Greatest of all tiime

This week, the first three matches to determine the “Greatest Jeopardy Player of All Time” have aired. Each match consists of two games, and the player with the highest total score for those two games is deemed the winner of that match. The three contestants will continue playing until one of them wins three matches. That winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000,000, with $250,00 to be awarded to each of the other two contestants.

The three players are familiar names to all Jeopardy fans: Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer. These first three matches were aired on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. Ken Jennings won the first and third, with James Holzhauer won the second. The games will continue next week.

Here is the Jeopardy! TV schedule for the entire tournament:

Episode	Date	Time (TV channel)
Match 1	Tuesday, Jan. 7	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)
Match 2	Wednesday, Jan. 8	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)
Match 3	Thursday, Jan. 9	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)
Match 4	Tuesday, Jan. 14	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)
Match 5 (if necessary)	Wednesday, Jan. 15	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)
Match 6 (if necessary)	Thursday, Jan. 16	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)
Match 7 (if necessary)	Friday Jan. 17	8-9 p.m. ET (ABC)

A nice recap, including brief biographies of the three contestants, can be found on-line on, of all places, the web page for Sporting News:

Jeopardy Greatest of All Time

Not to say that Barry and I are especially talented Jeopardy players, but these games were Jeopardy on steroids in three ways. The first is that the “answers” corresponded to questions that were, in general, significantly more obscure than the usual Jeopardy games. The second is that there were virtually no incorrect responses among these three legendary players, so the games moved incredibly quickly. And, finally, the third is that the potential impact of finding the “Daily Doubles” (one in the first round and two in “double” Jeopardy) is even greater than usual. Having that occur relatively late in the game can make a critical difference. In the first game, James, a “professional sports gambler,” did not find any of them, but in the second game, when he did, he was able to do what he did so well during his initial tenure: wager huge amounts. Having said that, all three players have displayed impressive good humor and fellowship.

For me, this could not be coming at a better time, one in which I think we could all use a break from the litany of distressing and often frightening news and celebrate some of the wonderful intelligence and good humor which we humans can share. Maybe we can leave this tournament with a resolve to make the world the better place which it surely can be.

Love,

Rebecca

Four movies in one week!

With grandchildren spanning in age from 5 to 15, going to the movies is no longer a “one size fits all” family event So, we ended up seeing three different movies with our grandchildren last week, and then today went to a distinctly grown-up film.

We took Joshua to see “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Frankly, after a while all of these Star Wars films tend to seem rather similar to me. I have to admit that I am not very knowledgeable about the details of the series beyond the original film, released back in May of 1977. We may well have never seen the movie when it was initially released, since Simmie was born in early April of that year and it was a very long time before we went out after her birth. But at some point, we must have seen the movie, as well as the second and third movies which were released in early 1980s, which are actually episodes 4-6. Here is the full list of the nine movies with their release dates:

Original trilogy

         Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

         Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

         Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)

Prequel trilogy

         Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

         Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)

         Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Sequel trilogy

         Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

         Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

         Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

In this last episode, when it is discovered that the evil Emperor Palpatine did not die at the hands of Darth Vader, the rebels must race against the clock to find out his whereabouts. Finn and Poe lead the Resistance to put a stop to the First Order's plans to form a new Empire, while Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) anticipates her inevitable confrontation with Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver). Many of the favorite characters from the earlier films also appear, including Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Even Carrie Fisher, who sadly died four years ago, is “present,” due to some amazing tricks used to create her character from old film footage.

If you are “into” the Star Wars franchise, you have undoubtedly already seen this, and, like our son-in-law, have spent some amount of time during the past month gathering with friends to re-watch the entire set of nine films.

We went with Eliana and Ella to see “Little Women.” This was a beautifully done film directed by Greta Gerwig, with Saoirse Ronan playing the lead, Jo March. “Little Women” was a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. The novel details the passage from childhood to womanhood of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, and is said to be loosely based on the author and her three sisters. I am not sure that our granddaughters really appreciated it, depicting as it does a very different time from the one in which they now live. But was certainly charming, well-acted, and visually breathtaking.

Although Eliana had seen it twice and Julia had seen it once, we took them again along with Maya for the first time to see “Frozen 2.” In this movie, which includes all the main characters of the original “Frozen” movie, released back in 2013, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They hope to learn the origins of Elsa’s powers in order to save their kingdom. Needless to say, there is a happy ending, as well as a lovely new set of songs (including “Into the Unknown”) encouraging young girls everywhere to sing and dance.

We took a decidedly darker and more grown-up turn today and went to see “Uncut Gems,” a film from acclaimed filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie. I should have paid more attention to the rating:

Rating: R (for pervasive strong language, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use)

This is a crime thriller about Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic Jewish-American Diamond District jeweler who is addicted to gambling and always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must balance business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

Idina Menzel, who was the voice of Elsa in the Frozen movies, plays Howard’s wife, Dinah, Kevin Garnett, a forward for the Boston Celtics, plays himself, Eric Bogosian plays Arno, Howard's brother in law and a loan shark, and Judd Hirsch plays Gooey, Howard's father-in-law.

