I’m dedicating this piece to my dear friend David K. Cohen, who died on Wednesday morning, September 23rd, the day after I finished writing it. Everything I say about the sanctity of dying during this special period on the Jewish calendar applies to David as much as to RBG. He too battled against a multitude of ailments to which he refused to succumb. She had her army of law clerks. He had his...
As many of you know, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, begins on Friday night, September 18th and ends on Sunday night, the 20th. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement begins the following Sunday evening, the 27th. For these coming two weeks, my usual Monday postings will appear at odd times as I prepare for and participate in the observance of these important landmarks on our Jewish calendar. The...
In the last 24 hours I had two dreams which I remembered in great detail. This wouldn’t be worthy of mention for most people, but I am of the unfortunate camp for whom dreams are erased almost instantly when I open my eyes, like those children’s pads where you can make the writing disappear by simply lifting the top plastic sheet. Some people who come up empty in the morning contend that they...
In the early Wild West days of March and April, I was helping Kimberly plan the online instruction for her second-grade class. What could we do that would simultaneously help her kids cope with the unprecedented conditions of their locked-down lives while at the same time offering challenging academic instruction? Out of those conversations grew a unit on home. Their physical worlds had shrunk to...