The Bridging of Cultures
Ok... I can't take it... England is just way too fucking cool. I just got back from playing a few games of munchkin with a couple of guys I met. MUNCHKIN, IN ENGLAND! Then we discussed gaming and which of the White Wolf books they enjoyed the most... and they're not even the scary typical sort of a geeky guys! They're jugglers! I met them through the juggling society, which I've joined ever since I got cast in A Midsummer Night's Dream here at the main stage of the university. I'm Oberon, and as we are doing the play in "raver style" we've decided that I should be able to do some cool shit with this little glowing ball that I have. So far, I've gotten pretty good at the doing that David Bowie thing from Labyrinth that he does, swirling it around in my fingers, making it cool like it's stuck on with a magnet... looks pretty sick in the dark.
But yes... still looking for travel buddies, but I'm meeting SO MANY cool people, and it's a very international campus, so I now have friends from all over Europe (can you say "house crashing"?). But yes... so far England has been alot of acting, going to rugby games, and drinking. Diesandgoes toheaven.
OH! That brings me to my closing thought. I don't know how educated on the Jewish religion all of you are, but our New Year is called "Rosh Hashana". Anyways, my Dad went to a sermon that our Rabbi put on a few days ago and he was really touched by it, so he went online to find the transcript (apparently my Temple does this with all the sermons... go figure) and sent me an e-mail of it. Though I scoffed and huffed as I read his e-mail, once I got to the actual sermon, I felt very effected, and thought to share it all with you. It's a bit campy... but really, quite a good piece that I'm sure everyone can find relavent, regardless of your religious affiliation:
Rabbi Dennis J. Eisner Erev Rosh Hashanah - 5767
Do Jews believe in angels?
Like most parents my wife Mandy and I have a number of story books which our children love to have us read to them. One such book in our collection that I particularly like reading with Max is a book on "Jewish Bible Stories." Just a few weeks ago we were lying in bed and I was reading stories to him from the bible.
Usually Max chooses the story and he usually chooses stories like Samson and Delilah or David and Goliath. But this evening I decided that since we were in the Holy Day season I would read him the story of the Binding of Isaac - the story from tomorrow morning's Torah reading - the Akedah.
So with a dramatic tone in my voice I gave Max a great big build up to the story that is at the center of our Rosh Hashanah tradition. I explained to him that The Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah - The Akedah is filled with great drama. I told him that the binding of Isaac is one of the best known events described in the Bible.
I told him that It is a human story - the type of story that newspaper headlines are made of:
"Dad Ties Up Son - Raises Knife - Says God Told Him To"
Another headline reads
"11th hour intervention by Angel saves Isaac's life!"
It is the stuff of TV specials, documentaries, movie scripts.
After listening to my melodramatic rendition of the story Max in his 7 year old wisdom asked - "Daddy Do Jews believe in angels?" The answer I gave him was simple I said "yes."
There is no question about it. All we have to do is read the book of Genesis. Angels in disguise appear to Abraham and Sarah and tell them that they are going to have a child in their old age. Angels appear to Lot and his family and rescue them from Sodom and Gomorrah. An angel appears to Hagar and saves her and her son from dying of thirst in the wilderness. And in chapter 22 - the Akedah - an angel intervenes at the very last moment and saves the life of Isaac.
There are angels all over the Torah and they play a very special role in the events that take place.
If the angels had not taken action in time, Lot and his family might have perished in Sodom. Had the angel not spoken up clearly enough, Hagar might not have seen the well. And if, God forbid, the angel had appeared a minute too late? Isaac might have died, and with him, the whole destiny of the Jewish people might have come to an end.
But I don't think Max's question was about angels in the Torah. He wanted to know are there any angels now? He wanted to know do angels still appear in our time.
I think they do. But in order to recognize them you have to know what the word: 'angel' means? It is a Greek word, and it means the same thing in Greek that it does in Hebrew: 'malach' which is 'messenger'. An angel is anyone or anything that brings a message from God.
