Passover So Far

Today (Thursday) is the sixth day of Passover. In Israel, the seventh day is a major holiday and then the holiday is over. In the diaspora, Conservative and Orthodox Askenazi Jews (German-Polish-Russian) observe an eighth day. We've been invited to a Passover dinner Friday night, and we will probably observe Passover until Saturday night.

We welcomed my sister Robin from Maryland Thursday afternoon. Our alternate cleaning woman (the daughter-in-law of the real cleaning woman) came in to help out. Robin went out with Joe to buy clothes Friday and helped him pick out some good suits. I went to the gym. In the afternoon, they cleaned out all the hametz, the food we can't eat for Passover. I'm taking a class at OLLI, Life-Long Learning, about Michael Moore movies. We saw Sicko, from 2006, about how terrible our health system is. Since then, the Affordable Care Act was enacted; things are somewhat better. Hillary Clinton, over the course of the movie, changes from an advocate for health care reform to a sell-out to the industry.

Friday evening, Joe led our temple seder at Lakeview, a resort near Morgantown. I sat at the head table with Joe; Robin sat with a couple she knows well. I migrated around to speak to people who have become my friends. The food was plentiful and good. I ate my annual piece of brisket, and a slice of flourless chocolate cake.

I didn't want to go to the Democratic Women's lunch Saturday. We all stayed home and took it easy.

We had three invitations for a second seder Saturday, but went to the home of friends who are also congregants. More great food and good company.

I was off the rest of the weekend as well, although we all attended an unveiling for the brother of a congregant Sunday and went back to the family home for a late Passover lunch. Joe ran off to Preston County, to do a model seder for a United Methodist Church . I got out on my bike in the morning to downtown, along the Mon River and up through the Arboretum, where spring wildflowers are in bloom.

Robin and Joe bonded over Scrabble. They both are cutthroats; I don't play because I am awful at it.
Robin left Monday and then it was back to the campaign.

With my husband and sister at the first seder

The second seder, led by our friend Art at home

Wildflowers at Core Arboretum Sunday morning

Wednesday night, The League of Women Voters held a forum for candidates. We were to bring snacks, so I brought those awful Passover colored fruit slices that I remember from childhood and wouldn't eat now, and some Spanish figs, which I did eat. They had sheriff candidates and prosecuting attorney candidates before they got to Delegate. There were ten of us; five Democrats for Delegate and two for Senator. The Republican slots are not contested in the primary. Five of the eight of us running for Delegate in the primary will run in the general election.

We only had three minutes to talk and one minute for two questions from the audience. Here's what I said, more or less. I didn't write it down before, and my three minutes were up before I could finish.

" It's Passover now. Four years ago at Passover, I was living in Crescent City, on the far north coast of California, with my husband, Rabbi Joe Hample. Joe worked as a chaplain at Pelican Bay State Prison. Because of a budget dispute with the Republicans, Governor Jerry Brown sent layoff notices to most of the state's employees the previous autumn. Joe applied for jobs at congregations. He let me pick out where to apply. We tried all the big cities and suburbs. No one asked Joe to come for an interview in thirty-six applications. I wrote on my blog ("Barry's Excellent Adventure," still on the internet at www.barrywendell.blogspot.com) that instead of "Next year in Jerusalem," the traditional last line of the seder, I would say "Next year in the city that hires Joe as its rabbi."

After Passover, I insisted he look at the list available to Reform rabbis to see if any other jobs had shown up. There was one: Tree of Life Congregation in Morgantown, West Virginia. Neither of us knew anything about Morgantown. I did some research. I found a large university, a pretty town with homes on the hills above a river. Tree of Life's motto on  their website said "You're Only A Stranger Once At Tree of Life." I said 'I think I found our new home.'

"Joe was skeptical.  He said 'They hate gay people in West Virginia.' I said 'I bet Morgantown isn't like that.'

"The congregation invited Joe for an interview, and he blew them away, as I knew he would. We moved here that July, and made lots of friends. Morgantown has become the home we were looking for. Except for the Republican legislature. In 2015, they introduced bills to take away mine safety regulations, to have voter IDs, to form charter schools, and a local delegate introduced a resolution to the US Congress, to pass an amendment to the Constitution to ban any recognition of same gender relationships. Someone had to do something. I had to do something. We know Morgantown as a friendly, inclusive town. I am running to represent that Morgantown in the state Legislature."

