MAY THEIR MEMORY BE A LESSON

I WAS AT A RESORT OUTSIDE PHOENIX preparing for an uncharacteristically—for me, that is—relaxing day. Armed with a stack of books (admittedly, most of them dealt with the Holocaust), I had planned a day of sitting by a pool and reading.

As I crossed the grounds, a woman who had heard me speak the previous night about contemporary anti-Semitism, approached: “Your words were prescient.” Sensing my confusion, she added, “The shooting. Pittsburgh. The synagogue.” I immediately turned