The Avrum Rosensweig Show

Episode 28 Vac & Danny: A Show on The Vomit of Poverty & The Elegance of Survival

Welcome to Episode 28 of Hatradio! . This show is different than the others as I recorded it one on the road, in a low-cost housing environment. I did so I could have the chance to speak to two very charming, humorous and intelligent fellows, deeply impoverished, physically busted and essentially surviving from day to day. 

Here's what you'll learn throughout the show: The room was small and quickly filled up with smoke. Strangely, after having quit smoking close to thirty years ago, I wanted a cigarette. In my mind, I asked for one.

The two men, Vac Verikaitis and Danny Saroff are in their sixties. They are well-spoken, highly intelligent, funny as  hell, well-read and engaging. At one point Danny drew upon Greek mythology to make his point about the beauty of horses (and his love of horse-racing). 

Danny has been homeless on-and-off over the years. Vac got really close prior to securing a room in this building where mental health illness is abound, and curdling nightly screams jolt tenants awake. Throughout our schmooze both my guests drank beer and smoked. Danny has had lung cancer, two strokes and is an alcoholic. Vac has had heart challenges, numerous muscle injuries and recent surgeries and is an alchoholic. But regardless, they imbibed and dragged on smokes while we talked.

I'm not standing in judgement of Danny and Vac. Not at all. I know how smokes and drink can be a friend when you're suffering badly and family and friends aren't around. I have my own addictions. But clearly these habits, while part of their survival mode, are reflective of a certain hopelessness with comes with poverty. Poverty is expensive and knowing resources just won't come, pushes you down, over and over again.  Would you smoke or drink in their shoes? Damn right.

Vac was a semi-professional soccer goalie. He was a superlative Formula-1 journalist and is an award winning documentarian. My handsome Lithuanian friend from way back, speaks four or so languages and is an awesome cook. Danny, was a cab driver who made pretty good cash, and had two accomplished lovers whom he lived with, one of whom was a high-profile journalist with a Canadian newspaper. He looks younger than his sixty-six years, speaks intelligently and cogently about his atheism, passion for the ponies (which includes an appreciation of the smell of horse shit. I get that), excitement of Kentucky Derby day over Christmas and an acceptance of not being liked by everyone. "I wouldn't be doing some right, if everyone liked me," Danny said.

Both of them use a walker. Their gait is careful.

 

There were some technical problems during the show and you'll notice the interview stops abruptly. Equipment malfunction. That's bullshit. It was my ineptness. But you know, that was okay, because it just added to the rawness and unbridled nature of my schmooze with Danny and Vac. But I felt badly when the computer shut off, and I Vac was in the middle of an important soliloquy in which he rarely said 'um'. His eyes lowered knowing his voice had to stop. 

Not sure why exactly, but there was a certain comfort I felt in their environment, more so than what i often feel in rich opulent homes I've been in; a particular safeness I experienced with these fellows who spend their days surviving. Vac and Danny have no airs about them. There was no falseness in that diminutive room (except perhaps for what I missed). What ever exited my friend's mouths, was fine.  There masks had left them many years prior - no strengths to keep them on or simply no reason.  I felt a type of authenticity myself. Their's was somewhat infectious. But I've always felt this. My Dad translated that into having 'bad friends'. Dads! 

So that's what you'll hear in Episode 28 of Hatradio! Joy and melancholy. Intelligence and street. Coughing, hacking and elegance. What you might illicit from this show is that Vac and Danny were once little boys, someone's children, who grew into men battered by poverty, a system that can rip the kishkas out of you, but who did so with huge doses of style and peonage. 

Take out of this show, that those indigent guys and women you see leaning against a wall to brace themselves from falling, might explain Neitzsche better than Professor Grossbaum could or certainly more astutely than those idiots who go around physically bashing homeless in the head, because of their disgusting demons.

Know that Vac and Danny will share a beer with you (not sure if their last one), when people with affluence might horde their suds;  that within poverty is a clarity about life, a generosity of spirit sometimes couched in vomit, but that sloughs off that layer of 'I'll be who you want me to be'.

Is this simple to get, or even to explain? No. But I know something important happened in that room. Listen closely. Tell me what you hear from Vac and Danny. Tell me what truth you uncover from my time with two very complex and simple guys on a hot, muggy day in downtown Toronto. 

