Today is still Memorial Day.
I have had the “pleasure “ of sitting in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for seven hours.
As HaShem in His wisdom decided to bring torrential thunderstorms to the Chicago area, United Airlines made the wise decision to make Rabbi Eisenman late, and not to deal with “The Late Rabbi Eisenman.”
Do not worry, as I did not dilly-dally away my delay.
I was able to (hopefully) provide Chizuk to a number of people 800 miles away and I was able to learn Torah without any distractions.
I also decided to utilize the time to find out more about Memorial Day.
Did you know that “among the 417,000 American troops killed in World War II, nearly 40,000 were Jewish soldiers? This means that nine percent of America’s war casualties came from a demographic group that accounted for less than 3% of the country’s population.”
(Jay Ruderman/ Blogs of Times of Israel)
And did you know that from the Revolutionary War until today- over one million Americans of every color, race, and religion- have made the ultimate sacrifice of losing their lives so that we can live?
Rav Mordechai Schwab Zt”L lived near an old military cemetery in Monsey, New York.
Every day when he passed the cemetery on his way to and back from Shul, he would bend down and pick up all of the candy wrappers and random coffee cups which sullied this sacred ground.
Rav Mordechai Schwab who was born in Germany understood with every fiber of his being, the huge difference between a Jew who lives in Germany and a Jew who is welcomed in America.
Over one million American men and women of every color, creed and race have given their lives so we can live in safety and peace- with of course, the help of HaShem.
Think about that now for a moment as another Memorial Day comes to a close.
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