Showing posts with label brooklyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brooklyn. Show all posts
9.17.2015
I’ve never read the Torah, nor the Bible, but the rituals of all religions intrigue me. From Bahia back to Brooklyn, I find myself using photography to understand our differences, I try not to judge but observe and learn. Tonight I found Kaporos in Borough Park.
Kaporos is a Jewish act of atonement during the week prior to Yom Kippur. Here is Wikipedia's definition from Shulchan Aruch on the practice of Kaporos:
On the afternoon before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement of the world, one prepares an item to be donated to the poor for consumption at the pre-Yom Kippur meal., recites the two biblical passages of Psalms 107:17-20 and Job 33:23-24, and then swings the prepared charitable donation over one's head three times while reciting a short prayer three times.
In Brooklyn, Kaporos started today and will go through the eve of Yom Kippur. That is a lot of poultry, some estimate 50,000 chickens. At one point today, there was an argument between a protestor and the man managing the chickens about what the Torah says or doesn’t say. I can’t get involved in that end of the discussion, my biggest concern was the waste. Did the chickens actually get slaughtered for consumption or not?
They swear to me that the chicken is used after the Kosher slaughter. One woman told me that the ticket that is attached to the leg before the ritual is so they can retrieve the chicken parts afterward to eat. Another woman told me that the chicken is all donated to feed the homeless. And yet the man managing the chickens told me that it all goes to the school to feed the kids and that if I wanted to witness, to come back at 7am. I just might. Although… I’m not much of a morning person.
After doing some research on the history and practice of using a chicken for atonement, I would find it strange that they would eat their own sins. According to one translation of the prayer, their sins are transferred to the animal. So, then, wouldn’t eating it retransfer those sins back to you? Or maybe that’s not how it works. They do have the option of using coins that would be collected afterwards for charity, which is far more simple and cleaner, so I don’t understand using a chicken. Again, I’m not anti-chicken ritual, I just don’t understand and until I see the reuse of the meat, I feel there are better options.
This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement.
This rooster (hen) will go to its death, while I will enter and proceed
to a good long life and to peace.
to a good long life and to peace.
-The Complete Artscroll Machzor: Yom Kippur, p.4
Kaporos is a Jewish act of atonement during the week prior to Yom Kippur. Here is Wikipedia's definition from Shulchan Aruch on the practice of Kaporos:
On the afternoon before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement of the world, one prepares an item to be donated to the poor for consumption at the pre-Yom Kippur meal., recites the two biblical passages of Psalms 107:17-20 and Job 33:23-24, and then swings the prepared charitable donation over one's head three times while reciting a short prayer three times.
In Brooklyn, Kaporos started today and will go through the eve of Yom Kippur. That is a lot of poultry, some estimate 50,000 chickens. At one point today, there was an argument between a protestor and the man managing the chickens about what the Torah says or doesn’t say. I can’t get involved in that end of the discussion, my biggest concern was the waste. Did the chickens actually get slaughtered for consumption or not?
They swear to me that the chicken is used after the Kosher slaughter. One woman told me that the ticket that is attached to the leg before the ritual is so they can retrieve the chicken parts afterward to eat. Another woman told me that the chicken is all donated to feed the homeless. And yet the man managing the chickens told me that it all goes to the school to feed the kids and that if I wanted to witness, to come back at 7am. I just might. Although… I’m not much of a morning person.
After doing some research on the history and practice of using a chicken for atonement, I would find it strange that they would eat their own sins. According to one translation of the prayer, their sins are transferred to the animal. So, then, wouldn’t eating it retransfer those sins back to you? Or maybe that’s not how it works. They do have the option of using coins that would be collected afterwards for charity, which is far more simple and cleaner, so I don’t understand using a chicken. Again, I’m not anti-chicken ritual, I just don’t understand and until I see the reuse of the meat, I feel there are better options.
