AN ORDINARY OBJECT WITH EXTRAORDINARY SIGNIFICANCE

by Steven Mandel MD

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How does a common ordinary object have such a deep and personal meaning to me as we celebrate Sukkot and find spiritual security in a relationship with G-d and perhaps change my life.

On Oct 7th, the second night of Sukkoth, the Men’s Club, and Woman’s Club at Sutton Place Synagogue, gathered in the Sukkah for a festive meal, with sacred purpose, and personal reflections or our ancestors.

I brought a needle point from Sata Mare, Transylvania (a city located in northwestern Romania, on the northeastern fringe of the Great Hungarian Plain), depicting my grandmother’s brother, a doctor, head of a Sanitorium, who was murdered in the Holocaust, along with many of my grandparents’ children and grandchildren.

A picture keeps their meaning alive. In this space, it becomes a collective memory and one of personal reflection. It is my moral dedication, and a responsibility to honor our ancestors’ values. It gives meaning and continuity to their lives. It is my form of healing for remembrance and activism.

I now realize with my multigenerational trauma, I was inspired to follow as a physician after a lost generation. My family history gives me a heightened sense of responsibility to protect human rights, challenge prejudice and educate others in the persistent threat of antisemitism and future atrocities.

As a physician it gives me the strength to confront hate for vulnerable populations in the medical and communal setting. It is my way to advocate and embody resilience, countering hate, and advance a legacy of healing with dignity and Jewish identity.

At the end of the evening, with our ushpizion (guests), our stories elevate each of us through our Jewish identification, gratitude and tradition.

My wife, Heidi, and I are on the National Commission of the ADL, and proud members of Sutton Place Synagogue.