Once again, this summer I was given the honor of delivering the d’var Torah at a Shabbat Service. Besides being an honor, it is both a learning and deeply emotional experience. This year, I wanted to honor my mother, who was widowed six months before I was born. Her struggles and sacrifices for me were considerable, and I was able to recognize them and feel so good about doing so. The parshah, Chukat, led me to rabbinic literature which laid a perfect canonical foundation for my presentation. In addition, in doing these teachings every time I do one is that I connect with an event or a person or an experience that seems completely unrelated and yet resonates deeply with me and my talk.

As we enter the High Holy Day Season and we return to God, I was reminded how God works in mysterious ways. As I sat down at the beginning of the service, Rabbi Saphire announced that I would be teaching later in the service. A woman sitting in the same row as I was came over to me and asked if I was the same Eric Rosen who is a close friend of her dad. I am. On the afternoon before the service, I had sent him and his twin brother my d’var Torah. We have been friends since kindergarten. More importantly, it was at their parents Shabbat dinner table that laid the foundation for me to be a practicing Jew today.

I repeat here how I began my d’var Torah: by expressing how much I dearly love this congregation that has given me so many opportunities to express my Jewish values and how appreciative I am of Rabbi Saphire who has collaborated with me on several of my teachings and opened so many doors for me.