Congregation Shearith Israel, Manhattan -- view from across Central Park West
Everyone here knows that I am a Joe Biden supporter, but I was devastated by the news that Bernie Sanders was in the hospital. I wanted to pray for him and I also wanted to attend afternoon and evening services on this, a Jewish fast day.
First, why fasting this day? The joke is that we all ate so much on Rosh Hashanah that we needed to take a break from food. The second joke is that we are practicing for Yom Kippur, which is one week away. But the real reason is to remember Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Governor of Judea after his legions had burned down the Temple and exiled most of the prominent inhabitants of the land. Gedaliah wanted to do what he could to work with the Babylonians, saving whatever could be saved, but he was assassinated by the zealot Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; the remaining leaders of the Jewish people had to flee to Egypt. This is all described in the last chapter of 2 Kings — one of the most depressing passages in the entire Bible. We say extra prayers for this day and I wanted to do it in a synagogue.
So it happened that the most convenient time and place was at Congregration Shearith Israel in Manhattan, which is right at a subway stop and whose service was a bit earlier than most other afternoon/evening services which allowed me to get to another engagement. The congregation traces its roots to the first Jews in what would become the United States, who arrived by accident in 1654. It has had services continuously since at least the 1730s, with the only interruption being during the British occupation of New York during the American Revolution. Interestingly I had spent last Shabbat at its sister congregation Mikveh Israel in Center City Philadelphia, which has been operating continuously since 1740 because it managed to continue throughout the American Revolution. The building, which dates to the 1890s, is in the photograph taken from the congregation’s internet site. It is the congregation’s fifth building, in its fourth location.
The congregation has an unusual Sephardic liturgy that is little changed from the 17th century. I found myself getting lost at times. But in the part of the prayers where we can make requests to God for healing, I prayed for his recovery using Bernie’s Hebrew name, as is traditional, which my cousin had determined and a rabbi I know had confirmed: Binyamin ben Devorah. I urge all who are religious to pray as well. It matters.
I will conclude by passing on the response that I received when I went to the Sanders Facebook page and sent a message asking if they knew Bernie’s Hebrew name; this was before my cousin and the rabbi had found it:
Thank you so much for your kind note, Charlie!
While we really appreciate your prayers for Bernie and respect the tradition, I'm sorry I won't be able to provide that information. Wishing you all a sweet new year and meaningful High Holiday period!
We want you to know that Bernie is in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days, and is looking forward to getting back out and fighting for working families. As he recently tweeted:
“Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm feeling good. I'm fortunate to have good health care and great doctors and nurses helping me to recover. None of us know when a medical emergency might affect us. And no one should fear going bankrupt if it occurs. Medicare for All!”
Check out his Tweet here: https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1179494005064847361
We cannot thank you enough for your incredible dedication to this movement, and for your kind words for Bernie -- none of our campaign’s achievements would be possible without supporters like you!
Let’s keep making Bernie proud.
In Solidarity,
Daniela
Team Bernie
I should add that the Tweets following the Tweet are missing the usual nastiness one usually finds on Twitter.
Wishing Bernie a speedy recovery. Politics later.
