The Meaning of Bikkurim

When I hear people thank others, it can be automatic and without emotion or sincerity. For sure, others say it with a great deal of honesty and feeling; however, the expression of thanks is teetering on the meaninglessness of “how are you.” When we ask people this, we are often not really asking but using it as an expression of greeting. Similarly, the expression of “thanks” is done absent of the emotion and simply as a way to end a conversation or to transition.

In Deuteronomy, bikkurim was an expression of thanks by farmers providing a sample of the first crops to the local temple. This concept is not foreign to Christians as they are asked to tithe 10% of their income. In Islam, one of the five pillars of the faith is the responsibility of charity, zakat. By giving to those less fortunate or to those in need (or to God), we are showing thankfulness for that which we have been given. Additionally, this is not just an expression of thanks; it is the action of thanks. We thank God for a great many things – that the car started this morning, that our children are somewhat normal, that Baltimore defeated Pittsburgh. Most are likely things God could not care less about. For Jews, they gave thanks for every aspect of their lives. However, what makes the concept of bikkurim different is that it requires something more than an utterance. It requires action or sacrifice to show one’s gratitude.

This is not a unique aspect of Jewishness. The observance of Yom Kippur demands of its adherents to not only apologize but to make right a past wrong. So, with bikkurim, it is not enough to give thanks, but we must show it as well. These lessons extend beyond the dictates of the Jewish faith and serve as a challenge for all of us. I do not hold myself as an example of showing thanks. Like nearly everyone else, I fall short often in doing what I should but it does not make the lesson or its implications any less important or relevant.

During the Civil War and unimaginable suffering, Abraham Lincoln called for a national day of thanksgiving. At a time when many are economically suffering, I give thanks for my wife, my family and friends, the ability to do things that I enjoy and the job which provides the resources that make that life possible. I try and show thanks by honoring my wife and my friends, as well as putting my best foot forward at work and for my students every day. It does not matter that the things in my life that I’m most thankful for are also points of stress and frustration; so it is with the things we care about the most. So, show your thanks and revel in the annoyances of life. They reaffirm our priorities.

Et tu, Silvio

An end of an era has hit the Italian Peninsula. The continent-wide movement began with Greece when the American-born Greek prime minister, George Papandreou, paid for the sins of institutional corruption and tax evasions and was forced out of office. The former vice president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos now has the happy pleasure of piloting a nation that does not seem to understand its culpability in the current financial crisis. The next ax fell upon longtime and beleaguered Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Unlike Mr. Papandreou, who was given only two years to fix an unholy mess whose origins date back to the beginning of the modern country, Mr. Berlusconi has been a part of a system that encourages the type of reckless spending and irresponsible fiscal policies that has brought Italy to the brink.

For most of the last decade, il Cavaliere has ruled Italy like his own fiefdom and has weathered enough political scandals to knock nearly any other world leader from power. In 1998, he was sentenced to two years in prison for bribing tax inspectors; he was acquitted (several times) of falsifying accounts; he named a topless model to a ministerial position in 2008; the next year, he was charged with cavorting with minors and a prostitute; in 2010, his “bunga bunga” parties that amounted to orgies came to light; earlier this year, he combined his 2009 troubles and was put on trial for supposedly paying for an underage prostitute. The most amazing thing about all of these allegations and crimes? They were not what drove him from power. It was the world markets.

For Mr. Berlusconi, it is not surprising how the last ten years unfolded for the man who began his career singing on cruise ships and specializing in television programming reminiscent of Telemundo, complete with dancing, half-naked girls. It is a question of dazzle to obscure the mess. The “dazzle” is numbers that seem, on the surface, to be adequate, including a paltry (by European standards) 8% unemployment rate. However, the devil is in the details, which include structural issues that have been worsening for decades and a government that is failing in providing basic services and creating a competitive atmosphere for businesses. Italy’s GDP in 2010 outgrew only Zimbabwe and Haiti. The country’s public debt is 120% of its GDP – as a comparison, the U.S. public debt is 62% of GDP.

