Blog
June means a great deal to me as an individual, an American and a Jew. Sunday is the 123rd birthday of my father, Morris, in Warsaw, Poland. In February, 1906, age two-and-a-half, Dad came to America with my grandparents—Sam and Kaylah—along with Aunt Alice (older) and Aunt Etta (Younger). As half the team of Morris…
The 1962 New York Mets, 2026 San Francisco Giants and current White House administration share a lot in common. Incompetence. On May 28, 1957, the National League gave permission to the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to leave Gotham for Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was a Yankees fan but felt the loss.…
The Getty Villa in Malibu and California State University Northridge offer a key message to America. A week ago, Carolyn and I—along with our sons Seth and Aaron, and son-in-law Jeremy—flew down to Los Angeles for our son Yosi’s graduation ceremony. Yosi completed the demanding bachelor’s coursework for CSUN’s music therapy program—hard to get into,…
A column by Nicholas Kristof in Monday’s New York Times hit me where it hurts. Kristof reported that “in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.” Could…
A few days ago, a swastika was sprayed on the Rego Park Jewish Center, my childhood synagogue in Queens. Some people accept the old saw that “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words (or images) can never harm me.” Jews cannot. A university professor in Europe emailed about my post, “Artemis II and…
A political theory holds that the extreme left and extreme right draw close at the opposite ends of a horseshoe-style curve. Differing views between traditional left and right leave a wide, but respectful, ideological gap in the middle of that curve. The extremes narrow the gap because they share similar views about exercising power and…
If we Jews are “the chosen people,” I doubt it was God’s purpose that an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon smash a statue of Jesus with an axe. That horrific act happened in the beginning of the week. A “stunned and saddened” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately stated that action would be taken. A day…
An ancient Jewish saying goes, “Acquire a teacher and make yourself a friend.” Tom Parker was both. Tom Trebitsch Parker died last month at 82. Trebitsch was the family name in Austria, changed after Tom’s parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews. Tom was an accomplished writer of fiction, including the novels “Small Business” and “Anna,…
A cartoon in last Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle says much about the war on Iran. Wiley Miller’s “Non Sequitur” appeared two days after Artemis II lifted off to circle the moon. Two astronauts ride in a moon buggy. One holds a rifle. A gun rack holds three more. The dialog balloon: “Let’s call it quits,…
My favorite TV advertising campaign consisted of humorous commercials for Dos Equis beer featuring “The Most Interesting Man in the World.” Frankly, I could have been Dos Equis’ spokesperson. The spots ran from 2006 to 2018, and were brought back last January. (“He had a staring contest with the sun. And won.”) Fine. But I’ve…