I have a vague memory of listening to the Kingston Trio singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” on a warped vinyl recording on my parents’ stereo, which at that time was a bona fide piece of furniture in the living room. It made a hiccup with every rotation of the turntable. My generation thought that music with scratches and the occasional skip was normal.

I will let the French, the Italians and the Hawaiians work out among themselves which spoken language is the most beautiful and get back to me. But I assure you that no language is more expressive, clever or snarky as Yiddish, the medieval Eastern European Jewish vernacular. I can speak a little Yiddish, understand a little more than I can speak and because I am genetically programmed as such I think in Yiddish even if my mommeh loshen, my mother tongue is English.

This is my first newsletter. It is really a blog, but the word blog sounds so much like an intestinal obstruction that I prefer the term “newsletter.” I will not be sharing any news that is worthy of the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. I am calling my newsletter Backwards and Forwards. Twice a month I will share with you some thoughts, travel journals, excerpts from past articles and sermons and reflections—mostly lighthearted—about the lives we are living.