Do you believe in magic? Over the past few weeks, I have been asking this question? It all started with a commentary I was reading on a Parsha from the Torah, the one where Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh; Aaron puts his staff down and it turns into a snake.

I don’t know about you, but if I saw someone do that, I would be pretty amazed. Yet, according to the Biblical account, Pharaoh is not amazed at all. In fact, according to Midrash, Pharaoh is rather bored with this feat.

And we find out why very quickly as he calls out the Royal Magicians and each of them is able to perform the very same magic trick. Better yet, according to Midrash, Pharaoh goes even further. He calls out his children and his wives and, they, too, are able to do this bit of magic.

How could this be? Well, for the very same reason that Pharaoh was not impressed at all with what Aaron had done. You see, magic was a regular everyday thing for the Pharaoh and his family. They were surrounded by magic tricks that were performed over and over again. They had seen them so many times that they were able to figure out how they were done. And because of that, those tricks had lost their magic.

I hear the word magic a lot, but I wonder how many miraculous things that occur all around us on a daily basis have lost their magic.

The funny thing is that, at the same time I was studying this chapter of the Bible, I found myself sitting with a patient in a health center when the doctor knocked on the door. As the doctor came in, I got up to give them some privacy, but as I headed out the door, I couldn’t help but hear the patient tell the doctor that he was having a problem with constipation and the doctor said, “Don’t worry, I will get you a pill that will work like magic for you.”

I don’t know if you are aware of it or not, but something as mundane as going to the bathroom is nothing less than miraculous; but, we seldom, if ever, see the magic of it until we have a problem with our plumbing.

In fact, traditionally we have a prayer that we say after using the bathroom, thanking G-d for the miraculous blessing of our urinary and our bowel tract working properly. The prayer might sound funny to many, but it sure reminds us of how amazing it is that our system works.

There is magic all around us, but we so often behave like Pharaoh. We have become so accustomed to being surrounded by it that we don’t even notice it is there. And that is why I started my Health Center Services the other week by asking if those in attendance would like to see a bit of magic.

When they said, “Yes,” I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and put out my hands dramatically and said, “Ta- Da!”

Those who were stuck in wheelchairs saw the magic. Those who needed walkers saw the magic. Those who had trouble standing saw the magic. They all knew how miraculous and magical the simple act of being able to stand is.

Dear readers, being able to hear is magical; being able to see – wow!— being able to walk – amazing — being able to talk – unbelievable— being able to dance –heavenly— the sun coming up each day —awe inspiring—the ocean waves — magnificently magical.

Do you believe in magic?

Shalom my friends, with wishes for a miraculously magical New Year!

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again

I was at a little breakfast nook the other day. The people I was eating with brought their young daughter with them. The dearest lady in my life happens to teach little ones. I am amazed at her ability to do so. At the end of the day, she always has a story to share. Sometimes, it is about an angelic child and sometimes it is about a holy terror, but there is always a story.

Well, it didn’t take long for me to get a story because as soon as the waitress came over to take our order, the little girl said that she would like a “proached” egg. Of course, her parents corrected her and told her that it is not a “proached” egg, but a poached egg.

But I could see that the little one was hungry and into “gimme” mode. She could care less how to pronounce it. She just knew that she wanted it and she wanted it now.

After a rather long wait to get our food, the waitress finally came over with plates in hand and set the eggs in front of the little girl. She picked up a little, blew on it and put it into her mouth. She immediately spit it out and cried out, “It’s too cold.” I told her not to worry that the waitress could have them heated up or poached again, which calmed her for a moment.

I told her how to nicely ask the waitress, instead of screaming at her. And she actually followed my directions because when the waitress came back over the little girl asked, “Can you reproach my eggs?”

So, first, she wanted a “proached” egg and now she wanted a “reproached egg,” and I have to say that the waitress was being an all-around good egg about it.

When the eggs came back from being “reproached,” the little one said that they were nice and “leyow,” and that “leyow” was her favorite color; and she went on to tell me that she also loved red and orange, and blue, like my shirt. The problem was that blue was not the color of my shirt, but that is what she saw when she looked at it. The little girl had a problem with colors. She saw the world a bit differently.

