by Phyllis Chesler What is there to say that has not already been said? First, that it is surprising, and rather strange, that we are so totally and thoroughly unprepared, at least psychologically, for something that has always been so familiar to most of humanity. The known world has been ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler A crescent moon appears to flow through the ether (a cloud) with Jupiter and Mars (above the moon) as the three rise in the early morning hours. By Stan Honda. I live in a building filled with the most interesting and accomplished people. Photographers, physicians, and psychoanalysts; ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Hannah presents Samuel to Eli the Priest by Jan Victors (1645) We must not deny reality, we must choose life even as we pray for G-d to grant it to us. The world is experiencing what feels like a global war of immense proportions. Facts change hourly; guidelines and advice ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler I read, write, and answer email all day but then, come night, every night now, I settle down to watch a movie or episodes from a series. What have others been watching? I’ve already seen most of the “high class” films, many of the world’s best police procedurals and forensic ...Read More...

Borders have been closed and my city is filling up with morgues-in-tents and with refrigerated trucks for corpses. How medieval is this? by Phyllis Chesler In a dizzying instant, we have traveled back in time to the Middle Ages. For now, and for who knows how long, we are living in small, ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chelser The great gravelly-voiced Bob Dylan, one of our nation’s premier troubadours and poet-singers, just released a new spoken song, accompanied by a piano and a piercing violin and it is one hell of a powerful and mournful elegy for America, beginning with the assassination of ...Read More...

Oh, where is Dr. Freud when one needs him? by Phyllis Chesler Who would ever have thought that anything could knock the pandemic of Jew hatred off the front pages? Well, the Chinese government has managed to do so. All day, every day, perhaps with the exception of some particularly malevolent ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chelser Peach rose blossom on Hizkiyahu ha-Melekh Street, Jerusalem, photographed by Jaskow I have a friend who is a cantor, a composer, a singer, and a photographer of the most exquisite sights. She lives in Jerusalem and her name is Rahel Sharon Jaskow. She ought to have a dealer ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Florida sunset taken by Barbara Chasen In the midst of horror, at a time of fear, natural marvels still abound—they are all around us. Who would have guessed that green and blue really do go together? Blue Seas, blue Skies, and green earth. Could these colors have been tossed ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Humidity does not become me. Yesterday was a gray and rainy day in Manhattan—and a very humid one at that. For the second time in as many weeks, I turned quite cranky. My mood brought to mind two of Sylvia Plath’s excellent lines: “Viciousness in the kitchen! The potatoes ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Bravo! New York State Governor Cuomo has just shut down all non-essential businesses as of Sunday night and rightly so. Many people are still behaving recklessly, self-destructively, with no concern for themselves or for others whom they may unknowingly infect. People are ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Colette Some say that the writing life is like that of an invalid’s, isolated, indoors: a woman’s life. I have been ill, in and out of surgeries, long out of agony, but left walking disabled for many years. Being confined is not that different for me—except that now, I ...Read More...

In quarantine at home in the city, I dream of being out in the country. If I could but see "a host, of daffodils..." but photos are the next best thing. by Phyllis Chesler Cooped up, shut in, as so many of us are, I am surrounded by city noises: sirens, fire trucks, car alarms—and a strange ...Read More...

by Phyllis Chesler Standing at the edge of the world as we have known it, people are still strolling, biking, hiking, and running all over America, some arm in arm. I’ve seen them on television, I’ve heard about them from eyewitnesses. Tourists are still visiting Times Square and taking photos ...Read More...

What better task can a writer undertake than to keep a record of daily events given that she must practice “social distancing?” by Phyllis Chesler Today, the streets in Manhattan are cold, sunny, and relatively empty as are the roads and highways. It is blessedly quiet here. I have been told ...Read More...