Judith Baumel

heartbreaking to learn of the death of Mark Mirsky, longtime editor of Fiction Magazine, much-beloved professor at City College, friend to many writers & poets. a genuinely kind man, a true mensch, witty & erudite in conversation as well as in his remarkable prose. we will miss Mark terribly....

@VerizonSupport Can't you tell me what the tech did so I can understand why the devices stopped connecting to your router?

@JudithBaumel If your internet is back up then you may need to restart your other equipment. There is nothing else to do with your router or service. We recommend contacting the manufacturer of the equipment if it's still not connecting. We cannot troubleshoot other equipment. ^ADP

@VerizonSupport After a tech did something to my router ("cleaned things up") all my @googlenesthelp products can't connect to home internet. I've called, gotten no help but why have you closed my case?

@VerizonSupport The devices were working before your tech "improved" my speed. Immediately after, device went offline. Not a coincidence. Why won't you spend time to figure out what the tech did to cause this?

Hello, we are happy your internet is back up, and sorry to hear about your other equipment not connected. We can only troubleshoot your router with Verizon. If you need assistance with your other equipment you will need to contact the manufacturer to help get them connected. ^ADP

@googlenesthelp My Google nest thermostats, doorbell camera and floodlight w. camera all stopped connecting to home internet. @verisonsupport says it can't help. What do I do now?

@Ghitelman Ha! I resemble that remark

As someone who grew up in The Bronx as the child of someone who grew up in The Bronx who was a child of another person who grew up in The Bronx I very much disagree with this take

@bartov_omer Thank you for this complex, thoughtful essay.

My essay this morning in The Guardian's fabulous "long read" on impressions from a recent visit to Israel theguardian.com/world/article/…

@Ghitelman I’m there

I’ve been very impressed with the Black Women, Black Men and White Women showing up big time for Kamala’s campaign So I’m launching a new affinity group to get our first female president elected! #Kamala #Kamala2024

After 2 years, today is my final day at @nys_cannabis It’s been an honor to do this work — in the only state I’ve ever called home —implementing antitrust regulations & restorative justice around a plant I love Hasn’t always been perfect, but has always been pretty damn cool

@Ghitelman @nys_cannabis Great Job!

Happy Birthday to the unbder-celebrated original American genius Willa Cather. Thanks to Benjamin Taylor for his great new biography!

Happy Birthday to our under-celebrated original American genius #Cather150

Happy birthday to our under-appreciated original American genius. #Cather150

3/3      Battling that combination of ideologies is the work of more than a committee or a single university.  It is not going to be changed by hiring or firing a single person, or posting on X, or yelling at people who don’t post as you wish when you wish, as though posting is the summation of one’s moral character.  This is the task of educating a generation, and also a vast unlearning. Part of the problem is a simple herd mentality – people screaming slogans whose meaning and implication they know nothing of, or not wishing to be disliked by taking an unpopular position.  Some of it is the desire to achieve social status by being the sole or greatest victim.  Some of it is simple, old fashioned Jew hatred, that ugly arrow in the quiver of dark hearts for millenia.            In this generation, outside of Israel, we are called to be Maccabees of a different order. We do not fight the actual battle but we search for the cruse of oil left behind.  Remember the oil was to last one night, but lasted eight - which means there were seven nights of miracle.  But of course the first night was the greatest miracle — because the motivation to light the initial candle, to ensure the continuity and vitality of tradition in each generation, that is the supreme miracle.  Dispute but also create. Build the institutions you value, don’t merely attack those you denigrate.  We are at a moment when the toxicity of intellectual slovenliness has been laid bare for all to see. Time to kindle the first candle.  Create that miracle for us and all Israel — Blessing to you and Hag Urim Sameach.

2/3 However, the system at Harvard along with the ideology that grips far too many of the students and faculty, the ideology that works only along axes of oppression and places Jews as oppressors and therefore intrinsically evil, is itself evil. Ignoring Jewish suffering is evil.  Belittling or denying the Jewish experience, including unspeakable atrocities, is a vast and continuing catastrophe.  Denying Israel the self-determination as a Jewish nation accorded unthinkingly to others is endemic, and evil.

1/3 Resigning, a Hanukkah Message: As of today I have resigned from the antisemitism advisory committee at Harvard. Without rehashing all of the obvious reasons that have been endlessly adumbrated online, and with great respect for the members of the committee, the short explanation is that both events on campus and the painfully inadequate testimony reinforced the idea that I cannot make the sort of difference I had hoped.  Still, there are several points worth making. I believe Claudine Gay to be both a kind and thoughtful person.  Most of the students here wish only to get an education and a job, not prosecute ideological agendas, and there are many, many honorable, thoughtful and good people at the institution.  Harvard is still a repository of extraordinary minds and important research.

@Ghitelman Totally Agree.

I believe it is ruder to show up somewhere with donuts from Dunkin than it is to show up somewhere empty handed

@jennifergrotz1 @ae_stallings Yes. I first encountered this fact in the John Fredrick Nims textbook

Nearly 2.5 hour delay & no takeoff in sight @Delta has no news @JFKairport has no news. Captain is hoping for push back in a half hour. Fat chance. Boredom & frustration have driven me to tweet 🐥

@jill_christman I do not match but I admire your back story here. Am also wondering about how to score being on public access TV. Does that even count?

Ooh, this is a fun game—and maybe an essay? For everyone? I’m a 5. I’ve never: broken a bone, gotten a tattoo, gotten arrested, or been on a cruise or skydiving. I mean, that’s some clean living right there. Anybody an exact match?!