Debra Darvick
Archives: 2008-2020Debra Darvick –– I’m not the CEO of Learjet
One of the biggest frustrations many creatives have is not the creating but getting the work out there. Vincent had his brother Theo. Matisse had the Cone sisters. Michaelangelo had Pope Julius or so Wiki tells me. For the rest of us, there are things we do great and...
What? No Seder?
I was somewhat ambivalent about “going public” with this essay. I didn’t want to put my Jewish community in a negative light or leave even one of my fellow Jews open to criticism or judgment. Another part of me figured that if Jews were struggling with how Covid-19 is...
Why is This Night Different?
Pesach 5780 Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights guests wedge themselves around dining tables, seated thigh to thigh like rush-hour subway riders. On this night we Zoom. On all other nights sideboards and tables muster muscles...
The Seeds We Plant
"Pagrates!” Olivia said at Rosh Hashanah dinner earlier this month. “Pagrates!” Today’s twenty month olds have sophisticated palates. Pomegranates are a staple at such holiday dinners, their seeds symbolic of our hopes for abundance in the new year. This deep red...
“If you are able, please rise.”
During any worship service, Jews do a lot of standing. There’s the Amidah, “the standing prayer” at the core of each service. We stand when doors of the Holy Ark containing our Torah scrolls are opened. We stand to recite the Kaddish (a memorial prayer.) We stand for...
The many faces and many languages of Debra Darvick
HIGHLIGHTING DEBRA'S CREATIVITY—We have several fun ways for you to enjoy Debra Darvick’s creativity this week. First, please read our Cover Story about Debra’s book, We Are Jewish Faces, a colorful picture book of Jewish diversity. We are celebrating with Debra the...
David Bergman, of blessed memory,
When I met David Bergman, before I even began to interview him to include his story in This Jewish Life, he said me, "Never refer to me or anyone else who was in a concentration camp as a “prisoner.” A prisoner has been incarcerated for breaking the law. We were not...
My Friends Were Right
“There’s nothing like it,” my friends began saying. “Nothing in the world!” They weren’t talking kale or cilantro. Or the season’s best read. They were talking grandchildren. Yes, grandchildren. “Just wait,” they’d say, smug with a knowledge that admittedly I didn’t...
Who Pays for the Tombstone? Who Attends the Wedding?
Since 2013, I've written a monthly advice column for the Detroit Jewish News. I love writing it and thought it would be meaningful and gratifying to expand the love to my Read the Spirit family. You don't have to be Jewish to have tsuris! (troubles,...
Playing Favorites and Tortured by Texting…
Since 2013, I've written a monthly advice column for the Detroit Jewish News. I love writing it and thought it would be meaningful and gratifying to expand the love to my Read the Spirit family. You don't have to be Jewish to have tsuris! (troubles,...
My Third Mother Has Died
I knew that the call, or email, would eventually come. Word that Clara had died. She was over one hundred after all. No one lives forever. But when such news arrives it still lands like a fist to the heart. Clara was the mother of my first love. She welcomed me into...
A Rosh Hashanah reflection
I was aware that I haven't been writing much in this space this year, but was shocked to see that my last post was dated January 11, 2016. I've been blogging over at pictureaconversation.com, the website dedicated to a product my husband and I launched this January --...
Debra Davick — Heaven’s Papers, Please Copy
Once you've lost a parent, or anyone close, there are times when little things crop up that you wish you could share. Some adult children, accustomed to daily check-ins with Mom or Dad catch themselves going for the phone and then realizing there's no one left to call...
It’s Not Yet Time to Cross the Street
I've sometimes shared posts by my friend Dr. Kelly Flanagan, on my FB page. I admire his take on life, child-rearing, and relationships. This week I couldn't agree with him as he wrote about ISIS and their most recent attacks. Though we've never met, and have only...
From Rainbows to Ruination?
Each year, the cycle of reading the Torah (Hebrew Bible) begins anew. Across the world, in every synagogue the same parasha (section) is read, either specific selections for those synagogues on a triennial cycle of reading, or the entire section. Yesterday we read the...
His Lens/My Pen + Great Harvest = Synergy
"My first question to you," Tina Yancey said, "is why you think your His Lens/My Pen greeting cards are a fit for our store?" A fair enough question. Tina and her husband took over the local Great Harvest Bread Company some time ago. It's been part of my routine...
Pregnancy in Reverse — short-short fiction
I am cleaning my office, going thru old files and found this piece of writing. It isn't dated but I figure it's from at least a decade ago if not more. So here goes, a piece of fiction from the past. Pregnancy in Reverse I always thought that there was no greater...
It was called the Spanish house
Anyone who walks this neighborhood knew which one you were talking about when you mentioned the Spanish house. It was one of the town's oldest. The one with the red tile roof. The one whose charming arched front door had been treated like a fine painting:...
Time to Fill Those Holes!
I love Ruth Kraus' book A Hole is to Dig. It was one of the early ones I read to Elliot and Emma when they were little. In this sweet and simply illustrated book, holes are for digging, looking through, stepping into and hiding things in. Between the covers of A Hole...
Continuing Passover’s Thread
Passover Seder ranks as every Jew's number one most favorite, most highly attended, most fondly remembered, most eagerly anticipated of any holiday dinner of the year. OK, you'll hear good-natured kvetching from the women who spend the weeks cleaning the house for...