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How I got to give a Shoah lecture on January 27

I was in a hospital bed on Holocaust Memorial Day so couldn’t join in any official commemorations. Instead, I talked to my physiotherapst about Jewish loss and it felt meaningful

February 12, 2025 14:39
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3 min read

One cost that I did not take into full calculation when I agreed to do this whole cancer thing (I lie – I never agreed!) was time.

Apart from caring for my family, trying to stay reasonably fit and occasionally sociable, and participating in Jewish life, I have a full-time job. In fact, I would say I have a very full-time job. Although my kids insist on calling me a “teacher” (“Mama, you’re a teacher, you should know what our curriculum is for GCSE computing” or whatever), an academic job is much blobbier. Apart from teaching, there’s research and administration. And let me tell you: you can never publish enough, and the admin duties are here, there, and everywhere, a bit like Hashem in the Uncle Moishe song.

Do I have time to go to an oncologist appointment now and again? Sure. A breast surgeon appointment? OK. How about a scan to check for cancer recurrence? Sounds important. A scan to check on bone density? Vaccinations because I’m higher risk? A visit to the nurse every four weeks to get an injection? A weekly trip to the hospital for physiotherapy?

Even though the physiotherapy helps with the cording that runs down the length of my right arm, a result of my lymphectomy, I can barely fit it into my schedule. Things fall by the wayside.