Ebert remembers Siskel

Gene Siskel, the acerbic half of Siskel and Ebert, died ten years ago today. Roger Ebert, who can no longer speak due to cancer, still writes movie reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times, and has a remarkable blog. His most recent entry is a tribute to his dear friend and reviewing foe. In it, he mentions Gene's thoughts on the importance of his religion:

He spoke about his Judaism, which he took very seriously. His parents had started the first synagogue on the North Shore after World War II. "I had a lot of long talks with my father about our religion," Gene told me. "He said it wasn't necessary to think too much about an afterlife. What was important was this life, how we live it, what we contribute, our families, and the memories we leave." Gene said, "The importance of Judaism isn't simply theological, or, in the minds of some Jews, necessarily theological at all. It is that we have stayed together and respected these things for thousands of years, and so it is important that we continue." In a few words, this was one of the most touching descriptions of Judaism I had ever heard.