Judaism
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Was Leopold Bloom a Freemason?
— “He doesn’t buy cream on the ads he picks up. You can make bacon of that.” After Leopold Bloom finishes his lunch at Davy Byrne’s moral pub in “Lestrygonians,” Ulysses’ eighth episode, he steps away from the bar. The only other two people in the pub, patron Nosey Flynn and proprietor Davy Byrne, strike…
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Ep. 115 – AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays? Topics in this episode include orthography, Dermot’s recollections of working in graphic design, the saving grace of calligraphy, spellingbee conundrums, dayfathers, nightfathers, Old Monks, unions, an obituary surprise, Passover and how it shows up in Ulysses, Rudolph Bloom’s Haggadah, how Charlton Heston traumatized us as children,…
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Ep. 105 – The Ides of June
Beware the Ides of June. Topics in this episode include the power of keys, John O’Connell the St. Peter of Dublin, “Silver Threads Among the Gold”, Daniel O’Connell the Hercules of Dublin, Daniel O’Connell’s cheatin’ heart, the Persephone of Dublin, Christian burial practices, blood libel, vampire imagery and antisemitism, Leopold Bloom’s version for everlasting life…
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AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays? To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. We continue our occasional investigation of all the things Leopold Bloom misunderstands about religion. We’ve already covered his unique views on Catholicism and Buddhism in “Lotus Eaters”, so today we’ll tackle Judaism,…
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Ep. 71 – Agendath Netaim
Leopold Bloom contemplates the purchase of immense melonfields north of Jaffa. Topics covered in this episode include the Zionist movement of the early 20th century, how to pronounce Agendath Netaim, why Joyce might have changed Agudat to Agendath, hypostasis, the business sense (or nonsense) of buying farmland in Palestine, Bleibtreustrasse 34, morphic resonance, Dlugacz the…
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Ep. 67 – The Ferreteyed Porkbutcher
This gland is your gland; this gland is my gland. Bloom finally makes it to the butcher to buy his kidney! In this episode, we discuss the geography (or joggerfry) of Bloom’s neighborhood, Larry O’Rourke’s, Bloom’s idea to build a tramline from the quays to the cattle market, bartenders who become rich, the art of…
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Ep. 66 – Potato I have.
This week, we’re talkin’ ‘bout ‘tatoes! Kelly and Dermot unpack the deeper symbolism behind Leopold Bloom’s idiosyncratic hobby of carrying a potato upon his person. Topics include Tayto crisps, Stephen and Bloom’s parallel lost keys, Bloom’s potato as a protective object, why the potato may actually possess magic powers, the potato as Odysseus’ moly, the…
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Ep. 64 – 7 Eccles St.
Organ meats: the breakfast of champions. In this episode, we cover the opening pages of Ulysses’ fourth episode, “Calypso.” Topics include who eats organ meats, how Bloom’s thoughts are different from Stephen’s thoughts, the humbleness of “Calypso,” what mundane actions tell us about a character, kidneys as a correspondent organ in “Calypso”, art as the…
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Is Leopold Bloom Jewish?
“It is odd that the creator of the most outstanding Jew in modern literature did not at that time know any of the Jewish community in Dublin.” – Padraic Colum, p. 56, Our Friend James Joyce “Yes. Only a foreigner would do. The Jews were foreigners in Dublin at that time. There was no hostility…
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Agendath Netaim
To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. “He took a page up from the pile of cut sheets: the model farm at Kinnereth on the lakeshore of Tiberias. Can become ideal winter sanatorium. Moses Montefiore. I thought he was. Farmhouse, wall round it, blurred cattle cropping. He held…