It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

That’s exactly how I felt a few Saturdays ago.

I woke up and found out a great rabbi, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks [A”H],  had died.  (I’ll be telling you more about him soon.)  He was on my mind during our (outdoor) Shabat services.  (OK.  His teachings, not him personally.)  And, while the weather was superb, I wasn’t elated.  Even when it was announced that Joe Biden had acquired enough electoral votes to become President Elect, I wasn’t ecstatic.  Even though many of my friends traipsed over to Black Lives Matter Plaza (others did so in Los Angeles, Manhattan, Philly, and Boston), I just couldn’t rid myself of the thoughts of the loss of Rav Sacks.

The next morning (8 November 2020), my son called to let me know that Alex Trebek had lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.  (You might recall that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Congressman John Lewis both succumbed to pancreatic cancer this year- along with some 47500 other Americans.) Alex had just survived not one- but two- heart attacks and brain surgery.  My son opined that we should both have noodles and [cottage] cheese and binge watch Jeopardy shows to pay homage to the man who provided a safe space for intelligence in this bizarre world of ours.  We loved Alex because he believed we were competent and intelligent and was never condescending.  And, his show treasured the polymaths among us.

(By the way, you should be enjoying the Jeopardy theme by clicking below while reading the rest of this blog.)

For 36 years, Alex was the host of this simple TV show that my family and I enjoyed at 7:30 PM four nights a week.  (Yes, it was on five nights a week, but we had other things to do on Friday nights.)  And, ‘host’ he was- he ensured despite the intensity of the contest that each person was as calm as could be in the circumstances, that the episodic time should provide enjoyment to all who participated.  The true definition of a host.

Alex summed up his job adroitly.  “My job is to provide the atmosphere and assistance to the contestants to get them to perform at their very best. And if I’m successful doing that, I will be perceived as a nice guy and the audience will think of me as being a bit of a star. But not if I try to steal the limelight! The stars of ‘Jeopardy!’ are the material and the contestants.”

In other words, Alex Trebek was “Mr. Rogers” for adults.

Even though pancreatic cancer is deadly- and painful- Alex was stoic, and lied to us with upbeat reports on his progress…to keep our psyches charged during the gloomy days of the pandemic.

And, in homage to Jeopardy, I’ll end my blog with a question- “Won’t you honor Alex Trebek today?”.

What better tribute to Alex can we provide but donate our time to the cause he championed at the end:  World Pancreatic Cancer Day.  And yield some of our money to the Four-Star Charity, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.