this week Daniel Pearl would turn 46
Daniel Pearl was born on Shabbat Noah: October 10, 1964 = 4 Cheshvan 5725.
If, metaphorically speaking, all those animals (carnivores and herbivores) were able to coexist on the Ark why can’t we? And this week, when we learn that a new language has been found among a tiny group of people in the Himalayas, perhaps it is the latter part of the portion on which we need to focus. Can we learn how to cooperate more than compete?
How might we respond to Daniel Pearl’s life?
proverbs 26:4
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.
…or as reworked later by Matthew (7:6):
Nether caste ye youre pearles before swyne.
Various versions of his grizzly execution videos remain on YouTube where, to date (October 2010, 8 years after his beheading), they have received more than 800,000 views. I will not link to them here. I respond differently.
Rather, there are ways we can think and act positively, not in response to Daniel’s death, but in continuing his life’s work.
pearls of music
Many pages on the Web suggest that music is a universal language. Daniel Pearl knew and loved this language. He communicated in music wherever he went.
Perhaps we can each find some way to participate in the 9th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days — October 1st — 31st, 2010.
This page is dedicated to Harmony for Humanity
This week I wear a button calling attention to Daniel Pearl. The cashier at my market read the text and asked what it was about. I had the opportunity to share with her something about a good man whose life was too short. She paused, thought about Daniel Pearl for a moment, a man she had never known of before, and thank me. I was able to make his memory a blessing.
The button was made in 2002 by Button Brokers of Rochester, N. Y. and was distributed during the Israeli Operation Defensive Shield encouraging President George W. Bush’s support for Israel.
Daniel Pearl’s final words
| Date: | 2002 |
| Size: | 5.5 |
| Pin Form: | clasp |
| Print Method: | celluloid |
| Text | “I AM A JEW, MY MOTHER IS A JEW” Daniel Pearl 1963–2002 |
your lapel buttons
Many people have lapel buttons. They may be attached to a favorite hat or jacket you no longer wear, or poked into a cork-board on your wall. If you have any laying around that you do not feel emotionally attached to, please let me know. I preserve these for the Jewish people. At some point they will all go to an appropriate museum. You can see all the buttons shared to date.
