December 05, 2007

Breaking Bread Together


It's the second day of Hanukkah and I'm on-call at the hospital. At sundown, I "lit" the Menorah candles (or screwed in the right light bulbs) and visited the few Jewish patients to wish them a Happy Hanukkah.

A few hours later I received a phone call from a nurse requesting a menorah for a patient's room. This patient had not shown up on the Jewish census, so I hadn't seen her earlier. I explained to the nurse that we didn't have individual menorahs for patient rooms.

Then I stopped by the patient's room and met her and her two children and her husband. I also explained to them that we didn't have any individual menorahs, but that we did have Shabbat candles that could be put in patient rooms. They requested one. When I returned, they were so grateful for the candle. They offered me some of their food and I visited with them for a little bit.

Their hospitality and generosity were so beautiful and holy. I was deeply touched.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ahem. I think this qualifies as a a example of "a little Christmas" that you need in an ecumenical, eschatalogical way....