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Israel and the Messiah
The prayer for the well-being of the state of Israel which is recited on Sabbaths and festivals in most synagogues in Israel and the Diaspora calls the state "reshit geulatenu," the commencement of our redemption. The formula implies that the creation of the state of Israel is to be viewed as the initial fulfillment of the messianic expectation cherished by past generations.
The text of the prayer was written by the Hebrew novelist S.Y. Agnon at the request of Isaac Herzog, chief rabbi at the time the state was founded. It has since had to be repeatedly defended by Orthodox authorities against those who find it inappropriate or even sacrilegious.
Some who are opposed to the formula, like the sect of Neturei Karta in Israel and their supporters abroad, deny any legitimacy at all to the Jewish state. Others, like the Orthodox party Agudat Israel and the heads of noted yeshivot, cooperate with the agencies of the state, accept the benefits derived from its institutions, and at times support the government in return, but still withhold fundamental spiritual approval. Where the more radical regard modern Israel as the very antithesis of the messianic redemption promised by Jewish tradition, the less radical declare the issue irrelevant. But for either camp, to use messianic vocabulary in praying for the welfare of the state borders on desecration of a hallowed religious concept.
This theological and ideological controversy obviously cannot be settled except in its own terms. The question that a historian may address is not whether the state of Israel is worthy of association with the traditional messianic concept but whether a connection can in fact be drawn between the messianic hope entertained by Jews through the ages and the modern national movement that led to the founding of Israel. In order to approach this question we have to inquire first into the nature of traditional messianism.
Although the term itself is biblical in origin, messianism is a universal phenomenon. Tribes and nations of disparate cultural traditions and differing levels of civilization in many parts of the world have cherished the idea of a savior who will deliver them from their present physical or spiritual circumstances. But within the orbit of the immediate influence of Judaism, and especially in Christianity and Islam, the idea of messianic deliverance assumed a novel significance, albeit one that was to differ sharply from the Jewish prototype.
The specific historical conditions that lay behind the biblical image of an anointed ideal king (the original meaning of "messiah") need not concern us here. Probably as early as the Babylonian captivity, but certainly after the destruction of the Second Temple, the plight that required redemption was mainly not that of the Jews of Palestine but that of the Jews in exile. And the plight was not economic scarcity, social degradation, or spiritual decadence, although all these at times may have been experienced as adversities to be overcome by the redeemer. Once in exile, the Jews tended to understand these sufferings as mere byproducts of a basic deficiency, namely, exile itself, the condition of banishment.
Now, being removed from one's birthplace or country of origin is a misfortune only if one's commitment to that birthplace is so intense that any other place is experienced as a physical and spiritual trial. Uncounted numbers of people in human history have changed their dwelling through voluntary or forced emigration and in the fullness of time have accustomed themselves to the situation and adopted a new fatherland. It is one of the peculiarities of the Jews' fate, conditioned by many complex religious and historical factors, that despite the lengthy passage of time the consciousness of exile did not disappear. On the contrary, duration intensified rather than mitigated the subjective experience of calamity.
Messianism was both the cause and the result of the Jews' segregated existence throughout the centuries of exile. Initially the messianic belief may have strengthened their will to resist absorption by a foreign environment. Once the Jewish community established itself as a segregated socio-religious entity, its pariah-like situation nourished expectations of an ultimate return to its own homeland.
This dependence of Jewish messianism on the concrete situation of exile sets it apart from the millenarian fantasies of other socially or nationally suppressed groups. At the same time it distinguishes it from the purely spiritual longings of the Christian Second Coming. Jewish messianism has a point of reference in the factual history of the Jewish people. Jews had at one time lived in their own country, their own commonwealth; it was there they hoped to return in the messianic age.
In fact, a residue of the former national existence continued to play an active role in the cultural and mental life of every Jewish community. Acquaintance with the geographical scenes and contours of the homeland through constant reading of the Bible lent tangibility to the longings of return. More important perhaps was the fact that Jews continued to study and adhere to the laws of the Mishnah, which reflect the realities of life in the period of the Second Temple (when they were codified) but served long thereafter as a guide to important aspects of individual and communal conduct. The intellectual elite dedicated itself to the study of a body of law which, taken as a whole, would function once again when the nation was living under its own government in the projected messianic age. Various elements in the life of the community thus linked the memory of the past with the expectation of the future, keeping the vision of the messianic era in contact with historical reality.
Although it was exceptional in its concreteness, Jewish messianism did share with all forms of millenarianism an imaginary conception of the means to be employed in bringing about the redemption. Having failed to restore independence through military action in Roman times (the last serious attempt was the Bar Kochba revolt in 132 C.E.), Jews ceded their fate to the unfathomable wisdom of divine Providence. This shift in the mental attitude of the nation was not the consequence of a mere ideological development. The circumstances in which Jews lived in the Middle Ages restricted their freedom of action to sporadic interventions on the local level. Any attempt to alter the basic situation of a scattered and barely-tolerated people was simply inconceivable. No wonder, then, that Jewish faith in an ultimate redemption became interwoven with a belief in supernatural agency. What the human partner could contribute was, at most, intercession with the celestial power in order to hasten the redemption.
There were in the main two avenues for inducing heaven to bring about salvation. (We may disregard the purely magical machinations of kabbalists.) One was to gain divine grace by complying perfectly with the obligatory religious duties as these were interpreted by Jewish tradition. In this approach, redemption would follow not upon any one particular religious or spiritual undertaking but upon the achievement of total religious perfection by the community at large. Others, however, found indications in the authoritative sources of some special deed or procedure that might avail. Thus, in 1538 the scholars of Safed made an abortive attempt to reestablish the ancient Sanhedrin as the first act in the messianic drama; in doing so they were following a suggestion of Maimonides as to the sequence of events preceding the appearance of the messiah. A similar phenomenon was the hasty marrying-off of young couples during the feverish excitement occasioned by rumors of the impending messianic revelation of Sabbatai Zevi in 1666. (According to a saying in the Talmud, all the souls yet to be born have to reach their destiny before the messiah can appear. Mass marriages were meant literally to fulfill this condition.) As late as the 1830's Rabbi Zevi Hirsh Kalisher, later to become a steadfast advocate of Jewish settlement in Palestine and as such a veritable precursor of modern Zionism, was still addicted to this pattern of thought. Kalisher wished to obtain permission from the Turkish authorities, as well as the consent of his rabbinical colleagues, to institute a certain kind of animal sacrifice on the site of the Jerusalem Temple; on the basis of his scholarly research he believed that the restoration of animal sacrifice was a precondition for initiating the messianic process.
In the concept of supernatural redemption, as these examples suggest, human initiative was consistently restricted to spiritual or ritualistic devices. The possibility, or for that matter the permissibility, of a national restoration through human means was hardly ever discussed or debated. At most it was referred to in a homiletic or exegetic context (not always negatively). At bottom lay an acquiescence in the passive role Jewry was supposed to play as a nation in exile, at the mercy of others.
The spell of this state of mind was broken in the 18th and 19th centuries when the Jews acquired citizenship owing to the revolutionary changes in some of the nations in which they lived. Citizenship meant an end to the condition of exile in an absolutely unforeseen and therefore most confusing way.
Accepting citizenship in a non-Jewish state was regarded both by the Jews and by their emancipators as incompatible with the messianic belief which was an uncontested article of Jewish faith. Jews were more or less explicitly requested to renounce this tenet—no easy thing to do, although the impediment was not so much dogma as the role the idea had played in Jewish history. Indeed, there was a minority opinion recorded in the Talmud which confined the notion of the messiah to biblical times alone, and denied its significance for the future. This talmudic authority was cited by Lazarus Bendavid, a spokesman of the radical Enlightenment in late 18th-century Berlin, to refute a Catholic missionary who had observed that the Jews, having thrown away a cornerstone of their religious system in return for their emancipation, ought logically to accept the Christian redeemer. Bendavid retorted that the Jewish religion remained intact even without the messianic belief. As if on second thought, he added that Jewish messianism had anyway found its fulfillment in the liberation of the Jews by the rulers of contemporary states.
Bendavid's convoluted argument can be said to reflect the intellectual predicament in which Jews found themselves in the wake of their changed 'situation. Their political status may have required them to abandon the messianic tenet, yet other, less conspicuous, considerations militated against it. The need to meet the Christian challenge in a positive way, rejecting the Christian messiah while retaining a Jewish version of messianism, was one such consideration. The main reason, however, was an internal one: the messianic ideal was deeply ingrained in the Jewish mentality. Simply to try to eradicate it because of the changed political circumstances would have been a futile enterprise. What was possible was a reinterpretation, which is what Bendavid proposed.
His response to the historical situation became typical for succeeding generations. Although the Jews' integration into the modern state was not the result of an internal Jewish development, it still represented a decisive turn in their destiny and they were inclined to understand it in terms of traditional concepts. Emancipation seen as the fulfillment of the expected messianic redemption was admittedly a forced interpretation, but understandable in light of events. It is astonishing how many Jews who experienced emancipation from the ghetto almost instinctively described the event in terms drawn from the vocabulary of traditional Jewish messianism. Such emancipating rulers as Napoleon and the Emperor Joseph II of Austria were compared explicitly with the biblical Cyrus, and the dawning of the Enlightenment was frequently portrayed as the equivalent of the messianic age.
