An increase in \”societal abuses and discrimination\” against \”some evangelical Christian groups as well as Messianic Jews\” has contributed to a \”slight decline in respect for religious freedom\” in Israel, according to the State Department\’s Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.
Growing up in Syracuse, N.Y, Eileen Douglas lived for the moments she could climb into her grandfather\’s lap and find the pennies he brought — special for her. He faithfully visited his grandchildren every day after leaving his work as a butcher. Yet he never really spoke about his upbringing in Kovno, Lithuania.
\”I thought we weren\’t allowed to talk about it, that if you did, you would hurt the family,\” Douglas recalled. \”My grandfather died suddenly when I was 12 and I never got to say goodbye.\”
Some 25 years after her grandfather died, Douglas paid a visit to her childhood home and stumbled upon a series of forgotten family photographs.
It took me six years of being a grandfather to accept the fact that my grandchildren may not be more brilliant or athletic than everyone else\’s.
During my genealogy research I was surprised to learn that my great-grandfather was a real scoundrel. While it\’s impossible to know what was happening inside of his head, I\’ve found clues that give me a better understanding of who he was.
In his 86th year and in his 86th movie, Kirk Douglas has fulfilled a long-cherished dream by uniting his clan in the film, "It Runs in the Family."
\”The Grandfather Thing\” by Saul Turteltaub (Tallfellow Press, $16.95).\n\nSaul Turteltaub, whom I\’ve known for a good many years, is a funny man and a funny television writer. If you laughed at \”The Carol Burnett Show,\” \”The Jackie Gleason Show,\” \”That Girl\” or \”The Cosby Show,\” tip your hat to Turteltaub, because they are among the 30 major TV shows he has written or produced over a 40- year span.
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