Finding Landsmen*

One of the great joys of my life is introducing friends who find they have something in common besides me. Yesterday Devorah met Laurie and Terri. The conversation rolled for hours as they talked about developmental psychology, deep ecology, and activism for people with disabilities; today Devorah met Annie, who like Devorah is a Jewish New Yorker who grew up in a Communist family. The two of them have so much in common they both were bursting to tell it. They talked simultaneously, interrupted each other, shouted, laughed, and bounced with delight. I loved watching them and listening, and I learned things about both of them I'd never heard before. They talked about songs (and sang a few), about heroes and martyrs, about going to demonstrations as children and being frightened by the shouting and the police. They remembered Yiddish Theatre (for which Devorah's mother and grandmother sewed costumes); told stories about their parents, about Yiddish shul, about summer camps, about Nazis in Europe and the FBI and its pursuit of Communists in the 50s.

I learned I was mistaken about Annie. She didn't come from the Bronx; she's from Brooklyn. Very significant difference. I stand corrected. Devorah's from the Bronx, and like many brilliant people, went to The Bronx High School of Science. She and Annie each have three Master's degrees and a Ph.D. Wonderful talk, these two.

*The term Landsmen used by Yiddish speakers means compatriots from the same area of origin.