Wow, is it really momma’s yahrzeit again? Has she really been gone for so long? Wow.

You know what WOW stands for don’t you? WOW stands for Women of the Wall. WOW stands for women who are standing up for their rights as human beings and as Jews. This is a group of women who once a month head over to the Kotel, the Wailing Wall, to pray … and they do something that my mother never did (at least, not that I know of), but my wife did right here at our Temple, wear a tallit, a prayer shawl.

The first time I did the High Holy Days here, I don’t think that any woman had worn one during the services and, if they did, I think maybe they would have been shot … or spit on, or yelled at.

The truth is that as soon as Carol put on her tallit, she was immediately reprimanded in harsh tones and harsh glares. But, it was not one of the men in the Congregation who did so. No, it was one of the women.

My wife was a Brooklyn girl and, as such, she knew how to open up her mouth. I don’t know what Carol told her, I do know that by the end of the service the woman was quite taken by her.

The founding documents of this great country, that we are blessed to live in, states, “We hold these truths to be selfevident: that all men are created equal.” Notice it doesn’t say anything about women, nor does it say anything about slaves. Slaves have been looking for freedom throughout all time … and women, too, have been looking for the same freedom as men have had…

Fortunately, there have been many changes in the world and many changes in our faith since my mother and my wife passed away.

It is no longer an uncommon sight to see women in a Conservative Shul wearing a tallit. It is no longer unusual for a member of a Reform Synagogue to wear a Yarmulke. It is not unusual for a Conservative Shul to be egalitarian and count women toward the minyan and call them up for any and all honors. And even the World of Modern Orthodoxy is moving in directions that many never believed would come as Rabbi Avi Weiss just ordained a group of women.

Yet, in Israel, there is a politically powerful “Ultra Religious Minority” who would still keep women in the back of the bus, who would still keep a woman from wearing anything that shows a little arm or a little leg … and, who would still try to keep women from praying at the Wall, especially if they happen to be wearing a Prayer Shawl. WOW!

How would my wife and my mother respond to the Women of the Wall? My wife would probably have flown to Israel to be with them. My mother might never have chosen to wear a tallit. She might not have chosen to be called up for an Aliya. But, I will tell you what I think she would have done. I think she would have rooted them on … and, if anyone tried to stop them … well, I think she would have been one of the first to raise her voice and, if necessary, her fists.

Come to think of it, I think my mother of blessed memory just might have wound up getting herself locked in jail defending the rights of the Women of the Wall. So, if you ask me what kind of woman my momma was, I can answer that in one word … WOW!

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. High Holy Days tickets are now on sale in the Temple office off of Hillsboro and Military. Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Do you realize how blessed we are to live in this great country where we can hear the thunderous sounds of fireworks and firecrackers and not worry that those loud bangs and booms are the sounds of bombs set off by terrorists?

As I watched the display, I thought about what it must have been for the likes of my Bubbe and Zaide (for my grandmother and grandfather) to have crossed the ocean, being fortunate enough to be able to get out of their native country and land on these hallowed shores, making America their home and having faith that their progeny would experience a freedom in America that they could never know from whence they came.

Yes, I am gung ho about America and I am gung ho about freedom, but please notice that the word is ‘freedom’ … not “free-dumb.” With freedom comes great responsibility. So, as we celebrate the 4th, I hope you will take some time to contemplate your responsibilities to G-d, to the world, to America, to your fellow human beings and to the environment.

In the Torah, we are told that we are to be “A light unto the nations.” As I looked at the dazzling display of fireworks in the sky, I remembered those holy words and I thought about how we kindle lights each Shabbat.

The next time you light those lights, take time to look at the flames on the candles. Have you ever noticed which way the flames go? They go up into the air, up toward the sky.

Let this be a reminder that if we wish to be a light unto the nations, then we have to remove some of the darkness that others are experiencing. And, if you are wondering how we remove darkness, look at the flames of those candles again. Let the fact that the flames reach up toward the sky remind us that we should always strive to lift others up, to lighten them up.

To lighten up has many meanings in our modern world. Someone who wishes to lose weight might lighten up on the number of calories they consume or lighten up on their carb intake. Someone who is taking things too seriously might need to lighten up.

I saw a patient the other day. He was obviously having trouble seeing the light in the midst of the darkness he was experiencing, and the physician treating him asked me if I could stop in and try to lift his spirits. As I walked into the room, his facial expression said it all, and his body language made his mood even more obvious.

