when you give way to intoler-
ance, to totalitarianism impuls-
es, that train always leaves the
station — it’
s never late. If you’
re
metastasizing intolerance, Jew-
hate is going to come along for
the ride.
But in fairness, the allegory
for today’
s moment is black
and brown people and Muslims
and immigrants. Those are the
people who are being othered;
those are the people who are
being brutalized at the Southern
border, those are the people
who are stranded at the airports
within weeks of this adminis-
tration taking office. They’
re the
vulnerable cohort.
So I would hope that Jews
in particular would have the
understanding that this is not
just about Jews. The piece is not
about anti-Semitism. It’
s about
intolerance, fundamentally, of
all kinds … This kind of dem-
agoguery, where you trade on
fear and xenophobia in order
to maintain and expand your
political power, this is danger-
ous for everybody.
On my website, I have pic-
tures of 10 of the 11 people in
my family who were lost in the
Shoah. I know their names. I
know where and how they were
killed. They couldn’
t get out.
And the world thought, “There’
s
too many of them, and they’
re
not like us, they don’
t worship
the same way, they have differ-
ent politics, we can’
t trust them.
”
It was all said the same way
it’
s now said about Muslims or
about Mexicans or whoever
else Trump is hating on. And
the quietude of so many in
the Jewish community in this
moment, because they don’
t
happen to be Jews, it’
s a shonda.
JN: You talked to Philip Roth
before he died. How did he help
you shape the show?
Simon: The most dramatic thing
we did was expand the point
of view from a grown Philip
looking back on his childhood,
which is a very singular point of
view. We gave everyone in the
nuclear family a point of view,
and we added Evelyn and Alvin.
And he was in ready agreement
about that.
He [also] said, “Make sure
they’
re secular Jews,” that
they’
re assimilated. Because
in doing so you put the lie
to everything that Ford and
Lindbergh are attempting to
claim and act upon, which
is the idea that Jews are not
assimilated … and they’
re vul-
nerable to outside influences,
they’
re not as loyal.
The point of the book is
that’
s a lie.
JN: The show uses anti-Semi-
tism as an allegory, but it’
s also
very specifically Jewish. What
was the significance of that for
you?
Simon: Obviously I grew up
Jewish. I am Jewish. My father
was involved in Jewish issues
for his whole professional life
… And he grew up in Jersey
City and [had] the immigrant
experience — he’
s in the same
cohort as Roth. I’
ve read Roth,
and I’
m acculturated with
Jewish American identity.
Because I was accessing
things that were familiar to my
upbringing and my childhood,
there are some lines that are my
father’
s lines that he invented in
the piece, along with dialogue
from the book.
Did I have fun with it? Yeah,
but I have fun with all the
characters. It was an opportu-
nity to write something a little
different. But I didn’
t come to it
thinking, “Oh boy, I get to write
Jews.
” I was thinking, “Oh, some
of the stuff I’
ve had in my head
could find the page.
”
Visit TheJewishNews.com on
Monday evening after “The Plot
Against America” series finale for
more of our interview with Simon and
for his thoughts on the ending.
Simon and Pearl
Rosenbaum work
at their art table.
— even if you stay in your jam-
mies all day long.
”
Morahan also is telling clients
to create zones. If you’
ve got the
space, each person, including
kids, can be in their own sep-
arate work zone. “For younger
kiddos, or if you have a smaller
space, pick your clean zones
and your work zones,
” she said.
“For example, decide that the
kitchen will always stay clean,
and set up school in the dining
room.
“We will all have to be OK
with areas of our home not
being perfect. And this is so
much easier when we know we
have clean spaces we can retreat
to — a nightly reset will also be
extremely important so you can
start each day fresh.
”
Sara Kalish, whose home
organization business, Let’
s
Start Here (lshorganizing@
gmail.com), is based in West
Bloomfield, suggests using this
time to declutter.
“Organizing without purging
is just rearranging your things,
”
she said. “Start small — a bath-
room drawer, a nightstand.
Organizing takes time, but ulti-
mately it saves time. Enjoy the
process, get rid of things that no
longer serve you, reminisce and
appreciate the things you keep.
”
Alberts started out by clean-
ing out the entire kitchen pan-
try — she removed the old con-
tact paper, scrubbed down and
sorted through the food and
organized the shelves. Next, she
moved on to office spaces.
“I set up desks for both of
my kids in our office so they
have a work space,” Alberts
said. “Then I organized my
son’
s desk so he can clearly
understand what needs to be
worked on and what was com-
pleted. I’
m actually proud of
that desk!”
The biggest change that Julie
Rosenbaum and husband, Eric,
made in their Novi home was
to her dining room, which was
once reserved for larger groups
and holidays, and was seldom
used.
“We moved the rectangular
table up against a windowed
wall and that now serves as the
puzzle table,
” she said. “I also
use that space for ‘
official’
Zoom
calls, and it allows me to still
keep an eye on the little ones.
”
The open space she created is
now used for more gross motor
play for her 3- and 4-year old,
including tunnels, forts, tent
hideouts and nap time for her
daughter’
s baby dolls.
Rosenbaum also had impec-
cable timing in ordering an
art table before the pandemic
began.
“We do coloring, writing
practice, journaling, Playdough
and slime,
” she said. “It’
s also
been so nice to see my kids sit-
ting there working together and
collaborating on whatever plans
they’
ve imagined.
”
SIMON continued from page 27
APRIL 16 • 2020 | 29