Parashat Vayetzei: Ramping Up
Delivered at The Riverway Project at Temple Israel December 9, 2016 ~ 9 Kislev 5777 Rabbi Jen Gubitz ** In memory of my buddy Vito Leybman, who emigrated to Fort Wayne from the FSU, and was tragically killed by a drunk driver in December of 1999. Flashback. It seemed like the middle of the night. In sweatshirts and rumpled hair we would pile into the minivan and drive to the airport. We’d park our van and everyone had a job. My mom carried her guitar, my dad carried my sister, and my brother and I proudly held our homemade banner printed from a Commodore 64 on that perforated printer paper that is still perfect for banners. And as a family, we crossed the bridge from long term parking and headed to international arrivals. As my mom played Heiveinu Shalom Aleichem and a number of other families like us sang together these words of welcome, down the ramp came one of the many Jewish families from the Former Soviet Union who would make their new home in Fort Wayne, Indian