Members of the Scribe
The Art of Silence
Although my novel, The American Sun & Wind Moving Picture Company , is set in the silent film era—it begins ...
In a Class by Themselves: A Jewish Fiction Reading List
A couple of years ago I decided to lead a group of adult learners in a class on Jewish fiction. The ...
Not Feeling the Candy Hearts? Turn Around Your 50 Shades of Abysmal Gray
It’s that time of year…chocolates, flowers, jewelry. Sappy advertisements and red and pink store displays. There are reminders everywhere. It’s Valentine’s ...
I Am Writer. Are You Chopped Liver?
Is it possible to take the ego out of writing? I ask this question because I ask myself why I write, and ...
Writing the Radical Other
In my first novel, I wrote from the point of view of a Nazi. In my new novel, The Wanting , ...
Dreaming in Mother Tongues
Zi kholmt – she dreams.In Irena Klepfisz’s remarkable poem, “Etlekhe verter oyf mame-loshn / A few words in the mother tongue,” the speaker ...
Yiddish and Us
The three of us waited expectantly and somewhat nervously in the seminar room, wondering why we had been summoned by ...
Yiddish and Me
When I first began studying Yiddish, I felt like I was remembering something I already knew.It was a lovely sensation, this ...
The Last Jew of Boyle Heights
A few weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times ran an article about the death of Eddie Goldstein, “the last Jewish man of ...
Djewess Unchained
Sometime back in my childhood, I got the idea that it was “nicer” to say “I’m Jewish” than “I’m a ...