My Summary of Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room - It May Seem Like Old News, But It's Still Important, and It's a Film Worth Watching

"It was a house of cards."


"What we didn't know was that the house of cards had been built over a pool of gasoline."


"People see it as a story about numbers, but in reality it's a story about people; it's a story of human tragedy."


Enron was the nation's seventh largest corporation, valued at almost seventy billion dollars.


Was Enron the work of a few bad men or the dark shadow of the American Dream?


"Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan


In 1987 bets were made by two rogue traders for Enron as to whether oil prices would rise or fall. "Oil trading is like gambling, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But Enron oil always seemed to win."


"Mark to market accounting...Enron's profits could be whatever Enron said they were."


"Enron's traders were like the super-powerful high-school clique that even the principal doesn't dare to reign in." A system was instituted wherein the workers rated each other and the lowest rated were fired. One trader said that he was more than happy to step on the throats of others if that's what was needed.


"A lot of them were former nerds." This could be applied to no-one more than Jeff Skilling who had surgery on his eyes so he no longer had to wear glasses, somehow reversed his baldness, and led dangerous travel adventures for the inner circle of macho men wannabes at Enron. Jeff would say he liked guys with spikes. "He liked guys with something extreme about them."


"To me the real mythology is high school mythology, that - you know - you wanted to be the most popular guy on Wall Street and you were gonna do whatever you had to do to stay there. And Jeff understood those rules better than, I think, anyone else."


"I think Jeff Skilling had a desperate need to believe that Enron was a success. I think he identified with Enron. He proclaimed at one point, 'I am Enron.'"


In the nineties if a company met or exceeded the projections of the analysts (whom they courted) the stock went higher. "The game was called Pump and Dump - top execs would push the stock price up and then cash in their multi - million dollar options."


They were connected to the Bushes, gave an Enron service prize to Greenspan, made it seem like their company was doing great. But in reality their natural reserves around the world, and their company, were losing money. They built particularly big in India, where most people were afraid to build up at that time. They lost a billion dollars on that project and yet paid out millions of dollars in bonuses based on fake profits.This made them stuck by their own gimmick because they refused to honestly admit failure.


They merged with Portland General Electric. This enabled Enron to further take advantage of deregulation - this time in California. Workers for PGE thought their money was as safe as - if not better off than - before, what some call a trust me story. They put their money back into the company.


Meanwhile Jeff Skilling had the analysts in love with him. Rather than analyze him, when questions came up they gave Jeff a call. And they believed whatever he said. Most analysts were rewarded for their praise of Enron, the few that didn't were punished (read fired). Skilling moved into cyberspace (video on demand with Blockbuster) when he saw all the dotcoms that were booming. The stock soared higher, way higher even though it didn't work.


Skilling and the other top guns started selling off their own stocks. But they kept perpetuating the myth. They invested in weather, and no-one really questioned what they meant. Skilling, it seems had to have known the end was coming. "I liken it to the Titanic when you got a captain who's saying, 'Maintain full speed,' and they bump into a couple of icebergs and then they still keep full speed going. The captain of this ship, Enron, ignored all the warning signs, and there were plenty of them. And the captain of this ship was Kenneth Lay."


In March 2001 Bethany McLean was told to take a look and she did. A reporter for Forbes, a magazine which had been falling all over Enron, McLean noticed that something just didn't add up. She called Skilling simply wanting to know how Enron made their money and he bullied her saying she hadn't done her homework and wanted to throw rocks at the company (her memory) and that he had six minutes before he had to be at an important meeting (his memory). Her article was about Enron being overpriced, but in hindsight the author feels she was naive and that she knew things were worse that that. As another talking head puts it, McLean was the first to suggest that this very powerful emperor had no clothes.


Young Andy Fastow was the one who led Enron into fraud to cover up what was really happening - that they were thirty billion dollars in debt but keeping the stock price up. He created false companies to make it look like there was movement of money and to cover up the debt - and to take some extra money for himself. The major banks all went for the chance to make insane amounts of profit and put in millions upon millions. Later it became clear that the banks knew that if things seem to good to be true, they are - and yet they stayed with Enron.


Then there was a shady deal with Merrill Lynch buying barges for no apparent reason.


In 2001 an analyst was taped saying to Skilling on the phone, "You're the only financial institution that can't produce a balance sheet or cash flow statement with their earnings." Skilling gets flummoxed, mumbles something like, "thank you very much," and then calls the guy a curse word in noun form. Opinion turned against Enron. People made a take off of their motto, "Ask why," - adding the expletive.


Soon after this Enron successfully got electricity in California deregulated. They found loopholes in the rules and exploited them. They blackmailed California with high prices. They made millions. In time the west coast traders made nearly 2 billion dollars for Enron, betting that energy prices would go up and winning. Prices went through the roof, traders are on tape talking about definitely retiring by the time they were thirty. They zeroed in and made the state of California miserable and didn't look beyond that. When the fire lines caught on fire during a heat wave Enron traders were captured on tape calling it "a beautiful thing" and saying "burn baby burn."