Hatradio! It's the show that schmoozes.    

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Yisha ko'ach (yiddish for 'well done') to Howard Pasternack for his post-production work, accomplished like a true engineer. Thank you too, to David 'Middleman' Nefesh for the Hatradio! song. Have a listen to David on Youtube......man has a voice like an angel. 

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 27 Benjamin Shinewald: A Worldly Winnipeger Destined to be a Forklift Driver

Welcome to Episode 27 of Hatradio! with our guest, Benjamin (Benjy) Shinewald. 

A question I always ask myself when I write these blurbs is, why did I bring this particular person on Hatradio! I'm not willy-nilly about my choice of guests. Not at all! I am very particular in fact, as I want to interview folks who are articulate and can express their narrative in a cogent fashion. I delight in schmoozing with a man or woman who has a colorful past. And mostly I enjoy nice people who are thoughtful and by definition, inspiring.

All of that being said, Benjy was an obvious choice 0as a guest because he is a fine person who is highly inspiring. He has a sweet disposition and from what I know about him through the time we worked together at Ve'ahavta (Benjy is on the board), and when he was the CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress, Benjy has always displayed generosity of spirit - a trait that is paramount to the strengthening of our world.

A good example of that, is Benjy's thoughts on his memorial article in the Canadian Jewish News having to do with his Jewish school teacher, the late Mr. Berger. Benjy didn't eulogize the man as if he was a superstar or a hero. Instead he recognized the passion his teacher had for the kids and for learning and turned that into something organically epic, small town big. He reminded us that our teachers, often lead us intellectually and ethically, quietly, stick in hand, in a way that can impact on us forever. And we can imagine Mr. Berger's leadership. And that image parks itself on a shelf somewhere, deep down in our soul.

That generosity of spirit is a big deal in our day and age, in fact at any time in history. It's the niceness, the decency, the caring for others that allows our world to edge forward ever so slightly, a step at a time. Listen to this show. Be conscious of Benjy's compliments for his family (especially his 106 year-old grandma), his colleagues and the kind words he directs toward me. It's subtle but incredibly important.

We like people like that. Mostly, they are the ones we want to make our friends.

The other thing that compelled me to ask Benjy to be a guest is that he is bright. The man has developed his intellect. Not so much like a Talmudic scholar, but more so like a well-read neighbor, with a fertile curiosity and a drive to know and uncover. You'll detect this in our guest a number of times when he replies to a question, "I haven't really thought of this", or "Good question, Avrum". It's clear from these short retorts, that Benjy did not come Hatradio! to simply toss out answers to stuff. He's not fluffy. Benjy was there to share with us truths he'd arrived at or postulations he'd mulled about, or to say, "I don't know". We had an honest, thoughtful dialogue, one which I believe will compel the listener to consider alternatives. 

 

There's a lot more to the interview like: Benjy's many trips abroad and visits to synagogues in far away lands like Beijing, where he saw a mother-of-pearl inlaid ark; like his no-holds-barred challenge to Jewish leadership for being somewhat namby-pamby in its response to anti-Semitism; like his 9-year old wonderment and magical thinking, as to why his tie-wearing Dad, the boss, didn't ride the forklift at his work all day instead of administering systems from his office. And yes, we're privy too, to Benjamin's work on the Privy Council and his toil today bringing green to buildings in Canada and around the world. 

I chose Benjamin Schinewald as a guest on Episode 27 of Hatradio! because there are aspects of his character that I'd like to emulate, and suspect others would as well. Again, this father of two girls, is a decent sort full of love for all personkind, caring and he's bright with the nuts to be contentious. And yes, Benjy is a tad off balance just like the rest of us.  But that just adds to the layers of excitement in our schmooze.

Enjoy! It's a good show. I liked doing it with Benjy. Please share it with others and be in touch with any questions or suggestions for guests at info@hatradio.ca. 

Hatradio! The show that schmoozes (with regular folk).

