Walking down Pico Blvd, this middle-aged white guy with a baseball cap on a bike stops me. “Rabbi, I have a question,” he says. “You’re a real rabbi, right, not a Jew for Jesus?” I tell him I’m not a rabbi. “But you’re the real deal, right?” he says. I say yes and I start coughing uncontrollably. He asks me if I’m all right. I finally manage to stop coughing and he tells me he made a lot of money in show business from James Gandolfini and wants to donate in his name, but is that ok considering Gandolfini is a goy? I told him that donating in his name would be a beautiful thing and he biked off happy.
* Pearl Reich says she waited seven years for her get (Jewish divorce). “And so I just left court with another five victories…. But one loss which hurts me deeply. Our life now is full of personal, private pain and struggles but I know our kids lives are one of glory, hope and freedom of expression garnished with religious tolerance….they’re glowing from happiness one day at a time. Unfortunately freedom comes with a heavy price when coming out of a insulated and isolated cult.”
