TWO QUESTIONS
WHY I AM HERE?
You ask me
“Why are you here?
You don’t believe in God
In retribution and reward
In a life hereafter”
So, you ask,
“What is your purpose in life?
Why are you here?”
A good question
I have an answer
I am here because I am here
I am here to live this life
With no expectations
Of retribution
Reward
Or afterlife
If I’m right, I won’t know.
If I’m wrong, I won’t tell.
So be it.
AM I A JEW?
You ask me
“Why do you say you are a Jew?
You don’t believe in God
You don’t go to synagogue
You don’t pray to a supreme being
You deny the myths of the Bible
And question even the 10 Commandments
How can you call yourself a Jew?”
A good question
I have an answer
My parents were Jews.
Therefore, I was born a Jew
I associate with Jews
I give to Jewish causes
Whether right or wrong,
I support the Jewish people
They are my people.
My people include
Einstein, Freud, Hillel, Jesus
Maimonades, Marx, Salk
Sabin, Spinozza, Steinmetz
Bernard Madoff and Bugsy Segal
They are all my people
All my people are not perfect.
.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
AM I LUCKY?
AM I LUCKY?
I read the obits
So many my age
Even younger
But not yet me
That’s lucky.
Sulfa drugs
By-pass surgery
Radioactive seeding
Medicare
That’s lucky
Nursing home
Assisted living
Not yet for me
That’s lucky
First generation born
Free to pursue
The American Dream
That was really lucky
I’ve had the good life
Most ups, few downs
Unconditional love
Yes, I’m lucky
I read the obits
So many my age
Even younger
But not yet me
That’s lucky.
Sulfa drugs
By-pass surgery
Radioactive seeding
Medicare
That’s lucky
Nursing home
Assisted living
Not yet for me
That’s lucky
First generation born
Free to pursue
The American Dream
That was really lucky
I’ve had the good life
Most ups, few downs
Unconditional love
Yes, I’m lucky
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
WHO CARES
WHO CARES
Writers’ block
Nothing new to say
What’s the use?
Nobody listens
Nobody cares
Why should I care?
I have mine
Three pensions
A big home on two acres
So why should I care.
Millions unemployed
What’s it to me
I’m retired
Don’t need a job.
I’m on easy street
So why should I care.
No health insurance?
Can’t afford to get sick
What’s it to me?
I have Medicare
So why should I care
Two endless wars
Thousands killed and maimed
I care, but what can I do?
Just carp and complain
What’s the use?
Nobody is listening
Nobody cares.
I post to my blog
No one reads it.
Maybe my classmates will.
I’ll give it a try
Go to:
www.riverroadpoet.blogspot.com
Writers’ block
Nothing new to say
What’s the use?
Nobody listens
Nobody cares
Why should I care?
I have mine
Three pensions
A big home on two acres
So why should I care.
Millions unemployed
What’s it to me
I’m retired
Don’t need a job.
I’m on easy street
So why should I care.
No health insurance?
Can’t afford to get sick
What’s it to me?
I have Medicare
So why should I care
Two endless wars
Thousands killed and maimed
I care, but what can I do?
Just carp and complain
What’s the use?
Nobody is listening
Nobody cares.
I post to my blog
No one reads it.
Maybe my classmates will.
I’ll give it a try
Go to:
www.riverroadpoet.blogspot.com
Thursday, February 18, 2010
12/16/2009
TERROR
Terror strikes; so many dead.
Suicide bombs; we live in dread.
No compromise with fanatic zeal
A war of the worlds seems all too real
Muslim Jihad, our surge will fail,
The surge will be to no avail
Our civilization is at stake
This is war, make no mistake.
Jihadists demand Mohammad’s rule
Sharia law, so ugly and cruel
Uncivilized law, a brutal perversion
Demanding death or forced conversion
Is there no hope? Will Jihad spread?
Can Muslims live in peace instead?
Modern Muslims oppose their word
But only whispers from them are heard.
Modern Muslims! You must arise.
Shout the truth, deny the lies.
Jihad is turning the world clock back
To stoning and the torture rack.
What use will be an American surge
If modern Islam does not emerge
Defeat of terror is in Muslim hands
Denying Jihadists their evil demands.
TERROR
Terror strikes; so many dead.
Suicide bombs; we live in dread.
No compromise with fanatic zeal
A war of the worlds seems all too real
Muslim Jihad, our surge will fail,
The surge will be to no avail
Our civilization is at stake
This is war, make no mistake.
Jihadists demand Mohammad’s rule
Sharia law, so ugly and cruel
Uncivilized law, a brutal perversion
Demanding death or forced conversion
Is there no hope? Will Jihad spread?
Can Muslims live in peace instead?
