holidays
COVID Thanksgiving: Jobs crisis brings unhappy Turkey Day for millions
November 25, 2020The latest jobless numbers reveal an unhappy Turkey Day—and it could get worse.
Read moreWhy is this Passover, in the U.S. and Israel, different from all other Passovers?
April 8, 2020The eight-day observance of Passover, which begins this year on Wednesday night, April 8, is the most celebrated holiday in the Jewish calendar year.
Read more‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ popular Christmas movie, great new American opera
November 20, 2018It’s a critical hit, written in a popular late Romantic and thoroughly American idiom, studded with little musical quotes from familiar holiday noels, high school graduation anthems, and the wild Mekee-Mekee that recalls the dance crazes...
Read moreThe holiday season: A long night’s journey into light
December 27, 2017In our families and in our communities we guard ourselves against the long darkness. We hold out signs to one another that we can withstand these worst of days. That together, we humans can go on.
Read moreCommuniqué from Santa’s secret location (at a post office near you)
December 20, 2017I reach down for the pair of dusty black boots. I smile as I see the faux fur trimming and the nicks and knocks in the leather from three decades of use.
Read more