“Make Wednesday Night Your Jewish Learning Night....”

All of us at Temple Beth El are excited to invite you to our brand-new Beth El Beit Midrash - House of Study program. Every Wednesday night, we will gather for study of sacred text and adult learning in our Temple. If you wish to begin with a worship service, you can join with our Hebrew School students at 5:30 p.m. in the Blumenthal Sanctuary, where we will pray, sing, meditate, and create a spiritual community. If you prefer to begin with a community meal, you are invited to join us at 6:00 p.m. for dinner - each week there will be a different menu, and your suggestions and participation in making this a great success are welcome! If your preference is more towards intellectual stimulation, join us at 7:00 p.m. for a text study course on a variety of topics with one of the rabbis, or at 8:00 p.m. for our Community Forum, a potpourri of fascinating Jewish learning opportunities led by members of the community. The details will be outlined in the Voice each month, and also in our "Pathways to Jewish Learning and Living" brochure, distributed on Rosh Hashanah, mailed to every member household, and available in the Temple office.

After I delivered my Yom Kippur Kol Nidre sermon about knowing when enough is enough, I received this beautiful essay by email. I do not know who composed this story originally, but it is extraordinarily powerful. I share it now in hopes that it will inspire each of us to live a year of goodness, blessing and peace:

ENOUGH
At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane's departure and standing near the door She said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy." They kissed good-bye and she left. He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Mom had done for me. Recognizing that her days were limited, I took the time to tell her face to face how much she meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.

"Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?" I asked. "I am old and she lives much too far away.. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral," he said.

"When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?" He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them," he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Good-bye."
 
James M. Bennett