Living in coronavirusworld 222: Building the Blessed City

 12/3

72nd Street Subway Station, Yoko Ono

Go to 72nd Street to visit my doctor. It took over three months to get an appointment for my annual check up. Maybe more, it’s hard to remember. I’m used to seeing him in normal work clothes but in coronavirus world, he’s wearing blue medical scrubs, a mask and full face shield. It feels strange. I get tested and am happy to learn that after five months, I still have Covid antibodies. 

 

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The Interfaith Assembly holds a virtual “gala” honoring “Builders of the Blessed City.” As expected, the tightly planned one hour schedule slides over to an hour and a half. A subtext of the night is that three honorees have all been related to the controversy over housing homeless men in a boutique hotel, the Lucerne, in the Upper West Side. The old school liberal elite community rose up in arms to try and drive the men out and the “progressive” mayor DiBlasio quickly caved. But another group of local residents, One Heart Upper West Side, just as quickly came out and organized in support of the men.

Larry Wood, of Goddard Riverside, the neighborhood “settlement” house, is here to introduce one of the honorees. He worked to bring Goddard’s resources to the men and even had a day program set up but the mayor’s stalling closed off that possibility. Larry introduced Manhattan Borough President and former Upper West Side City Council member Gale Brewer, long time homeless advocate, showed up in person and brought the power of her office to the struggle. She helped find legal advocacy for the residents as the court battle waged back and forth. The removal of the men was forestalled at least three times and the mayor pushed back every time. A third honoree was Peter Cook of the New York State Council of Churches who was able to bring the faith community together to support the men in various ways.  Gale and Larry were happy to announce that the latest legal appeal was granted and the men will not be removed. (At least for now.) Meanwhile the hope is that enough funding can be brought together to purchase one of the boutique hotels devastated by the pandemic. 

The final honoree is one of the residents,Shams (Da Homeless Hero) DaBaron who has become  the public face…and voice…of the residents. He tells his story of childhood abuse and homelessness from teen age years until now. And what he has learned through this process. Most importantly that you can fight city hall. Through organizing. He is also living proof that we can be allies but we should never think of ourselves as speaking for those who have no voice. The work is to enable and empower people to speak for themselves and to stand with them. That above all is the beauty and power of this night. And why I have supported the Assembly, founded in 1985, since my arrival ten years later. It's the only organization I know that goes beyond the usual basic needs meeting for people who are homeless and works for transformation of the individual and society. And actually succeeds. (https://www.iahh.org)

But the work at the moment is nearly overwhelming.  The number of homeless is now a record 60,000. My friend and colleague Father Clyde Kuemmerle reports that due to the pandemic, the comic devastation and coming tidal wave of evictions when the moratorium ends, the number cold reach 100,000.

I introduce my friend Rabbi Steve who sings his song “Bridge to Hope” as a final blessing. Then he and my friend “Violizzy” Taub and vocalist Esther Ready and me share music while the silent auction continues. Six years ago, Steve, Esther and I performed live at the Assembly’s fundraising event. Along with three others, it was the first iteration of my band.(

                                                              concert 201

 Tonight we do what we can with the limitations of ZOOM, sharing Lizzy’s video and poem, Esther and I teaming on “Light of the Stable” and all of us sharing “Hard Times Come Again No More.” I seem to be  struggling a bit this week, musically. But all things considered, a pretty good way to spend my birthday, 

Living in Coronavirusworld 38: This is not victory

4/30

Half mast in my neighborhood. But not the White House

I go to Wadleigh to pick up some food. Notice that the American flag in the school yard is at half mast to honor the dead.  But not in Washington, DC.  Not at the White House. The dead are an inconvenience for our President. His son in law and “senior advisor” Jared Kushner has announced “Victory.”  Jared, this is NOT a victory. There are UHaul trailers outside funeral  homes filled with rotting bodies. The death count rises. And Jared stands on the aircraft carrier with George W. Bush in his flight suit announcing “Mission Accomplished.” No, Jared, no victory.

I no longer want to hear the New Normal. It may be new, but this is NOT normal. And never should be. What we allowed to be normal put us in position for this to be a disaster. Tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. No, this is not normal. An Op Ed in the Irish Times expresses, for the first time in history, pity for the US. Pity. No, Jared, no victory. 

