Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Driving Electric Cars at Better Place
It isn't enough just to hear about electric cars. The proof, as it is said, is in the pudding, or in this case, driving the damn things. So here, in an exclusive video, is Manny Waks, founder of the Capital Jewish Forum, test driving the electric car at Better Place. Also, near the end, you we learn about their infrastructure and watch how quickly a battery change takes place.
Read More......
Friday, July 2, 2010
Electric Cars, Laila Lavan, and Living it up in Israel
This was a huge, immense, anak week. We not only learned about how the world will be saved, I pulled my first all nighter since college, and had a family reunion of exceptional quality.
With the PresenTense crew, we visited a number of Venture Capital Firms in Tel Aviv, with a final stop at Better Place, Shai Agassi's bid to change the world through electric car infrastructure. We learned about the infrastructure, road in the cars, and were all thoroughly impressed. Beyond figuring out the infrastructure, what is so amazing about Better Place is that the cars will serve as mobile energy storage for the grid. What that means is that we can finally invest in renewable energy generation on a large scale because the cars will provide the means to store and harness the energy in an effective way.
The weekend started in earnest Saturday night with Laila lavan in Tel Aviv. Laila Lavan translates to white night, but means all-nighter because many of the museums and attractions are open late, there are concerts and performances up and down the boulevards and on the beaches, and there are people out everywhere until the sun comes up. We made it to Tel Aviv on the later side, it was probably close to 11 by the time we hit Rotchild, one of the main streets in Tel Aviv. Before we took in all the craziness, though, I had a nice reunion of sorts with Dor, a friend from my time in Israel as a student, and his brother. After catching up with a few St. Lou Jews including Michael and Noa, we made our way down the street, passing a wireless headphone rave, in which all of the dancers wore headphones so that only they could hear the music from the DJ, and a host of Elvis impersonators, before ending up at a concert of a Beatles cover band, which was fantastic. As we made our way South, we heard some funky music and happened upon a group of highschoolers getting down on the boulevard. We hung out there until they finished and caught up with Ariel, a friend from Wash U, and her boyfriend. We hung out drinking champagne on the street, people-watching and taking in the mayhem, before hopping over to a restaurant that made some of the best burgers I've ever had in Israel.
By the time we made it back to our crash pad, it was 6 am, and we had seen the sun rise over Tel Aviv.
Friday, we took our time recovering and I finally was able to see my friend's mom, who had been like an adopted mother to me while studying in Israel. I joined them for Shabbat dinner and was able to catch up with nearly the whole of the family.
Shabbat was spent mostly in Gan Hapa'amon (Liberty Bell) park in Jerusalem with a friend from Philly, although tonight, while watching more of the World Cup, we struck up a conversation with some Brazilian and Spanish kids who were doing their version of Birthright. They invited us out dancing afterwards and proved to us that Americans aren't the only ones who go crazy in Israel.
Read More......
With the PresenTense crew, we visited a number of Venture Capital Firms in Tel Aviv, with a final stop at Better Place, Shai Agassi's bid to change the world through electric car infrastructure. We learned about the infrastructure, road in the cars, and were all thoroughly impressed. Beyond figuring out the infrastructure, what is so amazing about Better Place is that the cars will serve as mobile energy storage for the grid. What that means is that we can finally invest in renewable energy generation on a large scale because the cars will provide the means to store and harness the energy in an effective way.
The weekend started in earnest Saturday night with Laila lavan in Tel Aviv. Laila Lavan translates to white night, but means all-nighter because many of the museums and attractions are open late, there are concerts and performances up and down the boulevards and on the beaches, and there are people out everywhere until the sun comes up. We made it to Tel Aviv on the later side, it was probably close to 11 by the time we hit Rotchild, one of the main streets in Tel Aviv. Before we took in all the craziness, though, I had a nice reunion of sorts with Dor, a friend from my time in Israel as a student, and his brother. After catching up with a few St. Lou Jews including Michael and Noa, we made our way down the street, passing a wireless headphone rave, in which all of the dancers wore headphones so that only they could hear the music from the DJ, and a host of Elvis impersonators, before ending up at a concert of a Beatles cover band, which was fantastic. As we made our way South, we heard some funky music and happened upon a group of highschoolers getting down on the boulevard. We hung out there until they finished and caught up with Ariel, a friend from Wash U, and her boyfriend. We hung out drinking champagne on the street, people-watching and taking in the mayhem, before hopping over to a restaurant that made some of the best burgers I've ever had in Israel.
By the time we made it back to our crash pad, it was 6 am, and we had seen the sun rise over Tel Aviv.
Friday, we took our time recovering and I finally was able to see my friend's mom, who had been like an adopted mother to me while studying in Israel. I joined them for Shabbat dinner and was able to catch up with nearly the whole of the family.
Shabbat was spent mostly in Gan Hapa'amon (Liberty Bell) park in Jerusalem with a friend from Philly, although tonight, while watching more of the World Cup, we struck up a conversation with some Brazilian and Spanish kids who were doing their version of Birthright. They invited us out dancing afterwards and proved to us that Americans aren't the only ones who go crazy in Israel.
Read More......
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
And Now, for Part 2 of our interview with David Lizzo. In this piece, Dave discusses living here, the Flotilla, and Gaza.
Read More......
Read More......
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Where is Yokne'am, What is Perma-culture, And More
This past weekend, I went on a bit of an adventure. I hit three cities, a few villages, and a co-op. Where did I go? What did I see? How did I end up playing darbuka under a passion fruit vine? Read on to find out.
I made the trek up to St. Louis' Sister City, Yokne'am - Megiddo. For those of you who don't know (which is nearly everyone), Yokne'am is a small city of 20,000 located in Northern Israel, located a bit south of Haifa. I had been put in touch with Shachar, a resident of Yokne'am who has been organizing a community of young adults, and thought he'd be a great person to speak to and learn from. There is no central bus station in Yokne'am, and so I got dropped off on the side of a main road, next to a mall.
Shachar picked me up, and I was a bit relieved to learn that he had actually be born in the US, which made me feel better about speaking to him in English. He and his wife, Yamit, and their 5-month-old, Ma'ayan, live in an apartment block with a pretty amazing view of the surrounding area.
We spent the afternoon talking about the area, the neighborhood, and the community. Below is a video of Shachar talking a bit about Yokne'am
After a nice Shabbat dinner at the apartment of one of the other young families in the community, Shachar and I went to a house party in Zichron Yakov. There, we found people doing what is called 'Playback' in which one person tells a story and then actors act it out. It was a little weird, but also pretty interesting. Along the way, we met some great people.
On Saturday morning, we went to a permaculture coop which is based around sustainable design. The coop was having an exchange event in which people brought clothes and books and could take things that others brought. In addition they had music, dancing, and some great food. Israeli hippies do it up right.
Saturday night, I stayed with Yogev and Noa, two St. Louis Israelis who were back in Tel Aviv for work. While out watching the US/Ghana soccer game, I ended up sitting next to Zach, who had just finished a year in St. Louis as a Koro fellow.
Sunday morning I made it up to Ra'anana to interview Joseph Gitlers, founder of Leket, an amazing non profit. You'll have to stay tuned for that video.
Read More......
I made the trek up to St. Louis' Sister City, Yokne'am - Megiddo. For those of you who don't know (which is nearly everyone), Yokne'am is a small city of 20,000 located in Northern Israel, located a bit south of Haifa. I had been put in touch with Shachar, a resident of Yokne'am who has been organizing a community of young adults, and thought he'd be a great person to speak to and learn from. There is no central bus station in Yokne'am, and so I got dropped off on the side of a main road, next to a mall.