7.03.2015
Red to the White to the Blue
DisarmNYPD posted on Tuesday that they were going to burn the U.S. and Confederate flags in Fort Greene Park. On Wednesday a lot of people arrived to make sure that wouldn't happen. It's not illegal, and the point they are making is valid, but there are a lot of people that are sure this wasn't going to happen. Fire extinguishers, water guns, and hammers were brought to stop those that thought they could. I'm okay with the first two, but the hammers in the back pockets were a bit unnerving. Thankfully all ended mostly peaceful, could have gone awry quickly. Cheers to fighting for others rights, cheers to defending Old Glory. Cheers to freedom.
DisarmNYPD posted on Tuesday that they were going to burn the U.S. and Confederate flags in Fort Greene Park. On Wednesday a lot of people arrived to make sure that wouldn't happen. It's not illegal, and the point they are making is valid, but there are a lot of people that are sure this wasn't going to happen. Fire extinguishers, water guns, and hammers were brought to stop those that thought they could. I'm okay with the first two, but the hammers in the back pockets were a bit unnerving. Thankfully all ended mostly peaceful, could have gone awry quickly. Cheers to fighting for others rights, cheers to defending Old Glory. Cheers to freedom.
4.07.2015
Good Friday.
Some traditions in Brooklyn still hold strong but when the church needs to post the following you know it's becoming harder and harder to maintain, "It is the hope of all participants that new-comers to Carroll Gardens, view traditions such as the Good Friday Procession, with respect and reverence."
For over 125 years Sacred Hearts St. Stephens has held a procession on Good Friday, and for the last 60 years, carried these religious statues through the narrow streets of Carroll Gardens. Most drove in from other neighborhoods as CG isn't the Italian enclave it once was. Sal's is gone, and he has since passed... Butchers are dwindling as juice bars are opening, Churches are now condos and even the Gowanus is getting cleaned up. Some sold as the prices went up, others left as the newcomers arrived, but everyone still returns to their church. This was my first time at this procession - between the statues women dressed in all black carry a single candle and sing songs of mourning, followed by an Italian funeral band. It's quite haunting yet beautiful.
Some traditions in Brooklyn still hold strong but when the church needs to post the following you know it's becoming harder and harder to maintain, "It is the hope of all participants that new-comers to Carroll Gardens, view traditions such as the Good Friday Procession, with respect and reverence."
For over 125 years Sacred Hearts St. Stephens has held a procession on Good Friday, and for the last 60 years, carried these religious statues through the narrow streets of Carroll Gardens. Most drove in from other neighborhoods as CG isn't the Italian enclave it once was. Sal's is gone, and he has since passed... Butchers are dwindling as juice bars are opening, Churches are now condos and even the Gowanus is getting cleaned up. Some sold as the prices went up, others left as the newcomers arrived, but everyone still returns to their church. This was my first time at this procession - between the statues women dressed in all black carry a single candle and sing songs of mourning, followed by an Italian funeral band. It's quite haunting yet beautiful.
12.15.2014
Our Lady of Guadalupe Pilgrimage
Riding along with Apostolado Mexicano Diocesano as over 1000 members ran from The Co-Catherdral of St. Joseph's in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Astoria, Queens. I truly hadn't researched events for the Guadalupe in Brooklyn but remembered that St. Joseph's had a processions last year so I started there. I misunderstood somewhere thinking they were going into Manhattan (back to the books with my Spanish!), as they were not only going to Queens but running! Thankfully, I had my bicycle and rode along with them. The sky was sparkling blue, the air was frigid, though no one seemed overly cold but me. The closer we were to the end of their approx. 12 mile run/walk the energy started to rise, cheering and sprinting past New Calvary Cemetery where I turned and waved goodbye. I really wished to have stayed until the finish but it was getting dark and I didn't have my super reflective MTA vest to keep me safe.