This stands as fuel to a fire that Italy is experiencing with the rest of Europe – a growing jobless rate, particularly in the hard hit Mezzogiorno region. And conditions in the southern part of Italy are not even a new development, with the region in general and Naples in particular always the subject of castigation and dismay. The young people of Italy are fed up with a government that cannot get a handle on its own affairs or those of organized crime and are fleeing to greener pastures in the EU or elsewhere. As the young professionals leave, it exacerbates the already graying population that produces less and takes more. The government refuses to provide an atmosphere where businesses can thrive and unions will not allow for longer work weeks to increase production so as to offset higher wages.

Italy, in short, is a mess and like Greece, it is an institutional, historical mess. Mr. Berlusconi is one of the richest men in Italy and no doubt, will ensure that his fortunes and security remain intact. But the country he “led” over the last decade will suffer the consequence. The new prime minister, Mario Monti, can expect a great deal of support from a populace tired of his megalomaniacal predecessor. But with yields on Italian bond rates climbing to nearly 7%, it will not be easy to put together a government that can keep the Italian economy from going into the ditch. Mr. Monti will need to move quickly and ensure parliamentary support if he hopes to make long-lasting and beneficial changes. The continent and the world await news.

OWS, the election and Sesame Street

The Occupy Wall Street movement seems more a call for chaos than substantive change. I don’t mind a protest per se but please, have a point and a solution. The people who are protesting throughout the country range from the sincere (a seeming minority) to the absurd and dangerous. The trashing of buildings and public grounds to the destruction of private businesses are not messages against the bankers and those who supposedly have fleeced the American public. This is about the opportunity to act outside the bounds of common decency and the democratic spirit. So the bankers and the businessmen are the reason they are out in the street, destroying, trashing and complaining? A student of mine, during a class conversation, compared the movement to those who blamed Jews in Germany for the economic troubles of the 1920s on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. While not the same in spirit, it is in intent. Who will be the next target of this rabble? I’m a teacher and not a member of the “1%.” However, there is not a single banker or Wall Street employee responsible for any American without a job. These protests, far and gone from the Tea Party group despite some attempts at comparison, are the end result of “class warfare” demagoguery. Did people think that months of blaming a particular group for all the ills in society would not have an impact?

On to the election front. Not to toot my own horn, but I ask the reader to revisit my assessment of the 2012 Republican candidates for president. Governor Perry has certainly lived up to the idea that he is not quite ready for “prime time.” He will not be the nominee but it will not be because of his inability to articulate his message. We’ve had presidents before of who it can be said were not well-spoken. Herman Cain has shown the weakness of a man with no experience. Some of the “intelligentsia” have used the opportunity of Mr. Cain’s ascendency to throw out terms like “Uncle Tom” and the like, but the candidate is merely showing the signs of one not use to the intensity of the spot light and sadly, we will see an apparently decent man cast aside. However, if the charges against him are true, it will not be the reason he does not get the nomination. We’ve had presidents before with a proclivity towards illicit or illegal behavior towards women. On one observation, I might be wrong and I hope I am. I wrote earlier that Newt Gingrich was likely the smartest one in the room – the one adult in the room, but would not win the nomination. He is climbing in the polls and he could be poised to make a move. His comment to the moderator of a recent debate that it was ridiculous to sum up what to do with health care in thirty seconds shows both his seriousness and experience with complicated issues. It might be enough.

On the other side of the political aisle, I would like to consider the candidacy of President Barack Obama. Not since Franklin Roosevelt has a president been re-elected with such an abysmal economy. However, I have a solution that might ignite more interest in his bid for re-election. I’m betting there are those in President Obama’s campaign who have already considered this idea. Vice President Joe Biden should step down for the good of the party. While no one should question his commitment to his country and the service he has rendered, he has been so marginalized over the last couple of years, it is a wonder he still wants the job. Yet, he still manages to take the limelight with his ill-advised remarks. The administration will likely say it has something to do with his wanting to spend more time with his family or perhaps, health issues. Either way, it would open the door to one the president and his staff would have more confidence in and be able to use more often and effectively. Just a thought.

