Culture
Happy birthday, Israel! You are now 74 years young and have accomplished so much in so few years. You have always been part of my life. Remember Jewish National Fund tzedakah (charity) boxes? My pennies, nickels and dimes were collected religiously so that you could plant trees and turn a desert […]
The slap heard ’round the worldcontinues to unfurlendless times on TV.How many times must we seethe downfall of “Richard the King?”Will we ever learn this simple thingthat from violence comes only sad,that a good life’s reduced to bad? This incident though rather smallmirrors what we all recall.We see it in everyday […]
Becoming parents isn’t always as easy as you think. The call It was early September 1982, just after Labor Day. I was at Sinai Hospital, post-op four days bowel resection due to a blockage. Nasal gastric tube down the throat, fuzzy-headed from anesthesia and doped up on pain meds. That’s […]
Background After law school, my husband, Gary, clerked for the chief judge, Edward S. Northrop, on the Federal bench in Baltimore. Also on that court was Judge Abraham (names have been changed), the father-in-law of Gary’s moot court partner, Frank. Judge Abraham was given security protection because of a desegregation […]
This is reprinted from the 5 Towns Jewish Times. By Malkie Gordon Hirsch If you ever want serious insights on life, visit a shivah house. Now, not all shivah houses are equal. There are different energies in each house. A lot of the overall vibe of the house and how it’s dealing with the […]
A map of Jerusalem from 1581 shows the city at the center of the world. Although we now know that geographically this is incorrect, the city is still today the center of the Jewish world. Jerusalem is ancient and modern. Archeological digs dating thousands of years stand near modern skyscrapers. […]
After giving life to a baby, the next thing is to give this child a name. This is a daunting task, a serious undertaking, thus scary. Allen (2), Bennett, Gary, Harvey, Jaye, Lou, Mickey, Nicki, Ray, Rickey, Roy, Sioux, Stanlee, Sydney, Toni. What do all these names have in common? […]
In my lifetime, I have had four last names. Perhaps you are wondering how this is possible. Well, here’s my story: Berman I was born a Berman. This seems like a pretty simple name. However, would you believe there were people who pronounced it “Beerman?” Why would they think that? […]