And so what I want to do this Erev Rosh Hashanah is tell you the story of a modern day angel.
He doesn't look like an angel. In fact, he himself did not realize that he was an angel, but I think that he was.
His name is Ben Pesta and he is the associate publisher of a magazine called Muscle and Fitness.
Mr. Pesta tells the story of how one Friday afternoon, around four o'clock, he was standing in line at the Mexico City airport, trying to make a connection to Los Angeles. He had been standing at the airport ever since six a.m. Plane after plane had been cancelled due to the earthquake that hit Mexico City earlier that morning.
He was tired and sweaty and his temper was more than a little bit frayed.
"Senor?" a petite young lady, about l9 or 20, was asking him a question, hesitatingly searching for the words in English. "You-You-going to-?"
"Los Angeles," he said, trying to sound polite, hoping that this was not going to be some pest selling something.
The girl looked immensely relieved. She held out her hand to him. In it were several pieces of lined paper, the kind that is found in school notebooks. "Please," she said excitedly, "En Los Angeles mi familia-this man is-the brother of my mother."
'Su tio,' "your uncle" - he said. She looked even more relieved. "Si,' she said, "my English is not good"- as if he couldn't tell. Neither was his Spanish. But together they worked out what she wanted. Together they worked out what she needed which was to call her uncle in Los Angeles and let him know that she and her family were unharmed.
Then she proceeded to fill his hands with other slips of paper containing the numbers of her relatives in El Paso and Portland.
"Please," she said urgently. He was flustered. Most of us find it embarrassing to ask someone else for help. It is an admission that we have come up against something that is too hard for us to deal with by ourselves-something like an earthquake.
Ben Pesta understood what it must have taken for this girl to somehow get to the airport, even though the roads were closed.
He understood what it must have taken for her to walk up to a total stranger in the airport and ask for a favor. So he said: "Of course I'll do it - Naturalamente."
"Oh gracias, gracias," she said, as though he had just lifted a collapsed building from off her shoulders.
Mr. Pesta felt embarrassed to be receiving such huge gratitude for what seemed to him to be a little favor. But before he could answer, she was gone.
This same scene was repeated over and over again during the hours while he waited for his flight to be called. By the time he finally boarded the plane, his pockets were bursting with notes - some in English, some in Spanish, all written on scraps of paper.
There was virtually no telecommunication in or out of Mexico City that day. The telephone lines were all down. Electricity had been knocked out. And so those of its seventeen million people who could - were flocking to the airport, asking travelers to carry word to their families in the United States.
Mr. Pesta said yes to everyone who asked him to deliver a message. Each was profoundly grateful. But how could you say no to such a request at such a time?
Finally, his plane took off. It stopped at Manzanillo and at San Juan de Cabo before landing in Los Angeles. By the time he picked up his baggage, got to his car and drove home, it was long past midnight and he was bone tired.
But nonetheless he set the alarm for seven a.m. When the alarm went off, he went to the porch to pick up his newspaper and his gaze landed on the headline: 'Angelino Hispanic Community Seeks News of Relatives'.
He had been tempted for a moment to put off making his calls and get a bit more sleep, but after seeing that headline, he knew that he couldn't.
He removed the bundle of messages from his pockets, picked up the phone and started dialing.
The man who answered the first call could only speak a bit of English, so Mr. Pesta delivered the message to him in broken Spanish.
"Senor Valles," he said, "Todu su familia in Mexico City estan bien." "Mr Valles, all of your family in Mexico City are safe."
"Gracias, Gracias," the man replied, "I have been sick with worry. The telephones to Mexico City are-"
"I know, I know," Mr. Pesta interrupted.
"Gracias, Gracias," "Thank you, thank you so very much-," the man continued.
"You are very welcome," Mr. Pesta said again, "but you have to excuse me. I have some more calls to make."
