Selected Occasional Essays

Ageing and the Life Cycle

The Practice of Hope in the Here and Now, International Critical Childhood Policy Studies
Feeling Historical: Reflecting on the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall, Pedagogy+.
What Do We Leave Behind, The East Hampton Star.
In Praise of Forgetting, The East Hampton Star.
From the Country of the Young-Old, The East Hampton Star.
Reaching a Non-specialist Audience: What’s a Scholar to Do?, University Affairs.
SCOTUS Thunderbolts, The East Hampton Star.
The Black Sheep as Shepherd, The New York Times.
Revisiting Childhood, Education Week.
After a Loss, Silence, Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Jewishly Speaking

Becoming Historical, Tablet.
On Paying Attention: The Challenge of Yamim Noraim, Times of Israel.
Memory, Mishkan and Learning to Let Go, Times of Israel.
Finding Meaning in the Margins, Tablet.
 Called to Account: Learning to Love Yom Kippur, Times of Israel.
Visiting Ruth, Tablet.
Living with Uncertainty, Tablet.
Portraits of the Artists, Tablet.
Border Crossings, Tablet.

Book Reviews

I Left My Homework in the Hamptons, The East Hampton Star.
I Learn From Caroline Pratt , The East Hampton Star.
Later, by Paul Lisicky. The East Hampton Star.
The Years that Matter Most, by Paul Tough, The East Hampton Star.


"Within the architecture of Jewish time and space, untethered from our mundane lives, we experience moments of timelessness and transcend the boundaries of physicality. Perhaps it is only fitting that these transitory moments take place in temporary places that confirm the existential reality of human impermanence. We are here but for short while, called upon to be benevolent caretakers of a world that we have neither made nor approve of. We are grateful for the opportunity and must prepare to give it up when the moment comes. We learn to hold on and then we learn to let go. It’s as simple and as difficult as that."