I didn't actually get to say all that in three minutes, but I got the idea across. I made an impression, a good one, for most people. The Delegate who introduced the anti-gay resolution (and also voted for the "right-to discriminate act" this session) saw me after at the refreshment table, and denied having done anything like that. It's in the record.

This morning, I listened to judge candidates on the radio on the way to my writing group. I will be on the same radio show Monday morning for ten minutes. I always wondered what would happen if I were interviewed by Fox News, but I assumed that would never happen. Now it will. I heard the questions they asked two candidates this morning, and how they answered, so I have some idea what the interviewers are like, and what to say and not say as an answer.

I was at the mall where OLLI meets early. People had said to go to the senior centers and chat them up. The center at this mall has bingo at 10, so I was told to get there at 9:30. I was a few minutes later than that. Another Delegate candidate was there, and a judge candidate, handing out pens and cookies, and the county assessor, who is unopposed in the primary. I met a few friendly people, including a woman who said she would only vote for anti-abortion candidates. We had a polite conversation about that. A group of men was eating cheese crackers over by a pool table near the door. I introduced myself and one asked me about my platform. I explained it in a few words. Another man, who wouldn't look directly at me, said he was looking for a KKK candidate. I said "You want that?" He said "Maybe that will clean up this mess, or maybe we could get another Hitler to run. That would help." I suggested he vote for two Republican candidates I named. "They should be close to what you want." I said "Have a nice day," which often has a specific meaning in California, which I won't repeat here. I walked out to my writing group and penned this.

Early voting continues through May 7 at Mountaineer Mall and two other locations, east and west of Morgantown. Primary Day is May 10.

The Campaign and Purim

I planned an event for last night (Wednesday March 23) not realizing that it was Purim. Technically, Purim didn't start until sunset, which as far west as we are in the Eastern time zone and with daylight savings time, was about 7:40. The event was 6 to 8.

Last December, I attended a training session in Wheeling for new candidates, run by a community organizing group called Our Children, Our Future. They said that to be successful, a candidate needs to start a year early, and have a committee of, ideally, twelve people to take care of the campaign. Then you have to call everyone you know personally and ask them for money.

I had already pre-filed to run when I attended this session. Actual filing had to be during a few weeks in January. I asked my friend Dee to be my treasurer. She agreed, and also put together a website for me. I've done everything else. People have offered me money, for which I am grateful, but I can't bring myself to call people and ask them to donate.

There are eight Democrats running in the primary; five of us will run in the general election. Five of them, including the incumbent, are friends, or at least acquaintances I respect. I've met one more, who seems nice enough, but hasn't run much of a campaign, and the eighth I have never met. People in town know him; their opinions of him are mixed.

I had an interview with the Mon/Preston Labor Council  the first Saturday in March. They were friendly, and I took their side on issues with no strain on my conscience. Then they asked me how much money I would need to win in the primary, and what was my organization like? I told them I had raised about a thousand dollars, and that there was no organization. Last week, Dan Doyle, the guy in charge of endorsing candidates, called to tell me they would not endorse me, because I had no organization.I perfectly understand that, and don't resent them or the people they endorsed (the five I like). Not that I wasn't depressed about it.

So I had a campaign event last night. Most of the other candidates, and the candidates for other offices, have had these at a sports bar near our house. One had his event at an out-of-the-way working class bar, and one had his event downtown at an Irish bar. I didn't want any of those places. Joe suggested Terra Café, a place on the river with good food, a little too "quinoa salad" for me.
I settled on Black Bear Burritos, a locally owned joint with good food, a branch downtown and one out by us. I chose the suburban location because parking is free.

In addition to Purim, West Virginia University has been off this week, meaning that lots of people are out of town. I didn't have signs or bumper stickers to give out. I tried to make a WANTED! poster with my picture in the middle, but I couldn't get the picture on it correctly. I finally asked Joe to do it, and then it was good. The event, called "Premiere!" because Joe doesn't like sports metaphors like "kick-off" was advertised by the local Democratic Party. I advertised with G2H2, the gay men's group we go out with every month, several Facebook groups for local activists, my main Facebook and Twitter feeds (mostly people who don't live here), and the LGBT Equity Commission at WVU, of which I am a member. We planned for sixty people.