Still, when reform-minded theologians drew the practical implications and proposed omitting references in Jewish ritual to the future return to Zion, they met with fierce opposition. Not only the Orthodox but also the exponents of the so-called historical school objected. Granting the quasi-messianic significance of Jewish emancipation, they were still reluctant to repudiate the idea of a possible national redemption, even if projected into a remote and hazy future.
By the early 1860's political emancipation in Western countries could already be taken for granted; at the same time it could be transcended, at least by those of broader vision who, although they welcomed Jewish emancipation, were reluctant to see in it the consummation of Jewish history. Two such thinkers were Rabbi Kalisher and Rabbi Yehudah Alkalay.
Kalisher was an outstanding Ashkenazi talmudist, Alkalay a Sephardi preacher. Both were at the outset imbued with traditional messianism; in the course of time both integrated the historical experience of their age into their thinking. Jewish emancipation, really the antithesis of the traditional messianic expectation, came to be seen by them as the initial phase in an evolving process of redemption. The social elevation of the Jewish individual became a precondition for collective national liberation.
By dint of this rethinking, the very definition of redemption underwent a change. The human initiative destined to usher in the messianic age was no longer seen in spiritual or ritualistic terms. The establishment of the Alliance Israélite Universelle and the tangible political influence of Jewish notables like Moses Montefiore and the Rothschilds were taken to suggest that the resettlement of Jews in their ancient homeland by human means was not impossible. Such attempts at resettlement were regarded as necessary to the messianic enterprise; it was expected that a divine response would follow and complete the process.
That this reinterpretation of the messianic tradition was no mere idiosyncrasy is demonstrated by the fact that it was advanced independently (with some variations) by different people and, once published, found a following. In 1862, when Kalisher published a tract setting forth his views, he seems not to have been acquainted with the writings of Alkalay—no surprise, in view of the geographic distance and the difference in background that separated them. (Kalisher lived in the East Prussian town of Thorn, Alkalay in the town of Semelin near Belgrade.) Kalisher was not even aware of the existence of an Ashkenazi preacher, Nathan Fried-land, who pursued a similar trend on his own, although he presented it in a more homiletic fashion. It was Friedland who detected the affinity between his own thinking and that of his more famous contemporary and, encouraged by the coincidence, gave his thought a more direct and daring expression. More important perhaps for Kalisher's own self-confidence was the unconditional approval which he received from his rabbinical colleague Elijah Guttmacher. A secluded scholar and kabbalist, Guttmacher was reputed to be a miracle-working saint; when he announced unequivocally that the appropriate means to pave the way for the coming of the messiah was to repopulate Palestine, it could not fail to impress many Jews.
We thus have here a new development in Jewish thinking, of which the main characteristic is the permission or even the demand for the partial realization of the messianic vision by human effort. Obviously this development did not occur in a vacuum but had to do with the impact of historical events: the unexpected and in traditional terms inexplicable emancipation of the Jews as well as the contemporaneous resurrection of the European nations. But there was equally a dialectical development within Jewish messianism itself. In particular it is impossible to ignore the deep emotional dimension which accompanied the emergence of the ideas we have discussed.
In the thought of Moses Hess, who joined the group of these early Zionists as a secular outsider, we find a similar melange of cognitive and emotional elements. A socialist ideologue estranged from Judaism since his youth, Hess at the age of fifty recovered his Jewish commitment and evolved a theory of what Judaism could still signify beyond the two contemporary variations of Reform and Neo-Orthodoxy. He advocated a national restoration in the ancient homeland, and was strongly convinced that such an ingathering would release the spiritual energy embodied in petrified religious institutions. The national revival of Italy, and contemporary intellectual trends which encouraged the revitalization of dormant historical sources, obviously had an influence on Hess. But there is also no missing his messianic sentiments. A vision of a redeemed and rehabilitated Judaism had been implanted in Hess's mind as a child, when he observed his grandfather mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. His messianic vision drew its emotional power from that long suppressed childhood experience. Thus, although they differed over what would happen once the first stage of the redemptive process was accomplished, Hess and the Orthodox messianists were partisans of the same cause. And they also agreed about the immediate task: the ingathering of Jews in Palestine.
Despite remarkable exertions by Alkalay and Kalisher, very little, if anything, was accomplished on this score. Nevertheless, the concrete history of the Jewish national movement has to be dated from the appearance of this group. The vestiges of their influence can be traced in the years up to the emergence of the Hovevei Zion movement in the wake of the 1881 pogroms in Russia.
That movement, which defined its objective as the restoration and rehabilitation of the Jewish nation in its historical homeland, crystallized under the impact of the pogroms, but it could do so because the idea of a national revival had been adopted by at least certain sections of the population. The dissemination of the nationalist idea owed much to the expansion of the Hebrew press, headed by the weekly Ha-Maggid, which catered to a widely scattered Hebrew reading public, especially in Russia and Romania. Traditional yet open-minded, it appealed to a new type of Jew who transcended traditional attitudes.
The example of emancipated Western Jewry, as well as the repeated attempts by the Russian government to extricate Jews from their traditional cultural and occupational patterns, made people aware that changes in their situation were possible through their own initiatives and efforts. A readiness to act in the public interest was often combined with an Enlightenment vision of a future based on the Western model: political emancipation, social acceptance, and cultural accommodation. But this projected ideal stood in stark contrast to reality; the Jewish community in Russia and for that matter in Romania was a politically underprivileged, socially segregated, and culturally self-reliant minority. As it happens, however, the vision of Jewish integration as the ultimate destiny of the community had already been discarded by thinkers who were in direct contact with Western countries where it had originally emerged.
The chief exponent of the new trend was the novelist, Peretz Smolenskin. A militant critic of social and religious conditions especially in Russia, the land of his birth, Smolenskin fought for his convictions through his literary creations and his journalistic writings, both appearing in the monthly Ha-Shahar which he edited in Vienna from 1868 on. Attacking the rabbinical as well as the lay leadership of his time, Smolenskin laid the blame for all shortcomings on the Berlin Haskalah (Enlightenment) and the subsequent Reform movement in Germany. The erosion of Jewish national unity and of the intrinsic link between social life and religion derived from these early developments, in Smolenskin's view. The mechanical tampering with religious tradition, especially the excision of symbols connected to the future rebirth of the nation, had sapped the vital forces of the community and led to the present dismal state of affairs. At the same time, the "reward" for these reforms, the integration of the Jews as equals in the surrounding society, never stood a chance of realization.
Erroneous and unjust as this criticism may be historically, its significance for its time cannot be overrated. It amounted to a repudiation of all that the Haskalah stood for, namely, the hope that Russian Jews could improve their status by emulating the ways of their brethren in the West. Smolenskin had no alternative proposals for either the religious or the political problems of the community. Opposed to Reform, he was at the same time scandalized by the traditional rabbinate; he believed that by turning away from assimilation the community might somehow dispense with the excesses in its tradition and retain only the essentials. As for politics, Smolenskin lacked a substitute for the Haskalah belief in civic emancipation. When he first unfolded his views, the idea of settlement in Palestine did not yet occupy his mind. He strongly recommended the reestablishment of national unity and the regaining of trust in the national future as the basis for any collective action, which would then automatically follow. These ideas laid the groundwork for the political program of national revival in the homeland which emerged in the wake of the pogroms of the 1880's. Smolenskin himself then became an active supporter of the Hovevei Zion.
Others had made this transition before the pogroms broke out. The assistant editor (and from 1880 the chief editor) of Ha-Maggid, David Gordon, impressed both by Rabbi Kalisher and by Moses Hess, and like Smolenskin opposed to the anti-nationalism of the Reform movement, defended Jewish nationalism on the modern principle that each nation should adhere to its own customs, language, and laws. How much weight in this scheme would be given to each attribute could not be authoritatively prescribed. Indeed, with the spread of the national ideal, different configurations evolved, with some assigning religion a central role and others restricting its scope or giving it up altogether in favor of other components in the national heritage.
Traces of this intellectual development became evident during the first flowering of the national movement after the pogroms of 1881, when there arose a broad consensus that at least a certain part of Russian Jewry would have to leave the country. America was the obvious goal of emigration: it was a country known to be prepared to absorb newcomers, and a contingent of Russian Jews had already settled there in the years preceding the pogroms. But Palestine was suggested as an alternative, and a prolonged and passionate debate went on for years over the relative merits of the two.
That a land lacking all the attributes which made America attractive could enter this competition at all was testimony to the previous spreading of the idea that only there could the Jews pursue their national destiny. This in turn was clearly a derivation of the messianic vision of Eretz Israel as the locale for the miraculous reestablishment of the ancient Jewish commonwealth. The emotional commitment to Palestine was all the stronger for having undergone a process of secularization.
The choice of Palestine may reveal still another indebtedness to traditional messianism. So little was known about the difficulties of life there that the decision to settle in Palestine must be taken as an emphatically irrational act. The only compensation for ignorance was belief in the predetermined destiny that tied the Jewish people to the Holy Land, a destiny which guaranteed the success of the enterprise. For the secular pioneers, the notion of historical inevitability replaced the faith in divine promise held by the Orthodox thinkers. In both cases, however, we see the operation of what may be called messianic determinism.
