Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
July 5-6, 2024 • 30 Sivan 5784 • Korach (Num 16-18).
The goal of this blog is a bubbly Shabbat table ... please share.
In memory of my grandmother, Yehudis bas Alexander, whose 18th yahrzeit is tonight.
Last week I shared some wisdom from my paternal grandparents.
This week from a maternal grandparent.
One of the strongest memories I have of Bubbie is that she was the epitome of a "lifelong learner."
Whether via books or lectures or documentary films, she loved learning something new.
And she loved sharing what she learned. She was a voracious reader of the newspapers, but not for the news as much as the feature articles, which she shared with great enthusiasm.
We used to visit her every Sunday afternoon, and conversation with her was always interesting not only because it was always something new that she had learned, but also because she shared it with such enthusiasm.
She was indeed a bubbly Bubbie.
For decades, she was a loyal attendee of her synagogue's Sunday morning lecture program, until....
... she stopped driving.
Now, many elderly people need to be told to stop driving by their children or the DMV.
Bubbie did it on her own. At around age 90 she decided that it was too risky at her age to continue driving, so she sold her car and threw away her license.
But now that she couldn't drive, how would she attend the Sunday morning lecture?
We repeatedly encouraged her to take a cab for the 2-mile journey. She repeatedly demurred... "It's too expensive," she said.
We offered to pay for the cab, but she demurred, "It's too expensive."
She didn't complain – never a word of complaint that she couldn't attend anymore. But somehow taking a cab was too much outside the box for her. For some reason, paying $10 to get to her Sunday lecture seemed exorbitant in her eyes.
May we all always cherish learning the way that she did, may we all be as bubbly, and may we all never feel that it's too dear!
Shabbat Shalom
This week from a maternal grandparent.
One of the strongest memories I have of Bubbie is that she was the epitome of a "lifelong learner."
Whether via books or lectures or documentary films, she loved learning something new.
And she loved sharing what she learned. She was a voracious reader of the newspapers, but not for the news as much as the feature articles, which she shared with great enthusiasm.
We used to visit her every Sunday afternoon, and conversation with her was always interesting not only because it was always something new that she had learned, but also because she shared it with such enthusiasm.
She was indeed a bubbly Bubbie.
For decades, she was a loyal attendee of her synagogue's Sunday morning lecture program, until....
... she stopped driving.
Now, many elderly people need to be told to stop driving by their children or the DMV.
Bubbie did it on her own. At around age 90 she decided that it was too risky at her age to continue driving, so she sold her car and threw away her license.
But now that she couldn't drive, how would she attend the Sunday morning lecture?
We repeatedly encouraged her to take a cab for the 2-mile journey. She repeatedly demurred... "It's too expensive," she said.
We offered to pay for the cab, but she demurred, "It's too expensive."
She didn't complain – never a word of complaint that she couldn't attend anymore. But somehow taking a cab was too much outside the box for her. For some reason, paying $10 to get to her Sunday lecture seemed exorbitant in her eyes.
May we all always cherish learning the way that she did, may we all be as bubbly, and may we all never feel that it's too dear!
Shabbat Shalom
(Yes, the pic is clic-able, as always...)
This week's Table Talk also appears on my Times of Israel blog.
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