Dear Whatever-Your-Name Will-Be:
We write this letter to you, our first great-grandchild, even though you have not been born yet. The first thing we want to tell you is that we love you already and that we look forward to your arrival with much anticipation. We live in Florida, and you will be born in New York, and so we cannot promise that we will be there to greet you or to share in the simcha of your brit milah, because, at our age, travelling is a real hassle. But know that we will be there in spirit or on Skype if we can’t be there in person.
The second thing is: welcome to the world – a world that is very different than the one we were born into. There are lots of inventions that you will take for granted that did not even exist when we were born. Know that no matter how much the technology may change, some things will never change. Love, kindness, justice, honesty and holiness – things will be as important in your generation as they have been in all the previous generations.
And the third thing, is that there will be others beside us at your brit milah in spirit. Among them will be your grandmother, Norma, your nana, Shoshana, and our parents, Eliezer and Liba. We hope that you will hear some of their stories when you grow up, and that you will appreciate the kindness of Norma, the desire to make this a better world of Shoshana, and the devotion to the Jewish way of life of my parents. And the last thing that we want to tell you is, we love you very much, and that we pray that God will bless you in many ways, and that you will have a wonderful life.
Jack Reimer is a well-known Rabbi, writer and teacher and Sue Reimer is his muse.
