Blog
Last Sunday, Carolyn and I reached a milestone. Aaron became the first Perlstein son to clear his last possessions from our garage. Another important milestone now approaches. This Sunday marks my father Morris’s 112th birthday. The King—I’ll explain the nickname—died in 1983. But he’s never been gone. It’s not that he had an outsize personality.…
Last weekend, Carolyn and I visited friends in Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We saw the classic musical Guys and Dolls. (I played Nathan Detroit in summer camp.) We also toured Ashland’s historic Railroad District. As we strolled, I couldn’t help thinking of the barbarians who seek not to preserve history but…
I recently met two women I can associate with my favorite color, blue. The very different experiences pointed out the fragility of human nature and the ways in which our society struggles to achieve the ideal of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Last Friday night, I took the bus home after Shabbat services…
When a black man named Freddie Gray died while in custody of the Baltimore police last month, anguish led to protest. Protest led both to legitimate grievance and illegitimate violence. Black fingers pointed at racism. White fingers pointed at irresponsible black communities. Both were wrong. Both were right. I wish I had a simple formula…
“Dead black men” has become oft repeated . Baltimore sadly offers the latest focal point for this phrase. “So attention must be paid,” says Willie Loman’s wife of her suffering husband in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. But there’s a parallel to which attention also is due: “Dead white men.” That’s the rationale for…
Carolyn had snowshoeing on her bucket list. While both the drought and spring reduced opportunities, some snow remained around Kirkwood Ski Resort 45 minutes from South Lake Tahoe. We found it last weekend at the sno park (that’s how it’s spelled) at Carson Pass, elevation 8,574 feet. The altitude spurred several thoughts. We’re old but…
Last week, I wrote about a young Jewish couple in Sweden confronting anti-Semitism. Sara and Michael were shaken by the February shooting outside a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, close to their Swedish home. Michael likens their feelings to those of frogs cooked in a pot of water. Lukewarm water slowly comes to a boil. The…
In the April 2015 Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg’s cover article asks, “Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?” Goldberg surveys anti-Semitism, particularly in the context of Europe’s Muslim population. His question is timely. The answer is challenging. Part of Goldberg’s article analyzes Sweden’s southern city of Malmö with a population of 300,000, including 50,000…
On occasion, someone poses the question, “What other person would you like to be?” As a kid, I would have answered Mickey Mantle, centerfielder for the New York Yankees. As an adult, I’ve never wanted to be anyone else. But I know someone I’d like to be more like: Bill Murray. I have no idea…
Tuesday’s Germanwings air disaster in France left all of us shocked and heartbroken. But there’s a lesson to be learned. We all know the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. I’d add that often it takes a village to find the truth. This principle became evident years ago when I…