Memories Of Joe

2017 would have been the most wonderful year for Joe Saxon, he traveled to Italy, then Israel, he traveled with his son to LA to watch the Seahawks beat the Rams, he found out that he was about to become a grandfather for the first time, he celebrated his 80th birthday, then one week after his birthday, he died.
Joe and I had been friends for several years. He was a customer at The UPS Store where I work.  We shared an interest in sports and Jewish culture. 
For the past several years, I was his guest annually at the Fred Hutchinson Awards luncheon.  I got to meet such baseball greats as Cal Ripken,Jr, Carlton Fisk, Dave Winfield, and Rod Carew.
We would go to temple together on Shabbat and the High Holidays.

Joe would make friends with practically everyone he met.  I always looked forward to his coming to the store.  Joe was not a drinker, but when we went out for dinner, he would always order a Long Island Ice Tea, which he thought did not have much alcohol (he was wrong), 

Joe had an amazing sports memorabilia collection with stuff that he obtained from auctions.  He would bring various sports artifacts to the store for us to pack and ship.

This fall, we both fulfilled a personal dream with our trip with our temple to Israel.  It was only a few weeks later on December 9th that I got a call from his son.  I thought that maybe they were calling to invite me to watch a Seahawk game with them, but it was dismal news that Joe had died. 

I will dearly miss him.

Chava Mirel Featured At Temple B'Nai Torah

Friday night's Sabbath service at Temple B'Nai Torah  was really special because Chava Mirel performed with her band.  Chava is the daughter of  our former rabbi Jim Mirel and his wife, Julie, both who were in attendence.  She often leads the musical portions of our services, but in this service she was featured. In addition to having an angelic voice she has released an album.
She did a combination of Jewish and popular music such as Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and the Ben E King classic "Stand By Me".  She wound up the evening with a tribute to departed musical superstar Prince, singing "Adon Olom" to the tune of "Purple Rain".

Temple Hires It's Interrim Rabbi For Permanent Position

Temple B'Nai Torah of Bellevue fell instantly in love with it's interim Rabbi, David Lipper.  Lipper was chosen for a one year assignment after the retirement of  Senior Rabbi James Mirel.  A committee was formed to find a permanent senior rabbi, but it's choices fell through.  Lipper was to be a fill-in with the understanding that he could not be considered for a permanent position.  However, the selection committee was able to find a loophole, and with the blessing of Rabbi Mirel, now the Temple's rabbi emeritus, and Cantor David Serkin-Poole.
Before a full house, Rabbi David Lipper was elected by an overwhelming vote to be the temple's senior rabbi.

End Of An Era At Temple B'Nai Torah

Rabbi James Mirel lead his last Shabbat service this weekend.  Mirel is retiring after holding the positiion of senior rabbi at Temple B'Nai Torah for 29 years.
We met Rabbi Mirel after our engagement in 1994, I was not affiliated with any temple  and approached him to see about officiating at our  ucoming wedding.  We attended a Friday night service at the temple, then located on Mercer Island and was inspired by the welcomeness and the spirituality.  As things turned out, we had a different rabbi, along with a minister offiate at our wedding, but I knew that we would join TBT,  which would soon move to the Crossroads area of Bellevue.
Rabbi Mirel would fly to Walla Walla in 2009 to officiate at my brother's wedding.

Diverse Cultures Meet In Bellevue To Celebrate King Holiday

Two Diverse Cultures came together this last Friday in Bellevue Synagogue Temple B'Nai Torah. To participate in holiday honoring the birthday of Dr Martin Luther King, the temple invited the Psalmist Choir of New Beginnings Fellowship Church along with Reverend Leslie David Braxton (above middle) as guest speaker, the idea of a Gospel Choir in a Jewish Synagogue is nearly unheard of to say the least. At first, it was a regular Shabbat (Sabbath) service, with Rabbi Jim Mirel (above top) making references to Dr King throughout. Deb and I attended in honor of the Yertzheit of my Grandfather Edward Granek. At the end of services, our choir stepped down and along came the Gospel Choir. The leader explained that along with the religious significance of the songs, many songs where had codes among the slaves in those days speaking of ways to gain freedom.

When Dr. Braxton spoke he began in reference to being at his first Jewish service, he quipped about his trouble following in Hebrew. He also joked about different traditions and rituals and praised the incredible voice of Cantor David Serkin-Poole "that is a Cantor who can". He also said the Rabbi Mirel had invited him to speak for 20 minutes. Braxton joked that 20 minutes could barely cover his introductery remarks. Braxton, a community leader with an avid knowledge of history, called Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday his "nervous holiday", the holiday was signed into law about 20 years ago by President Reagan who had vigerously opposed it. He says that although you can say "Merry Christmas" or Happy Chanukka to people of any faith, people just don't quite know how to greet each on the King Holiday. Braxton said that Dr King had spoken out consistantly on Viet Nam and would be vehently opposed to the war in Iraq.

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