YOM KIPPUR 5778 DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE

Today is YOM KIPPUR, the most important day in Jewish Calendar. I thought fondly of the other times, when and where I had been present to be with my fellow brethren: Ash family who introduced me to the Liberal Synagogue and Rabbi Levy in Melbourne; walking to the synagogue with the Fischbein family in Malmo; New York, Miami and once even in Galveston, Texas and nice feelings at the synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica.

I am a wanderer and my desire has always been to help others, so I chose Medicine as a career and chose the Indigenous people as the group to assimilate into, to be able to assist.

Last night I had to give a talk to a group of Educators in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about some cultural aspects, as I am an Anthropologist as well, to assist the American Indians in a respectful fashion. I met so many nice people and felt so fulfilled in my heart.

I wanted to hurry back to Miami as the Fast began.

Now that we have such advanced technology, (proud to say that much of which came from Israel), I was able to follow Kol Nidre and also the morning service. Neshuva in Los Angeles and the Central Synagogue in New York City all broadcast their services and are watched by thousands around the world.

The closing prayers are rather moving. The sermon by Rabbi Stephanie Kolin was relevant and thought provoking.

Afterwards, I checked YouTube and listened to the same songs in the Yemeni tradition and felt even better since that chanting resonates to my oriental Jewish heart.

Suddenly, out of somewhere or other, I had a great desire to listen to Leonard Cohen’s Dance with me to the end of love. I was able to find the following video. While it is a beautiful love song, Cohen himself was moved to write that after digesting the horrors of the Holocaust that affected our people and the various injustices happening around the world, currently and in the past.

I thought, Leonard Cohen, may he rest in Peace, brings with his unique voice a sentiment felt by so many of us, whether we are Jewish or not, the one of Love.

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Tonight I will be with my closest friends in Miami, Dr. M and his lovely South African wife, G. I think of the harmony among them and dedicate this song by one of our own from Canada, Leonard Cohen, to their longstanding love and understanding of what it is to love to the end of love!

L SHANAH TOVA TIKKETEVU 5778

especially to the Last Jews of Cochin

to the Last Jews of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia

to the last jews of Burma 

A LOVE POEM TO THE RESILIENCY OF CUBAN PEOPLE SUNG BY PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE

I had already left France and Belgium when the storm IRMA was pending and when I reached Doha in Qatar, it was evident that there would be no flight to Miami. I waited four days in Doha and on the first available opportunity left for Miami. The flights to Havana did not commence for a few more days.

The entire week my thoughts were with each and every member of our large circle of friends, their families and how they would confront this natural phenomenon.

It was an unfortunate time but not a coincidence that the ultra conservative anti-Cuba (their motherland) coalition in Florida and elsewhere in the USA to begin agitating to close the US Embassy.(photo above)

I wrote a note to my friends, attached below. I do not translate the note but you can do that using Google Translate or any other application. If you have friends who are Cuban or those who sympathize with Cuban people, you are most welcome to forward this item to them.

People especially the ultra conservatives in the USA do not know the depth of resiliency of the Cuban people. Cubans will overcome this natural disaster like the other natural disasters of the past as well as the  USA mediated aggressions on their territory.

My heart welled up with pride, love and affections for friends as they began answering my emails. I am enclosing some of them, in their original Spanish.

First my note to them and then replies from some of my friends

¡Este no es un buen momento para estar en los Estados Unidos! La retórica y las amenazas y los discursos de odio abundan y el propio Presidente perpetúa muchas de estas noticias falsas, así como la desinformación.

Por supuesto, somos un pequeño conejo sentado al lado de este elefante y cada vez que este elefante se mueve, lo sentimos, nos guste o no.

