18 Comments
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A Horseman in Shangri-La's avatar

Dear Howard,

I trust you are having a joyful birthday, amidst the sorrow of knowing what happened two years ago. Although I'm not Jewish many of us, from a distance, do see what's really going on.

Sincerely,

Horseman

**There might be an issue here, did you mean the negative there?

"He saw Judaism NOT as a source of meaning and community, a way of being connected across time."

Howard Lovy's avatar

Yikes! Thank you for noticing the mistake. I’ve fixed it!

Julia Simmons's avatar

I’m not Jewish either, but I would be proud to be.

Simon Sobo's avatar

Happy birthday. I enjoyed sharing it with you. Regarding being connected across time, I thought you might like this from Passover 1963 on Substack: “As they pray, they are visiting an earlier time and place. A soft echoing melody can be discerned, chanting as their father had chanted, and as their grandfather and his great-grandfather had chanted. They daven with exactly the same voice, the same beat, with a familiar hum. In this process, the voices of their father and grandfather are returned to them. There are other ways to be connected to people who have come before. The dead visit us in recognizable physical characteristics, the same eyes, the same lips, the same smile. Jay raises his eyebrow when he is curious, exactly like his grandfather did, and Jay never knew him.

Prayer is a sacred place to meet, for, in their imitation, the departed are reincarnated. Father and son, father and grandson together again, together in obedience, together in their sway.”

Rosa Borg's avatar

Happy birthday, Howard. Thank you for all you are and do.

Howard Lovy's avatar

Thank you, Rosa!

Allyson Altit's avatar

Happy and a Healthy Birthday Howard. Thank you for such a meaningful piece.

Howard Lovy's avatar

Thank you, Allyson!

Tanya Levin's avatar

Thank you so much this is so important this tension in all of us !

Howard Lovy's avatar

Thanks, Tanya!

Anndal Narayanan's avatar

Happy birthday, Howard, and thank you for sharing your voice with us.

Kid Charlemagne's avatar

Happy Birthday 🎂🎈🎊🎁🎉🍷🎵🎶🎵

חג שמח

Julia Simmons's avatar

Happy Birthday Mr. Lovy🎂🎉 I’m so glad you were born. You’re a wonderful person and author. Kind, generous and caring. May you and your wife enjoy many more years together.

Howard Lovy's avatar

Thank you, Julia.

Joshua Slater's avatar

Happy birthday

David Mandel's avatar

Happy belated birthday from another second-generation Jew from parents with a Hungarian background. I was born in '66, so apparently, I am almost free to speak my mind.

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Oct 7
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Howard Lovy's avatar

Thank you, Ilana!