Changing the World

Hey guys,

This semester's going great. The highlights are the interesting law class and the fantastic Entrepreneurship seminar I'm attending this week (class started Sunday, and the final exam is already tomorrow morning!). I came to the realization yesterday that not only can entrepreneurs change the world, but also...what is more Zionist than creating jobs in Israel while serving a need of the Israeli public? Thoughts to be cooked soon--stay tuned...

Dear Dad,

Yesterday I had a comforting realization: while listening to a stunningly beautiful Fred Hersch performance from his album "Thelonious," I was saddened to think that you would never be able to hear the immense depth of his playing again. But then I realized that every song I listen to, you're there listening along with me...

I've put a lot of time into learning my favorite of your compositions, R.S.V.P.--the last piano lesson you gave me. I can feel the debut performance coming soon!

Last Thursday night I joined the student association's spectacular moonlit hike in the Chavarim "River" (water only flows there during flash floods) near Sde Boker. At the end of the hike, our tour guide wrapped up his explanation of the locale, then led us ahead for a silent walk (the silence lasted several minutes). A couple classmates started to hum "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. Sublime... I looked up to the full moon; it ducked in and out of an oval-shaped cloud formation. The "Moonbeams" (the name of a Bill Evans album) that beamed through in an undescribably beautiful manner left me with no doubt that you were looking down on me.

The moon and I had a rough stretch for awhile. The doctors said you had about two good months left on this Earth shortly before Purim and its full moon. I stopped with good friend Josh on a Purim night walk through Jerusalem, looked up, and realized your "moons" on Earth were numbered. As it turned out, the doctor was overly optimistic, and G-d only gave you one more moon with us.

For some time, I couldn't look up at the moon without getting choked up. Now, eight moons later, I miss you and love you more than ever, but I also feel you with me as I do what I can every day to earn my Master's in Gerontology and then aim to change the world of elder care in Israel!

--

In honor of my alma mater Michigan finally beating ohio again for the first time since I rushed the field in 2003, here's the amazing ohio pregame video, a fantastic set of pictures depicting a Day in the Life at Michigan, and an amazingly goofy MGoBlog post detailing the ohio win in the style of Star Wars.

Here's a YouTube find for the ages: Ask Me No Questions - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King from their In Session album. That driving beat was my anthem for the 2003 Chicago Marathon. I sang it to myself on loop for 3 hours and 43 minutes. Not gonna lie--it did get a bit old around mile 18, but the videos from that recording will never get old.

My Biology of Aging professor mentioned Jeanne Calment, a French woman who nearly reached age 122 1/2. Her Wikipedia page shockingly claims that she smoked until age 117 and ate nearly a kilogram of chocolate a week. Unreal!

Here's the NYT behind the scenes piece on Gilad.

As I always do, I'm using music to get through a stretch of papers and exams. Here is a great WSJ article on pump up songs and the Shostakovich mentioned in the article.

My aforementioned friend Joshua Basofin on Israel's Carmel Forest's independent (we hope) rebirth.

A very powerful story about my freshman year quarterback (Brian Griese)'s initiative in supporting grieving children in Denver.

The wikipedia page of an incredible Holocaust survivor whom I met here in Beer Sheva, who as an entrepreneur built the Negev's classical music scene.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers will make their Israel debut next September 10. This country isn't terribly successful at advance planning, but we obviously are pretty good at booking foreign bands way in advance.

This son of two lesbians makes his case as eloquently as I could imagine.

--

Off to practice R.S.V.P. a bit, then wrap up the reading and prep for the exam! Love,

אריק/Eric

P.S. My late night practice session just coincided with that of Yossi, a ridiculously talented pianist who's studying Bio-tech Engineering. He was just knocked out by R.S.V.P. (especially the chord voicings you wrote for me at the end of the piece)! He even started quoting the opening line and improvised something beautiful from it...back to the reading...