By Ann and Richard Tell (5-24-09)

Today is forty-five days, which is six weeks and three days of the Omer.

 

It is a tradition to count the days between Passover and Shavuot, as we mark our freedom from slavery and celebrate our freedom to accept Torah. This is called "counting the omer." This year we will observe the tradition of "counting the omer" by sharing stories about the many different ways that we have been turned on to Jewish learning, and through Jewish learning to Torah.

Thank you to everyone who wrote about a memorable moment of Jewish learning. We've collected 49 amazing stories, and we're grateful to all of our contributors. 

It was in the fall of 1978 that we were asked if we would go on a mission to the Soviet Union.  We were told that we would be traveling alone, visiting with families who were in the process of applying for or had been refused permission to emigrate to Israel.  The purpose of our mission was, through our presence, to support these courageous Jews, to keep them visible, to let them know they were not forgotten and that the world Jewish community was continuing the struggle for their freedom.  

At the time of this trip, our son Aaron was 2½ and our daughter Nina was soon to celebrate her first birthday.  The trip was secret; our families thought we were going to Israel. 

Ann sewed ritual objects into the lining of both of our trench coats.  As we went through passport control in Moscow our hearts were in our throats-not with pride but with fear.  What if the forbidden items were discovered?  We had to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, enough to read street names and maps, and memorize the names and addresses of families in Frunze, Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tbilisi and Moscow. 

Our experiences were of the  moment-they just happened-an aliyah in Bukhara, joining a groom's family (men only!) in a festive lunch, erev Yom Kippur with a young family in Samarkand and services the following day in their synagogue, singing HaTikva around the piano with a small group of Refuseniks in Frunze.  Central Asia was visually like going back in time, but the experiences felt comfortable and familiar.  In Moscow we were befriended by a family who we were later able to sponsor and help resettle in Los Angeles. 

The trip was transformative.  Surely the people we met were under a yoke as cruel as biblical pharaonic oppression, yet like at Sinai they too made a choice about their identities and future.  Their commitment to live as Jews was inspirational and motivated our decision to provide our children with a strong Jewish education. We chose to enroll them in the Emanuel Community Day School (ECDS). 

Now, many years later, we have the joy of learning, praying and celebrating at the New Emanuel Minyan with new friends as well as with a number of families who were a part of ECDS 28 years ago.  

We learned that our actions are enhanced by joining together and that through the power and support of community the possibilities for change are strengthened. Even under difficult conditions, we can create choices. 

By Ann and Richard Tell

These stories are brought to you by the Temple Emanuel RE-IMAGINE project, an 18-month initiative sponsored by Hebrew Union College, devoted to re-thinking and re-structuring our religious school.