The following came from a blog written by Rami Shapiro, the rabbi who married the impossibly young couple to the left. Rami is now this world-famous guy...and we knew him when and have his signature on our ketubah to prove it. I cut and pasted it for you because I didn't want to take a chance that you wouldn't click on the link to his blog (which you totally should), which is: Beyond Religion with Rabbi Rami.
Two Wise Women
"As my colleagues and I prepared for a few hours of interspiritual teaching and dialogue at Temple Emmanuel in Miami Beach this past Sunday, an elderly Jewish woman came up to speak to me personally. [Ed. note: the irony of Rami needing to be in Miami the same weekend that the Super Bowl is there is not lost on this blogger!]
She told me her name and identified herself as a survivor of eight Nazi concentration camps. In a well-rehearsed and brief presentation she told me how her mother chose to accompany her two baby sisters into the gas chambers rather than stay with her, the oldest of three daughters. She elaborated a bit more and then asked if she could be allowed to address the gathering.
This was a decision I was not empowered to make, and I suggested she talk to our host, Dr. Nathan Katz of Florida International University. I admit to being a bit worried about letting this woman and her painfully compelling story speak for fear she would shift our conversation from Interspirituality to the Holocaust.
Wiser hearts prevailed and she was given an opportunity to speak. She did so for only three minutes. In that time she laid out the horrors she had encountered and the only way she could survive—love. She said that as the Nazis broke her heart, all they released was love. She found in her terror a capacity to understand the terrors of others. It was the most eloquent affirmation of the power of the human spirit to triumph over tragedy I had ever heard.
Another woman survivor added her story as well, summarizing what she had learned about life from her grandmother, also murdered by the Nazis: 'You are not defined by what you endure,' her grandmother told her, “but by what you give.'
With the high quality of the presenters from five of the world’s religions, there was a lot of wisdom shared that Sunday, but none so simple, true, and transformative as that of these two women who had endured an unimaginable hell only to manifest what it is to live God’s kingdom here on earth."
"You are not defined by what you endure, but by what you give." Wow. Some days the endurance is so exhausting and seems never-ending. And the giving is so rewarding...and somehow non-energy-sapping. How undeniably true.
In an interesting twist, Spanish River High in Boca, where Haley would have gone had we stayed in Boca, is ALSO performing Fiddler this Spring. We are trying to connect the two directors and the various characters. Wouldn't it be cool to have the student playing Tevye in Boca communicating with the student in Fuquay-Varina playing Tevye? Oy vey...who will be communicating with our Colin McKenna (on the right sporting a peace sign, bandana and guitar), whose first acting role was ironically Rolf, the Nazi, in The Sound of Music? My daughter's first role? A Who in Seussical...so she basically went from a Who to a Jew! We're exploring partnering with Spanish River in some way...not only for the artistic benefits, but for the PR benefits that might help us with fund-raising. I can just see Regis and Kelly splitting up to see our two performances and then comparing notes!!!
I was told that Boca has a decent budget. Ours is quite a bit less than decent. We are getting ZERO dollars from the school system which amazingly still has money for football, basketball, etc. We have fewer philanthropists and corporations from which to draw here in Fuquay-Varina. (However, I was given this little factoid by a realtor...yes, we're selling our house...long and different story...Fuquay-Varina has the highest number of millionaires per capita in the whole state. We don't count among them!)
I am sending this mostly to share the above story, but also to ask for your prayers and possibly even your donations. We could use money, of course. But we could also use any Jewish "materials" that you might be able to give/loan that would help us to make our play more authentic....yarmulkes, prayer shawls, candles, etc. These items are not abundant here in the Christian Bible Belt!
I don't plan for this blog to become a constant source of fund-raising, but if you feel compelled to give, please make checks payable or send stuff to:
Fuquay-Varina Theatre Patrons
c/o Diane Neer
6612 Whitted Rd.
Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
And as we say in the South (and I have the t-shirt to prove it!), Shalom Y'all!
Di
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