Category Archives: Memoir

Real Life Returns

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Abigail

Real Life Returns I’ve just finished writing and footnoting an article, exploring new territory, with potential impact in a controversy that’s been roiling opinion-shapers for decades. Tonight I sent it to an editor at an influential journal of opinion who … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Childhood, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, motherhood, nineteenth-century, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail’s debut, animal characters, bad kids, Bagheera the black panther, Baloo the Bear, bungalow colony, Camp Hilltop, childhood friendship, controversial essay, falling flower pot, famous victory, few mourners, fighting injustice, fighting words, fisticuffs, grown-up stuff, influential review, Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue”, journal of opinion, kid stuff, kudos, Mowgli, Old Stony Road, opinion shapers, pyrrhic victory, real life, receptive editor, rich and famous, Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, scholarly article, social flop, summer camp, summer playtime, the unexpected, unfair combat, Watchung hills of New Jersey | 2 Comments

Acting the Part

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Abigail

Acting the Part When I was newly arrived in Paris as a young Fulbright Scholar, I was invited to have lunch at the home of the Israeli ambassador to France. He was my mother’s first cousin. Hence the invitation. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Gender Balance, glitterati, hegemony, hierarchy, history of ideas, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral psychology, novels, Ontology, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, twentieth century, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged ambassadorial residence, annals of contempt, bad faith, beaux quartiers, cheap meals, comme il faut, cousins, exchange of courtesies, feeling flustered, France, French waiter, Fulbright Scholar, Israeli ambassador, Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness, kiss on both cheeks, Latin Quarter, Les Deux Magots, long red carpet, luncheon guest, mauvaise foi, Mme. Ambassador, Paris, philosophers’ cafe, pitiless gaze, role playing, Saint Germain des Pres, servants’ esteem, servants’ gaze, social zero, Stendahl’s The Red and The Black, student restaurant card, student restaurants, the gaze | 2 Comments

The Family Laundry

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Abigail

A cousin just told me that the Israeli branch of the family is putting out a book that she has seen in advance of publication. It’s about the immediate forebears of that branch, who are people of large consequence in … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute freedom and terror, Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, books, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Oppression, Past and Future, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Uncategorized, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged anti-semitism, anti-Zionism, biblical Israel, Biblical narrative, book projects, Commemorative volume, Coulda been a contender, El Al flight, Eminent families, Exclusivism in religion, Family flaws, Family lineage, family prestige, Family pride, Family secrets, Family shame, family tree, Flaws and virtues, Generational change, God and Abraham, going along to get along, Grammatical competence, Holy envy, Identity reinforced, Identity undermined, Jerusalem, Jungian thought-forms, Kibbutznik, Krister Stendahl, lech, lecha, Life summonses, Medieval Jerusalem, modern Israel, moral courage, Objective case, opportunism, Passing the buck, Personal truthfulness, Political dynasties, pride and shame, promised land, Reclaiming desert, Religious pluralism, Reproving transgression, Self-betrayal, selling out, Sense of identity, Skeletons in the closet, Speaking Hebrew, Taking a stand, The cost of taking a stand, The navel of the world, truth unvarnished, Visiting Israel, Washing family laundry, Wedding on the Jordan | Leave a comment

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Abigail

*Erratum: The location of the Archives for Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion is Cincinnati, not Cleveland.* My Grandfather, Rav Tsair I almost never think about him. He died when I was about ten, when other supports of a safe … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Academe, Action, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, nineteenth-century, non-violence, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Renaissance, Roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a biblical character, abstract universalism, Albert Einstein, ancestral protection, antisemitism, Archiving, assistant professor of Philosophy, believing Jews, Bible as history, biblical mindset, bitzaron, careers open to talents, Chaim Tchernowitz (pen name Rav Tsair "the Young Rabbi"), chief rabbi of Odessa, classical Hebrew, countering pogroms, ethics of the prophets, European Jews, evolution of oral law, exile as mission, family prestige, Felix Frankfurter, German doctorate in Judaica, grandfather, Hebraist literary renaissance, Hebrew Union College, higher criticism, Jewish ancient homeland, Jewish cultural leaders, Jewish destiny, Jewish Institute of Religion, Jewish jurisprudence, Jewish marriage, Jewish mission, Jewish political independence, Jewish public intellectuals, Jewish scholarship, Jewish system of meaning, Jewish wars, Jews as a people, Judaism as a religion, light unto the nations, marvelous stories, national renewal, Odessa, Oral Law, over-interllectualized, pogroms, pre-modern views of Jews, professor of Talmud, protected childhood, quietism, rabbinic quietism, rabbinical seminaries, Rav Tsair, realistic fear, secular Jews, secular Zionism, sophisticated young woman, Stephen Vincent Benet’s The King of The Cats, supreme court justice, Talmudics, The Covenant, The Covenant in history, the Holocaust, the scriptural canon, the Zionist project, thought and action fused, universalism and particularism, universalism of the prophets, women’s other-directedness, yichus, young girls | Leave a comment

The Thrill of Admiration

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Abigail

The Thrill of Admiration These days I’m reading Jacob Howland’s wonderful book about Plato’s Republic, the great dialogue that shows how hard it is to teach virtue in the political arena. At the same time, I’m mentally settling down … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, books, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, Oppression, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a long romance, Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", admirers and detractors, Adolf Eichmann, Aristotle, “call no man happy”, buffetings of public opinion, Chaim Tchernowitz, death and glory, deserved honors, fall from grace, fame and fortune, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, history’s big stage, history’s unfair verdict, history’s verdict, inflated reputation, Jacob Howland’s Glaucon’s Fate: History Myth and Character in Plato’s Republic, Jewish history, legacy, lost reputation, lucky in love, mental programming, mindless bureaucrats, named professorships, Nazi bureaucracy, opinion shapers, Plato, Plato's Republic, posterity's verdict, posthumous reputation, public disfavor, public esteem, Rav Tsair, reputation, reversals of fortune, risks to happiness, Solon of Athens, the Holocaust, the just and the unjust, the just man, the race well run, uplifting versus defaming a reputation, victims and perpetrators, W.H. Auden's In Memory of W B Yeats, writers and philosophers | Leave a comment

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Abigail

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair I almost never think about him. He died when I was about ten, when other supports of a safe childhood were also falling away. The destiny of a young girl loomed just around the corner, with … Continue reading →

Alter Egos

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Abigail

Alter Egos I’ve just finished reading the remaining chapters of my book, A Good Look at Evil. Though it’s a contribution to the field of philosophy, it has a dramatic build to it. Initial chapters deal with the conceptual battles … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, books, bureaucracy, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's "A Good Look at Evil", Arabian horses, Arendt’s personal story, banality of evil, behaviorism, bureaucratic conformism, cog in the wheel, conceptual fights, connecting the dots, crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jews, dramatic story, Eichmann trial, equine therapy, following orders excuse, genocide, Gentile world, getting thrown, going country, Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Holocaust, horse as confidante, horse grooming, horsemanship, horses and risk, influence, intellectual detective work, intellectual rationale, intuitive horseback riding, Israeli secret agents, Jewish world, just following orders, Laurel Nobilis Arabians LLC, Milgram experiments, moral displacements, moral evasions, moral projections, narrative, Nazi haven in Argentina, obfuscations, personal life, philosophy, received truth, scared of horses, Skewbald, spirit of history, Stanford Prison Experiments, stilling the mind, talking horse, the kidnap of Eichmann, the Mossad, trust and mistrust, value judgments, you are what you think | Leave a comment

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Category Archives: Memoir

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