Los senadores de Miami junto con otros han pedido al presidente que cierre la embajada de Estados Unidos en La Habana debido al "ataque sónico" de algunas personas que trabajan allí. Cada uno está desconcertado y Cuba niega categóricamente que tenga algo que ver con él, excepto el hecho de que tuvo en la tierra cubana. Raúl ha invitado al FBI a venir a investigar y ayudar a descubrir quién realmente perpetuó esto!

Inmediatamente comencé a recibir correos electrónicos. Maya, una indiecita que había visitado Vedado escribió en angustia: ¿Qué pasará con el café de mi hermano? (David). Tuve que asegurarle que el café de David florecirá, ya que el cierre de la embajada no significa una disminución en el número de personas que solicitan visas.

Yo estaba tan feliz cuando Barack Obama abrió Cuba para los estadounidenses, ahora el turismo de los Estados Unidos se ha secado. Las aerolíneas están recortando sus vuelos a Cuba, con la excepción de La Habana.

Este es el momento para recordar que Cuba, a pesar de todos los inconvenientes que tiene, es una sociedad humana. En los Estados Unidos, están tratando de quitar el cuidado de la salud de los pobres, proporcionando educación de buena calidad sólo a aquellos que pueden pagar (el Dr. M paga 50 000 dólares al año como matrícula para su hija!

Quiero estar en Cuba en este momento, echo de menos a mis amigos, nuestros placeres simples, el tiempo que pasamos juntos y los esfuerzos que hacemos para pasar tiempo juntos.

Espero poder pasar tiempo con todos ustedes muy pronto!

Querido hijo

Cuba se recupera. Trump no conoce la capacidad de resistencia del pueblo cubano! Sólo necesitamos tiempo y recursos. Ya la ciudad va cobrando su aspecto habitual. Y por supuesto que saldremos de esto. Hemos pasado Crisis de Octubre, Playa Girón, Lucha contra bandidos, bloqueo. Cuba vencerá. Los pasos serán más lentos pero seguiremos siempre adelante.

Un beso

Gracias mil veces hermano. Tú comprendes exactamente lo que sucede. Ese loco y sus seguidores tergiversan todo, emprenden justificaciones mentirosas y no reconocen la nobleza y tranquilidad de nuestro país y su pueblo, que por demás también es tuyo como gran persona y humanista que eres. Pase lo que pase Cuba seguirá digna y respetuosa, la calumnian los que están desesperados y no ven el futuro. Te esperamos bajo cualquier circunstancia, con mucho amor y cuando quieras, incluso a nuestros hermanos de allá.

Querido amigo: Así están las cosas en este mundo cada vez más convulso y de gente loca, empezando por el presidente americano que está contra todas las banderas,,empezando por la suya. Cada vez es más amenazante en sus discursos que como bien dices son de otra época y totalmente desinformado.
Por acá están investigando sobre ese incidente, puedes estar seguro que es obra de terceros para provocar cualquier situación de ruptura diplomática, es una pena que tantas personas de bien quieran unir puentes y caminos y como otros se empeñan en hacer la distancia cada vez más larga y con muchos obstáculos.
Por lo demás estamos bien, recuperándonos de Irma y haciendo muchas cosas mejores a como eran antes del huracán. 
Tremendo lo del terremoto en México, por acá estamos siguiendo las noticias, este mundo está patas arriba, pobre gente, cuántas pérdidas de vidas humanas, ya casi 300, qué horror.

amigo querido, temo mucho x mis hijitos todo lo q esta sucediendo y x suceder en nuestro mundo. Pudo a dios q nos ayude a todos. Ahora mismo estoy en una reunión en mi trabajo. Dufto x las víctimas d todos los desastres q han ocurrido, y no puedo ver mas imágenes en el tv xq me deprimo terriblemente.