The last name on the list was that of an elderly woman who had children and grandchildren in Mexico City. Her children and grandchildren lived right in the part of town where the earthquake had caused the most havoc.
She spoke almost no English. "Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios" she kept repeating, and then when she had finished thanking God she started thanking Mr. Pesta.
It was after 1:00 in the afternoon by now, and he really wanted to get some sleep. But the old grandmother kept on talking. Finally, she paused for a breath, and before he could say goodbye she asked who he was.
"Solo un turista," he said.
"No, no, no, senor," she said, "No turisto. Usted es un angel. "You are an Angel."
Mr. Pesta said that he had been thanked so many times during these last six hours that it was starting to make him feel unworthy. But this time he forgot to be embarrassed. Instead he said to himself: firemen and policemen and paramedics get to be called angels but it doesn't happen to me so I might as well accept it and enjoy it when it does."
"Gracias," he said, "Gracias a usted, senora, buenas noches."
I tell you this story so that you may see that there are angels in our times, many of them.
They are the people who come through for you, even though they don't know you. They are the people who come through for you when you are in trouble.
They are usually angels in disguise.
Nowadays they don't come wearing wings and playing harps like they used to in the books we read when we were children. Nowadays they usually come in business suits or dresses. Nowadays they can be the associate publisher of a magazine about muscles and fitness or who knows what else they may be.
Do you know why we begin our Shabbat meal by singing: Shalom aleichem, malachey hashaaret, malachey elyon, mimelech malachay hamlachim, Hakadosh baruch hu.
We begin our Shabbat meal by singing the song that welcomes the invisible angels into our home so that we may realize that there are angels, all around us, who may be invisible, who may not like angels but who can be recognized by what they do.
Do Jews believe in angels?
Of course - we do!
We may never be approached in the Mexico City airport to deliver messages of hope and life to far away relatives.
We may never stop a father from sacrificing his son.
But, each of us has the power to be an angel and to make this world a better place. Kindness and compassion are inherent qualities that exist in Angels and in us. Each one of us has the power to be a messenger of God and the strength to protect those who are less fortunate.
The Torah is full of Angeles - so is this room!
This New Year we need to ask - Who needs our protection?
This New Year we need to identify - who are the Isaacs in our lives?
This New Year - we need to BE AN ANGEL!
BE AN ANGEL!
Shannah Tova and Shabbat Shalom
But yes... still looking for travel buddies, but I'm meeting SO MANY cool people, and it's a very international campus, so I now have friends from all over Europe (can you say "house crashing"?). But yes... so far England has been alot of acting, going to rugby games, and drinking. Diesandgoes toheaven.
OH! That brings me to my closing thought. I don't know how educated on the Jewish religion all of you are, but our New Year is called "Rosh Hashana". Anyways, my Dad went to a sermon that our Rabbi put on a few days ago and he was really touched by it, so he went online to find the transcript (apparently my Temple does this with all the sermons... go figure) and sent me an e-mail of it. Though I scoffed and huffed as I read his e-mail, once I got to the actual sermon, I felt very effected, and thought to share it all with you. It's a bit campy... but really, quite a good piece that I'm sure everyone can find relavent, regardless of your religious affiliation:
Rabbi Dennis J. Eisner Erev Rosh Hashanah - 5767
Do Jews believe in angels?
Like most parents my wife Mandy and I have a number of story books which our children love to have us read to them. One such book in our collection that I particularly like reading with Max is a book on "Jewish Bible Stories." Just a few weeks ago we were lying in bed and I was reading stories to him from the bible.
Usually Max chooses the story and he usually chooses stories like Samson and Delilah or David and Goliath. But this evening I decided that since we were in the Holy Day season I would read him the story of the Binding of Isaac - the story from tomorrow morning's Torah reading - the Akedah.
So with a dramatic tone in my voice I gave Max a great big build up to the story that is at the center of our Rosh Hashanah tradition. I explained to him that The Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah - The Akedah is filled with great drama. I told him that the binding of Isaac is one of the best known events described in the Bible.