Her parents tried to correct her, but the little one begged to disagree … okay, she screamed in disagreement.

I realized they were trying to teach her, but I was not so sure that they would be able to even consider that their daughter might see the world differently. You see, they were doing exactly what their daughter did with her eggs. They were reproaching her.

We all perceive things a little differently. For instance, in your house of worship, one congregant might find the sanctuary too hot, another too cold, but one might be fortunate enough to find that the temperature is perfect, the seats nice and cushy, the company a delight and, with that perception, they see a place filled with joy and brightness.

Our perception creates our reality, but it isn’t just how we perceive things. It is also how we approach them. Sadly, far too many of us don’t show much brightness in the way we approach others. We are far too busy reproaching them.

Reproaching someone only works if you are wise enough to choose the right approach. Better yet, maybe take a moment to close your eyes and try to see things through someone else’s eyes. That should be a real eye opener.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again.

Chanukah, Christmas — the world brightens up with the lights of these holidays and people tell stories of their faith and of miracles. This year was a first in my life; I was asked if I would play Santa Claus. Sadly, I was already committed to other work on that day.

But, for years, this Rabbi has thought of what fun it would be to play Santa. All I would need is the suit, as I already have the white beard and the tummy. Now, in the past when I thought of playing Santa, I always thought about how wonderful it would be to watch little ones as their eyes bulged in delight at getting to see and talk to me (Santa), and telling me what they wanted most in the world. But I wasn’t asked to play Santa for children. I was asked to put on a Santa suit for a Nursing Home. And I think that the wishes of an elderly person are very different than that of a child, then again, maybe not.

Most of you are familiar with the game of dreidel. The word dreidel comes from a Yiddish derivation of the German word, drehen, meaning “to turn” and, today, I would like to put a new spin on it. If you think about it, when we hold the Torah, we hold it on the bottom. Perhaps, we do this as a way of saying that the words of the Torah lift us up toward the heavens. On Purim, we spin a grogger, a noisemaker, and, again, we hold the grogger from the bottom. Even the fringes of our Tallit are at the bottom of our prayer shawls, again reminding us that observing the Commandments that they represent will lift us up toward the heavens.

But to spin the dreidel, you have to hold it from the top. So instead of lifting us up toward the heavens, this simple game metaphorically spins our focus to bringing a bit of heaven down to earth.

That really came home to me as I read the latest novel by Mitch Albom titled, “The First Phone Call From Heaven.” And, as I thought about not being available to play Santa for a group of elderly residents, I wondered what kind of things they might tell me that they wished for most of all.

Reading Mitch’s book, I wondered how many of them would say that they would love to be able to talk to or to see a loved one who has passed from this earth. I wondered how many of them would cherish a phone call from heaven. Wow, what a miracle that would be. This is a season of miracles. But as a Rabbi and a Chaplain, let me tell you something, don’t wait until you are in heaven to make a call. There are those who you might not have talked to for a very long time for whatever reason, and they are literally dying to hear from you. Your reaching out to them might just bring a little bit of heaven into their lives.

This is The Season of Miracles, but it’s up to each of us to make sure that love is in the air. So, pick up the phone, make that call and make it a heavenly one on both ends of the line.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again.

The first day of Chanukah begins at sundown the day before Thanksgiving this year.

While this is a rare event, please make sure the turkey you eat is not rare, as Thanksgiving tends to be one of the busiest times for Emergency Rooms all over the country.

If you ask people why this is true, they are likely to think it has to do with eating too much food, or that the food is too rich, or, perhaps, as I said earlier, that the bird was not cooked through well enough.

I have another theory, and you are not going to be too happy with me when I share it with you. You see, I believe that far too many people can no longer sit happily, peacefully and civilly with their families without getting their emotions in an uproar. And, there is a good chance that that is going to affect some other part of your body. Your stomach might go haywire. Or perhaps your blood pressure will go up and your heart will start feeling like it is beating a mile a minute.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we were reading the story of Jacob and Esau. They were brothers … twins. And yet, both were very different individuals. This is apparent from a very early age to their parents. Their momma takes a shine to one and their pappa to the other.

