As Tim followed me up the narrow stairwell, he playfully pinched my butt with every step, a pleasant (and painful–in a black-and-blue sort of way) reminder that all I had yearned for as a student...

In WASP families, if you don’t get along with someone, you have as little to do with them as possible. In Jewish families, you move next door, to make them as miserable as possible.

…It also taught me that while cruelty can be fun for a few moments, compassion has a much longer shelf life.