(wherever and whenever DISASTERS strike, whether it is an Eathquake in Ecuador, pictured or Ebola Crisis in West Africa or natural disasters in Pakistan or Nepal, Cuba is ready to send qualified PEOPLE including Doctors, psychologists and rescue workers)

Querido amigo:

Ante todo un gran abrazo espiritual para ti y familia, y un enorme agradecimiento por mantenerte al tanto de nosotros y por siempre estar con tu disposicion de ayuda incondicional. te agradezco yo y mi familia por tu ayuda a nosotros y al resto de las familias amigas, de verdad, eres tan generoso amigo!!! Eres una de esas personas que como el Quijote, no cree en molinos de viento. Gracias de verdad.

Amigo, increible esto que compartes con nosotros sobre el gobierno norteamericano. Ya H me habia comentado porque ellos tenian viaje planificado a Huston para este noviembre y todo se ha pospuesto. Es increible de los argumentos que se valen las personas y grupos minoritarios antiCuba en EU. Espero que todos los avances logrados por Obama no se pierdan

(Cuba educates over 18500 students from poorer countries and poorer sections of the richer countries to become Doctors on full scholarships. Here is a contingent of USA students at Escuela de Medicine Latino America ELAM in Havana, Cuba)

querido amigo gracias nuevamente por tu gesto. aquí estamos un dia mejor, otro regular ayer y anteayer yo estaba muy down hoy y antes, mejor. es q ha sido muy duro and for some days in stress for huracan and fear, pero la recuperacion ha sido buena y rapida, aunque ya sabemos que  aplacar emociones  tiene sus tiempos, como recobrar la confianza  en tu calle, en tu casa, en tu mar, demora.

(the doctor on the left, a native of Easter Island, graduated from a medical school in Cuba. Photo taken at her mother's restaurant in Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui, Chile)

My travels in International Humanitarian Medicine takes me away from you, my dearest Island. As soon as I finish my duties, you would see me there, amidst the warm breeze and the foam bringing our longings to the shore..I cannot wait to walk along the Malecon, just one block from where I stay!

(Cuban food at home and at restaurants, but always sharing with friends. Havana has regained its languorous rhythm and its humanitarian touch) 

The love and longings for CUBA perhaps is best expressed as a love affair, like in the words of PABLO NERUDA who also loved CUBA..

No estés lejos de mí un sólo día, porque cómo,
porque, no sé decírtelo, es largo el día,
y te estaré esperando como en las estaciones
cuando en alguna parte se durmieron los trenes.
No te vayas por una hora porque entonces
en esa hora se juntan las gotas del desvelo
y tal vez todo el humo que anda buscando casa
venga a matar aún mi corazón perdido.

MIAMI IS MULTIETHNIC AND MULTICULTURAL SO IT IS GOOD TO SAVOUR IT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE ENTERING AMERICA

Miami airport was closed during and after the Hurricane Irma, I had to wait two extra days in Doha, Qatar. 15h 20 minute flight from Doha to Miami, it was a beautiful flight AirBus 350. The flight had wi fi and I was not at all bored, as I kept myself busy reading and writing and communicating with wi fi.

The Electricity had returned to the house of my sister the day I returned, so when I came into Miami, I was surprised to see how normal it looked.

Restaurants were open, we ate at Kampai, with unfriendly Thai pretty boy waiters and others of complex oriental nationalities and a Honduran who left Tegucigalpa to find a better future in USA. The food was not exceptional and the large quantities made ones appetite disappear. A glass of cheap Pinot Grigio made the Mango Roll more palatable.

 Miami has always been close to my heart and when I was a student here I took full advantage of all that was available and had an immensely pleasurable time. I have lived in many other countries since then but it is Miami that I come to loose my liminality of constant travelling.
At one time, I kept in touch with many people in Miami but lately I dedicate my time to my good friends M and G and last night we chatted for nealy 9 hours.. there is always something new, something exciting and something to rehash.. lovely conversation, to which the Yiddische word Schmoozing can be applied..

 The storm surge must have brought insects, so a crowd of Ibis could be seen busily plucking away at the salt water covered grass.

