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Sundown: In Lieu of Flowers

A confusing request, faint praise, and a comic memoir

by
Hadara Graubart
October 19, 2009

• A supporter of a beloved ultra-Orthodox rabbi in Israel, who has been hospitalized for over a month, implored his fellows to “donate” a year of their lives toward the leader’s recovery, having relied on Talmudic interpretations to determine, somehow, “that the idea is in fact possible.” [Haaretz]
• Negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency began today, and have been variously described by people involved as “constructive,” “inconclusive,” and “good enough.” (Translation: Tehran’s not giving up on nukes so easily.) [JPost]
• The author of the Illustrated Children’s Bible defends her decision to insulate tots: “In light of radical Islam and Jihadism, how can we countenance Joshua’s campaign of extermination or Saul’s massacre of Amalek, all in the name of God? In the shadow of the Holocaust, do we want to expose little children to the horrors of Lamentations?” [South Carolina News]
• Stuart Hempel, who created a comic strip about Woody Allen in the 1970s, has written a book about the experience, which, based on an excerpt, seems to be mostly dredged up notes from Allen on his portrayal—“my tendency would be to risk being more offensive,” “Please don’t make me so masochistic”—and self-congratulation for pleasing a comedy legend. [Guardian]

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.