Happy Fourth, The Mums

Dear The Mums,

It's the Fourth of July and, as always, with the Macy's fireworks booming and sparkling right outside my window, I am reminded of how much you loved that annual show in the sky.

Sparks from Heaven

Dear The Mums,

Thanks to you, I knew a lot about Dan Freelander long before I ever met him.  Not only did I know him as the rabbi who checked in with you regularly during those longs months in 1985 when Grandpa was sick, but also as someone with a sweet voice, deeply caring ways and knowledge about the location of every diner in New Jersey.

It seems that your connections to him have continued l’dor v’dor since I landed in the office just across the hall from his nearly 10 years ago, and last night I felt them especially strongly at Tanglewood.  A bunch of us were there—as Danny and Elyse’s guests—for dinner and a James Taylor concert to help celebrate Danny’s 60th birthday.  Despite the heat and humidity (you would have been melting), the evening was spectacular:  terrific food, wonderful company, touching tributes, and a fantastic concert of JT favorites…one after another after another.  

Because it was the Fourth of July, the second act opened with the Star Spangled Banner.  Even though you always said that America the Beautiful should be the national anthem, it was pretty amazing to sing along with JT about the rockets’ red glare.  After the concert, we were treated to the bombs bursting in air thanks to a brilliant fireworks display that lit up the sky over the Berkshires.  Remembering how much you loved fireworks, I watched them, remembering you. As each burst of sparks from heaven fizzled to the ground, it dawned on me that maybe you were sending them down to us.  If so, thanks for a great show. And thanks, too, for your friendship with Danny.  I know it was one you treasured…and so do I.

xoxo,
~ Boo!

How Lucky We Are: A Redux

Here's what I wrote two years ago on July 4th.  It bears repeating today.

Hope everyone's enjoying their grillin' and chillin' (with thanks to my friend and fellow blogger, Elisa Krantweiss Heisman, from Kvell Corner.  I "lifted" that great phrase from her Facebook status...Thanks, Elisa!)

Happy Fourth!

Freedom and Liberty...and Just How Lucky We Are

Thirty years ago, it poured in New Jersey on the Fourth of July. My family and I were spending the day with Natasha and Felix Brevender, brand new Soviet immigrants who were celebrating their newfound freedom and their newfound Judaism. (You can read a bit more about our experiences together here.) We’d planned on a cookout and fireworks, but ended up eating pizza and watching a movie instead. That day, I was reminded of freedom and liberty and just how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

Two years ago, it was sunny in Tel Aviv on the Fourth of July. Actually, when I arrived at the new Ben Gurion Airport on an overnight flight from Prague in the wee hours of the morning, it was still dusk, but having spent the previous 10 days in Poland’s empty synagogues, overflowing cemeteries and emotionally exhausting concentration camps, it was a homecoming like none other. I bid farewell to the NFTY kids and their leaders, stopped at an ATM for some shekels, and stepped out of the airport into the balmy dusk of early morning. Overwhelmed, I sat on the ground right next to the airport's sliding glass doors, legs outstretched, eyes closed and palms pressed to the ground, trying to put as much of my body as possible in true physical contact with the land. Only after sitting this way for a few minutes, breathing deeply, was I ready to get up and get in a cab to meet a friend in Jaffa. That day, I was reminded of freedom and liberty and just how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

I have no recollection of what the weather was like last year in New York City on the Fourth of July. I do know that I wrote this blog post about another long ago Fourth and was reminded, yet again, about freedom and liberty and just how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

Last night was a beautiful night in New York City. Comfortable temperatures and humidity combined with a cool breeze and clear skies--complete with a nearly full moon--made it a great one to be out and about. At Shabbat services, when “America the Beautiful,” was sandwiched between the kaddish and the kiddush, I was reminded about freedom and liberty and just how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

Today—and everyday—let us be thankful and grateful for our freedom and our liberty and recognize just how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

Happy Fourth!