The messianic impulse did not exhaust its momentum with the first wave of emigrants. On the contrary, subsequent events contributed new stimuli that worked in the same direction. The awareness that Jewish life was being restored in the Holy Land almost automatically evoked images from the Bible that lent themselves to explicit messianic interpretation. In July 1882 Marcus Lehmann, the editor of Israelit, the organ of German Orthodoxy, convened a group of rabbinical and lay leaders of southern Germany to discuss how to assist Russian Jews who had left their country in the wake of the previous year's pogrom. Lehmann opened the session with these words: "It is a wonderful token of the time that a general yearning for the Holy Land has seized a countless multitude of our co-religionists especially in Russia. . . . We must heed the hints of divine Providence and pave the way for a Jewish future of the most far-reaching consequences." He cited the biblical examples of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, who, though facing immense difficulties, brought about the establishment of the Second Commonwealth.
Messianic overtones permeated the lives of the early settlers. As the historian Azriel Shochat has argued, even the choice of names for settlements—such as Petah Tikvah (The Door of Hope) or Rishon LeZion (First in Zion)—was guided by a wish to connect the present enterprise with the prophets' vision of Israel's future. Striking biblical passages of unequivocal messianic intent, like Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones brought to life, became a recurring motif in Zionist speeches and writings. This passage appears as the motto of an association founded in Jerusalem in 1882 by Eliezer Ben Yehuda and Yehiel Michael Pines and appropriately called Tehiyat Yisrael, "revival of Israel." Two years later the prophets' vision served as the text for a moving sermon by Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever at the closing session of a Hovevei Zion meeting in Kattowitz. The revival of the dry bones became a Zionist topos, occurring independently to many people who were engaged in the revitalization of their nation.
The compelling messianic associations aroused by the national enterprise are also forcefully demonstrated by the negative reaction to them in some Orthodox circles. Secularized Jews could oppose Zionism out of political or other reasons and possibly remain indifferent to the messianic issue. An Orthodox Jew had no such middle course. The explicitly messianic discourse of Kalisher and his circle elicited much resentment in rabbinic circles. Once the movement got under way, it had either to be embraced or rejected.
The rejection by some Orthodox and especially some hasidic authorities was emphatic indeed, assuming almost the character of religious anathema. The notion of independent human action, which struck at the heart of the traditional supernatural definition of messianism, was denounced as bordering on heresy. Whatever other motives may have been involved in shaping this attitude of total censure—simple conservatism, disquiet over the religious conduct of the settlers, the anticipation of possible failure—central to it was the impulse to protect the sacred concept of messianism from secular trespass.
The leaders of the Hovevei Zion attributed their failure to attract the Jewish masses, especially in hasidic districts, to the almost universal antagonism of the hasidic courts. The non-hasidic authorities were divided among themselves: some belonged to the Zionist movement, others supported or condoned it, still others objected to it or condemned it outright. Yet even the supporters evinced a reservation concerning the messianic interpretation of the movement. Almost to a man, they advocated resettlement of the Holy Land on the basis of the preference given by traditional religious sources to life lived there as opposed to anywhere else. To this formal religious obligation—the positive commandment of settling in Eretz Israel—they sometimes added other considerations of contemporary relevance: the advantages of an agricultural life and the like. These had already been adduced by Kalisher as subsidiary props to his main argument, which was, of course, his messianic concept. His successors in the Hovevei Zion generation ignored the messianic aspect altogether. Abraham Jacob Slucki, who in 1891 published a collection of opinions by noted rabbis on the religious status of the movement, apologized for the fact that there were members of Hovevei Zion who regarded developments in the Holy Land as "the beginning of the redemption."
This neutralizing tendency among official spokesmen of Judaism hardly reflected the popular sentiments that nourished the movement even in its periods of relative stagnation. Those engaged in keeping the Hovevei Zion alive referred to it in correspondence as their "sacred assignment." Such quasi-religious attachment to the idea must have persisted in all the circles which followed the vicissitudes of the movement sympathetically.
The appearance on the scene of Theodor Herzl quickened these latent sentiments. Lending the movement an unhoped-for dimension, he provided the necessary incitement for popular imagination to run high. Herzl possessed all the qualities of a charismatic leader, and was often identified with the messiah in his meetings with the Jewish masses. Such an identification, which amazed Herzl himself, was just as often criticized by the intellectuals in the movement.
The next opportunity for messianic sentiments to emerge was the traumatic experience of the second wave of pogroms starting in 1903, bloodier by far than the first. With the subsequent failure of the 1905 revolution, the hopes for Jewish integration in a reformed Russia were finally dashed. These events set in motion the greatest exodus of Jews from the country, with the majority of the emigrants once again heading for America. A fraction, however, consisting of young men and women with strong convictions, chose to join the early settlers in Palestine. Thus began the period of the Second Aliyah, which added to the foundations of the first an entirely new social and ideological dimension. The newcomers shared with the old-timers the quality of messianic determinism: they were convinced of the historic necessity of Jewish national regeneration. But while the First Aliyah had been content to leave the contours of the national revival to the future, the new pioneers came with a set of preconceived social and religious ideas. These ideas gave expression to another feature of messianism: utopianism.
Messianism in its "supernatural" form held that the future would be shaped by the hand of Providence; thus it ought to have had no room for utopian fantasy. This was in fact the position of Moses Maimonides and other medieval Jewish philosophers. The popular imagination, however, projected into the messianic age a glorious image, the inverse in every respect of Jewish existence in exile. Zionism too, in the course of time, evolved a multitude of utopian blueprints. The Second Aliyah was especially given to them.
The most influential of these scenarios was a variant of Marxian socialism transferred from the pioneers' Russian background. It is associated with the names of Ber Borochov and, in its elitist version, Aharon David Gordon. Disassociating himself from other socialist ideologies, Gordon made the national revival of the Jews dependent on a return to manual and especially agricultural work—an ideal he himself consistently lived up to despite far-reaching personal sacrifices. The theories of both Borochov and Gordon seem rather removed from any special Jewish connotations. Borochov's dependence on Marx is explicit, Gordon's indebtedness to the example of Tolstoy has often been remarked upon. Yet both theories centered upon the contention that the goal could only be achieved in the Jewish homeland—a condition lacking all logical consistency and hence in the final analysis messianic. Similarly, the Zionist theorist Ahad Ha'am postulated that the revival of an original Jewish ethic, which he claimed to be the essence of Judaism (religion was only its outer expression) would take place with the return to Palestine—an idea which once again makes sense only on the basis of an irrational conviction that renewed contact with the ancient homeland would have a revolutionary impact on Judaism.
Although they differed in what they demanded of Jews, these three utopian blueprints were at one in neglecting or even directly excluding traditional Jewish religion from their vision of the future. They thus conformed to the prevailing tendency to shape the life of the new society apart from or in opposition to Jewish tradition. Still, the tradition also had its representative, in the towering figure of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, whose vision was built on messianic foundations proper.
An outstanding talmudist and student of Kabbalah, Kook demonstrated his adherence to the national movement by joining the emigrants to Palestine at the outset of the Second Aliyah in 1904. Impressed by the renaissance of Jewish life in the country, Kook took it to be an indication of divine grace, opening the process of redemption. In his enthusiasm and with his exceptional gift for literary expression he produced in his writings a profound interpretation of his time, pregnant with kabbalistic connotations and metaphysical overtones. Kook's writings left far behind the thought of his timid rabbinical precursors, who had defined the spiritual significance of the resettlement in the Holy Land purely in terms of Jewish religious law. He returned to the explicitly messianic conception of Kalisher and Alkalay, the first apostles of national revival, but surpassed them in depth and intellectual daring.
Kook differed from all his predecessors on one crucial point. All the rabbinic authorities who supported the Palestinian enterprise had made their consent to it dependent upon the settlers' being observant Jews. Kook, no less conservative in principle, nevertheless lent an overriding significance to the rebuilding of the country, even if accomplished by nonobservant agents. This did not impair his ultimate vision—a reconstructed traditional life based on Jewish religious law but highly spiritualized, as would befit the generation chosen to see the dawn of the messianic age. But for the present, Kook's messianic scenario condoned and even justified the lives and work of the secular pioneers. It thus secured a measure of unity between the camps of traditionalists and innovators—an indispensable precondition for the creation many years later of the state of Israel.
Messianic determinism played a part in several different phases of Zionist history. The conviction, permeating all ranks of society, that the underlying forces of Jewish history would inevitably culminate in a Jewish commonwealth imparted energy and a willingness for sacrifice to many people who might otherwise have been apathetic. But if this quality of dedication provided, and continues to provide, the Israeli enterprise with boundless energy, it has also tested the ability of Israel to adapt to changing circumstances. Any action taken under the rubric of messianic determinism is necessarily limited in its rationality. It is based on the assumption that the individual is responsible only for the preliminary steps; their completion is assigned to the messianic power or, in secular terms, to hidden historical forces. Activities undertaken in line with such conceptions may at times achieve what seems impossible; at other times they meet insurmountable difficulties and are defeated or frustrated. The history of Zionism is replete with both kinds of experiences; a contemporary example is that of Gush Emunim, the Orthodox "bloc of the faithful" who are vociferous champions of Jewish sovereignty in the occupied territories of Judea and Samaria.
The messianic drive behind the activities of Gush Emunim is blatantly apparent. Its quasi-political goal, the annexation of the full extent of the Holy Land as defined by religious tradition, is predicated on the belief that this is the precondition for the divine redemption—similar to what Zevi Hirsh Kalisher had believed for the more modest goal of establishing Jewish settlements in the country. Indeed, with the emergence of Gush Emunim this line of thought has come full circle, returning once again to a definition of the national objectives not just in religious but literally in fundamentalist terms. At any rate, the activities of Gush Emunim are characterized by feverish intensity and by inflexibility; only time will tell what their ultimate fate will be.
