You lousy men: I'm pissed off!!!

Here I am wondering again, in the midst of the latest revelations of sexual abuse and harassment by powerful men against women, "WTF?" Where did these men get the idea that they could just take any woman they desired? Where did they learn it was okay to touch another person's body, pleasure themselves in front of someone less powerful, take a fellow human's dignity and crush it to a pulp? Did you learn it from the 60's and 70's, Harvey? I sure didn't. Did you get permission from your father, Donald? My father taught me to respect other people. Does your celebrity grant you special rights, Cosby? Or is it primal, something from our caveman roots? ME WANT. ME TAKE.

You disgust me, you sorry excuses for men. A baby can't help himself, he puts things in his mouth. But he's just a baby. You abusive men, you who catcall women on the street, you who brush against women's bodies for a cheap feel, you who rape women who have had too much to drink, you who claim that the way she dresses or smiles or walks gives you permission - you make me ashamed to be a man.

Here's what a real man, a hu-man, does. He respects others. He stands up for people who can't stand up for themselves. He allows he is not always right. And he doesn't take sexual advantage of people, who rely on him for their livelihoods.

When I was in elementary school, the original version of the poem below was recited every year at the graduation ceremony. (I felt a need to change some of the gender-specific language here) . I have always been touched by the sentiment of the work: we are profoundly connected to each other. It's not really different from The Golden Rule, or other expressions found throughout the centuries in religions and philosophies. Think about it.


No person is an island,
Entire of itself,
Everyone is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Anyone's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in humankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee. - from John Donne

Harvey, I can't even

I can't finish writing even one blog without another horrible thing happening. Hurricanes, fires, #LoserPresident mishandling of hurricanes and fires. Police brutality and other government-sponsored atrocities. Then along comes Harvey Weinstein.

I was brought up to weigh everything in the context of "is it good/bad for Jews?" Bugsy Siegel, Bernie Madoff, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? Bad for Jews. Ruth Bader Ginsberg? Great for Jews. Adam Sandler? Nu, who cares?

So when I hear that HARVEY WEINSTEIN sexually assaulted and exposed himself in front of unwilling women, I have to shout, "Oy gevalt!" I don't suppose anyone hears the name "Harvey Weinstein" and thinks, those darn Episcopalians? (I confess I felt inbred Jewish shame when Harvey was chosen as the name of a hurricane.) At least scumbag Steven Miller, from his name, could be anything, though still a scumbag. But Harvey Weinstein is a landsman (Yiddish for the Italian paisan); we're stuck with him. But we don't have to own him.

Now Mr. Weinstein has asked for a second chance, saying "We all make mistakes." No.

NO. NO. NO!!! A mistake is when you call a person "Sam" when you know she prefers "Samantha." Taking your penis out in public is not a mistake. It's not an illness. It's just plain disgusting, a display of power and male chauvinism seen over and over again in this world. Think Cosby. Think Trump. So just stop it. Go away. Maybe talk to your rabbi.