Modern Muslims oppose their word
But only whispers from them are heard.
Modern Muslims! You must arise.
Shout the truth, deny the lies.
Jihad is turning the world clock back
To stoning and the torture rack.
What use will be an American surge
If modern Islam does not emerge
Defeat of terror is in Muslim hands
Denying Jihadists their evil demands.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
THE CUSTER SYNDRONE
Irwin Garfinkle 7/28/2006
I was 23 years old in 1948, so what did I know? I had graduated from law school, passed the Massachusetts bar and was practicing law in my own office. I thought I was pretty smart. I thought the establishment of a Jewish state amid millions of hostile Arabs was foolhardy. George Custer’s chances for survival at Little Big Horn were much better. I knew I was right when the Arab hordes, including forces trained by the British attacked on all fronts. But I didn’t know about miracles. The Jews not only survived, but prevailed to establish Israel, a democratic state. A miracle! Unbelievable!
I was proud of those Jews. They were my people, my family. They proved to the world that Jews were not nebbish. They proved that I was not so smart, that I was wrong, that my people could prevail against overwhelming odds. Unlike Custer, we Jews, my people would have prevailed at Little Big Horn.
That was 60 years ago. Now, I’m older and perhaps, wiser. I am still proud of how my people defended themselves in 1948, and throughout all the succeeding wars including the intefada. The Jews are no longer regarded as nebbish. Indeed, we Jews are now regarded by many as part of a powerful worldwide conspiracy to rule the world. While the conspiracy accusations may be tainted by anti-Semitism, I actually prefer being regarded as powerful conspirator, rather than nebbish.
But after 60 years of military successes, I am concerned that the Israelis, and perhaps all Jews, are again at Little Big Horn, and the adversary is acquiring the means to overwhelm them. Not only will the enemy have technically advanced arsenals, Iran will have the bomb. Is the Muslim world prepared for mutual self-destruction? Islam as practiced by the fanatic is a culture of death. Paradise awaits the martyrs who die killing infidels. The martyrs want to ethnically cleanse the world of infidels, starting first with the Jews. An unthinkable nuclear attack? Yes, Israel can and would retaliate, but what then? The destruction of Iran, Syria, Iraq? The end of Israel? The Final Solution?
The Muslim world has been and is now at war with the West. Because of the West’s superiority of arms, the Muslim war is limited to suicide bombings and hit and run attacks. Israel learned to cope with that type of war, dreadful as it may be.
It is not politically correct, and probably not true, to suggest that all Muslims are enemies of the West. I think it is safe to say, however, that all Muslim theocracies are the enemy. The Muslim world hates the West. Note the celebrations following 9/11. Whatever the cause of this hate, the West is the infidel with lifestyles that offend the radical Islamist believer. No westerner is hated more than the Jew. The fanatical Muslims who now are in power will never accept a Western democracy in its midst, and half of the Jews of the world are at Little Big Horn, scorned and outnumbered by millions of “hostiles”.
Irwin Garfinkle 7/28/2006
I was 23 years old in 1948, so what did I know? I had graduated from law school, passed the Massachusetts bar and was practicing law in my own office. I thought I was pretty smart. I thought the establishment of a Jewish state amid millions of hostile Arabs was foolhardy. George Custer’s chances for survival at Little Big Horn were much better. I knew I was right when the Arab hordes, including forces trained by the British attacked on all fronts. But I didn’t know about miracles. The Jews not only survived, but prevailed to establish Israel, a democratic state. A miracle! Unbelievable!
I was proud of those Jews. They were my people, my family. They proved to the world that Jews were not nebbish. They proved that I was not so smart, that I was wrong, that my people could prevail against overwhelming odds. Unlike Custer, we Jews, my people would have prevailed at Little Big Horn.
That was 60 years ago. Now, I’m older and perhaps, wiser. I am still proud of how my people defended themselves in 1948, and throughout all the succeeding wars including the intefada. The Jews are no longer regarded as nebbish. Indeed, we Jews are now regarded by many as part of a powerful worldwide conspiracy to rule the world. While the conspiracy accusations may be tainted by anti-Semitism, I actually prefer being regarded as powerful conspirator, rather than nebbish.
But after 60 years of military successes, I am concerned that the Israelis, and perhaps all Jews, are again at Little Big Horn, and the adversary is acquiring the means to overwhelm them. Not only will the enemy have technically advanced arsenals, Iran will have the bomb. Is the Muslim world prepared for mutual self-destruction? Islam as practiced by the fanatic is a culture of death. Paradise awaits the martyrs who die killing infidels. The martyrs want to ethnically cleanse the world of infidels, starting first with the Jews. An unthinkable nuclear attack? Yes, Israel can and would retaliate, but what then? The destruction of Iran, Syria, Iraq? The end of Israel? The Final Solution?
