I have trust in many people

Not that you’ve asked, but I have trust in my husband. He’s prudent and wise and always puts any member of our family, including me, at the head of the line. I learn so much from him!

Not that you’ve asked, but I have trust in our children. Somehow, they all — and there are four of them — inherited all our good characteristics but none of the bad. Is this even possible? And you must know that I believe that all children, yours and ours, are not modeled after what we teach them but who they inherently are. Ours are all exactly what we hoped they would be, proudly Jewish, incredible parents, hardworking, successful, honest, loving, and considerate. We learn so much from them!

Not that you’ve asked, but I have trust in our grandchildren. If you want to really hear me crow, ask me about them. There’s nothing I’d like to change about a single one. Most of all, I have faith in them to raise our great-grandchildren, a heady and heavy responsibility indeed, to keep them safe and happy in a peaceful world. Is this even possible?

Of course you know that my thoughts are veering in that direction now because we’ve had two new great-grandchildren in the past two weeks. Miracles indeed! They are in trusted hands, with caring hearts, both of them, and their siblings, and their cousins, from the newly 9-year-old Noam, to the newborn, a girl, as yet unnamed. Thank God there are now 11 of them, with the 12th already gestating in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

But do I have trust in the leaders who control our world? Gevalt, the honest answer, and I am always painfully honest, is that I do not. Neither Trump nor Bibi inspires me to feel that they care about those I care about, or this world that I endlessly worry about. Do they feel the anguish and anxiety about those Americans and Israelis who are defending our lands and those who have already tragically sacrificed their lives? I’m not sure.

I pray that our leadership endlessly worries as well. I agonize about their motives and methods. I dwell on their inconsistent remarks and lack of clarity. I am suspicious about their arrogance. They have turned the world inside out. Is it for the good of all of us, of mankind, and especially our new babies, born to parents with so many prayers and dreams and so much love and hope and tenderness?

But now let me tell you about our great-grandson, sabra Nael Beeri’s new brother. From his name you can conjure up when he was born. His sister, as yet unnamed, was also born in troubled times. I haven’t met her yet, since she arrived only Saturday, Shabbat, at 5 p.m. She arrived in a hospital parking lot in Tel Aviv. No no no! It’s not because she was in a huge hurry. It’s because Israeli doctors and midwives, often parents themselves, wanted to put their delivery rooms in the safest place possible, so that new mamas and papas could focus on having their babies, without worrying about missiles bursting in air.

So where does a woman in labor go to have her baby? Of course it’s to the bomb shelter/parking lot, aka the delivery room, equipped with ICU in case it’s needed, and every piece of equipment that a sophisticated labor and delivery room must have. These Israelis think of everything! And thus this girl was safely delivered, a proud new sabra.

Judy Garland often sang that she “was born in a trunk in the Princess Theatre in Pocatello, Idaho.” This beautiful girl can forever proclaim she was born underground in a miklat in war-torn Tel Aviv.

As soon as Shabbat was over, her parents communicated with all the family here in the USA. Facetime has made us all forever fans of its ability to send living pictures, sight and sound, in real time. Remarkable! We immediately fell in love. And once again I am struck by how simple it is to instantly adore a new and very welcome family member. Her simchat bat, when we will celebrate to welcome her and hear her name for the first time, is scheduled for next Shabbat at their family shul in a lovely young community betwixt Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Ken yehe ratzon! Yes! We hope to be there.

I will continue to have trust in those I love, and pray that our elected officials can also be trusted to do their jobs with honor, dignity, honesty, caring, and competence. None of us should expect — or demand — less of them. Our beloved great-grandchildren deserve no less!

Rosanne Skopp of West Orange is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of 11. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. She is a lifelong blogger, writing blogs before anyone knew what a blog was! She welcomes email at rosanne.skopp@gmail.com

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