I was walking home last week, and saw this t-shirt:
(but on a young woman carrying a guitar case). It's a terrible pun, so my dad would have loved it. I wish I could call him and tell him about it; I almost forgot and tried to.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Rosh Hashana Second Day
Of course we think of Dad on Rosh Hashana. As a sort of joke to myself, what popped into my head after duchenin and walking back to the sanctuary on second day was "my father was the carrying kind of Levi, not the singing kind of Levi." Duchenin is the ritual where the Levites wash the hands of the Kohanim (Priests) before the priestly blessing. It only happens on holidays in America. I'm embarrassed to admit that I can't remember the last time I duchened alongside my father.
Besides ministrating to the Kohanim, the Levites principle duties were carrying the mishkan and singing/playing instruments on the steps of the Tabernacle. [You may correct my poor Torah knowledge where necessary]. Anyone who knew my father, bless his soul, knew that he had a bad voice. I mean, it was pretty terrible. I'll never forget those times he got carried away during Kabbalat Shabbat and would sing along. You know, of all the embarrassing things my Dad did, that wasn't one of them. I liked when he got carried away by the spirit of the prayer. I remember that about him, in his pew in Shomrai Emunah. And its why I have not been singing Kabbalat Shabbat since he passed even though it is my favorite thing about religious Judaism (and at some points in my life, the only thing).
My father was a burden-bearer. I see it clearly now that I have a daughter. Parents are burden-bearers. Maybe especially good fathers. Love for children really makes you able to carry heavy things and do unpleasant and otherwise unrewarding work for long periods of time. So that is why I see my father as a mishkan-carrier rather than a singer/guitar player.
Being a Levite has always been very meaningful to me. And that was passed through my Zayde, to my father, then to me. I'm not certain of the substantial duties that are involved with being a Levite, they probably no longer exist anymore except as ritual. But its somehow very important to my identity. Never had I spoken about it to my father even once...
Besides ministrating to the Kohanim, the Levites principle duties were carrying the mishkan and singing/playing instruments on the steps of the Tabernacle. [You may correct my poor Torah knowledge where necessary]. Anyone who knew my father, bless his soul, knew that he had a bad voice. I mean, it was pretty terrible. I'll never forget those times he got carried away during Kabbalat Shabbat and would sing along. You know, of all the embarrassing things my Dad did, that wasn't one of them. I liked when he got carried away by the spirit of the prayer. I remember that about him, in his pew in Shomrai Emunah. And its why I have not been singing Kabbalat Shabbat since he passed even though it is my favorite thing about religious Judaism (and at some points in my life, the only thing).
My father was a burden-bearer. I see it clearly now that I have a daughter. Parents are burden-bearers. Maybe especially good fathers. Love for children really makes you able to carry heavy things and do unpleasant and otherwise unrewarding work for long periods of time. So that is why I see my father as a mishkan-carrier rather than a singer/guitar player.
Being a Levite has always been very meaningful to me. And that was passed through my Zayde, to my father, then to me. I'm not certain of the substantial duties that are involved with being a Levite, they probably no longer exist anymore except as ritual. But its somehow very important to my identity. Never had I spoken about it to my father even once...
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