The number forty is mentioned quite often in Jewish tradition. In the Bible, our forefathers wandered in the wilderness for forty years; and during the time of Noah a flood rained upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. When Moses went to receive the Ten Commandments he promised the children of Israel he would return after forty days. When Moses sent out the spies, Joshua and Caleb searched out the Promised Land for forty days. Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah; and Esau was forty when he married Judith. The Israelites ate manna for forty years…until they reached the border of Canaan. In the Sayings of the Fathers, it mentions age at various stages when it says:…”twenty for pursuing (a calling), at thirty for authority; at forty for discernment, at fifty for counsel; at sixty for mature age….” So forty was a special number in Biblical times and also is mentioned in the Mishnah.
On June 5th it will be exactly forty years since Nelson Glueck, the President of the Hebrew Union College, ordained me as a rabbi, with my father standing only a few feet away from him. In my father’s autobiography, Unfinished Business, he wrote about that moment. “The emotion of the moment almost overcame me. Parents invest so much of themselves in their children, yet they are rarely aware of the intensity of their involvement. Once in a while all the years---or rather all the days and nights----coalesce and are felt in a single moment. This was one of them. I felt as if my soul was detached from my body. I tried to recollect the sentiments of my own ordination. Then suddenly it was over…..and our son was now a rabbi.”
The memory of that special moment seems more like yesterday than forty years ago. These years of congregational service have been most rewarding and it is hard to believe that at the end of September, I will have served Temple Beth Israel for a quarter of my rabbinic life. I have been fortunate that what will certainly be the conclusion of my rabbinic service has been with this congregation, noted for its warmth, commitment and caring.
Dr. Jonathan V. Plaut
Rabbi
