Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: You're listening to the weighing in podcast, the show that brings you inside the Daily Gazette's featured news column.
And now here's your host, writer of the weighing in column, Andrew Wake.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: You don't let the light go.
Don't let the world you.
[00:00:51] Speaker C: That was cantor Emily H. Short of the Beth Emmeth congregation in Albany. And she was singing at the Avala retirement community in Albany, where I was invited to attend a Hanukkah song fest. I'm Andrew Waite, by the way. Thanks for listening. We get a lot of invitations and a lot of press releases about various events that people are hoping that we can cover. And of course, we don't have time to get to everything. And also, not everything rises to the level of coverage. And honestly, probably most events like this one, a holiday event at a retirement community, kind of at first blush, wouldn't seem like they'd be worthy of coverage and most just won't be covered because of resources, et cetera. But this one, the invitation just struck me because of its focus on interfaith unity. And this time of year that's especially important. And this year in particular, with everything that's going on in the Middle east, with the Israel Hamas war and the violence we've seen even in our local communities, including with the shooting outside of temple Israel in Albany last week, it just felt like this may be a good moment to spotlight some interfaith partnerships. And so I went and listened to the beautiful singing and talked to the attendees and the organizers of the event and came away with this piece. I hope you enjoy it.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: You're listening to the weighing in podcast with columnist Andrew Waitrik.
[00:02:43] Speaker C: Seltzer and his late wife Elaine, have collected menorahs and other jewish sculptures from all over the world. They have a silver and glass hanokia from the Netherlands, a ceramic piece from Ethiopia, and a blue enameled, metal, oil burning menorah from Israel. The jewish couple amassed their Judaica collection over more than 30 years as a way to remember all the places they've visited across the globe. But now the significance of that collection has taken on even greater weight and hit close to home for Frederick, who turned 90 this week.
Sitting behind glass on a shelf next to Christmas decorations at the Avila retirement community in Albany, where Seltzer said he has lived since 2011, the hallway display serves as a visible symbol of peaceful interfaith coexistence. That message of unity was precisely what this week's interfaith Hanukkah song Fest at the Avila retirement community was meant to showcase in a room just steps from Seltzer's menorahs. The musical event, which this year featured Emily Short, the canter at Albany's Beth Emmeth congregation, began five years ago when now 88 year old Avila resident Maxine Koblenz heard from non jewish retirement community members that they wanted to experience Hanukah. She said. We always do a Christmas song fest and Christmas carols, and as an interfaith senior citizen community, we should be inclusive, Koblens, who is jewish, told me. So we developed the program and everybody has been wonderful in terms of multireligious participation. This year, nearly 100 retirees from diverse backgrounds assembled in the community's ballroom to sing and enjoy each other's company. Peaceful harmony is an important message every Hanukkah season, but it's especially apropos this year as the Israel Hamas war royals outside the warm sentiments inside Avila this week, tensions are raw even in upstate New York, where last week's shooting outside temporal Israel in Albany came amid ongoing allegations of anti semitism. At Union College in nearby Burlington, Vermont, three college students of palestinian descent were shot last month.
And this week's controversy, in which accusations of anti semitism were leveled against the participants of a Saratoga Springs march calling for a ceasefire in the Israel Hamas conflict, reveals just how much fuel is already on the fire. So we can use a celebration of coming together, of focusing on ways to overcome divisions and let love triumph over hate. What's going on in this war now in Israel is really upsetting, and then you have shots fired outside temple Israel, so it's a worrisome time, Seltzer said, wearing a colorful sweater patterned in blocks of blue, red, green and orange that seemed to embody the brightness of the season. Jewish people are really concerned about what's happening. Seltzer said he was glad to celebrate with fellow members of his Avila community, to whom he feels close. It's become my family, he said. I don't have anyone nearby, so it's become my family. Fittingly, Seltzer, collector of the menorahs, was the member of the Avila family chosen to light the Hanukkah candles during the songfest. As he touched the shamish helper candle to one of the others, another resident read a prayer. Light one candle for all we believe in. Let anger not tear us apart. The prayer read and light one candle to bind us together with peace as the song in our hearts. The entire celebration was a sign that hope is steadfast, which, after all, is what the story of Hanukkah is about. The jewish holiday commemorates the miracle of a scarce amount of oil inside a temple in Jerusalem lasting eight days, long enough for the jewish people who'd been persecuted in the second century BC to replenish their supply.
