Hylatomus pileatus

A Pileated woodpecker's wonderful strength on display. 
Its holes in an oak on the Pine Meadow trail, Harriman State Park.

(Phlaeotomus pileatus and subspp)* 

The pileated woodpecker, logcock, woodcock or cock of the woods as it is variously called, is the largest member of the family now living in the United States except the ivory billed woodpecker, which is very rare. The logcock is essentially a forest bird and is rarely found except in rather extensive tracts of timber. It is usually shy and retiring difficult to approach and better known by its work than by sight. Its large size, loud voice and habit of hammering upon dead limbs combine to make it a conspicuous inhabitant of the forest. Its strength is wonderful and it is hard to believe that a bird can so completely destroy a stump or log Strips of decayed wood 2 feet long 4 inches wide and an inch thick are often torn from a stump and thrown several yards away. Woodpeckers signal each other by hammering upon a dead and hollow limb or trunk of a tree or upon the metallic cornice of a building. The pileated is an adept at such telegraphing and its tattoo on a particularly resonant piece of timber can be heard for more than a mile.

- F.E.L. Beal, Food of the Woodpeckers of the United States, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture Biological Survey, 1911

* I have yet to ascertain where the author's name for the genus, phlaetomus (sic) comes from. It seems this was the scientific name given to the Pileated woodpecker in the scientific literature of the first quarter of the 20th century. I have seen in at least one text the name of this genus attributed to Jean Louis Cabanis, a German ornithologist of the 19th century.

Plate 111 from Audobon's Birds of America

The Problem of Biding Time and Waiting for "the Eruption"

The Waiting Place, from "Oh the Places You'll Go"
-Dr. Seuss

Das Problem der Wartenden
Es geschieht durchschnittlich nicht, und in allen Winkeln der Erde sitzen Wartende, die es kaum wissen, in wiefern sie warten, noch weniger aber, dass sie umsonst warten.

'The Problem of the Waiters'

as for a sudden waking up or eruption to action ---
"It does not happen ordinarily, and in all the corners of the Earth sit waiters, who hardly know, to what extent they are waiting, but know even less that they are waiting in vain."

Friedrich Nietzche, "Beyond Good and Evil" Aphorism 274

1826 Round Stone Barn

The Round Barn at the Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA, September, 2014

The Round Stone Barn is the only circular barn ever built by the Shakers. Widely recognized as an architectural icon and agricultural wonder, this unique dairy barn originally stabled 52 milk cows. It’s been attracting visitors – most notably Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, who staged a footrace in the structure – since its construction.

The Round Stone Barn offers ground-level access on all three levels. Wagons entered on the upper level to deposit hay into the central haymow on the main floor below. The Brethren would drive the empty wagons around the circular barn floor and exit the same door they came in, eliminating the potentially dangerous activity of backing wagons out of a barn. The cows stabled on the main floor faced inward toward the haymow for ease of feeding. Manure shoveled through trapdoors to the cellar was stored until needed as fertilizer in the gardens. The Shakers maintained a working dairy farm at Hancock into the 1950s.

(hancockshakervillage.org)

Channeling Kierkegaard in an old, desperate Love Letter

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe Prays at the Wailing Wall

               

:אזוי מען רעדט צו גאט  
...כחברותא כלפי שמיא

ועבד שמוכיח את רבו

Sefer Torah Project 1991

Saul Friedman, 7th Grade ASHAR

My Report is on a Torah from my family. It was bought by my great-great grandfather Dovid Aryeh Friedman. The Torah was written in 1944 and dedicated in 1945. Since Dovid Aryeh was poor, he cashed in a life insurance policy to buy the Torah. The Torah was bought for around $500 and the mantel for about $15. The Torah was dedicated to a Synagogue in the Bronx where many relatives were in attendance, some of which were about to go overseas to fight in the War.  The Torah was dedicated by Dovid Aryeh in honor of his second wife, Freyd'l, for being a loving and caring wife. The shul where the Torah was dedicated was Congregation Tifereth Moshe. It was written by a Sofer named Leib Berman.

Dovid Aryeh Friedman was from Turiv in Russia. He came to the US in 1920. He was a shoemaker and it was always his dream to have a Sefer Torah written for his family.

So After Dovid Aryeh passed away, the Torah was given to a relative and stayed in his shul in Fresh Meadaows, Queens. Then the Torah was placed in Dovid Aryeh's son Morris's house in Long Beach. Morris Friedman then gave it to my grandfather Izzy and he put it in the Old Nyack Turnpike shul. Since the Torah was getting old, my grandfather decided to get it checked by a sofer in New Square. The Torah had many problems but they were corrected by the New Square sofer. My grandfather decided to give it to my uncle's shul in Livingston, NJ. The reason my grandfather gave the Torah to my uncle's shul is that whenever my grandfather goes to that shul, there are two relatives there of Dovid Aryeh Friedman. The Torah was dedicated there in 1987, and it has been there ever since. This Sefer Torah is special because it was made from the dream of a poor shoemaker and was passed from generation to generation.

