And the Life Lesson This Brilliant Man Could Have Learned From Me

After an amazing week visiting my sisters and their kids — back in the warmth of my New Jersey childhood home — I’m writing this from 30,000 feet in the air, headed back to my home away from home in Los Angeles.

Sadly, I just missed the rally organized by End Jew Hatred in front of Gracie Mansion — something Isaac Asimov would have disapproved of.

For some ungodly reason, I’ve been thinking about him lately.

Maybe it’s because of all this talk about AI and robots — the world Asimov imagined hasn’t been realized since it’s living up to his own words, “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

As small worlds go, Asimov once lived next door to my sister Rita on Central Park West. When Rita gave birth to her daughter, he wrote her a poem — a lovely, generous gesture from a remarkable neighbor and human being.

The more I’ve revisited his life and work, the more I understand just how brilliant he was. But I’ve also come to believe that when it came to Jewish survival, he fundamentally misunderstood the world as it actually is. He even questioned whether the State of Israel was a good idea back in 1948.

Regardless of his atheism, secularism, or distance from tradition, Isaac Asimov was a Jew. The world doesn’t care how detached a Jew becomes from his peoplehood. In this game of chance, the Jews are chosen alright — chosen to be........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)