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Thanks to David Nefesh for the Hatradio! blues song. A pat on the back to Howard Pasternack for his post- production, like deletions of coughs and finger tapping on the Hatradio! table, and goofy things I said that I'm too embarrassed to share with you. :) 

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 26 - Aaron Lightstone: His Metronome is a Dying Person's Heart

This show includes live, moving, beautiful Yiddish music including 'Shein Vi Di Levone' - 'Beautiful Like the Moon' at 58:00 minutes. Be inspired. Share it!)

Learn about 'Quickenings' through music, when a person with dementia comes out of themselves. Fascinating!  

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Welcome to Episode 26 with Aaron Lightstone. For some reason I am feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and awe because of this schmooze. These feelings started when I booked Aaron, a friend of twenty years, to do the show, and were strong throughout the interview and afterward. I believe the reason my response is so powerful is because..... 

Aaron Lightstone is mostly a music therapist at heart. For about 50 minutes of this 80 minute episode, Aaron talks about playing music for people who are dying. Think about that. A person is leaving this earth and their loved ones asks a man who is well-trained as a therapist, is highly proficient on the guitar and who can sing, to join the most private inner sanctums a family can create where the soul of a family member is slowly escaping them and beginning to rise toward the heavens. And Aaron does join them. And he is entirely present through his music, throughout the divine journey starting on earth, that man/woman are taking. What an honor.

While in the room, Aaron plays music the individual loves. He tells us in this interview, how he listens for the dying man's or woman's breathe and he plays according to its rhythm.  My God! His metronome is the person's heart beat.

Sometimes Aaron plays and sings Yiddish songs and other times, improvised notes and chords built upon eastern music.

- LISTEN TO THE IMPROVISED MUSIC. CLOSE YOUR EYES. IMAGINE, BEING IN THAT ROOM. 

- LISTEN TO AARON'S RENDITION OF TWO BEAUTIFUL YIDDISH SONGS HE PLAYED FOR A WOMAN WITH ADVANCED DEMENTIA. DURING THIS EPISODE.  THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN HAS A STIRRING VOICE AND IS SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT AT BRINGING OUT THE SOUL OF JEWISH SONG. IMAGINE WHAT THE ELDERLY WOMAN FELT WHEN HE WAS PERFORMING JUST FOR HER.     

Episode 26 of Hatradio! is spiritual in nature. Listening to it is like hanging out in the forest surrounded by nature's brilliance. Near the second half of the show, Aaron tells us about a band he helped create made up of members with severe physical ailments such as cystic fibrosis. It is called Bliss I-Band. Their instruments? The I-pad. How do some play their instrument? Well Samantha, a member, moves her head and buttons on her the headrest on her wheelchair sends a message to her I-Pad and she plays.

Listen to this Youtube video. 'Heart of Gold' by Neil Young...perhaps one of the coolest jam ever, just like the leaves on a tree. 

(https://youtu.be/F07j_oGbhRc - watch this video on Youtube about the Bliss I-Band) 

Near the end of the show, Aaron and I schmoozed about Jaffa Road, a fusion band he formed in which he plays the oud, guitar and is a composer of many of its songs. Under Aaron’s leadership Jaffa Road has toured widely in North America, won a Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA), the John Lennon Songwriting contest, and has 2 JUNO Award nominations.

So, I think I love this interview so much because I felt I was with an individual who is a regular guy who performs acts of kindness and who repairs the world a lot, through his music. I want to do what he does. I want to emulate his kindness. I believe, simply put, this shows personifies what Hatradio! is setting out to do....to inspire through regular folks. 

What a wonderful world we share.   Hatradio!  The show that schmoozes (with regular folks). 

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Thank you Howard Pasternack for your post-production work. I love my Thursday nights with you. Well done to David Nefesh, a fine singer/songwriter, for his HATRADIO! song. You start and finish the show. You're our holy book-ends Dave! :) 


Credit for music in commercial: 
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 25 -- Greg Rogers: Brash, Compassionate...a Man with a Walrus Penis Collection

Greg Rogers is from Fredericton, New Brunswick. He has an accent from Eastern Canada. He stands about 6 feet and has longish white hair with wicked sideburns. The thing about Greg is, he's as brash and straightforward as you want people to be with no qualms about calling anyone out, especially himself. 

