From the Rabbi

February 2012
Shevat - Adar, 5772

“Have We Met?”

As it happens, standing up for hagbah at Congregation Beth Judah in Ventnor, NJ is reminiscent of standing at the base of Mount Sinai.

There — just like at Congregation Sha'arey Israel in Macon — misheberakh prayers are recited between the aliyot. These prayers are not only for those in need of healing but also for congregants celebrating milestone birthdays and anniversaries.

As a visitor there, I didn’t know anyone who was being honored, so my mind inevitably wandered while the rabbi spoke. Until I heard him say, "Pearl Mizrahi is celebrating…" and I looked up to see Pearl — her eyes gleaming — standing on the bima.

I thought to myself, Mizrahi is not an uncommon name.  Still, when we stood up as the Torah was lifted, I leaned over to ask the rabbi's wife if this Pearl Mizrahi had relatives in Georgia. "I don’t know," she told me, "but Mizrahi is her married name.  Her family name is Dayan."

Now my eyes were gleaming. As the Torah was being dressed, I stole to the back pew and tapped Pearl Dayan Mizrahi gently on her shoulder.

According to rabbinic tradition, the Torah was revealed not only to the generation of Hebrews who left Egypt, but to all future generations of Jews who were standing with them at Sinai. The miracle of revelation was that every soul heard God's voice according to his or her own capacity. And we were all there together.

Chatting with Pearl after the service, I told her that I recognized her name from the CSI misheberakh list and that I was overjoyed to see her standing on the bima of Beth Judah, celebrating her milestone birthday in good health and high spirits. I felt that our prayers for her recovery had made a difference — if only in a small way — and had somehow enabled me to reach this moment of reconnection with Pearl. I was filled with the warmth of nostalgia, remembering that we had met once before: when we stood together at Sinai in God's presence for the first time.