The Muslim world has been and is now at war with the West. Because of the West’s superiority of arms, the Muslim war is limited to suicide bombings and hit and run attacks. Israel learned to cope with that type of war, dreadful as it may be.
It is not politically correct, and probably not true, to suggest that all Muslims are enemies of the West. I think it is safe to say, however, that all Muslim theocracies are the enemy. The Muslim world hates the West. Note the celebrations following 9/11. Whatever the cause of this hate, the West is the infidel with lifestyles that offend the radical Islamist believer. No westerner is hated more than the Jew. The fanatical Muslims who now are in power will never accept a Western democracy in its midst, and half of the Jews of the world are at Little Big Horn, scorned and outnumbered by millions of “hostiles”.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Sadat Solution
THE SADAT SOLUTION
Irwin Garfinkle
January 2003
After World War II, I was in law school concentrating on my career aspirations and on the Boston Red Sox who lost the World Series when Enos Slaughter scored the winning run for St. Louis with a daring dash from first, when Johnny Pesky held the ball. I despaired that the Red Sox could never win the World Series.
Of course, I was also concerned about my people, the holocaust survivors, but I never entertained the thought that the United Nations would partition Palestine, and that the British would leave. I rejected the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine as an impractical, if not an impossible, solution to the “Jewish Problem”. How could a few hundred thousands Jews survive amid millions of hostile, well armed, and British army trained Arabs? I was certain that we were about to witness a “last stand”, but the impossible happened, and I was very proud of my people. I was proud to be a Jew.
After the 1948 Israeli victory, an Arab leader said that the Arabs could lose many battles, but to win the war, the Arabs need to win only one, the last one. He said that the Arabs could wait. During the 54 years that Israel has been a state, Israel has had to win many battles. I am confident that Israel will win the battle that is raging now. But if there is no peace, there will be more and more battles, and still the Arabs have to win only the last one. This time the Arabs have new weapons, boys and girls with bombs strapped to their bodies.
Is peace possible? I’m sure that Palestinian mothers want peace. Most reasonable Palestinians want peace. But, if I were a young Palestinian, would I want peace? No. I would want to be liberated from 54 years of humiliating occupation. I would fight.
When the parents and grandparents of these young Palestinians fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria during the 1948 war, they expected a quick Arab victory, and their immediate return after the Jews were driven into the sea by the victorious Arab armies. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the Arab armies were humiliated and the refugees were pent up in camps of countries that refused to absorb them. Those Palestinians who couldn’t leave have been living with anger.
The Jews were not responsible for the events that caused the occupation and Arab humiliation. It was the Arabs who started the 1948 war. It was the Arabs who were massing their armies in 1967. It was the Arabs who attacked on Yom Kipur in 1973. It has been the Arabs terrorists who caused Israel to launch the ill-conceived invasion of Lebanon. It has been the suicide bombers who have prodded Israel to invade again.
The Jews are not without fault. The settlements do not bring security. They add to the humiliation. They add to the Palestinian rage. An independent Palestinian state could have been offered before there were massive settlements on the West Bank.
As a Jew, I despair when I read the Hamas Charter that teaches the religious obligation to kill infidels, especially Jewish infidels. On the other hand, if I were a Young Palestinian, I would join Hamas. If I were a Palestinian youth, I would not negotiate peace with the infidel Jews. I would fight.
What then is the solution? I suppose the Israelis could find a new homeland. That would probably satisfy the Arabs. Or the Israelis could continue to fight until the Arabs win the last battle. Or, more likely, worldwide Arab terrorism will result in a broader war with the modern world fighting the Muslim world. In any case, the outlook for the Israelis is grim.
I offer a solution, which seemed to have worked with Anwar Sadat. Sadat’s air force and army were routed by the Israelis. The Egyptians were humiliated, but in peace negotiations, the Israelis gave the Sinai back to Egypt and Sadat claimed victory, thus eliminating Egypt’s humiliation and restoring Egypt’s honor. My solution now, is for the Israelis to declare a Palestinian victory, and agree to negotiate the return of the occupied lands, including the most of the settlements. There are many proposals on the table that are probably acceptable to both sides. A negotiated settlement is better than a “last battle”.
I am not a pessimist. I even have hopes the Red Sox will win, maybe next year. I still have diminishing hope that a meaningful path to peace can be found for the Jews in Israel.
Irwin Garfinkle
January 2003
After World War II, I was in law school concentrating on my career aspirations and on the Boston Red Sox who lost the World Series when Enos Slaughter scored the winning run for St. Louis with a daring dash from first, when Johnny Pesky held the ball. I despaired that the Red Sox could never win the World Series.
