Late in 2020, I noticed among female friends and colleagues a certain desperation creeping into their online messaging. There was fear about the upcoming presidential election, but also exhaustion, real exhaustion, mental and physical depletion from parenting and housework and their job (if they still had one). They were wondering when it would all end and how much more they could take. They were crying in their cars, or gaining weight, or screaming at their kids, or drinking too much, or all of the above.
These crises de coeur, by the way, were almost exclusively from straight married women. Which made me wonder: Where were the dads? Why aren’t they complaining?
When a certain very famous and very horrible person got sick, a lot of people celebrated, and then a lot of other people said that celebration was inappropriate.
Some fellow Jews, however, counterclaimed that it is perfectly appropriate to wish suffering upon horrible people.
I wasn’t sure if that was correct, at least from a Jewish perspective. There are so many misapprehensions about Judaism, even among Jews themselves.
I mean, we do have a holiday, Purim, when we celebrate the hanging of Haman, the guy who tried to kill all the Jews in Persia. (See Esther. The book, not some lady named Esther.)
There is also the Song of the Sea, שירת הים, which the Jews sang after the Egyptian Army drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-18), followed by Miriam’s pithier song:
Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.
Sounds celebratory to me!
Miriam looking smug
However, from the dim recesses of my memory, I recalled a discussion from Hebrew school of a passage from Talmud, Megillah 10b. Rabbi Yochanan claims that the when the Egyptians drowned, the angels wanted to sing. But God admonished them:
The work of My hands drowning at sea, and you say songs?
Meaning that the Egyptians were God’s creation as well, and it was inappropriate to celebrate their destruction.
So the angels celebrated and were admonished. The Hebrews celebrated and were not. And the Torah is full of admonishment—cross the line, and God has no problem striking you with sickness or killing you outright. In the Torah, if God doesn’t want you singing, you’d know. You’d be a chalk outline.
Okay, so it is permissible, for human beings at least, to celebrate the sufferings of horrible people. But the question was if it is appropriate.
Meaning: Is it a good idea? Does it set the right example for our peers? Our children? What impression does it create of us?
I am not asking the latter question out of fear. Some folks are going to hate us no matter what we say or do. But that doesn’t release us from the responsibility of thinking about what we say or do.
Nor am I wagging any fingers. Because I feel great that this horrible person is ill. I want to break out the timbrels and sing like Miriam.
So here is my conclusion. It is likely appropriate to celebrate the defeat of an enemy army. It is likely inappropriate, if not necessarily sinful, to celebrate when a person gets ill.
I, however, am not a big enough person to live up to my own conclusion. Make of that, and of me, what you will.
A client asked me for the main things to keep in mind when “translating” documents. So here’s an (ongoing) list.
Titles
US English titles capitalize all words except articles and prepositions: Sense and Sensibility
British titles are not capitalized: Sense and sensibility
But don’t forget to capitalize proper nouns in UK titles: The death of Ivan Ilych
Quotation marks
In the US, it’s double quotation marks: “Hey, that’s my sweater,” Fred said.
Single quotation marks across the pond: ‘Oi, that’s me jumper,’ Nigel said.
Spelling
Everybody knows about adding the “u” — Americans have colors; Britons have colour. In a lot of latinate words, also, the American “z” becomes an “s” — organized to organised, etc. There is a great list here. But really the best thing is once the doc is finished, change the language in spellcheck to whichever English you’re using. It’s saved my ass (arse) more than once.
Certain words to look out for
While in the US, whilst in the UK.
P.S. in the US, PS in the UK (nice article on postscripts here).
Some other ones you likely already know: US elevator, UK lift US eggplant, UK aubergine US TV, UK telly
Grammar quirks
In British English, collective nouns take plural (“Arsenal are…”)
When speaking of possessions, Americans tend to use got when Britons may use have got: “I got a dog,” Murray said. ‘I have got a dog,’ Nigel said.
When writing fiction…
Or drama or screenplays, I strongly recommend having a native read your work. It drives me nuts when British writers have an America say, “I reckon…” when they mean “I suppose.” I was lucky enough to have this novella I wrote about an American in England copyedited by an Englishman, and he saved me from some clunkers.
When you work in the arts, you’re always second-guessing yourself, wishing you produced more, earned more, etc. That’s why at the end of the year I like to look back at what I accomplished. Because while usually it’s less than what I wanted, it’s often more than I had thought.
I realize that for many this practice smacks of attention-seeking or bragging, to which I say, “You’re goddamn right.”
Fiction. This year, I was lucky enough to receive a Queens Arts Fund grant, which helped me move forward on my novel-in-progress about the Korean War. I was very lucky indeed to have a residency at South Korea’s Toji Cultural Center (pic above), where I met some wonderful people and ate copious quantities of kimchi and tiny anchovies.
Teaching. Still having a blast teaching and doing some curriculum development at the School of the New York Times.
