“You don’t call, you don’t write…” my friends complain.  “What are you doing?” Anything to survive.  Here are a few examples:  Our portrait of Kurt Gerron was supposed to be exhibited in the Tel Aviv Museum starting next week, but the museum closed down for the war.  Now they’re talking about opening it, I spent the war writing a book about him in Hebrew – with lots of pictures from his films to cover my painfully small vocabulary in Hebrew.  It’s at Eli Oren’s now – the guy who does my books when I want to be in complete control, and if I can put it together properly it will be out in 2 weeks which is when I’m praying the exhibit will open.

Secondly, I spend as little time as possible talking to friends about politics and/or the horrors of war.  Don’t want to know more than I have to about all my ex-students who were mowed down at a dance party, or friends who will never come home.  I prefer talking to old ladies or kids.  They don’t pretend to know everything.

And of course we volunteer as much as we can.  How wonderful it feels to choose which coat you like best and give the rest away.  Last night we went to the distribution center to give away the coats and the kids there were so great – and there were so many coats people have donated.  It was so comforting.

Oh yes, and I write.