Jeanette Friedman

Remembering Reb Arthur

Apr 20

Jeanette Friedmandinever, eulogy, hertzberg No Comments

Reb Arthur was pissed off. So what else was new? This time, he was annoyed at himself because he had two books to finish, and things like tripping on a throw rug had really done a number on him. He looked like he had gone three rounds with Ali in his prime and lost. Still, his brain was firing on all cylinders.

“Hey, Toots, I gave them a run for their money this week,� he greeted me. And it looked like once, again, he was going to defeat the odds.

I said, “You know what I told Irving Bernstein, z�l, to keep him going?� (Irving, dying of pancreatic cancer at the time I was editing his book, was head of the national UJA/Fed from the ’70s-’80s and always said there was no Jewish leadership without Jewish education. Reb Arthur never savaged him like he did so many others.)

Reb Arthur gave me a look, “Whaddya tell him?�

“’You’ve got a book to finish.’ I made him proofread six dozen times. He didn’t go until after his book party.�

He retorted, “Well, I’ve got two!�

We traded one of our “looks,� “So, nu?�

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