July 8 ,2016 – Sarasota, FL

Often life is an impromptu situation. Something that occurred decades ago that had nothing directly to do with you flies in your path. After Shabbat services one Friday night, Rabbi Allen Schwartzman and his wife, Elaine, approached Steve and me to wish us Shabbat shalom. He asked if I was related to the late Emanuel Falk of Newport News, Va. I nodded, “Yes. I am his granddaughter.” His eyes lit up. He explained that he was the pioneering hired Rabbi of Temple Sinai which my grandparents founded, and it was his worse pulpit he ever had as the congregation had little money. That was awkward, but delightful at the same time because he had tales unknown to me. During our conversation in the Temple Emanu-El sanctuary, he asked how my Aunt Retha, Uncle Bill Jasper and their kids were doing. That conversation was also the first of many and would eventually lead us to invite them for a Shabbat dinner at our home.

It just so happened that my Aunt Retha Jasper and my cousins, Noreen, Steve, and Carson Berger, were visiting us from North Carolina during this particular Shabbat. I took a chance and reached out to Schwartzman’s to invite them for dinner after the summer short service at Temple Emanuel. When they obliged, I was so excited and wanted to surprise my Aunt Retha (86).

When the Schwartzman’s arrived, my Aunt Retha was so tickled, and I was just elated as a relationship from the 1950s and 1960s jumped into the 2000s. Rabbi Schwartzman married Aunt Retha and Uncle. The two had not seen each other since the 1960s. They recanted stories, shared WWII history, and I learned more about my family’s roots. For the first time, I listened to stories of family members  who perished in the Holocaust. It was a stunning night.

The conversation also got deep into how my late Uncle Bill Jasper, a retired public health dentist who, between 1949-1966, served as a Navy dentist, procured a Sephardic Torah from Sha’are Tikvah Synagogue in Lisbon, Portugal and brought it to the Temple Sinai. He also secured a Megillah – the story of Purim. I was intrigued and bewildered how decades had past and Steve and I landed in the pathway of Rabbi and Mrs. Schwartzman who knew married my aunt and uncle and help found the first Reform synagogue in Newport News, Virginia with my grandparents. It’s really something.

Shabbat Playlist:
Fresh Publix Chicken, Grilled Corn Salad with fresh herbs from garden, Cucumber ugly tomato salad, artichokes, stove top carrots, challah, wine, and Shabbat candles