Mike Fink

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Harry Ezratty’s helpful and useful study of Caribbean Jewish history, in “The Jews in the New World” trilogy, claims there isn’t much of a Sephardic presence in Puerto Rico: Spanish rule and the Inquisition discouraged all but a few … more

Mike Fink | 3/18/16

Mom’s creativity didn’t condone tobacco

I like to fight back against the health-food and exercise addicts. “My father,” I claim, “prescribed salt – a pile, a pillar, of it against infection, a cigarette as a cure for a cold, and a shot of Four Roses as a pick-me-up … more

Mike Fink | 2/19/16

No matter the adventure, home is best

I’m not a rabbi, but I AM a “minister.” She sent me a legal document that declares I can perform a proper marriage ceremony – my alumna, who met a boy in Rome and brought him to her nice little cul-de-sac in Brooklyn. (The home purchased … more

Mike Fink | 1/22/16

An artful approach to teaching Bible to RISD students

It’s such a big book, how can you “teach” it in a single semester? My art students at the Rhode Island School of Design put most of their talents and efforts into the studio world, not the classroom realm of ideas. It’s hard … more

Mike Fink | 12/25/15

From humor to Jewish connections and back again

The timing was perfect: daylight saving time ended, giving us back a lost hour. I went to Columbus, Ohio, to visit the homestead of my favorite American humorist, James Thurber. My freshman roommate at Yale had handed me … more

Mike Fink | 11/27/15

Classic movies portrayed the Arab world in a benign light

As a teacher of film history, I show “classic” movies of yore and compare them to recent fare, adding commentary about their contexts. Here is such a comparison between then and now on-screen. Sabu, the Indian stable boy who was the … more

Mike Fink | 10/29/15

In old trinkets, faded photos and my thoughts, I see my father richly

My father was born in London – in Whitechapel, the Jewish quarter. He was a first-born – a son! – so I have a fine framed oval portrait of him, dressed rather royally as a toddler, standing proudly and with poise for the … more

Mike Fink | 9/17/15

‘Dumbo’ was Jewish – who knew!

I came across an odd and intriguing obituary: one Helen Aberson of Syracuse, New York, had died and asked the mourners to contribute to the United Jewish Appeal. Oh, and by the way, nonagenarian Helen Aberson had published one book, a … more

Mike Fink | 9/3/15

Native son publishes ‘treasure of a book’

“Denmark: A Photographer’s Odyssey” is a treasure of a book by our native son Marshall H. Cohen, a handsome volume printed by Narayana Press in Denmark and available locally at the Brown University Bookstore or by email … more

Mike Fink | 8/6/15

A story of a creative legacy

“I was born in the Negev desert. The Turkish Ottoman Empire was crumbling, but my family was busy rebuilding the Hebrew language,” she said. Varda Lev asked me to her home in the vicinity of the statue of Roger Williams. She wanted to show … more

Mike Fink | 6/18/15