If violence bothers you, this may be a movie you may want to let pass you by.

Meanwhile, stay warm and pray that cooler heads will prevail during the coming days and weeks.

Love,

Rebecca

End of a year, or end of a decade?

There has been quite a bit of discussion, as we await the start of 2020, about whether this is the last year of the past decade or the first year of the next decade. It seems to me that, since there was presumably never a year called “0,” but rather the first year is referred to as “1,” we are in fact ending a decade, and the new one will begin in 2021. Having said that, 2020 just feels like something new, and no matter what, it promises to be full of new challenges and concerns. Hopefully, this 2020 will offer the same clarity of vision that ophthalmologists call  “20/20.” Visual acuity is usually measured with a Snellen chart, and 20/20 means that a person sees the same line of letters at a distance of 20 feet that a person with normal vision sees at 20 feet.

There were only ten of us here in Sharon this weekend, because Ronen and Maya have spent the week in Israel, visiting family and joining for a Bar Mitzvah celebration.  All ten lit Chanukah and Shabbat candles and had Friday night dinner at Dina’s. Simmie, Eliana, and Ella joined us at our apartment for Shabbat lunch. After Shabbat, the ten of us gathered to light candles and decorate and then eat delicious butter Chanukah cookies Simmie had baked.

On Sunday we went to see Disney on Ice at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence. This was primarily a Chanukah gift for Julia, and Eliana came along as well. Julia was in good company wearing her Elsa costume, and was completely mesmerized watching the performance and consuming quite a bit of junk food (popcorn, cotton candy, and blue ice). After the show we stopped for lunch at Garden Grille in Providence, where I am happy to say that Julia still found room for pizza! It is a fairly health-oriented vegetarian restaurant so we were grateful to see her eat some actual food that day.

Although most of the children have seen the new movie, “Frozen II,” Julia was anxious to see it again (for the third time!) and Barry and I planned to take her today. But we failed to purchase tickets early enough and, although the movie has been playing for four weeks, they were completely sold out at the local theaters. So, we are hoping to get there either tomorrow or Wednesday. We also plan to take the two older girls, Eliana and Ella, to see “Little Women,” which has received terrific reviews. Maya and Ronen are scheduled to return on Wednesday morning but I imagine that after the flight she will be too exhausted to go to the movie, so we will need to catch that one with her at a later date.

There has been quite a bit of sadness for many of our friends in 2019. Let us hope that 2020 will be a better year, one of good health and happiness.

Love,

Rebecca

A sobering day

I have shunned writing about politics on this blog. For one thing, I have never been particularly political, and I do not in any way claim to offer any unique insights or understanding. Still, no matter what your view on all that has gone on in the United States government over the past three years, the one thing on which I hope all Americans can agree is that yesterday was a very sad day for our country.

I hope and pray that there will be better, happier, and more peaceful times ahead for the citizens of America and the entire world.

Love,

Rebecca

Four days, four great games

We returned to our New York home on Monday morning after four days in Brookline, MA, for the Maimonides School Invitational Basketball Tournament in Memory of Leland Gelman (Maimonides School Class of 1982).

Watching Joshua play, we were immediately struck by how much his skills have matured since his start on the team as a freshman last year. He is far more confident, and dare I say a bit more aggressive, on the court than he was last year. So, it was no surprise that he played quite a bit more and even somewhat earlier (he started in the second game) in each game than he had as a new, and only freshman, member of the team last year.

This is a relatively small tournament, and this year involved four schools:

PARTICIPATING TEAMS - BOYS

Maimonides School (Brookline, MA)

Kohelet Yeshiva High School (Merion, PA)

Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School (Livington, NJ)

Rambam Mesivta High School (Lawrence, NY)

PARTICIPATING TEAMS - GIRLS

Maimonides Schoo l(Brookline, MA)

Kohelet Yeshiva High School (Merion, PA)

Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, MD)

Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School (Lawrence, NY)

All of the M-Cats games were played at Maimonides, so we drove the 25 miles from Sharon up to Brookline, the ride three of our grandchildren take on the bus every day, four times in four days. But it was a ride of love and joy, not only to see Joshua on the court but also to cheer along with the team as they won all four of their games and hence the championship! The M-Cats girls’ team did just as well, winning all four of their games. It happens that we have known the father of one of the girls on that team for many years, because he is the younger brother of one of our longest-term friends who we remember from visits with their parents to Rochester when he was just in junior high school.

Keep an eye on #44 toward the end of this short video that Eliana managed to capture on her phone.

