Last night no less than four - count them, four - utility (manhole) covers blew up on my new street in Crown Heights. It caused quite the stir. The entire neighborhood came out and wandered around, chatting and laughing, basking in the glow of our respective mobile devices.
It turned into a big party. Alan and I finished off all the ice cream in the freezer, just in case.
It turned into a big party. Alan and I finished off all the ice cream in the freezer, just in case.
While Alan and I were hunkered down outside the park that divides our street, I was busily checking Twitter and came across this tweet:
"For financial reasons." It was at least as big a shock as my street exploding. But then again, manhole covers blow up all the time. And Jewish organizations are prone to closing when there's no money anywhere in sight for creative, forward-thinking projects that don't have anything (directly) to do with advocating for Israel or ending the "plague" of intermarriage.
But manholes covers don't need to explode. It's a problem of maintenance. If we are more attentive to our streets and the magical grids below them that make our freezers keep ice cream cold and delicious, they won't cause the sparks that ignite the gases that make the manhole covers shoot into the sky. We need to invest in regular maintenance, not just emergency measures.
The same is true of the Jewish world. JDub, and other innovative projects, needed maintenance (there's a great article on eJewish Philanthropy that illustrates this much better than I ever could - minus the flimsy manhole comparison). Jewish arts and culture are the magical wiring beneath the surface. They keep us whole, inspired. They simultaneously reflect and create our society, and they deserve our investment.
I'm sure I will write on this again. In the wake of this boom, it will be interesting to see who from the neighborhood steps up, and how the landscape - the road - changes.
But manholes covers don't need to explode. It's a problem of maintenance. If we are more attentive to our streets and the magical grids below them that make our freezers keep ice cream cold and delicious, they won't cause the sparks that ignite the gases that make the manhole covers shoot into the sky. We need to invest in regular maintenance, not just emergency measures.
The same is true of the Jewish world. JDub, and other innovative projects, needed maintenance (there's a great article on eJewish Philanthropy that illustrates this much better than I ever could - minus the flimsy manhole comparison). Jewish arts and culture are the magical wiring beneath the surface. They keep us whole, inspired. They simultaneously reflect and create our society, and they deserve our investment.
I'm sure I will write on this again. In the wake of this boom, it will be interesting to see who from the neighborhood steps up, and how the landscape - the road - changes.
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