One month ago, I started a journey with a group of students researching a Holocaust Torah. Today, the torah was dedicated and officially took up residency at Shir Shalom in Woodstock, VT. I want to congratulate all these students for a job well done. Thank you! With everyone putting in a little time you were … Continue reading Švihov Torah Dedication
Category: public speaking
Yom HaShoah 2018
Over a year ago a classmate from Loomis-Chaffee, Jim Rice, invited me to come speak at his congregation. This week that invitation came to fruition as I spent three days at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills, MI. My visit started with a lovely lunch and a tour of the building. Temple Beth El is … Continue reading Yom HaShoah 2018
Noting what’s Notable
Last Tuesday afternoon the phone rang. It was my publisher, Margie Blumberg. Our conversation went something like this: Margie: Hi. What are you doing? (I noticed an unusual lilt to her voice). Me: Not much. Margie: Is Dave there? Me: Yes. Should I put the phone on speaker? Margie: Yes. I want him to hear … Continue reading Noting what’s Notable
#WeRemember
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This past year has been full of the Holocaust for me. Since publishing "Tutti’s Promise" 11 months ago I have been speaking about the Holocaust and sharing what my mother experienced during those dreadful years. I have spoken at high schools and middle schools, public schools and private schools, … Continue reading #WeRemember
The Student Becomes the Teacher
A high school classmate, enthused about Tutti’s Promise, introduced me to a current teacher at our former school, Eric LaForest. Eric is the Director of the Norton Center for the Common Good at Loomis Chaffee School and he invited me to spend a day teaching. We spoke on the phone, exchanged emails, and came up … Continue reading The Student Becomes the Teacher
If Not Now, When?*
Last week I presented to a crowd of over 60 people at the The Center at Eastman, in Grantham, NH. The talk was after dinner and I worried a little about keeping the audience’s attention. In public speaking class I was told to always avoid the “after dinner talk” as people tend to be tired … Continue reading If Not Now, When?*
This Is a Plan I Can Live With
Last Wednesday I spoke with 130 seventh and eighth graders in St. Albans, Vermont. They had recently been studying the Holocaust and had already both read and watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and read The Diary of a Young Girl. I told them my mother’s story, using a PowerPoint presentation with a timeline … Continue reading This Is a Plan I Can Live With
Five Years in Two Minutes
Four years spent researching and writing Tutti's Promise One year spent editing and preparing the book for publication Two minutes to pitch it to the Jewish Book Council Yesterday afternoon I left my house and took a plane to Westchester, NY. It was one of Cape Air’s cozy Cessna 402s with room for nine passengers … Continue reading Five Years in Two Minutes