Stanley Milgrim's research sheds light on why the traders ignored their suspicions, turned away their consciences and kept going for their earnings and million dollar bonuses. In that study people were told to give shocks to other people in other rooms (hired actors) when they answered questions incorrectly. Though they are a tiny bit uncomfortable they do it, again and again - even as the people screamed more and more from the pain of the shock. They made the decision to suspend their morality and kept on doing so, once they had let it go. Fifty percent of Milgrim's subjects were willing to shock people to death as long as the command came from a seemingly legitimate source.


Enron created power problems in California that cost the state billions.


People slowly started to turn against Enron. But Enron pushed to fight against deregulation. And then George Bush became president. Lay talked to Cheney and got what he wanted. After a long time things improved a bit, prices were capped. But political connections of Enron continued to wield power. Gray Davis, the governor of CA. was an opponent of Bush and so Bush sided with Enron. Deregulation led to the downfall of California, which led to the downfall of Davis, which led to the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger


Then the CEO started to seem erratic and the doubts about the company wouldn't go away. The stock started to fall. Skilling saw that things were getting bad and that the inmates/traders had taken over the asylum (as former Enron executive Amanda Martin put it). On August 14, 2001 Skilling abruptly quit and because he didn't pave the way (as CEOs generally do before stepping down) to avoid it from happening a great explosion in the media ensued. Skilling responded by putting on a great act and convincing people that he had serious family issues that needed his attention. It seems that he hoped that there's be enough time between his leaving and the company's total collapse that he'd escape the blame. Lay took over as CEO. But people were angry, the stock was way down. It was hard to believe Lay's projected optimism.


Fastow's fraud floated on the hope that Enron's stock would never fall. When the stock fell the lie was exposed. Sherron Watkins warned Lay, first anonymously, then face to face that their only hope was to come clean about the cooked books. No-one else came clean so eventually Watkins blew the whistle. The murky morality of Fastow's deals were written up. Enron was investigated by the FEC. The stock plummeted. Lay tried to assuage the fears of investors while his accounting firm got busy shredding over one ton of papers. Lay publicly stuck up for Fastow in public (and cashed in millions of dollars worth of his own shares of Enron) and then the next day Fastow was fired. He became the fall guy, but in time it became clear that many, many people were involved in the scam.


Lay never took responsibility or blame. he said he was betrayed by Fastow. Within four months of Skilling's resignation Enron declared bankruptcy. All employees were released and given thirty minutes to leave the building forever. They felt like they were sinking on the Titanic without lifeboats, as one former worker recalls. They had been encouraged to invest in the company and they lost everything. Only the insiders sold off their stock early - a billion dollars worth.


A priest who counselled many people affected by Enron speaks poignantly at the end of the film about how you can lose your soul in the corporate world. He says that some went deep and learned this lesson from their financial losses. One of the top people in Enron, Cliff Baxter, committed suicide. In a note to his family he wrote with shame of how he once took great pride in doing the right thing. He wrote that the pride was gone and he felt he could be of no use to his family. He expressed love and asked for his family's forgiveness.


Watkins says it happened because so many people colluded together. She says it could happen again. The shareholders are suing.


Fastow plead guilty and got a sentence of ten years in exchange for testifying about other Enron execs. Skilling was charged, pleaded innocent and poured 26 million dollars into his defense. The firm, Arthur Anderson, was found guilty. Anderson fell and 29,000 people lost their jobs. Lay was indicted.


Bethany McLean says that there was potential for good but hubris turned things the other way. One former trader points out that, ironically, he thinks the moral of the story is, "Ask why."


Twenty thousand employees lost their jobs.


This plays over the final credits.

One reader has noted that I've noted on more than one occasion a friend's comment that no days are actually longer or shorter than others. I wonder how many other things I tend to repeat regularly, whether in broad day life of in my six and a half years of living on a blog. On thing I feel that I've mentioned more than once is that I really don't understand blogging. All I can say at this moment - after having paused and thought about how to continue - is that I'm a writer.

Yesterday was the unveiling for my mother - OBM, or should I say for my mother's matzeivah - tombstone. I officiated, whatever that means. (People like having and need someone or something lend structure to time as they pass through it. Did you ever notice how often at a convention or any event that hands out a schedule people look at the schedule, how they/we come to rely on the order provided to us externally. It's almost like we wish someone would schedule all of our lives for us;it would make things easier. I know some people who are good at making and keeping to schedules of their personal time. They do very well with it - both of them. Most of us look outside for a framework in which to solidify our inner jello. I could be wrong, but I think I may have digressed - parentheses to the rescue).