Lastly, this past week was the anniversary of the debut of PBS’ “Sesame Street.” I’m like many who grew up on its lessons and its characters. However, as a teacher, I see the program in a different way. I challenge the reader to search the teachings and philosophies of the great educators of world history – Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, the Stoics, the Jesuits – and one would never come across the need for or importance of “fun.” However, what “Sesame Street” did was integrate the necessity and appropriateness of entertainment with education. The two have nothing to do with one another but often, I’m asked by my superiors or “experts” in the field to be as much an entertainer as a teacher. Perhaps, more so. Generations of children have incorporated the frivolous and superfluous nature of “fun” with the pursuit of knowledge. When these children arrive at elementary school, they are embraced by and surrounded with an extension of that form of education. However, when they enter middle and high school and the need for education to take a more serious approach is presented, they rebel and they lose interest. That is because they have not been trained to see the pursuit of knowledge as an intrinsic thing. Instead, the entertainment element of education, as typified by “Sesame Street,” promotes extrinsic motivation to the pursuit of knowledge. When a three year old is in the back yard inspecting a blade of grass, it is an intrinsic drive that pushes them onward. The “fun” is in discovery and curiosity – not something contrived from without.

The Blues

When I wore “a younger man’s clothes,” I was introduced to the blues by some guys with whom I served in the military. I grew up with jazz and country music in the house. Blues took a bit long to enter my life. Lately, I’ve reacquainted myself with the musical musings that, in some way, connect with me. Certainly most of the blues musicians I admire had it much worse than me; still, my first exposure to the blues was eye opening and life changing.

When I mention the blues, I prefer listening to some of the older guys – artists such as Robert Johnson, Son House, Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. In their lyrics and in their voices, one can feel pain. It is this quality that impacted me more than anything else. I appreciate some of the newer guys (with blues, newer means the 1960s and 1970s). Guys like Albert King and bar rocker Hounddog Taylor play a style of blues more analogous to the classic rock music with which I grew up. However, for all their bravado, there is something more authentic to be gleaned from the powerful voices, deft guitar playing and frightening wails of the older men who lived through the worse of racial hatred and economic depression.

The jazz movement was a natural extension of the blues and big band music of the 1920s and 1930s. Blues and country have so much in common – particularly some of the classic country music and not the over-stylized and over-produced mess that exists today. The same pain seen in blues musicians can also be heard in the tales of woe from early country stars. Yet, I still come back to the blues. The expression of life’s turmoil and difficulty is so real in their voices and lyrics and in the quality of their playing, it puts into perspective some of the new crop of singers attempting the same sound. What makes the newer music incompatible with the classic blues musicians are that the voice rings hollow…false. They have not lived it and so they are left to mimic it.

I encourage you to gravitate towards the sound of lost or spurned love as heard in Broonzy’s “Frankie and Johnny” or James' "Devil Got My Woman." Listen to a mixture of the old style religion and blues of Delta Blues legend, Son House, in “John the Revelator.” I dare you to listen to Robert Johnson and not think of the legend that suggests he sold his soul to the Devil for a chance at fame and fortune. He died so young, it seems to validate the story or at the least, give weight to the emotions he conveyed. These men (and women) who played the notes and belted out the songs represented the voice of generations and decades of misery, marginal living and hopes unrealized. Music was one of their joys and they used the medium to tell their story.

American music means a great many things to a great many people today. Each style claims an authenticity. However, if I may be a bit of a music snob, the blues represent the first true American music. Its devotees are spread throughout the world but we can visit the regions and hear the sounds and see the settings for ourselves. There is something timeless about their stories and I’ve been enthralled since my first exposure. If the blues ever became chic again, I would bemoan the Johnny-come-latelys but I implore more to venture into a record store (if you can find one) and connect. If you are open to it, it will change your life and your perspective.

The Importance of Suffering

You want, if possible – and there is no more insane “if possible” – to abolish suffering. And we? It really seems that we would rather have it higher and worse than ever. Well-being as you understand it – that is no goal, that seems to us an end, a state that soon makes man ridiculous and contemptible – that makes his destruction desirable. The discipline of suffering, of great suffering – do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? - Friedrich Nietzsche

I was watching the World Series tonight and thinking on the concept of suffering. In the 7th inning, as the Texas Rangers jumped out to a 7:4 lead, the camera panned to shots of the Cardinal faithful. They were hanging on to the last vestiges of hope – a fervent wish that their team would somehow, someway triumph. Afterwards, I saw the Rangers’ fans, with the look of utter shock and dismay, desperately seeking an answer to two blown leads and ultimately, a loss. I asked myself, where is the constructive benefit of that suffering to those fans?

