Mary Travers: R.I.P.

Two days ago Mary Travers, the female part of the popular folk music group Peter Paul and Mary, passed away from leukemia at the age of 72. Any American growing up in the 1960s and '70s grew up with their music. Music has a unique ability to cut through the protective walls we build around ourselves and to touch our souls. The songs of this particular group embodied the countercultural protest movement of the time. In particular, Blowin' in the Wind and If I Had a Hammer became anthems of the civil rights movement, sung at the March on Washington in 1963. One summer before the Verrazano Bridge was built I went to day camp. We would ride the ferry from the camp in Staten Island back to Brooklyn, and we would have to wait at the terminal for the boat to arrive. While we were waiting the bus would reverberate with If I Had a Hammer.

I didn't (and don't) agree with all of PP&M's political views, but I was fully signed on to the civil rights movement as soon as I became aware of what it was about. I like to believe that had I been a few years older I would have marched in Selma or been a freedom rider. Thank God we in New York had no overt Jim Crow laws that I can remember, but there were unwritten, unspoken restrictions on where black people could live, what occupations they could pursue and so forth. That kind of apartheid is the Lord's abomination, and for we who suffered under Hitler to tolerate it here at home is doubly abominable.

At this time of year we experience heightened awareness of the brevity and fragility of human life. We think of those who were positive influences in our lives who have since passed on, and we have reached an age where more and more of those people are no longer with us. It is for those of us whose souls were touched by Mary Travers's music to continue to propagate her message of love, brotherhood and intolerance for injustice and inhumanity.

If I had a bell
I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening
All over this land
I'd ring out danger
I'd ring out a warning. . . .
Sounds familiar? Good.


Wishing all my readers a ktiva va-hatima tova. May you have a year of happiness, health and God's blessings.

Civilization vs Barbarism

Civilization vs Barbarism: That is the titanic struggle in which we are engaged. Eight years ago today Islamic barbarians crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing some 3000 innocent people. We've gotten accustomed to soft living and too many of us take the blessings of liberty for granted and are unwilling to fight for our freedom. A free people unwilling to fight for their freedom is sure to lose it. Watch this video for a preview of what can happen to us, God forbid, if we don't stand up to those who would take our freedom away. If you think that the barbarians no longer have evil designs against us, watch The Third Jihad. And bear in mind that some Jews in Israel would be happy with a state like what exists in Iran and Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Review my previous posts for 9/11 anniversaries. Tomorrow is the Jewish Yahrzeit, always 23 Elul, exactly one week before Rosh Hashanah. Think of the good people who were murdered by the devil-worshipers, and of the good people who fell in battle for our way of life, and who are coming home severely wounded. When you get solicitations from the Jewish War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans and similar groups, don't throw them away. We remain free because of the people they help.

And if you want to see the Twin Towers rise again, visit http://www.teamtwintowers.org/ and http://www.twintowersalliance.com/ .