Two Men Come Down the Same Chimney

The following story concerns the Talmud, the book that codifies the meaning of Judaic Law. They are somewhat akin to the Parables used in Christianity when explaining the meaning of some things in the New Testament. I first ran across this tale a few years ago while reading Rabbi Telushkin's "Jewish Humor." I hope you will enjoy the story, but more importantly, the meaning of the story. And the book is terrific, as are all of Rabbi Telushkin's writings.

Two men Come Down The Same Chimney

A young man in his mid-twenties knocks on the door of the noted scholar Rabbi Shwartz. “My name is Sean Goldstein,” he says. “I’ve come to you because I wish to study Talmud.”

“Do you know Aramaic?” the rabbi asks.

“No,” replies the young man.

“Hebrew?” asks the Rabbi.

“No,” replies the young man again.

“Have you studied Torah?” asks the Rabbi, growing a bit irritated.

“No, Rabbi. But don’t worry. I graduated Berkeley summa cum laude in philosophy, and just finished my doctoral dissertation at Harvard on Socratic logic. So now, I would just like to round out my education with a little study of the Talmud.”

“I seriously doubt,” the rabbi says, “that you are ready to study Talmud. It is the deepest book of our people. If you wish, however, I am willing to examine you in logic, and if you pass that test I will teach you Talmud.”

The young man agrees.

Rabbi Shwartz holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

The young man stares at the rabbi. “Is that the test in logic?”

The rabbi nods.

”The one with the dirty face washes his face,“ he answers wearily.

“Wrong. The one with the clean face washes his face. Examine the simple logic.The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So the one with the clean face washes his face.”

“Very clever,” Goldstein says. “Give me another test.”

The rabbi again holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

“We have already established that. The one with the clean face washes his face.”

“Wrong. Each one washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So the one with the clean face washes his face. When the one with the dirty face sees the one with the clean face wash his face, he also washes his face. So each one washes his face.”

“I didn’t think of that,” says Goldstein. It’s shocking to me that I could make an error in logic. Test me again.”

The rabbi holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

“Each one washes his face.”

“Wrong. Neither one washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. But when the one with the clean face sees the one with the dirty face doesn’t wash his face, he also doesn’t wash his face. So neither one washes his face.”

Goldstein is desperate. “I am qualified to study Talmud. Please give me one more test.”

He groans, though, when the rabbi lifts two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

“Neither one washes his face.”

“Wrong. Do you now see, Sean, why Socratic logic is an insufficient basis for studying Talmud? Tell me, how is it possible for two men to come down the same chimney, and for one to come out with a clean face and the other with a dirty face? Don’t you see? The whole question is "narishkeit", foolishness, and if you spend your whole life trying to answer foolish questions, all your answers will be foolish, too.”

Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin passed away 40 years ago today at the all too young age of 27. Her image as a hard drinking, heroin shooting blues singer has endured the 4 decades since her death. But there was so much more to this woman than the hype of drugs and booze. She really was a very talented singer who was in control of her career, and it's direction, right until the end.

With both movies and books depicting her as merely a stoned out blues singer,acting at the direction of others, it is often hard to keep sight of the vision and talent she possessed. Not many artists can take a song, which is already a hit by someone else, and make it their own. Janis Joplin did this several times.

From George Gershwins "Summertime", and The Chantels "Maybe",and even such standards as "Little Girl Blue" by Rodgers and Hart, time and again Ms. Joplin was able to transform established songs into new works that still resonate today. Take Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" as an example. This was a country-folk song written and recorded by Mr. Kristofferson in 1969. It was one of his first big hits and made him a star. But when that record comes on the radio, even Mr. Kristofferson has to pause and listen. Here is the demo that Ms. Joplin recorded a few months before her death. She simply walked into the studio, announced that she was doing this song and ends it by saying it needs an ending.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnWzQyp3BEA

The finished version is exactly the same length as this demo. The only change is the addition of the electric instruments and her improvised vocal ending. This lady had some serious talent and vision.

