Today Ann spends time in the Synagogue, the Mormon Jewish Missionary Program, and Harry Wishnak.
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 24...HELL.
Charles was not too interested in actually going to services, but I very much wanted to go, and the following Friday afternoon found me at the synagogue. I sat in the very back and marveled at the beauty of the ark (where the Torah scrolls reside), and the bima (podium). Then the services began with the chanting of the Ma Tovu (how goodly are your tents, oh Jacob...) and the L'Chah Dodi (Come Sabbath Bride). When the chanting began, I was transported to some other world of absolute spiritual joy, and my heart burst free within me; I was home.
At the end of the service, the rabbi invited me to come back at any time that I wanted to; and that was the next morning. I became a regular and began learning Hebrew and memorizing the Shabbat hymns. We had let the rabbi know that we were Mormons when we first saw him and the rabbi saw, as time went on, that I was becoming very serious about the services. He made himself available to counsel me and I told him that my feelings were becoming so strong at the synagogue that I was thinking of converting to Judaism. He told me to study, always to study. He led me book by book to a passion for Judaism and the Jewish people, but he counseled me to pray and study, and then pray and study some more. I did.
I woke up one morning to a clash of cultures and doctrines, and the very real fact that I loved Jesus Christ and where did that leave me in my current explorations. I decided to talk to the L.D.S. San Diego Mission President, Hartman Rector, and when I called him, he opened up his home to me and asked me to come and talk to him. I poured out my heart to him about my conflicting feelings, and he looked at me and said, Sister Ann, you are in danger of losing your soul if you continue on as you have been doing. Then we knelt in prayer, and I could feel the power of the priesthood surround us as he prayed that the Lord would give me some answers to this conflict inside of me. When he finished praying, he had received an answer to the situation. Charles and I could become a part of the Jewish Missionary progrsm and be an ambassador to the synagogue from the Church, and also go from ward to ward around the Mission to teach Church members about the Jewish religion and culture.
I felt very much relieved, and we threw ourselves into both the Church and the Synagogue, learning as much as we could and studying, praying, and studying some more. Then I began to feel a shift in my consciousness, and I realized that at some point in my heart and mind I had become Jewish.
MR. WISHNAK
Mr. Wishnak is the reason.
If you say I need a reason to convert,
Then he is the reason.
Mr. Wishnak lost everything in the Holocaust:
His wife;
His five children;
His father and mother;
His brothers and sisters;
His cousins, aunts, and uncles;
His grandparents.
All of his friends;
His home;
His country;
And all of his possessions.
He lost more than Job;
For Job at least had his friends and country.
Mr. Wishnak was stronger than Job;
He kept his faith,
He kept his love of G-d,
He kept his religion,
Most of all, he kept his voice.
Mr. Wishnak has a strong voice.
His voice rings out above all the other voices in the Synagogue.
His voice had to be strong-
To last through the years of death and forced labor.
His voice has to be strong-
To speak for the thousands that he remembers.
It has to be strong,
To speak the feelings of his heart.
Mr. Wishnak survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
When he left the camps,
He was crippled in body,
But his soul was strong!
Mr. Wishnak knew the Torah.
He knew the Haftorahs,
he knew the prayers and services,
He knew the festivals;
Mr. Wishnak knew everything he needed to know,
To lead his people spiritually in the camps.
On Pesach, they wished to make a Seder.
They found a single blade of grass to
Represent the green on the Seder plate.
There were other stories of privation and horror.
Mr.Wishnak said, "it would take me two weeks
To tell you all of the stories."
Most of our lives could be condensed
Into one day!
Mr. Wishnak said, "Maybe you think that
I should be bitter,
But I'm not...I wonder why?
I still love G-d."
Mr. Wishnak is an ordinary man
Who is extraordinary.
His love of G-d is not talked about,
It is just done.
He does not preach his beliefs,
He just lives them.
He is everything a Jew should be,
Must be-
Is!
He never thinks of himself as special,
He simply is what he is;
Mr. Wishnak walks with G-d.
Mr. Wishnak worried about leaving a memorial
To his father-
To his family.
This is the momorial:
I will never let my children forget Harry Wishnak
And all that he represents.
They will remember his father and mother,
His wives,
His children,
His cousins, aunts, and uncles.
His brothers and sisters,
His friends,
His life!
As long as the generations
Of my children live,
Mr. Wishnak's voice will still be heard.
I wrote the above poem after spending a great deal of time with Mr. Wishnak. Mr. Wishnak loved David and Jared because they reminded him of his own sons. After he passed away, his wife gave me permission to name Jared after Mr. Wishnak for his Hebrew name: Yared Herschel Tzvi Charachaman.
Tomorrow Ann is disfellowshiped from the Mormon Church; Charles leaves for Iowa; and Ann gets a new job at the Synagogue.