I loved watching the faces along the path, those that either didn't know the Guadalupe or were just surprised to find 1000 folks running through their neighborhoods. Fellow Mexicans, passing FDNY trucks, store owners and neighbors all cheered them on, smiling and honking horns ¡Viva Mexico! Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated every December 12, commemorating her 1531 appearance before a Mexican Indian at Tepeyac, northwest of what is now Mexico City. She is considered the Patroness of Mexico, Empress of the Americas with a message of love and compassion, and universal promise of help and protection to all mankind.
More photographs posted on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/geralyn/sets/72157649780645835
Thank you for a great day! - g
Riding along with Apostolado Mexicano Diocesano as over 1000 members ran from The Co-Catherdral of St. Joseph's in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Astoria, Queens. I truly hadn't researched events for the Guadalupe in Brooklyn but remembered that St. Joseph's had a processions last year so I started there. I misunderstood somewhere thinking they were going into Manhattan (back to the books with my Spanish!), as they were not only going to Queens but running! Thankfully, I had my bicycle and rode along with them. The sky was sparkling blue, the air was frigid, though no one seemed overly cold but me. The closer we were to the end of their approx. 12 mile run/walk the energy started to rise, cheering and sprinting past New Calvary Cemetery where I turned and waved goodbye. I really wished to have stayed until the finish but it was getting dark and I didn't have my super reflective MTA vest to keep me safe.
I loved watching the faces along the path, those that either didn't know the Guadalupe or were just surprised to find 1000 folks running through their neighborhoods. Fellow Mexicans, passing FDNY trucks, store owners and neighbors all cheered them on, smiling and honking horns ¡Viva Mexico! Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated every December 12, commemorating her 1531 appearance before a Mexican Indian at Tepeyac, northwest of what is now Mexico City. She is considered the Patroness of Mexico, Empress of the Americas with a message of love and compassion, and universal promise of help and protection to all mankind.
More photographs posted on Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/geralyn/sets/72157649780645835
Thank you for a great day! - g
11.23.2014
Don't Shoot.
It was a beautiful day, possibly one of the last for a long time, so I jumped on my bike for a ride. My destination unplanned but while riding I couldn't stop thinking about the recent shooting death of Akai Gurley in the Louis H. Pink Houses, so I rode there. There didn't seem to be much going on but there were a lot of cops... mostly in unmarked cars, two on every corner. I rode around a bit looking for a memorial but I missed it if there was one. I had to look at the articles in the paper to make sure I was in the right place. A group of men were standing nearby so I asked them, "Yes, but that's the other side. The protests were yesterday, pretty quiet today." Yes it was.
Instead of photographing I listened. I got the sense they didn't want a Ferguson style uprising, that hopefully this really was an accident... and that something is done so it won't happen again. We talked about the differences between my life and theirs. Their fear of not making it home daily. How the police & city have changed their community, not in good ways. One of the men, I'll call him "S", has lived in the Pink Houses all his life. I asked when it all changed... He figures in the 70s but serious change came in the 80s. My instinct was crack but it's more than that, it's when the police left the beat and arrived in cars. Interactions changed. No longer were the police a part of the community but looking in, through glass. Talk also turned to management of their home, the "projects": some of the first things to go were the sign-in books in the lobby, removal of the radiators in the hallways, then the tenant patrols... controlled - but out of control. It's changed little by little and it keeps getting worse.
Now the shooting of Akai out of fear. Stereotypes breed fear. Who has instilled this and why isn't it getting better? It's important for us all to talk, to break down barriers and live together... To live and not have to fear dying daily just to get home. While were were standing there, doors that haven't locked in years were being fixed, like the lightbulb in the dark stairwell that miraculously was repaired the day after the shooting, none of this would be happening if all eyes weren't on them right now.
On my ride home Channel 2 was setup in front of a different set of projects filming near a police station. Did something else happen or did they have the wrong place? Then on Bergen, closer to home, a drive by shooting, police everywhere. Still no word on Ferguson but in Cleveland yesterday a cop shot and killed a 12-year old boy who was playing with a fake gun. Who taught this child to react like Tony Montana? I wish the whole world could take a day off... Start over. Breathe. Live.