After each candle was lit during the Hanukkah celebration, cantor short led the group in song don't let the light go out. It's lasted for so many years, the chorus of light one candle pleads, don't let the light go out. Let it shine through our love and our tears. Even with all its anguish, the world's light has a way of persisting. Hopefully, when we leave an occasion such as this, we're more conscious, we have a greater respect for the dignity of each person, said 92 year old Leo O'Brien, the chaplain at Avila, which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. Hopefully, we'll stand up to the issues of prejudice, not just say, well, I'll think about it and pray for you, but do something about it. The ceremony featured a variety of songs with different messages and tones, from the bright and fun hanukkah ohanuka to the more somber rock of ages, with lyrics about persevering over persecution and hatred. Through all of it, the dozens of retirees of disparate faiths sang in unison. Near the end, Cantor short offered a simple expression of appreciation that seemed to perfectly encapsulate the uplifting interfaith display. With the Hanukkah candle still burning, short delighted. It's so lovely singing altogether.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: Hannah couple hundred cup come light, let's have a party gather around the table give you a treat steady wants to play with and like a duty and while we are play the candles are burning one voice night shading light to remind us of one voice we like to remind us of day all the go and.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: Now it's time for reader response. And this week we have a pretty special response, because last week I wrote a column about the death of 31 year old Liam Pickett, who was a chemistry teacher at Amsterdam High School. And I kind of connected it to my own medical incident at age 31 and used Liam's death hopefully as a reminder for us to recommit, or I should say for myself, to recommit to the idea that we should live one day at a time and enjoy life's simple moments and simple pleasures. And in response to that column, I heard from Liam's father, so I wanted to read you that note. Dear Mr. Waite, I am Liam's father, and I just finished reading your spot on column about Liam. It touched me not only for what you wrote about Liam, but also about your own experience. I had a somewhat similar one when Liam was just five years old and his brother was six months old, but I was a few months from dying and not hours.
I had a bad aortic valve that was replaced with a mechanical one. We had been following it closely for many years, but I declined abruptly and was rushed to the hospital. In the good old days, I would have gently passed away as an invalid a few months later, leaving a widow and two small children.
I remember waking up after the surgery and thinking, I'm alive. That's good. I too, thought my approach to life would be forever changed. Although I am fully aware of and grateful for the second chance I was given, I too fell back to the usual ways of dealing with the vicissitudes of life. Liam had a natural ability to connect with people on their level, with kindness and empathy, whether it was a struggling teen or a harried adult. Two words that appeared over and over in comments about him are kind and sweet, and that sums him up nicely.
You mentioned that the poster the student signed at Amsterdam High School, it literally staggered me to see such an outpouring for a chemistry teacher. Everyone's favorite subject, right? Who had only been there a year. His fellow teachers and administrators there had the same things to say about Liam. We knew he could touch people, but we had no idea of the magnitude. We hung them on the wall at his wake and they amazed everyone. There could be no greater tribute.
You write at the end of your column that you hoped Liam knew the effect he had. He did. One of his Facebook posts just days before he died ended with this for context. He had been abruptly fired from his previous school just a year earlier for no particularly good reason, which had devastated him. The post was a reflection on that after meeting a former student. Here's that post. I'm in such a better place emotionally, mentally and physically than I was at this time last year. Seeing that student and watching her perform last night made me realize the impact that I still have on all my students, past and present, and honestly finally gave me a bit of closure after having been forced out this time last year. I think I really did do what I said I would do at the end of this post last year, and thank you to everyone who stuck by me and supported me throughout the last year as well. So Liam was feeling good about himself when the end came, and his mother and I take much comfort in that. Again, thank you for your column. I always enjoy your writing. This one was just what I needed today. Sincere thanks, Jim Pickett. And thanks, Jim, for sharing those memories.
That's it for today's episode. I'm Andrew Waite. Thanks to Aaron Palaya, who handles marketing for this podcast, and Jim Gilbert, who takes care of the production. I'm Andrew Waite. Take care.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: You're listening to the weighing in podcast with columnist Andrew Waite.
