Friday, December 27, 2002
A terrorist by any other name
Syrian President Bashir Assad, rejecting criticism of Syria allowing Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to operate offices in Syria: “Of course we don't have, in Syria, organisations supporting terrorism. We have press officers.”
A recent press release from the Jihad: four killed and three wounded during their Sabbath evening meal.
Friday, December 20, 2002
All you need is credit
I have often thought it ironical that Paul McCartney and I happen to share our birthday. Everyone in the world is either a Lennonite or a McCartneyite, and I am a fanatical Lennonite. Recently Paul has sunk to new depths by crediting Lennon-McCartney songs to “Paul McCartney and John Lennon”. Somehow this reminds me of the story of the two Buddhist monks who are walking through the jungle when they encounter a young woman stranded on the banks of a river. The older monk picks her up, carries her across the river, and keeps on walking. After a few hours, the younger monk breaks the traditional silence and bursts out, “How could you do that? We’re not even allowed to look at women, and you picked that woman up and carried her across the river?!” “I put her down on the other side,” replied the older one. “I see you’re still carrying her.”
Paul, poor pitiful loser, is still carrying his resentment at John for being better than he could ever dream of being, some 40 years after they made the agreement which Paul has now broken.
One in a million
The wise men of Chelm were discussing whether one would be better off to have been born or never to have been born. After seven days and seven nights they came to their conclusion: one would be better off never to have been born, but who is that lucky? Maybe one in a million.
Here is a quotation from Agnon with the same subtext, from the last chapter of Temol Shilshom:
קל להם לאותם שאינם טורדים עצמם בהרהורים יתירים, אם מחמת תמימות יתירה אם מחמת חכמה יתירה, אבל כל מי שאינו לא תמים הרבה ולא חכם הרבה מה יענה ומה יאמר?
My translation:
It's easy for those who don't trouble themselves with too much thought, either because they're too wise or because they're too simple. But someone who is not so wise and not so simple is left with nothing to say.
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