Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
June 13-14, 2025 • 18 Sivan 5785 • Behalosecha (Num 8-12).
In memory of Sima bas Mordechai Yaakov and Eliezer ben Zelig.
In memory of Sima bas Mordechai Yaakov and Eliezer ben Zelig.
This week was the yahrzeit of my paternal grandparents (Gigi and Poppy), pictured here.
In many ways they were great role models. They loved each other, they were very family- and community-oriented. And as far as I know they lived clean, ethical lives. And they loved life - they were happy people.
While they were very Jewishly active and oriented, they had their limits.
For instance, in my mid-twenties, when I took time out from my career in order to spend some time studying Judaism in a yeshivah, Gigi was unable to comprehend my motivation.
I recall her specifically asking me, "Don't you want to have nice things?"
Apparently, she assumed that I had chosen a life of poverty. Because unlike a grad student, my studies were not even ostensibly career-building.
Poppy was a bit different. He had gone to law school so could appreciate somewhat the value of study for its own sake. But what puzzled him more was why I would want to keep kosher. Although his own upbringing had been Orthodox, he had learned from his Reform rabbi that the entire idea of kosher was outdated. While he wasn't critical, he would chide me with a smile, "Haven't you heard of the expression, When in Rome...?"
To which I would reply, "Sure, but look at what has happened - the Romans are gone, and we're still around."
To which he would laugh.
Question for your table: When, if ever, does the expression, "When in Rome..." apply these days?
Shabbat Shalom
Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, forward it....
In many ways they were great role models. They loved each other, they were very family- and community-oriented. And as far as I know they lived clean, ethical lives. And they loved life - they were happy people.
While they were very Jewishly active and oriented, they had their limits.
For instance, in my mid-twenties, when I took time out from my career in order to spend some time studying Judaism in a yeshivah, Gigi was unable to comprehend my motivation.
I recall her specifically asking me, "Don't you want to have nice things?"
Apparently, she assumed that I had chosen a life of poverty. Because unlike a grad student, my studies were not even ostensibly career-building.
Poppy was a bit different. He had gone to law school so could appreciate somewhat the value of study for its own sake. But what puzzled him more was why I would want to keep kosher. Although his own upbringing had been Orthodox, he had learned from his Reform rabbi that the entire idea of kosher was outdated. While he wasn't critical, he would chide me with a smile, "Haven't you heard of the expression, When in Rome...?"
To which I would reply, "Sure, but look at what has happened - the Romans are gone, and we're still around."
To which he would laugh.
Question for your table: When, if ever, does the expression, "When in Rome..." apply these days?
Shabbat Shalom
Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, forward it....
 |  |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment