Old? You think I’m old? Well, maybe you’re right. Why, I remember walking into ‘shul’ on a Friday evening and finding people eager to “DAVEN.” Old? Why yes, I distinctly remember where I was when President Kennedy was shot: in gym – between Talmud and Social Studies at the Skokie Yeshiva. Heck, I remember Early Wynn and Rocky Colavito on the INDIANS. (Google it.)
Why does temporal time interest us so much? Ok, I understand the concept of life coming to a close. But, in truth, our very existence is a miracle, a mathematical improbability. If we have lived to love, to enjoy family, to have developed our minds, to have fulfilled (it can never be completely so) our destiny, then we must thank the ineffable unknowable G-d for having given us the privilege. This universe, within which we are but sub-atomic particles, owes us no more than to have allowed us to bear witness to her immense grandeur!
I worry too much; always have. What will happen in Israel? Will Middle Eastern radicals ever learn peace? Where is my world of music and prayer in the synagogue headed? Is it doomed to mediocrity? (I have certainly watched that trend become a tsunami.) Maybe I forgot the lessons of my youth. Heschel’s “radical amazement” changed the way I look at the world forever. Just when life seems to have become a series of projects and meetings, lacking in the truly important events, like golf, it only takes a smile or a sunny morning over Lake Michigan to bring back my sense of awe.
There is always the promise of tomorrow — CUBS in 2015!
Alberto Mizrahi is the Hazzan of Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago. He is recognized internationally as the Jewish Pavarotti. www.albertomizrahi.com
