Story of the Day 9/ 2/ 2011

I received an urgent email today.
I mean, it was marked urgent. No, it was marked “ URGENT”.

Since it was from the new rabbi at our synagogue I had a moment of concern. Perhaps one of our octo or nonagenarian members had fallen and broken a hip and was in the hospital and needed an immediate delivery of food for Shabbat. Or, G-d forbid, had died and there was a need to let people know, before Shabbat, that there would be a funeral on Sunday-
although, since there will be a healthy minyan ( quorum) at synagogue tomorrow,(lured, not by the internal religious need to connect through services but through the deep inner need to partake of the excellent food , afterwards,) an announcement of that sort could wait.

Or maybe some family was traveling through and was stranded because of a cancelled plane or a flat tire, and needed a place to stay, and could we find room for a family of 9, needing a crib and a high chair and a wheelchair ramp and ……

Okay, I do tend to worry a bit much.

Anyhow, I opened up the missive.
It was a reminder that this Sunday, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend , is the Annual Etz Chaim ( synagogue) cook out and it will be followed by a special “movie”.

This was urgent?

I emailed the rabbi.
Maybe I was missing some vital piece of information.

Hey, even I know I am an airhead.

Moments later, a reply was sitting in my inbox.


“sometimes you need to go through a person's stomach to get to their soul.”



I am still not sure I get the “URGENT part, but I must admit, our community’s rather….passive and lukewarm “rush” to religious programs might be getting a much needed “boost”. We also, obviously, have not seemed to have cooled his enthusiasm…now we will just have to see if he is a good cook.