Over the course of time, after multiple times of conniving, tattling and blaming one another, these brothers part company filled with such anger and fear that one actually lets the other know that, if he ever sees him again, he will kill him. OUCH! Now there’s every parent’s dream isn’t it? Children who not only feel no love for one another, but who would actually kill their own brother!

Now, I have to admit, especially as the baby in the family, there were probably times way back in our youth when my brothers may have wanted to kill me, but, somehow, they always let those moments go. And, let me tell you something, they must have loved me very much, because there were things I did and times I got them in trouble when they could easily have hated me for the rest of our days.

In the Biblical story of Jacob, we find that Jacob and his brother go 20 years without talking to or seeing one another. Esau remembers Jacob as he was 20 years before. He fails to think for a moment that perhaps his brother has changed, grown and is not the same conniving kid brother.

As the day approaches for them to meet again, there is fear, anger and mistrust on both sides. But when they finally see each other, they don’t get into a fist fight, they don’t start bringing up why they hated each other so badly, no, they choose to hug one another; they embrace.

For those of you who have issues with your loved ones, make this Thanksgiving a time to truly be thankful. Make this Chanukah a time of miracles. Embrace one another, break bread together and light up your homes with peace and love.

Wishing you a very Happy Chanukah and a most festive Thanksgiving.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again.

I have a love of reading that was passed down to me from my parents. I can still remember going to the local public library with my momma and I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I was when I got my very own library card. I still love to go to the library and check out the latest books that have come in. I always carry my card with me … as Sergeant Friday would say, “I never leave home without it.”

There is one problem though … okay, actually, two problems. The first is that my vision is not so wonderful, especially if the print is small, and the other is that I have always had a learning disability, although I have learned to compensate well and it has not stopped my love of reading.

On the other hand, because of the learning disability, it is hard for me to line up numbers in a column, and, sometimes I invert numbers, and, sometimes when I read, I do the same with letters.

So when I looked on the schedule to see when I was due to write this column, I looked at the date, 11/7 and I read it as 7/11. That’s right, I read it backwards. Oddly enough, that led me right into today’s column, as I am writing to you about a time, a particular day … actually, a night when nothing was as it should be, a night when everything was turned, not just backwards, but upside down.

While it might seem like ancient history, the night I am talking about happened just 75 short years ago and has come to be known as Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass.

On Nov. 9, 1938, the Nazi hoards carried out a (you should pardon the expression) mass of pogroms, aiming their vicious hate at the Jews of Germany. And if you think the Zombie films that are all the rage are frightening, try to picture the horror that occurred in the span of just a few hours time as thousands of Synagogues and Jewish businesses and homes were damaged or destroyed and more than 30,000 Jews were sent to Concentration camps. This anti-Semitic horror became known as the Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht) because the glass from the smashed windows of Jewishowned structures literally covered the streets.

What a horror, and where, one must ask, were those who were supposed to protect the citizens of Germany (regardless of their religious convictions)?

Sadly, either they were helping kick, torture and torch anyone and everything Jewish, or, they simply looked the other way … or, they were nowhere to be seen.

Of course, most of you know what ensued after that. You know of the 6 million and you know that, to this day, there are those who try to deny that much, if any, of this actually happened.

This was a world turned so upside down that the military, who were organized to defend, became the very ones who put so many innocents to death.

Thank G-d, in the same week we remember Kristallnacht, we have a day where we honor those who have served in the uniforms of the various branches of the United States military with Veteran’s Day.

Don’t let their age fool you, they know what it is to put their lives on the line to serve and protect and keep the glass from breaking. They stand at attention and help keep us all standing straight and tall … G-d Bless them one and all!

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again

Did you know that Chanukah and Thanksgiving will do something this year that they will never do again in our lifetimes? They will take place at the same time.

Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach had a great attendance during Yom Kippur. People came from far and near to pray and to fast, and, as the day went on, they felt the pangs of hunger, not just in their bellies, but in their very souls. People looked at their watches waiting for the time they would be able to eat again. And, at one point, I made a joke about food and, after the laughter died down, I pointed out that hunger is no joke … that, while we know when we will be able to fill our tummies, there are those who do not know where or when they will get their next meal.