The final scores for the four games the M-Cats boys team played:

Day 1	Thursday evening	Maimonides – 66	Berman – 33
Day 2	Friday morning	Maimonides – 51	Kushner – 34
Day 3	Saturday night	Maimonides – 74	Kohelet – 46
Day 4	Sunday afternoon	Maimonides – 64	Kushner - 41

We returned home exhausted but so glad we were able to be there for all four games and to help celebrate with dinner out at Kosher Wok in Brookline on Sunday evening. Great job, M-Cats! We look forward to seeing as many games as we can this season, including the M-Cats return to the Sarachek Tournament at Yeshiva University in New York next March.

Love,

Rebecca

Marriage Story

When I last wrote, we had returned to New York and Barry was embarking on a week of teaching his course to a group of radiation oncology residents in Israel. He was up well before the crack of dawn every morning this past week, which left us both fairly exhausted, so we were happy not to leave the house all weekend.

It is quite amazing how one can, these days, without getting all dressed in warm winter clothing and heading out into the cold, see a new film right in the comfort of our own family room. So, although it is playing at a number of theaters in New York, we chose to watch it the new film, “Marriage Story,” on Netflix.

It probably comes as no surprise that this is not a happily-ever-after tale. This Noah Baumbach story follows the two main characters, actress Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and theater director Charlie (Adam Driver) Barber through the dissolution of their once seemingly happy marriage. It is not a pretty story, and it is particularly painful to watch the impact on their young son, Henry, played by Azhy Robertson. As the film opens, Nicole is offered a role in a television series and takes off for Los Angeles with their son, while Charlie remains in New York where he is about to open a new play.

It is no surprise that this does not work as a long-term arrangement, but things between the two of them grow quite ugly. I suppose it is a tribute to the writing and acting that it is rather painful to watch the dissolution of what had seemed a reasonable relationship. After a year of shuttling between New York and Los Angeles, Charlie takes on a directing role in Los Angeles, and although by then Nicole has already moved in with a new partner, there is at least some hope that they will be able to maintain a civil enough relationship to be decent parents to Henry.

Have a great week.

Love,

Rebecca

The return of winter

It is the first of December and there is snow falling. This cannot bode well for the weeks and months ahead. The weather forecast indicates that this will continue on and off into Tuesday.

As a result of listening carefully to the predictions, we did something we virtually never do: we drove back to New York from Sharon after Shabbat. Although it ends early Saturday night at this time of year, the traffic was quite heavy, and the ride took a good hour longer than the usual 3½ hours it usually takes. But we arrived home safe and sound, and the flakes began to fall by late this morning, validating our decision.

Having said all that, we still regret having to make that decision, because it cut short the time we had with our family. Still, we did manage to have some fun. In order to avoid the eve-of-holiday traffic, we had arranged for our usual Wednesday house cleaning to be done on Tuesday, and left New York that afternoon. On Wednesday, the schools had early dismissal, so we took Eliana and Ella to see “Playing with Fire.” I am not even going to dignify this movie with a full review, but it did have a few amusing lines and the girls enjoyed it, which was, after all, the main goal of the exercise.

On Thurday morning we headed off with Dina and family in a cold, light rain to the nearby town of Dedham, where all 6 of them ran a 5K “Turkey Trot.” This has become fairly popular, with similar races in a slew of small towns in the area. Technically the two little ones participated in jogging strollers pushed by their parents. Ella has gotten into running with Dina, and Joshua, who had never run such a race, did quite well, arriving at the finish line well before the rest of the group. The rain finally stopped about midway through the race.

Joshua came over to watch some sports with Barry for the afternoon, and then we all headed over to Simmie’s house for a huge Thanksgiving feast with our daughters and their families, who were joined by Ronen’s parents and his sister and brother-in-law and their four children, so we were a group of twenty in total. It was a “Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat,” to steal a phrase from Arlo Guthrie.

We spent Friday morning with Julia, playing games and drawing and watching a movie. She is really such a joy to have around.

On Shabbat we had lunch with Dina and family. And as soon as it ended, we packed up the car and headed back to New York.

Barry has a busy week ahead. Early this morning – at 6 am local time – he taught the first of five mornings of lectures to a group of radiation oncology residents at the various hospitals in Israel. For over thirty years, he had travelled to Israel (or in two instances, it was actually in Istanbul and included residents from a variety of countries throughout the Middle East) every five years or so to teach this course. He wanted to be able to continue to do this but was reluctant to take on the travel, because it would keep him away from me for too long and is simply exhausting. So, he told the organizers that he would be happy to teach if they would allow him to do so remotely, which these days, with the wonders of modern technology, is actually quite feasible. The first sessions this morning went quite smoothly.

Of course, since we arrived home rather late last evening, we have really burned the candle at both ends, and although it is only mid afternoon we are definitely starting to slow down.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and if you are in the path of this storm, which is quite large and intense, just stay safe and warm!

Love,

Rebecca