Shaaaalooooom sweeeetest friends!!!!
It has been 2 LONG!!!
Today, Rosh Chodesh Adar, February 15th [it is after midnight in Israel and I am in Israel B"H. Or I am in Vietnam and I am dreaming that I am in Israel. But either way - in Israel it is already the 15th] is a very special day for me.
It is my father's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!
A few words about the happiness of Adar and my Dad.
Why are we so happy on Purim?? On Pesach we are happy because we left Egypt. That was a bitter galus. Glad to be outta there.
On Shavuos we are happy because Hashem gave us the Torah. I LOVE the Torah. What would I DO all day if not for the Torah. I might have had to go out and get a job. Now I can just sit and learn [although at times I stand] what Hashem is thinking and how He wants us to act and achieve the greatest pleasure known to man - dveykus Bashem. I love Shavuos!! And the cheese cake and watermelon is the icing on top. We Jews know how to eat. Thanks to all of the moms for making us Jewish, then making us food so that we can stay alive, Jewish and well fed. ["Ally, you are so skinny, why don't you eat more" is a refrain I hear from my holy Jewish mother quite often. And at mikvah, when the truth is revealed that in fact all I have on my bones is skin. "אהרמן, תבוא אלי ותאכל סעודה בשרית. אתה כ"כ רזה!! ].
But why are we happy on Purim? What did we get? It is not just happy - it is happy without shiurim. No limits. עד דלא ידע. "Totally smashed" as the chevre says.
I will tell you the secret beloved friends. We received the greatest gift any human being can ever possibly get - LIFE ITSELF. We were given the gift of life and that is a cause of unlimited-rock-the house-go-beserk-have-180-lichaims-gematria-chai-plus-zero happiness.
We usually don't feel the exhilaration of being alive and take it for granted. But when we were at the precipice, at the cusp of total extermination, and then In a totally unexpected turn of events we were saved - the happiness was overwhelming.
BELOVED FRIENDS!!! That is the joy of a birthday. The knowledge and appreciation that we were given life. It is worth more than all of the money in the world. I'll prove it - Would you be willing to die if I promised you in exchange all of the money in the world??
Ahhhhhh:-)!
So I am OVERJOYED at my father's birthday. Another year I merited having a father. I won't say that he is old but he certainly has never been this old in his relatively short life [he has well over 30 healthy, happy years to go].
I am also FILLED with gratitude to my father, mother and their partner - Hashem, for having given me life. I have been alive for over 1,451,649,600 seconds!! The present is called the present because it is a present. I have had over 1,451,649,600 presents, thanks to my parents. [My father has lived for 2,713,895,636 seconds!!!]. Not to mention the EYES I have thanks to them. And lungs. 2 great working kidneys. A digestive system specially designed to digest gefilte fish and matza balls and other Jewish foods. And a brain. My teachers would actually compare me to Einstein. They would say "Ehrman, you are NO Einstein". But then again, Einstein was no Ehrman. I have a brain that works so well. It understands the most difficult and complex texts, all written in ancient Hebrew and Aramiac, written by the most brilliant minds in history. It sends millions of messages to the rest of my body. Where did I get all of my faculties?? MOUNT SINAI!!!
The hospital where I was born. Upper Manhattan. That is the meaning of the medrash that says that the Torah was given in Manhattan. [The medrash was lost. That is why if you search, you will never find it].
But it could have been anywhere and only thanks to my special parents. And then they provided me with all of my needs growing up. They provided me with a Jewish and general education, hoping that one day I would amount to something [I am sorry if I disappointed but the Knicks refused to pick me up, even though I was totally a free agent. I think it was because I refused to play on Shabbos and insisted on wearing my tzitzis over my uniform and black yeshivish socks. Plus my hat]. They taught me what it means to be Jewish, how to keep Shabbos, and the entire Jewish lifecycle. And how to brush my teeth and to look both ways before crossing. [That saved my life THOUSANDS of times].
Oh, how much I owe my parents!! The simcha of being alive and gratitude to those who made it happen is mammoth.
And we must not forgot. My father was born in Belgium before the war. It goes without saying that a child born in Europe in the same decade that World War 2 broke out was not likely to see much of the next decade. Much less to still be here, alive and kicking [when he swims] in the year 2018. HODOOO LASHEM KI TOV KI LI-OLAM CHASDO!!!!! And my mother was also born in Eastern Europe DURING THE WAR and BARUCH HASHEM we just danced together at her granddaughter's wedding. [Well, not really together. Charedi wedding. Different halls for men and women in different cities. But bubby danced with my wife and 3 daughters.]
HOW BLESSED WE ARE!!!!
So I want to take this opportunity to wish my father a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and that he should live many, many more healthy and happy years together with my very holy and special mother. If you look in the dictionary next to the words "generous" "caring" "devoted" "loving" and quite a few other such adjectives you will see a picture of my mother. My father worked in the diamond industry back in the day. I must say that of the tens of thousands of diamonds he inspected with his "loop" - none was nearly as special as my mother. עוד ינובון בשיבה דשנים ורעננים יהיו !!!!
Our family name is "Ehrman" which means "honest man". That is part of the legacy I have from my parents. My father was known in the business as an honest man [together with his brother and partner Uncle Maurice עליו השלום] and my siblings and I try to take that trait and to be honest in all of our dealings with others and with Hashem.
There is so much more to say but I can leave some for the next birthday אי"ה.
In the meantime, I dedicate the song above to my Father Shlita with boundless love. I am sure that my brothers Reb Yosef Tzvi Shlita and HaGaon Rav Dovid Shlita and my sister Rebbetzin Naomi and their spouses join me in all of the brachos and much more. They after all have given mom and dad so much nachas.
A freilichen Adar to all of my beloved friends and may we all be zoche to feel the great simcha of our very existence!!!
PS - Birthday wishes can be sent directly to Dad at julesehrman@gmail.com.