Less acute than messianic determinism but no less problematic is the other legacy of Zionist history, utopianism. The ingathering of the Jews, an achievement due to the belief in messianic ideals, has exacted a price: the results are often measured against utopian standards of judgment, and are inevitably found wanting. Aside from the gap that exists between every ideal and its fulfillment, there is the additional problem that the various Zionist Utopias (social, cultural, religious) are mutually exclusive. Each could be realized only at the expense of the others; the outcome is disappointment for all parties concerned.
Zionist reality as embodied in the state of Israel is measured by a host of yardsticks, not only by outsiders but even more so by those who have created that reality and participate in it daily. This is perhaps the lot of all pluralistic societies. Yet Israelis critical of their society today tend to draw more far-reaching conclusions than used to be the case. It is not uncommon to jump from criticism to, if not the negation of the state, then at least to a renunciation of one's allegiance to it, thus justifying emigration from the country. It sometimes seems as if the very existence of the state has yet to be taken for granted, that even its right to exist depends on the fulfillment of an unwritten contract with one of many utopian visions.
The dangers inherent in the intimate connection between Zionism and messianism are thus palpable. To meet them, some have argued that Zionism can and should be vindicated without resort to such irrational backing. Arguments of this kind have been marshaled to counter the growing claims made by movements like Gush Emunim, but the arguments themselves are not new. As early as 1929 the great scholar of Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem, protested on behalf of "thousands of Zionists" against the blurring of boundaries between the political aims of Zionism and the religious expectations of Jewish messianism. Since then, Scholem has repeatedly confirmed his profound opposition to such enterprises—an opposition that comes with special point from one who has dedicated his life to the study of the irrational dimensions of Judaism and has even been motivated in his scholarship by his personal attachment to the project of national revival. Aware of the misguided potentialities of irrational messianism as demonstrated by the 17th-century false messiah Sabbatai Zevi, and by the movement bearing his name, Scholem has warned of similar dangers to modern-day Zionism.
The parallelism between Sabbatianism and Zionism was and is a recurring theme in the historical evaluation of Zionism, especially among its opponents. For the late Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, the most consistent antagonist of Zionism in the last generation, Zionism and Sabbatianism were veritable synonyms. Since the ingathering into the Holy Land and the regaining of Jewish political independence had taken place without divine intervention or confirmation, as prescribed by traditional messianic sources, Zionism for Rabbi Teitelbaum represented an even greater usurping force than had the movement of Sabbatai Zevi.
The danger of messianic encroachments on politics will in the end have to be met politically. It is the test of statesmanship to channel popular sentiment toward politically defensible objectives. Indeed, the continued welfare of the state may depend on success or failure in this regard. But the neutralization of messianism can certainly not be achieved by denying its role in the history of Zionism. Attempts to banish the messianic ingredient may seem ideologically necessary to some, but the spontaneous sentiments of the Jewish people suggest the futility of the effort. The news of the Balfour Declaration in 1917; the conquering of Palestine by the English in World War I, and the inauguration of the first High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel; the 1947 United Nations decision on the establishment of a Jewish state; the declaration of independence; the victory of the Six-Day War in 1967 were all experienced as momentous and predictive occurrences for which, in Jewish cultural tradition, the messianic vocabulary is the only appropriate one. To blot out the points of reference contained in the messianic myth, even if it were possible, would impoverish the national consciousness.
Rabbinic legalists, secular ideologues, and scholars have for their various reasons tried to separate Zionism from messianism, but popular sentiment will have none of it. And this is as it should be. In every generation Jews have prayed for redemption, and never failed to include in their prayers the hope for a return to the homeland under independent Jewish rule. When this petition seemed to have been answered in our day, it was only natural to identify the momentous event as a partial fulfillment of the messianic hope. Thus the term, "the commencement of our redemption," included in the prayer for the state of Israel, is highly appropriate. Holding out still the hope for a total messianic consummation yet to arrive, it is at once an article of faith and an accurate reflection of historical reality.


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Rdio for Mac 2.08 released with Mountain Lion support
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Music, Software
Rdio released a small updated for the Rdio for Mac app today, bringing with it Mountain Lion compatibility. In short, the OS X media keys will now perform as expected with Rdio when running the newly-released OS X 10.8. The changelog:
- Media key support for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
- Layout bug fixes
If you haven't tried it, Rdio is our pick for the best streaming subscription music platform available in the US. In fact, you can follow the Gear Live Rdio channel for our song picks and recommendations.
Read More | Rdio
Beats Electronics acquires MOG music service
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Music, Portable Audio / Video
The rumors have been swirling for months, and now it's official--Beats Electronics has acquired MOG. Beats Electronics is the force behind the Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line and the Beats Audio profile, while MOG is a fledgling streaming music service that, while popular, has been in an uphill battle against services like Spotify, Rdio, and Rhapsody. The purchase means that Beats Electronics now has an end-to-end solution, controling both the hardware for listening to music, and the service to consume it as well.
Click to continue reading Beats Electronics acquires MOG music service
Read More | USA Today
Rdio unleashes new lightweight minimalist design
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Internet, Music
We gave you an early look at the New Rdio redesign back in March during SXSW 2012, and then it was released to the masses just last month. Well, we've gotta hand it to the Rdio team, as they continue to improve the design for the enjoyment of the users. Today, Rdio has refined its design again, bringing more white space and a flatter profile to the forefront. The company says that this makes it lighter, brighter, and easier on the eye. What else? Speed improvements. We've been playing with it for a bit over on the Gear Live Rdio channel, and we invite you to do the same. It's good stuff.
Read More | Rdio
New Rdio redesign is now available to all
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Internet, Music
Just a quick PSA for all you music lovers out there--that new Rdio design we recently talked about? Well, it's now live for everyone. Our favorite streaming music service has rolled out the new clean look for all, and it's pretty fantastic. Check out a video walkthrough below.
Click to continue reading New Rdio redesign is now available to all
Read More | Rdio
Are cloud music services like Rdio and Spotify the same song and dance?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Music
We sat in on a panel where Pandora's Jackson Gates, Daren Tsui of mSpot, and Kevin Wortis were interviewed by Gartner's Mike McGuire about the future of cloud music services at SXSW. It was an interesting discussion, focusing on what the benefit of the cloud brings to music, and the problems associated with expecting users to pay for something that they've been used to getting for free for at least a generation. It's an interesting time, and obviously the models differ substantially for companies like Pandora and Spotify, for example. Click on through for the highlights of the discussion!
Click to continue reading Are cloud music services like Rdio and Spotify the same song and dance?
Hands-on with New Rdio redesign: More social, much faster
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Music, Product Reviews, Software
Last week at a press event in Austin at SXSW, Rdio gave us a look at its brand new, completely overhauled music experience. We got a look at the new Rdio, and we walked away impressed by the beauty of what the streaming music company is attempting to pull off. There are a lot of changes, and we think that most people will think they're all good.
New Rdio isn't just a visual makeover though. Wilson Miner, head of design for Rdio said, "We want back to ground zero and rethought the whole user experience from the groud up to put the focus 100% on music and people." That people part is a big deal, because social integration is a big part of the new Rdio. When you log in, you've got a constant bar on the right-hand side that shows your online contacts and what they're listening to. There's also another tab that gives recommendations of who to follow (oh, and you should definitely follow the Gear Live Rdio profile!) Wanna share a track or album with a contact? The old way still works, but now you can just drag and drop content onto contacts as well. Very fluid.
Click to continue reading Hands-on with New Rdio redesign: More social, much faster
Why Turntable.fm matters, and how it enhances music discovery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Internet, Music
Right now I'm at SXSW, sitting in on the Turntable.fm DJ Battle that's taking place over the next two hours. There are a few DJs on stage playing their best tracks in an attempt to rock the crowd, and as things are unfolding, I can see some real potential for Turntable.fm to bring something to the table that the Spotifys, Rdios, and Rhapsodys of the world just aren't able to deliver at the moment, especially now that Turntable has secured licensing rights from all four of the major record labels here in the U.S.
Click to continue reading Why Turntable.fm matters, and how it enhances music discovery
With iTunes Match, Apple has ended piracy as we know it
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Editorial, Music, Software
I belong to the MP3 generation. Mine was the first to confront the choice between an $18 CD filled with marginal tracks and free MP3 downloaded from Napster in minutes. It was a test of character, and like many of the MP3 generation, I failed. But my days as a copyright violator, music pirate, and intellectual property profiteer ended long ago, and after enabling iTunes Match, previous guilt is gone.
To be fair, I haven't actually stolen music in years. I actually have multiple music service subscriptions, mostly because I am too lazy to cancel when I switch. So I have access to Rdio, Zune Pass, Rhapsody, Slacker, and Spotify Premium. But the truth is, I have a 32GB music collection sitting on my home PC that was built illegally downloading from services like Napster, Limewire, and BitTorrent. But now Apple is offering me amnesty for just $25 a year.
