Lhabhairt mo bhean cheile ar son beirt phósadh, Marlene agus Caoimhin. Is amhlaigh, fheidmithe sisean ag seirbhis ina halla in aice leis an lámh leis an cathair lár. Bhain sult as ár teaghlach a feicéail Marlene níos sona.
Dhá tseachtaine seo chugainn, shiúil Léna agus mé suas an mullach Sléibhe Washington leis feadain bheag. Lhean bailiú an slí féin na Jack Smith nuair ag síúlta ag imeall an bótharín agus bealachaí i gceantar air. Fhás an lá is te go tapaidh ach bhí maith liom an radharc ar thuaidh go halainn na sliabhraon Naomh Gabriel mór leis bricin de sneachta ar barr beann shléibhe Naomh Antoine agus slisnín an tAigéan Ciúin ansíud siar fiú.
Go luath, caith muid ag dul go raibh a sochraid duine an iarnoin sin. D'eag sí gan rabhadh, gan fógra. Líon slua an sionagóg.
Ní raibh faire go cruinnithe, mar sin féin. Déarfaí "tórramh" de réir Giúdachas ach níl focal féin as beasa agus bealaí Eirinn. Ní bhfuair "seirbhis i gcuimhne" i mo foclóir.
Ceapaim faoi difríocht a idir-dhealú a dheanamh idir dhá traidisiúin. Tagann an muintir na chorp ina Eirinn agus fanann drong go ceann tamaill eile. Ar ndóigh, níor fhán cuideachta Giúdacht i láthair chorp níos mo an lá. Adhlacaim é go díreach agus ní thaispéanfaidh é, go fírinne.
"Ar dheis Dé go raibh siad."
A wedding and not two funerals?
I attended a wedding and two memorial gatherings recently. There was the wedding of a grandniece of my wife during the middle of April. Then, I went on May Day morning hill-walking in commemoration of the local writer Jack Smith; I gathered that afternoon across the same city in a Jewish service in honor of the mother of a friend whom death took suddenly.
My wife said good words for the married couple, Marlene and Kevin. In fact, she herself officiated at the service in a hall near on hand to the heart of the city. Our family took pleasure to see Marlene so happy.
Two weeks after, Layne and I walked up the summit of Mount Washington with a small troop. The band followed the same way of Jack Smith when he hiked around the lanes and trails in his district. The day grew quite warm rapidly but the beautiful northerly view pleased me of the great San Gabriel Mountain range with a speck of snow on the peak of Mount San Antonio and the tiny slice of Pacific Ocean even far off westward.
Soon after, we had to go to attend a funeral for a person that afternoon. She died without warning, without notice. A crowd filled the synagogue.
There was not a wake exactly, all the same. Somebody may say a "wake" on account of Judaism but there is not the same word for the manners and customs of Ireland. I did not find "memorial service in my dictionary.
I think this difference distinguishes the two traditions. The mourners come in Ireland and a crowd stays for a while after. Of course, the Jewish congregation does not wait by the side of a body more than a day. It's buried straightaway and it's not displayed, certainly.
"May their souls rest with God." (Grianghraf/photo: le/by Laura Randall: Slí Jack Smith/Trail.)
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