A Gift Passed Along
When I took this photo, I wasn’t covering an event; I was part of the crowd davening
A Gift Passed Along
Mr. Reifman was an “alter Europa’esha Yid,” who had learned to lein in his hometown shtetl in Europe
A Gift Passed Along
A tangible link between lofty generations engaged in the same enduring dance between Heaven and earth
A Gift Passed Along
He was my principal; he was also my ally and my cheerleader and one of the only people who took an odd little girl, dreamy but fierce, and tended to her
A Gift Passed Along
If you took a moment and stepped inside, you were quickly overcome by the smell of dust, of pages, of history, of life itself
A Gift Passed Along
They know it’s the prelude to a busy 24 hours that begins with water
A Gift Passed Along
I found out that fiction can transport, uplift, and connect you to something bigger then yourself
A Gift Passed Along
I printed that email in full and laminated it, and it hangs on my fridge to this day
The Moment
Closed in by corona, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum of Satmar still leads his flock
Why I Do What I Do
“Come and join us!” he shouted. “We need you. Help us bring these remains to a Jewish burial!”
A Promise Kept
Sometime during that awful era, I began fiddling around on the piano
A Gift Passed Along
As I conjure that precious, long-ago image, one word wells up within me. Just one word: Dignity
Why I Do What I Do
“Reb Avraham, the zechus of supporting bereaved parents was promised to your Srulik’s neshamah. From the Six Days of Creation, this mitzvah has been waiting for you”
A Promise Kept
Baba’s loving sentiments that the all-but-forgotten promise conveyed were dear to my heart
