NY BOARD OF RABBIS
Rabbis Hail New Archbishop
Who Feels Right At Home
Story and Photos by Tim Boxer
EW YORK’S new archbishop, the Most Reverend Timothy
Michael Dolan, the former archbishop of Milwaukee, was formerly
welcomed as the new archbishop of the Big Apple.
The New York Board of Rabbis sponsored the welcoming
event on September 10 at Park Avenue Synagogue.
Adjusting his black skullcap, Dolan looked at his
Jewish audience with their yarmulkes, and remarked, "At my church
I’m the only one to wear a skullcap. Here I feel among so many
friends."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg observed: "We have a
cardinal, archbishop, governor, mayor and a few rabbis. I’d say we
are close to having a minyan."
The ceremony also honored Dolan’s predecessor, His
Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan, archbishop emeritus of New York.
When Dolan was named archbishop last February, Egan
told him they must make some important phone calls "not to the Irish
clergy, not to the Italian businessmen, but to the Jewish leaders."
Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue
started with a spritz of spiritual humor:
Three clergymen talked about how each wanted to be
remembered by visitors to his grave. The priest said, "I hope they’d
say I was a good man who brought his flock closer to God."
The minister said, "I hope they’d say I tended to
the needs of my congregation."
The rabbi said, "I hope one would say to the other,
‘I think he’s moving.’"
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, NYBR executive
vice-president, recalled coming to St. Patrick’s Cathedral with
tickets for a special event. He noticed an old woman sad of heart.
She said sadly that she had no ticket. Potasnik had
an extra one and gave it to her.
The woman thanked him: "Only in New York do you get
into church with a ticket from a rabbi!"
As Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier
of Fifth Avenue Synagogue
presented a shofar to Egan, the Cardinal said, "I’m going to
Juilliard to learn how to play it."
The humor didn’t end there. Rabbi
Charles A. Klein,
NYBR president, told about a widow and widower whom met for an
introductory meal. After dessert the elderly man asked, "Will you
marry me?" and the elderly woman said yes.
Next day the old man couldn’t remember if his new
friend said yes or no. He called her. "When I asked you to marry me,
did you say yes or no?
"I said yes. By the way I’m glad you called. I
couldn’t remember who I spoke to."
Klein presented to the archbishop a yad, in the
shape of a long silver finger, that is normally used when reading
the Torah in the synagogue.
Before the evening ended Cardinal Egan shared a
story about McGuiness who got into a fight and was thrown into a vat
of beer. "Oh Lord," he pleaded, "give me a mouth worthy of this
occasion."
