Dear Friends,
Meet Dan Kramer. He’s 83, and he’s my newest inspiration.
It would be normal if the sharp and often shocking rise in antisemitism would make someone want to hide their Judaism (God forbid), but Dan did the opposite!
Dan never had a Bar Mitzvah, and was never called to the Torah—until now. Despite not growing up with a strong outwards Jewish identity, and living 83 years without it, Dan decided that now he needs to wear it proud and strong.
Today, Dan prayed with Tefillin on. Then we opened the Torah to look at his Torah portion. We opened the Holocaust Torah, which was rescued and brought from Poland—where Dan’s father was born, and where things came full circle.
I hope you’ll join us this Shabbat, when Dan will get called up to the Torah for the first time, and we will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah together, only 70 years not too late!
Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos