More than 60 percent of ultra-Orthodox men in Israel do not work, compared with 15 percent in the general population, and he argued that full-time, state-financed study should be reserved for great scholars destined to become rabbis or religious judges. “Those who are not that way inclined,” he said, “should go out and earn a […]
Read More WorkI began one year by eating five expensive chocolates with a friend– we split them with a credit card, on the bar, and then went at them one at a time, tasting and discerning with eyes closed. The first thing I did in 1998 was ride the Tower of Terror. You’re in a pretend elevator, […]
Read More New Year’s EveMy mother went to bed early. Her voice honked when she wasn’t sniffling, and all her pockets were full of twisted Kleenex. My father sat in his chair watching television, some woodworking show, though he isn’t too handy. Do all fathers have a chair in front of the television? Would I? I’m making tea for […]
Read More Household Words: Part 5If you want to know America, you should come at Christmas. Friendly and presumptive, open yet closed, demonstrably extravagant, yet charitable. Plenty of us don’t even celebrate it, although you would hardly know this from the panic in the air today. I remember, as a child, realizing that people could die on Christmas. Bad things […]
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