Meaningful Moments in Maine - Part 2

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 9:17:00 AM

And here is where the real story begins (for Part 1, scroll down below):

"A----S-----" was his Hebrew name and, after our initial *surprise/chance meeting at Hannaford, and exchange of contact information, the correspondence continued through email. He invited us to visit his home. He lived in a small town, with few, if any Jews (as mentioned previously), and was delighted to make the acquaintance of a Rabbi and his family.

So we made it a part of our trip. Instead of the straight three and a half hour journey back to our home in Natick, we took a slight southeasterly turn off the main road into the woods. And again we turned...and turned...until deep in the forests of Maine. "Don't listen to the GPS' instructions," he told us, "follow xyz until you reach a dirt road. We're at the end of it."

(*To us, this was not simply a detour. We believe everything in the world happens by Divine plan and call this concept "Hashgocha Protis." Our encounter was not just chance, but an opportunity - a moment that would bring people together for a purpose. [Click here for more info on the topic of Hashgocha Protis.])

After thumping and bumping down the long unpaved narrow road, surrounded by thick forestry, for about a mile we arrived at their homestead – which includes their house and many acres of natural land. Living out here in the sticks, A----S-----, who we will call Steve, did not have readily available opportunities to learn about and connect with his heritage. Clearly, this was what he was seeking. With the reverence of a Jew who loves Judaism (but had not had the opportunity to express it), he showed us a mezuzah that he had purchased some time ago – hoping we could guide him in putting it up the correct way. The Rabbi asked Steve if he could check his mezuzah and see if it's "kosher" (prepared according to Jewish law). "It's like a security system for the home." While the Mezuzah case was a beautiful work of art, unfortunately, the "scroll' turned out to be a photo-copied paper - not the authentic parchment prepared by a scribe. Rabbi connected him with a trustworthy scribe (Zalman from esofer.com) so that he could order the scroll and also sent him a link afterwards for a mezuzah app that guides with affixing mezuzah properly.

During the original encounter in the Hannaford parking lot, my husband had asked Steve if he had ever put on Tefillin. Steve answered that the last time he did (and probably the only time) was the Thursday before his Bar Mitzvah. So finally, after all those years, Steve got to put on Tefillin again.

Steve had mentioned in the email correspondences before we came, that there was another member of “tribe” of “Jewish in the Woods” who was excited to meet us and would like to be at his home when we came. So our other new friend, who we will call Larry, arrived.

After the Rabbi helped Steve with the Tefillin, it was Larry's turn. Larry, an elderly man, had actually reconnected in the last few years with his religion. Some time ago, he began learning through JNET (a one-on-one on the phone/online learning partnership which we highly recommend) with Rabbi K. from Brooklyn, NY. Thus, together with Rabbi Fogelman, the two men put on Tefillin. Both were excited and inspired by doing this important mitzvah.

We had a nice time at their house. Our kids played near the pond, zoomed around in their ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle), and ran around the extensive grounds. We also truly enjoyed meeting with Steve, his wife, and Larry.

These may have been "Jews of the Woods" (as they call themselves, see Part 1), but a Jew, no matter where he/she may be, is always connected to a global family. As "Chassidim" (see Part 1) we had the honor and privilege, through the Hashgocha Protis of meeting Steve, to perform mitzvot together in the backwoods of Maine. What a great and meaningful vacation!

POSTSCRIPT: Once back at home, we contacted Rabbi Wilansky in Portland, ME about the "Jews of the Woods" to share these encounters. It turns out that he had once brought a "Sukkah mobile" to that group and was interested in reconnecting.

Meaningful Moments in Maine

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 12:11:00 PM

B”H

A Chassid* is always on duty and never fully on vacation from their obligations even when on vacation. Perhaps this might be troublesome to some who read this. What do you mean? The Rabbi and Rebbitzen who work hard throughout the year can’t get a breakeven when on break?! The truth is, however, that a Chassid embraces this and understands and feels this as a privilege and honor to have their life imbued with meaning and purposefulness wherever they may be - just as a soldier is ever-ready to serve for their country and for what they believe in. And so… here is our vacation story.

Well, really, I’ll start before our story. This past week, our family took a trip for a few days to the Bethel area in Western Maine. It’s only three and a half hours from Natick, but the change in scenery and landscape makes you feel as though you have entered another world - a world of breath-taking beauty, a quieter world, a slower-paced world, with pristine natural lakes and brooks, and intoxicating fresh mountain air.

On our first day out, we went to Grafton Notch where there are trails leading through some of the most exquisite rocks, falls, and caves. We were a hungry bunch and needed to gear up fuel for our adventures. While picnicking, we were saying our food blessings and at some points discussing words of Torah. We were mindful of and even expressed the possibility that this very spot may have been waiting 5774 years, 10 months, and 16 days (since creation) for these holy words, sparks of G-dliness, to be uttered there.

I must mention here that there was a general feeling among us that this region may have very few, if any, Jewish inhabitants. We wondered if, in fact, we would at any point during our little vacation, end up bumping into any Jews.

Later in the day, as we were heading back “home”, we stopped into the local towm’s Hannahford to pick up a few things. Just by the way, we came well-stocked with our Kosher meats, dairy products, breads, and quite a few other edible essentials. However, with our overstuffed cargo, we intentionally left out fresh produce, which we knew we could pick up locally.

We wondered if this store would have a Kosher aisle – and kind of doubted it. Lo and behold, there were 7 items on the shelf of what could hardly be called a Kosher section – yahrtziet candles, small boxes of Shabbat candles, Matzah, jars of Matzah ball soup and Gefilte fish, Kedem tea biscuits, and Manischewitz wine. Nothing eventful happened that day at Hannahford.

On our second trip to Hannahford, as we were standing at the check-out counter, the guy in line behind us, scanning the conveyor belt with our few items, asked “Where’s the Halvah?” I said, “What made you think of Halvah?” He answered that he had noticed the matzah (and possibly our modest style of dress) and then added another Jewish related word or two. Still unsure of his identity, I asked him straight out, “Are you Jewish?” to which his response was “Yes”. We finished the shopping, brought the stuff to our van and I shared with the rest of the family, that we have just met a Jew. While we were unloading, my husband, Rabbi Levi Fogelman, got out and I pointed to the yellow Volkswagen where he quickly headed before the guy pulled out.

The two spent some time in conversation. The man was really excited to meet us. He shared with us that there are about 8 Jewish families in that entire region of the Western Maine Mountains that he knows of. There is some kind of an informal society they call the “Jews in the Woods”. (We later found out that it’s a few more than 8 but still very few.) They exchanged contact information. He invited us to his place in West Paris, Maine. In one of the email exchanges he wrote that he felt that our encounter “was Providence” and he really did want to connect more with his heritage, etc. He wrote that there is also someone else who would like to meet us when we visit. We felt that this was perhaps the real purpose of our vacation. Since West Paris was somewhat on the way back home we made a point to carve out time for this at the end of our stay.

If you come to Shul this Shabbat, you will hear more about this and our visit. If you can’t make it, we hope to have “part 2” ready for next week’s email.

Have a wonderful and meaningful Shabbat!

Chanie

* Click here for definition of Chassid

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Meaningful Moments in Maine - Part 2

Meaningful Moments in Maine