Simon and Chana Taub of Brooklyn broke up housekeeping after 20 years of marriage—divorcing and going their separate ways. Sort of.
He went to the living room on the first floor, and she took the bedroom level on the third floor. And just to be sure they didn't bump into each other on the second floor—to which they both had partial access—a judge ordered that a partition be erected at the staircase, blocking them from accidentally crossing paths.
Now, I've seen the pictures of it myself on the Internet. An actual slab of white drywall, cut to fit a doorway opening in their richly ornate home. It's a stark representation of the stubborn walls of isolation that are nailed up in far too many homes across our land. Walls of silence. Walls of distance. Walls of unresolved issues. Walls built to the thickest dimensions with the materials of misunderstanding, impatience, annoyance and ridicule.