We had more like forty people. They ate one-third of the food I ordered. I collected enough cash to pay for about three-quarters of the event. The local tax assessor came, two women from the Democratic central committee, two Bernie Sanders organizers, many people from temple, a woman from the LGBT Equity Commission, a parent whose son was in "Fiddler On The Roof" two years ago when I played the rabbi, and a few other local Jewish or gay or political friends.

Everyone got along well, people mingled and had a good time. I played "We're All In This Together" from "High School Musical" on Joe's boombox as the intro to my speech.

I spoke about how Joe and I came to Morgantown and were instantly accepted, how I teach at OLLI, and how Joe has become the go-to person for Jewish knowledge in eleven counties in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. We were told that Morgantown was the college town  liberal bubble in West Virginia.

How is it then, I asked, that Republicans could grab four of our five local seats in the legislature, and vote for bills to allow home schooling by parents with less than a high school education with no reporting requirements, support charter schools, vote for a "religious freedom" law to allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT people and "right-to-work" to bust up unions, and a bill to allow anyone to carry a concealed weapon without any training or a permit despite the fact that law enforcement throughout the state opposed this. It's easy to attack this year's legislature this year. They did not pass a budget or fix the state's hopelessly non-maintained road system. Instead they passed a law mandating that state business be conducted in English (no one had proposed anything else) and that welfare recipients be drug-tested if the worker thinks they look suspicious, a lawsuit against the state waiting to happen.

I pointed out that the other Democratic candidates were sticking to a pro-union agenda, but were afraid to talk about social issues like guns, God, gays and abortion. I suggested that they lost last time because people were not inspired by their caution. I came out strongly for gay rights, women's reproductive rights, and sensible gun regulation. People said I spoke well, and had nice clothes.

People have said in the past "Too bad you didn't get to use all that acting training." Acting training helped me as a teacher, a politician and a public speaker.

I'm happy with how my event went. I proved to myself that I do have a base here in Morgantown, people I like and respect. At this point, I will probably come in sixth and not qualify for the general election. But like that other old Jew, Bernie Sanders, one of my role models, don't count me out yet.

Joe showed up late at the event after tutoring bar mitzvah kids. We packed up the five trays of food we didn't get to, and walked out to a giant, beautiful Purim full moon. The Chabad rabbi in town called Joe and invited us to hear the megillah last night, and come to dinner tonight. It feels good to be invited, but it was already late last night when we left Black Bear, and we have plans tonight. Still, even the Orthodox rabbi in town is our friend. On Purim, it is a commandment to bring food packages to the poor. We called a local homeless shelter, and they agreed to take our four trays of gourmet wraps and one of veggies and hummus. Thus we fulfilled, without thinking of it in advance, one commandment of Purim.

Purim is also the anniversary, on the Jewish calendar, of my mother's death in 2003. I thought of her as I was dressing to go to the event last night, about how important it was to her, no matter what, to dazzle people with her stylish clothes. We got home after nine, lit a candle in her memory, and despite the lack of ten people normally required, I recited the Kaddish prayer.

Here are the pictures;

With med student Bradley and activist TIm

with fellow candidate Nancy Jamison

Friends (from left) Shirley, Maggie and Alexandra

Friends Ruth, Judy and Laura

Candis (Milford Mill '69, back left) and her daughter Lauren, Jamie and her two sons and another friend

with my friend, author Benyamin Cohen

with Jamie and Danielle, Bernie Sanders activists

Here's link to my candidate website: http://www.barryinthehouse.com .

"Religious Restoration" and "Freedom of Conscience" Bills in West Virginia

Our legislature here in West Virginia is in session only sixty days, and yet, with the state's economy tanking, bills to allow discrimination against LGBT people, to allow guns to be carried without a permit, including on school buses, and to allow people who have not graduated high school to home school children have been the focus of our local Republican legislators.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail ran an article titled "Lawmakers voice support for nondiscrimination," about a video put out by Fairness West Virginia, the statewide gay rights organization, showing both Democratic and Republican legislators denouncing discrimination against LGBT people in the state. Tim Miley, the minority leader in the West Virginia House, a Democrat from Harrison County, thirty miles south of Morgantown wondered "...whether LGBT individuals feel welcome in West Virginia."