Shachar picked me up, and I was a bit relieved to learn that he had actually be born in the US, which made me feel better about speaking to him in English. He and his wife, Yamit, and their 5-month-old, Ma'ayan, live in an apartment block with a pretty amazing view of the surrounding area.
We spent the afternoon talking about the area, the neighborhood, and the community. Below is a video of Shachar talking a bit about Yokne'am
After a nice Shabbat dinner at the apartment of one of the other young families in the community, Shachar and I went to a house party in Zichron Yakov. There, we found people doing what is called 'Playback' in which one person tells a story and then actors act it out. It was a little weird, but also pretty interesting. Along the way, we met some great people.
On Saturday morning, we went to a permaculture coop which is based around sustainable design. The coop was having an exchange event in which people brought clothes and books and could take things that others brought. In addition they had music, dancing, and some great food. Israeli hippies do it up right.
Saturday night, I stayed with Yogev and Noa, two St. Louis Israelis who were back in Tel Aviv for work. While out watching the US/Ghana soccer game, I ended up sitting next to Zach, who had just finished a year in St. Louis as a Koro fellow.
Sunday morning I made it up to Ra'anana to interview Joseph Gitlers, founder of Leket, an amazing non profit. You'll have to stay tuned for that video.
Read More......
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Interview with David Lizzo Part One
David Lizzo is a native of St. Louis who moved to Israel and lived for 4 years, getting citizenship and going into the army. Find out why he did it, and what he learned.
Read More......
div>
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tel Aviv
A friend told me about Tel Aviv that there are many more beautiful than her, but none quite as beautiful like her. The city, Israel’s biggest, is located on the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the country. Considered the first ‘Modern Jewish’ city, Tel Aviv’s history spans back over 100 years. Known for its beach culture, night life, and shopping, Tel Aviv is the place to be… and after a week and a half of VIP meetings, skill buildings sessions, lectures, workshops, etc., I was ready to be there.
Intercity travel in Israel is a breeze, assuming your Hebrew is decent. Buses run from the central bus station in Jerusalem to that of Tel Aviv every 10-15 minutes. I instead opted for a bus that let me off a short walk from Azrieli, a large corporate tower and mall, to meet Shiri, a close friend of Kinneret Nahamani, who moved from Israel to St. Louis seven years ago. At the Azrieli mall, you are immediately struck by…how similar it looks to any American mall. Sure, the people are skinnier, the music favors techno over hip hop, and a few stores have unfamiliar names, but other than that, we are talking about the same terribly over-stimulating consumer experience. I did, however, have a big Shawarma, which helped sooth my aching senses.
From there, it was pretty easy to hop a bus over to the beach, where I met Mike Simmons, a Cincinnati native in town for a Krav Maga seminar. Krav Maga is the fighting system used by the Israeli army and Mike, who started a Krav Maga studio in Cincinnati, was there to advance his training and bring new innovations in the field back to the 513. Mike and spent the afternoon on the beach, soaking up the intense sun, sipping Goldstars, (Israel’s Budweiser) and playing a game called Matkot. Matkot is a game that can be used as an analogy for the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Basically, two people hit a ball back and forth between each other using paddles. You don’t keep score, and when someone misses the ball, you just pick it up and start smacking it again. In short, it is pointless, but everyone is obsessed with it.
After the beach, I dropped by Ariel’s place. Ariel is a friend from Washington University, where we studied Hebrew together. She moved to Israel after college and has been living in Tel Aviv with her boyfriend for a few years now. We went to her boyfriend Eran’s parent’s house for Shabbat dinner, where I was stuffed with food by an Eran’s mother. To be fair, the watermelon was potentially the best I’ve ever had in my life.
We managed to take our leave before any weird family moments could occur, and back at Ariel’s we caught up with a few of the other PresenTense fellows who had decided to make the jaunt to Tel Aviv. As we sat enjoying drinks on Ariel’s rooftop patio, it was hard not to imagine how much fun it would be to live there. Around 12:30 we made it out on the town, walking down Rothchild, a famous street with a pedestrian boulevard down the middle. We ended up at a champagne bar, where we listened to some amazingly remixed music that combined Balkan horn riffs with pounding Electronic drum beats. By the time we got to bed, I didn’t at all mind sleeping on the couch.
Saturday morning, I met up with Lee, a friend who had been a soldier on the Birthright trip of a few good camp/NFTY friends. We had kept in touch and she accompanied me down to the beach to connect with Noa and Yogev. Noa and Yogev are Israelis who work in St. Louis for AmDocs, an IT company. They just happened to be in town for a few weeks. This time, we went to a totally different beach, much further North, with a more young adult population. It is worth saying at this point that Israeli women are devastatingly beautiful, but even more so on the beach.
We actually went in the water, but quickly left after hearing that there were ‘medusot’ (jellyfish) nearby. Noa and Yogev convinced me to stay another night (not that much arm twisting was involved), and over the course of the night, we managed to eat some amazing ice cream, catch up with St. Louis native, David Lizzo, see a Michael Jackson impersonator, and make a stop at Tel Aviv’s best Shawarma place.
Tel Aviv is in many ways, worlds apart from Jerusalem. You see far fewer Haredim (ultra-orthodox), or Kippot at all for that matter. Far more people have tattoos, there are more bars, and far more Hebrew is spoken. At all hours of the night there are people out on the street, usually sitting at cafes.
Also, there is a totally different energy. Whereas Jerusalem has a spiritual energy, a holiness, and a piousness, Tel Aviv has a young frenetic energy, a more visceral energy.
A trip to the white city is highly recommended Read More......
Intercity travel in Israel is a breeze, assuming your Hebrew is decent. Buses run from the central bus station in Jerusalem to that of Tel Aviv every 10-15 minutes. I instead opted for a bus that let me off a short walk from Azrieli, a large corporate tower and mall, to meet Shiri, a close friend of Kinneret Nahamani, who moved from Israel to St. Louis seven years ago. At the Azrieli mall, you are immediately struck by…how similar it looks to any American mall. Sure, the people are skinnier, the music favors techno over hip hop, and a few stores have unfamiliar names, but other than that, we are talking about the same terribly over-stimulating consumer experience. I did, however, have a big Shawarma, which helped sooth my aching senses.
From there, it was pretty easy to hop a bus over to the beach, where I met Mike Simmons, a Cincinnati native in town for a Krav Maga seminar. Krav Maga is the fighting system used by the Israeli army and Mike, who started a Krav Maga studio in Cincinnati, was there to advance his training and bring new innovations in the field back to the 513. Mike and spent the afternoon on the beach, soaking up the intense sun, sipping Goldstars, (Israel’s Budweiser) and playing a game called Matkot. Matkot is a game that can be used as an analogy for the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Basically, two people hit a ball back and forth between each other using paddles. You don’t keep score, and when someone misses the ball, you just pick it up and start smacking it again. In short, it is pointless, but everyone is obsessed with it.
After the beach, I dropped by Ariel’s place. Ariel is a friend from Washington University, where we studied Hebrew together. She moved to Israel after college and has been living in Tel Aviv with her boyfriend for a few years now. We went to her boyfriend Eran’s parent’s house for Shabbat dinner, where I was stuffed with food by an Eran’s mother. To be fair, the watermelon was potentially the best I’ve ever had in my life.
We managed to take our leave before any weird family moments could occur, and back at Ariel’s we caught up with a few of the other PresenTense fellows who had decided to make the jaunt to Tel Aviv. As we sat enjoying drinks on Ariel’s rooftop patio, it was hard not to imagine how much fun it would be to live there. Around 12:30 we made it out on the town, walking down Rothchild, a famous street with a pedestrian boulevard down the middle. We ended up at a champagne bar, where we listened to some amazingly remixed music that combined Balkan horn riffs with pounding Electronic drum beats. By the time we got to bed, I didn’t at all mind sleeping on the couch.
