Overview

What is a Jew? A Jew is someone who argues with God whether he believes in Him or not. The war was over long ago, but the Holocaust still lived in his family. It was the subtext of his life, the trauma that held him captive. His father the poet's song about his birth haunted him from early on. He was named Menachem, consolation . . . Above the peaks low clouds unfurl Somber, gray, they spread Like faces from my far-off land Their call rings out unsaid: Bring forth new life, they clamor - To replace six million dead. How could he move on? Yet he knew he had to.

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Michael 'Menachem' Fox has been a dynamic force in the Yiddish Theater as a playwright, songwriter, and performer. His story, as told in this memoir, is a triumph of the spirit. -Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene Lyrically and poignantly written, Becoming Ordinary is no ordinary coming-of-age story. The author breaks the shackles of the trauma that was his legacy after the Holocaust. -Prof. Miriam Hoffman, Journalist, Author, Playwright

"""Michael 'Menachem' Fox has been a dynamic force in the Yiddish Theater as a playwright, songwriter, and performer. His story, as told in this memoir, is a triumph of the spirit."" -Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene ""Lyrically and poignantly written, Becoming Ordinary is no ordinary coming-of-age story. The author breaks the shackles of the trauma that was his legacy after the Holocaust."" -Prof. Miriam Hoffman, Journalist, Author, Playwright"

Author Information

Michael (Menachem) Fox, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in New York. In past years, Michael taught psychology in the School of Education at the City College of New York and at the Pratt Institute. He worked as a psychologist in the public schools of Yonkers and Mamaroneck, New York.A native Yiddish speaker, for the past fifteen years he has worked with the Yiddish-speaking children and families of the Hasidic communities of Brooklyn. Remaining close to his roots in younger days, Menachem taught Yiddish and Yiddish singing to children in the secular after-school programs of the Worker's Circle and the Sholem Aleichem Institute. For a number of years, he led the Yiddish singing class at the Columbia University/YIVO summer Yiddish program.Along with Miriam Hoffman and Rena Berkowicz Borow, he co-led the Yiddish theater workshop at the Oxford University summer Yiddish program. In collaboration with Zalmen Mlotek and Joanne Borts, Menachem co-created and performed in Kids & Yiddish, a musical show for families, at the National Yiddish Theater/Folksbiene. Kids & Yiddish ran for eleven holiday seasons.Menachem also co-wrote and performed in Children Of . . . at the American Jewish Theater and was a principal performer in Two by Wolf with New Yiddish Rep. Menachem is the author of two plays, a children's book, and three novels, in addition to this memoir. He lives in New York City with his partner, Rena Berkowicz Borow. His three adult children, Josh, Alex, and Oriana, are all artists who share their unique and diverse talents around the world.

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