The president of the Temple, Richard Rosenzweig, happens to be a City Commissioner. He has a great awareness of the huge number of hungry in our community. While we were discussing what we should serve this year when Chanukah and Thanksgiving merge together creating Thanksgivikah, I felt great nachus (pride) when Commissioner Rozenzweig and others voiced that we should use Thanksgivikah not to feed ourselves, but rather to feed those who are hungry.

Many of us recite a Bracha, (a Blessing) before we eat and some may say the Grace after meals, but how many of us really realize how very blessed we are just to have something to eat.

Temple Beth Israel has a number of Holocaust Survivors; they know what a miracle a small piece of bread can be. It can literally mean the difference between life and death. And so it is that the Temple came up with the idea of collecting non-perishable food items for those living right here in Broward County, in Deerfield Beach, who do not know where or when their next meal will come.

You all have a choice to make as Thanksgiving comes along; you can choose to simply use the holiday as a day to fill your own tummy, or you can choose to use it as an impetus to help make sure that others have food to eat, not just on Thanksgiving, but all year round.

Many who hear about Chanukah know that one of the stories told is about the miracle of the oil. How just a little oil that should have only lit up the Temple for one day kept it bright and shiny for several days. This is why it is traditional to eat something fried in oil on the festival … like Latkes or jelly doughnuts. In the Testament of Judah Asheri, we read, “Food is like oil to a lamp…;” this year, let us be the oil; we can each help bring about a miracle to others that we all too often take for granted … the miracle of food on one’s table. Let’s help make Chanukah a time of true Thanksgiving.

(Non-Perishable food items can be dropped off at Temple Beth Israel at 201 S. Military Trail in Deerfield Beach and feel free to include a written prayer in the bag giving thanks to G-d for the many blessings in your life. If there are any Temples, Churches, Mosques or organizations that would like to take part in this event, please contact the Temple Office to speak with Richard Rosenzweig. Seating is limited for this event, so please call The Temple at 954- 421-7060).

Shalom My Friends and a very happy Thanksgivikah,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and holiday services. We’ll make your heart glow; who knows, you might just fall in love with Shul all over again.

Many people come to Yiskor Memorial Services with a mixture of emotion. They may still be grieving. They may be sad or angry over their loss, and, yet, they also long to find ways to honor the memory of their loved ones. Yiskor gives people a chance to do that.

Honoring memory has been on my mind a lot lately; after all, we recited the Yiskor Service on Yom Kippur and will do so again on Sukkoth. So, I have been focused on ways to create holy memories.

I know that many people are always looking for a huge miracle in their lives. Many are so busy watching for a big miracle that they seem to miss all the little miracles that occur on a daily basis. For instance, take the pumping of the human heart. This miraculous organ loyally does its rhythmic beating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whether we are awake or asleep. Yet, how often do we take time to thank G-d for this miraculous organ?

Most of us don’t even give a thought to the beating of our heart until we experience severe palpitations; then, we take note. And how many of us take the time to thank G-d when those momentary palpitations stop and our heart goes back into normal sync?

What if the heart is not capable of going back into normal rhythm by itself? What then? Well, how many of us have thanked G-d for giving us the intellect and the ingenuity to create life-saving devices like a pacemaker or a defibrillator?

As you can see, I am focused on the heart so let me get to the heart of the matter pertaining to honoring our dearly departed.

In the past, anytime someone was going through the loss of a momma, a Yiddishe momma, one of the questions I would ask is if the momma had played Mahjong. The response was always accompanied by an immediate smile with a, “Yes, she did; she loved the game; in fact, I have her Mahjong set.”

And I would explain how it would honor their momma’s memory if, whenever they played the game, they used their momma’s set. And sure enough, each time they played using that set, they would remember the joy that that game gave to their momma, and they would realize how they were keeping that joy, her joy, alive.

But nowadays, when I ask about Mahjong, the response is usually, “Oh yes, momma played the game, but I don’t.” And, when I ask what they are going to do with momma’s Mahjong set, I am usually told that they plan to sell it on e-Bay.

