Keeping the flame alive: Memories and blessings

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I follow the lunisolar Jewish calendar in which the rhythm of time is determined by both the sun and the moon. It creates both the dates of our holidays and of the yahrzeits that commemorate the deaths of our close family members.

I lit a yahrzeit candle for my elder brother and the first-born of the trio of us. I also held a match to the wicks of those candles for my late parents too, both mother and father. I honored their memories and invited them, after their journeys around the human universe to bless the family by living on in their children and grandchildren. This is how they remain close and infuse our lives.

My mother was born on an Aug. 2. She gave birth to my middle brother, “Chick” (Charles) on Aug. 2. And, by an amazing coincidence, she also passed away on a deeply saddening Aug. 2. In her case I used the date from the solar or Gregorian calendar that is fairly standard throughout the world to welcome her spirit, her soul, into my current life and household.

We also observe Shabbat, and I offer here how I list the events and persons we bless specifically. I lift up the names of each grandchild: Flo, Daphne and Eleanor, then Selma and Noa, and also Naomi Marion and Noah Charles (“Charles” was a gesture of inclusion for my middle brother, who dwelt in Newport).

This year particularly, I added a special salute to friendship – by focusing on the name of a friend and modest hero, Rep. Ritchie Torres. To me, he stands out for his supportive speeches about Israel. He hails from and represents the 15th district in the Bronx in New York, the poorest congressional district in our country. His words from that 15th district are remarkable in their courage, bravado and eloquence.

MIKE FINK (mfink33@aol.com) is a professor emeritus at the Rhode Island School of Design.