Rabbi’s Musings & Amusings

This past week, when I turned on my phone after Shabbos, I was informed of the bitter news of the passing of our dear colleague, the former menahel of Heichal HaTorah, Rabbi Avi Oberlander z”l.

Shortly after I became engaged to my future wife, I attended a bris milah in Lakewood. Since it wasn’t far from my kallah’s home, she met me there. When I saw her, I asked her if I can get her anything to eat. She smiled and politely declined.

People take their food very seriously. We are blessed to live in a society of plenty, and we expect our plenty to tantalize our taste buds exactly how we like it. Who isn’t a food critic these days? Debates about which restaurant is better or what is the best dish in a particular eatery can be surprisingly passionate.

Last winter, while visiting Yerushalayim, I had the opportunity to tour the Old City with Daniel Luria, Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim.

As I get older, it seems to only be getting worse. I’m really bad at recognizing names and faces. In this regard, my wife and I are opposites. She doesn’t forget a face, or a name and I don’t remember them. We’ll go shopping together and she’ll say hi to someone who looks at her confusedly. My wife will then tell her that they were in preschool together. Meanwhile, I have embarrassing encounters with people I know, whom I don’t recognize or have totally forgotten their names.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking to Shlomo Pomeranz, a devoted firefighter and friend (and fellow talmid of Rabbi Berel Wein).  We were discussing the challenge of always being on call.  Like all devoted emergency personnel, firefighters must be ready to drop what they are doing, no matter the time of day or night, to do their noble bidding.