Saturday morning, I met up with Lee, a friend who had been a soldier on the Birthright trip of a few good camp/NFTY friends. We had kept in touch and she accompanied me down to the beach to connect with Noa and Yogev. Noa and Yogev are Israelis who work in St. Louis for AmDocs, an IT company. They just happened to be in town for a few weeks. This time, we went to a totally different beach, much further North, with a more young adult population. It is worth saying at this point that Israeli women are devastatingly beautiful, but even more so on the beach.
We actually went in the water, but quickly left after hearing that there were ‘medusot’ (jellyfish) nearby. Noa and Yogev convinced me to stay another night (not that much arm twisting was involved), and over the course of the night, we managed to eat some amazing ice cream, catch up with St. Louis native, David Lizzo, see a Michael Jackson impersonator, and make a stop at Tel Aviv’s best Shawarma place.
Tel Aviv is in many ways, worlds apart from Jerusalem. You see far fewer Haredim (ultra-orthodox), or Kippot at all for that matter. Far more people have tattoos, there are more bars, and far more Hebrew is spoken. At all hours of the night there are people out on the street, usually sitting at cafes.
Also, there is a totally different energy. Whereas Jerusalem has a spiritual energy, a holiness, and a piousness, Tel Aviv has a young frenetic energy, a more visceral energy.
A trip to the white city is highly recommended Read More......
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
What's Good in Jerusalem?
With so much media focus on the negative, along with a blurred view of reality, many people forget that Jerusalem is a functioning city with supermarkets, restaurants, bars, and a little nightlife thrown in. So just what the hell am I doing in Jerusalem?
It seems fitting that, given the parameters of Jewish Geography, Jerusalem, and jetlag, that my very first night in Israel should be spent at a wedding. Finding my way there was not an easy task, as Jerusalem is not at all laid out in a grid, a fact predicated along the hills and valleys that make up its topography. Luckily, after running into a friend at the bus stop, and combining forces (and Hebrew skills) we were able to find our way and move on up (literally) to our destination.
This was my first Israeli wedding, so it is, perhaps, worth it to recount the experience. First, there were several hours of appetizers and drinking, followed by a very short ceremony in which the groom gave the ring to the bride, the Rabbi said the Hebrew bit, followed by the Shevah Brachot aka the Seven Blessings, gave a quick speech about how important it is to create a Jewish home filled with joy and not distrust, as this distrust and lack of love between Jews was what caused the destruction of the second temple, the glass was broken and then the ceremony was over.
The ensuing dance party was pretty fierce and I was thankfully thoroughly exhausted by the time I got back to my apartment in Baka.
Thursday was our first day of Orientation at PresenTense and included a deluge of information on web-based tools and ideas. My coach (like a mentor), tipped me off to something called 'boogie' going down that night at a local community center so I went to check it out.
Unfortunately I forgot my camera because somethings just need to be seen. The room, which had been converted into a club, replete with sound and lighting, was filled with slightly hippied out Israelis, moving to the incredibly diverse and well mixed musical selections. After about 20 minutes, one of the women assembled everyone together to lead in a sort of yoga/tai chi stretch routine that was pretty amazing and out there at the same time. Once the beats got bumping, though, it became a hot spot pretty quickly. Combinations of reggae, electronica, hip hop, and African beats. Apparently this goes down every Thursday night. I assume I'll be back.
Yesterday morning, I was able to sit down with Esther Kustanowitz aka EstherK, one of the queens of the Jewish blogosphere and social media scene. It was great to see a her in person, as her digital resume stretches to all corners of the internet. We spoke about how she ended up as the writer she is today and the evolution of bloggers in society and culture.
As I mentioned earlier, Jerusalem is a pretty hilly city, and some streets are at an intense angle. Going running here destroys you pretty quickly. I took a video while walking to a Cincinnati friend's apartment to showcase some of those steep grades:
Coming up this weekend will be a trip to Tel Aviv, the happening party capital of the Jewish state. Stay tuned.
Read More......
It seems fitting that, given the parameters of Jewish Geography, Jerusalem, and jetlag, that my very first night in Israel should be spent at a wedding. Finding my way there was not an easy task, as Jerusalem is not at all laid out in a grid, a fact predicated along the hills and valleys that make up its topography. Luckily, after running into a friend at the bus stop, and combining forces (and Hebrew skills) we were able to find our way and move on up (literally) to our destination.
This was my first Israeli wedding, so it is, perhaps, worth it to recount the experience. First, there were several hours of appetizers and drinking, followed by a very short ceremony in which the groom gave the ring to the bride, the Rabbi said the Hebrew bit, followed by the Shevah Brachot aka the Seven Blessings, gave a quick speech about how important it is to create a Jewish home filled with joy and not distrust, as this distrust and lack of love between Jews was what caused the destruction of the second temple, the glass was broken and then the ceremony was over.
The ensuing dance party was pretty fierce and I was thankfully thoroughly exhausted by the time I got back to my apartment in Baka.
Thursday was our first day of Orientation at PresenTense and included a deluge of information on web-based tools and ideas. My coach (like a mentor), tipped me off to something called 'boogie' going down that night at a local community center so I went to check it out.
Unfortunately I forgot my camera because somethings just need to be seen. The room, which had been converted into a club, replete with sound and lighting, was filled with slightly hippied out Israelis, moving to the incredibly diverse and well mixed musical selections. After about 20 minutes, one of the women assembled everyone together to lead in a sort of yoga/tai chi stretch routine that was pretty amazing and out there at the same time. Once the beats got bumping, though, it became a hot spot pretty quickly. Combinations of reggae, electronica, hip hop, and African beats. Apparently this goes down every Thursday night. I assume I'll be back.
Yesterday morning, I was able to sit down with Esther Kustanowitz aka EstherK, one of the queens of the Jewish blogosphere and social media scene. It was great to see a her in person, as her digital resume stretches to all corners of the internet. We spoke about how she ended up as the writer she is today and the evolution of bloggers in society and culture.
As I mentioned earlier, Jerusalem is a pretty hilly city, and some streets are at an intense angle. Going running here destroys you pretty quickly. I took a video while walking to a Cincinnati friend's apartment to showcase some of those steep grades:
Coming up this weekend will be a trip to Tel Aviv, the happening party capital of the Jewish state. Stay tuned.
Read More......
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Farmer's Market Vs. The Shuk
Perhaps one of the glimmers of hope in our time is a renewed focus on the sources and contents of the food we eat. Many cities have seen renewed interest in their farmer's markets, but in Israel, the shuk has been a focal point of shopping for a very long time.
Cincinnati's Findley Market and St. Louis' Soulard Farmer's Market (and now Tower Grove) have long been known for being a produce lover's paradise, replete with more affordable produce, often brought to market by the farmers themselves. There is no atmosphere quite like that produced by a produce-heavy market; people inspecting each piece of fruit for blemishes, trying not to lose their children, bumping into each other in the confined spaces...
Now imagine all of that color and sound, only bigger, fresher, cheaper, and filled with one of the most ridiculous groups of people on the planet, known affectionately as 'Israelis'. This is Mahane Yehuda.