Dutch Kills Press. This year we published a print version of Jason Antoon’s wonderful collection of short fiction, The Cursed Frog and Other Stories.
If you’re still reading this post, wishing you all the best for 2019. Heck, I wish you all the best even if you’re not still reading. If there is anything you want to share about your own accomplishments in 2018, I’m all ears.
Freedom House rates Singapore as “partly free” and its press as “not free.” Given that Nick’s family enjoys a leading role in Singaporean business affairs, is it reasonable to assume that the Young family is complicit with an authoritarian government?
Given the conspicuous overconsumption of fossils fuels—via multiple helicopters, an Audi R8, a shipping vessel, and the like—is it fair to say that Crazy Rich Asians are not concerned about the dangers of global warming to the island nation of Singapore?
About 10% of the population of Singapore is of South Asian origin. And yet the only South Asians in the movie seem to be either valets are bodyguards. Is this because they are not “crazy rich?”
“Rainbow sheep” cousin Oliver is gay. And yet same-sex sexual activity in Singapore is illegal, even between consenting adults. Is Oliver’s effusiveness merely a cover for his sadness and fear?
Thousands of foreign workers in Singapore have been paid less than promised, or not paid at all. Why does this not seem to be an issue for Rachel, an economist?
My family on both sides came to America from Poland. But American Jews often don’t have a sense of the countries of their forebears. I grew curious about Poland, and after reading a few books I realized that it was (and is) a fascinating place—and that I really wanted to go there.
I was lucky enough to earn a Fulbright fellowship to Poland. I spent a year traveling, meeting people, and eating truckloads of pierogi. I wrote a book about it too. My agent at the time couldn’t sell it—according to one editor, it was “too Jewish for the Poles and too Polish for the Jews.”
I thought about the manuscript when I remembered that today marks 100 years of Polish independence. So if you want to read it, I can send you an e-book, gratis. Just email me: gordonhaber at g mail.
It’s a portrait of a different time. Poland in the early 2000s had just entered NATO and was joining the EU; there was a sense of openness and optimism. It makes me sad to consider that’s gone now—but also feel grateful that I got to experience it.
2002: MFA in Creative Writing, Fiction, from Columbia University if you must know, which I am still paying off.
1990: BA in English and Fine Arts (double major!) from a state school (Albany). My friends and I had fun.
Writing Stuff
Religion Writer foroutlets like Religion Dispatches, Religion & Politics, Forward, Tablet, and Killing the Buddha. This is really interesting work: lately I’ve been looking at the intersection of conservatism, religion, and politics (clips here, here, and here; more clips here).
Fiction Writer of UGGS for Gaza, a collection of short stories and novellas about young (and not-so-young) people in varying stages of distress, which is a very funny and moving book that you should buy immediately. Currently working on stories about the Korean War. I also wrote a novel that a publisher tried to destroy, and if you buy me a drink I’ll tell you the whole painful story.
Instructor at the School of the New York Times. Now, this is a fantastic gig because (a) all the students want to be there and (b) I get to teach creative writing and (c) I get to do a lot of fun stuff with the students like go to restaurants! And museums! And Central Park! 2016-present.
Adjunct College Instructor at various institutions of higher education in New York City and Los Angeles, which paid starvation wages but were often quite rewarding due to the students, which is a cliché but true, and there’s not a snowball’s chance I’m doing this ever again, unless you pay me three times as much. 2000 to 2014.
Publishing Stuff
Publisher and Editor at Dutch Kills Press, a micropress I started in 2013 to help get interesting work out into the world, such as:
Dan Bern’s second novel, 10,000 Crappy Songs, (the e-book includes 22 non-crappy songs!)
Amber Benson’s (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) hilarious storyDeath and Buses
E-Books. Making e-books, selling e-books, consulting about e-books, thinking that it might lead to a nice day job, but so far it’s only led to some extra income, not that I’m complaining.
Writing and editing. Like every other schmuck in New York.
Languages: Bad French, execrable Polish.
Awards
Fulbright Fellowship to Poland, 2002. One glorious year of traveling, note-taking and writing, which resulted in a travelogue that was rejected by 30 of American’s finest publishers.
MacDowell Colony Residency, 2007. Two glorious months in New Hampshire that I hoped would herald a new phase of my career, which it did not, although I did meet my wife and now we have a son, so it wasn’t like great things didn’t come out of it, plus I totally hung out with Michael Chabon.
Queens Arts Council Award, 2008, 2018. They give you money! For writing!
Yusuf (Joseph) reunited with his father Ya’qub (Jacob)
I checked analytics for the first time in months, and to my surprise there’s been a spike in visitors. Welcome! About me:
I write about religion and culture for various magazines. Here’s my latest piece for the Forward on a fascinating exhibition on the strong connections between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I am the author of the story collection Uggs for Gaza.