My old friend, 62 years old, who helped me when Ve'ahavta was established as the executive director of Na Me Res (Native Men's Residence), told me in the interview about his walrus penis collection. He told me the first term he learned in Inuktituk which directed as his wife to be, "pull down your pants".  He told me a story of a 'zaidy' (Yiddish for grandfather), whose family lived in his building out east, who used to take all the kids in the neighborhood out in his Cadillac on Sunday. And Greg said, one day something went wrong in the house and he (Greg) called the Zaidy, 'you dirty Jew'.  He said, "that's how i thanked him for taking us out. I'm ashamed of myself." 

The man does not follow convention when it comes to schmoozing. He says what's on his mind, exactly in the way he hears stuff in his head. That is refreshing because so many of us are just so full of shit and believe our own fiction.  

And the thing about Greg is (and he denies this) he is a highly compassionate human being having spent most of his working-life managing non-profits, usually assisting the homeless. He and his wife adopted two children, and he has the ability to understand individuals especially very complex ones. Listen to this episode and discover:

1.   Greg's overwhelming love for his wife, and their romance in Northern Canada (he sent her love notes every day for a year in her native language).

2.   Our shared discussion about the early days of Ve'ahavta and Na Me Res, especially when his clients offered to scrub swastikas off tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in eastern Toronto, and ultimately did so.

3. His thoughts about hatred, racism, good and kindness. He candidly and honestly tells us about his early dislike of French Canadians, which he eventually overcame.  

Greg is an honest, non-judgmental man. He looks at himself and fixes what is broken inside of him. He feels entirely blessed to have a woman he loves (married for 32 years), a wonderful career and great experiences in life.

Greg is a man to emulate and to be inspired by. And they simply don't get funnier that he is.

Hatradio! The show that schmoozes. 

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Yisha Ko'ach (Yiddish for 'way to go') to David Nefesh for the Hatradio! song, and to Howard Pasternack for his post-production work. They help make the show what it is. 

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 24 Avrum Rosensweig, Just Me!

THIS EPISODE IS IN MEMORY OF OUR CHILDREN WHO DIED OF HIV/AIDS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, OR WHO BECAME ORPHANS BECAUSE OF IT. IT IS IN MEMORY OF OUR NEIGHBORS, WHO LIVED ON THE STREETS OF OUR TOWN AND DIED THERE THIS PAST WINTER. REST IN PEACE. THANK YOU FOR COMING OUR WAY! 

Episode 24 of Hatradio! is a first of its kind. It is a 1-man show, Just me!.

I quite enjoyed doing this segment. I enjoyed it because it gave me the chance to talk and hear my own history and how tikun olam (repairing the world) was so prevalent and a lead up to the creation of Ve'ahavta.

Doing this show was therapeutic. It allowed revisit my past and 'hang out' with my zaidies and boobies (grandfathers and grandmothers). I adored telling the story of my mother, Gitel, walking through Queens Park with her father on Shabbat, seeing that image in my head....the squirrels running past them, the two of them sitting on a bench giggling and telling stories about the old country. I loved talking about my father, Shragah Phyvle, and his two brothers, all of whom were community builders, and cared deeply about the Jewish people and Israel. 

I think when you hear about my family, their journey from Easter Europe and the solid lives they made in the West, you might consider aspects of your own life, your parents and grandparents. You might smell the mothballs in their homes as we did in our grandparent's home, and recall the communication challenges you had with the Boobie, as we did. They were warriors though. They worked arduously. They were beautiful spirits. They lived their lives with verve and purpose and truckloads of love.  

And then their is the second half of the show about the genesis of Ve'ahavta. Man, those were something. They were glorious and golden years. Everything shone. I remember telling my girlfriend at the time, Roz, to remember the coat-hanger we'd purchased for our new office because it was the first coat-hanger of the first Jewish humanitarian organization ever.

In this segment you'll hear about our homeless initiatives including our Mobile Jewish Response to the Homeless and our Ve'ahavta Street Academy for the Homeless.  You'll learn about our international work including medical missions to Guyana in Bartica and the rainforests, and the outstanding work we did with our teams through the brilliant efforts of Dr. Michael Silverman. You'll discover our successes at the Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe, through the tenacity of Scarborough born, Dr. Paul Thistle who has made a life for himself there.

Folks, we met superstars. We were mentored by them. We shared with them. We were exposed to divergent cultures, different peoples, the children! Oh, the children! 

