I have enjoyed the privilege of sharing a loving embrace with my beloved father for but a moment in the last three months.
I had the good fortune to have traveled back to Philadelphia for Adam's high school graduation.
My father.... battling cancer like myself.... was present to drink in the nachus and the joy of that moment.
We embraced for but a second and we each left immediately after the ceremony....dad back home....me....back to New York.
My father and I are soldiers in the same army....yet we battle alone on different continents.
This week through the kindness of The Almighty our field of battle in our individual campaigns will collide as we both must be at Sloan-Kettering.
My father has been fighting cancer valiantly....on and off....since he was 50 and I but 16.
Hashem has of course sent my first test in that regard in my 50th year as well.
This is not a coincidence.
Hashem in his benevolence and deep love for me has sent me yet another powerful sign.
Hashem wants me to understand more fully....to see more clearly....how truly privileged I am to be my father's son.
Not because we are both fighting life or death battles against cancer.
This is simply another way Hashem is illuminating my father's legacy for me....in an effort for me to seize the deep beauty within it....and....for me to carry on this legacy.
This was framed further by my dear friend Rabbi Eli Kopel who articulated the following which illuminates more clearly the depth of this generational connection between fathers, children and grandchildren.
There is nothing stronger in a building's foundation than its cornerstone.
This stone is its strength.
In hebrew a stone is an ehven....spelled aleph....bet....nun.
The aleph stands for Av which means father....the bet stands for Ben which means son....and the nun stands for Neched which means grandson.
Our father Avraham originated Judaism when he found and discovered Hashem.
That is why when the sun comes up the Shaccarit prayers are represented by Avraham....who came up with something totally original.
Avraham's son Yitzchak originates continuity. Yitzchak dug the same wells as his father....he is literally tied down to the altar by his father and indeed Yitzchak never leaves Israel.
Perpetuating his father's legacy....his father's good....that is why our midday prayers ....Mincha are represented by Yitzchak....the same day....the same continuity....that is its originality.
....and then there is Yakov....the grandson....a life brutalized by hardship....a brother who wanted to kill him....a father in law who tricked him time and again....a son lost....thought dead for decades....heartbroken....yet Yakov's twelve sons were the brilliance of our future....they rose and stood radiant in their Jewishness....unrivaled in every way....
Maariv....our evening prayers....are represented by Yakov....his originality was that we are all Jews....no matter what.
It is at times quite dark out there....but soldier on....follow those who came before you.
Yakov showed us that it was now imbedded in our spiritual DNA....we went through it....therefore it is a part of us.
My hope is to carry forward all of the wisdom my father has imparted to me....
....As I am privileged to be standing on the shoulders of my father's life....
My hope is that my children....my precious Adam and Danielle will impart their own originality to this marvelous legacy which first surfaced with our father Abraham and was crystalized with the gift of Torah at Sinai.
....We.... are but soldiers in Hashem's army and this week I look forward to embracing my beloved General....my father once again.
B'simcha
michael
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Amen!
ReplyDeleteShmuel
Dear Michael:
ReplyDeleteYou have eloquently expressed, once again, how Torah teachings are always available to us to glean in an hour of need. There is always a story, or theme with a parallel to our own lives, as you illuminated through Rabbi Kopel's teaching.
Every one us reading this entry has an opportunity to apply the lesson of appreciating our parents' legacy. At this very moment I am experiencing a higher spiritual awareness as I recall my own parents...their sacrifices and achievements which created a meaningful path for my brother and me to carry on their legacy. Thank-you for sparking these moments of gratitude and awareness through your message.
With brachos for a refuah sh'lema,
Roz Lipsitt
Brother,
ReplyDeleteThe vertical chain is one that is often broken during life, and tragically sometimes, before the life of the last in the chain. I experienced both and you are blessed with having that chain so solidly in place, full of love and inspiration, each supporting the other, the son honoring the father and down the chain to your Adam and Danielle honoring both links above them. May this week be one of refuah for both you and your father. I carry great love in my heart for your family with whom, in my brief period of knowing, have had the blessings of each link. Love you dearly, Naph
Posted by Naph:
ReplyDeleteBrother,
The vertical chain is one that is often broken during life, and tragically sometimes, before the life of the last in the chain. I experienced both and you are blessed with having that chain so solidly in place, full of love and inspiration, each supporting the other, the son honoring the father and down the chain to your Adam and Danielle honoring both links above them. May this week be one of refuah for both you and your father. I carry great love in my heart for your family with whom, in my brief period of knowing, have had the blessings of each link. Love you dearly, Naph
Michael
ReplyDeleteI too, am priviledged to know your dad. I'm thinking if you both.
Uncle Marcus
Dear Michael,
ReplyDeleteOur prayers are so strong and filled with so much love and desire for Hashem to answer them. We're with you, Michael, and we send you our love and greatest wish that all should go well.
Love, Marcia and Larry Rosenthal