Just when you thought you were ready to clean the wax from the menorah and put the artificial tree in the basement, here come the holidays again, this time, Easter and Passover,and again, tis the season to be helpful and give a little time to those less fortunate. This year I'm contributing by helping a few nonprofits recommended by New York Cares, who some of you may know from those tearjerking spots showing Miss Liberty cowering in a blizzard as veteran newscaster Chuck Scarborough reminds us, "New York Needs Coats." I always knew they were there,but when Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul officially kicked off the Partnership for New York City's WE ❤️ NYC campaign, on March 21, which is celebrating New York business ("WE ❤️ that NYC does more before 8 than Boston does all day," declares one of the many ads.),theatre,sports,food (including dollar pizza,for which you need two extra quarters),and especially,volunteers. I went to http://welovenyc.nyc and found some volunteer openings that were in my wheelhouse: serving food to seniors and the needy. This past Monday,I helped out at the Stanley Issacs Center, a housing project in the Yorkville section of Manhattan,and it made HELL'S KITCHEN (Gordon Ramsay's cook-off,not the West Side neighborhood where I'm working next week) and FX's THE BEAR seem like sleepy elevator music,and at the Salvation Army Astoria Corps in Queens,and although the attendance left something to be desired,it was nice showing the guests to their tables as my fellow volunteers (Unfortunately,none of them in those cool unis) handed them their food. Just like the winter holidays, Easter and Passover are more about sharing than matzos,eggs,or bunnies (NOT the girls at the Club!),and volunteering is the perfect way to share your love. Take it from me, you'll ❤️ it!
Not only is this the holiday season, it's also the time of year when World Wrestling Entertainment celebrates it's biggest and baddest grunt-and-groaners. I COULD talk about such fan faves as Alexa Bliss (Lexi Kaufman Cabrera), Charlotte Flair (Ashley Fliehr) and the twins formerly known as Bella (Nicole and Breanna Garcia), but the name I would like to drop is Abraham Josephine Reisman. I know what you're thinking: WHO? ONLY the author of the definitive biography of the Walt Disney/P.T. Barnum of sports entertainment, Vince McMahon," RINGMASTER,Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America",as well as a mutual friend of Rabbi Andy Kahn of Temple Emanu-El. Not only does this page turner trace the rags to riches story of a true American original (Even if he DID, spoiler alert, contribute to the success of a certain indicted pretender to the presidency), but it also examines how the WWE,like it or not,remade the world in its own image.(Case in point,at the aforementioned Emanu-El's 2021 Chanukah Party in Central Park,WWEish pyrotechnics shot up from the dance stage,much to the disgust of some of the other Rabbi's ) On a scale of pick it or kick it, this book is DEFINITELY a pick it! I pre-ordered it from Amazon last June, and I suggest you order it either from them or wherever you get your books, because it's bound to sell out faster than a WWE match at the Garden!
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Hoppy Easter!
Bye Buckaroos?
Steve
