A Rabbi, A Korean and a BBQ Pork Sandwich

I won’t be winning the award for Jewish Man of the Year anytime soon.

I don’t keep kosher.

I didn’t marry in the religion.

I don’t raise my kids Jewish.

But I certainly remember where I came from.

And where our people came from.

As Tim, the converted dentist in Seinfeld told us, “it’s our sense of humor that has sustained us as a people for three thousand years.”

Five Thousand.

“Even better.”

So there I was, a few days ago, waiting at the airport gate, getting ready to head back to New York.

Minutes before we were scheduled to board, the announcement came that we would be delayed due to bad weather on the east coast.

We were scheduled to arrive at around 5:00pm, but with the delay that would mean it could be closer to 7:00pm.

Right after sundown.

Just at that moment, I saw a familiar face.

Not a familiar person, just the face.

It was an Orthodox Jewish man.  

Young.  

Probably mid-30’s, sporting the full beard.

He looked exactly like the teachers I had growing up at Hebrew School.

At least the beard part.

Maybe that’s what made me go up and talk to him.

Or maybe it was something much bigger.

(Insert spiritual harp music.)

Since the flight was delayed, we had plenty of time to talk.

And I had time to ask him the burning question.

“Since the flight is delayed, what happens if we arrive after sundown?”

You see in the Jewish religion, the new day starts when the sun sets.

And in the case of the Sabbath, once sundown hits on Friday night, you can’t do anything involving work until the end of the next day.

“Well, landing the plane is not considered work,” he said.  

“I would just have to walk home from the airport instead of driving a car.”

“Oh,” I thought.

“But today is Thursday,” he said.

“Oh.”

Shows you where my head is.   

My life has been turned so upside down lately, I didn’t even know what day it was.

But fortunately we kept talking.

It turns out the man was a Rabbi, working at a local college in a program called Chabad.

You’ll find the Chabad on many college campuses, giving Jewish kids a chance to stay connected or reconnect with their religion.

He told me, several times, that he worked in sales.

Selling “after life” insurance.

We ended up speaking for most of the 90 minutes that our flight was delayed.

It was actually quite refreshing.

He wasn’t putting the hard sell on me, but rather just chatting about life.

And faith.

And religion, of course.

Sure, there was a little sell job on his part, trying to get me to rejoin the team.

But the majority of the discussion was just two Jews talking shop.

His shop.

He told a great story about a guy who came to him when his mother was in her final stage of cancer.

The man was concerned about the fact that his mother didn’t believe in God.

So the Rabbi said to the man, “do you believe in God?”

“Yes.”

“So when she passes away and she meets God, will it really matter that she didn’t believe in God?”

“And if there is no God, will it really matter that she didn’t believe in God?”

“Bottom line, it does you no good to worry about it.”

The Rabbi had a story for everything.

And I’m guessing this was not the first time he had shared these stories.

Just a guess.

But like a good salesman, he made each one of them feel new.

I really liked the Rabbi and the conversation, even though I was watching my every step to make sure I didn’t get hooked.

I don’t know if he was on the clock or not, but I definitely took the opportunity to give him my life story.

It was either that or ride the moving walkway back and forth for 90 minutes.

I told him that I went to Orthodox Hebrew School through ninth grade.

And I told him I married a Korean Catholic.

And I told him about the time I told my dad that my girlfriend’s name was Kathy Lee.

“As in Lebowitz?” my dad said.

“Not exactly.”

It’s kinda funny what you will share with a complete stranger.

Even if he looked like an old friend.

When the conversation ended, he gave me his name and number in case I wanted to follow up.

He also told me that he was on Facebook.

Great salesman, this guy.

Then he went his way and I went mine.

He went to go sit down with his bags.

I went to the snack stand and got a BBQ Pork Sandwich.

I really enjoyed that conversation.

And the sandwich.