Who Was Lotus Weinstock?

by Audrey Lichter

“Angels have wings because they take themselves lightly.” Lotus Weinstock

I was immediately struck by this quote… it spoke to me as a kind of antidote to the harsh and judgmental time we are living in. I had never heard of Lotus Weinstock (1943- 1997) but thought this is a woman with a message.

She was an early female stand up comedian, author, and musician. She was known for her jokes that never “punched someone else down,” and loved to make people laugh as a method of bringing people together.

In this time of Selichot – as we prepare ourselves for the Yamim Noraim, the HIgh Holidays, with prayers of self reflection and forgiveness – we can get stuck in the heaviness of the time. Yes, although this is a time of judgment, is there a way to approach this reflection in a healthier and more cohesive way?

Perhaps we can take a lesson from Lotus’s playbook. Perhaps if we lighten up on the judgmentalism …strive to do better with a lighter touch, of both ourselves and others, we might just approach the angels. In doing so, we just might make the world a happier place when we realize that in our relatively short stay, we are all in this together.