After returning home I took a few hours of much needed chilled space in the wake of a spate of restlessness. Then I went to my school's play. The students, many of whom I know well, did a great job. At the collation I was approached (cornered?) by a lovely older woman whom I officiated for as rabbi over Passover for many years. After a week plus of running minyan, delivering speeches and classes, running the sedarim, and teaching myriad classes (along with giving out towels and newspapers and fielding food issues) I would host the talent show on the last night. I stopped going two years ago when my mother passed away. In hosting the talent show I'd do my bits in between the acts I introduced. One of the routines that resonated for the crowd was about my mother and how she always wanted to know what was going on with me socially ("Are there any Jewish mothers in the audience?" I'd ask - to lots of knowing laughs during this piece). This woman asked me if my mother is still bothering me about my social situation. Sigh. She clearly didn't know my mother passed away almost a year and a half ago. Of course she couldn't have been aware of where I had been at ten in the morning. I had a millisecond to decide how to answer the question. I used all my inner strength to NOT NOT NOT say, "My mother passed away." I didn't have it in me to smile and say, "Yeah, mom's just the same." Maybe, maybe, on a different day, an unveiling-less day. I hesitated silently and kind of wriggled, displaying discomfort but not saying what I was uncomfortable about. She sensed my discomfort and said, "You don't have to answer."

My family was pleased with what I said and how I structured the get together/ceremony. I cleared doing it even thought it was within 30 days of Shavuot. The psak I got was that pre Rosh Chodesh was OK. A rabbinic advisor/posek suggested that after I speak I ask if anyone wants to share any thoughts. I tweaked that by saying before I spoke that people could start thinking and didn't have to say anything aloud but could just take a moment to remember a fond memory to themselves. My opening words were to explain the two abbreviations on the tombstone. The first pay-nun stands for poh nikveret - here is buried. The second is an acronym for tehei nishmatah tzrurah bitror hachayim. My take on that was that thought it's usually translated as "may her soul be bound with the bond of eternal life," it could mean something else." Bitzror hachayim can mean the bond with the living, the idea that she is still connected to the living, through the legacy she left behind. Then we did Tehillim - spelling mom's Jewish name, Fraydah. I promised people that that part would be under fie minutes as I'd done a practice run (some people there were not familiar with the Hebrew and I wanted to assure them that the part most cryptic to them wouldn't be overly long. I then mentioned a poem that I handed out with the Tehillim sheets. I said people could read on their own this original poem that was given to mom by her elementary school teacher and which she cherished forever. Dad said to read it out loud so I did. I went through some of mom's traits that I will always hold. I spoke about her protectiveness and the story she told me about her father. Grandpa told mom at a certain age that she could walk to the elementary school bus stop alone. Eventually she caught on to the fact that he followed from a block behind. More than a sign of mistrust or worry this was a symbol; of my grandfather's love for his daughter. I always think of this in connection to "Shiviti Hashem lenegdi tamid." More than it being scary that G-d is always with us it is comforting that He is always with us, protecting us. So too with parents -even from heaven. I mentioned that part of the purpose of a gathering like this is to reflect and to pay respect to the nifteret (whatever reason for it you go with the tombstone has to do with respect for the one who passed away) in a calmer moment than at the shocking time of burial. I recalled feeling inarticulate at the levayah, but being pleased with one line I said then that felt spot on:

"Mom saw with a thousand eyes and heard with a thousand ears and felt with a thousand hearts." After, we all lingered, prayed, spoke. A young relative came up and told me that he was reminded of the idea of how G-d watches us (we're told in Song of Songs) through windows and lattices. Through a window you can see that you being watched but through the lattices of cracks you are watched even though it is not readily apparent. I was taken by this thought by this fine young man from a yeshivish home who seems so well raised. I give credit to his parents for helping him be the mentsch he is. I have to cut myself off and go to sleep. I have more. My childhood friend remembered mom's playfulness. Dad spoke last minute in a cogent way from a very deep place. And he said something even more beautiful to me afterwards. Aunt Leah spoke about the closeness of my mom and her husband, mom's brother, who passed away exactly a year before mom did. A milestone has passed. There is a time for everything. Good night and G-d bless.

There's no weightlessness

in this turbulent lifetime

as we wait for peace

But Is It Art? (II) (Click To See Vol. I)

Last week I went on a guided tour of some galleries in Chelsea. In the late eighties Chelsea was not the home of the art scene in Manhattan. But someone was ahead of his time. A major artist named Joseph Beuys believed that social change was possible to achieve via creativity. Between 1982 and 1989 he paired 7000 newly planted trees with basalt stones in Kassel, Germany and this had an impact on the environment. Between 1988 and 1996 the Dia Foundation extended Beuys' project to New York City. They paired 22 trees with Beuys sculptures. You can walk down the street and not notice them. That was part of his point. The idea reminds me of G-d's dandelions, how they are so beautiful and so common - so they go unheralded. When the saplings were placed on the bustling down town street people questioned if they would grow. Artist Tobi Kahn recalls being in art school at the time and being dragged to see the newly installed stones and trees along 22nd street between 10th and 11th avenues. The young students were nonplussed. Today, as you can see, the trees loom large over the basalt stone sculptures below. I think it's pretty cool.

