Writing is Remembering
Return of the Scouts from Canaan. Rijksmuseum / Wikimedia Commons. When I was in college, my music theory teacher once told me that she and the Chair of the English Department would get together from time to time to listen to music. Their purpose was not merely pleasure. Instead, armed with pens and paper, they … Continue reading Different Emotional Directions
A Mouse With a Peanut. Painting by Albert Anker (1831-1910). My maternal grandmother, of blessed memory, used to say that if someone wants to give you something free, take it. If you can't use it, she said, pass it on to someone who can. There is a lot of wisdom in my grandmother's saying. She … Continue reading A Puny Creature Like You?
Wilensky's Light Lunch, Montreal. Photo by Shawn Goldwater. I was in my forties the first time I visited Montreal. I had a young family, not a lot of money, and only two weeks of vacation time a year, one of which was already accounted for. A holiday was a rare and cherished occasion. My former … Continue reading I Don’t Know How to Dance
The Murder of Caesar. Painting by Karl Theodor von Piloty, 1865. Have you ever betrayed someone who trusted you; alternatively, have you ever been betrayed by someone in whom you had placed your confidence? Brutus, Judas, Benedict Arnold--these names have come down to us and are remembered not for good things they did, and surely … Continue reading Wings Like a Dove
I have followed the blog of Juliet Wilson (aka Crafty Green Poet) for some time now. Juliet is multi-talented: she writes poetry, is a skilled artisan, and is a devoted environmentalist. What I enjoy most about Juliet's blog is the passion she brings to what she does, whether documenting a walk she has taken, writing … Continue reading No Insectinction! — Crafty Green Poet
Amnon and Tamar by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri 1591 – 1666). Any love that is dependent on something, when that something vanishes, the love also ceases; but when it is not dependent on anything, then it will never cease. Which love was dependent on something? The love of Amnon and Tamar. And which love was not … Continue reading It Will Never Cease
Susanna and the Elders, Peter Paul Rubens, Date: 1609 - 1610. Are some subjects off-limits in the arts? That is, are some objects suitable for painting, for example, and others not? What about literature? Is Oscar Wilde right when he says in the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray: "There is no such thing as … Continue reading Love Compresses the Flesh
Mug shot of Vincenzo Perugia, the man who stole the Mona Lisa out of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Do you believe it is possible to learn from everyone, even from someone whose behavior is unethical? I don't mean to learn from them only negative lessons, for example, what not to do, or how not … Continue reading A Thief Is Modest
A Female Farmer From South China in the 1930s. ROC reporter, 1935. In his book, A Tzaddik in Our Time: The Life of Rabbi Aryeh Levin, author Simcha Raz relates a story from Rabbi Levin's life containing advice about how to treat a wife. One of the rabbi's young students was about to get married. He … Continue reading A Moment of Marriage
Streptopelia turtur (European turtle dove). John Gerrard Keulemans, 1869. A popular question asked by interviewers, particularly of celebrities, is what book they would like to have with them if they found themselves stranded on a desert island. "A desert island, or uninhabited island," according to Wikipedia, "is an island, islet or atoll that is not … Continue reading Arise and Go, My Friend
