{"id":11328,"date":"2012-09-27T08:06:47","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T12:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/?p=11328"},"modified":"2013-09-15T14:40:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-15T18:40:00","slug":"beer-and-coconut-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/27\/beer-and-coconut-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"AFRO-SEMITIC ENCOUNTER"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not Orthodox,<\/strong><\/span> but I can walk the walk. Walking is a major part of my religion.<\/p>\n

Last week my wife, Alice, and I walked home from Rosh Hashanah services. We were at Altamont and Compton roads, in a mostly black section of Cleveland Heights — close to a mostly Orthodox neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Three black boys pulled up on bikes. The boys were out of school because Cleveland Heights closes on Rosh Hashanah.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had<\/strong><\/span> on a yarmulke. I like to wear a yarmulke in public once in a while, just to \u201cout\u201d myself.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Shawn, leaning on his handlebars, said, \u201cYou Jewish?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

He turned<\/strong><\/span> to Alice. \u201cYou<\/em> Jewish?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTotal<\/em> Jewish?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d my<\/strong><\/span> wife said, smiling. She knew D\u2019Shawn. Alice teaches gym in the local public school and knows a lot of kids. \u201cBeing Jewish is a good thing. The food is good . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u201cYou go to that building [synagogue] up on Taylor?\u201d D’Shawn asked.<\/p>\n

“No, we go to the big temple — the one with the dome — over there,\u201d Alice said, pointing toward Euclid Heights Boulevard.<\/p>\n

Alice wears slacks. She doesn’t wear a wig. She doesn’t look Orthodox. (She isn’t — not by a long shot.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou breaking Armish?\u201d D\u2019Shawn said.<\/p>\n

I said, “Breaking Armish<\/em>? Did you say \u2018breaking Armish\u2019? What\u2019s that mean? You mean \u2018breaking Amish\u2019<\/em>?\u201d Either way, it made no sense to me.<\/p>\n

\"\"

"Breaking Amish"<\/p><\/div>\n

Breaking Amish<\/em><\/strong><\/span> is a reality TV show about Amish kids breaking loose in New York. The first episode was on last week. (I Googled this info when I got home.)<\/p>\n

D\u2019Shawn apparently thought Alice was \u201cbreaking Armish\u201d because she doesn’t look like a member of the local black-hat Orthodox crowd.
\n—<\/p>\n

Side B — “Beer and Coconut Bars,” a classic blog post — is below this video<\/span>.<\/p>\n

This clip may be the most innovative vid on earth. By Jack Stratton. Michael<\/span> Brecker (on electronic wind instrument) jams with Uncle Milty Friedman.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n