I told him that It is a human story - the type of story that newspaper headlines are made of:
"Dad Ties Up Son - Raises Knife - Says God Told Him To"
Another headline reads
"11th hour intervention by Angel saves Isaac's life!"
It is the stuff of TV specials, documentaries, movie scripts.
After listening to my melodramatic rendition of the story Max in his 7 year old wisdom asked - "Daddy Do Jews believe in angels?" The answer I gave him was simple I said "yes."
There is no question about it. All we have to do is read the book of Genesis. Angels in disguise appear to Abraham and Sarah and tell them that they are going to have a child in their old age. Angels appear to Lot and his family and rescue them from Sodom and Gomorrah. An angel appears to Hagar and saves her and her son from dying of thirst in the wilderness. And in chapter 22 - the Akedah - an angel intervenes at the very last moment and saves the life of Isaac.
There are angels all over the Torah and they play a very special role in the events that take place.
If the angels had not taken action in time, Lot and his family might have perished in Sodom. Had the angel not spoken up clearly enough, Hagar might not have seen the well. And if, God forbid, the angel had appeared a minute too late? Isaac might have died, and with him, the whole destiny of the Jewish people might have come to an end.
But I don't think Max's question was about angels in the Torah. He wanted to know are there any angels now? He wanted to know do angels still appear in our time.
I think they do. But in order to recognize them you have to know what the word: 'angel' means? It is a Greek word, and it means the same thing in Greek that it does in Hebrew: 'malach' which is 'messenger'. An angel is anyone or anything that brings a message from God.
And so what I want to do this Erev Rosh Hashanah is tell you the story of a modern day angel.
He doesn't look like an angel. In fact, he himself did not realize that he was an angel, but I think that he was.
His name is Ben Pesta and he is the associate publisher of a magazine called Muscle and Fitness.
Mr. Pesta tells the story of how one Friday afternoon, around four o'clock, he was standing in line at the Mexico City airport, trying to make a connection to Los Angeles. He had been standing at the airport ever since six a.m. Plane after plane had been cancelled due to the earthquake that hit Mexico City earlier that morning.
He was tired and sweaty and his temper was more than a little bit frayed.
"Senor?" a petite young lady, about l9 or 20, was asking him a question, hesitatingly searching for the words in English. "You-You-going to-?"
"Los Angeles," he said, trying to sound polite, hoping that this was not going to be some pest selling something.
The girl looked immensely relieved. She held out her hand to him. In it were several pieces of lined paper, the kind that is found in school notebooks. "Please," she said excitedly, "En Los Angeles mi familia-this man is-the brother of my mother."
'Su tio,' "your uncle" - he said. She looked even more relieved. "Si,' she said, "my English is not good"- as if he couldn't tell. Neither was his Spanish. But together they worked out what she wanted. Together they worked out what she needed which was to call her uncle in Los Angeles and let him know that she and her family were unharmed.
Then she proceeded to fill his hands with other slips of paper containing the numbers of her relatives in El Paso and Portland.
"Please," she said urgently. He was flustered. Most of us find it embarrassing to ask someone else for help. It is an admission that we have come up against something that is too hard for us to deal with by ourselves-something like an earthquake.
Ben Pesta understood what it must have taken for this girl to somehow get to the airport, even though the roads were closed.
He understood what it must have taken for her to walk up to a total stranger in the airport and ask for a favor. So he said: "Of course I'll do it - Naturalamente."
"Oh gracias, gracias," she said, as though he had just lifted a collapsed building from off her shoulders.
Mr. Pesta felt embarrassed to be receiving such huge gratitude for what seemed to him to be a little favor. But before he could answer, she was gone.
This same scene was repeated over and over again during the hours while he waited for his flight to be called. By the time he finally boarded the plane, his pockets were bursting with notes - some in English, some in Spanish, all written on scraps of paper.
