Hope all is well.
Yesterday I had the best of both worlds!
I attended a Bris, a circumcision, and had a great breakfast.
(There is something to the joke that we send two messages to the eight day old baby.
Sometimes being Jewish is difficult…
And there will be lots of food!”)
… I happened to sit next to Rabbi Noah Wolf.
Some of you may have heard the name.
And some of you may have met him when you were eight days old!
He is the “Dean of Mohels” in Chicago.
(A mohel is the one who performs the Bris.)
Rabbi Wolf has circumcised around 30,000 Jewish babies!
(As well as thousands of adult Russian Jews!)
… I asked him, “What was the most inspiring experience you ever had as a Mohel”?
He didn’t need to think much.
‘I once got a call from a professor at Moscow University.
He had come to lecture at Michigan State, and heard that I circumcise adult Russian Jews.
And he wanted to take care of it while he was in America.
We set a date and I made the arrangements with Mount Sinai Hospital.
Everything went well. I began talking to him about “post operative care”.
And what did this professor do?
He jumped of the table, gave me a hug and said…
“Thank you. I waited 53 years for this”!
And off he went!”
… One of the ancient Pharaohs is in the news again.
King Tutankhamun. A.K.A.?
King Tut!
I read the story after returning from the Bris.
“Egypt Puts King Tut on Public Display”.
Tourists will be able to see his mummified face!
… I thought to myself…
Ancient Egypt was the center of civilization. King Tut was the king.
And today?
People from all over the world will be standing on line.
To see King Tut and other relics of his civilization.
In the museum!
And the Jewish People?
We’re still here!
Rituals like circumcision have preserved us for more than 3000 years.
… People should stand in line to see that Russian professor.
Because he represents the miracle of the Jewish People!
All the best,