Friends in Guatemala report new deportees from the US banned from entering their home towns. Houses being burned. My longtime  friend in Pittsburgh reports that one in five Pittsburgh residents are unemployed.  In the last five weeks, 1.65 million  have filed for unemployment benefits. He’s working round the clock to help them get their due.

I walk to Morningside Park.  As I sit meditating, I hear nearby, up the hill, a  solo saxophone player. Reminds me of  sitting in line waiting for tickets to Shakespeare  in the park.  (Not this summer..)The busker who for as long as I’ve lived here, plays his flute in the morning and sax in the afternoon while people wait for their free tickets. Occasionally going off into his random  social political rants. I sit in silence listening to these notes dance in the air.  

saxophone player on the hill

The Governor announces the subway will now be closed every night from 1 to 5 AM. 

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.  As if there were not enough to worry about, Michael Moore released his new movie, the Planet of the Humans. (https://planetofthehumans.com/)    The bottom line is that the environmental movement has been essentially bought by capitalist corporations and most all of what we cheerfully believe to be renewable sustainable energy is at least as carbon consuming as coal, gas and oil. The much heralded biomass plants are devouring forests at a rate that cannot be replaced. Capitalism wins again. The point is, in Covid 19, Mother Nature has sent us a wake up call. Get your shit together, or it's over. My friend Steve Blane has recorded a cover of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, with a slight revision: Look at Mother Nature on the run in Two thousand Twenty…(https://soundcloud.com/steveblane)

It’s time for my first ZOOM concert, Lockdown Showcase #1.  Joined by my friends Joel and Carrie, of Hot Glue and the Gun (http://www.hotglueandthegun.com/) and my renaissanceman and lead guitar player Mike Handelman.(http://www.mikehandelman.com/) Together they make the musical magic for my Home (Away) Band. Tonight you might  say we’re Home (Home). At first I’m anxious, just like live shows, almost sure no one will show up. But as always, they do. Joel and Carrie do new songs responding to the virus. Mike plays a Russian folk song in a Django Reinhardt style and other pieces in the new laid back acoustic jazz genre he’s exploring these days. My whole set is responding to the virus, including some spoken word in Blowing the Wind…the answer my friends is not blowin' in the wind, the answer is in our own hands…and finish with my virus revised Don't roll that way. As the audience grew, my spirits raised.  I saw friend,s I sang some songs. By the time it was over, I felt as close to happy as possible. And I still miss singing harmony with friends. 

This is not a victory. And this is not normal.

Living in coronavirusworld 11: shabbat in corona virus time

4/3

...blooming...

At 6:30 PM I join my friend Steve for the 30 minute musical warm up before his shabbat service.  I sing my song about this coronavirusworld, Listen.   Steve recently had one of his original “virus”pieces featured in Vanity Fair. (https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/03/a-lockdown-letter-from-new-york?fbclid=IwAR0cfo8CnD_aJhYY5pNhEITj5znNMgIWkO2HgiAYKw_JJFBCu7Meyc-gTHk). 

We try singing Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” like we’ve done live together. It’s a bit 

odd not being in the same room together attempting harmony.  Then in honor of Bill Withers, who died today, "Lean on Me.” (You can check out the music and service at https://www.facebook.com/stevenblanemusic/videos/355062968766109/?eid=ARCBH3MBjJAkzLqfKq7z7m4EgVzQCWggA3_4gKg7lVyPHJE-yCTJtczUogs7_KyRACrfX6d9ih5QB8XH).)

