Thursday, November 01, 2007
What it means to be a family
People are always knocking Jewish organizations because the only time they get their act together is in times of tragedy and danger. But as I reflect on the Bar Mitzva weekend of my son Tzvi this past Shabbos, I realize that it is not only a false accusation; but, especially so in the greater NCSY family! We had dozens of alumni attend various parts of our simcha and literally hundreds send notes and emails. The feeling of love from my NCSY family was very gratifying to me; but, more important eye opening for my son Tzvi. Tzvi has been to literaly a 100 Shabbatons in his thirteen years. Seeing hundreds of Jewish teens getting together practically every other week just to celebrate Shabbos together is normal for him. However, when he got to see what was a normal love from extended family in his eyes, through the eyes of his friends who have never seen NCSY he realized something powerful and so did I. This gathering of well wishers from around the world, most of whom my son has never met is normal in the NCSY world and should be normal for everyone but its not. In NCSY Kol Yisrael Areivim Ze La Ze is not just lip service; but reality. We should make it our mission to spread our attitude. Maybe start by sending an email or note to a Bar Mitzva or Bat Mitzva in your community that you don’t know by looking in your local Jewish paper. This act of love for a fellow Jew you don’t know may be a simple step with a great demonstration of love from their extended Jewish family. If enough do this then every Bar or Bat Mitzva will feel like my son Tzvi was when hundreds of fellow Jews wished him Mazel Tov whom he now knew were part of the family.
Have an awesome Shabbat,
Rabbi Dave Felsenthal
Dirtector OU Alumni
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