"I get these notes on butterflies and lilac sprays..."

I don't recall ever hearing this one before just now. Here are some of the words that hit me:

"Remember the days when you used to sit

and make up your tunes for love?

And now, they toss around your latest golden egg.

I guess I seem ungrateful

with my teeth sunk in the hand that brings me things

I really can't give up just yet.

Now I sit up here; the critic!

I heard it in the wind last night,

it sounded like applause

Chilly now, end of summer -

no more shiny hot nights...

It was just the arbutus rustling

and the bumping of the logs

and the moon swept down black water

like an empty spotlight."

ציפור אחוזת קסם / זלדה

כאשר הגוף הרך
מט לנפול

והוא מגלה חרדתו מפני הקץ
לנשמה,
מצמיח עץ השגרה הנמוך
שאבק אכלו
עלים ירוקים פתאום.
כי מריח האין יפריח
הדור נאה
ובצמרתו ציפור
אחוזת קסם.

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family - Anthony Brandt

‎"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who think there are two kinds of people, and those who know it's not that simple." - Anonymous

We carry our ancestors in our hearts, and sometimes on our backs - Australian Aborigine Saying

The fact that no-one understands you doesn't mean that you're an artist. - Garrison Keilor

The hip stuff is outside your comfort zone - Herbie Hancock

If you fight with anger you're the problem, if you fight with joy you're the solution - Carlos Santana

‎"Those who forget forget, and those who do not forget will meet again." - Margaret Drabble (as quoted in New Yorker - May 16, 2011 - pg 124)

"There used to be a little knob that one twisted until these people came into focus as nice, harmless, well-meaning people. And it's broken, it won't twist anymore." From A Day In The Life of a Smiling Woman By Margaret Drabble (as quoted in New Yorker - May 16, 2011 - pg 126)

Favorite book is an oxymoron. - A. An Anonymous Twenty year old.

Any golfers out there? It's a hard sport. Is it just me or does everyone have a hard time with the windmill? - Gary Mule Deer

All luck is earned... - Cal Lightman

"I think Ishtar is just an easy thing to make fun of. I think it really made me think that maybe before I jump on the pundit bandwagon, I should actually look at what I’m making fun of or insulting.” - Elaine May

When I was ten years old, I started watching stand up comedians on TV.I fell in love with them and I'm just as fascinated with stand up comedy today.When I stared doing TV, I saved every appearance on every show I did.I thought it might be fun to go through all of it and pick out three bits each day that still amuse me for some reason or another.

I'm just hoping somehow it will keep this silliness going. -Jerry Seinfeld

Coming Soon to a Movie Theater Near You - The Science Fiction Film of the Decade - Planet of the Apps, Just When You Thought it Was Safe To Go Back On Your Computer (Thought of this myself) - Neil Fleischmann

If you're working toward touching the parts of a person's life that have to do with beauty, elegance , grace, and dignity then you're doing the opposite of people trying to convince others of the idea of power for the sake of power. Hancock/Santana

Whomever you are, I'm glad you're here.

Bamidbar

This Shabbos Rabbi Ya'akov Lehrfield of the Young Israel of Staten Island shared beautiful ideas in his user friendly pre-davening class. What follows is my take on his observations.

He spoke about the line which says that the sons of Moshe and Aharon will follow, but only a list of Aharon's sons is provided. Rashi cites Chazal's explanation that if you teach your friend's son Torah he is considered like your own child. Rabbi Lehrfield noticed that Rashi's comment is about your friend's son. Why is it phrased that way? Wouldn't the same principle apply to teaching anyone's child Torah? His answer is that in order teachers to do their job properly there needs to be a connection between teachers and parents. I think this is a very important point.


He also noted that when Aharon's sons are listed there is an etnachtah after the word bechor used to describe the first son on the list, making him stand out from all the others. This rubbed Rabbi Lehrfield the wrong way, as the non-oldest child. He presented an answer which I (and the nice fellow sitting next to me) zoned out for.


Rabbi Lehrfield pointed out another case of interesting trup. When Gershon, Kehat, and Merari are listed there is an etnachtah - pause - after each name. Even though they were siblings with common ground between them, they also each had their own unique abilities and tasks. This is hinted to by the etnachtah.


Finally Rabbi L considered a Rashi that states that Levi wasn't counted because they are G-d's chosen ones, the special children of The King. Then Rashi says another reason having to do with the fact that Levi did not sin in the episode of the golden calf. Rabbi Lehrfield suggested a connection between these two reasons; the first leads to the second. They were told that they were of high esteem, and they therefore felt and acted accordingly.