Then it’s time for “Shabbat in Corona virus time” with Congregation Sim Shalom. But at At 7PM, just before the service begins, I hear through my window the nightly salute to emergency workers: medical workers, delivery people, clerks, transit workers…the people keeping us alive. With cheers and rattling of pots and pans like Latin American caserolazas, only in praise, not protest. Even in the streets of  Harlem it echoes and I hear  through Steve’s window as well.  The online service unfolds just like usual. Only it’s not usual. The community gathers from around the world, even Cuba.  Steve greets them as they tune in. He asks me to share some reflections.  I begin by talking about my experience with Ecclesia and the homeless people in Marcus Garvey Park. And the refrigerator trucks in Brooklyn. And the tents in Central Park. We are literally walking through the valley of the shadow of death. How hard it is not to fear. I talk about how as hard as it is being “quarantined,”  it’s not all that uncommon. How my son’s wife had to spend days with her parents in their basement during the Serbian bombing of her home city.  And how my Serbian friends hid in basements for 78 days while NATO mobbed their country. Or Jews hiding in tiny crawl spaces for years during World War II. We have done that to each other. We have lived through it and survived. We need to draw on those legacies.  To get through this. And I of course I finished by talking about gratitude. Resistance begins with gratitude. What happened today that I am thankful for? This Shabbat, the prayers for healing and the mourners’ kaddish has special meaning tonight.

Steve at one point makes reference to holocaust and one of the  congregants objects.  He apologizes for having offended the congregant, acknowledges that for some, no comparisons can ever be made. And then says, I wasn’t there for that holocaust. But this is my holocaust. It’s everyone who is vulnerable. There may be a million dead already. And my wife and my family are in danger  revery day. It’s enough…. This is very untypical for Steve who in his service believes that for  most of us, our lives are so demanding that we need a weekly break, we need a  weekly moment of comfort and peace, a shabbat. Someone else tries to extend the controversy but Steve wisely moves on. We move on to the final prayers, a word of peace. And the service is ended. Back to the solitude of our homes.

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I visit with my friend who had the virus.(On facebook, live..) She’s back in the land of the living. Color in her face again.  It is good to see each other, I haven't  seen her face since, well, before…. Wondering how long until that might actually happen again….

Press release for upcoming interfaith Thanksgiving event

11/3

A Rabbi and Reverend singer-song writers to orchestrate global Thanks Giving

 On Friday, November 20, two New York spiritual leaders will conduct an interfaith online music service to celebrate the bounty of our earth, give shared thanks for our blessings and connect citizens worldwide as a step towards peace.

In 1620 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in search of religious freedom, traveling for sixty five days with bibles to practice their faith without persecution. On November 20, Sim Shalom founder, Rabbi Steven Blane, and the West Park Presbyterian Reverend Robert Brashear, although not donning Pilgrim hats, will join together for an online Thanks Giving music and prayer service to inspire gratitude for the earth's abundance and celebrate diversity of
spirit with a message of acceptance and pluralism.  Unlike the Mayflower voyage the program seeks to bridge connections rather then escape from them and no travel is required. Congregants of all faiths and citizens from around the world can simply join in for the free event and participate via the live chat by clicking on at www.simshalom.com at 7:00 pm EST.


Creating uplifting music has been an integral part of Rabbi Blane's and Reverend Brashear's work both within the pulpit and in less traditional settings such as jazz clubs. West Park Presbyterian Church has build a dialogue of interfaith harmony with its authentic mutual conversation outreach program. Sim Shalom the world's only virtual Synagogue has connected individuals around the world with its weekly online service platform.  According to Rabbi Blane " Combining our musical voices and experiences to build universal discourse rooted in mutual respect and compassion is a  perfect vehicle to elevate the conversation. Music transcends languages. Loving they neighbor, starts on the local level and grows exponentially. "
Reverend Brashear has years of experience in spiritual policy development in Mexico, Central America and the Middle East, and locally as a founding member as Westsiders for Peace and Justice located in New York City. He is the Chair of the Interfaith Assembly for Homelessness and Housing. The reverend sings and plays the ............................... and has performed with a variety of artists. His recordings include the Movement Music Project of the Peace poets.  

Rabbi Blane, who is also a Cantor, has dedicated his work towards a vision of inclusion. Most recently he spearheaded a new movement of Jewish Universalism that embodies the principles of non judgement acceptance.  Rabbi Blane has performed in iconic venues including The Bitter End in Greenwich Village and performs regularly in jazz clubs as a singer and piano player. He has released several CD's including "Live Jazz High Holidays".

This event brings full circle the rabbi and the reverend's music collaboration. They have performed together in the Home ( Away ) Band.