At a recent reunion of my high school class in Berkeley, California, I was surprised to learn that for years, a former classmate had been enjoying Thanksgiving dinner in a small northern California town in the company of a local artist who, as we suddenly realized, happens to be my niece. Neither my former classmate nor my niece was aware that both of them knew me. In case you are in the same quandary as [...]
It was wonderful to see so many of you at our High Holidays services. It was also a pleasure to work with our Chazan, Phil Billet, who did a delightful job. Thank you to everyone behind and in front of the scenes who made this year a successful one. The High Holidays season ends with Hoshana Raba and Simchat Torah — both involve circling the bima seven times. When we circle on Hoshana Raba, we [...]
Of all the jobs I have, being human is the worst. Day after day, I have to feel compassion for every living thing, to mourn every dead thing. Not just beloved family members I know or knew of, not just my adored pets and those I meet on the street, not just books that sit on the shelf calling my name, not just cars and boyfriends and ice skates that were once mine. And then, [...]
When did you get the memo about priorities? It reached me one day as I was lying in misery, banished to a dark room away from irritating sunlight in the heat of summer so I could recover from a walloping case of poison ivy. Poetic justice? It had all started on the sleeping porch, where my sister and I were supposed to be completing the last of our daily chores — sweeping the porch after [...]
In his classic 1831 work, Democracy in America, the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville praised the American practice of forming associations to address civic and religious needs. We now know that “associations” for de Tocqueville mean volunteer organizations for us. Even today, American volunteerism is cited by other societies as a distinctive mark of our culture. It is said that the volunteer spirit is flagging in our country these days. Who would have thought such [...]
The self-portrait of the conceptual artist Robert Morris is a copy of his electroencephalogram. A young man responded “human” when asked for his biological race. Paul Simon’s “soft-in-the-middle” guy says we should call him “Al.” We are pretty creative when it comes to telling people who we are. That’s because, contrary to popular belief, we really do know ourselves better than anyone else, and we want everyone to see us as we see ourselves. Robert [...]
As I complete a year as president of the congregation, I think of the adage that there is no ending without a simultaneous beginning. It reminds me of the math class where Mr. Williams scrawled the formula for infinity on the chalkboard (in the days when teachers used such materials). Suddenly, I quit passing notes around the room and staring at the sun-filled courtyard outside. Infinity? How do you imagine space that begins beyond the [...]
Many long-winded and dour topics presented themselves for this month’s column. I jettisoned them all in favor of something short and sweet. I hope you find it tasty. A few days ago, Irma Strimban and I paid Judy Weiner a visit in her palatial quarters at Mather Hospital. On our way westward, we passed McNultey’s Ice Cream Parlor on the back roads of Mount Sinai. Irma launched into a series of anecdotes having to [...]
As the terror of my Sunday School Hebrew Class, I pinched Albert Pizitz and yanked my younger sister out of her chair so we could run wild through the hallway. Was it a mark of poor Rabbi Fischel’s incompetence as a teacher that he tolerated such blatant disregard for the holy commandment to learn Torah? The answer shaped my understanding of Judaism. I was opposed to Sunday School from the outset. Nonetheless, one fine [...]
Years ago and far away, my French teacher asked me the meaning of a line in some ancient, obscure poem. The question caught me in flagrant daydreaming mode. But this was French class, right? So the answer had to be love. At my response, Monsieur looked down upon me from the great height of his French superiority, and speaking loudly and clearly to make sure everyone knew what he thought of American teenagers, he announced, [...]
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