Members of the Scribe
What Does a Concentration Camp Look Like?
What does a concentration camp look like?Does it look like this?(Set aside for a moment the fact that it’s a ...
The Genesis of “The Jewish Furrier” in “The Prince of Tides”
Carol Conroy was browsing the poetry section when my parents Sigmund and Frances walked in. They were visiting with me ...
Higher Education: A Revelation and a Jewish Perspective
I know Jewish doctors and lawyers who are sending their children to state universities and tell me they are ‘great’ ...
From Stanislawow to Beach Music
My parents left the United States in 1973 to retire in Bat Yam, Israel, the country in which they met ...
Arbitrary Judaism
We grew up with my mother’s special brand of religion: Eccentric Judaism. My two older brothers and I were allowed ...
Shades of Privilege and Deprivation
People would often underestimate me if they knew that my parents hadn’t taken good care of me, so I used to be ...
Academic Freedom Is Wasted on Academics
Sometimes when I’m congratulated for writing well, the praise comes with a sense of theft, as if someone like me ...
Is There a Jewish Literary Renaissance?
I hear repeatedly that Jewish literature is undergoing a renaissance. The statement puzzles me.I can’t think of a period over ...
A Jewish Thanksgiving in Avalon
Every Thanksgiving I think of the Thanksgiving scene in the 1990 film Avalon, one of Barry Levinson’s semi-autobiographical Baltimore films. Avalon tells a ...
No Middle Range
“Jews don’t have a middle range,” I said to my friend and colleague. He was telling me about his experience ...
Speaking Backwards
I’ve been told that students in my college courses sometimes have trouble following what I’m saying because I speak backwards. ...
A Couple of Sayings With Which I Disagree
“It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” I first realized I didn’t agree with this saying ...