Renew Our Days

I was recently privileged to spend Shabbos with members of Samcheinu, an organization that provides chizuk and services for the courageous almanos among us.

It was raining outside Shabbos afternoon, so my wife and I took a walk around the corridors of the hotel. We were approached by a participant trying to find her room. She asked if I was the rabbi scheduled to speak later that day, and if by any chance I was related to the Plotnik family that lived in Boston over 50 years ago.

We soon determined that she had been my classmate back in preschool. The last time we had been in the same building was in second grade, probably in Morah Dowek’s class. What were the chances? We shared updates on our former classmates Stephen, Rochelle, Fanelle, Larry, Mitchell, Chana, Devorah, Feivel… (Keep in mind this was Boston in the sixties.) It was like a trip on the way-back machine, as memories of my youth came to the surface. I must admit I wished it had happened under different circumstances, but it was exhilarating, nonetheless.

There is nothing like feeling young again. It is invigorating, exciting, and refreshing, impossible to substitute for anything else. Chazal tell us, “For everything, there is a replacement, except eishes ne’urim, the wife of one’s youth” (Sanhedrin 22a).