Located in Central Jerusalem, Mahane Yehuda is the place to get everything from fresh produce and breads (challah and pita are a must), to spices, meats, cheeses, and pastries. Patches of fire-truck red explode (no pun intended) from bunches of peppers, deep purple plums draw you in, while whole sacks of 20 spices you can't even name (zatar?) fill the air with pungent aromas. And then there is the rugelach..... most Americans swear by the rugelach at Marzipan, and it is cheap enough to be really deadly.
For the real experience, though, you have to see Mahane Yehuda on a Friday afternoon, during the pre-Shabbat shopping crunch. Everyone and their grandmother is there buying food for Shabbat dinner. Black hat, Ultra-Orthodox Jews are grabbing a few final avocados, secular Israelis are grabbing Challahs, Americans on Birthright are getting in the way, literally everyone is there.
We took a quick and dirty video to show you some of the sights and sounds:
Read More......
Cincinnati's Findley Market and St. Louis' Soulard Farmer's Market (and now Tower Grove) have long been known for being a produce lover's paradise, replete with more affordable produce, often brought to market by the farmers themselves. There is no atmosphere quite like that produced by a produce-heavy market; people inspecting each piece of fruit for blemishes, trying not to lose their children, bumping into each other in the confined spaces...
Now imagine all of that color and sound, only bigger, fresher, cheaper, and filled with one of the most ridiculous groups of people on the planet, known affectionately as 'Israelis'. This is Mahane Yehuda.
Located in Central Jerusalem, Mahane Yehuda is the place to get everything from fresh produce and breads (challah and pita are a must), to spices, meats, cheeses, and pastries. Patches of fire-truck red explode (no pun intended) from bunches of peppers, deep purple plums draw you in, while whole sacks of 20 spices you can't even name (zatar?) fill the air with pungent aromas. And then there is the rugelach..... most Americans swear by the rugelach at Marzipan, and it is cheap enough to be really deadly.
For the real experience, though, you have to see Mahane Yehuda on a Friday afternoon, during the pre-Shabbat shopping crunch. Everyone and their grandmother is there buying food for Shabbat dinner. Black hat, Ultra-Orthodox Jews are grabbing a few final avocados, secular Israelis are grabbing Challahs, Americans on Birthright are getting in the way, literally everyone is there.
We took a quick and dirty video to show you some of the sights and sounds:
Read More......
Thursday, June 10, 2010
First Post From Israel
Arriving in Israel is always something of a homecoming and this trip has already proven that Israel is the center of Jewish geography.
Not only did I share the flight with a friend from youth group in Cincinnati, I was picked up at the airport by the brother of a friend from St. Louis, who drove me to Jerusalem. I was then able to take a 10 minute walk to the apartment of a friend who studied with me at Washington University, followed by the wedding of a friend with whom I studied at the University of Haifa. At her wedding I ran into a former camp counselor, a graduate student of my father's who is married to another youth group friend, as well as another friend from St. Louis.
As I continue this trip, I hope to provide video of some of these individuals, particularly those who have some connection to St. Louis. The idea behind the video will be to transmit interesting stories, ideas, and experiences by to the St. Louis community with the hope that this content sparks further discussion and innovation.
The video below is Ariel Beery, one of the founders of the PresenTense Institute, speaking about the importance of community support, amongst other things. I thought it a fitting way to start
Read More......
Not only did I share the flight with a friend from youth group in Cincinnati, I was picked up at the airport by the brother of a friend from St. Louis, who drove me to Jerusalem. I was then able to take a 10 minute walk to the apartment of a friend who studied with me at Washington University, followed by the wedding of a friend with whom I studied at the University of Haifa. At her wedding I ran into a former camp counselor, a graduate student of my father's who is married to another youth group friend, as well as another friend from St. Louis.
As I continue this trip, I hope to provide video of some of these individuals, particularly those who have some connection to St. Louis. The idea behind the video will be to transmit interesting stories, ideas, and experiences by to the St. Louis community with the hope that this content sparks further discussion and innovation.
The video below is Ariel Beery, one of the founders of the PresenTense Institute, speaking about the importance of community support, amongst other things. I thought it a fitting way to start
Read More......
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Flotilla Fadicha - Expanded
Now that the international and digital world is on fire about the 'Gaza Freedom Flotilla', it is worth distilling and discussing the main points of the crisis/uproar/etc. In my opinion they are:
1. is the Israel naval blockade of Gaza illegal?
2. is attempting to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal?
3. is stopping those who attempt to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal?
4. is attacking those who are stopping those who attempt to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal
5. is defending against activists attacking troops stopping the attempt to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal?
If you haven't already heard about the flotilla, start here.
The crux of this issue really lies in the fact that the Israeli navy is enforcing a maritime blockage of the waters around the Gaza strip. I understand that even amongst law experts, there is much disagreement about the legality of this blockade, based on whether or not the territory is Israeli and a few other details.
As some history, When Hamas violently wrested power from the PA in Gaza a few years ago, Israel began the blockade with the reasoning that Hamas is a terrorist organization that has dedicated itself to destroying Israel and that it would attempt to smuggle weapons via the Mediterranean Sea. Palestinians have indeed done this before, and with the rise of Iran's role in providing weapons and tactics, this is of increased strategic importance. For a legal perspective on the blockade, click
The second question is obviously tied to the first. If this blockade is in accordance with international law, then it is totally illegal and violates the territorial sovereignty of Israel to subvert it, but in the same way that drug smugglers from Mexico to the US are subverting US territorial sovereignty. If this blockade is illegal, then subverting it is not.
Next, the Israelis have consistently warned that any attempt to subvert the blockade would be met by the Israeli Navy, who would force the ships to turn around or board the ships, tow them to Israeli territory, detain, and deport the passengers. This is perfectly within their rights if the blockade is legal, as well as if the blockade is illegal, so long as they have evidence that the ships attempting to subvert the blockade are carrying weapons or other contraband. Additionally, the flotilla claimed to have been a humanitarian mission focused around providing aid to needy people in Gaza. Both Israel and Egypt offered to deliver the aid to Gaza directly, just as they have done with all previous aid shipments. The flotilla organizers rejected this, wanting specifically to challenge the Israeli blockade. Israel has subsequently transfered all of the aid from the flotilla to Gaza.
Now, do those passengers aboard the ships have the right to self defense? Sure, if there were clear evidence they were being threatened. However, from the accounts, it appears as though all of the other ships were taken without incident, and only on the flagship did violence break out. From the videos, the activists aboard the 'mother ship' were clearly violent. You can see in the video posted yesterday, that the Israeli commandos boarded the ships with paintball guns in their hands. Could those have been perceived as threatening, sure. Were they? No.
Finally, from video, it is clearly apparent that the commandos were attacked by a mob wielding some type of rods or sticks, there are videos of knife attacks, and one of Israeli soldiers being fired upon by guns. Under these circumstances, did the Israeli soldiers have the right to defend themselves with deadly force? I believe the answer to be yes. By calling this a massacre, and demonizing these commandos for responding with live fire (even though this appears to have been a last resort), we take what was clearly a tragedy, and distort it for propaganda purposes.
For the timeline of events, click here
To view some of the weapons used by the activists, click here
To read some opinion from my least favorite news source, click here
For a view from an Israeli soldier, click here
For the STL JCRC's experience, click here
Read More......
1. is the Israel naval blockade of Gaza illegal?
2. is attempting to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal?
3. is stopping those who attempt to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal?
4. is attacking those who are stopping those who attempt to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal
5. is defending against activists attacking troops stopping the attempt to subvert or bypass the blockade illegal?
If you haven't already heard about the flotilla, start here.
The crux of this issue really lies in the fact that the Israeli navy is enforcing a maritime blockage of the waters around the Gaza strip. I understand that even amongst law experts, there is much disagreement about the legality of this blockade, based on whether or not the territory is Israeli and a few other details.
