Uh-oh!

Please read following letter to editor in latest edition of Jewish Week by clicking 'continued'. Look's like I might have to consider a major lifestyle shift after all.What Are Jewish Roots?
Walter Ruby presented us with a very interesting search for his roots (“A Few Things Are Illuminated,” Sept. 7). Yet he stopped his search with the famed Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor. Where would Rabbi Spektor’s search have led to if he were searching for his roots?

Part of Rabbi Spektor’s Jewish tradition is the belief in Hashgacha Pratis, which loosely translated means that God takes an active role in the day-to-day functioning of the world. Yet, despite that, each one of us has free choice to see His involvement or not. We don’t believe in coincidence. We can choose to hear the message He is sending or go our merry way. Sometimes the message is difficult to hear, but at other times it is quite clear to anyone interested. I submit, Mr. Ruby, you missed it!

You said you don’t buy the theory suggested by the locals that perhaps you were being sent a message from above. Yet I ask you to consider what are the odds of such a story occurring: that a great-grandson of the illustrious Rabbi Spektor would visit his ancestor’s grave on the Sabbath, that he would be mugged, that he would chase after the gun-wielding mugger and the mugger would not take out the gun, that he would recover the camera but lose the photos. Coincidence? Highly unlikely.

You suggested that Rabbi Spektor was “displeased” and then said it couldn’t be because what you read of the rabbi suggested that he was a “kindly man with a relatively tolerant approach.” But as I hear the story, it really does sound like a message from a kindly man with a relatively tolerant approach. You were not hurt — just shaken. And sometimes that is what we need. On Rosh HaShanah we blew the shofar. One of the reasons given for blowing the shofar is: Uru Yishaynim M’shnaschem — Awake you sleeping ones from you slumber. Mr. Ruby, awaken, you ancestor is calling you to return to your real roots.

If you think that I am off the mark or are still unsure, I respectfully suggest that you get a second opinion from any of the graduates of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (named after your great-grandfather) of Yeshiva University — as they too consider Rabbi Spektor their Jewish root.

Richard Lopchinsky
Riverdale, The Bronx