I was reading a story during Pesach about a Seder plate and a man who had to go through the horrors of Holocaust. This man knew that he was about to be taken to the camps. He knew that Hitler wanted to destroy any remnants of Judaism. So he took that Seder plate and buried it.

If he somehow survived, his plan was to come back and get that holy item. And, somehow, this man miraculously survived the horrors of the camps. He went and dug up that Seder plate and used it for many years to come each and every Passover.

But when he died, his children took that Seder plate to a shop to get rid of it, as Pesach and Judaism were of little import to them.

How often I go to meet a family after a death has occurred. I go to counsel and console … and, I go to get information for the eulogy. Of course, tears are not unusual at such times. In fact, the tears often fall like rain as the family tells me how much they loved their father or their mother, or whoever it is that has passed.

And yet, in the midst of telling me how important their loved one was to them, all too often, I am sadly asked another question before the funeral takes place. The surviving family members will hand me their father’s prayer shawl, or his tefillin, or his yarmulke. They will hand me their mother’s candle holders or the covering she used for her head or for the challah. They will hand me Holy Books of Torah, perhaps even a Bible with several generations of the past Hebrew names written inside. And they will ask, “Rabbi, can you get rid of this for me?”

But, my dear friends, these are not items to get rid of. These are precious holy family heirlooms that should be passed down Dor L’Dor, from generation to generation and they should not just be passed down, they should be used, and each time they are used, I hope and pray that you feel your dearly departed loved ones looking down upon you shepping nachus, filled with pride, that you will continue to use these heirlooms that meant so much to them.

May these and other holy family heirlooms hold great meaning in your lives as well. May you be filled with beautiful memories each time you use them, and may you pass them down to your children and your children’s children who, G-d willing, will not only keep them as heirlooms, but will continue to use them and find deep meaning in them.

I’m not telling you to become a hoarder of everything from the past, but I am telling you to choose wisely. Some things you can surely get rid of, but some things are meant to be held, to be used, and to be cherished.

Shalom, my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and of the Association of Professional Chaplains, He works professionally in this capacity with a number of healthcare facilities in the area, and with hospice. He is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach.