If you know Judy Greene, you know that she is a very competitive
person. All her mah jong partners and anybody who has ever played cribbage with
her understands exactly what I mean. When Judy and I were a young couple and
visiting Israel, we had a contest who could walk down the streets of Jerusalem
and bump into more people you know. I think I won, but it was really
close.
That little game taught me that you never
know who you will meet at any given moment in Israel. I had one of those
moments when I flew to Israel to escort Judy home after she fell and dislocated
her hip. One of the nice things about Jerusalem is that you can find a minyon
any time you need one. Because I am saying kaddish for my mother and was
jet lagged, I was looking for a late morning minyon. My good friend
Peretz pointed me the way to this Sephardic shul that had an 8:00 a.m. minyon
which is extremely late for Israelis.
I don't know why they daven nusach Sephard
because the machers of the minyon were all North American. I can't say that this
was the friendliest synagogue in the world. Nobody really said good
morning, although I got a couple of head nods, and nobody introduced themselves
to me. Up to then, the closest I came to somebody interacting with me was on
the second day was when a man came over to me during services and wordlessly straightened
my shel rosh.
On my third and final day, somebody did
come over and started talking to me. He asked me if I had made aliyah and
where I came from. I told him that I live in Douglaston/Little Neck
Queens New York. To keep the conversation flowing, I asked him where he came
from. He told me Massachusetts. I asked him where. He told me
that I would have never heard of the place. It's called Longmeadow. To
his surprise, I asked him where in Longmeadow and he gave me a street name and
of course I told him I knew the street. He was shocked and asked me how
did I know Longmeadow? I told him that I lived in Longmeadow for 19 years
and that I am Rabbi Greene who was the rabbi of B'Nai Jacob. He said:
"No Way."
Where ever I have lived, I have started a
chevruta to learn some classical Jewish texts. When I was in Longmeadow I
started studying with Rabbi Michael Miller and another rabbi Ira whose last
name escapes me. This man from Longmeadow couldn't believe his ears. He
remembered me because when he was a senior in High School, he wanted to learn
some Gemarrah so he joined our study sessions 37 years ago!
What a blast from the past! This
"coincidence" just reinforce the halacha that one should always daven
in a minyon if he or she can. You never know who you might meet there.
