Writing is Remembering
Children Sleeping. Painting by Vasily Perov, 1870. What is the first thing you do after waking up in the morning? For present purposes, exclude turning off the alarm clock. In my early twenties, the first thing I frequently did was smoke a cigarette. Eventually, a friend convinced me to stop smoking. It was one of … Continue reading Allies, Not Enemies
Robert Frost's home in Shaftsbury, VT.Photo by Beth Ben-Avraham, ©2020 All Rights Reserved. Have you ever admired a person and then learned about something they said or did, or didn't say or didn't do, that caused you to examine your feelings about them? It's happened to me on more than one occasion. Often, quite often, … Continue reading Weak Creatures of Clay
Walkeshwar Temple, Malabar Hill, Mumbai, 1860. Photographer unknown. Public domain. A few days ago, I was putting away my second set of tefillin, when I dropped the one worn on my arm. It was in its protective case and landed upright undamaged on the floor. A friend picked it up and handed it to me. … Continue reading The Element of the Sacred
Cincinnatus Receiving Deputies of the Senate. By Alexandre Cabanel, 1843. Beginning in the ninth grade, I took Latin each year in school until I graduated from high school, a total of four years. Apart from my classes in English, Latin was the single most influential subject I learned before college. I'm grateful to have had … Continue reading For Every Crooked Politician
"Venice. The city of mirrors, the city of mirages." Photo by Vlad Hilitanu, Unsplash. I own an edition of The Harvard Classics. One of the frustrating things about it is the process I have to follow to locate something I want to read. All the books have the same front cover; the back covers are blank; … Continue reading Books, Covers, and Masks
Blind child making the acquaintance of a bit of statuary at Oklahoma School for the Blind. March 1917. By Lewis Hine, 1874-1940, photographer. Walking home after Morning Prayers, I pass a spot where a kind-hearted woman feeds homeless cats. The woman knows her customers well. She puts several servings of food down. She sets them … Continue reading With Eyes That Could Not See
Jacob Blesses Pharaoh Illustration by Owen Jones from "The History of Joseph and His Brethren" (Day & Son, 1869). In the 3rd century BCE, a Greek named Pyrrhus ruled an area in the western Balkans called Epirus. He is remembered for two battles he fought and won against the Romans—the first in 280 BCE, the … Continue reading Far More Pain Than Contentment
