New York Times of January 1, 2100
We were honored to have the Hebrew School kids do their year-end presentation and inspired by the parents who make this dedicated commitment to send their children every Sunday morning (despite there being so many other places they need to and want to be at the same time), I shared the following message:
For many years in the 90’s there was a small add that ran every Friday on the bottom corner of the front page of the New York Times. it read: ‘Jewish Women: Shabbat candle lighting time this Friday is ____pm.’ It not only served as a reminder of this eternal mitzvah, but it also expressed Jewish pride.
The ad ceased after the sponsor ended it, but it reappeared once-
on January 1, 2000, the NY Times ran a Millennium edition. It was a special issue that featured three front pages. One had the news from January 1, 1900. The second was the actual news of the day, January 1, 2000. And then they had a third front page, projecting future events of January 1, 2100. This fictional page included things like a welcome to the fifty-first state: Cuba, a discussion on whether robots should be allowed to vote, etc… And there was one more thing. Down on the bottom of the Year 2100 front page, was the candle lighting time in New York for January 1, 2100. Nobody paid for it, it was a fictional ad put in there by the NYT!
When asked about it, the publisher (an Irish-Catholic) commented, “We don’t know what will happen in the year 2100. It is impossible to predict the future. But of one thing you can be certain. That in the year 2100, Jewish women will be lighting Shabbat candles”.
We live in such a fast paces world, with so much evolving so quickly. The trends and popular items of 5 years ago are already forgotten. One day our grandchildren will hold our iPhones, game consoles and car keys and laugh about the old world their grandparents (and parents) lived in.But one thing is for certain, they will still be lighting shabbat candles. They will light the candles like their parents and grandparents, and great great grandparents did. They will light it with their children and grandchildren too, assuring that they remain a link in the chain that goes as far back as our forefather Abraham.
The tefillin they will wear, the mezuzahs attached to their door posts, the aleph bet they will study and the values they will hold onto- that will never fade out, that will always remain in style. Why? Because of the dedicated parents, who today are ensuring that their children carry it on into the future.
So as our Hebrew School year closes, I say thank you so much to all of you and I tip my hat to your dedication and commitment. Our community and the Jewish future is grateful to you!
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.
