Meet Eric Reisman

April 1, 2024 | People in Our Neighborhood

By Jewish Connection Network

I understand you recently retired from teaching, what are things that you’ve done to keep busy and to find a new sense of purpose? 

I knew when I retired that I was done teaching, but not done working. I’ve taken on several jobs since I retired. I worked as a job coach for Jewish Communal Services, I worked with a company that helps seniors move and downsize, and several other things. Now I love substitute teaching at several private schools in the area. And of course, I’ve been writing and promoting my book, The Boys from the Bronx: A Story of Brotherly Love Forged in War and Peace.

What inspired you to write this book? And how did you persevere through such a long project? 

My dad was the Director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University for 30 years, so I started to think about writing his story, and what he had taught me about brotherly love. A few years after he died, my mother gave me a collection of letters he had saved, mostly from during the War years. As I began reading these and writing about his life, I came to realize that the real story was about the group of friends he had from his childhood in the Bronx, who started a sports club in 1938 and who were still friends 70 years later.

Share one story, or a little snippet, from the book to whet our appetite.

The story I always share is a letter from one of his friends that starts “Dear Prick…”  This was a term of endearment, and the letter urged my dad not to be in such a hurry to enlist. It tells the story of a group of men who truly loved each other, but they didn’t have words to say it.

Does your family have any special Passover traditions? 

Our family tradition is that my daughters and wife are in charge! We are always changing things about our seder as the family grows and changes. 

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