Bylined opinion and news columns published by United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute.
At 11:30 a.m. May 20, our congregation will hold its annual meeting. This is a time for us to get together and celebrate our accomplishments during the past year.
Most recently, we launched another young adult, Izaak, who became Bar Mitzvah.
I find it remarkable, and I hope that you do, too, that our small Jewish community educates our young people as well as many larger congregations.
Our religious school children learn so much from the Purim holiday. The first thing they learn is that it doesn’t always take an army to win a battle. In this case, it just took two individuals who loved the Jewish people to save them from elimination.
Bruce Black conducted Shabbat services on February 2, the Friday after Purim. I have heard the Purim story read many times but not the way Bruce told the story. I could envision every character as if watching a movie.
At first glance, when reading the title of this column you might have responded as follows:
“Of course not, I am married!”
“Of course not, I am single and have no intention of getting married or getting married again!”
Or, “Of course not, I am in a relationship, but marriage is not in the horizon.”
Yet, “engagement” has a more general meaning. According to the Merriam Webster app on my iPhone, engagement involves an emotional commitment. That means a commitment to a person, place, organization or a myriad of other entities. So why am I writing about engagement? Yes, I have an ulterior motive.
Did you ever get an unexpected telephone call that opened a flood of memories?
That is exactly what happened to me. It was almost closing time and I answered a phone call from a soft-spoken lady who wanted to buy a Yartzeit candle from the gift shop.
She was coming from the north side. I wasn’t in a rush and a Yartzeit candle is pretty important. I ask the lady her name and she said, “Myrna”.
At that point, I was hoping her last name was Gray, and it was!