And that’s when I try and get their heart in sync with honoring their momma’s memory. I suggest that, instead of selling the set, they take some of the tiles and have someone drill a hole in each one and put a chain through it making necklaces that can be given to every member of the family and to the friends who used to play Mahjong with their momma.

This gives something of sentimental value … something of heart that each of them can wear near their heart, and my prayer is that, each time they wear it, they should be filled with joyous memories.

And that is my wish for each of you, my dear readers. May you hold joyous memories of your dearly departed close to your heart.

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.

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. We welcome you to join our warm and caring family for Shabbat and festival services. We’ll make your heart glow…who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again.

Just before The Jewish New Year began, one of the battery run candles that I bring to health centers would barely light up. Many immediately assumed that the candle was broken. Of course, I wasn’t so quick to toss the candle out. I tried some new batteries and, not only did the candles start glowing again, they were brighter than they had been in a very long time. The new batteries recharged the candles and gave them new life.

The period in between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is about recharging our batteries. It is about getting re-energized. I was at a Zumba class recently. I was excited to be there as my favorite teacher was away at the Zumba Convention in Orlando the week before.

Well, she just about killed everyone in the class. No, she wasn’t angry with us. It’s just that she was so full of energy that we were all sweating like crazy. The class was great and, as it ended, I joked with the instructor that, next year, we are not going to let her go to the convention. She knew why I said that ,and she gave a big smile and a hearty laugh. Then she told me that she hoped she didn’t work us too hard, but that her time at the convention with all the other Zumba teachers had renewed her energy; it had recharged her battery, and, while she always loves teaching the classes, having just come back from the convention everything seemed fresh and new again.

So, since so many people have lost contact with the Temple, lost their enthusiasm for their faith, and since so many people who come regularly to worship have simply made it into a blah routine, perhaps we should look at the Holy Days as a Judaic Super Convention. This is a convention in which Jews of all denominations, those who are members and those who have no affiliation, have a decision to make.

What is the decision? Am I going to attend the convention? Am I going to pay the price of a ticket? Am I going to come together with all the others who have lost, or perhaps never had a passion for their faith, the faith of their Fathers — Abraham, Isaac,and Jacob, the faith of theirmothers — Sarah, Rebecca, Am Igoing to commit myself to learn the steps of Judaism?

Rosh Hashana is over [ends tomorrow at sundown], but you still have time to attend the convention. You might not be all that familiar with the prayers. Well, when people first start Zumba, it takes them time to learn the steps and some are harder than others.

Some may know the prayers with a certain melody and might hear the Cantor use some newer melodies. In Zumba, part of the excitement is learning new steps. It keeps you on your toes.

I have been doing Zumba for a long time now. I am decent at it, and I love going to class. I love the steps that are familiar to me, but I also love when the instructor adds something new, something different; and, I know I still have much to learn.

Judaism is similar in that respect; those who think they cannot take part give up without taking the time to learn the steps; and those who think they know it all, well, they close their hearts to learning anything new; and in our faith, there is always something new, there is always room for improvement.

So come to Temple, learn the steps to Judaism. Come dance with us, and, together, we will dance with G-d.

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. 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.

In case you haven’t noticed it lately, Miami (and South Florida in general) is not what it once was to “our people.” There was a time that when a Jew from Brooklyn or “De Bronx” dreamed of retirement, that dream included moving to Sunny South Florida to live out the goldenah yoren, the golden years. And, with so many retired down here, it became the norm for many of their children to move down here to be near them. It became the hot spot for those who had gone through divorce as they, too, came, (albeit for other reasons) to be near their parents. This all gave the bubbes (grandmothers) and zeydes (grandfathers) of South Florida the joy of having their grandchildren nearby.

Sadly, that is no longer the norm. South Florida is no longer the dream retirement spot for our people and we now have many bubbes and zeydes who seldom get to see their grandchildren. And for many of those Grandparents, it is no longer possible for them to travel up North to visit their precious little angels.

Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach has 100 of the sweetest bubbes and zeydes you could ever hope to meet. Few, if any, actually have grandchildren who live down here in Florida.

The High Holy Days are coming up and the bubbes and zeydes of Temple Beth Israel (and those of other Congregations as well) would love to have little ones sitting next to them in the Shul.

