Another one of my teachers, Rabbi Eliezer Diamond, is facing a serious health crisis. Rabbi Diamond taught Talmud and rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Once upon a time, I was the mashgiach or kashrut supervisor at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires. Rabbi Diamond was the scholar in residence one summer and when questions arose that exceeded my knowledge, I turned to him for his expertise.
On Thursday, Cantor Bitton, Rabbi Posen, and I spent four hours at the mikveh welcoming five new Jews to our community. Each conversion and affirmation ceremony was beautifully touching; appropriately, the final immersion of the day was with a darling baby boy. I had fun talking to him in my best falsetto and was rewarded with the sweetest and most heart-warming of smiles.
Why is it that so many of our asks as parents are met with arguments from our children? This week’s parshah may serve as a helpful reminder to parents that eventually children will recognize the limits and expectations we set for them and understand that the decisions we make are out of love.
The community you make is up to you. You set your priorities by who you connect with, and the important thing is simply recognizing the most immediate need around you first. This week’s double portion reminds us that our innermost circle of support is just one of many ways that we provide for each other.
On Wednesday, Jonathan Omer-Man “shuffled off this mortal coil.” That deeply powerful phrase, from Shakespeare, is an acknowledgement of life’s difficulties; contained within it is the hope that whatever comes next will not be so fraught. Yet waiting for joy, like waiting for love, is a fool’s mission; both are ever present, requiring our openness to receive as well as a shift in our perspective.
“Mommy, if we keep Shabbat, why do YOU work on Shabbat?” The best answer is the honest one, which is yes, my job includes Shabbat, but Shabbat is about the work of our souls, not the work of our hands.
I am feeling some tenderness and a sense of profound loss, for today, one of our great leaders, Harold Kushner left us, while yesterday another one, Jonathan Omer-Man entered hospice. This Shabbat, we read a double Torah portion, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim. When taken together, the names of these two parshiot can be read as after death, there is holiness.
