I was very pregnant with my first child when the High Holy Days were approaching. Rosh Hashanah began at sundown on September 22nd, and Yom Kippur began eight days later on the 30th ending on October 1st. Needless to say, I was very excited, eager, and yes, a bit scared. […]
Warsaw, Poland 1943 I am three years old, living in Warsaw with my mother under false identity as a Catholic trying to survive the hunt for Jews by the German occupiers. We have a one-room apartment, which serves as bedroom, dining room and living room. When the weather is nice, […]
Honey cake is to Ashkenazi Jews at Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) what fruit cake is to Christians at Christmas. Mention these cakes, and one is sure to see wrinkled noses and some serious eye rolling. Fruit cake is often the butt of comedians’ jokes. “The worst gift is […]
When we were kids back in the 1950’s, Ocean City, Maryland was not the hub it is today. Everyone went to Atlantic City, New Jersey, which is what our family did every year for a three-day weekend vacation. Later in the summer, my parents would return for a weekend by […]
John Banzhaf was a lawyer at a high end law firm in New York City. He was against smoking and wanted to get cigarette commercials off the air. The problem was his firm represented Phillip Morris. Needless to say, he needed to find a new job, which he did at […]
Old Mrs. Berman We lived in a home with a mom who loved animals. When we were kids, my brother, Richard and I wrote a fun song for our mother for one of her birthdays. It went like this: “Old Mrs. Berman had a home / E.I. E.I. O! / […]
I am the invisible eaterand I will continue to eat until you see me I am crying out to be seenit is not the best way but it is what I know I am starving to be seen and known and loved and believed I exist in a bubble a hidden world and it is here I have survived […]
Formative Years: 1954-1965 We didn’t have furry pets when I was a child. When my sister Margo asked for a dog (she would have been happy with a pony, too), Mom said, “No.” The excuse was that mom worked and had no time to take care of a pet. Additionally, […]
If it takes a village to raise a child what does it take to get into heaven? Who will greet me when I get there? What will it be like? How will it feel to see the dearly beloved of forever? Recently I arrived home to many familiar voices as […]