February 2001 Somebody Who Will Make Us Do Our Best Excerpts from remarks delivred at the aufruf of Dr. Daniel Kass and Ms. Debby Gilman. By Rabbi Alvin Kass The poet Bialik said that just as there are peaks and valleys in space, so too are there peaks and valleys in time. This moment in which Debby and Danny are being called to the Torah just prior to their wedding is the highest peak that I have ever known; and I feel confident that I speak as well for Neil, Sarah, and Miryom. We want to say thanks to Almighty God that He has kept us alive, sustained us and enabled us to live to see this day of Debby and Danny's aufruf. The Talmud teaches: Torah ugedulah bemakom echad, "Torah and greatness in one place" (Gittin 59A). The verse is meant to describe a person who is blessed with both worldly and spiritual goods. In the case of Danny and Debby, it refers to two people blssed with two realms of knowledge, one pertaining to Jewish tradition, the other to the secular world. They are certainly both highly accomplished young people. Debby is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at CUNY. Danny, an alumnus of Columbia College and the New York University School of Medicine, is now a resident in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. They are also the possessors of a superior religious education and deeply committed to Judaism. It's a rare but ideal combination. Debby and Danny, you have both chosen careers that will bring you honor and security; but that also require much self-sacrifice and a willingness to share each other with a lot of needy people. You will need each other to help bear that burden. I'll tell you in all candor that I am also the practitioner of a demanding profession, but I always felt that Miryom had a tougher job than I. After all, the rabbi has to carry the troubles of the congregation, but Miryom had to carry both the congregation and my worries too. A member of the synagogue asked me recently: "Rabbi, when we are in trouble, we go to you. Where do you go when your heart is heavy?" I answered him without hesitation that when I am downhearted, I go to Miryom who has the most understanding heart I have ever known. You will both need such understanding hearts. In a very real sense, today's aufruf is not just a personal milestone, but it is a milestone in the history of this synagogue because both of you have played important roles at East Midwood Jewish Center. Debby, you were our extraordinarily capable and beloved Bar and Bat Mitzvah teacher. Many of your former studnts are present at this simcha to rejoice with you and to cheer you on. When you decided that your professional aspirations required you to give up your teaching, you broke the hearts of many young people and their families who had hoped beyond hope that you would be their teacher. Danny, in a very real sense, this synagogue has been your second home. You grew up here. There is not an inch of this huge edifice with which you are not familiar. You were a student at the Rabbi Harry Halpern Day Schoo. You were Bar Mitzvah on this pulpit. You conducted many a service in this sanctuary and in the Beth Hamidrash. You also taught the next generation of young people in our Talmud Torah Hebrew High School. You studied for many an exam in the quiet and privacy of my study on the fourth floor. There is hardly a member of this congregation who doesn't know every detail of your life about which I have bragged from time immemorial! Emerson said: "The chief want of life is somebody who shall make us do the best we can." I am confident that you have found that in each other. In today's haftorah, Ezekial puts two sticks together to symbolize the union of the kingdoms of Judah and Joseph. Shortly you will also be joined together in a union fashioned from your mutual love, your reverence for the sanctities of our sacred heritage, and your appreciation of all God's blessings. And to both of you I say: umetzah chen visechel tov b'enee elohim veadam, "go forth to find grace and good favor in the eyes of God and man."