The Rabbi on Mason

Dear Friends,

I hope that everyone enjoys a safe Labor Day weekend and that we all remember the important role that Labor has played in our country’s history.  I remember that my dad used to show me the notebooks where he kept records of all the hours he worked in order to help my brothers and me go to college.  He worked for the railroad, first as a switchman, then a yardmaster, and then a trainmaster.    I know that he used to say he worked in the transportation business because he was embarrassed to say he worked for the railroad.  This bothered my mom a lot since she and the rest of us respected that he worked hard in an important field.  Although working on the railroad wasn’t a typical profession for a Jewish man, he worked approximately 40 years for different railroads and his efforts, along with my mother’s devotion to being home with the four Aft boys, taught me the value of hard work.  When you visit me in the rabbinic study, you will notice three Cal Ripken bobblehead dolls which are on the window sill in order to remind me that one of Cal’s greatest gift to baseball when he broke Lou Gehrig’s streak of playing in consecutive games, was to remind all of us the value of fulfilling our commitments each day.

I hope that you also will calendar to be with us on Sept. 11 at 3pm for the following special commemoration of Sept. 11, 2001.

Sunday, September 11, 2011 will mark the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country. Please join us at 3:00 pm for an Interfaith Memorial/ Healing Service at Congregation Adat Reyim as we commemorate not only the lives lost, but the brave men and women still fighting for our freedom. The Memorial Service will feature musical presentations.

For more information or if you have any questions,

This program will be sponsored by Congregation Adat Reyim, Burke Presbyterian Church, The Institute for Islamic and Turkish Studies, Messiah United Methodist Church, and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

Be safe this weekend, enjoy a productive semester, learning something:-), and Shabbat Shalom,