It’s hard for me to believe that my mom, lovingly known as Chanchy, has been gone for seven years. On Sunday my siblings and I gathered in New York to visit her gravesite, say a heartfelt Kaddish and celebrate/memorialize the life of a woman who was a mother par excellence. There is so much about the beautiful family Chavie and I have created together, that I wish she was alive to experience. I’d love for her to see how our myriad of Chabad activities in Big Sky Country have grown. I would really like to take her out for lunch in the City. Yet, while she isn’t alive in conventional terms, as I sat around with my amazing siblings, brothers and sisters who are truly one unit, I realized that if she keeps her beloved children unified, she is alive within each of us, all the time.
In this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, the last in the book of Genesis, we read about our Jacob’s passing. He appeals to his son Joseph to ensure his burial in Israel. He then, oddly enough, mentions to his beloved Joseph “As for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died to me in the land of Canaan on the way…and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.”Rashi explains “I know that you hold it against me; but you should know that I buried her there by divine command, so that she would be of assistance to her children. When Nebuzaradan exiles the Israelites, and they pass by there, Rachel will emerge from her grave and weep and beg mercy…”. 50 years after Rachel’s passing, Joseph still missed his mother deeply, so much so that Jacob chose to lecture him – soothing his emotional pain - on the details of her burial. That’s a Yiddishe Kind, one who never loses touch with his Yiddishe Mame.
King David says in Psalms “When the Lord counts in the script of the peoples”. As the world is about to celebrate their New Year, it’s an opportunity to make good resolutions. Every human has a mother. While some may be better at their job than others, they all gave us something special called “life”. Let’s resolve that 2018 be a year of daily “Mother’s Day”. If, like mine, your mom is in heaven, honor her by ensuring that when people meet you, they’ll say “fortunate is she who gave birth to him/her”. If your mom is alive, utilize every possible opportunity to show her respect, spend time with her, call/facetime her, treat her like the queen that she is, because when it comes to honoring our parents, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be. Shabbat Shalom! Chazak!!! L'Chaim!!!