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| Please visit my new blog: esamuels.blogspot.com | | |
| I had to post urgently about a horrendous development out of Egypt relating to a cause of course dear to my heart--the disinvitation of Israelis from an upcoming cancer awareness conference in Alexandria, which the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization is sponsoring.
Heard about this from a friend (hat tip, Wendy!) and then saw this email (below) from Rabbi Lopatin in Chicago. I just called Komen at the 877.465.6636 number and suggest you do also. They took down my email address--they'll email me Nancy Brinker's statement later on today.
We can't stand for this! Please help me in letting Komen know that, unless Egypt budges, they will have no choice but to withdraw their sponsorship. Plain and simple.
Here's my Rabbi's letter to the synagogue:
It has come to my attention that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization is sponsoring a cancer awareness conference in Alexandria, Egypt, and doctors and cancer survivors from Israel have been disinvited and told not to come. There is a lot of excitement around this Egyptian conference, yet the articles in the media are not covering that our people have been excluded. To me this sounds exactly like what happened in the Berlin Olympics of 1936 where Jewish members of the American team were told not to come and not allowed to compete. This should never be allowed to happen again. I ask anyone in the shul with connections to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, or those who have been on the walk, to call the organization and complain. All of us should voice our outrage to the organization. Their number is: 877.465.6636. This ban on Israelis was not the choice of Susan G. Komen for the Cure – just as in 1936 it was not the choice of the US Olympic committee not to allow Jewish athletes. However, no moral organization should sponsor a conference where Jews, Israelis or any other people are excluded. Please be in touch with me by email if you have insights into making our voice heard. We cannot tolerate this acceptance of anti-Semitism and denial of our Jewish state.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Look at the Israel National News article and the Komen article about the event.
I'll have to get back in here and update a ton! For now, this picture after the brit milah/bris will tell a thousand Uncle-tastic words!
A couple quick links about what's happening: John Bolton's appraisal of Obama's foreign policy in the LA Times, and an oh-so-telling op-ed from Human Rights Watch's founder about his former organization's inclination to constantly objectify Israel to be perfect, in the process distorting the true picture of human rights abuses.
Back to work--keeping very busy! Much love from Jerusalem!
אריק/Eric
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| Hey good people,
I just got back from Dad's first live performance after the surgery, honoring his dear friend and colleague Elaine Gardner-Morales at a celebration for her 30-year career at Brookhaven College. Check out the video of "100 Years of Fun," Dad's new composition for her in the spirit of the great times they spent working together (he wrote it just last week).
Here's Dad's very first tune post-surgery, Elaine's old favorite--Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life."
And here's me with Elaine and Dad:
Thank you all so much for all the really kind messages, thoughts, and prayers--which Jerry/Yedidya ben Naomi does still need as he undergoes chemo. That means so much to us. And for my dad, he said, "Your prayers saved me." To date, his recovery has been nothing short of spectacular (see for yourself in those videos!). Please stay tuned at his CaringBridge site:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jerrysamuels
We had the best time reminiscing with my wonderful Uncle Bennett, who came in last week.
Can't really turn the TV on in the States these days without getting beaten in the head with the health care debate (thankfully I have successfully steered clear of the actual violence out there). Anyway, I thought this Jerusalem Post editorial with the Israeli viewpoint was very interesting. I have been quite pleased with my universal health care in Israel (but that's not to say that I don't have friends with far less positive reviews). Like the editorial points out, health care (like so so many things) in Israel is no-frills--no fancy waiting rooms, similar wasteful nonsense, etc. Now that's the way I like it: frills-free!
Way past my bedtime,
אריק/Eric
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| I hope that despite my lack of posts you've kept up the prayers for my dad, Yedidya Ben Naomi/Jerry. We held onto the long-shot hopes that the tumor was benign, but last Tuesday we got the news we were bracing for: it was indeed pancreatic cancer. Again, the margins were clear when the tumor was removed, and because of Dad's jaundice a few weeks ago and his doctors' subsequent diligent testing, they caught it far earlier than so many tragic pancreatic cancer cases. In so many ways, all things considered (that's a big caveat), the situation couldn't be better.
