After the meetings all through my lunch break, duly annoyed
I walked into the gym locker room past 1pm and found myself in a company of two
working class type young ladies with colorful tattoos all over their buff muscles. The new building in Schaumburg is shared with
the company’s call center and our IT division has been going through a cultural
adjustment getting used to the sites and sounds unusual at most corporate
headquarters. While changing into my
long sleeve workout shirt and long pants, I listened in to the conversation,
that started like a normal working girl talk – taking off early etc… but then I
realized that the red head with a giant back tattoo is leaving work early this
Friday to attend Yom Kippur Kol Nidrei services, and then she went on explaining
to the other one how she cannot eat on Friday after sunset and all day
Saturday, and how she was going to spend most of the Saturday at the synagogue
attending services, and then have dinner really late at night, and then she
went on about her plans for Sunday and what not. I looked at the colorful tattoo one more time
and realized that it was a symbolic drawing of a Tree of Life, with the
branches spread over her shoulders and the trunk going down her spine, and
there was an artsy drawing of the Kabbalistic eye on her right bicep. Judging by appearances, this was one of
the last people one would suspect of Jewish observance.
And then I remembered myself half of the life ago, in a
short tie-dye cotton dress and bleached hair, who did not even know about the
High Holidays observance, except for the apples and honey invariably on my
parents’ table for my September birthday, which happened to be today, and I
realized that there must be a reason for the delayed workout, and the colorful locker
room company. That back then the bleach
blond ignorant girl might have known something that I have since forgotten –
that appearances are only skin deep, and that the true beauty and devotion is deep
below the surface, and no matter how many or how few happy birthday messages I
receive, thanks to the social media and modern communications, the most
important thing in the world is to have someone to share my birthday with,
someone who puts up with all my tantrums and remembers my favorite foods, does
not mind listening to my philosophy tapes on a six-hour car ride and watching a
movie of my choice.
I left the locker room and walked into the song of Beatles,
just the same as we sang so many years ago:
When I was younger, so much younger
than today
I never needed anybody's help in any
way
But now these days are gone, I'm not
so self-assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and
opened up the doors
Help me if you
can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me …
I really appreciated this post, thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, because I really considered having a similar design as a tattoo on my back as well...
Moadim l'simcha!
BS"D
ReplyDeleteDiscussion with Moishe'la (with his family)
A Handicapped child
Tishrei 28 '5774 (Oct 1 '13)
We Cried and We Cried
I want to tell you that Zaidy came to me again from Olam Ha’emes. (My Zaidy, a great Tzaddik, was very famous when he was alive.) I want to tell you that he sat down next to me when I was sleeping, and said to me, "Yingel Yingel my Zeesa Yingel (my beloved boy) I am so proud of you. I am so happy that you are in the house that you are, in the home that you are, and I Bentch you that you should continue bringing truth to our family and truth to the Yidden wherever they might be."
And then he said, "I have more to tell you. I am very worried about my adopted homeland the United States of America. I am not worried about the place itself, as we all know its pure Edom. I have always realized how this Golus of Edom has almost destroyed all Yiddishkeit in America.
"But no I am not worried about the Edomite country called the United States. I am worried about the Yidden in United States. First of all they are in very big physical danger and of course we know very well that the Yidden in America, including the Frum, are in great spiritual and physical danger. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, but the very big majority of the Yidden in America are in very big spiritual danger.
"Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that the Yidden all over the world are in a better condition, but I am worried especially about the Yidden in the United States of America.
"I really want them to do Teshuva, real Teshuva. And I know that I have said this many times, and people don't understand what I am talking about. Even when you explain it so clearly, most people just brush it off because it's much more interesting to be busy with the Gashmius than to be busy with the Ruchnius. It take less spiritual and emotional effort to rise high in the attainment of the Gashmius, than it takes to rise high in the attainment of the Ruchnius.
"Since I was very young I realized that the American Jewish community would eventually disappear. Now however I see clearly that the United States of America is disappearing right in front of our eyes. Soon there will be no United States of America, and the Yidden will have to find themselves a new home. I hope they decide on Eretz Yisroel, and hope they do it quickly, because if not well……. "
Then he asked me to sit down with him and say Tikkun Chatzos. Together we Davened and we cried, and we cried, and we cried. I closed my eyes so I could feel the Tza'ar HaShechina, (the pain of Hashem) and when I opened them my Zaidy was gone.
Thank you for sharing, this is a very special story.
Delete