Gonzo’s Old Friends: Self-Actualization and Chaye Sarah
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Years ago I heard a story of a girl named Becky. She grew up in a small town where she was the only Jewish child. She had many friends, but she was still a little lonely. There was part of her that yearned to be with others who shared her faith, practices, culture, and history. From her earliest days she remembered her family telling that there was a place for her to be with her people. So when she was old enough she decided to go there. She went with someone who had been there before who took her to this special place. As her companion saw the sites signaling that they were getting close Becky echoed that person’s excitement. By the time she got there her heart was palpitating. The minute her foot hit the ground she felt at home for the first time in a place she had never been before.
For any of us who grew up going to camp we can relate to little Becky. Even today there is a special feeling going up to camp that reminds me of that first time I stepped off that bus so many years ago. I was privileged to grow up in a large Jewish community attending a Jewish day school. Thinking about Becky I think about my camp friends who grew up in the coal-mining communities in Pennsylvania. For them it was transformational to live in a vibrant Jewish community of their peers. Seeing their experiences enriched mine. I never took camp for granted and it made me love that community even more. Jewish camp is that home that we need desperately need for the next generation.
The only other place that I have had this kind of experience of homecoming to a place I had not been previously is Israel. So, it will not be surprising if you were to learn that the place she went in little Becky’s story was Israel. It might surprise you that this story is actually taken from Chaye Sarah, this week’s Torah portion. Truly years ago, it is the story of Rivka Imeynu, Rebecca our Matriarch. She left the place she grew up to come home to the land of Canaan. Echoing Abraham’s answering God’s call of Lech Lecha- to Go, Rivka says”Ailech- I will go” (Genesis 24:58). Following in his footsteps she goes home to a place she has never been before.
I was thinking about this sentiment recently when rewatched this classic from the Muppet Movie:
In “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday” Gonzo sings:
There’s not a word yet for old friends
Who’ve just met
Part heaven, part space
Or have I found my place?
You can just visit, but I plan to stay
Gonzo, like Rivka Imeynuand little Becky, is articulating the profound connection we all forge with the people and places where be become self-actualized. In these moments and spaces when we become our full selves we experience the nexus between the timely and the timeless. We should all be blessed with these holy experiences.
My name is Rabbi Avi Katz Orlow. I have always had a deep love for the Jewish people and making the world a better place. It was while building community in the Former Soviet Union for YUSSR that I realized the transformative power of being a rabbi. After spending time learning in Israel, I moved to New York to be a charter student in Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the Open Orthodox Seminary. After graduating in 2004 until 2008 I served as the Rabbi and ran the program at St. Louis Hillel at Washington University. Now I have the great pleasure of thinking about how Judaism is seriously fun. In my mind I am up at camp every day in my work at the Foundation for Jewish Camp. My wife, Cantor Adina Frydman, and I are the proud parents of Yadid, Yishama, Emunah, and Libi.
Said to Myself
When my son Yadid was four years old he came home from daycare and reported to me that he got into trouble. He got put into timeout for throwing sand at another child. Yadid said,” Myself said to myself, I do not want to be in timeout. Myself said to my cry, I do not want to cry”. And with that we started a conversation about his conscious life. It seemed only fitting to continue that conversation with a blog with the same name.
אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי
My son spoke in the words of Ecclesiastes, “I said in my heart: ‘Come now, I will try you with mirth, and enjoy pleasure’; and, behold, this also was vanity.” (Kohelet 2:1) My mission is to model a life that is personally meaningful, universally relevant, and distinctly Jewish. I aspire to be frank and to speak of Torah in real life.
Said to Myself 
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