As a teacher I think a lot about that last point. Kids that thrive are often kids that have been brought up being told that they are bright, capable, attractive and more. Adults are that way too.


For other thoughts on Bamidbar from me see here and here.

On A Related Note - John Prine/Jim James: All The Best

A Pretty Song By My Morning Jacket (start 23 seconds in)

2 haiku

under the charred coal

inside our soul sits a spark

ready to ignite

why do we count?

we count because we matter.

why do we matter?..

H.A.L.T.

One of the most impressive, respectable teachers in my place of employment is sitting across from me in the teacher's room. He mentioned that he's going to the school play because his wife wants to go. I asked him, "Is that really her first choice for where she wants to go out?" At that point a science teacher laughed out loud and says that our conversation is very funny. Thank you very much. I like coming up with spontaneous humorous comments, funny on the spot. On Shabbos at Camp Moshava I was standing in front of the lake at sunset with some seniors. In the middle of a discussion my eye noticed a sign on a shack behind one of the kids. The little building had a faux street sign on it that said "The Lake." The words just came out, "I just want to point out that what we think is the lake isn't, the real lake is in there." Back to my colleague, he tells me that as a young married rabbi he tried to convince his wife that when he did an unveiling and brought her along that counted as going out. She considers anything else a step up from the unveiling. I hope to go to the play - doin' it for the children.

H.A.L.T.

Sometimes, like this one right now,

I remember to halt and see

how one of these four things

is affecting me -

being hungry, angry, lonely, or tired.

I have been thinking a lot lately about food. I wrote about it a few posts back and had a good comment thread with Lavender Garden about it. That was during the time that something went awry with Blogger and the comments were lost. I'm sad about that. I just checked and see Blogger is still a bit off. The comments have reappeared, but the post is elusive. Hopefully if you click here you'll see it.

I need to choose other activities for entertainment other than eating. It's a problem in today's world that - with all we know of the ills of overeating - eating is still a major social activity (you often hear "Let's do lunch," but seldom hear - let's do a walk). It is so common to soothe our pain by eating rather than dealing with it directly that we have given an affectionate nickname to what we imbibe at such times - "Comfort Food" (what could be bad about that which comes to soothe our pain? - he asked, knowing the answer to be "a lot"). We never need to be bored, but rather than study or read or write or sing or paint we often choose to eat. We encourage each other to eat unhealthy foods. We gift each other with cakes, kugels, and cookies. We douse vegetables with bad oil. We eat way too much at once.

I'm thinking about this now because I'm hungry. Are we ever truly hungry for food? How much food do we need to get by? We all deal differently with issues of weight that weigh heavily upon us. I respect every approach. A prominent rabbi who is overweight (like most of us living in the USA) said he'd rather be fat than stupid. I hope he's not both. Why are we humans so prone to either or thinking? Is it because it gives us an easy out?

Rav Elimelech Bar Shaul says that when G-d wrote that the Torah is not in heaven he meant the following: Many religions set their standards so pie in the sky that it's understood that no human can reach that standard. This allows people to opt out and say that they just can't do it, so they have a good excuse to call the whole thing off. Judaism, G-d tells us, is do-able. It is accessible and its standards are achievable.

This idea reminds me of what Weight Watchers always says - that eating right is within reach, a lifestyle not a crash diet. And yet at every meeting I attend the room is mostly populated with people who are re-starting after having lapsed. For many it does not feel or seem do-able. In the last few years I've gone way up in weight. In the last seven weeks I've gone down ten pounds. I hope that this week I lost weight again. I've been eating consciously. Slowly, slowly, slowly says the sloth.

While Proctoring

By Neil Fleischmann

I remember my teacher's faces

though I've long forgotten their tests

I remember their life lessons

though I've forgotten their classes

I remember anger, even kindness

I've forgotten the average ones' names

I am a teacher

I can't tell you what I teach

I give tests on a scheduled basis

I can't tell you if that's a good thing

I believe in living a meaningful life

I hope that my students get that.

May 24

These words of mine and the quote of Rabbi Soloveichik that I put up here six years ago are ringing true for me tonight (kind of).

Five years ago on this date I posted these questions:

1. Ein Simcha KeHatarat Ha___________ (There's no joy like the removal of _________)
2. Who lived 350 additional years after the watershed event in his life?
3. What place is always spelled in Tanach with a letter missing? Why?
4. Name two people that traditional Jewish sources describe drawing a circle and refusing to walk out of it?
5. Who are we commanded to love?

(the answers are in the 25 comments):

Four years ago at about this time I wrote this:

On Scrubbing

To me a neat poem is real, a clean toilet less so. Yet, these things must be cared for and so this morning I am cleaning house. I like when things are ordered but making them so is not my forte. Yet, I value the concept, and even the thing itself and occasionally force myself to dive in - or more aptly, to wet my toes.