Our toil was holy in its own way and I loved every minute of it.  Every frickin minute. 

The greatest challenge doing this podcast was being articulate throughout the 1 hour and 40 minutes but mostly telling a good story, that flowed, was cogent and consistent - that made sense.  Howard and I worked on the post-production and while it wasn't the most editing we'd ever done we had to listen closely to ensure a poetry of words. And I think we figured it out. I think you'll enjoy the show.

Have a listen and let me know what you think. Share this link as I am hoping people will be encouraged through it to pursue their own dreams and enhance our world and those whom we share this planet with. 'm hoping our community of listeners here, will see their blessings and recognize what we have, versus what we lack. That is not easy, but it is do-able. 

Hatradio! The show that schmoozes (with regular folk). 

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Thank you to David Nefesh for creating the Hatradio! song. David's been my brother since we're eight year old. We adopted each other. He's talented as hell. Do a google search on David Nefesh and listen to his music. He has a voice of an angle and his lyrics live.  And thank you to Howard Pasternack, my friend, for his post-production work which he does consistently every Thursday afternoon - Thursdays with Howard. We have amazing times together, editing but more so, attempting to understand the world. He's a fine teacher and cerebral partner. Well done Howard! 

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 23 Massimo Capra: A Joyous Culinary Superstar

Massimo Capra was thirteen, living in a small town in Italy, when he first started working in a kitchen. Today Massimo is fifty-nine and a superstar in the Canadian culinary industry. If you’re into restaurants, familiar with Prego, Mistura and good food, then you’ve heard of Massimo and/or delighted in his handy work - superlative food. 

But the real thing I've discovered about Massimo, over the years and through this interview, is that he is a decent man with a generous spirit. Indeed, Massimo does not reflect those silly stereotypes we frequently see of head chefs. In his words, "it's hard to bring out the ugly" in him.

Massimo is the type of fellow you feel safe around. He laughs a lot even when we schmoozed about his near-death experience last year. He told us, the doctors said he may not live through the night, and Massimo laughed. (I didn't when I had my heart attacks). It's clear, humor is the walking stick he leans on unabashedly! And his thick Italian accent makes every sentence he utters seem so damn fun, tasty and scenic!  

 

Massimo is the son of a dairy farmer. They were "poor, poor, poor". So early on this highly talented man, learned about sharing. Massimo understood he'd have to work his ass off  to accomplish his dream of one day being a self-made man. Today he is. Massimo owns a successful restaurant in Clarkson, called Capra Kitchen and has three others licensed in his name: one in Niagara Falls, another at Toronto airport and a third in Qatar. And he found love over thirty years ago. He adores his wife. 

When I opened the door to my place to greet Massimo, I was delighted he had brought with him his beautiful Rosa. I think he did because he likes being with her and she clearly gives him lots of support. Similarly, Marty Galin was the co-host of this show and all of us go way back as buds.

Rosa and Massimo seem the type of couple who hold hands after a few decades of being together. You know those couples? 

Rosa is a demur, quiet but a strong woman who gives balance to Massimo's very effusive and big character. The two suffered a terrible loss last year when their son, Andrew passed away in Prague. Man, such a loss! Sometimes i was unable to find words to say to them (like we all get after hearing of such a tragedy). Marty and I knew Andrew. He was a good kid.

But in truth, Massimo and Rosa have strong inner selves, powerful love between them and their son, Daniel, and they are rooted firmly to the ground. I like to think this interview helped to bring Andrew to life in a way, for a moment, and give his parents some happiness at the gift of having had him as their son. Rest in peace, dear Andrew.

I like to think Hatradio! has the ability to give people gifts.

So this episode (23) of Hatradio! is a special show because Massimo, Rosa, Marty and I were back together again. It was like the old times, days passed when we were all involved in TV shows like ‘Beer Buddies’ and many radio shows. We reminisced about those days and our famous dinners at Mistura Restaurant, an upscale eatery once co-owned by Massimo. We thanked Massimo for taking Marty and me seriously. Some chefs did not. 