She did the same thing with the seemingly banal "To Love Somebody" by The Bee Gees, turning the 4 minute pop song into a lengthy blues number backed by a brass section. And who can ever forget her ballsy live version of Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton's "Ball and Chain" from the album "Cheap Thrills." Also on that album is a real gem written by Ms. Joplin, "Turtle Blues."

When it came to cover art, Ms. Joplin was as far reaching as you can imagine. Take this cover by Robert Crumb for the 1968 release "Cheap Thrills." You can literally spend 20 or 30 minutes digesting all the wacky and colorful things which are crammed in this 12" x 12" space. The covers of her subsequent albums were equally daring - the out of focus photo taken under the red and blue stage lights that adorns the cover of "I've Got 'Dem Old Kozmic Blues Again" album is a great example.

Working with Big Brother and the Holding Company really pushed her into the light, but that band was a bit confining for her. She wanted a band like James Brown had, complete with brass. With that thought in mind she formed The Full Tilt Boogie Band, which would be her last. They were the epitome of the Stax Record sound. When viewing live performances of her on YouTube you can see the transformation in her style of singing, often delivering spontaneous blues "raps" in the middle of her numbers. This was standard James Brown procedure, really preaching the blues to a more than receptive audience.

We will never know where Ms. Joplin's career might have taken us. What direction was she going in next? But her unique style of delivering the blues will always be with us to enjoy. Just hit YouTube sometime today and check out the live videos from TV shows like Tom Jones, Dick Cavett and all the rest. You will be amazed at the vitality and sense of humor that ultimately define her.

"Atlantic City" with Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon

This is the 1981 masterpiece from Director Louis Malle. The flavor of the opening scenes, in which the old hotels are being demolished to make way for the new corporate ones, can be found in "Casino", the blockbuster hit film by Martin Scorsese which was made over a decade later.

This film is largely about people and their dreams. Burt Lancaster plays Lou, an aging man who has been a low level numbers runner in Atlantic City for decades. He has been everyone's errand boy, but never made that one big score for himself. He wants to be like his old boss, the man on top. That's his dream.

Then there is the dream of Grace, the long suffering ex gun moll, and widow of Lou's old boss. She still pays Lou to "protect" her. She first came to Atlantic City in the 1940's for a Betty Grable look-a-like contest and never went home. She dreams of a man like the one she had, one she does not have to pay to protect her, someone she can be proud to walk down the board walk with again, a Princess in her own mind.

Susan Sarandon is Sally, a divorced young woman who waits on patrons at an oyster bar in the casino, but is also going to school to learn how to be a dealer. Her dream is to go to France and work in the casinos of Monte Carlo. She just doesn't have the money.

When Sally's ex shows up with his pregnant girlfriend and a stash that doesn't belong to him, things change. And that's all I will tell you about this remarkable film, which was about 15 years ahead of it's time, both in it's direction by Mr. Malle and the subject matter itself. Set against the backdrop of Atlantic City during the late 1970's, when the town was turning from a family resort to a mob run gambling town, lends tension and a seedy quality to the film, which was largely shot on location.

As for the acting, all I can say is that Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon are both outstanding as people who get caught on the edge of life. Mr. Lancaster is especially great in this breakout role as a sensitive man with the desire to rise up and be more, both for himself, and those around him. This is a sharp, well made film.

"Calculated Risk" by Jonna Doolittle Hoppes

I never met my paternal Grandfather, and my maternal Grandfather refused to see any of his grandchildren. No one is sure just why. No matter, this book was written by Jimmy Doolittle's grandaughter, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes. It teems with the affection she held for this man.

She has mined a treasure of articles and books, and even her Grandfather's writings on technical issues, to produce a book that is not only the story of one the world's greatest aviators, but also the story of a marriage.

