Stories,photos

131 results total, viewing 1 - 10

Dietrich compared love to “a summer with a thousand Julys,” and Garbo prayed merely to “Give us our moment!” Judy Garland pleaded, “Birds fly over the rainbow, … more

Mike Fink | 7/5/24

June holidays, then and now

It’s the time of year to eat white foods, and maybe also to remember your first sip of the white blessing at your mother’s breast. My wife is a heroic and devoted lactation … more

Mike Fink | 6/7/24

The marvelous month of May

Sea winds pierce our solitude. That’s how Ralph Waldo Emerson described the month of May. I see it quite differently. Yes, it’s a moon I would describe to bless Mother’s … more

Mike Fink | 5/10/24

The wisdom of ‘fools’ and ‘be merciful to me, a fool’

Poets praise folly, perhaps to protect their art form from harsh assaults. Poets praise folly, perhaps to protect their art form from harsh assaults. I have excerpted a few lyrical … more

Mike Fink | 4/5/24

The Purim-like daring and courage of those who visit Israel now

Surely I can’t be the first to note the close spelling of “Hamas” and the villainous “Haman,” who is so evil that we use rattles to drown out his very name. But the … more

Mike Fink | 3/1/24

An ode to trees

Trees have spoken to me pretty much all my life: Every day is Tu B’Shevat to me! Yeah, I learned from poems, even Joyce Kilmer’s famous lines, which turned into the lyrics to the … more

Mike Fink | 2/2/24

It’s no fable: Jewish culture is far-reaching

Aesop, of the Fables, was taken hostage and enslaved by the Athenian Greeks: Is the central moral of his tales, in any sense, Jewish? Well, the very word , or name, “Aesop” is … more

Mike Fink | 1/7/24

In these dark days, our R.I. heritage gives me ‘Hope’

Of my many sabbatical semesters throughout my six-decade career at the Rhode Island School of Design, my favorite journey was a mere nearby jaunt around Rhode Island, a trip of only a few hours. … more

Mike Fink | 12/3/23

What doesn’t matter, and what does

If I were to produce an accounting of my nearly nine decades, it would honestly consist mostly of trivia, mini-tragedies of my own shortcomings and idle goings, hardly worth further attention. I … more

Mike Fink | 11/6/23

Questioning and interpreting are lifelong ventures

Kids’ picture books present variations on the Torah tales, inviting each young scholar to test his/her imagination and let their innocent interpretive skills go to work while they play. … more

Mike Fink | 10/5/23