We schmoozed about the genesis of Massimo's beet risotto;  the process of creating recipes; how Massimo was never interested in being the best (i think he wanted just to be happy); how he was kicked and abused by mentor-chefs in his early days (sometimes the stereotypes are true) and his appreciation of our friendship and the gifts he has in life. 

Listen carefully to our interview with Massimo Capra, and be inspired by his joy (real joy, not the bullshit joy people put on), his drive to create and his intentionally strong hold on every second of life. Hear his laughter. You get this sense he's mocking the devil and saying, 'you'll not make me unhappy Devil. I love life way too much.' 

Hatradio! It's the show that schmoozes (with regular folk). 

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Credit for Music, the very talented, David Nefesh.  Credit for post-production:  the very detailed (unlike me), Howard Pasternack.

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 22 -- Nate Leipciger: Man is Basically Good.

Nate Leipciger sits across from me at my dining-room table. He is a young man of 91 years. He is a  Holocaust Survivor. It is moments like this when I feel most alive, most real, as I am joined by someone who has vast awareness, who is highly inspiring.

Nate was eleven when his the hell called the Holocaust began. His personal road took him through ghettos, death camps and ultimately to Auschwitz. He was grabbed away from the safety he called home. He was stripped, de-loused and humiliated.  All of this persecution happened right next to his father, Jacob, the person in his life who was his protector – a partner with God in his creation, in his life.

One day, early on in the Holocaust, young Nate heard a noise outside his barracks. He jumped up on a bed, stared out of a broken slat and saw a site, “I never wish I had seen”. Lines of Jewish woman walked by crying, screaming, knowing they were about “to go up the chimney”. Later Nate, a beautiful Jewish boy, determined his mother, Leah, and his sister, Blima were two of those women. The mother of this boy, and his only sibling were executed, murdered by the Nazis. And that was it. They were gone.

And it was Yom Kipper day. And today Yom Kipper is “intense” for Nate and he remembers Leah and Blima and he says the name of all his cousins who went up that same chimney.

 

The war continued and men able to abuse Nate, did so, sexually, mentally, physically and….and….and. But Nate made it. He told me in this interview, his father saved his life a number of times. I found it quite something Nate could never satisfy his father prior to the war. Blima was the apple of his eye. Yet a father is a father, is a father and while a son may not size up intellectually or otherwise at an early age, there is an on-button inside a dad, inside Jacob, that never failed to flip on when Nate, a precious Jewish kid, needed saving. Imagine, your father or your mother does that. What must you feel in your heart?

I asked Nate if there was kindness in the camps. He said kindness was everywhere. “Give me an example,” I asked Nate. “My father and I worked different shifts. Once I threw my father a piece of bread (while he worked). He missed it. Another prisoner picked it up and gave it to him. That is kindness.”  Unlike Eli Wiesel who said his father was a burden to him, Jacob and Nate were intertwined and each survival, their breath, was dependent on the other.

Nate continued, “kindness was a nice word. Kindness was when I wasn’t pushed out of line even though I was little.”

“You have a choice of being kind or not being kind,” Nate said. He applied this belief to today, and always.

After all this, after the brutality levied against him; after the murder of his Leah and Blima, after he become emaciated and no longer was able to walk, Nate Leipciger still had hope. And he stated with confidence during our schmooze, “I believe in humanity. Man is basically good, yet there are influences that make us bad.”  

Nate has that hope today despite his hardship, despite the fact a few short months ago, he and his beautiful wife Bernice, buried their daughter. Oy!

About the Jewish people, the man sitting across from me with that gleam in his eye said, “what did they do when they were liberated? They built synagogues. They said kaddish for those they had lost. And they got married and they had children.”  

About hatred, Nate Leipciger said, “Hate has no influence on the people you hate. I feel the hatred in myself. It destroys the person hating.”

Nate Leipciger is an author. He has returned to Auschwitz with Prime Minister Trudeau where they cried together. He speaks regularly to students about his experiences. Nate is alive. Very alive. And he made me feel the same during our conversation on Hatradio!

God bless Nate Leipciger.

Today I ask humanity to embrace him warmly and safely, as he has done to us.  Please listen to this interview. It’s important for your hope in humankind. Hatradio! The show that schmoozes. (Thank you to David Nefesh for the music, and Howard Pasternack for post-production)

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode 21 - David Rheaume: Canada's Norman Rockwell

David Rheaume, Canada's Norman Rockwell, is a big man. The bigness i'm talking about is found in this man's spirit.  