Josephine Doolittle, known to all simply as "Joe", for her favorite Uncle, was a woman with a wry sense of humor and a quick wit. She had to be, to keep up with her husband Jimmy. They first met in High School, and after that they were constantly together. They approached her Dad on Christmas eve 1921, to seek his blessing to be married, and when he refused, they left anyway to begin their lives together. They never dreamt that Jimmy's love of flying would touch the entire world, and that Joe's love and support of him would have such an effect upon history.

Jimmy grew up in Nome, Alaska, where his dad was a carpenter during the Gold Rush. Young Jimmy would live in a few different places while growing up, such as Seattle, San Francisco and even Los Angeles. This would be only the beginning of a life that would take him around the world more than once, setting new records all along the way.

He is the highest ranking Officer that I know of, who has flown in combat, leading the famed "Doolittle Raids" against Japan from the carrier USS Hornet in early 1942, at a time when we were losing battle after battle in the Pacific. His reputation as the "Master of the Calculated Risk" made him the ideal candidate to both plan, and lead, this mission.

His lists of "firsts" in the field of Aviation include flying cross country in less than 24 hours, ansd being the first to fly "blind", using only primitive instruments like Radio Direction Finders and Dead Reckoning to ascertain his position. He was the winner of many of the major air races during the 1930's and went on to command the Allied 12th, 8th and 15th Air Forces during World War two in three seperate theatres of operations.

The author documents both General Doolittles achievements as well as his faults in an open and honest book. Clearly she loved both of her grandparents and that affection shines through each chapter. She uses all of her Dad's anecdotes and stories, while backing them up with her Grandmother Joe's recollections of the same incidents. This is a wonderfully crafted biography of two ordinary people who went on to change the course of history, both in war and peace. That it is written with so much love by their grandaughter makes it all the more endearing to the reader.

Oleans Street - My Secret Walks

There are so many places in Brooklyn, New York, where I grew up, that can leave you wondering, at times, where you really are. Years ago, when I still lived there, I had a habit of walking each evening from about 9 PM until about 2 AM. On any given night you could find me wandering around the streets. It was my habit to walk the area bounded by Sheepshead Bay to the South, and Cortelyou Road to the North, where the subway leaves the elevated line and goes underground.

My meanderings East and West were from Ocean Parkway to Flatbush Avenue, with a customary stop at the Wyckoff-Bennett House, pictured above, on East 22nd Street. The house is from 1763 and used to face South, it was moved sometime around 1900. When I was really little, we lived on Bedford Avenue and Kings Highway. It was 5 long blocks, but not too far to keep us from going there on Halloween. They gave out old silver dollars. This was about 1959.

While in Kindergarten across the street at Public School 197, Ms. Gerber used to take us across Kings Highway (6 lanes!) to see the house and garden. She told us that George Washington had slept there and that these trees had seen him! When I got older and would take my nightly walks I used to enjoy standing beneath the huge old trees that adorned the sidewalk in front of the house. Their leafy canopies offered me shelter from whatever it was I was trying to walk away from. I would rest there and then continue on my nightly quest for, I'm not sure what.

One evening, late, it was after dark, I found myself on the quietest street I could ever have imagined. It was called Oleans Street and could have been a lane in a small country town. I have thought often of the darkness and quiet beauty of this street over the many years since I left Brooklyn. I've often wondered how it got there, slanted amidst the neat rows of numbered and alphabetized streets that make up most of the borough. And while browsing the site Forgotten Brooklyn.com yesterday I got my answer.

Oleans Street runs for 2 blocks between East 22nd and East 24th Streets, and diagonally between Avenues N and O. This came about as a result of Ocean Avenue being straightened. Older maps indicate that it was curved in several places until it became a main route that runs all the way to Sheepshead Bay. Oleans Street was, at one time, a part of Ocean Avenue. You can still see the overhead power lines for the old trolley in this picture.

