And this is one of the major questions of our lives: how we keep boundaries, what permission we have to cross boundaries, and how we do so.

Traveling is one expression of the desire to cross boundaries.

The question of boundaries is a major question of the Jewish people because the Jews are the great experts of crossing boundaries. They have a sense of identity inside themselves that doesn't permit them to cross boundaries with other people.

So with truth - there is a certain moment when one can say, this is the truth and here I put a dot, a stop, and I go to another thing. A judge has to put an end to a deliberation. But for a historian, theres never an end to the past. It can go on and on and on.

Intimate relationships are a gold mine for literature to explore, to understand, to describe.

We always knew how to honor fallen soldiers. They were killed for our sake, they went out on our mission. But how are we to mourn a random man killed in a terrorist attack while sitting in a cafe? How do you mourn a housewife who got on a bus and never returned?

The most difficult and complicated part of the writing process is the beginning.