Big thanks to my new friends in the Pink today for talking, listening and sharing knowledge. See you again! - G
It was a beautiful day, possibly one of the last for a long time, so I jumped on my bike for a ride. My destination unplanned but while riding I couldn't stop thinking about the recent shooting death of Akai Gurley in the Louis H. Pink Houses, so I rode there. There didn't seem to be much going on but there were a lot of cops... mostly in unmarked cars, two on every corner. I rode around a bit looking for a memorial but I missed it if there was one. I had to look at the articles in the paper to make sure I was in the right place. A group of men were standing nearby so I asked them, "Yes, but that's the other side. The protests were yesterday, pretty quiet today." Yes it was.
Instead of photographing I listened. I got the sense they didn't want a Ferguson style uprising, that hopefully this really was an accident... and that something is done so it won't happen again. We talked about the differences between my life and theirs. Their fear of not making it home daily. How the police & city have changed their community, not in good ways. One of the men, I'll call him "S", has lived in the Pink Houses all his life. I asked when it all changed... He figures in the 70s but serious change came in the 80s. My instinct was crack but it's more than that, it's when the police left the beat and arrived in cars. Interactions changed. No longer were the police a part of the community but looking in, through glass. Talk also turned to management of their home, the "projects": some of the first things to go were the sign-in books in the lobby, removal of the radiators in the hallways, then the tenant patrols... controlled - but out of control. It's changed little by little and it keeps getting worse.
Now the shooting of Akai out of fear. Stereotypes breed fear. Who has instilled this and why isn't it getting better? It's important for us all to talk, to break down barriers and live together... To live and not have to fear dying daily just to get home. While were were standing there, doors that haven't locked in years were being fixed, like the lightbulb in the dark stairwell that miraculously was repaired the day after the shooting, none of this would be happening if all eyes weren't on them right now.
On my ride home Channel 2 was setup in front of a different set of projects filming near a police station. Did something else happen or did they have the wrong place? Then on Bergen, closer to home, a drive by shooting, police everywhere. Still no word on Ferguson but in Cleveland yesterday a cop shot and killed a 12-year old boy who was playing with a fake gun. Who taught this child to react like Tony Montana? I wish the whole world could take a day off... Start over. Breathe. Live.
Big thanks to my new friends in the Pink today for talking, listening and sharing knowledge. See you again! - G
7.05.2013
Fourth of July.
Joey Chestnut inhaled 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes under the scorching sun, breaking his own record of 68. The Astrotower was coming down leaving Luna and the other parks closed. Those that didn't come for the beach wandered aimlessly unsure what to do while the other million of us went into the water. A spectacle like no other!
Joey Chestnut inhaled 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes under the scorching sun, breaking his own record of 68. The Astrotower was coming down leaving Luna and the other parks closed. Those that didn't come for the beach wandered aimlessly unsure what to do while the other million of us went into the water. A spectacle like no other!
5.10.2013
Vinnie's Italian Art
Wandering through the neighborhood with camera on my shoulder, not a portrait to be had... until I spotted this photo wall inside Vinnie's Iron Works on Bergen. I had a brief talk with Vinnie about refinishing my terrace doors, and then spotted this wall. Amazing! They thought it was ruined from flying rusty water, I thought it was art. Ah, the eye of the beholder.
Wandering through the neighborhood with camera on my shoulder, not a portrait to be had... until I spotted this photo wall inside Vinnie's Iron Works on Bergen. I had a brief talk with Vinnie about refinishing my terrace doors, and then spotted this wall. Amazing! They thought it was ruined from flying rusty water, I thought it was art. Ah, the eye of the beholder.
