivors and rescuers. 

The films are difficult to watch.   I saw several students holding their hands and sweaters over their faces as they tried to block the view. I did not want to see it either, even though I have seen these images or ones like them many times.

But this time, I imagined the children on October 7 trying to block the view as they saw the terrorist of Hamas reenacting the hatred of the Nazis and they saw their loved ones murdered and waited for their own deaths.  It created harrowing moments for me.  I envisioned being held hostage by Hamas underground as if in a camp barracks waiting without food and little hope.

The Holocaust exhibit itself Is well thought out and takes you through all the stages of the Shoah.  The moment I saw the Krystal Nacht exhibit, which has a clear floor you walk over with shards of glass underneath, in front is the edifice of a synagogue with broken windows, I knew exactly what you will see next.  You can walk into a real cattle car from 1930s Europe.  It is an eerie feeling to be standing in that darkened wooden container and think about what it was like for those who were stuffed in and perished.  This is not a museum for someone who wants to avoid the past.  It puts it right into your vision.

After you weave your way through the seemingly endless horrors of the Shoah, you see a small exhibit about what happened when the Nazis came to Skokie.  It puts into ‘context’ what is happening now throughout the USA on college campuses and in some cities.  And I will say that calling for the annihilation and extermination of any people is always wrong. No matter what a college president says.

This is emphasized with the movie at the end that discusses both the genocide of the Jews and the continued times others have been targeted like the Tutsi people in Rwanda. We sat with two student groups as we watched the film.  It was not easy to watch as people testified about what happened to them during this more recent horror. Many of the students lowered their heads.  I think I spent as much time watching the students as I did watching the film.

After we finished the exhibit, we went to the Hologram theater where we spoke with the Hologram of Pinchas Gutter.  This is an excellent way to learn about the Shoah.  Those brave survivors who spent a week being interviewed and videoed while they told their story have created a way to keep the memory alive. 

The museum is not all gloom and depression.  There is the good of those who survived.  But also when we were there the special exhibit was about delis, “I’ll Have What She’s Having” The Jewish Deli.  It was a great way to wash away some of the somber emotions we were having after going through the Shoah. 

As a teenager and college student, I worked in a Jewish deli.  So for me this was especially joyful as I remember my time behind the counter making sandwiches, cutting lox, deboning white fish and making catering trays.  I would almost smell the corned beef, feel the texture of sable fish as I prepared some for a customer, and felt the smooth taste of a potato knish in my mouth.

It was good to end the visit on an upbeat note. But throughout it all I remembered that this museum was founded in response to Jew Hatred. Once again, we are experiencing a major rise Jew Hatred throughout the United States and the rest of the world. There are many who support us. However, when I look at college campuses, I know the work to end anti-semitism and Jew Hatred is far from done. What will be our response globally? In Skokie a museum was created. I am not sure it is enough.

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“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli

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Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mt. Fiji at The Bowers Museum

8 Dec

In November I was able to see Hokusai’s famous print, “The Great Wave” in person.  As someone who has loved Japanese art since childhood, this was a special moment. 

To be honest, I did not know I was going to see Hokusai’s work that day. My husband and I were in California for a meeting he was attendin.  I had the day free for my own pursuits, so I spent the day with cousins.  They recommended that we go to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, an plan that was wonderful to me, I love museums.

The main building is new, but it is attached to the original Spanish-style home that once belonged to the Bowers family.  You enter the museum through a lovely Courtyard that leads you into the museum.  Right at the front is the Tangata Restaurant where we ate lunch.  Delicious.  From the lovely entrance and delectable food, I knew this was going to be a great day.

I used to look at every single item in an exhibit, which would take me for hours.  But now, on the advice of a friend’s daughter who was a museum curator, I find one or two items per exhibit and focus on them.  So here are my favorites:

The original building is just stunning.  The parts we could see, wood ceilings, carved doors, stone fireplaces, added to the atmosphere.  In one room there was a display about some of the original settlers and members of the Bowers family featuring their possessions in the California Legacies exhibit.

I enjoyed the exhibit, “Gemstone and Carvings.” The crystal skull made us all think of the Indian Jones movie. As for the native American art, my favorite display was the Women’s Basketry Hats that was in the First Californias exhibit. Woven by the Yurok, Hupa and Karok women, these hats caught my eye.  I would actually wear one of them!

Finally, the special exhibit, “Beyond the Great Wave, Works by Hokusai from the British Museum.”  It is only at the museum through January 7, 2024, so go soon.  It is wonderful.

The exhibit follows Hokusai’s work throughout his life, leading up to the Great Wave and then beyond it.  Seeing all these wonderful wood block prints, and the skill it would take to create them, was exciting.  There is even a short video on how the wood blocks are made.

Seeing almost all the of prints from “36 Views of Mt. Fiji” and the one that has caught the attention of the world, I was surprised, honestly, about how small the prints were in size.  In my mind they must be enormous. Instead they are all small enough to fit into a portfolio.

I enjoyed seeing the prints he made at different stages in his life.  My favorites were the ones of scenes in Japan with people going about activities. They are extremely colorful.   But I focused my camera on the Great Wave and two other prints from the series. I decided I liked these especially,  because like the Great Wave, the main color was Prussian Blue, a color that I adore. 

We did not have time to go to all of the exhibits in the museum.  In reality you cannot see everything in a museum in one visit.  But for those visiting the Santa Ana area, a visit to the Bowers Museum is worthwhile.

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