JCC London

Neil Gaiman event

It's nearly Shabbat, but there's just time for a quick blog. 

I'm interviewing my literary hero, Neil Gaiman at a JCC/Jewish Book Week event on Sunday night. I never realised I had literary heros, at least not in the sense that some people seem to have heros: people they worship and model themselves on. You can't really model yourself, as a writer, on other writers. You have to write what's in front of you to write, however weird or ridiculous it seems, and however much it subsequently causes people to come and ask you to speak at the PTA meeting of the Jewish primary school their child attends.

Neil Gaiman's a different sort of hero. I love what his work has to say about the doing of creative work. In his character Dream as well as in many other places, he investigates what drives creativity, what mad places it comes from, how mysterious and terrifying it can be, how much we long for it. He's the only writer I know whose work doesn't just make me want to read on, it makes me want to pick up a pen and write.

We'll be focussing some of our discussion on another Jewish comic book genius: Will Eisner. If you haven't read any of Eisner's work, go and pick yourself up a copy of A Contract With God. It's a sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-tragic, always engrossing depiction of Jewish life in New York in the 1930s. With all the financial turmoil at the moment, stories of The Great Depression seem particularly apposite. 

Anyway, it was my birthday yesterday, so I'm hoping that some kind of universal karma and Special Birthday Magic will mean that I manage to ask Neil some useful questions without coming off like a babbling fool. What can I say? Come along and see for yourself; either way it should be entertaining.

Tis the season

As yet another festival approaches, I’m starting to feel punchdrunk. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Succot, Simchat Torah, Shemini Atzeret. Every day feels like either a Friday – racing to get things finished before the festival starts, or a Sunday – the day after the festival’s over, wondering what balls I dropped. Metaphorical balls, that is. As far as I know no Rabbi has yet declared that the festive season is best enhanced by a bit of juggling, although I wouldn’t put it past them. My car was rear-ended last night as I was driving back from seeing Sarah Silverman, but I honestly haven’t had time to worry about it yet, what with all the other things on my plate.

 

There’s a payoff to all this, though. Not the favour of the Almighty – which, as far as one can tell from the Torah is a rather arbitrary and not necessarily purely enjoyable gift –  but the pleasant sense of being able to, for the most part, ignore Christmas. I notice that Sainsbury’s has already started stocking its Christmas selection. I saw the first TV advert of the season featuring Santa Claus a full two weeks ago. I get a warm glow every time I see these things at the thought that I don’t have to buy presents for dozens of relatives, that there’ll be no last minute dash to Brent Cross to pick up wrapping paper on December 24^th, that there’ll be no fraught Christmas dinner with family arguing or sitting in stony silence.

 

Of course, we really do just displace these paroxysms of religion elsewhere in the calendar. It makes me wonder – is there a religion anywhere that doesn’t have a time in the year when everyone becomes stressed, harried and far too busy? If not, maybe we human beings just need that extra stress every once in a while. As the old joke goes, it's lovely when it's over.

 

The politics of poverty

Friday, October 17th, marked the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and earlier this week bloggers worldwide united on Blog Action Day 08 to focus attention on the poverty issue.

As I prepare in a couple of months to return to London to begin work full-time with Survivors Fund, an organisation that is involved in poverty-relief through its support of vulnerable survivors of the Rwandan genocide, it is an area which holds a particular interest. 

Thus, I thought that this would prove to be the perfect opportunity to post on the policies of the respective candidates on poverty – domestically and internationally.

The issue was most comprehensively addressed at the Clinton Global Initiative last month, where both McCain and Obama spoke to the assembled gathering of the world’s great and the good at the invitation of Former President Bill Clinton.

For a comparison I referred to VoteGopher.com, a website set up by a team of Harvard students to provide information on the election for young people by young people.

The main difference they conclude is the role of Government in poverty-relief policies, with Obama advocating Government intervention to address the issue through a job creation programme, indexed minimum wage and affordable housing trust fund.

