ET Ask Home, a monthly questionnaire

With April guest Adam Reinherz

Paid subscribers get two extra issues a month. One of those is ET Ask Home, inspired by  Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire. This month’s guest is Adam Reinherz, who covers the Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.

Hi! Thanks for doing this. Please put down how you'd like to be identified here:

Hi, I’m Adam Reinherz. I’m a staff writer at the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle where I cover the Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania. 

Is there a particular photo you'd like me to use? It doesn't have to be of you! It can be of, like, a cat.

The questions, which you should feel free to answer at whatever length you'd like, are:

1. What is a piece of art (broadly defined) you recently enjoyed?

The other day I saw a hoodie with a caricature of Marty McFly seated, looking in the mirror, painting a self-portrait. Each Marty depicted was from a different Back to the Future movie. The design was a deliberate riff on Norman Rockwell's "Triple Self-Portrait." Absolutely loved the concept, as I imagine those who similarly sat in their grandparent’s Americana-decorated homes watching Michael J. Fox films on a loop do as well. 

2. What is a piece of advice you once got that turned out to be wrong?

After getting rejected from a university I desperately wanted to attend, I was told to schedule an appointment with an admissions officer and make a compelling case as to why the university should change its decision. As soon as I sat down with the officer I thanked them for rejecting me because it reminded me of a cherished teaching. I then spent 30 minutes likening myself to Hillel the Elder, a classical figure who, after not gaining entry to a Talmudic study hall, spent a snowy winter night pressed to a rooftop window listening to lectures because of his fervent desire to learn. It’s been years since that rejection/monologue. Not sure if the advice was right or wrong; either way, the entire episode was a disaster.