Commentary

Shabbat To Remember

Sharing in the joy that binds us all.

every boy/girl coming of age would
be engulfed in such support and love.
What a different place the world would
be.
Temple Israel is one of the largest
synagogues in America. It is a warm
and inviting edifice made
even more so by the wonder-
ful family and friends com-
ing together for the joyous
occasion of Benjamin's bar
mitzvah.
I entered the Temple plac-
ing a yarmulke on my head
and was soon immersed in a
celebration of a boy assuming
the responsibility of Jewish
adulthood.
"Shabbat shalom," mean-
ing "peaceful Sabbath" in
Hebrew, the standard greeting rang
out from all.
Thirteen-year-old Benjamin skill-
fully led the congregation in prayer,
teaching about and reading from the
Torah. It was a touching ceremony
with the love and bond between father,
mother and son witnessed by family
and friends, as evident as the joy that
marked the day.
The chanting and singing for me, a
Catholic-raised boy,
was as spiritual
THEIR ADVICE as it was enchant-
ing. It was a cross
between the uplift-
AND NOW, AS
ing music from
THE TERRIFIED
Fiddler on the Roof
WEST SINKS
that left you feel-
BENEATH THE
ing that you were
WAVES,
seated at a smash-
hit Broadway musi-
cal and a spiritual
revival. The canto-
rial soloists that
morning were Neil
and Stephanie
Michaels, who sang
through the wor-
ship service with
voices that were
like chocolate for
the ears.
Rabbi Jennifer
Kaluzny gently
guided Benjamin
throughout the ser-
vice and delivered
a moving reading
that reminded me
of all the good
that religion (be

habbat shalom!
There is value in being
exposed to the vast world
around us.
For me, these eye-opening experi-
ences have come through the eyes
of my children, Daniel and
Katherine, and with world
travel to the Caribbean,
China, Europe, Japan and
South and Central America.
Yet in America, we do not
have to travel far to witness
and experience the magic
of the tapestry of diversity
that makes our country
great.
I recently re-experienced
the riches of America close
to home when I attended
a bar mitzvah with Vicki Bucciere for
Benjamin Joshua Weiss, the proud
son of Carol and Jay Weiss, at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield.
Ben is an outgoing, confident and
wonderful all-American boy, surround-
ed by love, family and friends and who
loves sports, especially football and
basketball.
As I witnessed the service, my
thoughts drifted to the ideal that

Dry Bones

TEHRAN HAS
OUT-FOXED,
SWINDLED, TRICKED
AND INTIMIDATE-0
THE WEST

THEIR
GOVERNMENTS
SHOUT OUT
THEIR ADVICE TO
ISRAEL!

Benjamin Joshua Weiss at Temple Israel

it Christianity, Islam or Judaism) can
stand for as she spoke of service to
our fellow man.
Rabbi Kaluzny spoke with such pas-
sion about Rabbis Joachim Prinz and
Abraham Joshua Heschel, who stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. years earlier in
their quest for equality and justice for
all.
Rabbi Joachim Prinz came to the
podium immediately before Dr. King's
"I Have A Dream" speech on the steps
of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D.C., on Aug. 28,1963. Dr. Prinz'
address is remembered for its conten-
tion that in the face of discrimination,
"the most urgent, the most disgrace-
ful, the most shameful and the most
tragic problem is silence."
After the service, I spoke to an
elderly father and son in the next
row whose singing provided a stereo
effect so pleasant that I thought they
must be backup in a Broadway musi-
cal. Sadly, they were at the temple as
the elderly gentleman had recently
lost his wife of 64 years. There was
both a genuineness and peacefulness
in a momentary exchange that lin-
gered with me for days after our brief
encounter.

This moment was only reinforced by
my conversation with 70-year-old-plus
Denny next to the cookie table (he
only eats the non-sugar variety), who
also had lost his wife a few years back,
and he spoke about how the rabbi and
congregation helped nurse him back to
happiness and joy.
I left Temple Israel that Saturday
wishing all mankind could have wit-
nessed the simple ritual of a boy
becoming a man, family and communi-
ty coming together and sharing in the
joy that bonds us all, our humanity.
Michigan's state motto is: "If you
seek a pleasant peninsula, look about
you."
On a simple Saturday afternoon, as I
looked about, Benjamin became a man
and I learned, loved and grew in my
humanity.
We live in an extraordinary country
and have much to be thankful for as
this ritual and day reinforced.
Shabbat shalom, indeed.

Tom Watkins is a freelance writer who served

as Michigan's state superintendent of schools

2001-2005 and state mental health deputy

and director 1983-90. He is a U.S./China

business and educational consultant and can

be reached at tdwatkins88@gmail.com .

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