As some history, When Hamas violently wrested power from the PA in Gaza a few years ago, Israel began the blockade with the reasoning that Hamas is a terrorist organization that has dedicated itself to destroying Israel and that it would attempt to smuggle weapons via the Mediterranean Sea. Palestinians have indeed done this before, and with the rise of Iran's role in providing weapons and tactics, this is of increased strategic importance. For a legal perspective on the blockade, click
here.
The second question is obviously tied to the first. If this blockade is in accordance with international law, then it is totally illegal and violates the territorial sovereignty of Israel to subvert it, but in the same way that drug smugglers from Mexico to the US are subverting US territorial sovereignty. If this blockade is illegal, then subverting it is not.
Next, the Israelis have consistently warned that any attempt to subvert the blockade would be met by the Israeli Navy, who would force the ships to turn around or board the ships, tow them to Israeli territory, detain, and deport the passengers. This is perfectly within their rights if the blockade is legal, as well as if the blockade is illegal, so long as they have evidence that the ships attempting to subvert the blockade are carrying weapons or other contraband. Additionally, the flotilla claimed to have been a humanitarian mission focused around providing aid to needy people in Gaza. Both Israel and Egypt offered to deliver the aid to Gaza directly, just as they have done with all previous aid shipments. The flotilla organizers rejected this, wanting specifically to challenge the Israeli blockade. Israel has subsequently transfered all of the aid from the flotilla to Gaza.
Now, do those passengers aboard the ships have the right to self defense? Sure, if there were clear evidence they were being threatened. However, from the accounts, it appears as though all of the other ships were taken without incident, and only on the flagship did violence break out. From the videos, the activists aboard the 'mother ship' were clearly violent. You can see in the video posted yesterday, that the Israeli commandos boarded the ships with paintball guns in their hands. Could those have been perceived as threatening, sure. Were they? No.
Finally, from video, it is clearly apparent that the commandos were attacked by a mob wielding some type of rods or sticks, there are videos of knife attacks, and one of Israeli soldiers being fired upon by guns. Under these circumstances, did the Israeli soldiers have the right to defend themselves with deadly force? I believe the answer to be yes. By calling this a massacre, and demonizing these commandos for responding with live fire (even though this appears to have been a last resort), we take what was clearly a tragedy, and distort it for propaganda purposes.
For the timeline of events, click here
To view some of the weapons used by the activists, click here
To read some opinion from my least favorite news source, click here
For a view from an Israeli soldier, click here
For the STL JCRC's experience, click here
Read More......
Monday, May 31, 2010
Flotilla Fadicha
If you have been following the news lately, you might have heard about the planned flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Yesterday, the flotilla made good on its word to proceed, and the Israelis made good on their word to stop them from illegally entering Israeli territory.
The activists, who claimed to have peaceful intentions, reacted violently to the boarding of their ships by Israeli special forces. Many attacked the Israelis with metal pipes, some with mace and even knives. The Israeli forces boarded the ships, but left 9 activists dead and tens more injured. See first hand footage of the Israelis boarding the ship and being met with violent resistance.
Read More......
The activists, who claimed to have peaceful intentions, reacted violently to the boarding of their ships by Israeli special forces. Many attacked the Israelis with metal pipes, some with mace and even knives. The Israeli forces boarded the ships, but left 9 activists dead and tens more injured. See first hand footage of the Israelis boarding the ship and being met with violent resistance.
Read More......
Friday, May 28, 2010
Only We Can Make Fun of Ourselves
I know, you come to the St. Lou Jew looking for insight into being a Jewish young adult in St. Louis and you just get a youtube video. If it makes you feel any better, it isn't just any video. It happens to be a great video from Israel (with English subtitles). In a style described as the 'SNL Oh Really' of Israel, the reporters cover some of Israel's biggest issues in a way that calls out the sheer absurdity of it all. Check it out!
Read More......
Read More......
Monday, May 24, 2010
Press Coverage in the Huffington Post
Looks like Next Dor isn't the only game in town getting some great press coverage. We were recently tipped off to this great story in the Huffington Post about Aaron Woolf, which cites our interview with the documentary film maker.
Click here to read the full HuffPo article, and here to read our full interview Read More......
Click here to read the full HuffPo article, and here to read our full interview Read More......
Monday, May 17, 2010
This week in the Lou
So you looked into your magic 8-ball and it came up cloudy for the week... never fear, The St. Lou Jew is here to make sure you know what is happening in St. Louis
Here is some light reading before we jump in about why young Jews don't affiliate and the failure of the American Jewish Establishment (our favorite discussions topics).
Now on to the main events:
Tonight, be sure to catch Aaron Woolf's new film, entitled "Beyond Motor City" which is making its local debut at the Tivoli tonight at 7 PM. Aaron will be in the house along with Congressman Russ Carnahan, so be sure to stop in and meet them.
Tomorrow, catch Twilight Tuesdays at the History Museum followed by Shavuot, which pops off with Yoga at the Next Dor House, headlined by a brief prayer by Rabbi Susan Talve at 8 PM.
On Wednesday, TriYoga will be at Next Dor at 6:45, with Moise House holding a Movie night at 7:30.
Thursday, Autiomadic will be performing with the Hood Internet at the Gramophone. Show up early for free PBR.
Friday, 3rd Friday's is back at Next Dor, bringing a meal fit for a king at a price fit for a pauper (free!). This month, Melody from AIPAC will be in the house to talk about her work. More information here
As if you didn't already have enough to do, right?
Read More......
Here is some light reading before we jump in about why young Jews don't affiliate and the failure of the American Jewish Establishment (our favorite discussions topics).
Now on to the main events:
Tonight, be sure to catch Aaron Woolf's new film, entitled "Beyond Motor City" which is making its local debut at the Tivoli tonight at 7 PM. Aaron will be in the house along with Congressman Russ Carnahan, so be sure to stop in and meet them.
Tomorrow, catch Twilight Tuesdays at the History Museum followed by Shavuot, which pops off with Yoga at the Next Dor House, headlined by a brief prayer by Rabbi Susan Talve at 8 PM.
On Wednesday, TriYoga will be at Next Dor at 6:45, with Moise House holding a Movie night at 7:30.
Thursday, Autiomadic will be performing with the Hood Internet at the Gramophone. Show up early for free PBR.
Friday, 3rd Friday's is back at Next Dor, bringing a meal fit for a king at a price fit for a pauper (free!). This month, Melody from AIPAC will be in the house to talk about her work. More information here
As if you didn't already have enough to do, right?
Read More......
Thursday, May 13, 2010
How's Your Thursday Shaping Up?
Trying to figure out what is going on tonight? Maybe you are looking for some mental stimulation, or just want to hear some great music. Not to worry, the St. Lou Jew has you covered!
Tonight, the St. Louis Israel Connection's Israeli Film Series continues with Waltz With Bashir, the internationally acclaimed movie dealing with the director's search for memory and meaning in the events of the Lebanon war and Massacres in the Sabra and Shattila refugee camps.
The film contains adult and graphic content, so note you've been warned. Here is the info: 6:45pm @ the Holocaust Museum, 12 Millstone Campus Drive St. Louis MO 63146
If you are in the mood for something a bit less heavy, make sure to get over to the City Museum and check out Midwest Mayhem for dancers, DJs, food, drink, and 12 bands on four stages. Make sure to be there for the FUnky Butt Brass Band.
You have no excuse to sit at home alone tonight. If you don't know, now you know.
Read More......
