Beginnings
The nip in the air reminds us that it will soon be the 66th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. "Darn," you say, "it slipped my mind." Well, that's why you have moment—and that's why moment once...
...It couldn't happen to a magazine with nicer readers...
...Zeitlin's article...
...And, so you should shep a little extra nachas— loosely translated, you should derive some justifiable pleasure—I'm pleased to say that moment's won this year's Smolar Award for excellence in North American Jewish journalism in the magazine category, presented by the Council of Jewish Federataions...
...Start, why not, with our article in these pages about Jewish libraries—bearing in mind, please, that no single article on so vast a subject can do justice to all our precious repositories...
...Last month's and this are yet to be mounted...
...Some of you have been wondering, I imagine, what happened to Paul and Rachel Cowan, who, for a time, were doing a regular piece in these pages on Jews by choice...
...He not only announces the emperor's nakedness...
...I find it hard to believe—except that hanging on the wall outside my office there are now 78—count 'em, s*e*v*e*n*t*y-e*i*g*h*t—covers hanging there...
...But the press for space in these pages is often tight, and we've come to the conclusion that we'd all be better served by a broader and more diverse treatment of the manifold aspects of Jewish identity in our time than by a regular column on just one aspect of it...
...I expect you'll encounter them here—as well as elsewhere—before too long...
...Truth, it turns out, is stranger than turkey...
...Which leads me to confess that not all that's fascinating is to be found in these pages...
...You won't often hear us touting the competition, but after your moment subscription is all paid up, you'd do well to drop a check to Lev for a year's worth—24 issues—of his delightful fulminations...
...That, at least, is what it says...
...These days, an old friend of mine is causing a bit if a stir in southern California, where, they say, it's not such an easy thing to get yourself noticed...
...Here, he offers us a true story anent Thanksgiving...
...Our thanks to the Cowans...
...he reminds us that the emperor's no emperor to start with...
...Finally, remember that Chanukah, which is oily every year, is this year not only oily, but also early—so to speak...
...The Brauer oil depicts Hillel holding a scroll at the top of which the words "Vahavta I'reiecha kamocha" are discernible...
...Well, that's why you have moment—and that's why moment once again has Peter Grose, whose piece on Louis Brandeis and the Balfour Declaration is a gem, telling a piece of the story that hasn't, to my knowledge, been told before...
...Nor, for sure, has Marc Gellman's story of the rabbi as clown...
...Plus more...
...The address is 15445 Ventura Blvd., Suite 10-233, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413...
...Read well...
...But Yehuda Lev has suddenly transformed himself into an authentic curmudgeon...
...the check for $20 should be made out to A Majority Of One...
...I don't want to play favorites, but I find the material on the political attitudes of American Jews especially fascinating...
...Actually, since Chanukah comes at the same time every year, if time is measured Jewishly, it's November that's early this year...
...Rabbi (I hasten to add) Gellman is best known to you as the author of midrashim— expositions, inventions on biblical themes—for children as well as for adults...
...No offense intended, in other words, to the many distinguished institutions not mentioned in Ms...
...It couldn't and wouldn't have happened without the support so many of you have so generously offered, from checks when the wolves threatened to wonderful letters when the blues hit...
...Whatever time you're on, send everybody you know a gift subscription (that way we'll shep some nachas, too), and have a happy and virtuous Chanukah...
...2) Thanks...
...they're hale and hearty, and continue to write, speak and run workshops to our collective benefit...
...Speaking of readers, this is Jewish Book Month...
...Our cover: When Hillel was asked, back in the first century BCE, to explain Torah while standing on one foot, he answererd, "You should love your neighbor as yourself—all the rest is commentary...
...This is, you will have noticed, the last issue of Volume 8 of moment...
...I have two reactions: (1) Phew...
...all the rest is—you guessed...
...He edits a newsletter called A Majority Of One, wherein he speaks his inventive mind each couple of weeks with a lack of restraint that is infuriating, enlightening, amusing and refreshing...
...Nothing's happened to them...
Vol. 8 • November 1983 • No. 10