There was virtually no telecommunication in or out of Mexico City that day. The telephone lines were all down. Electricity had been knocked out. And so those of its seventeen million people who could - were flocking to the airport, asking travelers to carry word to their families in the United States.
Mr. Pesta said yes to everyone who asked him to deliver a message. Each was profoundly grateful. But how could you say no to such a request at such a time?
Finally, his plane took off. It stopped at Manzanillo and at San Juan de Cabo before landing in Los Angeles. By the time he picked up his baggage, got to his car and drove home, it was long past midnight and he was bone tired.
But nonetheless he set the alarm for seven a.m. When the alarm went off, he went to the porch to pick up his newspaper and his gaze landed on the headline: 'Angelino Hispanic Community Seeks News of Relatives'.
He had been tempted for a moment to put off making his calls and get a bit more sleep, but after seeing that headline, he knew that he couldn't.
He removed the bundle of messages from his pockets, picked up the phone and started dialing.
The man who answered the first call could only speak a bit of English, so Mr. Pesta delivered the message to him in broken Spanish.
"Senor Valles," he said, "Todu su familia in Mexico City estan bien." "Mr Valles, all of your family in Mexico City are safe."
"Gracias, Gracias," the man replied, "I have been sick with worry. The telephones to Mexico City are-"
"I know, I know," Mr. Pesta interrupted.
"Gracias, Gracias," "Thank you, thank you so very much-," the man continued.
"You are very welcome," Mr. Pesta said again, "but you have to excuse me. I have some more calls to make."
The last name on the list was that of an elderly woman who had children and grandchildren in Mexico City. Her children and grandchildren lived right in the part of town where the earthquake had caused the most havoc.
She spoke almost no English. "Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios" she kept repeating, and then when she had finished thanking God she started thanking Mr. Pesta.
It was after 1:00 in the afternoon by now, and he really wanted to get some sleep. But the old grandmother kept on talking. Finally, she paused for a breath, and before he could say goodbye she asked who he was.
"Solo un turista," he said.
"No, no, no, senor," she said, "No turisto. Usted es un angel. "You are an Angel."
Mr. Pesta said that he had been thanked so many times during these last six hours that it was starting to make him feel unworthy. But this time he forgot to be embarrassed. Instead he said to himself: firemen and policemen and paramedics get to be called angels but it doesn't happen to me so I might as well accept it and enjoy it when it does."
"Gracias," he said, "Gracias a usted, senora, buenas noches."
I tell you this story so that you may see that there are angels in our times, many of them.
They are the people who come through for you, even though they don't know you. They are the people who come through for you when you are in trouble.
They are usually angels in disguise.
Nowadays they don't come wearing wings and playing harps like they used to in the books we read when we were children. Nowadays they usually come in business suits or dresses. Nowadays they can be the associate publisher of a magazine about muscles and fitness or who knows what else they may be.
Do you know why we begin our Shabbat meal by singing: Shalom aleichem, malachey hashaaret, malachey elyon, mimelech malachay hamlachim, Hakadosh baruch hu.
We begin our Shabbat meal by singing the song that welcomes the invisible angels into our home so that we may realize that there are angels, all around us, who may be invisible, who may not like angels but who can be recognized by what they do.
Do Jews believe in angels?
Of course - we do!
We may never be approached in the Mexico City airport to deliver messages of hope and life to far away relatives.
We may never stop a father from sacrificing his son.
But, each of us has the power to be an angel and to make this world a better place. Kindness and compassion are inherent qualities that exist in Angels and in us. Each one of us has the power to be a messenger of God and the strength to protect those who are less fortunate.
The Torah is full of Angeles - so is this room!
This New Year we need to ask - Who needs our protection?
This New Year we need to identify - who are the Isaacs in our lives?
This New Year - we need to BE AN ANGEL!
BE AN ANGEL!
Shannah Tova and Shabbat Shalom