One of the odd jobs I did, while spending my twenties in yeshiva in Jerusalem, was that of pot washer. I did it a handful of times, but it was for hours each time. There was something otherworldly and also uniquely real about the act of washing dishes. The kitchen was an old school operation. I wore a giant rubber apron and sprayed water at high speeds onto large quantities of large cooking and eating utensils. There was little choice but to throw myself totally in to the moment and thus into the water and metal and rubber. And I sweated. And it felt very different, very difficult, and very good.

As much as I am disinclined to doing housework I sometimes think back to that yeshiva kitchen. I just now sat on the floor of my bathroom scrubbing away. And when it started to hurt I escaped to the computer. But, perhaps if I go back, push, and sweat it out, I'll get more of what I got in yeshiva that the learning didn't provide. Perhaps as I return now to clean I'll find something that this typing can't give me. I'm not sure what it is, but I know it when I experience it. Maybe it is the simple joy of hard physical labor. Or it is simply a clear example of how effort can remove dirt and purify. Perhaps it is the use of mostly body and a little bit mind, as opposed to the writing process which is the reverse (if the tapping of fingers counts at all). What it is is good. And while I sigh as I leave my keyboard, the same time I am happy to go back to the floor to scrub some more.

Three years ago on May 22 I wrote this :

Besides everything

children are markers

something to hold

the years quickly fading

Two years ago to the day I wrote:

A man goes up to an elderly Jewish woman and says "I haven't eaten for three days." She replies, "Force yourself."

Right now I am pushing myself to share in this venue.

If you go to the first month of this blog's archives, November of 2004, what you'll see first is a post consisting mostly of Keb Mo's lyrics to his song, Let Your Light Shine.

That post sat for four and a half years until it received a comment yesterday. Thank you Cantor Shira. One never knows, do one? Thank you Fats Waller.

On May 24, 2010, I wrote this poem:

Where is man daily?

While spending time blaming G-d?

Why don't men save man?

H.O.T.D.

abrupt stops and starts

pondered after 15 years

what graduation

Rinse, Repeat

The year is ending

Why does life go by so fast?

"Have a nice summer."

Facing the Sea - Mei'al HaYahm

By Zelda

When I set free the golden fish

the sea laughed

and held me close

to his open heart,

to his streaming heart.

Then we sang together

(he and I)

My soul will not die, can decay rule over

a living flow?

So he sang

of his clamoring soul,

and I sang

of my soul in pain.

LECTURE

LECTURE

By Tom Wayman

We sit in rows

facing a man

who is talking. We

are not saying anything.

Suddenly a door near the back

opens

and most of us turn our heads.

Is someone

from a

different life

about to enter?

Will he or she bring

the air from outside

tasting of the sea,

spices and malt,

fresh cut planks?

Will it be a person

who can articulate

why we are uneasy

in this room,

fearful of complaining

when what is said

is unsatisfactory?

Whoever is entering

is in the door now

and we observe

she is,

only one of us,

nervous at arriving late,

hurriedly taking a seat.

Our heads

swivel again

to where the talker

has continued

with his words

all this time.

Maybe he

will deliver us, break

into song, reveal wonders,

make our presence in this

cramped room

worthwhile. But it looks

doubtful.

Toward the rear a door opens.

From The Spectacular Difference (1981)

By Zelda

There was something startling

in the hue of the sky.

I was amazed that the treetops

swayed gently

with no shadow of fear.

I wanted to flea from the white sky

but the small garden showed me signs

that his mercy had not ceased.

Two, Two, Two Haiku In One Post

It feels like too long

since I breathed like I meant it

I am breathing now

Breathing in and out

I wonder about haiku

and those who judge her

Text

by Carol Ann Duffy

I tend the mobile now
like an injured bird.

We text, text, text
our significant words.

I re-read your first,
your second, your third.

look for your small xx,
feeling absurd.

The codes we send
arrive with a broken chord.

I try to picture your hands,
their image is blurred.

Nothing my thumbs press
will ever be heard.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Possible lesson plan by Danielle Z (Or - Why I Wish I Taught English)

Learning outcomes: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to explain what makes the poem effective and its statement on modern communication.

Activities:

Pre-activity (10 minutes)
• Students are asked to write down, as interestingly as possible, in 120 characters or less (Twitter-style), what is on their mind (Facebook-style).
• They will then share their ‘status updates’ with the class, as a kind of measurement of ‘classroom climate’.

