a little while ago, i received an email from my friend Nick, who is in Japan teaching English this year. In big purple letters in the middle of the email was a call number for a CD in Orwig Music library. I needed to go listen to this CD, Nick's email informed me. The necessity is clear, Nick's email explained, so clear that he was amazed that he had not realized it sooner. So finally today I broke from my studies to the library to carry out my mission. I saw my old boss at Orwig, who found the CD for me and got me plugged into a listening booth. The CD is entitled "The Cave," by minimalist composer Steve Reich. It melded interviews of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans about Maarat Hamachpela with passages from the Koran and the Torah, and many other sounds, including the sound of someone typing out verses from Genesis on a keyboard in precise and intricate polyrhythms. I should probably listen to it again, there was quite a lot to it, and it was difficult to take it all in in one sitting.
Another wonderful thing happened to me today. Adi gave me a mango to eat. With help from her, I ate it slowly, like an apple, for about a half hour, until all that was left was a furry seed, which I chewed on and petted for a while until I was totally immersed in mangointoxication. Adi and I resolved to make a spectacular Tu Beeshvat this year