The Varieties of Jewish Experience

<p class=ql-align-justify>Allen Ginsberg while in the New York State Psychiatric Institute met Carl Solomon. Their first exchange: Solomon: Who are you? Ginsberg: I'm Myshkin. Solomon: I'm Kirilov. From that moment their friendship started. Myshkin is the idiot in Dostoyevsky's 'The Idiot (he ends his life in a Swiss asylum) while Kirilov is one of the possessed characters in Dostoyevsky's 'The Possessed.   </p><p class=ql-align-justify>Sometimes diverse cultures meet. The heroic samurai Benkei according to Japanese legend killed a giant carp which had swallowed his mother when she fell into a waterfall. It is not recorded if Benkei lost his taste for gefilte fish or sushi. The Japanese legendary monster the <em>Nu</em> was slain by a samurai no less brave than Benkei. Benkei disappointedly is apparently not Japanese affectionate for Benjamin. A Yiddish version would have substituted mother-in-law for mother and worked in the Yiddish for Adam was fortunate - he didn't have a mother-in-law.</p><p class=ql-align-justify>The ultimate Nu?: Gertrude Stein dying asked What is the question?</p><p><br></p>