Main activity (30 minutes)
• (10) The class is divided into groups. Each group is given slips of paper with the stanzas on it. The groups are given these instructions: “You are given 7 slips of paper. Each piece contains lines from a poem about texting. Take some time to go through each of them as a group. Rearrange them in a sequence most meaningful to you.”
• (5) The groups share their rearranged poems with the class. The main question here to ask students is how and why they decided on the particular stanza to (start and) end the poem with, and the significance of that beginning or conclusion.
Teacher takes the opportunity to listen to how students interpret certain stanzas, or why they prefer one stanza to another, while invoking the main idea of each individual stanza.
• (5) Teacher shows the class the original poem and reads it aloud. The rest of the class is asked to pay attention to the rhyme scheme.
Students are asked – which stanza is the odd one out? Rhyme-wise, it is the stanza ending with the phrase ‘broken chord’. For this stanza, the main idea is broken communication and the way it is conveyed through the abrupt aberration.
• (5) Teacher looks at the first stanza and asks students why ‘injured bird’ is used. Students are asked to imagine and act out how they would tend to an injured bird in their hand. Then they are directed to the main idea of this stanza, which is how we tend dearly to our mobile phones.
• (5) Then, students are asked to explain how the brevity of each stanza illuminates a significant communicative point." They should focus on the stanzas that have not been talked about so far. E.g. "We text, text, text / our significant words’ → the feverish, repetitive obsession with texting. This should not take long, since they are already familiar with the stanzas.

Conclusion (5 minutes)
• Review and recap. Instruct students, “Write, in 120 characters or less, what you think this poem is trying to say.” After they have done so, they should post it up on the class blog or Facebook group.

Suggestions
• Comparison of different modes of communication – get them to write real pen-and-paper notes and compare with texting.

Bechukotai, Just Bechukotai

This week’s parshah, at first glance seems depressing. Upon more careful study it becomes clear that Parshat Bechukotai - even its tochachah - is filled with hope. The presentations of the tochachah in the Torah (Vayikrah (26:14 - 24 and Devarim 28: 15 - 68) generally follow the same formula. First, G-d tells us of the positive way that things will play out when we follow His ways. After that we’re told of the consequences of growing distant from G-d.

One major difference between the two presentations of rebuke concerns the lines of consolation which follow Parshat Bechukotai’s description of the punishment for straying from G-d . The nechamah consists of Hashem saying that he will remember Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. This endnote is absent from the tochachah in Parshat Ki Tavo. What is the meaning of these words of comfort? Under what circumstance does relief ensue in the wake of the fulfillment of the tochachah? In order to understand the consolation which may or may not follow the aftermath of not heeding the tochachah we need to delve into the concept of zechut avot, and to deal with the following issues.

Daily we pray to G-d in the merit of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. What right do we have to ask for things in their merit? The name Pirkei Avot means Chapters of the Fathers. Why is it called the words of the fathers and not the words of the rabbis? Why is each chapter introduced by a mishnah stating that “All of Israel has a share in the World to Come?”

Rav Nisson Alpert (1927-1986) explained that the conciliatory note on which this tochachah ends is hinged upon the Jewish People’s maintenance of an attachment to the values of the avot. If G-d sees that we have not severed our ties to the qualities of chesed, gevurah/avodah, and Torah - there is hope. In praying daily bizechut avot we invoke G-d's mercy based on the fact that the attributes of our forefathers live inside us, rather than simply based on the historical merit of their deeds.

Pirkei Avot is deliberately named because statements that we read in this book are not remote words of distant Sages. These are words of fathers that are heeded by their children. We must recognize and nurture this relationship if there is to be hope. This notion of connection is reinforced by the mishnah read before each chapter of Avot which assures our share in Olam Habah - the world in which all souls are linked. This idea comes up again in Avot 2:2 where we're told that the zechut of the community’ s predecessors helps the community's leaders and members.

A little boy was flying a kite. The wind was strong so it was a good day for it. He continuously released string, as the kite soared to the sky. An old man passed and asked what the kid was doing. The boy said he was flying a kite. The man pointed out that there was no kite in sight, only a taught string leading to the clouds. The boy insisted that his kite was at the end of the line. The man demanded: "How do you know the kite is there?" The boy replied, "I feel its tug."

We have the tug of our ancestors inside us. It would be wise to heed the spirit of the avot inside us. We must foster chesed, gevurah/avodah, and Torah in ourselves and our community. As long as we feel the tug, there is hope.

It takes effort to cultivate the good inside ourselves. In life we become what we make ourselves, not what we simply wish to be. And there is always competition for our attention. During this time of the Omer in particular we work on our midot and think seriously consider our choices. The cultivation of our connection to the Torah values of our parents, grandparents, and beyond is in our hands.

One evening a Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle going on inside him; "My son, it is between 2 wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it and asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee replied, "The one I feed."

May we be blessed to nurture the good inside ourselves and to merit great spiritual success.

From the Film - Amargosa

The young man stood at the edge of a great desert

and imagined the adventure of crossing it.

But then he thought of the heat, thought of the distance,

and of what he was leaving behind

and soon forgot all about the beautiful dream

that had brought him in the first place.

He considered his troubles and thought of writing them down,

but remembered the perfection of Shakespeare's sonnets.

He thought of drawing them in the sand,

but recalled Michelangelo's flawless ceilings.

