I was at the first Tikkun conference, and the memorable events (other than creating an online feed to the conference--which directly led to meeting Grace Paley) were all tied up with memories of her. Most of all, I remember her giving a keynote speech? Just a talk? at the conference dinner, perched on a box behind the podium, reading a piece she said that she was called a "Midrash on Happiness" followed by one of the best talks I have ever heard. I was in tears at the end, not just because of the midrash, but because of the way in which she managed to speak to so many issues that mattered, from nuclear disarmament to changes in Israel, and how we must fight hard to effect change, without losing the hope and acceptance of the piece with which she opened her talk. It turns out that it wasn't just me. I am astonished by how many other people have made that piece part of their lives. Happily, the midrash piece is actually online, via Google Books. And somewhere, at a friend's house, in (what is probably not anymore) my copy of one of her later collections, is the whole talk.
I was at the first Tikkun conference, and the memorable events (other than creating an online feed to the conference--which directly led to meeting Grace Paley) were all tied up with memories of her. Most of all, I remember her giving a keynote speech? Just a talk? at the conference dinner, perched on a box behind the podium, reading a piece she said that she was called a "Midrash on Happiness" followed by one of the best talks I have ever heard. I was in tears at the end, not just because of the midrash, but because of the way in which she managed to speak to so many issues that mattered, from nuclear disarmament to changes in Israel, and how we must fight hard to effect change, without losing the hope and acceptance of the piece with which she opened her talk. It turns out that it wasn't just me. I am astonished by how many other people have made that piece part of their lives. Happily, the midrash piece is actually online, via Google Books. And somewhere, at a friend's house, in (what is probably not anymore) my copy of one of her later collections, is the whole talk.