Sometimes dads screw up. I screw up all the time, as a dad, and even in my non-dad functions. One way my dad screwed up is that he changed his name from Hirschkind to Hickins. Rhymes with chickens, not quite Dickens, as American as apple pie and Doinkuss. Slim pickins indeed; no American would have … Continue reading Why I Bought Myself a Mogen David Bracelet for Father’s Day
Writings
Departures and Returns
I ordered a book of poems by Paul Zweig, because poetry is the muse to my fiction, because it pertains to the novel I’m currently working on, and because I have a peculiar connection to Paul Zweig. I met my first wife in 1984, a young French woman staying at a friend’s apartment whom I … Continue reading Departures and Returns
How to Interpret Yom Hashoah
We all come to Yom Hashoah -- Holocaust Remembrance Day – by different paths. For me, it’s an ongoing education into my family’s history, which I detail in my memoir, The Silk Factory: Finding Threads of My Family’s True Holocaust Story. And this year in particular, Yom Hashoah was jolted into my consciousness by a … Continue reading How to Interpret Yom Hashoah
Vermin, Poisoned Blood, and the Jews
As asylum-seekers drown in the Rio Grande under the indifferent eyes of the Texas National Guard, and as Donald Trump celebrates his primary victory in Iowa this week, Jews especially should take heed of language such as poisoned blood and vermin used when discussing immigration. Trump has promised that if elected, he will strip citizenship … Continue reading Vermin, Poisoned Blood, and the Jews
The Silk Factory and Antisemitism
I’m grateful that, thanks to Rabbi David Wilfond, I’ll be a guest speaker at https://www.facebook.com/tstbedford Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford, NY, at the end of Sabbath services tomorrow. Two generations of Hirschkinds in the front yard of the Kupfer silk factory, the 140-year-old business that is and isn't family-owned. I’ll be discussing the journey that … Continue reading The Silk Factory and Antisemitism
Holocaust Talk in Ossining, NY
Like for many people, I suppose, the Holocaust was a thing that happened a long time ago, to other people, some of whom might have been members of my family. It’s not that I minimized what it was, or the importance it played in the history of the Jews, in European history, American history, and the history of Israel – but it was history.
But I Digress… And Learn How to Keep My Book Relevant
It’s well known that only a portion of our social media followers and friends ever see a given post, so it’s not too obnoxious to repost and repurpose stuff. But I’ve still had to fight my reticence for posting frequently on social media without having something new-ish to say each time. But I do like … Continue reading But I Digress… And Learn How to Keep My Book Relevant
But I Digress… And Become No. 1!
Some of you know that for a year I ran a podcast called But I Digress, where I talked to dozens of published writers about the business and economics of writing – specifically with the notion that most fledgling or beginning writers are intimidated by the mysteries of the publishing industry. Do I need an … Continue reading But I Digress… And Become No. 1!
Wildfires, Silence, and the Jewish Experience
Wildfire smoke carries everywhere. Source: Wikimedia Commons I’ve always been reticent to use the term “gaslighting” because it’s so reminiscent of the term “gassing” – which is synonymous (at least to me) with the Nazi death camps like those where my grandmother, my great aunt and uncle, and many other relatives were murdered by the … Continue reading Wildfires, Silence, and the Jewish Experience
I Have My Favorite Commandment. What’s Yours?
I used to hate the Ten Commandments. I hated Charlton Heston. I hated anything that smacked of authoritarian, paternalistic, overbearing high-and-mighty lording-it-over-you-ism, especially if it tried to tell me I couldn’t watch the Yankees on the Sabbath. Last week marked the observance of Shavuot, which celebrates the revelation of the Ten Commandments, and is the … Continue reading I Have My Favorite Commandment. What’s Yours?
The Silk Factory Threads Forward
In two weeks, you'll be able to actually hold The Silk Factory: Finding Threads of My Family's Holocaust Story, in your actual hands. You can pre-order now, and get the ebook for the ultra-low price of $2.99. Pre-ordering my book really, really helps because it tells the Amazon algorithm that I have an audience and … Continue reading The Silk Factory Threads Forward
Yom HaShoah and the Silk Factory
Today marks Yom HaShoah, when we remember the Holocaust and its victims. Today is also the day my memoir becomes available for pre-order. It’s an odd feeling, and even calling it a Holocaust memoir is a very strange feeling, because The Silk Factory isn’t so much as Holocaust memoir as it is a memoir of … Continue reading Yom HaShoah and the Silk Factory
Michael Missing 
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