Sacre Du Printemps
Please enjoy the thoughts and musings of our friend, supporter, and long-time contributor Art van Bodegraven Jr., who passed away on June 18, 2017. Art was a prolific writer and had amassed a collection of unpublished blog posts he had planned to run well into the future. To honor his memory, we will continue to post these remaining blogs as he had intended. If you’ve been a fan of The Art of Art blog, check out our tribute.
The offspring of a religiously non-observant family, The Kid may, perhaps, not proclaim "Today, I am a man", like his peers who celebrate a Bar Mitzvah.
Frankly, way too many of these expressions of parental pride are paltry excuses for "showing off" parties, and are looser than somewhat in their interpretation. The rite(s) of Spring get carried to extremes all too often. As they say, "Baruch adonai elohim . . ." Very few actually undergo a two-year programme of instruction and learning; more buy into "accelerated" courses that emphasize stumbling readings over life lessons.
The Kid already lives his commitments, socially aware, and is plugged in to societal needs. He always leaves here wanting to know what he can do for us. He's discussing political issues with his friends - or us - , and is always at their backs at the moment of physical or emotional need.
And, he's La Diva's biggest fan.
To complicate matters, Passover overlays Easter this year. For many, Passover and a seder define the season. This year, the seder is Mexican, which causes a little loss of eastern European tradition. And, for many People of the Book, the Famous Last Supper was the last seder for Jesus of Nazareth.
Perhaps in 2018, our multi-faith community can genuinely express hopes for "next year in Jerusalem", jointly hoping for reconstruction and the restoration of a Davidic line of succession as Passover concludes with Yom Kippur.
The Kid is ready to sign up.
The key questions are: Are you a man - or mensch? Do you embrace religious dissonance? How do your issues resonate with global needs? Can you, do you, help move the needle of inclusion and tackle needs for a coming together?
Get started, brother!