Rabbi's Weekly Email

  June 19, 2020/27 Sivan 5780    

  Dear Friends,

One of the things I'm missing most about our displacement from the Habonim building    is the photograph of my grandfather that hangs in my office. Gentle, pious and wise, my      grandfather was deeply immersed in the daily life of a religious Jew even as he tended to his store, Rifkind and Bodziner, on the Lower East Side. It is from him that I learned about feeding one's family - in body and spirit. It is from him that I witnessed the daily practice of engagement with our liturgy and love for Jewish life and living.  When making  a difficult decision or preparing for a challenging conversation, I turned to that photo for quiet guidance, making space for the spirit of the way in which my grandfather lived to help guide me. 

Years ago, I penned a piece for the Jewish Theological Seminary's on-line weekly parasha commentary on this week's Torah portion, Shelach L'cha. The reading educates us about the knots and fringes/tzitzit that hang from the corners of the prayer shawl/tallit which find purpose as a visual reminder to immerse ourselves and participate in the world with commitment to love, discernment, awareness and justice. At some point my reflection landed on the MyJewishLearning website. Every year, someone draws it to my attention, bringing me back to my grandfather, my yearning to wear tallit and the reminder to approach the world with an eye towards possibility and growth, reaching past what is and striving for what can and must be. You can find the commentary here.

As we live into these days in corona times, the weight of the tallit on my shoulders and the feel of the fringes wrapped around my fingers have taken on double duty, standing in for that meaningful family photo. Perhaps that's just as well. Embraced by tallit and tradition, I feel my grandfather's wisdom even more deeply, the fringes coming together from all four corners like my beloved grandfather's hand in mine. 

Shabbat Shalom
rg