Last year I became friends with Herman. Herman is like no one you have ever met before; he is something in between Woody Allen and The Lubavitcher Rabbi. Herman is in his eighties. He has been living in this apartment in the Lower East Side for his entire life. I met Herman three years ago at the Charles Street Synagogue Andy Statman trio live performance, which takes place almost every Tuesday and Thursday at 8 pm for the last 13 years. Herman is the president of the Charles Street Synagogue and does all types of crazy things for free—from making pies for Sarah Jessica Parker to teaching Yiddish to Korean kids. One time I asked him to adopt me and he did. There is nothing Herman cannot do.
One time Herman took me to an Indian restaurant in Murray Hill after we’d been on a 5 hour long road trip to upstate NY. We were sitting there gorging on our plates. We ate all our meal in a matter of seconds. When we finished, our mouths started burning and we started laughing-crying-screaming, because we both had swallowed one of those peppers. And I wondered, how, how could a girl like I, feel so connected to an old fart, like him? I usually felt a bit estranged from older people. I love them, but most of them walk really slowly; some don’t know anything about twitter, Facebook, candy crush, iTunes, seamless, ASAP, hook ups, tumblr, Microsoft, Snapple, LOL, hookah. Old people think that cheese Danishes and potatoes are healthy and care more about hemorrhoids than about androids. My grandmother types “http//:www.” before entering a web domain and I have explained to her a million times that it is no longer necessary, but it’s of no use, she keeps doing it. I feel very blessed, because I like things like old things like old whiskey. I am very nostalgic of the past. I like antique things. Old photography. Old books. Handwritten letters. Long films. Long Dinners. Somehow everything in the past seems to have been lengthier, more airy and more romantic, without beeping noises and everywhere. In a time where you could have evaded food chains and big road advertisements that say “Is your wife cheating on you? Call us here, we can find out for you! We also file divorces!”. But Herman told me that it has never been better on earth. Herman told me that people have never been freer or happier. Herman told me that Jews have never been less persecuted. Herman told me that he feels no gap between me and him, because I care about Jewish Law and that links us together. Herman told me that me and my children will stay sane and healthy because we will keep Shabbat and that day, once a week, we will displace technology and read and talk to each other. Herman told me that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Herman told me that family is what matters. Herman told me that we are vessels, carriers of life, knowledge, love, happiness, history. Herman told me to stay observant and to love G-d, because if I lose that, everything else will slip away.