For McCain, this smacks of “socialism” – still a sinister spectre across America, the legacy of Joseph McCarthy’s blitz on the “red menace” in 1950s. This tarnishing of Obama with the socialist brush is a major plank of McCain’s aggressive campaign strategy, bolstered of late with robo-calls.  His policies are focused on minimising government intervention, to enable nonprofit and religious organisations to provide aid.

Internationally, Obama’s focus will be centred on primary education and healthcare pledging to authorise a US contribution of $48 billion to the Global Fund over a five-year duration – interestingly one of the positive legacies of the George W. Bush Administration.  McCain has been less specific, not committing any funding, but calling on an increase in aid to promote development, opportunities and eradicate disease.

However the full effect of the financial crisis on policies is still to play out. The Founder of the UN Millennium Development Goals Campaign, Eveline Herfkens, made the point this Friday: “When the financial markets sneeze, the poor get pneumonia.” For all our sakes, let us hope that we do not see the poverty of politics in addressing this vital issue.

Plumbing new depths!

Well, the third and final Presidential Debate is done and dusted. And the life of Joe the Plumber will not be the same again..! Senator McCain referred to Joe constantly throughout the debate, in explaining why Senator Obama’s tax plans would be bad for the average American – shooting into the limelight this aspiring small business owner from Ohio who had been caught on camera questioning Obama earlier in the week on what his tax policy would mean for people like him.

Now without doubt the most famous plumber in America, it will be telling to hear which way Joe swings in his state of Ohio, a key battleground in the election. The comedy programmes will likely pluck (and plumb) some perfect material from it all. 

So who won? Overall, Obama came off worse in the first-half - battered and bruised by McCain who really went on the offensive tonight – possibly sensing an urgent need to change the game. But Obama came back strong in the second half. On healthcare, education and even abortion Obama responded “eloquently,” McCain commented witheringly.

At times, McCain honestly looked like he was going to spontaneously combust, he seemed so pent up with rage; Paul Begala on CNN believing him to look like Grumpy McNasty.

With regard to a Jewish angle, then little further to report following tonight’s debate. There was no mention of the Middle East or Israel, as the focus was on domestic affairs. However, watching proceedings with a number of “Jewglish” (Jewish-English) ex-pats I was able to take the pulse of more familiar Jews. All were unanimously in favour of Obama. Fortunately two are dual citizens, and will be casting their vote on November 4th, so maybe it will be the English which wins it!

Finally, further comment on the potential Jewish ballot. Howard Fineman, on Newsweek.com believes Jews are going to vote big for Obama..! One can only hope..!

The Hockey Mum Sheitel

The next milestone on the election calendar is Wednesday’s Presidential Debate, to be staged at the University of Mississippi. But the news agenda, even here in the US, has been less on the election of late and more on the economy, and the perceived failure of the current Administration’s bail-out plan – as the global financial crisis seemingly moves from bad to worse.

The release of the ethics report into Sarah Palin, which found her guilty of sacking a state official over a family feud, has certainly not hindered Obama – but it has not received the coverage that it might have without the pressing economic distractions. Possibly Saturday Night Live, which is enjoying the comedic potential of the election, will make play of it.

On the issue of the polls, concerns are being raised about the potential of the “Bradley effect” – with voters saying one thing to pollsters and doing another when in the voting booth. 

Noteworthy too, is one of the most remarkable events this week which saw McCain getting booed by his owned supporters at a rally where he was compelled to defend Obama against allegations of being an Arab.

The Jewish press have dedicated editorial space to give supporters of each candidate the opportunity of demonstrating why they might be better for Israel and the Jews. In the JTA, it is Deborah Lipstadt for Obama and the former AIPAC director, Morris Amitay, for McCain. The ever vocal Alan Dershowitz tries to settle the matter in the New York Daily News claiming that both candidates will be as good as each other for Israel.

And finally, in The Forward, the amusing story that a sheitel modelled on the “Hockey Mum’s” coiffure has been launched by a Brooklyn wig shop. At only $695, it is surely a snip!

The Presidential Debate - Views of the Jews

Well, the debate was no “game changer” but it was definitely advantage Team Obama last night, which was the verdict on the second of the three televised Presidential debates.