THE GOD GAMES: Heaven & Hell...Chapter 24...HELL.
Charles was not too interested in actually going to services, but I very much wanted to go, and the following Friday afternoon found me at the synagogue. I sat in the very back and marveled at the beauty of the ark (where the Torah scrolls reside), and the bima (podium). Then the services began with the chanting of the Ma Tovu (how goodly are your tents, oh Jacob...) and the L'Chah Dodi (Come Sabbath Bride). When the chanting began, I was transported to some other world of absolute spiritual joy, and my heart burst free within me; I was home.
At the end of the service, the rabbi invited me to come back at any time that I wanted to; and that was the next morning. I became a regular and began learning Hebrew and memorizing the Shabbat hymns. We had let the rabbi know that we were Mormons when we first saw him and the rabbi saw, as time went on, that I was becoming very serious about the services. He made himself available to counsel me and I told him that my feelings were becoming so strong at the synagogue that I was thinking of converting to Judaism. He told me to study, always to study. He led me book by book to a passion for Judaism and the Jewish people, but he counseled me to pray and study, and then pray and study some more. I did.
I woke up one morning to a clash of cultures and doctrines, and the very real fact that I loved Jesus Christ and where did that leave me in my current explorations. I decided to talk to the L.D.S. San Diego Mission President, Hartman Rector, and when I called him, he opened up his home to me and asked me to come and talk to him. I poured out my heart to him about my conflicting feelings, and he looked at me and said, Sister Ann, you are in danger of losing your soul if you continue on as you have been doing. Then we knelt in prayer, and I could feel the power of the priesthood surround us as he prayed that the Lord would give me some answers to this conflict inside of me. When he finished praying, he had received an answer to the situation. Charles and I could become a part of the Jewish Missionary progrsm and be an ambassador to the synagogue from the Church, and also go from ward to ward around the Mission to teach Church members about the Jewish religion and culture.
I felt very much relieved, and we threw ourselves into both the Church and the Synagogue, learning as much as we could and studying, praying, and studying some more. Then I began to feel a shift in my consciousness, and I realized that at some point in my heart and mind I had become Jewish.
MR. WISHNAK
Mr. Wishnak is the reason.
If you say I need a reason to convert,
Then he is the reason.
Mr. Wishnak lost everything in the Holocaust:
His wife;
His five children;
His father and mother;
His brothers and sisters;
His cousins, aunts, and uncles;
His grandparents.
All of his friends;
His home;
His country;
And all of his possessions.
He lost more than Job;
For Job at least had his friends and country.
Mr. Wishnak was stronger than Job;
He kept his faith,
He kept his love of G-d,
He kept his religion,
Most of all, he kept his voice.
Mr. Wishnak has a strong voice.
His voice rings out above all the other voices in the Synagogue.
His voice had to be strong-
To last through the years of death and forced labor.
His voice has to be strong-
To speak for the thousands that he remembers.
It has to be strong,
To speak the feelings of his heart.
Mr. Wishnak survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
When he left the camps,
He was crippled in body,
But his soul was strong!
Mr. Wishnak knew the Torah.
He knew the Haftorahs,
he knew the prayers and services,
He knew the festivals;
Mr. Wishnak knew everything he needed to know,
To lead his people spiritually in the camps.
On Pesach, they wished to make a Seder.
They found a single blade of grass to
Represent the green on the Seder plate.
There were other stories of privation and horror.
Mr.Wishnak said, "it would take me two weeks
To tell you all of the stories."
Most of our lives could be condensed
Into one day!
Mr. Wishnak said, "Maybe you think that
I should be bitter,
But I'm not...I wonder why?
I still love G-d."
Mr. Wishnak is an ordinary man
Who is extraordinary.
His love of G-d is not talked about,
It is just done.
He does not preach his beliefs,
He just lives them.
He is everything a Jew should be,
Must be-
Is!
He never thinks of himself as special,
He simply is what he is;
Mr. Wishnak walks with G-d.
Mr. Wishnak worried about leaving a memorial
To his father-
To his family.
This is the momorial:
I will never let my children forget Harry Wishnak
And all that he represents.
They will remember his father and mother,
His wives,
His children,
His cousins, aunts, and uncles.
His brothers and sisters,
His friends,
His life!
As long as the generations
Of my children live,
Mr. Wishnak's voice will still be heard.
I wrote the above poem after spending a great deal of time with Mr. Wishnak. Mr. Wishnak loved David and Jared because they reminded him of his own sons. After he passed away, his wife gave me permission to name Jared after Mr. Wishnak for his Hebrew name: Yared Herschel Tzvi Charachaman.
Tomorrow Ann is disfellowshiped from the Mormon Church; Charles leaves for Iowa; and Ann gets a new job at the Synagogue.
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