After the Holocaust, my grandmother, then about 14 years old, was asked by her principal to write all that had happened to her and her family.
About a year after she died, I began writing vignettes concerning my child. Never having written creatively before, the process of composing stories which were connected to my daughter and my relationship with her, grew into a satisfying activity and a rewarding outlet for my grief.
In time, a vaccine for COVID-19 will be developed. A vaccine for fear-mongering and mass hysteria, on the other hand, will only be available in the world to come.
As the High Holidays approach and I reflect on the past year, I’m bombarded by thoughts of COVID-19.
It felt like an impossible choice: what do I write about at this time? How can it be anything but the pandemic? But, too, how can I not write about the calls for racial justice? And then it all fell into place: these two issues are actually deeply connected, are both relevant to us as Jews.