I sent the paper a rant Wednesday, too long for a letter. I haven't heard anything back from them, so I'm posting my rant here. I edited it slightly from what was sent.

I saw the video from Fairness West Virginia, showing bipartisan support for equal rights for everyone regardless of sexual orientation.Andrew Schneider of Fairness is a friend, and I'm glad he was able to get senators and delegates from both parties to endorse non-discrimination. 

I'm not sure it means anything. Republicans Charles Trump and Tom Takubo, who  both appear extolling fairness in the video are also cosponsors of "The Religious Freedom Restoration Act," which is widely perceived to be an excuse for people to discriminate against LGBT people, or anyone, in public accommodations. Saira Blair, Republican from the Eastern Panhandle says in your article  "..The video is by no means where I stand on any Legislation." I know she is her own woman (one hopes), but her father, Senator Craig Blair, is a Senate cosponsor of SB 11, The "Freedom of Conscience Protection Act" in the West Virginia Senate. Ms. Blair also said in 2014 ( I found this in "Teen Vogue") "I believe that marriage is a religious institution between a man and a woman."

Tim Miley wonders if ..."LGBT individuals feel welcome in West Virginia." I would say "It's lonesome." I came here in July of 2012 when my spouse was offered the Rabbi position at Tree of Life Congregation, here in Morgantown. Our experience with the congregation has been great. At the end of Rabbi Joe's two-year contract, he was offered another five-year contract by the congregation. We have been accepted as a couple in what I call the "South Park bubble," the neighborhood of big old houses inhabited by college professors from WVU, current and retired, lawyers, scientists, and people who are politically active. I once joked that it was the only place in West Virginia where you could have an Obama sticker on your car.

We try to ignore the slights. I questioned a new dentist about why she had a religious magazine in her waiting room that said that gays want to overturn the U.S. Constitution. I stopped going to a garage where there were religious and political pages on a wall, including one that said " We will not allow anyone to change the definition of marriage." A few times we have been treated badly by servers at restaurants, and crossed them off our list. The managers have often taken our side. I used to go to a WVU-operated gym where some of the staff wouldn't say "Hello" to me when I walked in. I don't go there anymore. We donated to the local AIDS service organization. I signed the check, which was  from our joint account and had our home address was on it. A thank you note came to Joe at the synagogue. I confronted the second-in-command at the organization, and he showed me how no one was listed as a couple at their annual fundraiser. And when we first moved here, I answered an article in the Dominion-Post about the high rate of suicide among young men in West Virginia. My letter suggested that many of these people might be gay, and harassed by family and schoolmates. I met with Mr. Musick, the head of this task force. He told me he could not mention anything gay in relation to suicide. We were also told that we should not go south of Clarksburg, except possibly to Charleston and Huntington, because our lives would be in danger. I found that to be an exaggeration. I travel frequently, but usually on my own. I don't have to look gay or Jewish. I've lived in Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Los Angeles, four of the most dangerous big cities in the United States.I don't scare easily.

There aren't a lot of gay people here. Gay men our age (currently 66 and 59) moved away when they were twenty. Joe had a friend in New York in the late 70s whose father in West Virginia suggested he fly out a second-floor window if he was a fairy. He took a bus to New York that day, changed his name, and has not had contact with his parents since. We joined a group called G2H2, Gay Guys Happy Hour. We go out to a restaurant once a month for drinks and dinner. The restaurants have all been great to us. I suppose someone could tell us they don't want to sell drinks and fifteen dinners on a slow weeknight because we are gay, but that hasn't happened. The men we have met at G2H2 live in their parents' or grandparents' old house in the country. The three older couples we have become close to live in Pennsylvania. A few, like us, live in Morgantown.

I serve on the LGBT Equity Commission at WVU as the community member. There will be an LGBT Center next year, and under President Gee, the University has made great strides in combating prejudice against LGBT people, and against religious and ethnic minorities. Our problem here is in the West Virginia Legislature, where Cindy Frich,one of our Republican legislators, asked for a resolution to the US government to have a constitutional convention specifically to ban any recognition of same-gender relationships. Joe Statler, another of our representatives, voted for it as well. I believe Delegate Frich is again asking for a constitutional convention.