Thinking out of the box, I told him about my recent visit for my annual physical, where after finishing examining me, the doctor said, “Rabbi, you are as strong as an ox.” That sounded great to me, but, then, he continued, “The only thing is that the ox is very old, eats too much and is in failing health.”

And, at that moment, the patient I was trying to comfort put a grin on his face and said, “Rabbi, I guess the ‘Yokes’ on you!”

The joke may have been lame, but as I left the room, that patient was still smiling. Life is truly a miracle. On the one hand, words can put someone into bad humor; on the other hand, sometimes even bad humor can lift a person’s spirits.

G-d Bless America!

P.S. – Don’t worry; I actually got a great report from my doctor.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. High Holy Days tickets are now on sale in the Temple office off of Hillsboro and Military. Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

It might seem way too early for me to be writing about the High Holy Days, but this year they are going to come much sooner than you might expect. In fact, the Eve of the Jewish New Year falls on Sept. 4.

Well, that’s still a few months away, so why am I focusing on it now? It started the other day when I had the delight of going out to a local dining establishment with some good friends of mine and the waitress asked me how I would like my tuna prepared.

But in the midst of asking me the question, she got a little tongue-tied and she wound up asking me, “How would you like your tuna pre-prayered.” I laughed it off at the time, but, the very next day, I had to make a business call and, after finding out that they had what I wanted to purchase, they asked me if I would like the item sent C.O.D. or if I would like to “pre-pray.”

Now, I might be a little slow even though I tend to look for signs from up above, but give me the same thing twice in one day and I start to pay attention.

And that got me focused on the upcoming Yomim Noraim, the High Holy Days, because we at Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach (and pretty much every other Temple you can think of) have already started not only preparing for the Holy Days, we have also started pre-praying for them.

This is a most appropriate thing to do. You can probably figure out many of the things that a Temple has to do to prepare for these Days of Awe, but you might be wondering what an individual should be doing to prepare?

Let’s look at the word “prepare” for a moment. If you look in the Thesaurus, you will find some very interesting synonyms for the word. For instance — “To get or to make ready,” “to lay the groundwork,” “to anticipate,” “to make provisions for—” these are all things we need to do in preparation.

But the synonym that really hit me was the one that says, “To get one’s house in order.”

To me, that summed up the Holy Days in just six short words: “To get one’s house in order.”

Don’t wait until the New Year begins. Prepare and be Pre-Prayered!

In Judaism, prayer is a time of self-reflection. It is a time to stop looking at what others are doing wrong and take a good hard look at your own life and how you live it. Take time to reflect on your behaviors. How do you treat your family … your neighbors? Do you feed the hungry and clothe the naked? Have you taken the time to forgive others and to ask forgiveness of them? After all, in the midst of the Days of Awe, each of us will be asking for G-d to forgive us and help give us the strength to change … to turn our lives around.

Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to pre-pray. Now is the time to reflect and to put the changes we know we should make into effect. Don’t wait until Rosh Hashana. Show G-d that you are serious about change in the coming year. Do it now and may G-d bless all of us with a year of joy and peace.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. High Holy Days tickets are now on sale in the Temple office off of Hillsboro and Military. Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Our children and grandchildren, who have probably been a little more rambunctious than usual, are busting out of school and into summer vacation.

Let me take a moment to applaud all teachers as you have dedicated yourselves to an amazingly holy task. I hope and pray that you enjoy your summer vacations, as I can’t think of anyone who deserves such a break more than you.

I hope that even though the kids are out of school that they will not miss out on some important birthdays that occur in the merry month of June.

For instance, for those of you who grew up on Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch will be celebrating his birthday this month.

June is also the month in which that most famous of fable writers, Aesop, was born. And I have no doubt that summer will be all it’s “quacked” up to be because it was back in June of 1934 that Donald Duck was born. And, June should be a super month because Superman also celebrates his birthday at this time.

While I hope that the kids remembered not to sit in class texting on their cell phones, June happens to have a celebration known as “E-Mail Week.” But, I hope that we will all keep in mind that June is also National Drive Safe Month. Please, remember, don’t text and drive.

Father’s Day is in June, and, if you happen to be alive, then you have a father to thank out there. Of course, June also happens to be National Bubba Day. While the day is really meant to be a day to celebrate those who are named Bubba (like Forrest Gump’s best Friend), for those of us who know a bisseleh Yiddish, Bubba’s Day has a very different meaning. You see, a Bubba is a grandmother, and I hope you get to spend lots of quality time with your Bubba this summer.