As a teacher, I’m in a strange position. My job is to push my students beyond their preconceived limits to reach new heights. In order to do this, there is a certain amount of suffering that comes into play. Every year, I have those students who relish in the suffering and come through at the end. Then, I have those students who are repelled by any difficulty in their studies, but search it constantly, even contrive it, in their daily lives. I’m left with a group of students who live on drama and suffering, not as a tool to overcome it but as a way of wallowing in it. Seldom is the suffering over anything of importance, certainly not in the long run.

I’m charged with trying to teach the importance of suffering as a way of enduring, as Nietzsche would later explain. My subject is history and its greatest value is placing our lives in context. However, if I cannot convince students to endure a bit of suffering that some perceive in studying history, they can never appreciate nor fully understand what could exist on the other side of effort and stress. Without going through the distress of pushing through a difficult historical or mathematical concept, they will never truly value its importance. For Nietzsche, the suffering creates a moment of clarity and one that defines character.

Suffering and its importance is seen beyond Western ideals and more than the musings of controversial German philosophers. The humanity of Jesus was tied to his suffering – his time spent in the desert was meant to be a trial, a test. His ability to endure the suffering, the temptation was a part of his identity and his connection to man. Suffering also connects us to our fellow man. Can we truly be a sympathetic people without having a frame of reference with regard to other’s tribulations? To the Buddhists, there is a belief that the idea of suffering is one to overcome in order to achieve happiness. The ability to endure and to overcome suffering is the path towards enlightenment.

And so, my thoughts return to those fans. If they are true fans and not bandwagoners, they know the history of their team. The Cardinal fan understands what it means to see their team struggle, scrimp and scratch their way to a World Series – the ultimate baseball prize. For the Ranger fan, they know the decades of futility and unfulfilled hope. They know their history and they know suffering. For the Cardinal fan, they know the reward such suffering can bring. The Ranger fan is yet to know but is there not a lesson from which everyone can learn? Tomorrow, my students will talk about it but will they truly understand it? We, as adults, have an obligation to impress upon our young the lesson of Nietzsche – the notion of suffering and the character it creates.

The Need for a New (Albeit Modified) Ataturk

In the wake of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was wiped from the pages of history for its supporting role of the Central Powers. As a result, the Allies sought their own piece of the Turkish dinosaur. France and Great Britain carved up the old Fertile Crescent along the lines of the Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916), with the British overseeing much of Iraq, Jordan and Palestine and the French overseeing Syria and Lebanon, as well as portions of modern-day Turkey. Meanwhile, the Italians and Greeks made a grab for land around Constantinople. However, from the Turkish military sector emerged a skilled commander named Mustafa Kemal, known in history as Ataturk.

Throughout the early 1920s, Ataturk pushed back the Greek forces, including ethnic Greeks who had settled in Turkish territories. He then pushed through a series of reforms that were considered fairly radical. He implemented a new Latin alphabet and allowed women to have the right to vote. But, his most daring set of reforms was the secularization of Turkey. He went after religious orders and nationalized property held by religious organizations. In the schools of the new country, a secular curriculum was put in place and Sharia law was replaced with one modeled after Western Europe. Islam was delegitimized as a governing force and symbols of the faith, notably the veil, were outlawed. In his efforts, Ataturk was brutal and unrelenting, particularly towards the Kurds, but he was able to reverse centuries of historical precedent to bring stability and democracy to a country possessing little experience with either. In the aftermath, Ataturk, who died in 1938, became a national hero.

Today, Turkey has Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A far cry from Ataturk (except, sadly, his attitude towards the Kurds), he has recently brought Turkey to the point of conflict at various levels. He seems to be going out of his way to destabilize the region. First, he is operating under the false impression that he does not need Europe – saying the continent needs him more. This is seen in the widening gulf between the European Union and Turkey over admission of the latter into the former. Turkey’s economy is extraordinary but I wonder what would happen if some European countries revoked the guest worker program and forced hundreds of thousands of unemployed Turkish nationals to their native land (there are two million in Germany alone)? I don’t foresee countries doing that but I can see an end to the program. This would be a new weight on the Turkish economy that could undermine Mr. Erdogan’s policies.

