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| Laughter (Public Domain) |
Maybe it was
because he grew up in the rough sections
of Philadephia, or maybe it was because
he was raised in the Jewish
tradition of chesed (loving kindness) – who knows?
Nevertheless,
it seems that comedian David Brenner
had his heart in the right places
when it really counted.
Wikipedia explains that Brenner had prioritized having
custody of his son Cole. In order to achieve and maintain this, Brenner
had to seriously curtail his professional
engagements (including appearances on
The Tonight Show). Otherwise, the
courts would have deemed him to
be an absentee father.
This
prioritization of family over personal ambition
somewhat mirrored a decision
that David’s father had made. When Brenner
Senior was a young man, he too was in
show business. However,
his own father
(David’s grandfather, who was a rabbi)
felt that it was wrong to work on the
Sabbath. In deference to this, Brenner
Senior also deliberately
curtailed his career.
David Brenner
not only prioritized his children, but
also showed a great deal of kindness to
up-and-coming comedians. Wikipedia
reports that “Richard Lewis, Jerry
Seinfeld, David Letterman, Paul Reiser, and
Jay Leno” were all influenced by him.
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brenner
Copyright March 18, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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