It was a truth universally acknowledged that a Devon Rex kitten in the mood to cause trouble must be in want of something to climb. Toby, the Devon Rex kitten in question, true to his nature, had decided to climb the blinds.

Sam Moskowitz, owner of said fuzz ball, rolled his eyes as he flopped on his couch and looked towards the squirt bottle he kept on the coffee table. “NO.”

Unimpressed, Toby continued to scale the blinds as if he was some kind of feline mountaineer.

Sam shook his head, too tired to squirt the kitten. Instead, he grabbed his phone and opened up his email program. This, he decided, was living his best life.

His muscles ached all over, but he was on his couch and not obligated to move for any reason. He was free. He had done publicity for the second Shadow Squad movie and filmed a cameo for the Moonlight Shadow solo film, which finished all of his commitments for the year. This meant he was entering the time off he’d built into his schedule, from what he called American Sukkot to the beginning of Chanukah.

His first act as a free man was going onto a website called TzedakahExchange, a clearinghouse for people who, like him, liked to give to various charities. His particular interest was the section of the website called SchoolFund. Once he’d entered his password, he clicked into the section of schools that needed only a small amount of money to make their target and finished them all before clicking the link that took him to the requests made by his favorite teacher.

His weakness was always the teachers who taught preschool; they had the littlest kids who needed the most attention. It was both difficult and rewarding. His mother had been a preschool teacher, and he found himself drawn to the teachers with the most innovative lesson plans that took into account the particularities of teaching preschoolers.

That was why Deborah Taubman, from DC, had become his favorite over the last six months. Taking units that seemed too much for preschoolers and bringing them down to their level. Sure enough, she’d made another request. She wanted to do a unit on Jewish practices around the world and had a gorgeous description of the way she’d teach her preschoolers. She’d cited a cost for materials, so he clicked the donate button. He began entering his password as a strange noise split the silence of the room.

Part crash, part wail, the noise sent him to his feet almost immediately. He’d crossed the room before he’d realized what he’d done, and immediately picked Toby up off the floor and lifted him out of the chaos the small ball of fluff had created.

“Nope,” he said as he rubbed the tiny miscreant behind the ears. “I don’t think so.”

Toby squirmed as Sam crossed the room, curling his toes in the soft carpet he’d decided to put in his living room. He sat back on the couch before lying down, the kitten choosing to cuddle along.

“I adore you,” he informed the little cotton ball. “But you’re not doing any more adventuring.”

Once he and Toby settled in, he grabbed his phone and returned to his email program, bracing himself for the insane number of emails clogging his inbox. As he expected, the inbox contained a whole bunch of junk (which he deleted), random correspondence he ignored, three invitations and something that got his attention.

Sam had subscribed to a tiny mailing list called the BlueChorus. Clicking on this week’s email brought him to a paragraph talking about a small movie the editor had recently seen. There was even a link to the video of the movie. Further reading informed him the movie, ‘Rogue Acts’, was looking to gain distribution. For the moment, the email said, the movie had been made available on a tiny platform; which he also subscribed to under his mother’s maiden name.

He looked at the sleeping kitten on his chest, and decided he wasn’t moving anytime soon. So he clicked the link and fired up the movie.

True to the description he’d read, the movie was about resistance. But it went deeper, and told the stories of the inspiration behind it. What drove people to protest? Who had created groups on social media and email lists that gave people direction and a space to talk online? Why and how would creatives decide to turn their art towards inspiring change?

The movie also profiled the people who made resistance and activism in the age of President Crosby accessible for everybody who wanted it. It told the personal stories behind some of the movements. He was riveted. For just under two hours, he sat, staring at the screen of his phone, watching this documentary. It was powerful. People needed to see it. Why was he just learning about it now?

Sam clicked on the website and did some investigation. He recognized the name of the production company; most of their projects had gotten wider distribution. This one hadn’t. Not yet. The director had written a few things, but this was one of the first times she’d gotten behind the camera. And yet…the name sounded very familiar.

Taubman was an Ashkenazi name, and yes, Deborah Taubman was the teacher of the school he’d been secretly funding since it showed up on SchoolFunds. But were Lisa Taubman, director, based in DC and Deborah Taubman, teacher, based in DC, related?

