Gut Vuch - Happy Fourth Night of Chanukah - Enjoy Post Plus Song By Peter Himmelman and David Broza

Prairie Home Compaion is on, live from MYC with special guest Elvis Costello (sic). Garrison Keillor is talking about New York, and how real New Yorkers avoid the Times Square area he’s in, playing a theater across the street from the one hosting Pee Wee Herman.

I’ve been thinking about darkness and light. Rarely in Jewish writing is one mentioned without the other. Yishayahu (9:1) speaks of how the people who walk in darkness will finally see great light. Dovid HaMelech writes (Tehillim 112:4) that “even in darkness there shines a light for the upright.” The Torah opens with a world covered in darkness, followed by G-d’s command for there to be light. Breishit Rabbah (2:5) considers that original mentioning of light and darkness as an illusion to the culture war at the time of Chanukkah.

A Jewish guest just did a Hebrew Chanukah medley on Prairie Home Companion. Nice. Before that Elvis C. sang a song from the 1930s. Now they're doing a skit featuring Mike Bloomberg and Sarah Palin.

I''m almost done with Marlo Thomas' marvelous new book. It has many interviews with comedians including Tina Fey. Tina finds it funny that people say she looks like Palin, because from where she stands one has a deep tan, perfect teeth, long legs, and the other is Tina Fey.

Elvis just sang "You Hung the Moon," from his most recent album "National Ransom." The song is set in 1919. Now he's singing "A Voice in the Dark," set in 1931. Earlier he did "A Slow Drag with Josephine," set in 1921. Now I get why he's on the show. His latest album is a pleasant throwback to years ago, much like this show. His final performance is of "American Without Tears," a song he wrote and released in the eighties, but which surely fits the the PHC tone and his demeanor tonight; a lovely song (which you can find here on Youtube - song starts 51 seconds in).

"You're feeling better, right?" That's what someone asked me. What do you say when the answer is no, but the asker (and you) want it to be yes. I've had an ear infection since two Thursdays ago. Two antibiotics, three doctors, ten days later. the answer is - I wish I was, I like to pretend that I am. But, sigh, um - not really.

I found a dear old friend and mentor today. I hadn't seen her in months. I thanked G-d aloud several times when I found her. Zelda. She was in my most obscure bookshelf.

I read the Hebrew, looked at Marcia Falk's translation, looked at a dictionary, looked... Here's my take:

On That Night of Stars

By Zelda

On that night of stars

my childhood sought

the Creator of the World.

Years that spill like water,

not any sadness

and not any person

could cause me to forget

distances

beyond all distance.