Tonight, the St. Louis Israel Connection's Israeli Film Series continues with Waltz With Bashir, the internationally acclaimed movie dealing with the director's search for memory and meaning in the events of the Lebanon war and Massacres in the Sabra and Shattila refugee camps.
Waltz with Bashir is an astonishing work of art that sets fire to the deep human questions emerging from contemporary Israel. Israel's Ari Folman tries to wrap his head around 1982's Lebanon War (the title refers to Lebanese leader Bashir Gemayel). Why do disturbing dreams plague his former army colleagues, while he remembers nothing? Folman meets with nine of them to find out.
The film contains adult and graphic content, so note you've been warned. Here is the info: 6:45pm @ the Holocaust Museum, 12 Millstone Campus Drive St. Louis MO 63146
If you are in the mood for something a bit less heavy, make sure to get over to the City Museum and check out Midwest Mayhem for dancers, DJs, food, drink, and 12 bands on four stages. Make sure to be there for the FUnky Butt Brass Band.
You have no excuse to sit at home alone tonight. If you don't know, now you know.
Read More......
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
JAPS on TV... Jewsey Shore?
Two signs of the apocalypse, Desperate Housewives and Jersey Shore are two of the most popular shows on TV. So how could it get any worse? By combining the two of them into a show about Jewish American Princesses.
Oh yea, it's that bad. According to a story on Radar Online, "An email sent out by Get Some Media says “Production company looking for ‘Super Jappy’ groups of friends! Women ages 21 – 45 are able to apply for this reality show. Gone are the days where being a JAP is a bad thing – today Jewish American Princesses are proud.”"
This is exactly what our country needs! A way to show off super materialistic upper-crusters who are chosen because they are Jewish. I love a good set up.
So not only are we hurtling ourselves towards all-out class warfare, now we are opening the door for stereotypes and begging them to take flight.
Jezebel has already weighed in on the story, but I certainly hope that there are enough people out there who believe this idea to be complete crap that it never makes the light of daytime television (or any other time for that matter).
Read More......
Oh yea, it's that bad. According to a story on Radar Online, "An email sent out by Get Some Media says “Production company looking for ‘Super Jappy’ groups of friends! Women ages 21 – 45 are able to apply for this reality show. Gone are the days where being a JAP is a bad thing – today Jewish American Princesses are proud.”"
This is exactly what our country needs! A way to show off super materialistic upper-crusters who are chosen because they are Jewish. I love a good set up.
So not only are we hurtling ourselves towards all-out class warfare, now we are opening the door for stereotypes and begging them to take flight.
Jezebel has already weighed in on the story, but I certainly hope that there are enough people out there who believe this idea to be complete crap that it never makes the light of daytime television (or any other time for that matter).
Read More......
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Let's Get Street (Car)
In the wake of the Metro Prop A win, and in anticipation of Aaron Woolf's visit conjunction with the debut of 'Beyond Motor City', it seems particularly pertinent to shout out Cincinnati for its progress on an urban street car line.
That's right, Cincinnati, the city that makes St. Louis look progressive on most issues, has taken major steps in bringing back the street car.
In moves that come right from the top levels of local government, a Cincinnati city council committee has recommended approval of $64 million in bonds to create a street car line. Not to say that they are going to make this happen overnight, but this shows that the city is really committed to making something happen. From the article:
Dear St. Louis... are you paying attention?
Read More......
That's right, Cincinnati, the city that makes St. Louis look progressive on most issues, has taken major steps in bringing back the street car.
In moves that come right from the top levels of local government, a Cincinnati city council committee has recommended approval of $64 million in bonds to create a street car line. Not to say that they are going to make this happen overnight, but this shows that the city is really committed to making something happen. From the article:
Most public speakers encouraged the council members to, after several years of often contentious review, forcefully move ahead on the streetcar project, which has become a political flashpoint inside and outside City Hall alternately seen as a linchpin of the city’s future or a symbol of ill-conceived government spending.
“The question isn’t whether we can afford to build the streetcar,” said David Cole of Westwood. “The question is whether we can afford not to.”
Dear St. Louis... are you paying attention?
Read More......
Friday, May 7, 2010
Review of Rabbi Akiva Tatz Talk at Next Dor
Last night, Rabbi Akiva Tatz, known for his talks, lectures and books covering a variety of Jewish subjects, spoke to 20 young adults about relationships and the idea of Jewish marriage
It is perhaps important to note the difference between the 'Jewish idea of marriage' as compared to 'the idea of Jewish marriage'. The subtle difference between the two is that the Jewish idea of marriage focuses on what a marriage provides, the relationship, the connection, etc., while the idea of a Jewish marriage focuses by definition on two Jews marrying for the purpose of creating a Jewish family. Follow me so far?
Rabbi Tatz began by laying out the non-negotiables for the basis of the marriage, that the relationship had to be between a man and a woman, that both partners must be Jewish (although a convert is 1000% Jewish, so long as they were converted in the Orthodox fashion).
He delved into some of the Kabbalistic understandings of marriage as the reunification of a single soul torn into two upon its journey from the spiritual to the physical world.
Rabbi Tatz went on to speak about attraction/chemistry as the most important factor, followed by the person's character, and along the way provided examples of marriages that had worked out, or hadn't depending on these various items.
Now it is important to note that Rabbi Tatz, although not born religious, is now quite religious, and is fairly black and white in regards to right and wrong ways to do things Jewishly. This made his comments all the most interesting when considering that his audience was composed of a mixed crowd of both fully secular and more religious Jews.
Rabbi Tatz did recognize that, while in religious communities, being set up with a wife without knowing her can work, that it is necessary to spend more time getting to know a potential partner in the secular world.
He raised a point almost totally foreign in the secular world. "How do you know when it is time to get engaged or call it off?" he asked. "When you know that one more date with the person will not reveal any new information." That is to say that once you know everything you need to know to make the decision, it is time to make it.
This runs fully counter to the flow of the secular world, in which people are often not considering marriage (particularly early on) during dating. For Rabbi Tatz and the Orthodox world, why date if you aren't moving specifically towards marriage?
The conversation was certainly an interesting one and brought up, in true Jewish fashion, more questions than answers. To learn more about Rabbi Akiva Tatz, please click here
Read More......
It is perhaps important to note the difference between the 'Jewish idea of marriage' as compared to 'the idea of Jewish marriage'. The subtle difference between the two is that the Jewish idea of marriage focuses on what a marriage provides, the relationship, the connection, etc., while the idea of a Jewish marriage focuses by definition on two Jews marrying for the purpose of creating a Jewish family. Follow me so far?
Rabbi Tatz began by laying out the non-negotiables for the basis of the marriage, that the relationship had to be between a man and a woman, that both partners must be Jewish (although a convert is 1000% Jewish, so long as they were converted in the Orthodox fashion).
He delved into some of the Kabbalistic understandings of marriage as the reunification of a single soul torn into two upon its journey from the spiritual to the physical world.
Rabbi Tatz went on to speak about attraction/chemistry as the most important factor, followed by the person's character, and along the way provided examples of marriages that had worked out, or hadn't depending on these various items.
Now it is important to note that Rabbi Tatz, although not born religious, is now quite religious, and is fairly black and white in regards to right and wrong ways to do things Jewishly. This made his comments all the most interesting when considering that his audience was composed of a mixed crowd of both fully secular and more religious Jews.
Rabbi Tatz did recognize that, while in religious communities, being set up with a wife without knowing her can work, that it is necessary to spend more time getting to know a potential partner in the secular world.
He raised a point almost totally foreign in the secular world. "How do you know when it is time to get engaged or call it off?" he asked. "When you know that one more date with the person will not reveal any new information." That is to say that once you know everything you need to know to make the decision, it is time to make it.
