Category: Favorite

  • MENTAL DWARFISM AT A TIME OF GREAT NATIONAL CRISIS

    As I dictate this essay on February 11, 2009, there is a grave national crisis surrounding the American people.  From my view, it is a crisis of the same proportions as World War II and the great Hoover depression of 1929.  There are a good number of brains at work on the crisis for which…

  • “BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE MONEY ISN’T”

    Mr. William Sutton was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1901.  There were five children in the Sutton family.  As soon as Mr. Sutton completed the eighth grade, he quit school and that was the last of his academic career.  We find that the records show that William Sutton departed this vale of tears in…

  • THEY NEVER BETRAYED ME

    This is intended as a long overdue tribute to my friends, the Italian people.  Specifically, it has to do with the United States Depression starting in 1929 and secondly, it also has to do with the War in Italy which involved United States forces from 1942 to 1945. In my mind, there is a clear…

  • MARBLES

    The genesis for this essay had to do with a remark made to me by Dr. Andrew Beamer following our most recent discussion.  In essence, Dr. Beamer said that I had all of my marbles and seemed to have held onto them late in life.  I am not quite certain that Dr. Beamer is right…

  • WHY DO WOMEN DO IT?

    Simply put, I expect to be denounced and excoriated for the essay that is to follow.  I am at a loss to tell you if being denounced is a greater penalty than being excoriated.  But I can guarantee you that neither one is pleasant.  As long as I am not castigated, I believe I can…

  • WHERE SHALL WE GO NOW, MY FAMILY AND I?

    As a general proposition, I often warn my readers about the essays that appear on these pages.  And so it is that in this case, I will tell you that the essay that follows is about Irish music and also about my father.  My father could not sing worth a lick.  That applied to Irish…

  • “THAT CERTAIN PLACE”

    “THAT CERTAIN PLACE” Jake Haberfeld, Jerusalem~ 1983   Most Americans, particularly of the male gender, like to think of themselves as stand-up guys without a need to revert to nuances and/or euphemisms.  There is nothing wrong with nuances and euphemisms, but there is also a virtue in calling things by their proper names. For reasons…

  • IRA HUDAS: A SOMETIME SOLDIER

    It is peculiar or perhaps amusing to find that one memory prompts another one.  I am writing this on September 17 which is the day after the horrible tragedy at the Washington Naval Yard.  In this case, the memory that has been revived goes back to 1942.  If my mathematics are correct, which are not…

  • GIFTY’S SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT

    As some of my readers know, I have employed home health aides as a means of avoiding institutional care.  I require help during the evening and midnight hours.  Among other things, my ability to stand up or get up during the night time is limited.  During the course of an evening, I may stand up…

  • MUSIC AND MEMORY

    Those of you who have followed Ezra’s Essays know that during my childhood I was forced to attend religious services of the Protestant faith.  There were the Southern Baptists, the Nazarenes, the Pentecostals, and, finally, the Free Will Baptists.  In the last case, the Free Willers banned musical accompaniment to their hymn singing on the…