One Man's Name
Photo credit: Ben Torres / Special Contributor for the Dallas Morning News
"Adena Cytron-Walker, center, blows into a ram's horn, traditionally known as the Shofar, as her husband Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, left, bows his head during a Tashlich service conducted by Rabbi Charlie and the Congregation Beth Israel in the Timmaron Bent Creek Neighborhood of Southlake, on Tuesday, Sept. 07, 2021. The blowing of the Shofar symbolizes reflection and a ‘wake-up-call’ to live a better life. The Tashlich service is a traditional ceremony, during Rosh Hashanah, of casting away of sins or wrongdoings from the past year by throwing breadcrumbs into a flowing body of water."
Reading all of the articles about Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker this morning, flooded with gratitude for the resolution to yesterday's nightmarish situation, I felt strangely aware that we could just as easily be reading identical pieces that were remembering and mourning him. Instead, there is this outpouring of love and appreciation for this man's being, his love of humanity, his lifelong record of kindness and generosity -- and yes, the fact that he is (baruch hashem) alive.
As I poured my coffee, I thought -- I need to write to our rabbi, to tell him how beloved he is by our community.
And I'm thinking, too, about how communities came together all over the world to pray. Jews, Catholics, Muslims... we obviously KNOW how to do this. Some innocent or is it naive part of me wonders why we can't pull it together to do this in general. The painful irony that when there is a singular, seemingly non-partisan crisis, or a weather-related event, say, we can unify.
And yet -- clearly not everyone's safety and wellbeing matter equally, or our country and world wouldn't be what they are.
I'm reminded of these words from Dr. King, from a 1967 speech on Vietnam: "We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.... We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
A radical revolution of values. If that's not part of our everyday lives, what are we even doing here?
We went to a beautiful, last-minute online service of sorts last night held by a nearby synagogue. There was singing. Praying. Crying. Praying some more. All the world is a very narrow bridge...
Something the rabbi said really pierced me. She talked about all of us being stars in G-d's firmament, and said that G-d knows the name of every single star. G-d knows all of our names.
I feel like this beautiful belief can get so twisted by the All Lives Matter crowd.
Yesterday, the whole world learned one man's name. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. I am so grateful for his safety. Apparently, he remained "calm and collected" throughout the -- what was it, 12-hours? -- ordeal. Apparently, he was kind and welcoming to the man who knocked on the door, deceitfully asking if the synagogue was a shelter. A mensch.
Some of the very same people who came together in prayer yesterday are anti-maskers who think Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization.
This afternoon I have a tattoo appointment to start on the next phase of my right arm... I'm a little nervous but mostly excited. It will be a reminder to take care of my heart so that it can be a source of beauty and song. A radical revolution of values.
May it be so.