Remember the bar mitzvah from last weekend? It turned out to be a lovely service, and quite moving actually. I joked around here about dressing the Torah, but of course I was appropriately reverent. Dude, I'm polite. Nothing like a childhood pervaded with the threat of physical harm to reinforce a behavior. Holla, Dad! My godson did a great job. He rolled through his Torah passage and his Hebrew was the bomb. The rabbi's spiel was the moving part. Can I call it a spiel without totally blowing the polite claim I just made? Anyway, Schwartz hit on a lot of my recent talking points from here at
Pipedreams. You know, the ones about having only one life and having to take chances and overcome adversity. Yeah, those. The same ones where when I get going you skim and say
blah de blah blah blah in your head? Those. Nice guy. And funny. At the start of the service, I thought I'd like to do Moscovitz (the back-up rabbi), but by the end, I would have been all over Schwartz, no question. Both straight, though, so I was left scoping out the buffet line for a Jew of my very own. I've said it before, and I'll say it again (in the interest of extending a stereotype): they will go down on you for DAYS. Here's a picture of the sanctuary:
Lovely, isn't it? If you'll notice, they have a verse in English on the left and Hebrew on the right. I'm not a huge God guy, as you know, but I think a lot of religions could stand to keep it simple, like these words do, and the world would be a happier place:
It has been told you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. That's it. And that's enough, I imagine.
Added: I can't resist mentioning the post title. From Boyz II Men. Get it. The bar mitzvah. I had to.
Lovely, isn't it? If you'll notice, they have a verse in English on the left and Hebrew on the right. I'm not a huge God guy, as you know, but I think a lot of religions could stand to keep it simple, like these words do, and the world would be a happier place: It has been told you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. That's it. And that's enough, I imagine.
4 comments:
You are inappropriate in every way, and I adore you. Great piece of writing.
Oh, you're one of THOSE people.
The kind I love.
Frankly, I find Jewish weddings more intimate than any Catholic fracas I've been to. So much more inclusive with family and the witnesses.
Michael, I agree. The Jews do it right. At least the Reform crew with whom I roll. The daddy of the bar mitzvah boy is my best friend in the world. I was in his wedding. Very personal. Intimate. Maybe it's the chuppa, I don't know. Lovely, though. I embrace it. I love that temple, too. Like I said, I'm not all down with the God, but they have a philosophy that I cotton to. Live. Really live. Do stuff. Just because. Be good. Just because. Not for some heavenly pay-off, but because it's the right thing to do. Be kind. Show mercy.
Of course there was a vicious catfight in the reception hall before the bar mitzvah, which I also loved. Curses were exchanged, there were tears and slamming doors. They even do that shit right.
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