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| Debbie Pustorino and Michael Harney |
Sunday, [17 Oct. 2010] Debbie and I spent a few enjoyable hours attending the 8th (I think) annual Hardlox Jewish Food & Heritage Festival in downtown Asheville, NC (our beloved hometown). I had recently had the benefit of a day in NYC with some of the morning spent in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, a center of one of America’s largest Hasidic communities. I had simply wanted to feel the energy of the place which I had read about many years ago in Chaim Potok’s wonderful novel, The Chosen. As an atheist I am dubious of religious fervor of any kind, however, I cannot avoid a rather deep appreciation of many of the heartwarming aspects of the richness of Judaism (as well as every other great religious tradition). The small (I suppose) Jewish community in Asheville have created with this festival a delightful opportunity for the whole community of Asheville to grow in and learn from and relish the long tradition of Jewish life (part of which, in recent times, has grown an interesting atheist branch that I also appreciate). I will never intentionally miss out on this event in the future. We had a blast. Thank you Jewish Community of Asheville, you really know how to make a guy smile!
Speaking of religion (which I plan to do only rarely), while we were at the Hardlox Festival we ran into our glorious old friend Michael Harney. In regard to Michael I once enjoyed one of the few lucid moments of my life. Michael is a man full of an almost magical capacity for giving to others. Without wanting to sound too flowery, I must say, sincerely, that Michael Harney is one of the world’s special people. Michael actually lives his life by the dictum that, in some remarkable way, it is more fulfilling to give than to receive. Well, one day, a couple of years ago, Debbie and I were attending another festival in Asheville at which we were accosted by our local Christian loony brigade, the do-you-know-your-savior-jezuz-christ contingency, presenting with their ever hubristic brand of social dysfunction (thou doth protesteth too much). In one moment of clarity, when asked if I knew jezuz, I immediately came back with, “no, but I do know Michael Harney. Michael works for the local AIDS Project and you too can meet him if you wish.” They were not amused.
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| Christ almighty, where do these people come from? |
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