By Louis Goodman (5-20-09)

Today is forty-one days, which is five weeks and six 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.

My great-grandfather Herman Weitz, "Zeide," has had a big influence in my life. Zeide loved me very much, and taught me a lot of things. He was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1908; but he had to escape the Nazis and so he ended up in Mexico City. Two years ago he came to my school and spoke to my class about his life, jobs, and how he escaped the Nazis.

One of the most important lessons Zeide taught me was that family is everything. You could always count on Zeide for anything. Zeide taught me to play golf and card games like war. Zeide also taught me about being Jewish. Every year we would go to temple to celebrate Simchat Torah and we would dance with the Torahs and have a good time and sing a lot of songs.  Zeide passed away on October 11, 2003.

 

By Louis Goodman, age 16

Louis wrote this essay when he was 11, in response to the question, "Who has had the biggest influence in your life?"

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.