Author: Manny Kagan

Walking Through Life

The Torah, which is believed to be written by Moses in 1312 BCE, is divided into 52 weekly chapters, which are read in the synagogues or in private, every Saturday. Last week’s chapter was called Lech Lecha (usually the title is the word or phrase in the beginning of the first sentence). It begins with God giving instructions to Abram: “Lech Lecha”. “The Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your land, from your relatives, and from your fathers’ house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation.” (Genesis 12:1-2) The idea of walking appeared in the Torah before. After God created Earth and people started to populate it, one of them “Enoch walked with God for three hundred years after begotten Methuselah” (Genesis 5:22). And in the next chapter “Noah was righteous man, perfect in his generation. Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9). Enoch was part of the generation that disappeared in the flood, while Noah’s job was to save only his family and the birds and animals. But Abram had a different mission. “Hashem appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Shadai; walk before Me and be perfect. I will set My covenant between Me and you, I will increase you most exceedingly.” (Genesis 17:1-2). “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17:5)

It turns out that to enable someone to accomplish his or her mission in life, one does not have to follow God, but rather to leave everything behind, the familiar and comfortable environment, to find their own path, knowing that God is behind watching their journey.
The problem is only that there is a condition, one needs to know what it takes to be perfect. And of course the answer is going to come after one learns the Torah. And what if you do not have the time, knowledge or desire to do that, or cannot connect with the Torah’s teaching? Perhaps then you need to head to another wise teacher.
The saying “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” belongs to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (who lived in 6th -5th century BCE). He was known for many popular sayings like, “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading”. Lao Tsu also said, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality, let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they live.”

How To Express Gratitude?

On a recent Tuesday evening I was watching an episode of the British TV series, Dowton Abbey, followed by a documentary about how this production was made. The moderator explained that the actors had to learn how to behave in the time of Edwardian England. One of the traits at the time was that aristocratic masters did not acknowledge or even say “thank you” to their servants.
I have been thinking about that, as we are approaching Thanksgiving Day.
The first celebration of this holiday is traced to 1621, when a group of Pilgrims, who came to Plymouth from England, gathered together for a meal three days after the first harvest, to express their gratitude to God. Thanksgiving became a federal holiday in 1863, when during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a national day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

You might be wondering what is the connection between my two stories. It is very simple. Do we have to wait for the one day in a year to express our gratitude by “eating turkey”? Are we like the British Aristocracy who do not notice those who serve us and acknowledge them and say “Thank you”, throughout the remainder of the year? Today is Veterans Day. Like Thanksgiving, it became a holiday as a result of a war. In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day after the end of World War I, known as “The Great War”. Since then, the United States has taken part in many more wars, and it is our duty to express gratitude to those veterans, who served our country. Is there anyone else in your life that you forgot to say “Thank you” to? Perhaps it is your parents, children, siblings, friends, teachers, co-workers, waiters who have served you in restaurants and a myriad of other people?

Do People Have A Choice?

Some time ago I went to the book reading “The River in My Backyard” by Mikkel Aaland. I wrote about his books before. In the book the author writes about his brother murdering their father because “God told him to do so.” It turns out that his brother has schizophrenia – a mental disease. He was acting odd during his life and consumed big amounts of marijuana in his teenage years. During his talk Mikkel pointed out that consumption of the marijuana can stimulate the development in those who have predisposition for the disease. Unfortunately, in spite of acting weird, sick people do net get adequate medical assistance until like in the case of the brother, the murderer is locked up and receives all necessary medications to control their condition.

I thought about this recently while visiting Portland, Oregon. When we stepped out from our hotel in the downtown, we noticed quite a few weird people, who by their behavior looked crazy to me. And not in the way I would like to photograph them. When I saw a man, whom I noticed before as lying on the pavement, vomiting on the road, I wondered who will wash it out. The solution came the next day – it rained. (It rains a lot in Portland.) With the population of about 600,000, Portland is a diverse and green city and had quite a few areas to visit. But it also has problems with over 1800 homeless population. Perhaps similar to one we have in San Francisco.

Lately there is a lot of attention to this problem and press coverage. To help to solve homeless conditions, four cities in the Bay Area put measures on November ballots tout tax hikes bonds to build 20,000 low cost units by generating 3 billion for the next 25 years.

Where To Find The Light

On Saturday, October 29th begins the new cycle of the Torah reading. It starts with, “In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth – when the earth was astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep, and the Divine Presence hovered upon the surface of the waters – God said “Let there be light “ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated between the light and the darkness” (Genesis 1: 1-4). And then “God made the two great luminaries -the great luminary to dominate the day and the lesser luminary to dominate the night, and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, to dominate by day and by night, and to separate between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:16-18). After the Earth sprouted with the vegetation and trees, and water and land, it became populated with living creatures. “And God said “Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26). This last sentence summarizes the whole purpose of the creation process. Humans were created with the ability to act like God, i.e. to be able to choose between the light and the darkness and between good and not good. God said, “Man has now become like one of us in knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:22). Toward the end of the Torah reading cycle, which was just a few weeks ago, the idea of separation and choosing is repeated again. After years of many challenges, travelling through the desert, receiving God’s commandments and life teachings, the Israelites, led by Moses, are about to arrive at the Promised Land. Shortly before his death, Moses passes on God’s message.

“I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life, so that you will live, you and your off-springs” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Since light is associated with life and darkness with death, the choice is clear – choose light. Often the question is “where?” and “how?”

Sometimes making a decision can be challenging. Take, for example forthcoming election. The results might be joyful for some and disappointing for others. Regardless of what they are – there is always going to be light and darkness. When it will get dark, stop worrying, just go to sleep, the next morning the sun will appear again, even if the sky is covered with clouds and it is raining (which helps to bring life).

The Wait Is Over

Do you know that elephants have the longest gestation period of all mammals? Their pregnancies last for more than a year and a half. When I started working on what became my first in a series of photography books, “42 Encounters in San Francisco” at the beginning of 2015, I had no idea of what this project will become. After I limited the number of images to forty-two, I had some “extras”, which lead me to start working on the sequel book, “42 Encounters with Couples in San Francisco”. This pattern continued with many more images, so I decided to produce forty-two books over the next 21 years, in other words to produce two books per year. The third and fourth installments, which will be out in 2017 will be “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” Part One and Part Two. During the process of creating the books, I’ve also learned about book making and how much it might cost. For example, to print 1,000 books cost $15,450 or $15.45 per book. After adding all other costs it comes close to $20.00, not counting my time, materials and return on my efforts. But if I will sell it in bookstores, they will take a 40% cut or $9.60, leaving me with $14.40, which is less than the cost of printing. If I sell it online, then the shipping cost is $3.09. Thus, buyers will pay $29.00 for it, and will necessitate frequent trips to the post office. Who will pay for this unproductive time? But I wish these problems for myself. After all, I have great fun putting this project together. And there is another pay-off, which I want to accomplish. I want to create a non-profit foundation or to contribute the profits for an organization which will teach people (especially the young ones) to see and capture the beauty of the world through the lens of a camera or smartphone.

To do this, I will cooperate with like-minded young (and young at heart) photographers. But first I need to sell 1000 books to raise the money for the second book, which I want to be ready before Christmas. Thanksgiving is next month, and it’s a time to say “thank you” to friends, colleagues and relatives. In my view, the best way to express it is to give someone a book, especially if it is “42 Encounters in San Francisco”.