SEPTEMBER 3 • 2020 | 5
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Passing Time …
letters
T
his pandemic has had
a strange, paradoxical
effect on my concept
of time. Being confined
mostly to my
home, life in
general seems
to be mov-
ing more at a
snail’
s pace, yet
the month of
August went by
lightning fast.
And the longer
the COVID crisis continues,
the more I seem to lose track
of time. “It’
s Monday? Huh,
feels like Saturday.”
Thank goodness, though,
that despite society clos-
ing down, my brain hasn’
t.
(Depending on who you ask.)
That’
s a good thing because
I’
m definitely a reluctant
member of the “an idle mind
is the devils’
playground” club.
I’
m grateful my chapter of that
club shuttered its doors to
avoid large gatherings.
The slower pace has
allowed me to focus on
details of life that might not
normally get my attention.
Starting with products that
proclaim they kill 99.9% of
bacteria. Noticing them more
because of the manic wash-
and-wipe-it-off world we
now live in. In my household
that includes Lysol Kitchen
Pro, Windex Multi-Surface
Disinfectant Cleaner and
Purell Hand Sanitizer.
How is it that these compa-
nies come so close to killing
everything but can’
t get that
extra .1%?! Do their scientists
hang up their lab coats at
the end of the day and say,
“eh, close enough?” And why
don’
t they at least tell us what
germs are in the .1% they
can’
t kill? I mean, they must
know which germs they are
to state they can’
t kill them,
right?
Another small detail I’
ve
focused on … I’
m wondering
how many days since March
I haven’
t worn pants. Let me
clarify — long pants. I think
it’
s safe to say less than five
days. I don’
t know how I’
m
going to reenter society wear-
ing something other than
gym shorts. And I’
m talking
about the one pair of old,
very unflattering gym shorts
I’
ve been wearing that I have
no business even going to get
the mail in — but do.
Mail. There’
s another thing
I’
ve been hyper-focused on,
or at least was. I’
ve graduated
from getting the mail with
gloves on and opening it with
the precision of a micro-
surgeon — to grabbing the
mail barehanded, ripping it
open and washing my hands
immediately afterward. I do
though, still let the mail mar-
inate on my garage floor for a
few days before bringing it in
the house.
Like a lot of folks who are
hunkered down at home,
my television viewing has
increased tremendously. The
increased screen time has led
to my paying more attention
to programming options I’
d
normally bypass.
I’
m hungry for live sports
but never would I have imag-
ined that in pre-COVID I
would’
ve stopped to watch,
and this is for real, a World
Cornhole Championship on
ESPN. You know what this is;
you just may not have known
what it was called.
It’
s a popular sport on
college campuses, especially
at tailgate parties. Two oppo-
nents attempt to throw small
bags of corn kernels through
a hole on a raised platform.
It’
s kind of like playing shuf-
fleboard with a vegetable.
I watched two men, excuse
me, “athletes,” do this for
several minutes. Don’
t think
this sport is taken seriously?
These guys were wearing
sweat suits covered in cor-
porate sponsorship logos. I
actually stuck around long
enough to watch the winner’
s
press conference.
Finally, because the weath-
er has been so good — I
mean, I think it’
s one of the
best summers I can recall —
I’
ve been spending an inordi-
nate number of hours sitting
in my yard. I eat, work and
even sleep out there. I’
ve even
been known to sleep through
lawn
mowers circling me.
I also now find myself
hyper-focused on the squir-
rels on our property and
their daily, repetitive behav-
iors. And I actually think my
friendly, daily presence has
reduced their normal squirrel
skittishness. Until last week,
when I made the mistake of
discussing politics with them.
Hmmm, maybe I am going
squirrelly. Happy, healthy
New Year!
Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-
over/acting talent, speaker, and
emcee. Visit his website at laugh-
withbigal.com,“Like” Al on Facebook
and reach him at
amuskovitz@renmedia.us
Alan
Muskozitz
Contributing
Writer
Support Community
Teachers
I want to commend the Jewish
News for publishing the beautiful
article from Sam Arnold on the
value of Jewish education and
the support that the communi-
ty needs to give to its teachers
(“Jewish Education’
s Virtual
Future,
” Aug. 13, page 10).
The experience that Sam
talked about, the NewCAJE
Conference, was recent-
ly renamed from the CAJE
Conference, which originally
stood for the Coalition for
Alternatives in Jewish Education.
I was fortunate to be present at
the second conference many
years ago at the Rochester
Institute of Technology in New
York. I truly believe that this
experience and subsequent
attendance at nearly 20 addi-
tional conferences was the most
valuable educational opportunity
that I had.
I was a teacher of students
from toddlers to senior adults
and learned so much to assist
me in being the best that I
could be for almost 60 years. I
also noticed that you printed a
letter from Rabbi Cherie Koller-
Fox, the current president of
NewCAJE, imploring the con-
gregations and the community
to underwrite the costs of this
experience for its teachers and
assistants.
I want to publicly thank
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
and Adat Shalom Synagogue,
who helped me attend CAJE.
I hope that all synagogue and
temples will show their support
in this endeavor. While attending
virtually is nice, the experience
of singing with Debbie Friedman
(z”l), Peter Yarrow, Kol B’
Seder,
Craig Taubman and some of the
newest entertainers for young
Jewish people or learning with
some of the great teachers of
our time, the ability to phys-
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