Hello again, everyone...
I’m suffering from some serious writer’s block right now so,
in lieu of the standard hilarious anecdote or political tirade, I’m just going to tell you
about my day in a quasi-stream-of-consciousness style. Enjoy.
Today my fellow mortuary science faculty members and I took
our students to various places of worship in the greater Des Moines area (we’ve
come to call it our “Religious Road Show”) where funeral rituals and customs
are demonstrated and discussed. We began the day at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue
where I found a tennis ball lying in the parking lot and promptly threw it at a
group of inattentive students; it was basically like the classroom only with a paved
surface and a tennis ball. The synagogue is home to a conservative Jewish community, which,
according to Rabbi Steven’s general description, is about half-way between the Orthodox
Jewish and Reformed Jewish faiths.
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| Tifereth Israel Synagogue |
Interestingly enough, the temple has a very impressive art collection
including an original Andy Warhol collection and a series of paintings done on
the Holocaust. Rabbi Steven Edelman-Blank
was a very congenial and unexpectedly humorous host who delivered some great
religious humor. As we all arrived and
sat down in the worship area, he proudly pronounced, “Congratulations, you’re
all Jewish now.” Another comment that struck
my funny bone followed his description of the Jewish belief in resurrection when
he said, “We invented it before you…HA
HA!”
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| Rabbi Steven Edelman-Blank |
From there, our next stop was St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church. I had to chuckle when a student told me he would refrain from talking about Jesus in this church (that was the LAST one, Einstein!). I told him that this was an Orthodox Christian community and that these people were more Christian than he was! (Lighten up, Francis…that’s a “they’ve been doing this for 2000 years” joke.) If you’re ever in Des Moines and you have a thing for unique, beautiful churches, St. George's should be on your list of places to visit. It is full of rich, vivid iconography (pictures of saints and major figures of the faith…a la’ Mary and Jesus), a beautiful iconostasis (a large wall of icons that separates the altar from the rest of the church), and a dome that serves as a natural amplifier. I’m not kidding! As you walk to different spots in the church while the priest is talking, it literally sounds like he is standing right next to you.
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| St. George's Greek Orthodox Church |
After that, the students headed to Our Lady’s Immaculate
Heart Catholic Church in Ankeny. I,
however, went to Maccabee’s Kosher Deli in Des Moines and ordered a pastrami-on-marble
rye. Before you think I’m some anti-religious
slacker *wink, wink* with an axe to
grind against Catholics, I had business there as I had to pick up kosher
meals for one of our visiting Jewish students. As I stood there inhaling the various culinary odors, entranced by the meat slicer, I thought, “Do I really
wanna eat Papa John’s pizza for lunch today?”
I went so far as to ask the Rabbi who was preparing the food. Rabbi Yossi Jacobson is a delightfully witty and
humorous man and my visit with him alone made the trip worth it. However, in my best dietary interests, I asked
his opinion: “Rabbi Yossi, should I have pizza for lunch with the rest of my
students or should I get a pastrami-on-rye?”
His answer was right out of Fiddler
on the Roof: (In a heavy Yiddish accent):
“What, are you kidding me? Is it better to live or to die?” He rightfully took
my laughter to mean “I’ll take the pastrami!” and I didn’t regret my
decision. He told me he would make it
with extra love and it was AWESOME!!! He proceeded to ask my name and I told him. He said, “Carrico…a nice Jewish name!” I chuckled and said the name originated in
eastern Spain. He said (again with the Yiddish), “I’m kidding. I
can tell by your body language that you’re not Jewish. Not enough resistance. You’re being too NICE to me.” My visit to Maccabee’s
Deli was the highlight of my day.
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| Rabbi Yossi Jacobson |
After making sweet culinary love to my ambrosial pastrami sandwich
in direct view of all the pizza-eating troglodytes, my colleagues, the
students, and I returned to campus where the students witnessed a live military
honors service. I was struck by the
gravity of the simulated presentation; even without the deceased veteran
present, seeing the slow, deliberate movements, the salutes, the rifles, and
hearing Taps still brings a chill to the skin and a tear to the eye. Anyone who has witnessed such a service knows
what I mean.
At 4:15, I jumped in my car and prepared for the daily one-hour Battle
Royale/commute across the barren combat zone that is Interstate 80 and returned home to an empty house where I
promptly removed all my clothing and ate two tacos while sitting on the couch in
my underwear watching Big Bang Theory.
Top that, dear reader.
Well, there it is…my day.
Not a bad way to earn a living if you ask me.
Thanks for checking in…
Travis