Of course, I was also concerned about my people, the holocaust survivors, but I never entertained the thought that the United Nations would partition Palestine, and that the British would leave. I rejected the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine as an impractical, if not an impossible, solution to the “Jewish Problem”. How could a few hundred thousands Jews survive amid millions of hostile, well armed, and British army trained Arabs? I was certain that we were about to witness a “last stand”, but the impossible happened, and I was very proud of my people. I was proud to be a Jew.
After the 1948 Israeli victory, an Arab leader said that the Arabs could lose many battles, but to win the war, the Arabs need to win only one, the last one. He said that the Arabs could wait. During the 54 years that Israel has been a state, Israel has had to win many battles. I am confident that Israel will win the battle that is raging now. But if there is no peace, there will be more and more battles, and still the Arabs have to win only the last one. This time the Arabs have new weapons, boys and girls with bombs strapped to their bodies.
Is peace possible? I’m sure that Palestinian mothers want peace. Most reasonable Palestinians want peace. But, if I were a young Palestinian, would I want peace? No. I would want to be liberated from 54 years of humiliating occupation. I would fight.
When the parents and grandparents of these young Palestinians fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria during the 1948 war, they expected a quick Arab victory, and their immediate return after the Jews were driven into the sea by the victorious Arab armies. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the Arab armies were humiliated and the refugees were pent up in camps of countries that refused to absorb them. Those Palestinians who couldn’t leave have been living with anger.
The Jews were not responsible for the events that caused the occupation and Arab humiliation. It was the Arabs who started the 1948 war. It was the Arabs who were massing their armies in 1967. It was the Arabs who attacked on Yom Kipur in 1973. It has been the Arabs terrorists who caused Israel to launch the ill-conceived invasion of Lebanon. It has been the suicide bombers who have prodded Israel to invade again.
The Jews are not without fault. The settlements do not bring security. They add to the humiliation. They add to the Palestinian rage. An independent Palestinian state could have been offered before there were massive settlements on the West Bank.
As a Jew, I despair when I read the Hamas Charter that teaches the religious obligation to kill infidels, especially Jewish infidels. On the other hand, if I were a Young Palestinian, I would join Hamas. If I were a Palestinian youth, I would not negotiate peace with the infidel Jews. I would fight.
What then is the solution? I suppose the Israelis could find a new homeland. That would probably satisfy the Arabs. Or the Israelis could continue to fight until the Arabs win the last battle. Or, more likely, worldwide Arab terrorism will result in a broader war with the modern world fighting the Muslim world. In any case, the outlook for the Israelis is grim.
I offer a solution, which seemed to have worked with Anwar Sadat. Sadat’s air force and army were routed by the Israelis. The Egyptians were humiliated, but in peace negotiations, the Israelis gave the Sinai back to Egypt and Sadat claimed victory, thus eliminating Egypt’s humiliation and restoring Egypt’s honor. My solution now, is for the Israelis to declare a Palestinian victory, and agree to negotiate the return of the occupied lands, including the most of the settlements. There are many proposals on the table that are probably acceptable to both sides. A negotiated settlement is better than a “last battle”.
I am not a pessimist. I even have hopes the Red Sox will win, maybe next year. I still have diminishing hope that a meaningful path to peace can be found for the Jews in Israel.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
I AM A JEW
Am I a Jew?
I’m asked why I say I’m a Jew.
That’s a reasonable question
Can one who doesn’t believe in God
Who doesn’t go to synagogue
Who doesn’t pray to a supreme being
Who denies the myths of the Bible
And questions even the 10 Commandments
Call himself a Jew?
My parents were Jews.
I was born a Jew.
Therefore, I am a Jew
I associate with Jews
I give to Jewish causes
Whether right or wrong,
I support the Jewish people
They are my people.
My people include
Einstein, Freud, Fermi, Hillel, Jesus
Maimonades, Marks, Salk
Sabin, Spinozza Steinmetz
My people include Bernard Madoff.
My people are not perfect.
These are all my people.
I’m asked why I say I’m a Jew.
That’s a reasonable question
Can one who doesn’t believe in God
Who doesn’t go to synagogue
Who doesn’t pray to a supreme being
Who denies the myths of the Bible
And questions even the 10 Commandments
Call himself a Jew?
My parents were Jews.
I was born a Jew.
Therefore, I am a Jew
I associate with Jews
I give to Jewish causes
Whether right or wrong,
I support the Jewish people
They are my people.
My people include
Einstein, Freud, Fermi, Hillel, Jesus
Maimonades, Marks, Salk
Sabin, Spinozza Steinmetz
My people include Bernard Madoff.
My people are not perfect.
These are all my people.
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