Harlan Yaffe

Harlan's Legacy

Every Friday, a story.

A weekly act of remembering, kept alive one Friday at a time.

A living archive of memory

Kept by Hal · Every Friday

Discover a memory

Walk into a part of his life

You don't have to know what you're looking for. Choose a thread and let it lead you — each one gathers the people, places and Fridays that belong together, and walks you through them.

4 memories Humor The stories that made everyone laugh, and a few that still do. Harlan · Zandra L. Yaffe Begin the journey 1 memory Loss & Memory What remains after someone is gone — and how the remembering keeps going. Harlan Begin the journey 6 memories Faith & Traditions Shabbat kept most Fridays — sometimes imperfectly, always on purpose. Harlan · Hal Begin the journey

This week

No. 395 October 2, 2026 5 min

The Pitom

Jewish Life / Shabbat

When Harlan and I were young, we did not fully understand that we were celebrating Sukkot. We were preschoolers in Sunday religious school, then first graders and second graders.

Sukkot was simply something we did every year.

Only in hindsight can we see that our parents did it before us, and their parents did it before them.

Continue reading Listen · 7:12

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The archiveNos. 303 – 39511 memories · Jul – Oct 2026

Explore the archive

This week's memory is one page of a longer record — every Friday kept so far, and every person, place and object in them, searchable.

Who they were

About Harlan

Harlan Blaine Yaffe is remembered here through the weekly stories written by his brother, Hal. His full biography is being carefully assembled from family records, photographs, original writings and the memories of those who knew him.

Further ahead

The Book

One day, a book — fifty stories gathered into six parts, so these Fridays might survive forever. The stories are still being collected; none have been chosen yet.

The fifty are being chosen slowly and thoughtfully. A little more than half already have their place.

  1. I Growing Up Harlan
  2. II Being Harlan
  3. III Mom, Dad and Home
  4. IV Funny Moments That Became Sacred
  5. V Grief and Shabbat
  6. VI Peace, Love & Equality For All