A DIFFERENT KIND OF HALLOWEEN

One week before Halloween and one year after the murder of Jews who had been worshipping in a Pittsburgh Synagogue I sat in a simple Chapel in Cincinnati.  I was with my son Andrew Rehfeld, his wife Miggie Greenberg, my grandchildren Emma and Hoben and their friends, Julia and Corbyn.  We were together to celebrate the Inauguration of Andrew as Presidentof Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion etablished in 1875.

We were joined by more family members, colleagues and a delegation of people from St. Louis and from other cities and countries around the world.  My older son Edward was in Australia working with the Laborers' International Union of North America on a conference.  He was able to stream the Inauguration proceedings by computer.*

The Inauguration lasted three days during which time we observed the rituals so familiar to the Jewish people.  We broke bread with strangers. We listened to familiar music sung in Cantorial style played on new and ancient instruments. We danced.  We studied Torah with students, rabbis and other learned men and women. We ate, and we remembered those people of all ages and beliefs no longer here.

 We went by bus from the College Campus, to visit and enjoy the hospitality of three different Temples.  We visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the historic Plum Street Temple where the inauguration of Andrew Rehfeld Ph.D. as the tenth President  of the Hebrew Union College took place.

 Even after Mother Nature poured drenching rain on the proceedings, when the rain abated I felt as if we had been reminded of our heritage to seek justice and law to overcome hatred and fear of others,
and I thought how grateful I was to have been a part of it all.

                                    _________________________

*Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute
HUCmoji  huc.edu/HUCmoji

AUTUMN'S PROMISE & REMEMBRANCE

Right in the middle of political frenzy and religious remembrance comes Autumn.  It brings holiday observance for those of faith as well a sense of awe for the impact custom and nature can have.

Suddenly roads and fields are dry.  Clouds that seemed to be permanently fixed above us are gone.  The drenching rain gives way to a fine and billowing mist.  The sky becomes crystal clear and temperatures drop.  Trees and shrubs show their color and reveal the hiding places of small creatures.

 We know Autumn will give way to Winter too soon but we delight in this season as it is. We promise ourselves to enjoy the crunch of leaves under foot before we need to deal with snow and ice.