The goal of this blog is to provoke deeper dinner-table discussion. Please print and share with someone tonight.
Happy Birthday to our friend Pinchas in Jerusalem!
Bill Cosby has done me a big favor.
Mr. Father-Figure has made it really easy for me to speak about my real father.
Ten Years ago this coming Sunday (on the Jewish calendar), my father was on a ladder.
He was trimming a tree.
He was preparing for our visit a week later.
He just had to get that one last branch.
My mother was by his side when he fell, and stayed by his side all the way to the hospital, the rest of the day and into the night when he died.
"To everything there is a season... a time to be born and a time to die" (Ecclesiastes).
The 1,000 people at his funeral all felt that it was too early for him to die.
In honor of his 10th yahrzeit, I am planning a special memorial Table Talk next week.
This week, prior to the yahrzeit, I would like to share one thought about his short life, followed by a question for your table.
This morning, the pundits are of course all talking about William Henry Cosby, Jr.
How he had represented the ideal of fatherhood.
How he had been a personal role model for so many people.
Now civil rights leaders are asking them to remove his star from the Hollywood sidewalk.
"Not gonna happen," says Walk-of-Fame apologist Leron Gubler.
Gubler, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive, says that there is nothing a celebrity can do, no matter how despicable, to change his star status.
If you can make millions of people laugh*, Hollywood shall honor you forever.
What does all of this have to do with my father?
Welll, quite simply, he didn't have 1,000 people at his funeral because he made them laugh.
Question for your table:
What kind of people do you want to come to your funeral
(a) those who love you because you're funny, or rich and famous?
(b) those who love you because you have lived a life of honesty and integrity?
Shabbat Shalom
"Who is truly honorable? He who honors others." (Avot 4:1)
"There are 3 'crowns': The crown of the Torah (i.e., wisdom), the crown of the priesthood (i.e., spiritual greatness), and the crown of kingship (i.e., poltical leadership), but the crown of a good name surpasses them all." (Avot 4:17)
PS - This just came to my inbox: https://www.facebook.com/WBTVMollyGrantham/videos/1059035014106981/
Highly recommended 10-minute viewing on today's theme. Narrated by Tom Hanks.
* (and an undesclosed number of studio executives rich)
Happy Birthday to our friend Pinchas in Jerusalem!
Bill Cosby has done me a big favor.Mr. Father-Figure has made it really easy for me to speak about my real father.
Ten Years ago this coming Sunday (on the Jewish calendar), my father was on a ladder.
He was trimming a tree.
He was preparing for our visit a week later.
He just had to get that one last branch.
My mother was by his side when he fell, and stayed by his side all the way to the hospital, the rest of the day and into the night when he died.
"To everything there is a season... a time to be born and a time to die" (Ecclesiastes).
The 1,000 people at his funeral all felt that it was too early for him to die.
In honor of his 10th yahrzeit, I am planning a special memorial Table Talk next week.
This week, prior to the yahrzeit, I would like to share one thought about his short life, followed by a question for your table.
This morning, the pundits are of course all talking about William Henry Cosby, Jr.
How he had represented the ideal of fatherhood.
How he had been a personal role model for so many people.
Now civil rights leaders are asking them to remove his star from the Hollywood sidewalk.
"Not gonna happen," says Walk-of-Fame apologist Leron Gubler.
Gubler, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive, says that there is nothing a celebrity can do, no matter how despicable, to change his star status.
If you can make millions of people laugh*, Hollywood shall honor you forever.
What does all of this have to do with my father?
Welll, quite simply, he didn't have 1,000 people at his funeral because he made them laugh.
Question for your table: What kind of people do you want to come to your funeral
(a) those who love you because you're funny, or rich and famous?
(b) those who love you because you have lived a life of honesty and integrity?
Shabbat Shalom
"Who is truly honorable? He who honors others." (Avot 4:1)
"There are 3 'crowns': The crown of the Torah (i.e., wisdom), the crown of the priesthood (i.e., spiritual greatness), and the crown of kingship (i.e., poltical leadership), but the crown of a good name surpasses them all." (Avot 4:17)
PS - This just came to my inbox: https://www.facebook.com/WBTVMollyGrantham/videos/1059035014106981/
Highly recommended 10-minute viewing on today's theme. Narrated by Tom Hanks.
* (and an undesclosed number of studio executives rich)
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