One temple’s colorful reminder of the kindness of strangers
In this often dispiriting world, rabbi finds hope
One Friday night, not long ago, we received a surprise after Sabbath services at Temple Beth Torah.
This small temple in Humble is the only Jewish synagogue within a radius of about 15 miles, though there are dozens of churches of every denomination.
With only 85 households in our membership, this tiny community sometimes feels like a surrounded minority in a sea of “other.” Still, our reputation is one of welcoming. Visitors of other faiths often just show up to see what a Jewish worship service is like. College students who have been assigned projects come for research on papers (that are usually due 48 hours later!).
Several churches annually bring teenage students to one of our worship services to teach them about Judaism as the foundation of Christianity. One church in particular, Strawbridge United Methodist Church of Kingwood, has opened its doors to us several times when we have had issues that made our own building temporarily unusable. Most recently, because our usual venue had flooded during Hurricane Harvey, SUMC allowed us to conduct a Passover Seder (meal and service) in its gym while Good Friday services were going on in its sanctuary.
Whether teaching to Jewish people at Temple Beth Torah or to those of other faiths in the greater community, I try to emphasize one of my favorite biblical verses, which is repeated in Hebrew Scripture in one form or another dozens of times: “Treat the stranger as one of your own. Love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:3334).
The Torah teaches us not to treat others the way we have been treated, but to treat others the way we would like to be treated. This teaching can be difficult to practice in a world where we also are taught to be wary of strangers and careful to watch for hidden agendas and those who wish to do harm. While our synagogue has never been a victim of hate crimes or vandalism, we certainly read about many such incidents around the country and around the world, some of which have happened very close to home. We are as cautious, hopefully, as we need to be.
On this particular Friday, we concluded our worship service, and the congregants were enjoying refreshments and social time. It was an average sized crowd for us, perhaps 25 people or so.
I went to my office to tutor a student preparing for her bat mitzvah, the
traditional rite of passage when a young person turns 13 years old. One of our Friday night “regulars” knocked and came into the office. “These were left at our door,” he told me.
Since I had recently read about incidents of anti-Semitic literature being distributed at another synagogue in Texas, I was naturally concerned. That is, until I saw what was in his hand: a bouquet with several sprigs of multicolored flowers. When I looked more closely, I saw that each sprig had several daisies, and tied to each stem was a hand-written index card that said, “I am grateful to share the planet with you.”
Since there were several daisies as well as several notes, I figured it was meant to go to different households. I asked the congregant to distribute the flowers to everyone who was still present.
My heart warmed. Who could have perpetrated this? Later, someone remembered seeing two people outside the temple before services, a teenage girl and an adult, presumably mother and daughter. He thought they were coming into the temple, so didn’t think much of it.
My thoughts went to all the incidents of hateful rhetoric I had heard in the past, and I realized that there are people who go out of their way to be kind. Those who seek attention for negative actions often get noticed; the kinder actions? Not so much. If acts of kindness were made as well-known as acts of hatred, perhaps more people would understand that open hearts and open minds are the norm, and ignorance is the exception. It gives me hope.
When I hear, “Racism, hatred, prejudice and anti-Semitism are on the rise!” I cannot argue the point. It’s true. At the same time, I want to shout, “So are tolerance, understanding, kindness, acceptance and a desire to learn about others! WAGE PEACE!”
At the end of the evening, all the flowers had gone to the various homes, and I realized I didn’t take one for myself to bring home to my wife. I decided to take a picture with my phone, and said to myself, “I guess Loren will have to be satisfied with a picture of a flower instead of the real thing.” But when I got to my car, there was one sprig left on my windshield, with the same note.
Whoever you are: I’m grateful to share the planet with you, too!