He thought of just singing out, but heard a Mozart aria mocking him.

He thought and he thought.

He looked out and he thought some more and hesitated.

And there he stood, an old man, thinking.

2 Haiku (Not By Me)

It makes me very happy that I have influenced friends to writing poetry. I said to one friend something about him writing haiku and he corrected me. He said, "I write haiku to you:"

Life seems to move on

To-do list grows and grows, but

do we stop and think?

Friends are the stop-sign.

Need to press the pause button

on life's video

From Today's NY Times

MAY 17, 2011, 12:15 PM

Six-Word Momoirs: The Contest Winners!

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Summing up motherhood in just six words is no easy task. But more than 7,000 Well readers did just that, entering their short memoirs as part of our Six-Word Momoirs contest.

The challenge was to explain your mother, someone else’s mother or motherhood in general in just six words. Six contest winners will be named at the end of this post, while several of the best entries will be featured during Smith Magazine’s Six-Word Memoir Story Slam, “I Am Turning into My Mother,” to be held tomorrow, May 18, at the 92nd Street Y Tribeca Main Stage in New York. (Check the Web sitefor tickets and details.)

In wading through the hundreds and hundreds of Momoirs submitted, we did notice some recurring themes. One of them was food.

Maker of chicken soup and dreams.
Mom made pastina in the morning.
Her meatloaf was crunchy, with love.
Smart, kind, frugal. Makes great kugel.
There’s love in her green enchiladas.
She didn’t always follow the recipe.
I miss her rice and beans.
Kitchen is closed. Make it yourself.

And several readers noted that our mothers’ most memorable lines often are delivered in just six words.

You’re going out in that?
Let’s play the quiet game now.
Wait ‘til your father gets home.
Just put on a little lipstick.
Get down here, right this minute.
Because I’m your mother, that’s why.
I’m cold. Put on a sweater.
I know how busy you are.
Let me look before you flush.
Now put a real skirt on.
Hello. It’s your mother. Call me.

Many moms have entered the digital age.

The original Google, Wikipedia and eHow.
Thought ‘LOL’ meant ‘lots of love.’
She learned to text for me.
81 years young with an iPad2.
Uh oh. Mom’s on Facebook now.
Mom’s on Facebook. Luckily not Twitter.
She’s my number one Twitter follower.
Expects calls — or e-mails unhappy faces.
Sends me “Thinking of you” texts.

Several Momoirs had a high alcohol content.

Six kids. No wonder she drank.
Buried with her books and brandy.
I loved her, drunk or sober.
Kids need moms. Moms need wine.

There was dating advice.

Beware of men wearing pinky rings.

Religion…

God loves us through mothers, mostly.

Regrets…

Gone suddenly. Things left to say.

And gratitude…

Thanks for saving my birth certificate. (signed Barack Obama)

Moms who were activists…

“Remember the rainforests,” scrawled on lunchbags.

And moms who were wise…

Answered my questions. Questioned my answers.
My mother — often moved, seldom swayed

We learned about moms from another era…

Used her best china every day.
Mom only watches television while ironing.
Dressed to perfection, even in ambulance.
She knew and didn’t stop him.
Doing housework all day, she whistled.

And moms who were timeless…

Taught me the best swear words.
Hit her punk phase at 70.
Cursed by her love of puns.
Helped me bleach my punk hair.
She is a force of nurture.

There were mothers we missed….

Alzheimer’s makes me the mom now.
Lost my biggest fan to cancer.

Mothers who missed out…

My mother walked out on us
Easier to love from a distance
You missed out on absolutely everything.
Some moms should not be moms.
Killed herself when I was 8.
Difficult to love. Impossible to forget.

And those who filled their shoes…

Sometimes ‘Mom’ can be a dad.

There were moms who struggled…

Diet pills, chocolate cake, lifetime problem.

Moms of mystery…

Read in tub while we ate.
Turns out she had another life.

Moms we all know…

Her silence is heard, loud and clear.
Arms across my chest. Human seatbelt.
Coupons for tampons in birthday card.

And moms we’d like to know more about…

Wrote first book at age 73.
Child endangered, she shot the bear.
Switched napping dad’s pipe for banana.
Prison can’t mask her lemony aroma.
Red convertible, matching lipstick: coolest mom.
Escaped communist Albania. She was 19.
Even the Nazis bowed to you.
Loved Jesus, bourbon, cigarettes and me.

With so many great entries, it was tough to pick just six winners, but we did. All six will receive a signed copy of “It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure.” Here they are:

What’s she doing in my mirror? – Gail Menzel
“Mom, I am gay.” Nothing changed. – Anthony
[Insert some great advice here], sweetie. — Jen Winston
Not entirely happy until completely discontent. — Pat S.
Friends finally. But not on Facebook. – Erin
She deserves more than six words. — Juli

Click on the link to see all the Six-Word Momoirs submitted by readers.