This runs fully counter to the flow of the secular world, in which people are often not considering marriage (particularly early on) during dating. For Rabbi Tatz and the Orthodox world, why date if you aren't moving specifically towards marriage?
The conversation was certainly an interesting one and brought up, in true Jewish fashion, more questions than answers. To learn more about Rabbi Akiva Tatz, please click here
Read More......
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Aaron Woolf: Director of Beyond Motor City
Aaron Woolf is a documentary filmmaker is best known for King Corn, which looks at the complex outcomes of our country’s decision to heavily subsidize the production of corn. His new film, called Beyond Motor City, takes Aaron’s incisive ability to understand interacting systems and present them in a digestible way through the medium of film.
We had a chance to speak with Aaron in anticipation of the St. Louis debut of Beyond Motor City (May 17th at the Tivoli at 7 PM). Check out what the man has to say!
The St. Lou Jew:
You have spent a lot of time looking into agricultural systems, particularly the Corn Industry, and focused a lot on local agriculture. How did you make the jump from that into looking at transportation?
Aaron Woolf:
It is actually not that huge of a leap. After making King Corn, I became really interested in the nuts and bolts of local and regional food economies so I opened a small grocery store focused on local products (in Brooklyn) to see what the challenges really are. The bottleneck in the adoption of local and organic foods isn’t lack of demand...or even supply. In fact, arable lands near big cities are the some of the only places where we’re seeing a lot of young people returning to agriculture. It is the infrastructure [of getting the food to market] that’s lacking.
We played around with the idea of listing the carbon footprint of everything in our store, but found that the truth is that a kiwi from New Zealand can have a smaller carbon footprint than an organic tomato from New Jersey, which has a lot to do with the systems of getting these items from one place to another.
So I became interested in understanding how these systems, rail and highway, get built.
It turns out that, in terms of a national vision for transportation, America has radically transformed itself before...but really only once in a generation. I think we are at that point in our generation where we can once again transform.
STLJew: How did you settle on Detroit as the focal point of this film?
AW: I was initially interested in Detroit based on the vigorous local food movement there, but the more I looked at it, from a transportation and infrastructure standpoint, the more I saw the way that, historically, the city was so much more just the place we associate with the auto industry. Detroit has actually embodied each of the previous transportation chapters our nation has been through as well - from canals and rail through to the highway dominated system we have today.
In the early 19th century, Detroit went from being a sleepy outpost to a thriving river city due to the commerce created by the construction of the Erie Canal. It was an incredibly audacious act. Prior to that point, the longest canal in the US was 30 miles. The Erie Canal was a 300 mile project – and represented the can-do spirit of the new nation. It had a huge transformative effect. It is likely that without the Erie Canal, New Orleans would have eclipsed New York as the country’s premier port and economic capital. The entire outcome of the Civil War might have turned out differently!
When you examine the introduction of rail and highways systems in later epochs, you can see that Detroit was always at the vanguard. I would like to see an audacious investment in a 21st century transportation infrastructure take hold in Detroit again and I think it’s possible.
If Detroit could rethink transportation, as they have done before, they could create an new model for what a city could be. Detroit could turn the decay, isolation, and abandonment into an opportunity. By combining new transportation infrastructures and a renewed initiative to bring real manufacturing for a green economy back to America with urban agriculture in Detroit’s abandoned sectors, Detroit could recreate the urban model and possibly be the first major city to feed itself!
StLouJew: You mention the decay and abandonment that permeates Detroit. Just recently the government of Detroit just announced a plan to raze entire areas of the city. How did we get to this point of being so spread out that our cities are that unsustainable?
AW: I think we have improperly come to conflate the car with the idea of freedom in this country. It was easier to say that cars and freedom were connected when oil was $11 a barrel and before we began to feel so un-free on our myriad clogged highways. For far too long, public transit has come to be thought of as the transit of last resort. But what form will a 21st century transportation landscape take?
You know, I was born in 1964. I remember some time in elementary school a teacher told me that in my adult lifetime we would have the metric system and physical transportation based around jetpacks. We already had the technology… Well it turns out that teacher was way wrong on both counts.
Of course if “freedom”, as in freedom of movement, were our only objective, jetpacks would represent the ultimate in freedom. But they also take immense amounts of energy to operate. Maybe when, knowingly or unknowingly, we decided not to invest in jetpack technology, we actually made a responsible choice… maybe for once we didn’t go with the most reckless and excessive way of doing things.
In my parents’ generation, everyone wanted to move to the suburbs, in your generation we are seeing a yearning to be part of a dense urban community. Maybe there’s another kind of freedom in NOT having a car. We once imagined infrastructure in a way that would make us free, but that so called freedom is totally unsustainable.
StLouJew: When it comes to food, individuals have the ability to impact the market by voting with their purchases, with transportation, change often comes from the top down. How do we take the 30,000 foot view?
AW: Perhaps we will find our motivation from the sense of competitiveness with other countries. China, Japan, Brazil and Europe are all re-thinking their transportation systems based on a balanced and sustainable future. They’re taking the long-term view, even though transportation investment can be expensive in the short term.
But perhaps we can find some of the motivation to change by looking at our own history… Creating this idea of a new American system is a powerful idea. Abraham Lincoln was a protégé of Henry Clay, who based his political thought on just that, creating a “New American System” which was based in large part on investing in a national transportation infrastructure. This is how the legislation that gave birth to the transatlantic railroad got snuck in during the civil war.
Look at what the Chinese and Spanish are doing today. They have invested heavily in the infrastructure that is going to build the next economy. The Chinese have spent $350 billion over the past 10 years on building a high-speed rail infrastructure - to put this in perspective, note that Obama just signed an $8 billion high speed rail bill into law.
We have the technology to do what we want to do. But we have to be willing to make the physical planning choices necessary and we have to understand how these interlocking systems locally, regionally, and nationally connect. We need to think long-term and think through the consequences of our choices.
In the realm of agriculture, I don’t think Earl Butz - who set us on a course of all out corn production - was “Doctor Evil” but his policies stressed productivity above all other considerations like environment and health and now we’re dealing with the unintended consequences. I don’t think Henry Ford thought cars would contribute to the disintegration of our communities. He thought he was democratizing transportation, but at the dawn of the 21st century we can see that our unbalanced emphasis on car-centered transportation has really helped remove people from each other -- and ironically has contributed in places like Detroit to a decaying sense of community. I really feel like we need to look at history to know how to move forward. That’s why we focus on that so much in the movie.
We are at a pivotal point in history, and in the world today we have countries who are hungry and willing to do what it takes to build their communities. Our greatest strength in this country is our diverse communities and our incredible reserve of human resources. But building a transportation infrastructure that supports human interaction and becomes a foundation for enterprise is prerequisite to taking full advantage of those resources.
We have the opportunity as a nation to meet that challenge. I think there are seeds of it almost everywhere in the country right now - not least of all in Detroit. Detroit is a place that has ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows of our national transportation choices. I believe the city can once again lead us toward a new vision. But it’s a conversation we need to have now.
Take the next step in the conversation, see the movie and meet Aaron on May 17 at the Tivoli!
Read More......
We had a chance to speak with Aaron in anticipation of the St. Louis debut of Beyond Motor City (May 17th at the Tivoli at 7 PM). Check out what the man has to say!
The St. Lou Jew:
You have spent a lot of time looking into agricultural systems, particularly the Corn Industry, and focused a lot on local agriculture. How did you make the jump from that into looking at transportation?