As many of you know, becoming a grandparent gives us a great chance to spoil our little angels and June is a perfect time to show them how sweet life can be as we celebrate National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Yummy, Yummy!

There is another reason that the month of June is big with members of The Tribe because we also celebrate Adopt a Katz Day … and I have no doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Katz would love for you to adopt them as a part of your family. Okay, it’s not really Katz Day … it’s Cat’s Day and I, for one, think that that’s just “purr-fect.”

There is one more day I would like to bring to your attention. June happens to have National Columnist Day. I am not mentioning this to toot my own horn; I just wanted to thank all of the teachers I have been blessed with because, without them, I would not be able to write a single word, let alone a regular newspaper column.

So, to the children who are reading this column and to those of you who are having it read to you, I have an assignment for you … that’s right, homework. Check and see if you can find the dates in June for each of the special days I mentioned in this article. I know you can do it, and if you can, thank a Teacher!

Shalom My Friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. If you like his column in the Observer and would like to hear him speak, guests and visitors are welcome to attend Saturday morning services at 10a.m. (The Temple is on Military Trail just South of Hillsboro Blvd.)

The Ten Commandments are referred to by many Sages as The Ten Utterances. The Ten Commandments were carved in stone, but, before they were written, The Children of Israel stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and heard those utterances. Some say we heard the words as though they all came at once. Others say that we each heard the utterances one word at a time, and still others say that each of us heard the utterances in our own way, to the best of our understanding. I adhere to this particular theory. I believe we hear most everything through a filter; not just the filter of our ears, but through the filter of our knowledge, our experience and our culture.

Perhaps that is why, each time we re-hear a chapter in the Torah chanted, we can glean something new out of it. The Torah hasn’t changed at all. It has the same words it has always had. But, hopefully, we have changed. We have grown, and, with that growth, we hear the words in a whole new and exciting way.

Words of Torah are, indeed, words we should listen to. But there are other words … mean words, nasty words, gossip that we should try to avoid letting into our ears.

In ancient days, it was suggested that we have a flap on our ears for just that reason. Of course, it has also been said that G-d gave us long fingers so that we could stick them in our ears for the very same reason. And, that G-d gave us feet so that we could walk away from evil speech. Wow, three ways to avoid having to listen to something sinful.

Austin O’Malley said, “We should thank G-d that He did not give us the power of hearing through walls, or we would have no friends.”

And there is even an expression that sums up the Ten Utterances well … you will all recognize the words, “Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.”

The ancients asked the question, “Why did G-d give us two ears but only one mouth,”and the answer was that so we should listen at least twice as much as we speak.

But poet Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us that “The hearing ear is always found close to the speaking tongue.” Of course, we know that if we listen to Loshen Hora there is a good chance that we are going to repeat it; after all, as human beings, we seem to get some great joy in being able to say something bad about someone, as long as that someone is not us.”

But, when we listen to The Ten Utterances, we are supposed to hear with more than just our ears … we are also supposed to listen with our eyes, our nose, our hands and, yes, our heart and our soul. This caused Groucho Marx to state, “One of the best hearing aides a man can have is an attentive wife.” I like that expression, especially as many have likened the event at Sinai to a marriage between G-d and The Children of Israel. If you are married, you had better take time to listen to your spouse when they need to talk. But, it is also true that if you really love someone, you have the ability to hear their unspoken needs. You can read the person you love like we read the Torah. You can hear the changes in inflection. You notice the little nuances. You listen, really listen, with every fiber of your being.

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.

I miss my momma. I was blessed with a true Yiddishe momma. She kept the house so clean you could eat off the floor. Today, I am going to let you in on a little secret; I was not the easiest child to rear and, to this day, I have times when I wish I could cling to my momma’s apron strings again.

Since Momma was a Balabusta, she wasn’t just the Queen of Clean. She was the Queen of the Sabbath Day. She was an Eshet Chayil, a woman of valor, and she was Queen of the Kitchen. And, no matter how long I live, I will never understand how she put up with me.

But as difficult as I was to raise, before my mother of blessed memory passed away, she let me know how proud she was of my brothers and of me. She let me know how much she loved us and that we should always remember to be at peace with one another.

