helath

\”I heard the rabbi is dying of brain cancer.\”

That was the word flying around the shul. I should have expected it. Rumors were rife, and they were uncomfortably close to the truth.

Last Oct. 23, I was speaking at the University of Pennsylvania, to inaugurate the new Hillel building on campus. At dinner, I sat beside my parents.

As I spoke, I felt a little strange, nervous and hot. I had trouble keeping to my train of thought. It occurred to me that I was coming down with a cold.

As I sat down after my speech, my father asked, \”Is there anything wrong?\”

\”No,\” I said, and that is the last thing I remember.