But I've become attached to these dates, and the way I relate to them has evolved over the months. Believe it or not, the second of these columns was published a year ago almost on the same date. So I might have chosen a different date, for all it's worth. After all, if I'm going to miss the date, I might as well choose which one I want to miss. But it turns out that the date I'd most like to virtually miss (or at least make it look as though I virtually met it) is August 23.
True, we have enough of our own problems in Israel and, more to this specific point, enough of our own dates to commemorate, but I can't (or won't) escape my upbringing, and for me August 23 will always remain the date on which Sacco and Vanzetti were executed.