Yesterday, my Thursday morning breakfast group, which we have self-named The Mavens, had its 20th anniversary brunch at Woodmont Country Club. It was a rare occasion, because for perhaps the first time, we invited spouses and the like to attend. There were about 70 of us there, missing at least two of us who sent a message from a bar in Paris, only one who said he was coming but did not show, and a number who had conflicts, or who were indisposed and unable to come. But one of our members who now lives in Florida did show up. After all, we are a group of old Jewish men and, for some of us, old means old. Our oldest member, who recently turned 101, was able to come with his daughter, but he is exceptional. But I would guess that the average age of attendees is about 80 and most looked pretty good.

The group was formed by three friends (no longer with us) and has obviously expanded over the years. When I first joined (maybe 15 years ago), we met twice a month at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda. When the pandemic struck, we moved to Zoom, and became a weekly, rather than a bi-weekly group; after all, when we were all at first confined to home, we were looking for activities and connections. When the pandemic ebbed, we stuck with our weekly schedule, but moved one week a month back live to Beth El. We did not go back to our twice at month live schedule, because a couple of active Mavens had moved to Florida and we wanted them to be able to participate as much as possible. That said, we have never added an out of town Maven to our list. Our normal meeting on Zoom has between 30 and 35 attendees, and our live sessions about 25, and we have just under 50 (I think) on our rolls, some of whom are now quite elderly and unable to log on. And of course, our list of departed members grows.

Each meeting is centered on a presentation given by one of the Mavens, followed by a discussion. The topics are chosen by the presenter. Some are related to the presenter’s career; most are really not. Some have a Jewish theme, maybe about half. But the best word to describe the presentations would be “eclectic”. Most presentations are accompanied by Power Point slides, and the slides and of the presentation text, is distributed after the meeting.

The commitment is to do 2 presentations a year, but with about 50 sessions a year and close to 50 members, it doesn’t work out that way. Some members are unable to present for various reasons, as you might imagine, but I think I do about 3 over each 2 year span.

My presentations have been on a wide number of topics, as you might guess. I thought about partial list might be interesting. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.

1. Germany During the Weimar Republic and the Origin of the Third Reich.
2. Garibaldi and the Unification of Italy (as well as Defense of Uruguay, his year on Staten Island, and his time in the French Parliament)
3. Two-Gun Cohen, Sun Yat Sen’s aide and body guard in early 20th century China.
4. Saul Alinsky, his influence on Barack Obama and, yes, Newton Gingrich.
5. The Lost Ark of the Covenant (Is it really in a church in Ethiopia?)
6. Who Was Jabotinsky Really, and What Would He Think of Israel Today?
7. Columbus – Was He or Was He Not?
8. Jamaica’s Jewish History
9. Israel and Water
10. The Development of the Atom Bomb

This will give you an idea of what I have been up to the past 15 years. 25 presentations altogether. 

More to come.