3.29.2013
Good Friday, 2001
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
I used to spend a lot of time on foot with camera, I still do but certainly not like before. I would seek out life in the city like I couldn't get enough of it. Over time, the life of this city has changed and the new city seems to have eaten at my patience. That needs to change. On the New York Times Lens Blog today is the story In the Spirit and on the Street - photographs by Larry Racioppo which got me thinking about this photograph I have from 2001. I was wandering with my eyes wide open - in and around North Brooklyn just looking when I happened upon this procession. Just the idea excites me, I need to make a point to spend more time wandering, away from this computer.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
I used to spend a lot of time on foot with camera, I still do but certainly not like before. I would seek out life in the city like I couldn't get enough of it. Over time, the life of this city has changed and the new city seems to have eaten at my patience. That needs to change. On the New York Times Lens Blog today is the story In the Spirit and on the Street - photographs by Larry Racioppo which got me thinking about this photograph I have from 2001. I was wandering with my eyes wide open - in and around North Brooklyn just looking when I happened upon this procession. Just the idea excites me, I need to make a point to spend more time wandering, away from this computer.
2.12.2012
2.09.2012
The Magnolia Tree's are in bloom and the Crocus's are confused.
I'm not great at making movies but this happened and I couldn't help myself. Her haunting voice with the cello floating around us as we wait for the G train was too good to pass up. Within seconds his earbuds come out, the ipod turns off...she's too good to ignore. Yet the woman next to her still pretends to be asleep while the other man sits calmly taking it in. They want to look but they refuse to look as the entire platform across the track watches them and listens (between hacking coughs). I wish I could have captured the applause as the subway rolled in but my battery had already died. But so you know, she smiled and we left with our hearts open. Thank You New York!
I'm not great at making movies but this happened and I couldn't help myself. Her haunting voice with the cello floating around us as we wait for the G train was too good to pass up. Within seconds his earbuds come out, the ipod turns off...she's too good to ignore. Yet the woman next to her still pretends to be asleep while the other man sits calmly taking it in. They want to look but they refuse to look as the entire platform across the track watches them and listens (between hacking coughs). I wish I could have captured the applause as the subway rolled in but my battery had already died. But so you know, she smiled and we left with our hearts open. Thank You New York!
8.27.2011
Irene.
She hasn't hit us yet, at least 6 hours away, but we are hanging in a cloudy wet purgatory. The rain has picked up and the wind whips but nothing like what is expected. Currently it looks like any other rain storm with 8am being our "eye" time, I'm betting by 4am it will get messy. We've laughed at the rain today and tomorrow i'm guessing we'll be glad we did. Here she comes! Irene.
She hasn't hit us yet, at least 6 hours away, but we are hanging in a cloudy wet purgatory. The rain has picked up and the wind whips but nothing like what is expected. Currently it looks like any other rain storm with 8am being our "eye" time, I'm betting by 4am it will get messy. We've laughed at the rain today and tomorrow i'm guessing we'll be glad we did. Here she comes! Irene.
8.17.2011
an Ernest eel and and a Nasty catch.
A quick stop on N.5th turned into lots of laughter once again. Two guys I'm unfamiliar with, Ernest and Chris, were holding down the rails. Ernest had just brought in the Eel which was drawing a lot of attention from the touristas. Chris snagged the Nasty while everyone was watching, I'm sure he wished it was something more, so to make it fun he shocked folks from the shorted out lamp pole at the end. He told them it was the fish causing the shock, Electric Nasty! Shrieks, squeals and some serious chuckles and I was on my way. Lot's of excitement for the upcoming Derby, new faces and many questions, I suppose I should make it to a meeting so I know the answers next time.
A quick stop on N.5th turned into lots of laughter once again. Two guys I'm unfamiliar with, Ernest and Chris, were holding down the rails. Ernest had just brought in the Eel which was drawing a lot of attention from the touristas. Chris snagged the Nasty while everyone was watching, I'm sure he wished it was something more, so to make it fun he shocked folks from the shorted out lamp pole at the end. He told them it was the fish causing the shock, Electric Nasty! Shrieks, squeals and some serious chuckles and I was on my way. Lot's of excitement for the upcoming Derby, new faces and many questions, I suppose I should make it to a meeting so I know the answers next time.
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