Sunday, June 17, 2012
Turning Page: Love of Torah
Who would think that a simple video of summer's beautiful colors of green and gold would result in a lease violation from my building. Apparently, some tenants complained that I was taking pictures of other tenants on the patio while they were having a cookout, threatening their "health, safety, and quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their apartment.
A couple of problems with this complaint--the patio is in full view of a park directly across the street from where the patio and in full view of anyone in the park, driving by in a car or walking down the street. I countered that they had no reasonable expectation of privacy since it was in view of the public. The lease violation threatened me with eviction if I did not cease taking pictures. Um...ever hear of the First Amendment? I complained to the building manager's supervisor (the CEO) and threatened a lawsuit. Long story short, the lease violation was removed from my file and I have written documentation of it.
But really, how can photography threaten the health, safety and quiet and peaceful enjoyment of one's apartment? As you can see from the video there is nothing remotely offensive. Readers of my blog know that green and gold are my favorite colors. We are in the season of green and gold, the season of life.
The song accompanying it is called Turning Page from the moving Breaking Dawn. Certain lyrics remind me of studying the Torah and Judaism in general. I read an article that described Torah study as a tree with leaves. Each page of the Torah a leaf. I found that beautiful.
"Your love is my turning page,
Where only the sweetest words remain.
Every kiss is a cursive line.
Every touch is a redefining phrase...
If I had only felt how it feels to be yours
Oh I would've known what I've been living for, all along
What I've been living for.
Though we're tethered to the story we must tell,
With a whisper, we will tame the vicious seas,
Like a feather, bringing kingdoms to their knees."
Very threatening words and images. I first two pictures are of the bike path. The final video is the view of the patio. The allegation was that I took pictures (videos) from my window of the patio. As you can see, my apartment is directly above the patio, which is covered by an awning.
posted by 
| Permalink |
| Permalink |
2 Comments:
-
on 6/17/12, 10:30 AM,
Daniel Greenfield
said: -
on 6/17/12, 4:11 PM,
Keli Ata
said:
"it's crazy that you had to go through that, some people are much too paranoid"