CLERGY CORNER: Happy Rabbi, Father, Padre’s Day

Posted on 18 June 2015 by LeslieM

Years ago, I was blessed to work with my father of blessed memory.

We not only got to share the pulpit for several high holy days, we also did rounds together at several health centers. Back in those years, we worked alongside a wonderful Franciscan Friar, known lovingly to all those under his charge as Father Joe.

One day, the three of us were walking down a hospital hallway side-by-side and someone came up to us. They looked at my father and then at me and said, “I never remember, which of you is the father and which of you is the son.”

My dad immediately responded, “I’m the father and he’s the son,” at which point I looked over at Father Joe and said, “You know what that makes you, don’t you? That’s right, if my dad’s the father and I’m the son, then you must be the Holy Ghost!”

Father Joe wasn’t offended in any way, and, as he smiled at my sick humor, the patient in front of us got such a wonderful belly laugh, the first time he had laughed in ages.

Oddly enough, I now do rounds each week at the North Broward campus of Catholic Health Services. When I first started working there several years ago, everyone call me Rabbi. But I have been there for a long time, and, over the years, many of the staff and patients have slipped and, instead of calling me Rabbi, they call me Father.

The first time they do it and realize what they have done, they apologize. But I tell them, you have nothing to apologize for. I am honored that you accept my position here to the point that you actually refer to me in such a way.

I don’t have any children of my own, but I do have those who call me Father, and that is a blessing in my life.

Amazingly enough, here in America, we celebrate Father’s Day on the specific day we do because of Priests, Pastors and Ministers.

This year marks the 115th Anniversary of Father’s Day.

Sonora Smart Dodd came up with the concept of Father’s Day. Her mother died giving birth. Sonora’s father raised her and her five brothers all by himself. And, during the church service on Mother’s Day, Sonora knew there should be a special day set aside for fathers.

Her father happened to have been born on June 5, and she thought that would be the perfect day to celebrate Father’s Day. But when the Ministerial Association of Spokane, WA met to approve it, they felt there was too little time to prepare proper sermons for fathers so soon after Mother’s Day. And so it was that they opted to celebrate Father’s Day on the third Sunday of the month of June. That was back in the year 1910 and we have been celebrating it ever since.

Father’s Day was not meant to be a day for buying ties. And I believe that Calvin Coolidge said it best as he signed a resolution in 1924 pertaining to Father’s Day as a day “to establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations.”

I hope all the Fathers reading this column will take those words to heart. You can be a Saint to your children. In fact, in several traditionally Catholic Countries (Spain, Portugal, etc.), Father’s Day is observed on March 19, which just happens to be The Feast of St. Joseph.

Shalom my friends and a very meaningful Father’s Day,

Rabbi Craig H Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach (201 S. Military Tr., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442). Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

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