Being able to “adopt” a precious little angel as a grandchild and having that adoptee and their parents adopt a grandparent. Well, that could just make the greatest of New Years for everyone involved. And, at the same time, selfishly, yes, it would bring more members into the congregation … young members, vibrant members … and this would insure a minimum of two more generations for the Temple. It is a win/win situation all the way around as it has the potential to increase the joy and well-being of so many in our midst.

While you’re thinking about it, let me share a story that was e-mailed to me about just how loving and patient a zeyde can be. A woman is in a supermarket behind a zeyde and his badly behaved 3- or 4-year-old grandson. It is obvious to her that the zeyde has his hands full with this little one screaming for candy and cookies. Meanwhile, zeyde is doing his shopping and saying in a soft voice, “Easy, Moshele, we won’t be long…”

The little one has another outburst and the woman hears the zeyde calmly say, “It’s okay, Moishele, just a couple more minutes and we’ll be out of here.” At the checkout counter, the little imp starts throwing items out of the shopping cart and zeyde calmly says, “Moishele, relax, don’t get upset. Stay cool.”

The woman who had been following him is quite impressed with the zeyde’s patience and says, “You are amazing! I don’t know how you did it. That whole time you kept your calm and kept saying things would be okay. Moishele is very lucky to have you as his zeyde.”

The zeyde responds, “Thanks, but I’m Moishele. The little shmegegee’s name is Jacob.”

This year, bring your little ones with you to our Shul. Become a part of our family. There might just be a new bubbe or zeyde in it for you or your child. Looking forward to seeing you there on the Holy Days and all year round.

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.

Back to Shul … I mean, back to school … The new school year is about to begin and teachers, those amazing souls who spend the day tending to a whole classroom full of precious students, will once again ask that most famous of questions, “How did you spend your summer vacation?”

Many little ones spent the summer at sleep-away camp, and I was pleased to read that there were a few camps this year that actually forbid the campers from having cell phones and other technological devices. (Wow, what I wouldn’t give to have a month without being so connected.)

Now, you might be wondering to yourselves, “But, if they didn’t have cell phones or computers, how did they keep in touch with their parents?” Well, with school starting again, let me be the first to remind you of a dying art. You may have heard of it before. It’s called “WRITING!” That’s right; they kept in touch by writing letters. You remember the letters of the alphabet, don’t you? Well, thank a teacher if you can put them together into a coherent sentence and take a pen and write a letter to someone you care about.

There was a little one away at camp this summer who had probably never written a letter before although he was incredibly fluent in texting with every abbreviation you can imagine. But away at one of those camps without cell phones, he had to learn the art of letter writing.

He did pretty well at it, too; but, when he got a letter from his mother that ended with, “P.S. I love you,” he had to write back to find out what P.S. meant. And so it was that he began to finish all his letters to his parents with just that, “P.S., I love you.”

There was a beautiful, heart-warming movie out a few years back starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler called, “P.S. I Love You.” It told the story of a husband who, knowing he was dying, wrote a series of letters to his wife. Each of those letters was actually an assignment. Like a teacher, he was telling her to do something.

The truth is that, while she was doing each of these assignments, she wasn’t really sure what the purpose was. Her best friend in the movie (and her mother as well) were afraid that those assignments were keeping her tied to the past. But, as the movie goes on, we learn that each bit of homework was actually moving her into a bright new future.

That’s what teachers do; they try to steer our children toward a bright new future.

The Beatles had a song that said: “As I write this letter, send my love to you, remember that I’ll always be in love with you. Treasure these few words, ‘till we’re together, keep all my love forever, P.S., I love you.” I know you think you know what P.S. stands for, but that’s not what it meant to my mother of blessed memory. To her, P.S. stood for Public School. I was able to write this letter today because of Public School and because of the many teachers I was blessed with and, as to Lincoln Elementary School back in Rock Island, IL, all I can say is “P.S. I Love You!” And to the teachers I am still blessed to know, “P.S., I Love You Too!” To the parents and to the students reading this today, I hope you write to your teacher often and that you close each letter with that most meaningful of post scripts “P.S. I Love You!”

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