Apple's iTunes 10.5.1 launched yesterday, and it includes the much-anticipated Match feature. Install the software and it will scan your hard drive for music and make high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC versions of every file available to you in the cloud. The kicker is that this includes not just songs you purchased through iTunes, but any music file on your system, no matter where or how you got it. It will cost $25 a year to maintain access to this newly rebuilt and legal library, but for that price you can have access to up to 25,000 songs. Apple will pay the labels a small fee for the rights, but all you pay is the $25 per year. For those of us in the MP3 generation, this is library liberation.
Click to continue reading With iTunes Match, Apple has ended piracy as we know it
Listen to music with friends on Facebook with Spotify, MOG, Rhapsody, Slacker, and more
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, Music
Facebook is good for discovering the latest news about your friends and family, but what about music? As part of its f8 developer conference yesterday, the site teamed up with a number of online music entities to bring music discovery to Facebook.
Music companies like Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody, and Slacker will be offering their own apps, which will allow you to share what you're listening to with friends on Facebook. Their music choices will also show up on your news feed, and you can listen to the songs right inside Facebook.
"You'll now start seeing new music posts and play buttons all over your newsfeeds. Hit a play button and the music starts. Right there," Spotify said in a blog post. "Spotify fires up to give you a new soundtrack to your social life. Check out your new Music Dashboard and your real-time ticker to discover the music that's trending with your friends."
Click to continue reading Listen to music with friends on Facebook with Spotify, MOG, Rhapsody, Slacker, and more
Watch all of today's Facebook announcements right here, live!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, Videos
Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg is set to take the stage in just about 15 minutes to kick off Facebook's f8 Developers Conference. You can watch the event unfold live, right here--just hit the play button up top.
We're expecting a bunch of new hotness to be revealed, including the new Facebook music initiative, and a major expansion and re-thinking of the Like button. Also expect new features around news publications, video, and Facebook games as well. It'll be a full morning
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subset: commoncrawl


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Elephants consume a huge range of plant types, including grasses, herbs, shrubs, broadleaved trees, palms, and vines. Depending on the plant, they can take every conceivable part, including leaves, shoots, twigs, branches, bark, flowers, fruit, pods, roots, tubers and bulbs. The range of plants taken by an individual elephant can be anything between 100-500 species, although in a given time and place the animals may concentrate on a few species.
Patterns of consumption change with the seasons. In the savanna-woodland habitats of Africa, new-growth grasses are favoured in the rainy season, comprising 50-60% of the diet, but as these become tough in the dry season, the elephants switch to browse, so that the leaves and fruit of trees and shrubs now comprise 70% of the intake. For elephants in the rainforest habitats of Central Africa, the year-round supply of succulent leaves and fruits ensures that grass plays a lesser part in their diet.
Food consumption is 100-300 kg per day. Elephants spend 12-18 hours per day eating, most intensively in the morning and in the late afternoon to evening. In food-rich forest areas, elephants will typically move slowly through the day, browsing on a variety of plants, and eventually covering several kilometres. In many areas, there are daily rhythms: where both woodland and open grassland are available, for example, the elephants may spend the morning and early afternoon browsing in the woodland, emerging in the cool of the late afternoon to graze. Fluid consumption can be 200 litres of water per day in hot weather. When water is scarce, elephants will dig holes in dry stream or lake beds, using their feet, trunk, and tusks, until water seeps in and can be sucked up.
When plants become ready at particular times of year, such as fruits or new shoots, elephants will gravitate towards them, using both smell and a memory from past years. Generally speaking, the poorer the quality, abundance, or predictability of food and water, the greater the distances elephants must travel to find it. Home ranges, measured by radio-collaring individuals, can be as high as 3000 km2 in the Namib desert, where individuals can easily walk 80 km in a day. In many areas, migrations are seasonal. Where water is a key issue, elephants tend to accumulate in the dry season in areas where it can be found, dispersing more widely when this constraint is lifted during the wet season.
Small items can be plucked or picked up with the terminal 'fingers' of the trunk; larger items, such as branches, by curling the trunk around them and pulling or twisting. Elephants are highly inventive and can be seen, for example, kicking up sods of dry turf with their feet, picking up the resulting grassy clump with the trunk, banging it against their leg to shake off the earth, and putting it in their mouth. To reach high branches where young, succulent leaves are to be found, or high in acacia trees, where there are fewer thorns, they can rear up on their back legs, giving a total reach of up to 8 m. They will also uproot or push over trees. Finally, the trunk is important in drinking; water is not sucked all the way up into the nose like a drinking straw, but is sucked into the lower part of the trunk, then the trunk is arched and water squirted into the mouth. The only time in its life when an elephant feeds directly with its mouth is when suckling, the mouth being pressed directly against the breast with the trunk curled up out of the way.
The tusks are used to strip bark from trees, which is then eaten; to dig for roots or for water in the dry season; and to scrape or hack salt and other minerals from the soil or exposed rock.
The molar teeth display a series of long, thin, enamel ridges running side-by-side; for this reason, an elephant chews by swinging its lower jaw fore and aft, so that the enamel ridges on the upper and lower teeth cut past each other, shearing the food. The tremendous wear caused by feeding long hours every day on abrasive food causes the teeth to grind down to the root, and elephants not only have high-crowned teeth, but replace their teeth five times through their life, making six sets in all. Each set, however, comprises only four massive molars: lower and upper, left and right. As one tooth wears out it moves forward in the jaw and is gradually replaced by another from behind.
The majority of an elephant's digestion is accomplished with the aid of cellulose-digesting micro-organisms inhabiting its large intestine, especially a large blind sac opening from it, the caecum. This is a relatively inefficient method of digestion – only 40% or so of food, by weight, is utilised – but it does allow the animal to process large quantities of relatively low-nutrient food. The intestine is up to 35 m long and may weigh up to a tonne when full of food, releasing an average of 100 kg of dung per day.
Elephants seem quite resistant to the tannins present in, for example, acacia bark and, by consuming a wide variety of species, they limit the intake of toxic defensive compounds specific to particular plant types. Tree bark is eaten because it provides essential minerals and fatty acids, as well as roughage. Elephants also frequent salt licks, those patches of soil or exposed rock high in minerals such as sodium.


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By Ray Legendre and Jacques Von Lunen September 2, 2012 6 a.m.
The lives of Sarah Parsons and Zach Brady once revolved around rebounds, tackles and college applications … until multiple concussions derailed their athletic dreams and nearly kept them out of college.
By Jacques Von Lunen September 2, 2012 6 a.m.
Several Clark County school boards approved their districts' annual budgets last week.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 31, 2012 6 a.m.
The new chancellor of Washington State University Vancouver seemed surprised by the thunderous applause he received Thursday night.
By Paris Achen and Jacques Von Lunen August 29, 2012 8:40 p.m.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn says test scores have improved.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 26, 2012 6 a.m.
NORTH BONNEVILLE — Leaving Clark County on Highway 14, a traveler enters a foreboding land.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 25, 2012 6 a.m.
Betty Jean Levy, who touched the lives of thousands of Vancouver students, died Wednesday. She had just turned 87.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 24, 2012 6 a.m.
Thousands of Washington State University students, including many attending the Vancouver campus, still have not received their financial aid disbursements for the current semester because of a computer glitch.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 23, 2012 6 a.m.
Most of Roosevelt Elementary School in Vancouver was still this week, as were most Clark County schools two weeks before the start of the new school year. A few teachers sorted through boxes, setting up their classrooms for the coming onslaught of kids.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 23, 2012 6 a.m.
The Battle Ground school district will hold a public hearing on its proposed budget for the coming school year at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the old Lewisville Middle School, in building C.
By Jacques Von Lunen August 21, 2012 6 a.m.
The Washington State University Vancouver campus was abuzz for the first day of the fall semester Monday.


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Narrow your search
Though the ZTE Score M makes satisfying calls, its sluggish processor and network speeds aren't worth the trouble.
Though the ZTE Score makes satisfying calls, the phone's main selling point, Muve Music, has a long way to go. The spotty network connection and internal lag time weren't worth the unlimited song downloads. A combination of a quality phone and another cloud music service is the better approach.
Is Microsoft's new Edge browser faster than the competition?
The film's all-star cast includes Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Teyonah Parris and more. It's a big win as Amazon fights to dominate the video-streaming space.
The iPhone maker accounted for less than 20 percent of smartphones sold by the top vendors last quarter but ate up more than 90 percent of the total operating income.
Fans who attend the All-Star game's weekly festivities will be able to use Apple's mobile payments system to buy food and merchandise.
The car-hailing service's ban in New Delhi has been revoked, but it will be hit with levies and regulations in Mexico City.
Technically Incorrect: The Electronic Frontier Foundation's annual "Who's Got Your Back?" rankings see a vast gap between some tech companies and others.
Yahoo will be the exclusive online home for a game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars on October 25.
The requirements are a bit complicated, but you could take home a hefty number of Best Buy gift cards if you meet the right conditions.


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You believe that a theatre must have the freedom to "think big," and you want to partner with an artistic team that produces plays that stimulate dialogue, provoke debate and encourage reflection. You know how important it is for audiences to experience first-hand the transformative power of great theatre, and why it should be accessible to everyone.
Your leadership gift means that we attract the best talent from Canada and internationally to act, direct, create and train both for our stages and behind the scenes. There simply is no other theatre festival in the world that does it quite like the Stratford Festival.
The Festival is deeply honoured to partner with you in realizing a common goal to create the best theatre in the world. To share your dreams with us, please contact our Leadership Gift Team.