Did it matter?

No.

Helping the movie became his first priority, and that sent him back into his inbox. He’d built a vacation into his schedule, but what kind of person would he be if he didn’t take advantage of it? Time was finite, and he couldn’t just laze about when there was work to be done. He had his cousin’s empty apartment in DC lying in wait, and the ability to travel in a way he couldn’t expect others to.

A plan in mind, he fired off a few emails, – one to his cousin, one to his business manager (his sister) and one to his agent. The two most important replies came back first. Then he emailed the production company. That email came back fast enough to burn his inbox. Once he’d responded he’d lifted Toby off of his chest and headed to his bedroom to pack. There was no time to waste. He was going to D.C.

Thursday, Early Morning

Washington D.C.

Deborah Taubman awoke to the sound of her sister’s squeals.

She sat up in the darkened room, the only light coming from her alarm clock and her charging music player.

Her sister was still screaming. Her voice was loud on the old fashioned answering machine.

“OMG DEB you have to call me! I GOT THE CRAZIEST EMAIL ON THE PLANET AND YOU NEED TO CALL.”

She rubbed the pain out of her temples, clearing enough of her head to realize three things: her sister wasn’t in danger, her sister was happy, and her sister wanted to talk. So, she lifted the handset and braced herself. “Hello?”

“OMGSAMMOSKOWITZ JUST EMAILED ME!”

There were words, but Deb didn’t understand them or what they meant. “What?”

She heard an impatient sigh on the other end, in typical Lisa fashion. “So,” Lisa continued, having found her voice again, “I opened my email last night to find Sam Moskowitz saw my film and wants to help in some way…”

“What??”

“The resistance movie. He wants to …”

“Who?”

“Mr. Shadow. Sam Moskowitz.”

“Who?”

“You need to see Shadow Squad,” Lisa scolded. “But more importantly for your purposes, he posts videos of his kitten, Toby, who climbs everywhere.”

An image of a video posted on social media of a very active and excited kitten penetrated her sleep-fogged brain, and the connection was made. “Oh. Toby. His owner? Got it. What’s up?”

“Toby’s owner. Sam. Emailed me and told me he’s interested in the movie,” Lisa replied.

Deb wasn’t sure whether her sister was being clearer or whether she’d gotten a bit more awake. Either way, the conversation was starting to make sense. “So…Toby and his owner are coming here?”

“Yes. He wants a meeting with me, and the production team.”

“That’s cool…is it happening and when?”

“Like soon. They’re arranging it. I’m just…wow.”

“Why wow? I mean it’s great you’re getting some outside help, but you gotta help me here. I’m not familiar with this guy, though from the way you’re talking he’s a big deal?”

“He’s been acting for a while,” Lisa finally said. “But when he got the role of Mr. Shadow-from Shadow squad?”

“Okay?”

She didn’t know where her sister was going, but she’d go with it for now.

“Anyway, Mr. Shadow is pretty much the embodiment of the fight against Anti-Semitism, and Sam started to use his platform to do it in reality.” Her sister paused, and she could feel the excitement in her voice over the phone. “He’s one of the good guys, Deb.”

“That’s amazing, Lisa. Really. I’m so happy for you.”

“Yeah,” her sister continued, “anyway, he’s coming to DC. To our offices, and meeting with us during the day. Then they’re arranging a wine and cheese for tonight, and I want you to come. You think you could finish with enough time to change before?”

Deb stretched and thought about the day’s schedule. If her most recent request had been fulfilled, she could go and pick up the books she wanted to use to teach the Jews of the World unit. “Depends on what time.”

“Make time, please.”

This was a command performance. No getting out of it. “And who’s they?”

“Liz and Marcus. They want to introduce Sam to everybody who worked on the movie, and they figured a low key wine and cheese reception would be the best way.”

She rolled her eyes. Lisa’s wife and producing partner liked the parties Lisa didn’t. That meant Deb needed to be on hand to help her sister through the fear while Liz worked her magic. “You can’t talk Liz out of it?”

