The Whistler on Yom Kippur

In case you missed this before--or even if you didn't. The best stories are meant to be told over and over. You learn that from your children. We can learn a lot from children.

As we go into Yom Kippur, let me wish you a sweet year of health, happiness, peace, prosperity, and nachas.

Jewish or not, New Yorkers know about Yom Kippur, or as Mickey Mantle once called it, "Yom Koufax." Public schools are closed. The centers of commerce and finance wind down to a halt. There's a sense of new hopes and beginnings.... and even a certain gritty spirituality in the New York air. Some 250 years ago, a little boy in Medzhibozh, Ukraine learned about Yom Kippur in a most unusual way.

To read the story, see Whistling at N'eila.

The Whistler

My annual re-run of an old tale.

As we go into Yom Kippur, let me wish you a sweet year of health, happiness, peace and prosperity and nachas.

Jewish or not, New Yorkers know about Yom Kippur, or as Mickey Mantle once called it, "Yom Koufax." Public schools are closed. The centers of commerce and finance wind down to a halt. There's a sense of new hopes and beginnings.... and even a certain gritty spirituality in the New York air. Some 250 years ago, a little boy in Medzhybizh, Ukraine learned about Yom Kippur in a most unusual way.

For the story, see Whistling at N'eila.