Dostoevsky Was an Antisemite. I Still Think You Should Read Him
5 min read
And the valuable lessons they taught me.
Looking back at my 87-year journey, there is so much I am grateful for. The chance to work hard and become a plaintiff’s attorney and prosecutor—a career I was devoted to for 55 years. The chance to raise a beautiful family. The chance to write eight novels and seven plays on topics I am passionate about such as injustice and oppression.
I come from a poor background. My mother immigrated from Poland and was married by the age of 14. My father worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. After being hit on the head by a missile he was working on, he suffered a brain injury that kept him in and out of psychiatric institutions for the rest of his life. I worked full-time to put myself through law school while my children were small.
But what I’ve had consistently from my youngest days through the present is something far more valuable than material wealth. I had a circle of strong Jewish women whose spirit and influence shaped my character, guided my decisions, and inspired me to fight against injustice.
My mother, Jeannette, and her boys
My mother, Jeannette, was the bedrock of my upbringing. After her marriage at the tender age of 14, she overcame a series of daunting challenges—from my father’s accident to raising four children on her own. Her resilience and fortitude were nothing short of extraordinary. Yet, as if ensuring her own family’s well-being were not enough, she also fought for the rights of New York welfare recipients. We were welfare recipients ourselves. Through this experience my mother saw the grave injustices in the system and was compelled to fight them.
My mother’s sister—my Aunt Helen—had a larger-than-life personality and an unyielding spirit. She, too, was driven to fight against injustice. After moving to Brooklyn from the Bronx, she witnessed the inhumane actions of negligent landlords and became an advocate for the rights of tenants in the Coney Island neighborhood where she lived. These qualities and her relentless dedication left a lasting impression on me.
Me and my sister Susan
Then there's my sister Susan, a powerhouse in her own right. Susan became the president of a large real estate company in Orlando. Thanks to her natural leadership skills combined with drive and determination that mirror my mother’s and aunt’s, she has steered the company to resounding success.
My wife, Arleen, is a talented artist, musician, and composer who speaks five languages. She has been my muse and my anchor for over 60 years. On top of her own creative work, her involvement in musical symphony youth projects worldwide continues the family tradition of dedication to community and bettering others’ lives.
My wife Arleen and me
Tragically, my daughter Lexie passed away six years ago at the age of 50. In her lifetime and beyond it, she has been another source of inspiration. Lexie was fiercely independent and artistic, managing her illness with a grace and strength that was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Her advocacy for Native American tribes in New Mexico was another chapter in our family’s legacy of advocacy and justice.
My daughter Lexie
These formidable women instilled in me the drive to fight against injustice and have taught me invaluable lessons:
My mother and my Aunt Helen’s initiatives to fight for welfare recipients and tenants engrained upon me the importance that not only is it possible to stand up to injustice, but doing so is a must. If you are a witness to wrongdoing you can be part of the solution. Nobody can change the world alone, but we can all do something in our communities, from speaking up to fundraising or engaging in broader advocacy.
No matter how challenging one’s own circumstances might be, we all have the inner resources to overcome them, and thrive. The key is to focus on solutions, not obstacles, and to believe that giving up is not an option. This mindset helped me push through while juggling law school with full-time work and family commitments, while working on especially challenging legal cases and while writing my novels and plays, which was no easy feat.
Helping others is both a gift to the world and a balm for oneself. All of the amazing women in my life have gained strength and determination when involved in a cause. This inspired me to do my own part helping those around me, from becoming a class action and personal injury plaintiff’s attorney and a criminal prosecutor to writing plays and novels that reveal the injustices that play out in our courtrooms.
The presence of each one of these women in my inner circle have shown me the invincible power of family bonds and support. Without them, I am certain that I would not have become the husband, father, lawyer and writer that I am today.
