This weekend we had one of the most joyous aufrufs and weddings that it has been my honor and pleasure to officiate. Without naming names, our President's oldest son was married to a lovely young woman who studied with me for many months to become a Jew-by-choice. The aufruf was fantastic on Shabbat morning. Lots of participation and the joy of the moment was visible to all. When it came time for the special blessing for the bride and groom preceding the impending wedding - everyone surrounded our center bimah, waited for the completion of the benediction and the wished them sweetness in life by gently pelting them with candy. So much love and so much joy.
The wedding itself was equally wondrous. I don't often officiate at a traditional tish (groom's table) and bedekin (veiling of the bride), but that was the plan at Adas Israel in DC. One hall was reserved for the tish - where there was plenty of drinking, a traditional dvar torah (sermonette) with interruptions, some pretty good singing; a really loving celebration of the groom to relax him before the ceremony (and signing the ketubah - the marriage contract). In one of the chapels the bride awaited the groom's party - we danced in, regaled the bride a little, and then veiled her in front of all the guests.
The huppah (service under the 'bridal canopy') was filled with beauty and meaning: beautiful singing from Hazzan Komard and Cantor Judson, lighting a yahrzeit candle for loved ones present in spirit, but most of all just two amazing young people so in love, so filled with joy, sharing the moment with everyone. Then there was a fun reception - great time, great music, good food - being able to part of two extended families knowing what's really important - being in a sacred weekend of love, family and community.
Yesterday, I received a call mid-day from a member that her mother was dying any minute. So I raced over to the Nursing Home. We talked for a moment or two, I spoke with the 82 year old woman who was in extremis. It was clear from her breathing that the end was very close. After a few Psalms we recited Vidui - Final Confession. It's a powerful prayer that prays for a miracle - but if not that death will be forgiveness. Then a prayer for the family of the person and ends with Shema Yisrael and a few other lines affirming our faith. I've said Vidui many times and been at a death bed several times - but I've never recited it before and then in only ten more minutes watched a loving, stubborn and strong soul take her last breath. I then stayed another hour to help make plans for the funeral out-of-town. Having known the woman who passed away for a decade - it's always sad and strange to watch a life come to an end. And yet, as a remembered her joy at her granddaughter's birth and naming, the bnai mitzvah of her two grandsons, her coming to Active Retirees meetings in healthy days - I know she enjoyed a good, long life - not without it's pain and sadness - but met with incredible determination and great devotion. Her memory is a source of blessing.
I feel very alive this week in the face of love and death. I have felt the Presence of God in the holiness of a series of moments - of seeing souls alive with love, bidding farewell with a contemporary to the wellspring of her life, and a being truly present for the final neshama - the final breath of life. Just being wide open to these moments enables me to feel a connection to something more than myself.
The wedding itself was equally wondrous. I don't often officiate at a traditional tish (groom's table) and bedekin (veiling of the bride), but that was the plan at Adas Israel in DC. One hall was reserved for the tish - where there was plenty of drinking, a traditional dvar torah (sermonette) with interruptions, some pretty good singing; a really loving celebration of the groom to relax him before the ceremony (and signing the ketubah - the marriage contract). In one of the chapels the bride awaited the groom's party - we danced in, regaled the bride a little, and then veiled her in front of all the guests.
The huppah (service under the 'bridal canopy') was filled with beauty and meaning: beautiful singing from Hazzan Komard and Cantor Judson, lighting a yahrzeit candle for loved ones present in spirit, but most of all just two amazing young people so in love, so filled with joy, sharing the moment with everyone. Then there was a fun reception - great time, great music, good food - being able to part of two extended families knowing what's really important - being in a sacred weekend of love, family and community.
Yesterday, I received a call mid-day from a member that her mother was dying any minute. So I raced over to the Nursing Home. We talked for a moment or two, I spoke with the 82 year old woman who was in extremis. It was clear from her breathing that the end was very close. After a few Psalms we recited Vidui - Final Confession. It's a powerful prayer that prays for a miracle - but if not that death will be forgiveness. Then a prayer for the family of the person and ends with Shema Yisrael and a few other lines affirming our faith. I've said Vidui many times and been at a death bed several times - but I've never recited it before and then in only ten more minutes watched a loving, stubborn and strong soul take her last breath. I then stayed another hour to help make plans for the funeral out-of-town. Having known the woman who passed away for a decade - it's always sad and strange to watch a life come to an end. And yet, as a remembered her joy at her granddaughter's birth and naming, the bnai mitzvah of her two grandsons, her coming to Active Retirees meetings in healthy days - I know she enjoyed a good, long life - not without it's pain and sadness - but met with incredible determination and great devotion. Her memory is a source of blessing.
I feel very alive this week in the face of love and death. I have felt the Presence of God in the holiness of a series of moments - of seeing souls alive with love, bidding farewell with a contemporary to the wellspring of her life, and a being truly present for the final neshama - the final breath of life. Just being wide open to these moments enables me to feel a connection to something more than myself.
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