I’VE ONLY REALLY FEARED FOR MY LIFE TWICE.  The first time was when I was 25 years old, right before surgery to remove a tumor from my head. I remember being wheeled into the operating room, looking up at the fluorescent lights and wondering whether that was the last thing I’d ever see. The second…

I’ve had two “Marys” in my life. Both aunts by marriage, both gregarious, outgoing, caring and considerate. Straight-shooters short on bullshit and long on listening. They could be lighthearted or they could be lightning, but they were always family first, family always. I lost one Mary years ago. I lost the other this week. Both…

Whenever someone asks me to explain the meaning of a Jewish holiday – any Jewish holiday – my answer is always the same: “They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat.” I usually just get a courtesy laugh, but for an attention-starved comedy hack like me, courtesy laughs are tantamount to a standing ovation…

We see the rockets shooting across the sky, white streaks of light like so many falling stars. We hear the sirens wail and watch the reporters scramble for cover. We see the streets explode and the buildings crumble. We absorb the chaos and say the prayers and promise to keep those who are suffering in…

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS OF APOLOGIZING AND ATONING FOR MY SINS ON YOM KIPPUR, I FINALLY GET IT. Apologizing is easy. Being sorry is hard. Apology requires little effort. An apology is almost always just words, and saying something is a lot easier than doing something. We like apologies because they make us feel better.…

WE ARE HERE FOR A REASON. The boy from the countryside didn’t know this yet when he and his mother, a fighter for the French resistance, were stopped near their village and warned about the German soldiers who were looking for a woman and her young son. A six-year-old boy with long hair. HIs mother…

I USED TO DREAD. Didn’t matter what the horizon bore. Could be a holiday, an anniversary, an important business call or a random Tuesday night Angels game in April. I would find something to dread, to wish wouldn’t happen, to pray would go away. The “after” was always fine, but I never took solace in…

FIRST YOU HAVE A RESUME. You build it, hone it, compile it like a greatest hits album. A one-page masterpiece of adjectives and bullet points. Later you create a bio, a superlative narrative of your experience, skills, and passions. The resume is a black-and-white television, but a bio is an 85-inch 4K entertainment system with…