My old friend, joined me at my place on May 21. 2019 to do an interview. It was lovely to see David as it had been a while. 

David and I were inextricably bound together for three years, way back in the days when I was doing a TV series with Marty called, 'The Moveable Feast'. Dave was the director. He did a brilliant job of keeping me and Marty on the straight and narrow (well sort of) and ensured we got a very quirky show in the can every week that was delivered on time. He was inspiring and creative then, and equally so nowadays. 

So, the thing about David Rheaume is that he has greatness in his blood. His dad was Gene Rheaume RIP, a member of parliament, one of Canada's only Metis member, and a man described by his kids, all six of them, as being larger than life. Watch this YouTube video and you'll get a sense of Dave's DNA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-tEGTe81II  . David's mom is a lovely woman who raised the kid with consistency and love. David's brother Ross, is also a superlative artist and was a well-known rock-and-roller. His niece, Amanda, is a Canadian singer/songwriter and Juno award winner. Dave is part of a very successful family. 

 

Have a listen to Episode 21 of Hatradio! and learn about David Rheaume. Discover he is a father of three very beautiful kids who have accomplished mush so far in life. He's married and absolutely adores and respects his wife, Siobhan McCarthy, whom he calls 'selfless'. He figures if she can love him, she must be very special. Yes, David is self-deprecating in an endearing sort of way and that's what makes the two of us friends - insults!  

What stands out about this very humble man is his artwork. He is the consummate storyteller and has developed a style which he refers to as cinema-art -- with an ever-present eye for the story and lighting.

David feels that we've lost 'the need for artwork to tell stories" so he is on a journey to change that. Essentially, to start off a picture David will dive into the Canadian archives and chooses pictures which represent a Canadian moment, in particular those with snow. "I grew up in Ottawa and my whole childhood was spent literally in snow. When I think of being a child I think of snow," David states.

About his art, this mid-fifties painter says, "I like to think of these paintings as one frame out of a film strip. There is a before and after (frame) you can sense on either side of these pictures." David continues, "part of my goal is to take these stories, lift them out of the archives, put them in the canvass and tell those stories to Canadians."

When you see David's art, you'll immediately recognize the characters in them. While you can't see their faces, as frequently they are depicted with their backs to us, you'll be drawn into the picture in a bid to get to know the people, such as the skater or the iceman. (David qualifies  'The Iceman' as one of his best pictures). David's ability to familiarize us with the characters in his art without drawing faces on them, is impressive! 

Most importantly, David's art reminds us of what life was like then, way back when we were rushing to be with our family, after a day of toil on that freezing Canadian winter night or when we were kids and things seemed magical. "As Canadians we can really identify with these people. We've been there. We’ve been like the guy in 'Heading Home' walking through that winter evening home to get home after a long day of work. We’ve been like the skaters in the Christie Pits painting - those guys in the ravine late at night. You can almost hear the skate blades on ice, and hear the puck hitting the boards."

In essence, David Rheaume's art brings back characters who are long since gone. He believes they are "ready to jump to life" and he makes that happen through the process of painting. David brings happiness to the Canadian viewer and a sense of pride in who we are a nation and as a people.

David Rheaume personifies better than any other Canadian artist the slice-of-life we call home and those moments we identify with to create our personal and national identity and narrative.  David Rheaume - Canada's Norman Rockwell on Hatradio! The show that schmoozes. Be in touch at avrum@hatradio.ca . 

Thank you to Howard Pasternack for a great job on post-production and David Nefesh for the Hatradio! Blues Song. Kicks ass! 

 

Credit for music in commercial:
Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

 

Episode 20 Dr. Sandy Buchman: A Deeply Caring Physician

You know when you meet someone who wrote a book when they were twelve-years old or competed in the Olympics at fifteen. You know that sense you get, they will just fly high with success throughout their life. Well Dr. Sandy Buchman is one such person. 

Sandy, our guest on episode 20 of Hatradio!, was born and educated in Toronto. He dropped out of high school at the end of grade 11 because “I was unhappy.....bored....”. So you’re thinking he went to work in a gas station. Wrong. He started his own school with other guys in his situation and it was accredited by the Ministry of Education. The school rocked.