Second, Mr. Erdogan is pursuing policies that could endanger the fragile stability in the entire region with two cases in particular – Cyprus and Israel. Of concern to the EU is his refusal of any Greek-Cypriot ships to enter Turkish waters or ports. Perhaps, Mr. Erdogan feels his country’s economy does not need their products but the actions seem to be based more on purposefully antagonizing Greek Cyprus on simply historical grounds. The resulting increase in tensions is avoidable. Yet, as problematic as the Cyprus situation is, it does not measure up to his stance on Israel.

The prime minister was the former mayor of Istanbul and is the head of the Justice and Development Party (AK), an Islamist party that has led some to fear, particularly when he came to power in 2003, of an ebbing of Turkey’s secular traditions. While his rule has not suggested an obliteration of said traditions, his stance with Israel seems a ploy to cater to his base. Israel has the right to protect its borders and inspect anything coming into its territorial waters. The fact that the flotilla advocates, a group attempting to run the blockade Israel has on shipments to Gaza, refuse to have their cargo inspected suggests the worst and has nothing to do with the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians. They are the ploy and the flotilla, a Trojan horse. While the U.S. has encouraged Mr. Erdogan to ease back on the stance with regards to Israel, he has escalated by suggesting the next flotilla attempt would be protected by Turkish ships. Whether or not this is bluster, (the New York Times once referred to him as a “hothead,”) the implications are the same.

Ataturk, while progressive at home, was aware of the importance of good relations with his neighbors. His active role within the League of Nations (a precursor to the United Nations), his partnership within the Balkan Entente (1934) and his non-aggression agreement with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan in the Saadabad Pact (1937) shows his understanding of the importance of regional stability. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown the opposite. While conditions within the country have ameliorated since his ascension to the prime ministership, the same cannot be said beyond. Let us hope he is a student of history. If not, I fear for the region.

A Love Letter to Baltimore

I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. The city and its history and quirky nature shaped and formed my development. I’ve lived in the city and I’ve lived in the suburbs. I’ve eaten the coddies and I’ve devoured the crab cakes. I swam the waters and walked the trails. I’ve celebrated the ecstasy of the Orioles winning the World Series in 1983 and suffered the depression of my beloved Colts leaving for Indianapolis the next year. I’ve suffered the comments about Homicide and the characterizations of a city on decline – an antiquated member of the Rust Belt. I’ve heard it all but I know the truth. Baltimore is a great city and I’d like to tell a few of the reasons why the city stays with me to this day.

I’m in love with the neighborhoods and indeed, it is the soul of the city. I think of the Greektown where my parents took me to the shops and little eateries and they bought me my first komboloi or worry beads. As a kid, I was mesmerized by the different accents, different looks, different smells and different items for sale. Since those days as a small boy, even though I’m not Greek or particularly worrisome, I’ve always had my komboloi. It was the nature of these neighborhoods that have shaped my life – one in constant search for new ways, new ideas and new cultures to explore. To this day, accents fire my imagination and it was my upbringing in Baltimore that instilled that in me.

The fact that I’m a history teacher cannot be separated from my hometown. Likely the most important historical point of the city is Fort McHenry – the place bombarded by the British in the War of 1812 and the scene of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. Fells Point is a neighborhood more known today as a chic hang out but this was once an area for the working man and the history surrounding the shipping industry in the city was based here. Even today, the area’s buildings and small alleyways are a reminder that this was once a residential area with a handful of bars and a multitude of dock workers. The first monument to the country’s first president is not in the capital but in Baltimore, in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. These places and others were the destination of many a field trip and in part, shaped my life and career.

And, I remember the food. I remember my father taking me to the Lexington Market – the largest indoor market in the United States. He would take me to a greasy spoon café near the back to get breakfast on Saturdays. It was fattening and, to the uninitiated, a bit gross but it was delicious – scrambled eggs and corn beef hash were the food of the gods. There was a great German restaurant called Hausner’s, known as much for its incredible art collection than its great food. I treasured the times in Little Italy eating at Chiapparelli’s or Mug's but always ending at the famous and wonderful bakery – Vacarro’s. Whatever you wanted, whatever cuisine you craved, it could be found in Baltimore.

To many, Baltimore is beleaguered by crime (though, what major city isn’t), overshadowed by sexier nearby destinations (Washington or Philadelphia) and home to a struggling baseball team. However, it is the city that molded me and a city that stays with me. It always will.