Aaron Woolf:
It is actually not that huge of a leap. After making King Corn, I became really interested in the nuts and bolts of local and regional food economies so I opened a small grocery store focused on local products (in Brooklyn) to see what the challenges really are. The bottleneck in the adoption of local and organic foods isn’t lack of demand...or even supply. In fact, arable lands near big cities are the some of the only places where we’re seeing a lot of young people returning to agriculture. It is the infrastructure [of getting the food to market] that’s lacking.
We played around with the idea of listing the carbon footprint of everything in our store, but found that the truth is that a kiwi from New Zealand can have a smaller carbon footprint than an organic tomato from New Jersey, which has a lot to do with the systems of getting these items from one place to another.
So I became interested in understanding how these systems, rail and highway, get built.
It turns out that, in terms of a national vision for transportation, America has radically transformed itself before...but really only once in a generation. I think we are at that point in our generation where we can once again transform.
STLJew: How did you settle on Detroit as the focal point of this film?
AW: I was initially interested in Detroit based on the vigorous local food movement there, but the more I looked at it, from a transportation and infrastructure standpoint, the more I saw the way that, historically, the city was so much more just the place we associate with the auto industry. Detroit has actually embodied each of the previous transportation chapters our nation has been through as well - from canals and rail through to the highway dominated system we have today.
In the early 19th century, Detroit went from being a sleepy outpost to a thriving river city due to the commerce created by the construction of the Erie Canal. It was an incredibly audacious act. Prior to that point, the longest canal in the US was 30 miles. The Erie Canal was a 300 mile project – and represented the can-do spirit of the new nation. It had a huge transformative effect. It is likely that without the Erie Canal, New Orleans would have eclipsed New York as the country’s premier port and economic capital. The entire outcome of the Civil War might have turned out differently!
When you examine the introduction of rail and highways systems in later epochs, you can see that Detroit was always at the vanguard. I would like to see an audacious investment in a 21st century transportation infrastructure take hold in Detroit again and I think it’s possible.
If Detroit could rethink transportation, as they have done before, they could create an new model for what a city could be. Detroit could turn the decay, isolation, and abandonment into an opportunity. By combining new transportation infrastructures and a renewed initiative to bring real manufacturing for a green economy back to America with urban agriculture in Detroit’s abandoned sectors, Detroit could recreate the urban model and possibly be the first major city to feed itself!
StLouJew: You mention the decay and abandonment that permeates Detroit. Just recently the government of Detroit just announced a plan to raze entire areas of the city. How did we get to this point of being so spread out that our cities are that unsustainable?
AW: I think we have improperly come to conflate the car with the idea of freedom in this country. It was easier to say that cars and freedom were connected when oil was $11 a barrel and before we began to feel so un-free on our myriad clogged highways. For far too long, public transit has come to be thought of as the transit of last resort. But what form will a 21st century transportation landscape take?
You know, I was born in 1964. I remember some time in elementary school a teacher told me that in my adult lifetime we would have the metric system and physical transportation based around jetpacks. We already had the technology… Well it turns out that teacher was way wrong on both counts.
Of course if “freedom”, as in freedom of movement, were our only objective, jetpacks would represent the ultimate in freedom. But they also take immense amounts of energy to operate. Maybe when, knowingly or unknowingly, we decided not to invest in jetpack technology, we actually made a responsible choice… maybe for once we didn’t go with the most reckless and excessive way of doing things.
In my parents’ generation, everyone wanted to move to the suburbs, in your generation we are seeing a yearning to be part of a dense urban community. Maybe there’s another kind of freedom in NOT having a car. We once imagined infrastructure in a way that would make us free, but that so called freedom is totally unsustainable.
StLouJew: When it comes to food, individuals have the ability to impact the market by voting with their purchases, with transportation, change often comes from the top down. How do we take the 30,000 foot view?
AW: Perhaps we will find our motivation from the sense of competitiveness with other countries. China, Japan, Brazil and Europe are all re-thinking their transportation systems based on a balanced and sustainable future. They’re taking the long-term view, even though transportation investment can be expensive in the short term.
But perhaps we can find some of the motivation to change by looking at our own history… Creating this idea of a new American system is a powerful idea. Abraham Lincoln was a protégé of Henry Clay, who based his political thought on just that, creating a “New American System” which was based in large part on investing in a national transportation infrastructure. This is how the legislation that gave birth to the transatlantic railroad got snuck in during the civil war.
Look at what the Chinese and Spanish are doing today. They have invested heavily in the infrastructure that is going to build the next economy. The Chinese have spent $350 billion over the past 10 years on building a high-speed rail infrastructure - to put this in perspective, note that Obama just signed an $8 billion high speed rail bill into law.
We have the technology to do what we want to do. But we have to be willing to make the physical planning choices necessary and we have to understand how these interlocking systems locally, regionally, and nationally connect. We need to think long-term and think through the consequences of our choices.
In the realm of agriculture, I don’t think Earl Butz - who set us on a course of all out corn production - was “Doctor Evil” but his policies stressed productivity above all other considerations like environment and health and now we’re dealing with the unintended consequences. I don’t think Henry Ford thought cars would contribute to the disintegration of our communities. He thought he was democratizing transportation, but at the dawn of the 21st century we can see that our unbalanced emphasis on car-centered transportation has really helped remove people from each other -- and ironically has contributed in places like Detroit to a decaying sense of community. I really feel like we need to look at history to know how to move forward. That’s why we focus on that so much in the movie.
We are at a pivotal point in history, and in the world today we have countries who are hungry and willing to do what it takes to build their communities. Our greatest strength in this country is our diverse communities and our incredible reserve of human resources. But building a transportation infrastructure that supports human interaction and becomes a foundation for enterprise is prerequisite to taking full advantage of those resources.
We have the opportunity as a nation to meet that challenge. I think there are seeds of it almost everywhere in the country right now - not least of all in Detroit. Detroit is a place that has ridden the highest highs and the lowest lows of our national transportation choices. I believe the city can once again lead us toward a new vision. But it’s a conversation we need to have now.
Take the next step in the conversation, see the movie and meet Aaron on May 17 at the Tivoli!
Read More......
Monday, May 3, 2010
International Speaker and Author Dr. Akiva Tatz in St. Louis
It's not everyday that you get to hear a renowned (and famous) person speak (for free), just some days, and that day this week is Thursday.
Rabbi Akiva Tatz has spoken all over the world on topics such as Jewish medical ethics, relationships, finding one's purpose in life.
Wikipedia has the following to say about Rabbi Tatz:
To learn more about the event, please click here
Read More......
Rabbi Akiva Tatz has spoken all over the world on topics such as Jewish medical ethics, relationships, finding one's purpose in life.
Wikipedia has the following to say about Rabbi Tatz:
Rabbi Tatz gives lectures to Jewish student groups and organisations across the UK, including an annual medical ethics lecture at University College London hosted by both the Jewish Society and Medical Ethics Society. He is also a regular lecturer on the Jewish Learning Exchange Genesis leadership programme. He has become a recognized expert in matters of Jewish thought and philosophy, which he covers in his authored texts. Zoketsu Norman Fischer, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and founder of and teacher at the Everyday Zen Foundation, describes Tatz's work, Letters to a Buddhist Jew, as "a fascinating book - the most serious contribution in this field to date."
Tatz is both the founder and director of the Jerusalem Medical Ethics Forum, whose purpose is to promote knowledge of Jewish medical ethics internationally, giving lectures worldwide[9] in Jewish thought and medical ethics, as well as on modern applications in medicine.[10] He is also involved with the Jerusalem Center for Research in Medicine and Halacha, often speaking at their annual European events.
To learn more about the event, please click here
Read More......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
