My younger son was on his way to Israel for a two-week Birthright Tour, following college graduation ceremonies. He stopped here at home for a brief visit and brought a classmate with him who was also going on the trip. Right away I said to myself that the friend looked like the actor Jeff Goldblum-- who you may know acted in Jurassic Park and many other productions. It turned out everyone tells his friend Dan the same thing.
By chance, my son and my wife left to go shopping for last minute trip items, which left me and Dan together for a while. To be hospitable, I talked with him about his life and aspirations. It turned out he was a theatre major and planned to move to Chicago and pursue an acting career, though he had no contacts or prospects there going in.
We talked further about why he was going on this trip, and I learned that among other influences his grandfather had been a long-time rabbi in Scranton, PA. Funny, I said, my favorite uncle was also a rabbi early in his career in the same city. He called his mom on his cell phone and learned that the synogogue was Temple Israel. It was exactly the same temple that my uncle had served following his graduation from the seminary. The coincidence seemed astounding!
At this point our fascinating conversation was cut short by my wife and son calling from the mall encouraging me to not engage in extended conversation with Dan so he could finish packing. I did as they wished but kept mulling this information in my mind. After my son and Dan left and were flying over the Atlantic, the insight came to me that these days you could find out practically anything by simply asking the Internet. I looked up the history of Temple Israel of Scranton,PA and saw it in black and white. The list of rabbis serving since inception included my uncle from 1939 to 1948, followed immediately by Dan's grandfather from 1948 until around 1990.
By the time the plane landed in Tel Aviv, Dan had received my email and confirmed that yup-- that was his grandfather ! By further email to his mother -- the rabbi's daughter-- we confirmed that they knew each other well and apparently kept in touch, since my uncle's next pulpit was not far away in Paterson, New Jersey.
Among small world stories, this one is not particularly earth-shaking. Yet to me it was quite significant. Think of the co-incidence involved and the odds of one classmate friend from Kalamazoo,MI going on this trip, staying in my house, and having a rabbi relative who served in the same temple as successor to my favorite uncle, who I adored and spent parts of innumerable summer vacations with and years helping write his newspaper columns dealing with the bible on Broadway. To this day I treasure his rabbinic robe, his rabbi's hat, and some of his religious books, which I retained after his death. I was married standing under his prayer shawl, a family heirloom from 19th century Poland.If my son and wife had called a few minutes earlier advising me to leave Dan alone, none of this would ever have come to light.
So here is what I did. I emailed an old friend who has lived all her life in Chicago, a former newspaper reporter who knows everyone and everything going on in that city. She readily agreed to introduce Dan to some theatre people she knows who may be able to help him break into show biz. I'd be thrilled to be involved in Dan's career at its inception just as my beloved uncle Archie intersected with Dan's grandfather at the inception of his life's work. Small world isn't it ? -- small and funny and fun.
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