by Rabbi Koval
Did you ever hear the one about the stones in Jacob's dream? They
were vying for the privilege of having the great Patriarch use them as
a headrest when he took a nap on Mount Moriah. That's right, the
Talmud teaches us the Kabbalistic notion that even the inanimate
stones "realized" the importance of being utilized to help facilitate
holiness, acting as a pipeline to connect heaven and earth. In fact,
according to this tradition, when a stone is able to act as a conduit
for spiritual energy it is fulfilling its very raison d'etre!
How about the one where the concrete slabs at Progressive Field were
vying for the privilege of facilitating a Minyan for an evening prayer
service? Last week I had the privilege to witness one such account.
It was the top of the fourth inning, I was sitting behind the home
plate net (thank you, Robert Rosenthal!) and I got called out for a
Minyan. Dr. Jeff Lautman spotted me and requested that I join the
other nine members of the tribe - that's the other Tribe, capital T! -
right outside Section 150 (see map:
http://www.gotickets.com/venues/oh/jacobs_field.php). As you can
imagine, we were quite the spectacle, causing a lot of rubber-necking
right near the kosher hot-dog stand; yes, it really does exist! I
voted to take our Minyan upstairs so we wouldn't feel like the opening
act for the fifth inning, and so that I could actually concentrate on
the prayers. Right outside of the entrance of the special lobby for
Lodges 250-267 (see map) is a large, private slab of concrete manned
by an usher whom we will call Bob. I was volunteered to politely ask
Bob for permission to borrow his concrete for 8 minutes for our
Minyan. He gave me one of those "over my dead body" looks, and
threatened to call security. So, I took my request up one more flight
of stairs (350-367) and was met a very gracious usher named Sue who
gladly offered use of her concrete for our Minyan. Honestly, it was
an uplifting service for me, and visions of celestial concrete slabs
vying for the privilege to serve as a conduit to bring spiritual
energy down to Progressive Field will remain with me for some time!
Are you in the Tribe?!
