Shalom My Gantseh Megillah Family and Friends,

For the past eleven years I have written commentaries, polemics, personal memories from the Borscht Belt, and various and sundry other thoughts relating to Jewish life. This commentary is devoted to our all too frequently unsung team of regular writers, who month after month offer us the benefit of their talents.

As editor of the Gantseh Megillah, I frequently receive the credit for the quality and dependability of our publication. In fact, this credit is not entirely deserved. The truth is that without our writers there would be no Megillah.

Aside from their prodigious talents, it is their sense of loyalty and devotion that makes this team so very special. Many times I have had to change publication deadlines due to my health situation, which has interfered in many ways in my daily life. During those times, our writers have always found a way to alter their schedules in order to accommodate my needs.

From our earliest contributors who joined our team way back in 1999 to our newest talented members; their desire has been to help me and Arnold make the Gantseh Megillah the fine journal of Jewish life and culture it is.

Most of all, each writer has become a personal friend in the truest sense. Their prayers and loving wishes for my improved health has meant the world to me. Rarely does a day go by without a phone call, emails and cards wishing me a complete recovery from my ongoing medical crisis. In the bleakest times, these friends bring a dose of bright sunlight that helps make those days more bearable.

Allow me to say thank you to all of the members of our writing team for being the friends you have become and continue to be. Thank you Mel, for your monthly dose of heartfelt good humour even as you are caring for your darling Arlene who is going through her own painful recovery.

Thank you Jeannette for your keen insight in your choice of books to review. Having an avid reader share her literary experiences is a gift we can all appreciate. Thank you Marge for your sense of Yiddisheit and laughter. You beautifully describe and animate what is often thought of as the forgotten language. You bring a unique manner in making Yiddish accessible to all who read your work.

Thank you Eddy for your positive thoughts, and most of all your delicious recipes that can warm any soul on both good and difficult occasions. I have found your culinary creations give new meaning to the term, comfort foods. Thank you Nathan, for permitting me to present the excellence of your budding writing talents at the tender age of seventeen. You possess a maturity beyond your years.

Thank you Brian for the light side of entertainment news. Thank you Batya for your excellent and well thought out polemics. Thank you Joel for your keen eye and observations. You constantly have the pulse of political and social commentary, and you unabashedly deliver the life blood to current events.

I also want to express a sincere and heartfelt thank you to Lynnruth who not only graces our magazine with her inimitable sense of humour and heart-warming remembrances, but who also traveled all the way from California to Montreal to entertain at our wedding. Similar gratitude goes to Sonia Pressman Fuentes, one of our very special feature authors who also traveled a great distance, from Florida, to honour us as a guest at our nuptials. And a final thanks to Sharon for your excellent relationship advice.

I also want to give special thanks to our other occasional special feature writers who add their own take on Jewish life and thought. And of course, a special big thank you to our loyal readers who support our efforts in so many ways.

Much love to all of you,
Michael