Henry Greenspan
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Henry Greenspan

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Feb 2, 2021, 9:56 AM
Oy Dude!
Hawaii's Makua Rothman surfs at Pe'ahi, also known as Jaws, during big wave surfing on January 14, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / brian Bielmann / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo credit should read BRIAN BIELMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Hawaiian-Jewish surfer Makua Rothman may have ridden the largest wave of all time” —Jewish Telegraphic Agency Oy Dude, it’s such a mitzvah to ride a moving mikva. Not since Moses dunked Yul Brynna has the tribe spritzed such a winna!
Jan 14, 2021, 8:04 AM
Two Plus Two Equals Five: Life in Nowhere
A week ago, I was involved in an online discussion that was, in part, political.  In order to make a point, one of the participants compared mask mandates to “Hitler’s making Danish Jews wear yellow stars.”  In his view,...
Jan 7, 2021, 7:03 PM
Catastrophe, Trump, and the Disaffection Fantasy
American Catastrophe, Trump, and the Fantasy of Disaffection A lot of liberal friends assume that the invasion of the U.S. Capitol incited by Trump will lead to disaffection among a significant number of his followers.  The chorus repeats:  “This is...
Dec 27, 2020, 11:54 PM
A Suicide Bomber Without the Suicide
On Christmas morning in America, an apparent suicide bomber blew himself up in downtown Nashville. For 15 minutes before the blast, a loudspeaker from his van warned people to leave the area. “If you can hear this message, evacuate...
Nov 2, 2020, 6:53 AM
Featured Post
The American bystanders who did nothing
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives to meet with reporters following a Republican strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, September 22, 2020. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Where is the patriotic decency of the Senate Republicans? They have the means and power to do good - including blocking the worst of Trump; instead, they have failed us
Sep 3, 2020, 6:57 PM
The Age of Distraction
I know a lot of writers—scholars, playwrights, journalists, and poets.  All of them describe our time as an Age of Distraction.  At one point, I imagined writing a short play that represented the phenomenon.  Two bank robbers are working...
Jul 5, 2020, 12:26 AM
Breathless in America
On the way to his death, George Floyd repeated “I can’t breathe.” He couldn’t. He was being suffocated by the full weight of a police officer pressed upon his neck. Over the past several months, suffocation has become an American...
Jun 11, 2020, 9:41 PM
Featured Post
From knowing to acting on racism
The problem is not one of perception, but of doing something to right the wrongs that you can't help but perceive
Apr 19, 2020, 11:57 PM
A Webinar for Holocaust Survivors
This may not be fair, but after fifty years of work with Holocaust survivors I have grown increasingly despairing about how much the way we engage survivors is drowning in patronizing and presumption. What follows is a monologue drawn from...
Mar 26, 2020, 9:11 AM
For the elderly, the pandemic is about loss
In response to the pandemic, TV psychologists and my younger friends and colleagues are preoccupied with fear. There are obviously good reasons. But for many of us elderly, the current disaster has more to do with loss. The activities we...
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About Me
Henry (Hank) Greenspan is a psychologist and playwright at the University of Michigan who has been interviewing, teaching, and writing about the Holocaust and its survivors since the 1970s.