Remembering/2
Henry invited Tanya and me to join him And his new friend Laura Bronstein For a mid-May commemorative event At the very liberal Reform synagogue Henry and Laura had met At an anti-neo-liberalism conference in…
A Jewish Vocation
This week I finished Marcel Reich-Ranicki‘s autobiography, The Author of Himself. He was a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and the foremost literary critic in post-war Germany. As I read him, I thought of my…
Life under Occupation/95
With the passing of every day I feel angrier because I am restricted from walking, from going places in my car, from taking breaks away from the house, from going on with my life, going…
You Don’t Believe Me
You don’t believe me And why should you anyway I’m twice your age— Don’t trust anyone over 55 You don’t believe me When I tell you What you penned outta your core Ended smack in…
My Bronx, Your Bronx
When Allen Ginsberg visited Israel in 1961, he met up with the eminent scholar Gerschom Scholem. Scholem found Ginsberg “A likable fellow. Genuine. Strange, mad, but genuine.” At one point in their getting acquainted,…
Obituary by Dianne Lee
Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 91, died at her home in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on May 26, 2016. An internationally renowned, respected and admired advocate for human and civil rights, Hedy was encircled by friends…
The Mystical, The Existential
Dear Bella Levenshteyn I was reading Pierre Hadot’s Plotinus, or The Simplicity of Vision, and the following passage reminded me of our recent discussion at Café Disponibilidade. Suggestion: read a few pages of Hadot on…
The Knight of the Mournful Countenance
“The calling that I profess,” replied DQ, “does not permit me to do otherwise. An easy pace, pleasure, and repose — those things were invented for delicate courtiers; but toil, anxiety, and arms — they…
Let Emily Dickinson Reassure You
Dear Bella Levenshteyn Let Emily Dickinson reassure you– Much Madness is divinest Sense — To a discerning Eye — Much Sense — the starkest Madness — ‘Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail —…
Old Music by Colin McLaughlin
For years, I was obsessed with my mandolin. It was my travel companion–out of town, long walk, over night–I always had my trusty mandolin slung over my shoulder. It got worn down and weary looking,…