Deciding to solicit the view of the Jews, I watched proceedings at the Galapagos Art Space as part of Debate Watch 2008, a nationwide string of Jewish themed screenings organised by AJWS-Avodah Partnership.

Contrary to the perspectives of older Jews reported in Monday's posting, the support amongst younger Jews of New York - certainly judging by last night's crowd - is strongly pro-Obama. In a pre-debate panel, Sara Horowitz - a remarkable social entrepreneur, and founder of the Freelancers Union - took a poll of the crowd to find that almost half had been without health insurance at some time over the past three years. Hearing then Obama describe healthcare as a "right", not a "responsibility" as McCain proclaimed, underlined a fundamental difference between the candidates and why Obama is attracting their vote.

The question now is whether the older Jews of Florida can be persuaded. As the New York Times reports, if Obama emerges victorious, Sarah Silverman can claim a modicum of credit. But Sarah Palin has been in the swinging sunshine state for the past two days campaigning on the ground, which in a twist of events may be causing more harm than good.

With Yom Kippur starting tonight, there will be time for reflection on change in our lives. The New York Jewish Week reminds us that the day may also mark a reflection on the change in Administrations too.

Wishing you an easy fast.

Yes, Obama can

It is fortunate that my time in America has coincided so well with the American Presidential Election.

I moved here to New York last summer, at a time when Senator Barack Obama was still an outside shot for the Democratic presidential nomination. I remember then, reading in Foreign Affairs, his thoughts on “Renewing American Leadership” evoking in the very first sentence three particularly pertinent Presidents: Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy. Though the article was on Iraq, and Obama was writing on the military contributions of this great Democratic triumvirate, they are more relevant to his Presidential Campaign now for different reasons.

In a time of global, and an acute American, financial crisis if Obama were to be successful then like FDR who was elected into office during the Great Depression of the 1930s, he will need to create a New Deal. Both Obama and his Republican adversary, Senator John McCain, have vowed to make public service a centrepiece of their Administrations, and as a fellow at a School of Public Service it is fascinating to see how this debate is playing out. Regardless of who wins the election, there is likely to be an ever greater emphasis on service in America – a trend that I see is mirrored too in the UK Jewish community, with the growth of initiatives such as Mitzvah Day UK.

Harry Truman famously clutched victory from the hands of predicted defeat against Thomas Dewey in 1948. The lesson for Obama, as he increases his lead in the polls, is to take nothing for granted as the vote on November 4th nears. As the election campaign enters a more “dirty” phase with allegations from both sides of past misdemeanours, I hope Obama took notes on Boogie Man - a great film that I saw last week, highlighting the tricks of former Republican Presidential candidates flagging in the polls. The incredible story of the political spin doctor – Lee Atwater – is a cautionary tale for Obama, showing how in 1988 George Bush Snr. overcame a massive deficit in the polls to beat the Democratic frontrunner Michael Dukakis, the son of an immigrant Greek father, by questioning his patriotism.

At 43, JFK was already a bestselling author and the youngest man to be elected President. He was also the youngest to die in office. Much has been written on the threat of assassination that Obama faces – many consider it even taboo to discuss, note Doris Lessing and Hilary Clinton as examples – but I mention it here as it is what is so many Jews refer to when I speak politics with them. Possibly, it is just an excuse as to why Orthodox, and especially older, Jews in particular are unwilling to vote for a candidate whose views on Israel are often questioned, who has a Muslim father (and is still mistakenly believed to be Muslim himself by many) and who for over twenty years was a member of a church whose Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, supported Louis Farrakhan, not a great fan of America, never mind the Jews.

To win the 1960 election, Kennedy had to overcome prejudice about his age and his heritage – as the first Catholic President, many feared then that he would be taking orders from the Vatican. Obama too must confound the prejudices of many voters. Sarah Silverman has been mobilising young Jews to travel to Florida this coming Columbus weekend to convince their grandparents to vote Obama as part of The Great Schlep. Can the Jews help swing the election for Obama? Unlike Jackie Mason, I believe, “Yes, We Can!”

Next blog, Wednesday: The day after the Presidential Debate the night before....