On the Occasion of My Son's First Siddur Celebration כ"ח שבט תשע"ד

Avner Shalom with his great-grandmother Maralyn Friedman "תחי

.לבני היקר, אבנר שלום מאת אביך שאול משה ב"ר פייוול אהרן
 יהי רצון שיהא הסידור הזה כלי קודש וכלי זמר בידיך להרים קולך בשירות ותשבחות כי קולך ערב ושירך נאה ושתהא תפילתיך מביא לידי שלום והתאחדות ותיקון בעולם ומשיכת ברכה בחייך ובחיי כל ריעיך ושישמע את קוליך ותחינותיך כי הטה אזנו לי ובימי אקרא, אכן נצר בני מצות אביך, ואל תטש תורת אמך קשרם על לבך תמיד ענדם על גרגרתך

Und dann shreit eine Stimme!!!

!!קדושה אין דער סיטרא אחרא

!איך קאן נישט

!איך פערשטעה נישט

!לאז מיך בעטראכטען

From S. An-sky's "Der Dybbuk"

Tales of Old; commissioned illusration of a Talmudic story

To Kalon of the Jews.

האי מאן דבעי מחזי שופריה דרבי יוחנן נייתי כסא דכספא מבי סלקי ונמלייה פרצידיא דרומנא סומקא ונהדר ליה כלילא דוורדא סומקא לפומיה ונותביה בין שמשא לטולא ההוא זהרורי מעין שופריה דר' יוחנן

One who wishes to see the beauty of Rabbi Yochanan should take a silver chalice after being polished, fill it with red pomegranate seeds, surround the mouth of the chalice with a crown of red rose petals, and place it between the sun and shade, and this shining brilliance is akin to the beauty of Rabbi Yochanan.

- Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 84a

"The Metamorphosis": A Terrible Encounter With the Father

It is the custom of the Sanz-Klausenberg Rebbe to throw 
apples to his followers on Simchas Torah. The apples are said to
bring blessing to their recepients.

Es war ein Apfel; gleich flog ihm ein zweiter nach; Gregor blieb vor Schrecken stehen; ein Weiterlaufen war nutzlos, denn der Vater hatte sich entschlossen, ihn zu bombardieren. Aus der Obstschale auf der Kredenz hatte er sich die Taschen gefüllt und warf nun, ohne vorläufig scharf zu zielen, Apfel für Apfel. Diese kleinen roten Äpfel rollten wie elektrisiert auf dem Boden herum und stießen aneinander. Ein schwach geworfener Apfel streifte Gregors Rücken, glitt aber unschädlich ab. Ein ihm sofort nachfliegender drang dagegen förmlich in Gregors Rücken ein...

It was an apple. Immediately a second one flew after it. Gregor stood still in fright. Further running away was useless, for his father had decided to bombard him. From the fruit bowl on the sideboard his father had filled his pockets, and now, without for the moment taking accurate aim, he was throwing apple after apple. These small red apples rolled around on the floor, as if electrified, and collided with each other. A weakly thrown apple grazed Gregor’s back but skidded off harmlessly. However, another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor’s back really hard.

- The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka

Please God, Piska Tava, a Gut'n Kvitel!

Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) appears before the court.
- 'M', Fritz Lang, 1931

"Do you know your case is going badly?" asked the priest. "That's how it seems to me too," said K. "I've expended a lot of effort on it, but so far with no result. Although I do still have some documents to submit." "How do you imagine it will end?" asked the priest. "At first I thought it was bound to end well," said K., "but now I have my doubts about it..."

"You don't understand the facts," said the priest, "the verdict does not come suddenly, proceedings continue until a verdict is reached gradually."

-Franz Kafka, 'The Trial'

According to Jewish tradition our fate is not sealed on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, but rather the judgement waits to be sealed until the seventh day of Sukkos, Hoshana Rabbah.

יומא שביעאה דחג, הוא סיומא דדינא דעלמא 

ופתקין נפקין מבי מלכא  

On the 7th day of the Holiday, this is the comletion of the verdict for the world, as the letters go out from the House of the King. - Zohar, Tzav 31b

Kafka Meets the Rebbe

A little morsel from the annals of Jewish summer vacations: Kafka went to Marienbad on holiday, and there he had the opportunity, thanks to his chasidish (BT) friend Langer to "accompany" the Belzer Rebbe, Yissaschar Dov Rokeach.
Here's some of what he had to say about him:

Er sieht aus wie der Sultan, den ich als Kind in einem Doréee-Münchhausen oft gesehn habe. Aber keine Maskerade, wirklich der Sultan. Und nicht nur Sultan, sondern auch Vater, Volksschullehrer, Gymnasialprofessor u. s. f. 
Der Anblick seines Rückens, der Anblick der Hand, die auf der Hüfte liegt, der Anblick der Wendung dieses breiten Rückens - alles das gibt Vertrauen. Auch in den Augen der ganzen Gruppe ist dieses ruhige glückliche Vertrauen, das ich gut ahne.

