Inspiration

We stumble through the circumstances of our day, groping, feeling for a ladder of life upon which we might ascend to the light beyond the grayness of this abyss. Yet, we constantly remain in our endless void, still groping and searching, hoping and dreaming, for the day we might revel in the glory of truth.

Through all our groping and dreaming however, we are occasionally granted to observe, a slight radiance in our darkness. And when that happens, we seize that beauty for all we’re worth, because it’s the only chance we’re going to get.

Most of the inmates I visit in jail are reluctant to talk about their crimes, and if they do, it’s to deny. But Jim told me to simply type his name onto Google’s search engine, and I’ll know more about him than I want. A hit man for the mafia, Jim was sitting for charges of racketeering, theft, drug possession, tax evasion and, oh yeah, a couple of murders. Born to a Hispanic father and a Jewish mother, Jim had strayed far from the ways of his maternal ancestry.

As a hit man, he would forcefully evict occupants of apartments due to large debts accumulated over months of unpaid rent. Usually those evictions were brutal; they didn’t use the mafia hit man for nothing.

On one such eviction assignment, Jim and a buddy stormed the apartment, loaded and engaged fire weapons drawn. They were prepared for anything.

Beyond the doorway however, stood a frightened young woman, tightly clutching a small child against her body. And on the wall behind her, Jim noticed, hung a Star of David.

The action came as swiftly as the decision. Jim aimed his pistol at his partner’s neck as he breathed, “Touch the woman, and you’ll never see the light of day again.”

So saying, he withdrew a couple thousand dollars in cash, and laid it out on the table. “Take this,” he said to the woman, “and do me a favor. Go the hell away, and don’t come back.”

With that, he left…


(Written by IF and Zalman. True story as told by Jewish Head Chaplain, State of Kansas.)