10 | AUGUST 11 • 2022 

essay
The Power of Hello 
A 

friend once shared 
a story about a time 
that she took her 
grandchildren to the beach. 
She sat alone and noticed a 
group of women 
chatting nearby. 
She decided to 
approach them. 
Her “Hello” led 
to a shidduch 
(match) between 
her daughter 
and the son 
of one of the 
women. Her 
motto: “The Power of Hello!”
I am an introvert by nature, 
often reticent to approach 
strangers. However, over the 
past week, I have stepped out 
of my comfort zone, only to 
make new connections and 
friendships.
While walking on the 
Tayelet (promenade) in 
Teveria (Tiberias, on the 
Galilee) last week, my hus-
band and I observed a couple 
struggling to take a selfie. We 
approached, said “Shalom,” 
took a photo and within five 
minutes discovered not only 
that the woman’s aunt was a 
very close friend of my moth-

er in Brookline, Mass., but 
also that her brother-in-law is 
married to our friend’s daugh-
ter. The Power of Hello.
We spent this past Shabbat 
in Yerucham (in the Negev), 
as an end-of-the-year gather-
ing of parents and the young 
men who completed five 
years of Hesder (combination 
yeshivah and army service). I 
recognized many of our son’s 
friends, who greeted us so 
warmly. Mothers, whose sons 
we have hosted over the years, 
came over to thank us for the 
hospitality.
We were seated in the 
dining room, and I noticed 
a woman staring at me. She 
looked vaguely familiar. My 
old self would have just spent 
the weekend guessing — but 
now I felt like a superwoman 
with this newfound power. I 
approached her and it turned 
out that we are “related” — her 
aunt was married to my uncle. 
We talked about our shared 
first cousins, our families.
I rarely speak publicly. 
Although we have been in 
Israel for 30 years, I still do 
not feel confident speaking in 
Hebrew. As Shabbat was com-

ing to a close, parents, along 
with our sons, sat in a circle. 
We were asked to share a spe-
cial experience from the years 
in yeshivah.
I was surprised that my son 
spoke up and shared a memo-
ry of mine of his first day. He, 
like me, is quiet and I could 
not believe he had spoken up. 
The story, though, wasn’t quite 
right, and I felt that I needed 
to tell it. And I did!
I shared as well how every-
one in the group is family, 
how I connected with a rela-
tive and discovered that our 
10th-grade Chumash teacher 
at Maimonides School in 
Brookline has a grandson 
studying with my son. Later, 
a woman approached me and 
said, “Maybe we have a con-
nection as well” and it turned 
out her mother grew up with 
my aunt in Dorchester!
The connections contin-

ued at the small hotel in 
Yerucham. Saying hello to a 
woman at the pool watching 
a group of teenagers revealed 
she was from Boston. We 
reconnected with the coor-
dinator of the group, also a 
Maimonides graduate. Hello!!
We recently experienced the 
period of heightened mourn-
ing leading up to Tisha b’Av, 
the day the Beit HaMikdash 
was destroyed. The sages say 
the Temple was destroyed 
because of baseless hatred.
I hope that with The Power 
of Hello, if each of us reaches 
out to one person and smiles 
and says “Hello,” we will create 
a better world. 

Debra Weiner-Solomont is the coordi-

nator of the Pardes Institute Community 

Education Program. She received 

her M.S.W. from Wurzweiler School of 

Social Work. Debra, along with her 

husband and sons, came on aliyah 

from Brookline, Mass., 27 years ago.

Deborah 
Weiner-
Solomont
Times of 
Israel

PURELY COMMENTARY

BOUNCING BABY BOY from page 4

neighbor and babysitting 
understudy, asking him at 
one point over the week-
end whose diaper he had to 
change more, his or Brooks.
Billy said his weekend with 
Brooks was among the “happi-
est four days of my life,
” senti-
ments he shared in a beautiful 
note titled “Weekend at Billy’s” 
that he emailed to Michael 
within hours of Brooks being 
picked up. 

The message will be forward-
ed to a special email address 
that has already been set up for 
Brooks by his parents.
“The plan,” said Kate, “is to 
give Brooks the password to 
the email address around the 
time of his bar mitzvah to let 
him read all the little memo-
ries people have shared over 
the years.”
Something tells me that 
Brooks will consider Great- 

Uncle Billy’s note among his 
favorite bar mitzvah gifts. 
That and perhaps a new, larger 
sized Bad Boys T-Shirt. 

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, 
voice-over/acting talent, speaker, 
and emcee. Visit his website 
at laughwithbigal.com,”Like” Al 
on Facebook and reach him at 
amuskovitz@thejewishnews.com.

Billy and young Brooks 
enjoying a leisurely stroll in the 
neighborhood.

22_PLN_WN2T_AddictionPanel_JNad.indd 1

