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June 07, 2005
Seraphic Courage
I often wonder how it is that Ariel was able to endure so much pain and discomfort, for so many years with such--there is no other word--courage.
Yesterday, I spent several hours in the Cedars Sinai Cancer Center visiting a friend who is undergoing chemotherapy. It was hard sitting there. Everywhere I turned was a vivid reminder of Ariel's presence. Ariel was in that room, also in that room, and there's the spot he was overcome with anaphylactic shock.
In the Cancer Center, I ran into Ariel's doctor, a fine woman who treated Ariel from day one until the end. She told me that she often thought about Ariel, about his "amazing courage." She wondered if his "faith" made it possible for him to endure so much. I allowed that it probably did, but there is also the simple issue of character. That is how Ariel was made. And as if to prove the point, Ariel's doctor and I witnessed an orthodox man kicking up a huge fuss: crying, moaning, yelping. It turns out that the nurse was having trouble finding a vein. I felt embarrassed. Here was a man wearing a velvet yarmulke, like a giant soup bowl on his head, a Talmud on his lap, tzitzis down to his knees, obviously "religious", but making such a racket, over what? a pin prick. I felt like melting into a puddle. Ariel's doctor smiled tolerantly, all too aware of the huge gulf between one religious person and another. She touched my arm and said: "Ariel was truly special. I will never forget him."
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at June 7, 2005 06:44 AM
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.
Rabbi Abraham Twerski defines being spiritual as accentuating those things that make us uniquely human. A person can be sociologically religious without being spiritually refined. Sounds to me like Ariel was the real thing.
Posted by: neil fleischmann at June 9, 2005 03:51 PM