 Cafe Creme is a French American Restaurant, with a good ambiance. A nice crowd was gathered and the temperature was ideal to enjoy a French inspired Chicken Curry (to distinguish it from the Curry one eats at an Indian Restaurant).
To enjoy such a nice meal so soon after a category 5 storm threatened Miami, shows the unpredictability of weather in Miami

It was time to leave Miami to go to the Indians. When returning AVIS rent a car, the attendant says to me: I remember you, you are the doctor from Cuba!
I was astonished as I had not seen him in over two years and what is that made him remember me, when he sees so many people in the course of his day? 
Such connections can easily be made in Miami!

VIDEO SHOT ALONG THE MALECON IN HAVANA: HURRICANE IRMA

CUBA: THE LAND OF AFFECTIONS

The source of my affections, the incredible fountain of love and tenderness, is no doubt, my little island of Cuba.

11 of the provinces in Cuba suffered some form of damage from the Hurricane Irma, a powerful category 5 storm.

The solidarity and resilience of the Cuban people shone through.

What is the strength the inhabitants have that helps them through calamities big and small, continual or episodic?

For a people who have very little material possessions, loosing that little is traumatic but not unsurmountable, if you put in context of the value that is held dear by the Cuban people, urban and rural.

Following is a part of a letter I received yesterday from my good friend, who is a Psychologist.

The medical student you are talking about is not poor; neither am I. Poverty is a social condition that does not describe our situation very well. We are humble, we have limitations with resources, many material shortcomings, we need many things to live better, that are true, but we are not poor. Look at her, she has the blessing of her parents, her dad works in an excellent company and they have a nice family. She dresses very well, she looks very happy and that indicates that she is very happy, I know that she lives a good family life like most Cubans, with limitations but without starving. She is young, is studying Medicine absolutely free of charge, she does not have to move away and live in hospital accommodations, she can stay with her family while she is a student, her parents are young and healthy, thus she is very fortunate, she is a millionaire like me, because whoever has a good friend has a treasure with them.

You are that treasure.

In the western and capitalistic societies, every thing is measured in terms of money, material wealth (Quantitative life), whereas not much time or  attention is paid to the genuine affections. (Qualitative life). (I tell my sister all the time: Time is the Greatest Gift. I am truly not impressed by workaholic managerial types of any nationality)

Octavio Paz had written, others had mentioned that one can count the good friends in fingers of one hand, that is one has less than five good friends in the West. (perhaps, one of the reasons, why people have hundreds of FaceBook friends, Dunbar number dictates that it is not possible to have more than about 120 "friends", according to research women are capable of more friends than men, so the number of Good Friends still is below 12 or 15, as is the case in Cuba)

In Cuba, I can count on at least 10 good friends and another hundred friends. People ask me, why are you so obsessed with your life in Cuba, and I tell them: Because that is where most of my friends live and that is the fountain of affections for me.

I am very much reminded of the American Indians with whom I work. Earlier on they said: We are neither a minority nor poor, as we have a rich spiritual life. We may be materially poor but we don’t consider ourselves poor. And there is a strong sense of solidarity among them.

In France, people have a sense of national feeling but not a sense of togetherness or happiness and even when they give gifts to each other, it is almost like an obligation and a favour returned, one does not feel the genuine solidarity or feeling of unity of a nation.

Cuba is unique, has had a very special history in the last 60 years, for the first time, Cuba has been sovereign and independent, not puppets of any one or following orders from the metropolitan states. I feel that over the course of the time, economic difficulties have made their hearts and souls malleable so as to adopt themselves to the human need.

Even conservative people in Cuba would be heard to say: This is a humane society.

The world needs more places like CUBA, not just  concentrate about places, which are making great economic successes, such as Singapore, while the human aspects of living and giving are completely neglected. Cuba has its pitfalls and it is up to the Cuban people to rectify that in the manner of their choosing, but not imposed upon them from outside individuals or powers.

I am proud of my friends in Cuba.