Dad came home Saturday after his longest hospital stay ever (but discharge after only eight days was on the very quick end of the predictions). He went straight to the piano and played my new all-time favorite concert! Sorry Buddy Guy at Atlanta's Tabernacle, Shlomo Artzi at the Caesarea Amphitheater, Kurt Elling at Eilat's Red Sea Jazz Festival and Von Freeman's 25th Anniversary of Tuesday Nights at the New Apartment Lounge on Chicago's 75th St. The unbelievably heartfelt, loving versions of Dad's Ellen (for Mom of course, reciprocating her equally unbelievably loving week helping him recuperate), Little Brother Bossa (written for me during my stint at Chicago's Little Brothers--Friends of the Elderly) and A Musical Legacy (for his mom Naomi, my Nana, zichrona livracha/z"l/may her memory be a blessing), fresh off of major surgery, were simply unforgettable.
Dad met yesterday with his oncologist, who was thrilled with his progress. Daily victories include: eating more and more (he's already off the feeding tube), keeping up the piano playing, and gaining strength after getting so much more sleep and rest here at home than he did in the hospital.
Stay tuned for Jerry news if you like at his CaringBridge website.
As for what I'm up to and how long/where I'll be: I was originally planning to fly to NY and then straight to Detroit for cousins + Michigan football on...Sept 11. No need to go flying on that date, right?!? The plan was Dallas from there, and then up to Connecticut whenever my sister gives birth (b'ezrat Hashem/with G-d's help, the due date is Yom Kippur. Can't believe Jake will be a big bro so soon!), before flying back to Israel Oct 11. Well, I ended up just changing all the tickets, turning a quick one-month trip into a 2 1/2 month uber-trip. It worked out quite nicely that I won't have the issues I originally would have...turns out that even though as an Israeli, I won't be celebrating Simchat Torah (a separate holiday beyond Shmini Atzeret only celebrated by Diaspora Jews), I still can't do things like ride in a car and then fly on a plane (which break the laws of Shabbat, as well as the major holidays) due to Ma'arat Ayin. The gist is that one might think observant Jews can drive/fly on the holiday, not realizing the nuances of different holiday observance for Israelis (alleviate Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah confusion here). Long story not so short, it all worked out for me to fly back to Israel Oct 12 instead.
I started a job in June as a paralegal, working for a Baltimore law firm all the way from Jerusalem. Thankfully, I've been able to continue that from Dallas. The set up's actually better, as making calls on Skype from the Central Time Zone means an 8 - 4 work day, rather than a 4 - midnight shift in Israel. As I came here because my dad implored me to come immediately after he learned that he'd be having the Whipple Procedure, I am of course here to aid in his recovery first, but managing to do both.
From the Holy Land to North Texas
Aliyah means ascension, so emigrating from Israel (not what I'm doing--I'll be back in Israel right acharei ha'chagim/after the holidays) is called yerida/descent. Going from three trips in five days to Jerusalem's Kotel (currently Judaism's epicenter of holiness), "down" for an extended trip to Texas and Connecticut, obviously means a big drop in kedusha/holiness. But that aforementioned concert was pretty darn holy. And my parents' house of 26 years has quite a bit of kedusha. They say that in lieu of the Beit Ha'Mikdash/Temple in Jerusalem, the house of a Jewish couple is in a way their own temple. And the holiness of uncling is beyond words. So the long trip works for me at this time.
I've been riding Dad's bike pretty regularly to neighborhood Orthodox synagogue Ohev Shalom's daily services (and walking there on Shabbat). I borrowed the biking to synagogue idea from old friend Norm Levitz at Chicago's Anshe Sholom. Rabbi Rodin has mad rabbinical game, and the community has been very supportive--including my dad in prayers for the sick and checking in every day. For those who are curious how a guy who didn't learn to ride a bike until the ripe age of 28 is holding up, I'm gaining control by the day! Along with the more accurate steering, it's done wonders for my cardiovascular health! So let's just say the streets of Far North Dallas are a much tamer training ground than Jerusalem's crazy streets. As for Shabbat, the congregants and I are just about the only people you'd see walking those streets, though the bike path just behind our backyard is a lovely exception to that rule.
In case I somehow hadn't noticed that I wasn't in Israel anymore, I flipped through the basic cable channels on my first Sunday morning on the way to Shacharit/morning services, only to be welcomed into roughly 15 evangelist churches. And then at services, a longtime Texan led, singing:
Rom'mu, with the Texan accent in Hebrew sounded something like George W. Bush might, flabbergasted after one of those inexplicable interceptions from Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo, exclaiming in his twang:
Romo...booo!
