“Be My Valentine?”

An interesting thing happened to my family the other night. My sister called from Maryland just to chat. She is also a teacher and we commiserate, both as siblings who miss our parents, as well as public school teachers. After a few minutes of chatting, I turned the phone over to Josh to say hello to his aunt and went to do some Temple business. Suddenly, I heard laughing and giggling and calling. Josh came into the computer room where I was working and said, “Dad, come quick, I have a picture to show you”. I figured my sister had emailed a photo from our childhood, but it was better than that. There was the image of my sister on Josh’s laptop computer. He had shown her how to SKYPE. She was amazed. Mina and I were pleased too. We chatted for a few minutes and then I asked if we could speak to Shahri and Adina in Cleveland. We tried to hook up a three-way conference call, but the connection would not go through for more than 20 seconds. For those 20 seconds, my family was talking to each other on a triangular route of approximately 6,000 miles.

So I was saddened when the connection was broken between the three families, but when I tried to contact my sister, the phone just kept ringing and ringing. I grew a bit concerned until Josh spoke up and said, “Aunt Ellen is on the phone (Skype) with Shahri”. Of all the evening’s surprises, that one gave me the most pleasure. My older son and his aunt have a loving relationship, but everyone is so busy these days. I remember how enthused Ellen was at the wedding. She hasn’t changed and how proud Shahri and Adina were that Ellen was there.

To keep rekindling the connection of the younger generation to the older generation is very important for all of us. I am filled with great pride that Joshua sought to make his aunt visible to us, but I am equally proud of Shahri, who, by his decision, extended the connection. Further, for Joshua, the connection from my sister to Shahri to us was so important, he spent hours nights before he left for Israel, to work on the problem. And while all of one’s children are unique and special, I can surely say that most, if not all, of the younger generation take Social networking as par for the course of their life. As a parent and a Rabbi, I have concerns about some of the social networks. However, work with the younger generation, get to know their world, become familiar with their terminology. Let them guide you through the maze they call cyberspace. And when you are working and playing and learning with them, involve them in bringing the family close together. They will open up your eyes with what can be done to bring family unity in the midst of diversity. Remember, I was looking, simultaneously, to Maryland and Cleveland and they were looking at me. The mind boggles to where we could speak to next. We can, we will, we must update each other. I will journey together to the promised land of love, communication and visualization.

This month we will celebrate Valentine’s Day, remembering how a righteous man sought to ensure that words of love would continue to be communicated between people in love. One night last month I learned how 21st century righteous people send 21st Century Valentines. Why do I call them righteous? Because isn’t the greatest form of Righteousness, to Love G-d “with all your heart, your soul and your uniqueness”. And isn’t the ability to speak face to face, Divine?

B’ahava and Happy Valentine’s Day, Rabbi Mark