Heather McMartin
Major Gifts Manager (Greater Toronto Area)
Christine SeipMajor Gifts and U.S. Patron firstname.lastname@example.com, ext 5630
Rachel Smith-SpencerDirector of firstname.lastname@example.com, ext 2402


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Installer can't compile new kernel under Fedora1
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 7
Installer can't compile new kernel under Fedora1
I am a newbie running and experimenting without anything but news forums to give me command syntax, so please provide exact syntax.
I am running a brand new installation of Fedora1 and have only upgraded the kernel to the latest stable one today.
It is nice to finally have music in RH games, but now the usual nvidia driver install is unable to complete because it cannot find the kernel that it needs to compile.
I have the current source file and everything is in order but the installer can't finish the kernel compile routine.
Anyone know how to fix this? The Fedora1 ISO files were downloaded yesterday, so everything is as current as it can be.
I just need to complete the "usual" step of replacing the useless bundled driver with the one from the nvidia site.
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Getting to and from North Stradbroke Island via Vehicle Ferries and Water Taxi
Stradbroke Ferries are major sponsors of the Island Vibe Festival and provide a discounted rate to festival patrons.
Stradbroke Ferries Vehicle Ferry and Fast Ferry (Water Taxi) timetables are available at: www.stradbrokeferries.com.au. No bookings required for the Water Taxi.
When booking an accommodation package that includes vehicle ferry travel to and from the island, check that your accommodation provider is aware of the special festival discounted fare being offered by our sponsor Stradbroke Ferries. From 20 April 2015, online booking using the special festival codes (see below) will generate a 20% discount off the Standard, Off Peak and Off Peak Light fares. The discount does not apply to Premium and Super Premium fares. To book your vehicle online at the discounted rate for festival patrons:
Go to www.stradbrokeferries.com.au and click on NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND SERVICE – BOOK NOW. This takes you to the online reservations. On the right-hand side of your screen, enter the following Customer ID and Password:
Customer Number: IVIBE15
Password: ivibe15
Voyages to and from North Stradbroke Island for the festival book up quickly. We recommend booking early to secure your preferred departure time and price.
Cycling has become very popular in recent years. The ferry companies will accommodate you and your bikes on board at a discounted rate. The road to Point Lookout and Amity is bitumen and in good condition. Depending on your level of fitness and skill, it will either be a long, leisurely cycle over varying gradients or a fast track dash! It is up to you, but either way, bring lots of water and sunscreen and enjoy the ride!
Sign up to www.jayride.com.au if you have a spare seat or need a lift. Lift-sharing can help pay fuel (and ferry!) costs, minimise traffic congestion and benefit the environment by splitting emissions produced by a car in half...or by a third, or into quarters! You might just meet some cool people too.
You can also check out our Lifts & Accommodation page on facebook.
This is a great option for the environmentally conscious and those who pack light traveling to/from central Brisbane costing around A$50.00 return (non-concession). To do this catch a Cleveland train from either Roma Street, Central Station or Southbank Station in the city and stay on the train to the end of the line at Cleveland (schedule can be found here). The cost from Roma Street return is around A$16.00 (non-concession) and the journey will take around 50 minutes. You will find a FREE BUS (with Stradbroke Ferries on the front) waiting to take you to catch the next available water taxi to Dunwich. There are regular trips across the bay seven days a week by a few different operators. A water taxi trip is usually around 15 – 20 minutes and will run in most weather conditions and costs around A$20.00 return.
The North Stradbroke Island Bus Service has adapted their runs between Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout around the arrival and departure of the water taxis. This is a great service, which means there is a bus to meet every boat and get you to where you want to go.
The bus journey from Dunwich to Point Lookout takes about 20 minutes and costs A$5.00 one way for adults and A$2.50 one way for students and pensioners. This service is great for day-trippers who want to see as much of the island as possible in one day. The bus stops at the festival site at Home Beach and within walking distance to most of the resorts and campgrounds located close by to the festival.
Follow the directions in your street directory to Cleveland and follow the signs to the ferry or water taxi terminals. The STRADDIE FLYER GOLD CATS terminal will be the first you come to at the end of


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Maria Schiff
Maria Schiff
Maria Schiff directs Pew's State Health Care Spending Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to help policymakers understand state expenditures related to health care and to manage these costs while maintaining or improving Americans' health.
As the lead on Pew's portfolio of work on state health spending, Schiff manages a team of researchers tracking health care expenditures of each state—analyzing factors driving costs up or down, and identifying strategies to achieve better health outcomes at an affordable cost. She presents frequently on these topics to state leaders, health care stakeholders, and reporters, promoting data-driven policy deliberations and media coverage of health care challenges and solutions.
Schiff has held numerous positions in the health care field and in groundbreaking health reform efforts. At the National Governors Association, she advised states on the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and conducted research in the areas of health workforce planning and professional scope of practice laws. As a health policy director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she helped research and plan Gov. Romney's 2006 health care reform law. Following her government service, Schiff launched a managed care insurance program that enrolled previously uninsured Massachusetts residents for a nonprofit Medicaid managed care insurer. Schiff has also worked as a community hospital administrator, leading quality assurance and evaluation initiatives.
Schiff holds a bachelor's degree in history from SUNY-Buffalo and a master's degree in community health administration from Long Island University.
Recent WorkView All
Mental Health and the Role of the States
Researchers from the State Health Care Spending Project—a collaboration between The Pew Charitable Trustsand the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation—sought to better understand the country's mentalhealth challenges and, in particular, the states' role in addressing them. Read More
State Health Care Spending Project Reports
The State Health Care Spending Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, helps policymakers better understand how much money states spend on health care, how and why that amount has changed over time, and which policies are containing costs while maintaining or improving health outcomes. Read More
Substance Use Disorders and the Role of the States
Researchers from the State Health Care Spending Project sought to better understand the country's substance use disorder challenges and, in particular, the states' role in addressing them. Read More


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Dean Themy
President & CEO
- Founder and Inventor of Neopure Mobile Electro-Oxidation Systems
- 32 years in Electro Chemistry Business for Water Treatment and Sterilization
- Holder of 2 previous patents and two patents pending
- 5 years operating in North American Shale Play
- Worked with Bosque Systems, XTO, Anterro Energy, Waste Management, Rex, Newfield, MI Swaco, Cameron, National Oilwell Varco
- Extensive experience in proprietary manufacture of Electrolytic Cells and design of Electro Oxidation Systems, over 25 systems built and sold, in last ten years.
Nicholas Kambouris
V.P. Technology
- Management, Marketing and PR experience
- Commercial and residential developer of multiple million-dollar developments
Oliver Diaz
- President FuelFX, LLC., Houston based 3D Multimedia + Interactive Apps Design House
- Clients include Halliburton, Schlumberger, Nabors, Noble Energy, National Oilwell Varco (NOV), Shell, Select Energy, Rockwater Energy, Dell, Methodist Research Institute, and worked closely with BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill
- 20 years of experience in design, publishing, advertising and marketing industry
- Texas A&M University, College of Architecture graduate


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Dreamwork JAM (with a monkey!) at Macworld|iWorld 2013
AutoTune technology good enough to make you sound like the next Britney Spears? Check! Monkey on the Macworld|iWorld 2013 show floor? Double check! All that's left is for Dreamwork's Sam Ludeman to tell us how JAM makes it all possible. Check. Check. Check.
If you can't sing but want to send a friend or loved on a song, JAM can help. Just use that power responsibly, okay?
- Free - Download now
More: JAM
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
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Dreamwork JAM (with a monkey!) at Macworld|iWorld 2013
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kbear | posted Jun 13, 2013 - 10:42:24am
"Better" is a relative term. As someone who escaped Deltona a year ago after living there 25 years I can tell you that there are no longer any decent neighborhoods in Deltona.
Are you sure this is what you would like to do?
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The Walking Dead
AMC to Air The Walking Dead Marathons in February Before Season 3 Return
UPDATE: AMC posted this schedule note on January 28: "The Walking Dead returns on Sun., Feb. 10 at 9/8c, and AMC is celebrating by treating both the uninitiated and die-hard fans with two weekends full of marathons of the series. This Sun., Feb. 3 at 3PM/2c, The Walking Dead Season 1 will air in its entirety then the following Saturday, Feb. 9 at 10AM/9c, AMC will air Seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back and in full."
Let's try this again.
We were left high and dry after AMC changed its New Year's Eve schedule from a full series marathon of The Walking Dead to just Season 3. Sure, we could just watch the episodes on DVD, but it's not the same as a TV marathon. It just isn't.
It was already revealed that AMC will air black and white re-runs of TWD Seasons 1 and 2, starting Thursday, February 14 at 6:30 p.m., and continuing for a bunch of Thursdays after that. And we just checked AMC's TWD schedule, which doesn't go as far as February 14 at this point, and we noticed some upcoming season marathons.
Sunday, February 3 has its own little Season 1 marathon, starting at 3 p.m. with the Season 1 premiere, "Days Gone Bye." There were only six episodes to Season 1, and they will play out on February 3, and then at 10 p.m. "Days Gone Bye" will replay, and the rest of Season 1 will continue until the "TS-19" finale airs at 3:30 a.m. on February 4. But don't forget to watch The Walking Dead's Super Bowl ad when it airs Feb. 3! OK, so it's not technically for TWD. It still has zombies!
