In an introductory course on the Hebrew Bible at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Professor Jared Jackson told us a story about a man from his church who died suddenly. In the pocket of the man’s coat there was a crinkled, faded, well-worn piece of notebook paper with a handwritten quote on it that read,
I command you; be strong and courageous. Do not be anxious or afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
I don’t know why this story and quote has stayed with me all these years but I think it is because it met the deeply held desire I had to know the Bible not only with my intellectual mind, nor merely as something I believed, but as the energy and vitality of all my movements in the world.
Since that day, I have collected biblical quotes associating them with moments in my life, with people who have shared them with me, with books I have read, and with professors who have introduced them to me. Many of my memories of people are laced with a biblical quote and I draw on both the memory and the quote when I find myself in need of strength, hope, courage, or love.
I recently lost a dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Jason Edelstein. Rabbi Edelstein taught at Saint Vincent College for fifty years. Though I only knew him the last fifteen years of his teaching career, I had the privilege of teaching Catholic Jewish Dialogue with him. We shared many wonderful, thoughtful, joyful conversations and developed a rich friendship. For many years, we took students to visit the synagogue where he had been Rabbi for thirty-five years, and I was welcomed as a guest for two memorable Passover dinners with his family in his home.
At his funeral, Psalm 15 was read.
A Psalm of David.
Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who my dwell on your holy mountain?
Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart: Who does not slander with his tongue, Does no harm to a friend, Never defames a neighbor; Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the Lord; Who keeps an oath despite the cost, lends no money at interest, Accepts no bribe against the innocent.
Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken.
Psalm 15
For me this psalm will forever be associated with Rabbi Edelstein not simply because it was read at his funeral, but because he embodied this psalm. He was a righteous Israelite, a Rabbi who taught me lessons I will continue to reflect upon for many years in the future because these lessons lived in him, were generously shared, and required no words. The lessons were expressed in his humility, his kindness, his compassion, and the quiet spaciousness his presence evoked. The gracious, kind, generous, welcoming presence Rabbi Edelstein communicated was rooted in and nurtured by a lifetime devoted to study, worship, and prayer.
Like Rabbi Edelstein, we are called to be people of the book, people who not only know the words of the Bible, but who let it live in us. My desire to let the words of scripture fuel my movements in the world has deepened since my seminary days. Now I know I can hear the Bible’s wisdom not only by reading its words but by encountering those words living in people I meet along the way.
We think of our loved ones whom death has recently taken from us, those who died at this season in years past, and those whom we have drawn into our hearts
with our own….
May their memories be for blessing.
Mishkan T’filah
