FINDING MYSELF THROUGH WRITING, PART 2
I will freely admit much of my association with the Old Testament and Talmud faded for quite some time after my bar mitzvah 48 years ago. Like many people of my generation, we were imbued in our religious upbringing, went off to college, explored the world, tasted a bit of freedom, and, if we were lucky, circled back around to a decent productive life.
By the same token, I never denied being a Jew and felt more at home with the moral education I had received in my youth. My father passed away in 2012; my mother in 2014. It was likely, I became more attuned to what being Jewish really meant.
Those notions had to be intertwined with who I am as a person, who I had been in my youth, and how I evolved. There are teachings and scripture but in Judaism, they are not a blanket under which everyone rests. They are guidelines for a way of living life. For example, just because I do not keep Kosher does not mean I can’t be a good Jew.
I had fun taking names of customers and clients and weaving them into crime tales. Certainly, I would not directly harm anyone simply because they were rude or disrespectful over the phone, knowing I would never come face to face with them. After a while, that kind of emotional sublimation is not necessary because it is pointless.
The creation of Harold Bergman, on the other hand, has allowed me to explore concerns I have regarding the law, justice, and moral integrity. I can use this almost 30 year old former policeman/war veteran/private detective to ask the questions either I didn’t ask or didn’t know to ask when I was his age. He is an investigator in the “walking a beat” sense; my methodologies involve construction of a story and asking the hard questions.
Once a release date is confirmed, I will go into greater details regarding the plot of the book. For now, suffice it to say I have developed a character that I feel more psychically connected to than at any prior point in my writing. We walk alongside each other, like brothers, asking the questions that many self-aware moral individuals might ask.
The answers don’t always come. But we keep asking the questions. That is how we gain greater insights into ourselves and come closer to God.
NEXT: What have I learned about myself in learning about my main character (and why cats are featured in the photos).