My husband is happy with his work here at Tree of Life. When he signed his new five-year contract, I decided to be happy too. With some of the last money I inherited from my parents, we were able to make a down payment on a modest house in Suncrest. We applied to three mortgage lenders; only one called us back. And in an attempt to change the political culture of West Virginia, I filed to run as a delegate to the State Assembly. Morgantown has a sign on US 119 as you enter town saying "Building A Diverse Community." I would like to help make that diverse community a reality.

Barry Lee Wendell
P.O. Box 831
Morgantown, WV 26507
304-685-1098
blogging at:  themorgantowner.blogspot.com
campaign website: barryinthehouse.com
wendell.barry@aol.com

Since I originally wrote this, the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce has come out against these bills as "bad for business." They cite what happened in Indiana after bills with almost identical language were passed there. All well and good, but I would like someone to say "It's immoral to have a business open to the public, and say 'Not You' to a specific group of people." I grew up in Maryland when it was strictly segregated by race, and to a lesser extent, by religion. I would not want to see West Virginia go in that direction.

The Democratic Debate

I spoke to some people from "West Virginia for Bernie" a few weeks ago, and I added myself to their Facebook page. I got a message that they were having a watch party Sunday, January 17, at The Ramada Inn's bar, just south of Morgantown. They were planning to start early, and have some candidates for office speak for a few minutes. I wrote and asked if I could speak also. Ultimately there were six of us, and one proxy for the Democratic incumbent, speaking at this event. There are five seats at-large in our district for the state legislature. Mike Manypenny, running for US Congresss against our Republican incumbent, also spoke.

We each had five minutes to speak, including questions. I had rehearsed what I planned to say. I talked about being a West Virginian-by-choice, and my marriage to The Rabbi, who I pointed to in the crowd. My agenda is right for the Bernie crowd. I am against union-busting, so-called right-to-work, for prevailing wage, pro-union. I also brought up environmental issues, gun control, the importance of the election of judges in May, and abortion. I am for strong environmental protection, pro-choice, and against concealed carry with no permit, which the Republicans want to push this year. I felt I spoke as well as the other speakers.

I had time for three questions. Joe, who had heard me rehearse, asked about diversity. I talked about the signs saying "Building a Diverse Community" at the entrances to Morgantown, and how I would like to make that promise real. Someone else asked if, knowing that people in the legislature can be closed off and suspicious of people who haven't lived here for generations, or who they perceive to be "different." I said  I would wow them with my "Hollywood sparkle" and my natural charm.

The debate started at nine. We stayed for the first hour. The event was organized by Bernie's followers, so they loved him. He stuck to his story about breaking up the big banks and revolutionizing the economy to reduce income inequality. He and Hillary traded barbs about their past records. For her part, Hillary was able to defend herself aggressively and attack.  Martin O'Malley pointed out how he had balanced Maryland's budget and brought down crime in Baltimore. The others brought up the recent problems with police and unrest in Baltimore. He only said that happened after he left office.

 O'Malley got in one dig,which I was unhappy about. When Sanders and Clinton talked about their memories of the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963, he said it was the year he was born. I was thirteen at the time of the great Civil Rights March, and I remember it clearly. My parents refused to let me go, not that I could have gotten there without them.

I would vote for any of the Democrats over any Republican. Bernie is a Jew from Brooklyn, and idealistic about what he can actually accomplish. Hillary is cold and calculating, which might serve her better than Bernie's idealism serves him. She has both help and baggage from her husband. Martin did well for Maryland, including pushing through same-gender marriage. I'm not sure many people know who he is.

I met some people and distributed my card. Someone approached me Monday at the Martin Luther King birthday bash. He had seen me at the debate watch party.

This week, I was to go to a union meeting Tuesday and a Young Democrats meeting Wednesday at WVU, but it was too cold for the former, and two snowy for the latter.

Once the weather is better, I hope to be out more. The deadline to register to run for office is January 30. Then we will all know how many of us are running for this office.

I can see where being Jewish and gay in West Virginia is not necessarily a winning combination. Not impossible, though. All of the candidates were strong and forthright in their speeches and were clearly coached in how to dress and speak. I have experience from acting and teaching in how to get my points across, and I hope to use that experience.