We need Joe Biden. We need a mensch. From Rabbi Michael Beals of Delaware :
"The story I’m about to share with you about Joe Biden is special -- in fact, I’m fairly certain I’m the only living person left who actually witnessed it firsthand.
[1/12]
It was about 16 years ago, and I was a young rabbi, brand-new to Delaware, on my way to lead a shiva minyan -- a worship service following a death of a Jewish person. I was from California. Back then, I didn’t know Claymont, Delaware from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
[2/12]
Quick bit of background: When someone passes away in the Jewish faith, we observe seven days of mourning, called shiva. We gather a group of ten Jewish adults together to say the Mourners’ Kaddish. It usually happens in a person’s home -- somewhere intimate.
[3/12]
In this case, the deceased individual -- her name was Mrs. Greenhouse, of blessed memory -- had not been a person of means. She had lived in rent-controlled senior housing in a tall high-rise building off of Namaans Road.
[4/12]
Her apartment was too small to fit everyone into, so we conducted our worship service in the building’s communal laundry room, in the basement of the high-rise.
We assembled the 10 elders together, and it was in this most humble of places that I began to lead kaddish.
[5/12]
Toward the end of the service, a door at the back of the laundry room opened; who walks in but Sen. Joe Biden, head lowered, all by himself.
I nearly dropped my prayer book in shock.
Senator Biden stood quietly in the back of the room for the duration of the service.
[6/12]
At the close of the kaddish, I walked over to him and asked the same question that must have been on everyone else’s mind: “Sen. Biden -- what are you doing here?”
He said to me: “Back in 1972, when I first ran for Senate, Mrs. Greenhouse gave $18 to my first campaign.
[7/12]
Because that’s what she could afford. And every six years, when I’d run for reelection, she’d give another $18. She did it her whole life. I’m here to show my respect and gratitude.”
[8/12]
Now, the number 18 is significant in the Jewish faith -- its numbers spell out the Hebrew word chai, as in “to life, to life, l’chayim!” But it’s also a humble amount. Joe Biden knew that. And he respected that.
[9/12]
There were no news outlets at our service that day -- no Jewish reporters or important dignitaries. Just a few elderly mourners in a basement laundry room.
Joe Biden didn’t come to that service for political gain. He came to that service because he has character.
[10/12]
He came to that service because he’s a mensch.
And if we need anything right now when it comes to the leadership of our country -- we need a mensch.
I know this is such a simple, small story. But I tell it to as many people as will listen to me.
[11/12]
Because I think that, in their heart of hearts, when people are trying to think about the decision they’ll make this year -- this is the kind of story that matters.
Joe Biden is a mensch. We need a mensch."
Thank you, Rabbi Beals. You're a bit of a mensch yourself.
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