Fast forward to Saturday, February 9, when the Season 2 premiere, "What Lies Ahead," airs at 10 a.m., followed by the rest of the season (13 episodes), ending with the Season 2 finale, "Beside the Dying Fire," at 10:30 p.m. Then Season 2 starts again, from 11:30 p.m. that night through Sunday, February 10.
Appropriately enough, the Season 3 marathon starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 10, and continues until the 9 p.m. premiere of Season 3, Episode 9, which launches the second half of the season.
Don't forget: After Episode 9, "The Suicide King," premieres at 9 p.m., Talking Dead will be airing at 10 p.m. They aren't doing the encore episode right afterward anymore, although Episode 9 is replaying at 11 p.m. that night, after Talking Dead, and it's playing again later that morning, at midnight, and at 2 a.m. on Monday, February 11. So if you miss Episode 9, it won't be because anyone hid it from you.
Let's hope AMC doesn't take anything away from this schedule, and only adds to it with more and more Walking Dead!
Source: AMC
Catch up on all kinds of Walking Dead recaps, spoilers, news, videos and polls at Wetpaint.com/the-walking-dead.


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1810 Bumble Bee Rd
Accident, MD - Garrett County
(301) 387-4949
LAKESIDE DOCK SALES & SERVICE was established in 1978, in Accident - MD - Garrett County and is a business specialized in Aluminum. LAKESIDE DOCK SALES & SERVICE is listed in the categories Boat Services, Boat Dealers, Docks Operations & Management and Docks and offers Hardware, Wood, Installations and Repairs. Have you done business with LAKESIDE DOCK SALES & SERVICE? Leave a compliment or complaint on this page and help other visitors decide who / where they are going to do business with.
All-Terrain & Recreational Vehicle Dealers
Oakland, MD
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Friendsville, MD
All-Terrain & Recreational Vehicle Dealers
Mc Henry, MD
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Gear Question
Any one have issues with there optimus...
Any one have issues with there optimus Crux working with the new brighter orange/red MSR fuel cans, I am on stove # 2 and it will work with a cheap ozark trail fuel can a snow peak fuel the old MSR cans but on the new ones its died on me twice only burning the first 10% or so of the can. used my friends msr pocket rocket on the same fuel can and he had no problems
Phil Maher
Sounds like just the propane in the fuel mixture is burning based on your 10%. That's normally a temperature issue. What was the temperature? Were you hooking up your friend's PocketRocket under the same conditions? Seal is good?
temp was 75- 80 F seal is great like i said i can use it with every other fuel except the new MSR can. and yes my friend was right there with me it took it off my stove and put it on his pocket rocket he had no problems.
tyc221 - I've had the EXACT same problem (dying out when there's still lots of fuel in the cannister)....I was told by a friend of mine (experienced guide) that it's likely due to the temperature of the fuel cannister (as Phil Maher asked), as in cold enough temperatures the fuel burns just propane, and hence the "dying flame". Was suggested to keep the fuel cannister in a warm place (like inside the tent or even sleeping bag, annoying, I know) and see if that makes a difference. Hope this helps.
UPDATE: Did exactly what I suggested on a week-long trek....worked like a charm - flame never died, as I kept the fuel canister relatively warm before using.
View More Details on Optimus Crux Stove


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Victorian Seniors Card holders are entitled to a range of benefits on public transport services in Victoria.
This card is issued by the Department of Health and is available to permanent residents of Victoria aged 60 or over and who work less than 35 hours a week.
Please note: A Commonwealth Seniors Health Card cannot be used as concession ID.
Victorian Seniors Card holders are provided with a free myki which entitles them to concession fares on trains, trams and buses during the week.
It also entitles them to free travel on Saturdays and Sundays in two consecutive zones in metropolitan Melbourne (Zones 1 and 2) and on regional town bus services.
For more information about the free weekend travel entitlement, see free weekend travel.
V/Line concessions for Victorian seniors
Victorian Seniors Card holders can travel on concession fares on V/Line trains and coaches.
Victorian off-peak free travel vouchers
Victorian Seniors Card holders also receive two Victorian off-peak travel vouchers in the mail each year. These can be used anywhere in Victoria and can be exchanged for V/Line tickets or a Day Pass. Seniors from regional Victoria receive two additional Victorian off-peak travel vouchers.
For more information, see free travel vouchers.
Interstate Seniors Cards
Seniors Card holders from other Australian states and territories can buy the following ticket types:
- Concession myki
- Concession V/Line tickets (Peak and Off-Peak)
- Other concession tickets (regional town bus services).
Seniors Card or Pensioner Concession Card holders from other states and territories are not eligible for free weekend travel however you can travel on concession fares.
Holders of a Commonwealth Government-issued Seniors Health Card are not eligible for public transport concessions in Victoria.


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In order to show the versatility of the 50mm lenses, we've rounded up a few photos from the Flickr 50mm group to show you just how much then can do. Take a look, and then consider whether or not you need to fill that gap in your lens lineup with one of these special prime lenses.
The past month has seen a rash of new and interesting releases and news in the photography world. Apple with a new video editing program that's shaking up the industry; Pentax with the smallest interchangeable lens camera ever; and Panasonic … READ MORE
Often referred to as the "nifty fifty", the 50 1.8 is one of the most popular lenses in the Canon lineup. Many people are advised to start out with it when they enter the world of DSLRs. Indeed, it was … READ MORE
Also See: Top 10 Reasons to get a 50mm Lens
We're going to take a look at several great 50mm lenses on the market today. Whether you need an f-stop of 1.2, 1.4, or 1.8, have a budget of $100 … READ MORE
Have you ever been heading out the door but fretting which lens to take? Next time you face this situation, simplify and take only one lens – a 50mm. Its a historical standard which was naturally paired with many cameras … READ MORE


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Topic: Events
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This morning as we were walking the dogs down Paseo Montejo, we noticed names and booth numbers hand-painted in white along the sidewalk, a sure sign that Carnaval is coming. In a week, Paseo Montejo will be mostly be closed to traffic for a week and vendor booths will be selling everything from Coke to cochinita.
If this is your first Carnaval in Merida, get ready because you are in for an experiencial treat. Carnaval in Merida is a week-long party in the Centro, featuring a parade every day, music and dancing all night, and enough food and drink to satiate the most Bacchanalean spirit. Carnaval in Merida is also a G-rated family affair – unlike many of the famous celebrations in New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro – where the children get to share in the fun and even have their own parade.
Carnaval 2007 begins on February 14, also Dia de la Amistad (Day of Friendship, which is the Mexican version of Valentine's Day), with the Quema de Mal Humor (Burning of the Bad Moods) in the Plaza Grande. Starting at about 7 pm, the zocalo will be filled with dance and music. It will be everyone's first glimpse of the King and Queen of Carnaval, as well as the Children's King and Queen. And it will end with an actual burning, as well as a show of fireworks. After that, no one is allowed to be in a bad mood for a week! Okay?
On Thursday, the Children's Parade starts at 4 pm. It will start on Calle 63 at Calle 62 and proceed around the zocalo and then up Calle 60. This is a newer, shorter route that they tried last year and is a big improvement. The first year we saw the Children's Parade, the route for this parade was the same as the route for all the parades, and the kids were passing out from heat exhaustion sometimes even before they reached the center of town. It's hard to say which parade is better, but we are particularly fond of the kid's version of Mardi Gras. Mothers must spend all year working on their costumes and the mini-matadors, dancers, onions, zebras and other strange characters we have seen are not to be missed.
Friday is the beginning of the main parade, which is repeated four times: Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday at noon and Tuesday at noon. They all have different names, and there are some slight differences, but in our experience it's the same parade, different day. Which isn't to say you don't want to enjoy it multiple times. The parade starts at the Monumento a la Patria (the big monument across from McDonald's on Paseo Montejo) and ends at Parque San Juan. And usually the entire route, at least all the way to the zocalo, is packed with people. They're there to watch, dance and scream and to catch the goodies thrown from the floats.
Most of the floats are sponsored by corporations, which initially struck us as incredibly… well, CORPORATE. But now we realize that is just the way it is. The corporations help fund the fun and who are we to complain? So instead of beads, the crowd is screaming for plastic cups with a Coca Cola logo or Donde keychains. One year, someone was throwing out toilet paper rolls. Muy raro, but all in good fun.
Monday night's parade is called Desfile Regional (the Regional Parade) and it is also well worth seeing. In between the corporate floats, instead of local dance troups dressed in glittery dance costumes, you'll see groups of local men and women dressed in huipiles and guayaberas, interspersed with calesas, payasos and more, all strutting to old-fashioned Yucatecan music. In the past, the Regional Parade has conjured some charming moments.
The party isn't all about parades, of course. When there isn't a parade, Paseo Montejo is alive with food and drink concessions and a different band is stationed every two or three blocks. For those of us who live near Paseo Montejo, the noise just never stops. But don't let the noise stop you… get into the spirit! Where else can you see so many people having such a good time and not be in any kind of danger? Where else can you find a five-foot tall Mayan woman with green hair who asks you to dance? When else can you stroll up and down Paseo Montejo and enjoy the people and architecture without dodging cars and busses?
Carnaval is a week of fun and entertainment, and has been going on in Merida for decades. Merida is, in fact, one of the few cities in the world with such a big Carnaval celebration. On the official website, Jorge Alvarez Rendón, the official city historian, writes (in Spanish of course) that the parades used to be unofficial and very haphazard. Young people would ride along the avenues throwing out confetti, flowers and sometimes eggs filled with flour or polvo de añil (blue dye). Of course, the blue dye often landed on people's faces or hair, which wasn't always appreciated, but it was tolerated, as this was widely accepted as a week of desenfrenos (literally, without brakes, but it means "with abandon").
