Jonathan Tobias

About a hundred years ago at a yeshiva school —where young men study the Torah and the Talmud — the students were being not a little testy and combative. Nasty arguments became a daily occurrence. Cliques were formed and denunciatory campaigns were waged. There were many “sides” — each of which presumed the “others” were motivated by wicked desires. Rude signs were posted. Crude vulgarities were splayed out beside the bathroom mirrors.

The tomato sandwich culture has its own orthodoxy. Some of my stalwart associates insist that it should consist of only these four ingredients: a thick slice of tomato, two slices of Wonder Bread, a dollop of mayonnaise, and a pinch of salt. But the tomato sandwich is susceptible to numerous interpretations.

I’m approaching the fever storm season of the November election with fear and trembling, and I’m not alone. The sturm und drang, anxiety and dread are like the Ghost of Christmas Future who comes visiting in the night, and I feel like Scrooge who hasn’t woken up yet, still twisted up in his bedclothes.

Remember Rumpelstiltskin? He was a creepy impish dude who weaseled an evil deal with a pretty girl who was trapped in a bad situation. For a number of typical fairy tale reasons, she had to spin straw into gold or else lose her head in the morning.

Jonathan Tobias is a resident of Edenton, NC. He can be reached at [email protected], and his substack address is https://substack.com/ @jonathantobias.

This Tuesday, when you step in the voting booth, there’s a word that I’d like you to remember and vote accordingly: Honor.

American prisoners of war are shown gathered at the main gate of Stalag XVII-B in Krems, Austria in 1944.

I love my job.

The Cupola House, which was built in 1758, is shown in Edenton.

Do you know what crow tastes like? I sure do, as I’ve been eating a lot of it since last Wednesday. On that day we were supposed to put out