Two gifts from beyond the grave

Any of us who have lived through the death of a family member has also had to deal with the inevitable distribution of STUFF. Clearly, the things of great monetary value are distributed to the nearest and dearest. But people in our society accumulate an enormous number of things as we live our lives. The distribution of the mountains of the formerly precious is often an ongoing burden for mourners.

My friend Elisheva's father, a Conservative rabbi, died just a couple of weeks ago from Covid. Elisheva's daughter posted photos of all of her father's filled bookshelves. The family asked friends and relatives to select books from the photos. I was among the lucky ones asked to choose.

Of course, nearer and dearer got first dibs on the books. Looking at Rabbi Urbas' library was deeply moving. I felt like I was wandering through his brain and through his life. There were of course books every rabbi owns, Jewish texts, and commentaries. There were also books on psychology because so much of a congregational rabbi's life is pastoral care.

I recognized so many of the particular editions of books from my own father's library. There were coffee table books that I assume were gifts, books about Jewish illuminated manuscripts, and about Israel. Unlike my own father's library, there were books about sports. There was a large collection of books in Yiddish, including a Yiddish translation of the Mishna as well as a full collection of the stories of Sholom Aleichem.

I put dibs on a handful of books, not really expecting to receive any of them. The book I wanted the most was this one. I got a call from Elisheva that this book was mine.

It is a collection of the talks given at the Rabbinical Assembly conventions from 1934-1938. The Rabbinical  Assembly is essentially the union for Conservative Rabbis. My father was of course a member. The annual conventions were a highlight of his year.

In the old days before email and when long-distance calls were expensive, the annual; four-day conventions were the way classmates and colleagues reconnected. The four days were filled with lectures and study sessions and time to hang out. My parents used to pull us out of school and take us along. The time with old friends, the time to learn with colleagues, the time to focus deeply on a carnival of Jewish ideas was an important annual re-charging of my father's rabbinic batteries.

When I was little my time at the convention was taken up mostly by the leisure activities at one or another resort hotel. By the time I was in high school I attended the sessions. Stars were brought in to be keynote speakers. Alas,  was too little to stay up to hear Martin Luther King speak a few weeks before he was assassinated. I do remember him sitting on the dais during dinner though.

So far I have just skimmed the book. There are articles about how to deal with the growing crisis in Germany, and others about how to deal with growing antisemitism in the United States. There is a series of articles about how to connect adolescents to Judaism. There are articles about adult education and Hebrew schools and agunot, and social justice. There are scholarly articles about Jewish texts. 

As I leafed through the book I see the names of rabbis that I remember as old men at the conventions I attended in the 1970s.  The citation of a name is enough to evoke a shower of fond memories. The names of fathers and grandfathers of my friends are sprinkled throughout the book.

I feel like I have wandered through an enchanted wardrobe.

 Right now I am so excited about the book that I am having trouble focusing on one article at a time. Even the address list of members is compelling. But after my initial frantic leaping around in this book I will settle down and delve deeper.

The same day, I received a package from a neighbor that contained two objects.

Both are purse frames. My neighbor's aunt had died and these two purse frames were among her things. My neighbor Jaimee thought that I would have fun with these.

 I just love the woodland themed metal frame.  i love how the clasps are tiny acorns.

I am glad that I had the experience of reconstructing another vintage purse a couple of years ago. I love that I will have the opportunity to design a bag that can hold my epi-pen, phone, and keys and have pockets for a credit card and metro card for the days when I will be able to go out to the theatre again. I need to find fabric in my stash that is worthy of this beautiful frame.

As I looked at the tortoise-shell frame I felt sad that I had used up the swatch of mod printed velvet given to me by a former fabric designer. Clearly, the frame needs something graphic to work with it. I will also have to source a chain. Perhaps black plastic will work.

I have actual work that I need to get done. i will use the reconstruction of these bags as my reward for doing things on ,my have to get done list.