44/Forgive/shoftim

Wearing a tailored blue suit, a single strand of pearls and clutching the last of her fur coats, Ruth Madoff stood facing her angry accuser – Sondra, her sister in law. Sondra, who lost everything because of her brother Bernie, demanded an apology from Ruth, and full retribution, and if possible – revenge. Ruth was […]

Read more
43/DEMOLISH/Re’eh

I moved back into my lovely East Village apartment this week, after almost a year away. The apartment was clean and in great shape but the little garden in the back – a rare luxury (thank you Steven!) – was a messy mini jungle overgrown with weeds and plants. It’s pretty in a way -but […]

Read more
42/THANK/EKEV

It took 63 years, but my uncle finally got to thank, publicly, the family of the man who helped him survive the Holocaust. In the middle of what was already an intense and emotional week in Israel, esp. with the aftermath of the shooting in Tel Aviv -and for me personally as I prepared to […]

Read more
41/WRITE

Most of the apartment is packed, boxes and suitcases gradually filling up with accumulated books and pieces of Armenian pottery and random papers. Moving out becomes an opportunity for selection, for reflection: a year’s worth of history and future priorities sorted out, shelf by shelf. I’ll miss living in Jerusalem, and I’ll miss this little […]

Read more
40

Henry dies around 2am Jerusalem time. I put the book down, sobbing. It wasn’t unexpected but his loss, nevertheless, is shocking. I go online and look on gchat for A. who is in India, god know what time, and I type ‘Henry just died.’ She immediately replies ‘o honey I’m so sorry. I know how […]

Read more