Leadership; or, Some Specific Strengths and General Failures of the American Jewish Fighting Spirit

We present here the twelfth chapter from the memoirs-in-progress of the renowned scholar and author Ruth R. Wisse. Earlier chapters can be found here. Further installments will appear over the next months.

My father’s parting words to me were peculiar. Seized by pain, he had been diagnosed with kidney stones and scheduled for emergency surgery on the first day of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah 1975. Because of his weak heart, his cardiologist was scheduled to be present as well. I accompanied our parents to the hospital and stayed in the room as the nurse poked needles into his veins. Everything happened so fast I was sure that after the operation I’d find him restored to health.

Thanks to sedatives, his pain must have subsided. Just before they transferred him to a gurney and wheeled him into surgery, he smiled at me and asked, “Vos vet zayn mit di goldene keyt?”