The most beautiful thing about this area were the gardens. I was raised in an apartment, and although my father kept window boxes of geraniums, we had nothing like these beautiful lawns and flower beds, which adorned the homes around Bedford Avenue, as well as my beloved Oleans Street. So, this was a magical place that I have always looked back upon with secret affection. I just didn't think anyone else knew about it!

The streets of Brooklyn are a hodge-podge of history. The old Dutch names recall the times of the earliest settlements, some of which were in nearby Gravesend and Flatbush. I was never bored as a child, there was always somewhere to go, or something to see. The past still seemed present when I was a child.

I'm not sure why, maybe it's the change in the weather, but I find myself looking back, more and more these last few days, to Brooklyn and the past. And though I know I'll never go back there, at least for any length of time, a part of me will always be walking those same streets, drinking it all in and remembering those walks. Still looking for, I'm not sure what..

Farewell, Josephine

Last November I reviewed "The Making of Some Like It Hot" by Tony Curtis. That book chronicled the making of a movie that broke box office records and set the stage for a new and more liberal type of comedy. This still shot, taken from the movie, shows Mr. Curtis, in character as Josephine, aka Joe, with Jack Lemmon, sans wig, as Daphne, aka Jerry, in one of the hotel room scenes.

Yesterday evening at 9:25 PM, Mr. Curtis passed away at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 85 years old and his film career spanned 6 decades. During this time he played a slave in "Spartacus", a fugitive chained to fellow escapee Sidney Poitier in "The Defiant Ones", and a spineless gofer opposite Burt Lancaster in "The Sweet Smell of Success." The entire index of his films would be too long to list here.

Married at one time to Janet Leigh, he was also the proud father of actress Jamie Lee Curtis. You might say that acting ran in the family.

There is not much that I can cover here which you will not read in today's papers, or hear on the news. So I thought I would re-run a review of Mr. Curtis' hilarious and insightful book about the fiming of the classic "Some Like It Hot", which I reviewed here last November. Mr. Curtis is one more of the "old" Hollywood crowd that seems to grow thinner with each passing year. Thanks, Mr. Curtis for some wonderful movies, and for this very entertaining book about a landmark film.

This is a delightful book. "Some Like It Hot" has long been a favorite of mine and to get a glimpse behind the scenes through the eyes of one of the principal actors is a treat!

Mr. Curtis spares nothing in his recollections of the filming of one of Hollywood's best loved masterpieces. There is a little bit of "kiss and tell" here, but not too much. The book is more a narrative of what it was like working with the creative genius of Billy Wilder.

The book is filled with anecdotes and tidbits of information about not only the movie but Hollywood itself. The rift between George Raft, who plays one of the gangsters, and Edward G. Robinson is explored. This goes back to the filming of "Manpower" with Robinson and Raft as Linesmen in love with the same woman, Marlene Dietrich. In reality they were both smitten with her and came to blows on the set. There was a Life photographer there who got it on film. Due to this , Robinson turned down the part to play opposite Raft in "Some Like It Hot."

The parts of the book that are the most entertaining involve Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon learning how to dress and act like women. The big surprise for Mr. Curtis was how well Jack Lemmon adapted to the role. He revelled in it!

The creative process is explored extensively. Billy Wilder never made a film with a complete script. He would film what he had and then rewrite or revise as necessary. This gives his films the spontaneity they are known for.

Filled with photographs from the studio and some of the authors own collection this book is a great read for holiday travel. The color photos are a real treat as the movie was shot in black and white.

The freindship between Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis is beautifully expressed. This will be of interest to all Monroe fans. He has a unique ability to let you peek inside without being sleezy. He obviously recognizes Marilyn Monroes faults but also gives her credit for the complex and sensitive person she was.

Originally I picked this off the shelf as a quick selfish read. It turned out to be so much more than that. I'm glad I took the time to look behind the magic of the movie and see how it was accomplished.

Transformations

On September 29th, 1976 I left my house looking something like this.

10 weeks later I returned, looking like this.

And 4 weeks after that I left Brooklyn looking like this.

On my way to this.

USS Neosho AO-143