MY FATHER EMANUEL

My Dad, Daddy, Father, the man of my life, never to know another man who was half as good. My Dad who was my mentor, my good example of what type of person to be, a righteous man, a man of integrity, never to break a Commandment, to have lived his life to share himself as a family man, a man who loved his children, a man who stood by his wife, a man who had an incredible amount of love to share, a man whose name of the game was to win, and to win he played the game according to the rules, never to cheat or to fall short.

A great leader of a family, a great Jewish man, a man who kept with his Judaism as his only religion never to fail it or give in to temptation, never to trade The G-d Almighty for any other lesser god, never to disrespect those who had a lesser god, not to ever try to change them or interfere. He was noble, gave others the right to worship whoever they chose, but for himself, only The One G-d Almighty HASHEM was good enough for him.

Sticking to his convictions as they were engrained into his psyche and soul by a good stable upbringing, raised by a good Jewish Mother, my Grandmother, who cared. Fed only kosher foods since boyhood, given holiness as a childhood, a childhood so firm and mighty in its teachings so they lasted for his entire life, as he taught them to me in his actions and beliefs, his integrity and righteousness, he for me was like a shining star, who became for me the symbol of The Star Of David, as he was a descendant of the Davidic Line, as so am I and my siblings and their children.

To take it all seriously and give respect to tradition, I converted to Judaism and thereby solidified beyond a doubt, my Covenant with The G-d Almighty, keeping up memberships with two Temples, having the religion of Judaism given to me as a right from my Father, as his daughter, with his Levite DNA passed down to me, holiness for me to own as mine, to like him never to trade this holiness for a lesser religious experience, to remain firm as he did, to use my Dad as a great example for me to follow. In my Father's footsteps I did follow.

My Father being a lifelong Jew, unmoving and unchanging, this was enough for me to see the shining Light through him, through his behavior and his words, his words to me of loving-kindness that never were to error. Words on his lips for me to guide me into the peacefulness of his religion of Judaism so I would never know an unkind experience.

My Father, my guide, my one true mentor. A Dad greater than all other dads. A super Dad who was a Super Jew, who shines like The Star Of David to lighten my path and to extend my journeys, onward, forward, to represent him and his beliefs as my own, to carry out his wishes and the meaning of his life as my Father.