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March 22, 2005
Seraphic Sharers
I received several e-mails, concerning my last post, Seraphic Snapshots. One of Ariel's best friends pointed out that in fact there are three young men from Ariel's high school graduating class who are not married. Not just one, as I wrote. "I hope this makes you feel better," he added. I did not mean to give the impression that the marriages of Ariel's friends makes me sad. What makes me sad is that Ariel cannot dance at their weddings, that Ariel will never be married. In fact, I would be terribly sad if even one of Ariel's friends were not married.
Another Seraphic Secret reader wonders if my phrase, Boro Park Royalty, is somehow derogatory. I never imagined nor intended a negative. For me, Boro Park Royalty conjures visions of intelligence, beauty, and modesty. I suppose that the phrase brings to mind those three unfortunate capital letters: JAP. I assure you, I intended the exact opposite.
A mother who lost her college-age daughter tells me that her means of coping is through the written word. It is the only way she has to order her existence, to make sense of the senseless. I greatly look forward to this woman's e-mails because they invariably echo everything Karen and I are feeling. "You and I are so different," she says, "you are male and orthodox and I am not, yet we are secret shareres." Yes, the death of a childs bonds strangers in ways that can never be imagined.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at March 22, 2005 08:24 PM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
She is very correct indeed about belonging to that club to which no one ever wishes membership. Both Harold Kushner and Leonard Fein speak to this point in their books. I too lost my son Ben over 4 years ago. I have written about him in a series of vignettes on line under my AOL screen name and have emailed them to you; thus far no response ... alan
p.s. freiliche Purim
Posted by: alan at March 24, 2005 02:27 AM
Dear Alan:
The reason you did not hear from me is not because I did not respond -- I did, each time you wrote to me. However, every time I try and write back to you my e-mail is bounced back and labeled as "undeliverable." There is no way I would not respond to your deeply moving posts about Ben Z"L. You can ask any of my readers, to parents who have lost a child I give full attention, often turning over my blog to them. Please check your software. Something is terribly wrong and that's the reason I am responding to you in public like this.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Avrech
Seraphic Secret
Posted by: Robert at March 24, 2005 02:48 AM
dear robert, ...
ty for ur kind response .. i do appreciate it enormously, and I'll thank rachel on this end; in the meantime i'll check my mail controls ....
sincerely yours,
alan
ps thank you once again! :)shabbat shalom
Posted by: alan at March 24, 2005 08:24 PM