“I studied everything from calculus to Zen Buddism. For Shakespeare we hopped on our bikes and rode to Stratford to see it performed." Funnily, their school required an adult be the 'principal' so his buddy's dad was. "My grade 13 diploma was signed by him. He was a used car salesman." 

Sandy has always been like that, a creative independent thinker. Later on he wanted to get into medical school. The entrance interview at McMaster University. included the question, what have you done in life where you had a problem and you need to determine a solution. Sandy's response was, 'I started a school in grade 12.'  He got in. They liked that.

Sandy became a family doctor. He did because, "family medicine was about the social dynamic between the patient and the physician. within the context of their family and lives.” In essence he liked family medicine because it was about relationships. 

About 15 years ago, Dr. Buchman's family practice evolved into that of palliative care where he felt he could help minimize the suffering of his patients, be compassionate toward those who are dying and accompany them on their journey.

Since then Sandy has tended to many people in a loving, caring fashion including his work out of a hospice for the homeless. He is deeply saddened by the reality the average life expectancy in Canada is 83. For a homeless person it's about 40. This driven doctor is currently launching a Jewish hospice in Toronto, the first of its kind, called Neshama (soul). So far he and his team have raised $11 million out of the $18 million required. 

Sandy has traveled to Guayana, Zimbabwe and Malawi with non-profits, to play a role in medical care in these very poor countries. He is also part of a team of physicians who participate in medically assisted dying.

In short, Sandy is a type-A person and has been that way since the launch of his school at sixteen. He has worked hard to alleviate the suffering of many through countless programs and projects, many of which he's founded.

Sandy is an inspiring human being, someone who feels deeply blessed for what he has. Listen to Episode 20 and be inspired and challenged by Dr. Sandy Buchman.   

Hatradio! The show that schmoozes.

Episode 19 Rabbi Korobkin: A Brave Orthodox Rabbi

Rabbi Daniel Korobkin was born in California. His father was an entertainment lawyer with clients such as the enormous metal band, Megadeth. Daniel's mother is a Survivor who at 6 years old was on the Kinder-transport. 

Daniel was a fine thinker then, and an even better one now. He loves nothing more than to develop complex ideas which he can impart to others, simplistically.   Daniel received his Master of Arts degree in medieval Jewish and Islamic thought from UCLA's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and his Master of Science degree from the Johns Hopkins University School for Engineering at the Applied Physics Laboratory. 

About a decade ago Rabbi Korobkin came to Toronto to step into the position of rabbi at Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogue - one of the largest Orthodox Shuls in North America. While it took awhile to learn his way around the very big edifice, and around the membership, he ultimately took the community by storm with his fierce passion for learning, teaching and caring for his congregants.

What I really liked about schmoozing with Rabbi Korobkin was being with a man, a Jewish leader, who is courageous. He accepts the fact there are more than just Orthodox Jews within the Jewish family and in his own way, a very important way, he embraces them. He tells the Jewish man who is a homosexual and not accepted by the community, 'you are special and they don't know you like I know you. You hold your head high.' He's a man who is prepared to take the shots from other leaders, knowing he's doing the right thing. 

In essence, Rabbi Korobkin subscribes to King Solomons’s statement that, “there is no such thing as doing good and doing no evil.”  And he believes, like a great (mussar) Rabbi of the 19th century, ' you can lock yourself in a closet and you’ll never do anything wrong but, you’ll never do anything good either.

And what I respected about the man is his well developed sense of unity. This statement he made during our interview says it best:  "If we would only recognize the value in each and every Jew, what each person brings to the table no matter how different they are from us, we would have a much greater nation, a homogeneous nation that is made up of diverse parts. We would really bring redemption right away.”

This is Rabbi Daniel Korobkin. He is a bright, compassionate human being, a lover of the Jewish people and Israel, and a man who embraces all Jews and all of person-kind. This is a special edition of Hatradio!.

(Thanks to Howard Pasternack for his post-production on this show and every other we've done. And a hearty 'way to go' to David Nefesh for his blues song, 'In the Hat'.)

This is a beautiful edition of Hatradio! . 

Hatradio! The show that schmoozes.