JWOW

One Heart, One Soul

By Miriam Liebermann, MSW

This past summer was busy for many. Loads of organized group tours headed across the world. Family and friends ventured off to kosher programs in Tanzania, South Africa, The Netherlands, Iceland and Switzerland, and Canada.

I’m not a big traveler. I fly off to visit children living out of town and head off to visit our beloved Eretz Yisrael. That’s it for me. But I do love to hear highlights of the splendid trips that family and friends so enjoy. I confess. I’m an armchair traveler. I’m happy to sit cozy and comfy on my couch and read about all these exotic destinations. I’m perfectly content to witness the great wildebeest migration in Tanzania as portrayed on a National Geographic video on my computer screen. That’s all fine for me! I’m happy to experience these trips vicariously. Let the others sit on the plane for 17 hours. As for me, no, thank you.

Recently, I met up with my lovely niece and her family who had been on safari in South Africa this summer. After welcoming them back home, I inquired, “What was the highlight of your trip?” To my surprise, mother, father and teenage children all responded almost identically. Of course, they appreciated the wildlife, the sighting of the animals whilst on safari. But when queried individually, each one responded that the predominant factor that made this trip so zerland. These are her words, “We have world travelers here from all over. Gerrer chassidim, families from Europe, Israel, Brooklyn, Monsey, etc. Strike up a conversation with absolutely anyone, and you find that we all have someone

How pleased we are when we find ourselves in the airport in a foreign country and see a fellow Jew across the way.

amazing was meeting with fellow Jews from across the globe. Although so many different communities were represented, right to left, Sefard, Ashkenaz and everything in between, there was such a sense of camaraderie amongst them. They all felt connected, members of one big happy family, the family of Jews!

And then I’m in touch with my cousin Miriam who is at this very moment enjoying an Israeli program in Switin common. We’re all mishpacha. It’s incredible. Am Yisrael is truly one! There is much more that connects us than divides us. Our world expands in order to include new people, new horizons, and an appreciation of all Yidden.”

Beautifully stated! Thank you, dear Miriam. I love this concept. How pleased we are when we find ourselves in the airport in a foreign country and see a fellow Jew across the way. Instantaneously, we feel connected. We’re no longer alone in a big, strange airport. We have family nearby!

My father-in-law, a Holocaust survivor, a”h, was one of those who loved his fellow Jew. Walking on the streets of Boro Park, he would stop each and every person and inquire, “Fun vonent kumt a Yid?” Where are you from? (This interchange is recounted in the moving book, “We Are Still Here: Memoir of a Child of Survivors,” written by my sister in law, Rivka Nissel, Gefen Publishing.) He would engage in conversation with that individual, and sure enough, without fail, he always uncovered a deep connection to his fellow Yid. This brought him enormous satisfaction, time and time again.

Let’s savor these feelings! Hold tight to all these connections. How blessed we are to be part of acheinu kol bais Yisrael. One man. One heart. One soul.