This past Tuesday Gary Blumberg and I traveled to Chillicothe, Ohio. We journeyed an hour to perform a very unique and special chesed. We met a man by the name of Mr. Linzer. This meeting was like no other meeting that I had ever experienced. Mr. Linzer is a Jewish man who was born, raised, and lived all 105 years of his life in Chillicothe. For the last five years, he has been demanding to see a Rabbi, and I was given the extraordinary opportunity to be the Rabbi to fulfill that request.
As I walked into Mr. Linzer’s house, I found him sitting on an easy chair lost in thought, as the television in front of him was blasting at a very loud volume. His daughter (who is in her late 70’s) yelled into his ear that a rabbi was present to see him. He immediately came to life, and a huge smile appeared on his face. He looked at me and yelled, “A Rabbi, you’re a Rabbi?” His daughter then yelled into his ear, “it took us five years, but we finally brought you a Rabbi. Dad, do you have any questions for him?” Mr. Linzer looked at me, smiled, and said “nope, no questions.” His daughter asked him “is there anything that you want to tell the Rabbi?” “Nope,” he replied.
As I took a seat next Mr. Linzer, I glanced at the pictures adorning his coffee table. The picture of his grandson in particular caught my eye, as he was dressed in a Santa Claus outfit. I opened the Artscroll siddur to the Shema and read it with him. He could not read Hebrew and had no appreciation for the significance of the prayer we were about to read. I read out loud as he followed with his eyes. He then stopped me, looked me in the eye, and asked, “Who is Hashem?” Trying to ignore the devastating feeling that this 105-year-old man does not know who Hashem is, I explained to him that Hashem is G-d. He thanked me and I continued to read. A few minutes passed, and he looked up again and proclaimed, “Hashem is G-d, there is only one G-d, G-d is everywhere!” He then caressed the siddur and repeatedly said that this is a beautiful book.
Every Jew has a special spark somewhere in the depths of his/her heart. For some, that spark can be the drive for their entire lives, for others, it can take over one hundred years to surface. May Mr. Linzer live and be well until 120.
*The real name has been changed
