Who Let the Dogs In?A landlord contends with ‘emotional-support animals.’ May 25 26May 25, 2026Article at WSJ
Organ Recital—Here’s to My Health!At a certain age, you come to appreciate all the medical maintenance that goes into staying alive. Dec 18 25December 18, 2025Article at WSJ
To Life, Marriage and WineMy synagogue’s delightful wedding-anniversary tradition. Oct 17 25October 17, 2025Article at WSJ
Wait a Minute, Mr. PostmanLakewood, Ohio. I wanted to repaint a graffiti-tagged U.S. Postal Service mailbox. It sits in front of an apartment building my family has owned since 1965 in Lakewood, Ohio. I wanted to make it blue again. That simple. This would be like an art… Jan 10 24January 10, 2024Article at WSJ
Maimonides Goes WrongI planned to give a “major gift”—meaning, in philanthropy parlance, a lot of money—to support a live music program at a local nursing home. Many studies show that music can kick-start memories for people with dementia. And I play music. Perfect. I… Dec 06 23December 06, 2023Article at WSJ
My Gazan Friend Is DeadBaraa Abu Elaish and Alice Stratton at Fairfax Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 2014. Photo: Stratton Family I call my friends in Israel every few weeks. I check the war news obsessively and donate to various Jewish and Israeli causes.… Nov 15 23November 15, 2023Article at WSJ
My Dad Escaped Taxes, but Not DeathMy dad didn’t teach me to fix cars; he taught me to fix the books. He kept two sets—one in pencil, the other in ink. The books in pencil were the real numbers, and the books in ink showed a lesser profit, for the Internal Revenue Service. My dad… Apr 05 23April 05, 2023Article at WSJ
For a Language Lesson, Oprima el DosThe janitor at my athletic club liked my Spanish—to a point. He shut me down after several minutes and switched to flawless English. Tutoring wasn’t on his to-do list, apparently. He was from Puerto Rico and effortlessly bilingual. Some… Mar 15 23March 15, 2023Article at WSJ
Rushing to the Gate Is a Young Man’s GameIt’s great sport to arrive at the airport at the last minute. Nothing tops the adrenaline rush of sprinting to the gate. But I’m not that fast anymore, and I’ve retired from the sport. The exception is Cleveland, where I live, which has a medium-size… Nov 21 22November 21, 2022Article at WSJ
It’s All Cake After My Yom Kippur FastI fast on Yom Kippur. My parents didn’t fast and my wife doesn’t. Most American Jews don’t fast. Forty percent of American Jews fast the whole day, according to a 2016 Pew study. On Yom Kippur morning, my wife, Alice, eats cereal for breakfast, and I… Oct 04 22October 04, 2022Article at WSJ
Finding a Good Plumber Is a Heavy LiftBill Poland, 83, is one of the few I know who answer the phone. Lakewood, Ohio A good plumber, who can find? Mine, Bill Poland, is 83. He won’t do fourth-floor work anymore. In one of the apartment buildings I own, he’ll go only to the third floor… Jul 20 22July 20, 2022Article at WSJ
Who’ll Win the Baby Name Game?My wife is pushing our pregnant daughter to name the baby Cecil. My daughter is pregnant and wants to talk about baby names. I’m reluctant. My parents never advised me on what to name my kids or how to raise them. My wife and friends all say I should… Apr 01 22April 01, 2022Article at WSJ
We Are All Ukrainians NowAmerican Jews find the present changes our view of the past. Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania. They’re all the same to many American Jews. I’ve never heard an American Jew boast about his Ukrainian heritage. (One of my grandfathers was from… Mar 13 22March 13, 2022Article at WSJ
Holocaust Remembrance at Café EuropaEveryone in the audience had an astonishing story. Cleveland I played clarinet last month at Café Europa, a Holocaust survivors’ daytime drop-in program. Some of the audience talked during my show, but who has the nerve to tell Holocaust survivors to… Feb 16 22February 16, 2022Article at WSJ
My Deadbeat Tenant Insisted on EvictionLakewood, Ohio I went to my first eviction hearing in two years last week. I hadn’t evicted anybody, or lost any rents, during Covid. The neighborhood social-services agency had given out rent vouchers to six delinquent tenants of mine. The tenant in… Jan 20 22January 20, 2022Article at WSJ
Never Throw Away Santa ClausLakewood, Ohio I got in trouble for throwing out Santa. He was in a storage locker in the basement of one of my apartment buildings. I thought he was junk. I didn’t know he was a “vintage Avon Santa on bicycle ornament from my grandmother,” but that… Dec 22 21December 22, 2021Article at WSJ
My Father Became His Own BossMy dad, Toby, hit tennis balls with me after work. He would say: “Racquet back. Hit it now!” He would repeat that for minutes on end. He wore Bermudas and Jack Purcells, and sometimes no shirt. This was appropriate court attire in the 1960s, at least… Sep 19 21September 19, 2021Article at WSJ
Cleveland Drops the Ball‘Cleveland is a city that has been ravaged by financiers and industrialists . . . its population abandoned to their fate, left to freeze their ass off, standing in the dirty winter slush, waiting for a bus that is a long time coming. Somehow they go… Jul 25 21July 25, 2021Article at WSJ
I’m Cruising Through My 70s With TennisMy tennis buddies sound like middle schoolers when they talk about age differences. A year, plus or minus, is a big deal. “When’s your birthday, Bert?” I’m 71. “Wow, you’re just a baby!” I’m a baby if you’re 73. Each additional year of wear and tear… Jul 08 21July 08, 2021Article at WSJ
Some Acts of God Are Better Than OthersLakewood, Ohio An enormous oak fell onto one of the apartment buildings I own. There was no water damage or burst pipes at the building. That was the beautiful part. Also, nobody was hurt. Eighteen windows were knocked out, plus there was extensive… Dec 02 20December 02, 2020Article at WSJ