So last evening it was back to shul, uh, school, for Dr. Barry, Norman, and me. We three took a Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) class some months back, led by Rabbi Yossi's son Moshe, who I told Yossi was a taller and smarter version of him. The class was on Bio Ethics and Judaism, and we enjoyed it quite a bit -- meeting at 6 pm on Wednesdays and then class at 730. Barry, always complaining about his commute times from Pembroke Pines to Jackson Downtown, even undertook MORE driving to attend.
I got another email, this time a class on learning the Talmud -- and my boys both were in again. Also, Jeff, whose life is immersed in service to his 2 temples, since he had he sense to drop out of being a lawyer in 1994 and has grown close to Moshe, signed up, though he thinks he'll miss several classes on account of his stuff with the Reform places where he's on countless committees...
I joked that we three were the cool guys in class last time -- but then again -- the bar wasn't very high. We weren't competing with the likes of Jim Kelly or Bernie Kosar, like when we attended UM.
Barry thought he might take Metrorail if the traffic was too untenable, and so I suggested we gather at Shorty's, right at the base of the Dadeland South station, and after class I'd drive him back to the Health District. Instead, all 3 cars pulled up early, and we retreated inside for some delicious barbecue -- in Norman's honor, I got the burger for my first time in patronizing Shorty's since my Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Abe took me during a Miami vacation in 1973. The burger was indeed delicious.
We three solved some issues of medical legal importance, and then carpooled the 2 blocks to class. Neighbors Robert and his wife Stephanie were there, as well as several others -- all 20 seats were taken -- a testament (Ha!) to Moshe and his budding career as the future leader of the empire his parents have created.
Barry was the ringer. He had attended Yeshiva for Junior High in Queens before moving to South Florida for high school, and he peppered Moshe with great Talmudic debate questions. Jeff knew lots of stuff, too, from his 3 decades of immersion into things Jewish.
We each took turns reading, and my short section was the question "Why Do Jews Read So Much Law?" I found it hilarious -- of Jeff, Norman, and myself, all members of UM's Law Class of 1986, I probably read the LEAST Law of the 3 of us -- I was the only one not on Law Review!
But of course we got some pride shout-outs -- Moshe shared the fact that although Jews make up something like .2% of the world's population, they have won 22% of the Nobel Prizes. Our tribe thinks learning and studying is truly holy.
So the Talmud is mostly law, and its commentary. The law is based, if you go the way of the true believers, on the Word of The Big Man, as interpreted by Rabbis throughout the ages -- mostly the ages long ago. Norman questioned why Medieval Rabbis are given so much cred, whereas the modern ones, no matter how brilliant, are considered overall schleppers. I guess we'll explore that during the Wednesdays to come.
Moshe told one parable that resonated -- about a king years ago who really dug Jews. His ministers despised them, and set about to show the king how ridiculous Jews were -- with their picayune laws about everything. Sure enough, there was a passage about tying shoes -- you put the right on first, but tie the left one first. See, the ministers said, these supposedly Chosen People are absurd.
The king had a different take: the Jews were special because they turned even the most mundane tasks into a connection with the Big Man. It recalled for me a Harry Chapin line about a special woman in his life: "I could not make things possible...but she could make them holy."
I came home, and Wifey peppered me with questions about the class -- asking the next one before my tired self could complete the answer to the last one. I asked myself: what would make things holy? And so I went to bed -- leaving her to watch her post mah jonng news.
I reflected on the death of Alissa, and her brother Mark. I texted Jamie, to ask whether any plans had been made for Alissa's funeral -- he replied they had not. If the burial comes after tomorrow -- I'll be going alone -- Wifey is NOT disrupting her beach trip plans with her friends to come back to Kendall. And that's ok -- she and I often find different things important -- variety keeps stuff together for nearly 4 decades, it appears.
Today after my workout, I'm meeting Paul and Patricia for lunch in Doral -- they have an appointment there -- and we actually have a small bit of law firm business to do together.
Tonight I'm going to Crazy Joel's mansion in the Grove -- he's hosting a fundraiser to retain his sister Dawn on the Bench. I really dig Dawn -- in our waning years of practice -- we only contribute to her campaign, and the one for her judicial protege Cristina.
Dawn will likely raise enough money to scare off would-be opponents -- I think this is her last go round before mandatory retirement. And it's great to catch up with Joel's criminal law buddies -- they tend to be more colorful than my colleagues in the civil law world.
We sat in the car last evening at Shorty's, and regaled Barry with a tale about one of them -- a retired judge Norman's known since high school. Mary, as I'll call her since that's her name, was the target of an infamous Motion for Recusal from a pro se party -- who claimed she couldn't be a fair judge since they had a sexual encounter of the Lewinsky/Clinton variety, and he never called her afterwards. The junior high schooler in me can think of little else when I'm with Mary, despite the fact that she was quite the accomplished judge.
Maybe I'll ask Rabbi Moshe is there are any similar tales about Talmudic scholars. Nah -- better not -- that's for school -- not shul.
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