Dear all,

As we observed my father鈥檚 yahrzeit last week, I found myself returning to the bond we shared through aviation. Dad was a private pilot; my passion leaned toward commercial flight. As a teen I collected airline timetables, and from my twenties until today, I鈥檝e never lost the thrill of boarding a plane.

We took a few flying expeditions together. One brought us from Anchorage to Adak, out in the Aleutian Islands. Our ticket on Alaska Airlines gave us only about 35 minutes on the ground in Adak.

When we stepped off the plane, the station manager greeted us at the door: 鈥淵ou must be the Shapiros鈥攜ou鈥檙e the only non-military passengers on the flight. Welcome to Adak.鈥� Then she handed us her car keys. 鈥淗ere鈥攖ake my car and drive around the island.鈥�

Dad and I exchanged an excited glance. 鈥淲hat if we miss the flight out?鈥� we asked.

She smiled. 鈥淭rust me鈥攜ou won鈥檛 miss it.鈥�

Her car was waiting out front. We explored what we could, grabbed a quick snack at the island store, then returned the car鈥攌eys still in the ignition鈥攁nd boarded with a moment in time to spare.

I have never forgotten her kindness. In that brief encounter, she lived a core 91传媒 value: to welcome the stranger.

We live in complicated times. Yet moments of simple humanity still bridge time and space with holiness.

With love and Shalom,

Rabbi Zachary R. Shapiro