"He looks like a Sultan, like I had often seen as a child in the stories of Baron Munchhausen. No joke! Really the Sultan. But not only a Sultan, but also a Father, a Teacher, a Professor, etc.  The sight of his back, the sight of his hand sitting on his hip, the sight of the turns of this wide back  - all of it inspired trust. Also I surmise in the eyes of the whole group that there is a calm, contented trust."

(from a letter to Max Brod, July 1916)

H/T Torah Musings via Bernard Wasserstein, On the Eve, 
The Jews of Europe before the Second World War.

Thuja occidentalis

Roots of the Northern White cedar.
Heart Lake, North Elba, NY. 

The roots are pretty shallow and this tree was exposed on the edge of the lake, so I imagine the tree was downed easily. In any case the wood of the cedar, even of the roots, is very resilient, that is resistant to decay by moisture and other elements. The "aged" roots are quite beautiful, so you'll see them as decorative pieces in homes throughout the U.S.

The Great Builder of the Mammalians, Castor canadensis

Beaver lodge, Sterling Forest, NY, February, 2013 

Stockbridge Shelter

The Stockbridge lean-to on Stockbridge Mtn. 1320' NY
(photo taken by N., January, 2013)

St. John's in the Wilderness Church, Memorial to Lost Love

Harriman State Park, January, 2013

"Even now, the church of Saint John's in the Wilderness stands in thickly wooded seclusion - a remnant of the countryside that first attracted Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Zimmerman to build this memorial to her late husband... In 1879 Mrs. Zimmerman purchased the land for the church from John A. Conklin also of New York. Margaret Zimmerman had originally intended to build a sturdy wooden church made of native timber. However Ralph Townsend, a New York architect suggested that the plentiful fieldstone of the area be utilized. Once the decision to use the native "hornblend" granite was made, Mrs. Zimmerman selected a design to compliment the feeling of such stone. The architecture was typical of Northern England. It had a decidedly "up-country" look reflective of Mrs. Zimmerman's English heritage and youthful travels."

- Bridget Leahy Ward

Canis latrans, Roaring dog, trickster par excellence

Coyote tracks in C.F.'s backyard

I saw the coyote in the afternoon snooping around for critters, he looked pretty scraggly and desperate so I didn't have the heart to go out and take a picture.

Winter Hike

View of the north end of Lake Nawahunta from the Menomine Trail

 Downed pines on the Menomine  Trail

Tefillin and Unio Mystica

From Leonard Nimoy's Shekhina                           

 בענין מצות תפילין 

 הנה ידוע שמצות הנחת תפילין שקולה כנגד כל מצוות התורה כולן, ועוד שאמרו חז"ל גדול המצווה ועושה משאינו מצווה ועושה (קידושין לא.) . ותימה, אם מתשוקת הנפש ורצון היחיד עולה איזה תאווה להתקרב להקב"ה ולהידבק בו ית' מאי גרעא בכך נגד המצווה ועושה? ועוד, ידוע לכל, שיש כמה מצוות שהן שקולות כנגד כל התורה, ולמה אמרו שתפילין גם מיוחד למדרגה זו? והנה התשובות לאותן שאלות הן תשובה אחת.

ודע שמילת 'מצוה' ששגורה בפפיות כל העולם כלו אין ביאורתו ידוע לכל, אבל פשוט ששורש 'מצוה' הוא בלשון ארמית, במילת 'צוות' שמשמעותה חיבור, קשר, והתאחדות. ואז במשמעות לשון מצוה, שהיא מבחינת קשר, נתגלה הסוד של המעלה שנמצא במצווה ועושה. שעשיית המצווה מביאה ממילא דביקות עם הקב"ה שעשיית איזה מעשה משום חיוב מבטא מאליו קשר בין המחייב ובין הגברא שעליו חל החיוב. ומצוות הנחת תפילין מביאה לפעולה כוונת המצוות בכלל, ומושג הקשר עם האלוהות בפעולת קשר התפילין נגד הראש והלב, ואמירת "וארשתיך לי." וזה לשון השל"ה בפ' ואתחנן: "מצות אחדות השם, ואהבת השם, ותפילין של יד ושל ראש, ומצות מזוזה... כלם הם סוד דביקותינו בהשם יתברך... שנהיה דביקים ממש בשם ה' אלוקינו ומקשרים בו  

The Light Flared and was Hidden Away

The Eighth night of Chanukkah at our home, 3 Teves, 5773