Shalom Bayit, peace in the house … One of the most peaceful moments in my memory banks from the days of my childhood had to do with the eve of the Holy Sabbath day when my mom would put a kerchief on her head and stand in front of the Shabbat candles. She would strike a match and kindle the candles, and she would close her eyes, saying a prayer as she gently waved her hands over the flames of those holy lights.

Those lights were meant to increase the Shalom Bayit. And, at that special moment, I felt the glow and the warmth of the candles and the love of my momma for everyone in the house.

But how does one fulfill this beautiful mitzvah when they have a child who is much more difficult than even I might have been; for instance, what does a momma do when she has a child who is autistic?

If one of the reasons we kindle the Shabbat candles is to usher light and peace into the house, then, lighting them around a child with autism just might be problematic. The truth of the matter is that an autistic child will probably be more prone to blow the candles out. After all, isn’t that what we do when we have a birthday and light the candles?

Sometimes, out of love for that child, and for the safety and peace of the house, the tradition needs to be changed just a tad. And that concept brought Frances Victory to do a study on this very subject for her dissertation and as she wrote “One mother of a child with autism said: ‘We do light Shabbat candles and she (her daughter) takes great pleasure in blowing them out. We do let her do that. She walks away when we light the candles but she comes back down when we sing Shalom Alecheim (Peace Be Unto You).”

I know there are those who will see such an act as sinful, but, blowing out the dangerous flame still allows the mother to recite the appropriate blessings and keep her child safe to enjoy the peace of Shabbat.

As one of the mothers interviewed so lovingly said, “Some people make their kid fit to their world. We fit into our daughter’s world.” Now, that’s what I call a momma!

Wishing you all the most beautiful and joyous of Mother’s Days.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. He is a Member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and of the Association of Professional Chaplains and serves in this capacity as part of the Pastoral Care Department in several healthcare settings throughout North Broward County.

If you look at the movies that are playing in the theatre, you will find one called “Hava Nagila.” I haven’t seen it yet, but I have heard that it lifts your spirits and that is not too surprising as Hava Nagila basically means “let us celebrate” or “let us rejoice.”

And, if we are wise enough to count our blessings, then we have much to celebrate. In fact, we just celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, and, in case you didn’t know it, this year, we marked Israel’s 65th year as a modern nation.

There have been several movies made over the years that have an extremely moving scene where, after all the struggles of the Jewish People, after all the yearnings to return to our historic homeland, David Ben Gurion announced the formation of the modern state.

It was on Nov. 29 in the year 1947 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution for establishment of Israel as an independent Jewish state. The U.N. urged the inhabitants to take the needed steps on their part to put this plan into effect.

And that is exactly what the Jewish people did. Sadly, even in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the new country had to include the words, “In the midst of wanton aggression, we yet call upon the Arab inhabitants of the state of Israel to return to the ways of peace, and play their part in the development of the state, with full and equal citizenship and due representation in its bodies and institutions–provisional or permanent.”

The Declaration went on to say, “We offer peace and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all.”

This was to be the fulfillment of a dream that Jews had been dreaming for generations. After all, as the Declaration states, “the land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.” It was here that our “spiritual, religious and national identity was formed.”

Even after being exiled from the land, our people “remained faithful to it in all the countries of dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for a return and a restoration of our national freedom.”

I know many of our Christian brothers and sisters have been very supportive of Israel and the Jewish people, so I thought you might like to see the last paragraph of the Declaration, which states, “With trust in Almighty G-d, we set our hand to this Declaration, at this Session of the Provisional State Council, in the city of Tel Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the fifth of Iyar, 5708, the fourteenth day of May, 1948.”

That’s right, “With trust in the Almighty G-d!”

I thought about that a lot recently, especially as I focused on the word “Independence.” I broke that single word into two words and got “IN DEPENDENCE.”

The state of Israel lives … The United States lives … and each of us as individuals lives … IN DEPENDENCE. We live IN DEPENDENCE of G-d and we live IN DEPENDENCE on each other. If there is to be peace between all peoples and all countries of the world, we would do well to remember that. No one country, no one people and no one person is so great, so powerful, that they can do it on their own. We need each other and we need G-d Almighty.

“Mi Chamocha … Who is like unto You, O Lord among the Mighty?”

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.

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.

The world has a new Pope and I suspect that you were not expecting the Rabbi to be writing about the new Pontiff in this column, let alone be connecting him to the Festival of Pesach. But, as I am a Jewish Chaplain working with Broward County Catholic Health Services and Catholic Hospice and their L’Chaim Program for Jewish Patients, I couldn’t help but make a connection.