“’Fraid not,” her sister replied. “But seriously, Deb. I don’t want to talk her out of this one. Seriously. Sam. Freaking Moskowitz wants to…”

“Yes. I get it. Ok. Fine. I’ll see you later.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

When she hung up the phone, she decided that trying to sleep was going to be a losing battle. So she turned off her alarm, moved into the kitchen and turned on the coffee. When she turned on her phone, she noticed a message from SchoolFund. It seemed she’d have time (and money) to head to the bookstore during her break. Maybe she’d look over the novelizations from the Shadow Squad movies. Just in case.

Thursday, 9 am

Washington DC

A carryon, a carrier, and a messenger bag did not help Sam wrestle a door that refused to budge. He sighed, balanced Toby’s carrier on top of his suitcase and pulled his phone out of his bag and called his cousin. Adam answered on the first ring.

“H’lo?”

“Your keys suck,” Sam said, balancing his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he once again twisted the key in the lock.”

“They didn’t suck when I lived there. They might hate you.”

He snorted, made sure the way was clear, and pushed on the door as he twisted the key…only for it to open with a scraping, whining noise. He held the door open with his back, before grabbing his suitcase and toby’s carrier. “I’m getting this fixed while I’m here, you know.”

“Your money. You’re already spending way too much of it. And I still don’t get why you’re doing this.”

“Gift horse, mouth,” he said as he knelt down on the cold tile floor of his cousin’s former apartment. The mewling sound from Toby’s carrier was getting pitiful, and he could hear the scratching sounds. Thankfully, the carrier was easy to open, and soon the black ball of fuzz was streaking across the floor.

“Yeah,” his cousin said, laughing. “I know. I appreciate the hand, and the fact that you’re amusing yourself.”

Sam’s eyes followed Toby as the kitten proceeded to investigate the furniture, making sure he wasn’t getting into trouble. Once he decided to attack a stray piece of bubble wrap, Sam took off his shoes and crossed the floor; glad he’d called someone to take Adam’s furniture out of storage. “Your couch is glorious.”

“The attractions of the couch notwithstanding, I’d have to not be dumb to take you up on your offer. But.”

His cousin sounded, serious, a little out of character. As he sat down on that wonderfully comfortable couch, Sam realized there was something on Adam’s mind. “What’s the ‘but’ for? Also you’re getting better at using your words.”

“So,” Adam said warily. “I’m worried about you. You need to slow down. There’s a reason you built that vacation time into your schedule two years ago….”

“Just because I was sick for a month doesn’t mean…”

“Yes. It does and it should. Seriously. You were boneless and happy on your couch two days ago, and now you’re…boneless and happy on my couch but on the verge of doing…something in DC.”

“Times are different now, dude. I cannot just sit here. I have a platform, privilege. What kind of person would I be, what kind of Jew would I be if I didn’t?” He shook his head, laughing at his reflexive grab for his favorite phrase. “Also, not for nothing? If I don’t, then who, you know? Not to mention, If not now, when? ”

“It’s wonderful that you can quote one of Hillel‘s most famous sayings, but seriously. You’re using your platform. I get it. ”

Adam’s disapproval radiated through the phone, and Sam flinched.

“You still need to slow down.”

Saved by the beep of an incoming email. “Dude, I’m going to have to go because I’m guessing I just got the info about the morning meeting. Talk later?”

“Yeah.” Adam paused. “Just be careful, eh? Don’t push too hard?”

Sam nodded and watched as Toby pounced on the bubble wrap again. “Will do. Later dude.” He ended the call, but before going back into his email, he turned on the video camera.

Then he turned towards Toby, following him as the kitten stalked what turned out to be a tissue. “May you approach your day with as much gusto as Toby here approaches this tissue.”

Right on cue, the kitten leapt on the tissue, and he turned off the camera before yanking the predator off the paper prey. “Alright, little boy,” he told the kitten as he ruffled the soft fur behind his ears. “You need to settle in for a nap, hmm.”

Because he had to organize himself for a meeting that would take place in, he checked his watch, two hours. He sighed, got up from the couch, picked Toby up from the floor and headed into the bedroom, rolling his bag behind him.