Interestingly, the city historian mentions that the "abandon" of Carnaval isn't the same anymore, as we live in a time when so much is permitted and accepted. In earlier times, there were stricter rules and codes that people lived by, so to have a week of unrestraint meant a lot more. From our Working Gringo's perspective, it seems to us that working at a desk or behind a computer is just a new kind of strictness and a week long party is still a welcome relief.
The last night of Carnaval brings the party full-circle, with the Quema de Juan Carnaval (the Burning of Joe (ok, John) Carnaval). One last conflagration and send-up. Now the party is over… back to work (and on to Lent, if you're Catholic).
If you're in town for Carnaval and want to see a parade, try to get to the side of the route at least an hour before it starts. There are some nice places to get above the parade (Ki'bok on Calle 60 is one), but there aren't many. There are grandstands in the middle of Paseo Montejo which provide a place to sit. We think you can rent spaces with chairs along other parts of the route, but we have no idea how you go about doing that. Wear a wide-brimmed hat or bring an umbrella. You'll be glad you did.
Over the next few days, barricades will start going up along Calle 60′s sidewalks and concession stands will start appearing along Paseo Montejo. The city is gearing up for – we're sure – it's biggest and best Carnaval ever. Each year the parade and the costumes have gotten better, so we're looking forward to seeing what's in store this year.
The first year we were here, during one of the parades, the skies poured down rain on everyone. Clouds of confetti shot from cannons on the floats became wads of confetti as they fell in wet clumps on the crowd. Working Gringo donned his wetsuit, mask and snorkel and watched the parade from the sidelines.. and no one even gave him a second look. It was his first week as a resident of Merida and Carnaval was somehow the perfect welcome.
When Carnaval comes to Merida, there really is magic in the streets!
- Merida's official Carnaval website has maps of the parade routes and more
- Yucatan Living's Carnaval Video
- Our Photo Gallery has more Carnaval scenes
- Last year's Yucatan Living report on Carnaval 2006


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20 Questions With...Alison Steadman
Editorial Staff • West End • 7 Oct 2002
Actress Alison Steadman is well aware that she is still best known for the multi award-winning Abigail's Party. The role of excruciating hostess Beverly, which she helped to create with her director-husband Mike Leigh, is now a comedy classic.
But 25 years on, Steadman doesn't feel possessive of the part, and she certainly isn't dwelling on it. Since Abigail's Party premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1977 - and became legendary after its television airing as the BBC's Play for Today - she has continued to work on television, film and radio, while also returning regularly to her first love, theatre.
Steadman's post-Beverly stage credits have included Joking Apart, Kafka's Dick, Maydays, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, When We Are Married, Marvin's Room, The Provok'd Wife, Entertaining Mr Sloane, The Memory of Water and the premiere production of Jim Cartwright's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, in which she co-starred with Jane Horrocks and Pete Postlethwaite.
On film and television, Steadman has featured in the likes of Fat Friends, Let Them Eat Cake, Pride and Prejudice, Virtuoso, The Singing Detective, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Chunky Monkey, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Shirley Valentine and Leigh's Life Is Sweet and Topsy Turvy.
Steadman is currently back in the West End, starring with Michael Attwell and Daisy Donovan in Debbie Isitt's gastronomic black comedy The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband at the New Ambassadors theatre.
Date & place of birth
Born 26 August 1946 in Liverpool.
Lives now in...
Highgate, north London.
First big break
I don't think there's any doubt that it was Abigail's Party in 1977. You do a lot of work and suddenly you do something that catches the public imagination and everything changes. Still now, people stop me in the street and say 'Aren't you Beverly?'.
How do you like being associated so much with one role, 25 years on?
I don't mind it at all really. You go through a cycle of things. I've done a lot of work since and people recognise me for other things, too, but I don't think I can top Abigail's Party really and I've stopped trying. It would be terrible if I hadn't worked over the years and had just sat at home twiddling my thumbs. But I am still working and I am still doing nice things so I'm happy.
What did you think of Hampstead's current revival of Abigail's Party?
I enjoyed it very much. It's very true to the play, but I also thought the company were all doing their own thing. It is odd to see someone else tackle Beverly, but it's not my role, I don't own it. Yes, I had an important part in creating it but, in the end, it's there for anyone to do.
What do you consider your other career highlights to date?
I've done quite a lot of TV; of that work, Pride & Prejudice was a highlight. On stage, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice meant a lot to me. The play was written by Jim Cartwright but very much developed with the actors over the six weeks we spent getting the play on. It was a huge success and very enjoyable to be in. I also got an OBE and that was very nice.
Favourite productions you've ever worked on
Eighteen months ago, I was in a revival of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Arts. I loved doing that. It was a smashing part and a terrific challenge. Also Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water at the Vaudeville. Another really good part in a very very good play. Sometimes you think you can't wait for a run to finish because you're so exhausted, but with both of those I was very sad when they closed. It was the same with Little Voice. You get a lump in your throat at the end of shows like that.
Favourite co-stars
Jim Broadbent is top of the list. I've done a film, two TV series and a stage play with him. The play was Alan Bennett's Kafka's Dick. Jim was such great fun. He's a very gentle, kind man and a very funny comic actor. It's nice to be around people like that - you think a bit of what they have might brush off on you.
Favourite directors
I'm really enjoying working with Debbie Isitt, who's also written The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband. She's very understanding. Some directors don't understand the hell that you go through as an actor, but Debbie has acted herself so she does. There's a huge difference between those people who've actually experienced what it's like to go on stage and those who haven't. Those who have are much more sympathetic to the process and recognise how insecure you get going through it. Actors are all hothouse flowers, one cold wind and that's it. I'm too old to work with bullying directors.
Favourite playwrights
Alan Bennett is high on the list. Most of the plays I've been in it's because I admire the author's work. Isitt again, for instance. She has such an understanding of human beings and how we feel and such a comic style.
What roles would you most like to play still?
I never know the answer to that question. I don't know what I want to do until the thing happens. When I read a script, I know within the first five pages if it's going to be for me or not - I can hear the voice. And if I can't hear it, that means I don't want to do it.
With all your film & TV work, why do you like coming back to theatre?
I love the theatre. It's my favourite thing of all. I enjoy filming and doing TV, and adore doing radio and voices for animation. But theatre is the reason I wanted to be an actor in the first play: to entertain a live audience, to hear them respond, to get to know what they like and don't like. You have to use all your skills on stage. I also love the atmosphere in the West End - the whole convivial feel, it gives you a focus in your life. You know what you're doing, and who and where you are. For a short burst, it gives you a sense of security. The rest of the time as an actor, everything's changing all the time, you hardly know what you're going to do from one week to the next.
Favourite West End after-show haunt
I like Joe Allen's. It's very lively, but there's no pressure to dress up and you always feel at home there. You get to see people in other shows and, because it's open until 2.00am, there's no one rushing you out of your seat. It's a very nice place to go as an actor.
What's the best thing you've seen on stage recently?
A Prayer for Owen Meany (as part of the National's Transformation season). It was done with such skill and style. And I loved the redesign of the Lyttelton. It was good to have the seats raked towards the stage, although the seats were very uncomfortable.
What advice would you give the government to secure the future of British theatre?
Give more help to students. They have a terrible time trying to get enough money to go to drama school. They write to me begging for money; I can't give everyone money, that's crazy. But we've got to try to help them somehow, especially those who've proven they're serious about what they do.
Favourite books
I have a lot of favourites, but I can't pick one out. I quite enjoyed Ian McEwan's last one, Atonement, and I like Sebastian Faulks.
Favourite holiday destinations
I've just been to Connemara in Ireland. It's a beautiful place with lovely people and good Guinness.
If you hadn't become an actor, what would you have done professionally?
Some sort of artistic job. I like model-making. I could see myself making silly things, or painting.
Why did you want your part in The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband?
I think the play's just so fresh and different. It's very moving and has a huge heart in the middle of it. For instance, the husband isn't painted as this completely horrible man (for leaving his wife for a younger woman). The fact is these things all the time in real live and not everyone's nasty. The play also has great scope for both comedy and for tough acting. It's not long but, for the three actors, it's terribly intense. There's lots of physical stuff - dancing, miming, creating atmosphere. We all have to be on our toes all the time, and we rely on each other very much.
What's your favourite line from The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband?
My opening line: "I first decided to cook my husband on the day he left me."
Are you a good cook yourself? What's your favourite dish?
I'm alright. I quite enjoy cooking, but I'm not this whiz person who can rush home and produce a fantastic meal from nothing. And when I'm busy in rehearsals, anything goes - it's Chinese takeaways. It's better to come round for meal when I'm not working. I love roast dinners, Italian food and fresh vegetables. I'm very fussy about food in that sense. Everything has to be fresh and, if possible, organic - I buy the best food I can afford. I'm not terribly health conscious but it's important to eat well. I feel sorry for kids who just get burgers and pizzas shoved down their throats. Even simple meals should be nutritious.
The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband continues at the West End's New Ambassadors theatre to 30 November 2002, after which it's followed by the transfer of Hampstead Theatre's revival of Abigail's Party.