TAKE AN EXTRA 30% OFF ALREADY-REDUCED PRICES THROUGHOUT THE STOR Tell Me Why Who 'Mr. Big' Reads A look at a favorite author of a popular actor. PHILLIP AND ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM AND SAVE AS MUCH AS Y 1 1 THE SOMERSET COLLECTION 248.643.3300 NEIMANMARCUS.COM Savings off existing sale prices. Selected merchandise only. No adjustments for prior sales. Interim markdowns may have been taken. Women's CHANEL*ready-to-wear and Gucci sunglasses not included. Sale ends July 1, 2001. Merchandise at The Galleries of Neiman Marcus stores and Last Call*Clearance Center stores not included. Invites All His Family of Customers and Friends To Visit Him At TakfaRCIFF BUICK 6/29 2001 62 29585 Telegraph, South of 12 Mile • Southfield 248-353-1300 Q: Recently, I was reading an inter- view with actor Chris Noth, who starred on Law and Order and now is "Mr. Big" on Sex and the City. He said he loves the works of Delmore Schwartz. The name sounds Jewish (is he?), but I've never heard of this guy. Who is (or was) he? A: Schwartz (born 1913), who was Jewish, was a truly tragic figure. One of two sons born in New York, he wrote an astonishing story, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," that was pub- lished when he was only 21. The biog- raphical tale focuses on a young man who walks into a movie theater and sees the story of his parents' courtship (which would lead to an unhappy mar- riage). Schwartz was immediately laud- ed as a literary genius. But it was all a downward spiral from there. Though Schwartz went on to write a number of plays, collections of poetry and more short stories, as well as teach at Harvard and Princeton (from 1940- 1947), and become editor of the presti- gious Partisan Review (where "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" first appeared), the high point of his career was really the publication of his first story. Not only did Schwartz's career never really blossom the way he hoped, he suffered from mental illness and became an alcoholic. He also struggled with the alienation he felt as a Jew, which often was the focus of his writing. In 1966, Schwartz was taking out the trash in a New York hotel where he lived alone. He suffered a heart attack, and died on the stairs. (Note: you can read more about Delmore Schwartz in James Atlas' excel- lent biography). Q: My wife and I are planning a trip to Istanbul. We've actually managed to get most of our stuff into four suitcases, and all our travel arrangements are set. Here's my question. We would like to be able to observe Shabbat while in Istanbul, but we have no idea what time it will begin there. Does Tell Me Why know? A: You can find out what time Shabbat begins in Turkey, and virtually everywhere else in the world, at www.kaluach.org (Note: the informa- tion is free, though the author does request a donation to his synagogue in Israel. Also, you will have to download the information directly to your corn- puter, and the program is compatible only with Macs). Q: True or false: Since lighting Shabbat candles is a woman's responsibility, a man is not obligated to do the mitzvah? A: False. Lighting Shabbat candles is indeed primarily a woman's responsibili- ty; But if for some reason she is unable to do so, then her husband must light the candles. Similarly; single men (and single women) are bound to the mitzvah (commandment) and should light their own Shabbat candles. Q: Every time I buy a whole chicken, there's a note on the package to the effect that the liver has not been leash- ered. I don't understand why the people at the company that sells me this prod- uct can't kosher the liver themselves (after all, they did the rest of the chick- en, didn't they?); what's the big deal? Isn't the liver still really kosher? A: The big deal is that the liver is a unique organ. The liver of any animal is completely filled with blood, which is not kosher. There is only one way to rid the liver of this blood, and that is to broil it under an open fire. Understandably, most companies are not interested in taking time to broil the liver alone, so they leave it inside the chicken for the customer to manage. And no, the liver is not still really kosher until all the blood has been removed. If you want to eat it kosher, you will need to broil it. Q: I remember when I was a kid this idiotic show called Bridget Loves Bernie was on TV. It was about this Catholic woman and her Jewish husband and all their idiotic misadventures. Recently, I was talking with a friend who said that the actor who played the Jewish husband wasn't even Jewish. I don't believe it! A: Believe it. Bridget Loves Bernie aired from 1972 to 1973. Though it was doing well in the ratings, the show was canceled after a coalition com- prised of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews, who found the pro- gram's content offensive, met with TV executives. Bridget Loves Bernie did indeed focus on a young Jewish writer, played by David Birney, who fell in love with a teacher named Bridget Theresa Mary Coleen Fitzgerald, played by Meredith Baxter. (In real life, the two actors wed, then later divorced.) Despite a very popular belief to the contrary (believe me, you're not alone), Birney, who continues to pop up from time to time doing guest shots on network TV, definitely is not Jewish. ❑ (