The Bigger Walk

Issue 391 — Friday, September 11, 2026

Issue 391 — Friday, September 11, 2026 Issue 391 — Friday, September 11, 2026 When Harlan and I were young, one of our…

When Harlan and I were young, one of our family rituals was taking a walk around the neighborhood.

In the earliest years, a stroller was involved. Later, Harlan and I might ride together in our red Radio Flyer wagon, pulled by Mom because Dad’s bad back made pulling it difficult.

Dad still had an important job.

Somewhere around the halfway point, he would reach into his pocket and offer us a Life Saver, a wrapped butterscotch, or sometimes a lollipop.

A little reward for continuing the journey.

We grew up in Nopper Gardens. In our tiny childhood microcosm, we did not understand that most neighborhoods had many streets, curves, loops, circles, and paths.

Our world was smaller.

If we started in one direction and took the first turn, we completed what we called the little block.

If we continued another house or two before turning, we made the big block.

As we became a little older and more adventurous, we discovered that we could cross over at the second circle and turn the walk into a figure eight.

Three different journeys.

The same handful of streets.

The same houses.

The same families.

The difference was simply where we turned.

Years later, during the chapter when it was just Harlan and me, we often talked about how small our childhood world had been.

Life had carried us far beyond those two little ovals in Toledo. We had traveled, met people, and seen more of the world. We had learned that everyone grows up inside a neighborhood of some kind.

Every neighborhood becomes its own little universe.

The people inside it can look at the same houses, the same families, and the same events—and remember them through completely different filters.

Harlan and I came to understand how fortunate we had been during those nuclear-family years.

At the time, walking around the same blocks day after day may have seemed repetitive.

Looking back, the repetition was the gift.

The same streets.

The same wagon.

Mom pulling.

Dad reaching into his pocket.

Harlan beside me.

And something sweet waiting halfway around.

That walk came to mind as I remembered Dad talking about Daf Yomi.

Daf Yomi means “a page a day.” People around the world study the same page of the Talmud each day, moving together through a journey that takes about seven and a half years.

Someone studying in Jerusalem, New York, London, Los Angeles—or alone at home—is on the same page as everyone else following the cycle.

But there is something important to understand as we enter Rosh Hashanah:

**Daf Yomi does not begin again with the Jewish New Year.**

The current cycle began on January 5, 2020. Today’s page is Chullin 134. When Rosh Hashanah begins this evening, the cycle will not return to page one.

Tomorrow, it continues with Chullin 135.

The Jewish year begins again.

The Daf Yomi journey keeps moving.

That may be the part that speaks to me most.

You do not have to wait for the perfect beginning.

You do not have to understand every street before taking the walk.

You do not even have to have been there when the journey started.

You can join where everyone is today, learn the rhythm, and become part of something already underway.

I knew something about that because of Harlan.

He was older.

He reached many places before I did.

He knew the people, the routines, and the way things worked.

**Then he made room for me.**

This Friday evening (tonight) begins Rosh Hashanah and the Hebrew year 5787. We have traveled through the month of Elul and Selichot, examining our actions and asking forgiveness for the ways we have missed the mark.

Now we enter the Ten Days of Awe leading toward Yom Kippur, when we will again pause for Yizkor and remember those who completed their walk before us.

Rosh Hashanah asks us to look at where we have been—and decide where we will turn next.

Will we keep walking the same little circle because it is familiar?

Will we take the bigger block and widen our view?

Will we cross the street and discover a path we never realized was there?

Or will we simply join the people already walking and take the next step with them?

Sometimes we become so focused on our immediate surroundings that we forget to step back and see the larger journey.

So, on behalf of my brother, my mother, my father, and all those who came before them, I am handing each of you a sweet treat.

**Let’s take the bigger walk together.**

One street at a time.

One page at a time.

One year leading into the next.

May the coming year help us look beyond our own little block, understand the different paths traveled by others, and recognize how blessed we are to share even part of the journey.

May Harlan’s memory continue to be a blessing.

**Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova.**

**Peace, Love & Equality For All!**

*Hal & Peggy Jo*