Issue 26

Motl. Jewish cowpoke. Brisket Boy. My grandfather. As usual, he was bent   (more...)

“Soon it will no longer be possible,” says Dr. Peles, her bespectacled eyes   (more...)

Alarmed at seeing the chubby new congregant in his pew for the second time, Max Arnold sat instead in the last row   (more...)

Esther and Jessie had their first real conversation one wet January morning when Esther slipped and fell.   (more...)

I admit it - I’m a junkie! If I don’t get my fix in the morning, I feel sick all day, and tormented by bitter feelings.   (more...)

Every morning I pray that Saul will write to me, just so I know he is alive. The not knowing is tearing me apart.   (more...)

Shanna Spektor sighed with quiet joy when she spotted the Forverts hanging crisply as if ironed on a library rack.   (more...)

Akiva Cedar, on the cusp of turning eighteen, had long been immune to pre-match jitters. He sat by himself limbering   (more...)

It wasn’t the usual girl behind the counter in the café that day. “What’s happened to Yulia?” Lea asked   (more...)

Teaching a writing class in a retirement home – well, that really marked the point of no return.   (more...)

I was on the front lawn just coming down from a dangerous drug when   (more...)

In July of 1993, a ten-foot long crocodile patrolled the clear waters   (more...)

Chava leaned back against the hard but stylish dining room chair. Up until recently her condo felt like a sanctuary   (more...)

The sky above Yonina’s porch was empty, only a bit of cloud flat as a handkerchief floating there   (more...)

“How long does it take for that cow to take down the trash?” Sabah mutters as he shuffles to the door.   (more...)

Yisgadal v'yiskadash, shmei raba. That's his cue. The Mourner's Kaddish. His signal to alert the other guards   (more...)

Annie fluffed her white hair in front of the mirror, damp from her shower and smelling like lavender soap.   (more...)

The muffler was loud as they entered the driveway. Both sets of parents were on the front steps before he turned   (more...)

Sears & Roebuck Administration Building, March 1942. Last gracious hours of Friday, , and the other switchboard ladies   (more...)

Nine-year-old Jack stood peering   (more...)

The women of Tahiti hover as he convalesces on the veranda. Flowered dresses of sunset orange and peacock green ripple   (more...)

My youngest son, Joseph, became obsessed with the plagues shortly after his tenth Passover Seder.   (more...)

It had been five years since I’d seen my friend Sasha. When I left him in Paris he was happy, in love, and had a brand new   (more...)