by Rabbi Koval
Last
week at a post-bris visit in Solon, I rang the bell, and a fellow
working on the hardwood floors answered the door and let me in.
After
the appointment I was shmoozing with the parents of the baby about
various Jewish subjects, and it came up in conversation that the dad had
never been to Israel. "Perfect," I said, "I’m leading a men’s mission
there in November. Why don’t you join us?"
From
the next room where the hardwood floor guy and the baby’s grandfather
were standing, I heard the hardwood floor guy chime in: "I'd love to
come with you to Israel. My brother-in-law is a pastor in Florida and
has been there 9 times doing missionary work. In fact, he's going again
soon on the Feast of the Assumption. When does that fall out this year -
September?"
Well,
having no clue as to what the Feast of Assumption is, but not wanting
to sound theologically ignorant, I shrugged my shoulders, whereupon the
grandfather of the baby responded, "No, it's in August."
I
was amazed at the irony of the situation. What a religious role
reversal: the Jewish folks weren't familiar with what or when Shavuot,
the holiday where we became a nation, was, and had never been to Israel,
but knew what the Feast of the Assumption was ("a feast celebrated by
Catholics commemorating when Mary ascended to heaven surrounded by
cherubs and saints," according to Rabbi Wikipedia). Meanwhile, the
Christians had been to Israel 9 times and were turning to me, a Rabbi,
to take them there for the purpose of missionizing to Jews in Israel
about the Christian religion!? What a topsy-turvy world we live in!
Well,
the good news is that at least the pendulum is beginning to swing. The
baby’s dad says he wants to come to Israel with me and this is typical
of a newfound interest I'm seeing - that more young men and women are
becoming involved in their Jewish heritage.
Oh, and the hardwood guy - he's too old for our trip anyway. But, if you a are a Jewish dad with young kids... you're not too old! Let me know if you want to join this amazing group!
