When I first came to Israel I was overwhelmed by the masses that crowded into the concert hall for classical music.  This is a cultured society like I’ve never seen before, even though I grew up in the Rochester Philharmonic. 

Well, the audience is the same.  I mean exactly the same people.  Tonight I met Bettine Amir, who is 92 and still wearing heels, and a few other people I remember from way back then.  

The hall is still full, and there are lots of young people dotted in the seats where the older ones listening from a much higher balcony, but it doesn’t feel as if it is part of our culture.

I miss the smell of camphor emitting from the fur coats…