My teacher, my friend, my mentor, and my sister (in-law)
Dear Friends, I am privileged to begin my blogging career with the following tribute to Martha Aft. Without her guidance I probably would never have become a rabbi and I will always be grateful. I write this tribute as a way of dealing with my personal grief. Earlier this summer, my brother's beloved wife, Marthajoy Aft, passed away. Honestly, except for my Mom and my wife, she was and continues to be the most influential woman in my life. I was five years old when I met Martha from behind the hedges where we lived in Franklin Park, Illinois. At a time when this was more accepted (if it ever was really acceptable), I hid behind the hedges and would shoot her with my cap gun as a child's way of trying to get her attention. Martha embraced me as her little brother (not a brother-in-law) and provided me with the sister I never had (I am one of four boys). She filled her life with music as she sang unto G-d a new song (she was a big Debbie Friedman fan) by going back to school