We are taught that the name we are given is of great import, as it may well prove to be a harbinger to the type of person we will grow up to be. The New Pontiff has chosen the name Franciso, or Francis. I, for one, think he chose his name well. The name Francis comes from Middle English and refers to a “Free man.” Being free is what the entire Festival of Passover is about. It is why we retell the story of our journey from slavery to freedom at each and every Seder Meal. And, if you look up the Hebrew name for Francis, you will find that one very real possibility (in fact, the one that I would give to him) is, none other than, Pesach …

Of course, even though I am a Rabbi, I am familiar with the most famous Francis … St. Francis of Assisi. At a very young age, he, too, knew the pain of being a slave as he was locked away in a jail for a full year. And yet, it was during his incarceration that he was able to begin his spiritual journey and turn his life around to become a champion of the poor and a striver for peace for one and all.

There is no question that we live in an age where there are still far too many poor… not just in economic terms, but in spiritual terms as well. And, surely all you have to do is look at any newspaper and you know that the world is in great need of peace.

The Pope has been called to lead our Catholic Brothers and Sisters just like Moses was called to lead us. As a Rabbi, it is no secret that I cannot help but see the world through Jewish eyes. It is, after all, who and what I am. And I know that many reading this column follow the same path and you might be wondering how will this Pope be in regard to the Jewish People?

Last November, he led a special memorial in remembrance of the victims of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, with Rabbi Avruj by his side and he held the memorial in the Buenos Aries Metropolitan Cathedral no less. He spoke out strongly against the bombings at the Jewish Center of Buenos Aires. He has close ties to the Latin American Jewish Congress and worked with them in their New Generations Program. He is no stranger to attending synagogue services as he has been to Shul on more than one occasion. And, if you look for a book written by Rabbi Sergio Bergman, be sure to look at the Forward because then Archbishop, now Pope, wrote the forward for Rabbi Bergman and called the Rabbi “one of my teachers.”

As we Jews begin to celebrate Pesach, our Festival of Freedom, let us extend a hearty Mazal Tov to Pope Francis and join him in helping to bring more love, peace and freedom to one and all.

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.

It is not always easy to find time for things, unless, of course, it is something that is really important to you. This Sunday, time will be on our minds as we will be moving our clocks forward one hour. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wonder if such a move doesn’t take an hour off my life.

I know that might sound rather depressing for those of you who read my column regularly, because, you know, I try to write about the positives and the blessings in our lives. But the thought of having one less hour can serve as a positive motivating force. Think about it, what are you able to accomplish in just one hour? What loving and holy acts can you perform in such a short span of time?

The great Sage Hillel reminded us of the importance of time by saying, “If not now, when?” And he was so right because if we don’t do what we are able to now, we might never get the chance again because we never really know how many days we have left on this earth.

I have seen people who were told that they only had days left to live. I have heard families told that, once their loved one’s ventilator is removed, they will only have minutes left. And many of those very same people are still with us. They have been allotted more time and they are taking that extra time they have been given as a blessing.

We are not G-d. We might be able to come up with a probable amount of time someone has left, but G-d may well have other plans. In fact, there is an old adage that says, “The greatest of doctors is time.”

The Chofetz Chaim taught, “People say ‘time is money’ but I say ‘money is time,’ for every luxury costs so many precious hours of your life.”

What have you done with your time lately? A woman walking down the street in a city in the midwest a few weeks back saw a beggar in the street. Looking at the poor homeless soul, she might have thought, “He doesn’t look like he has much time. Let me see if I can make his day.” So she put some money into his hat.

She headed down the street and, after she and her husband had gone a few blocks, they heard the beggar shouting at them to stop. How frightening it must have been to have a homeless man chasing them down.

But they stopped, and that poor soul with not even a watch to wear, caught up to her and told her that when she put money in his hat, her ring had slipped off her finger and fallen into the hat as well. That’s right, when called upon to do a holy deed, the beggar forgot about his own needs and took the time and energy to rush to make someone else’s day.

And talk about “Paying It Forward.” The woman and her husband gave the man whatever cash they had on them as a “thank you.” And, it didn’t end there. She put the story on the Internet and, in no time, a fund was set up to get this Holy Child of G-d, this homeless man, a place of his own.

So next time you get a chance to make a difference in someone’s life, take the time and that good deed might just keep growing and growing.

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.