The subtler example was the man who led afternoon Tisha B'Av services very honest trip-up reading the special annual addition to the Amida (major prayers). It's certainly not anything I wouldn't have done on a very empty stomach towards the end of the fast day. But for an Israeli, the fact that this passage is read only once yearly of course wouldn't faze them, since they got a huge head start on us chutznikim (Diaspora residents) reading Hebrew. Most of my fellow Sunday school residents and I just learned to decode the Torah for the ol' Bar Mitzvah.
In all seriousness, I especially enjoyed a story from Rabbi Moshe Chait zichrono livracha/z"l that Rabbi Rodin passed to us on Tisha B'Av last week. Summary: Moshe/Moses took three steps out of his way to see what was up with the burning bush that wasn't consumed. Due to that inquisitive nature, Moshe was made leader of the Hebrews. The message is to stop walking on autopilot, seek out opportunities, and then make things happen! Rabbi Chait had inspired a former burger flipper to chart a career working in the government, which enabled him to live an observant Jewish lifestyle, as he never again had to work on Shabbat. Rabbi Rodin had previously sought to inspire through this story, and he did just that, lighting someone's longtime desire to found an East Coast yeshiva (Jewish learning institution). That congregant made the yeshiva happen as a result. A wonderful lesson--who isn't trying to continue moving forward and doing big things?!?
Last week's parsha/Torah portion, Va'etchanan, included not merely the Sh'ma (well, the first paragraph), Judaism's most important prayer and affirmation of monotheism, but also the very timely:
כבד את-אביך ואת-אימך
Cabed et avicha v'et imecha = Honor your father and your mother, #5 of aseret ha'dibrot/the Ten Commandments, of course. I'm doing my best here.
While saying the Uvnei Yerushalayim (Rebuild Jerusalem) verse of the Birkat Ha'Mazon (Grace after Meals) on my first Shabbat in town, I wondered to myself, "which way is Jerusalem, anyway?" So I finally noticed that in my seat at all those dinners over all those years, I was facing east to Jerusalem all along!
Other than that, as tonight marked my second missed wedding in Israel (can't catch 'em all, but mazal tov to Gilad and Ivette and Matt and Stef!), I was beyond thrilled to celebrate at my oldest friend Andrew's daughter Talia's third bday party! And I got to finally meet her little bro Ethan, who's almost 1 already!
Watching my hometown Texas Rangers in high def has been quite a step up from watching poorly-loading sports games every once in awhile on the internet at 2 am in Israel. They got our hopes up that they'd keep winning for Dad, maybe even catching the Angels, and then they just dropped three straight. Too early to give up, but the hapless Rangers haven't done anything historically to keep us too optimistic. What can I say--I am irrationally keeping hope alive! I've also caught some pretty cool (and tried to screen out some really lame) Jewish/Israel stuff on Shalom TV, available conveniently On Demand.
Off to bed--בוקר טוב ישראל/Good morning Israel!
אריק/Eric
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| We have very good news to report--today couldn't have gone much better!
Jerry was in surgery for a bit over four hours. We then got a favorable report from the fantastic surgeon.
The margins of the pancreas were clean, but the results of the pathology report won't come until approximately Tuesday. From there we'll know what to do next.
The doctor played "Sounds of Samuels" and really enjoyed Dad's compositions. Dad surely was smiling, listening to one of his masterpieces as he was anesthetized.
He is now in the Recovery Unit under the care of a pulmonologist, on a respirator overnight, and awaiting transfer to Surgical ICU when a bed becomes available. He should get out of ICU on Sunday or Monday.
Thank you all so much for all the prayers, tehillim, well wishes and good thoughts! Not to deny the incredible work of the amazing doctors and nurses, but the biggest thanks go to G-d for hearing and answering those prayers!
I am missing Israel like crazy already, but I'm taking the mitzvah (commandment) of kibud av va'em (honoring parents) very seriously and thrilled to be able to do just that. My wonderful folks have given me and Amy so much, so it wasn't a question for me to come and be here for them at a time of need. Shabbat Shalom from Dallas! Love,
אריק/Eric | | |
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