Radiating Charm

Tuesday's Hopkins appointment was delightful, really, bordering on a social call. Dr. Schulick was away and Faina was in the care of nurses. Ms. Potter changed the ostomy bag. Ms. Coleman took care of everything else. Throughout they kept up a running narrative on the surgical department; Dr. Schulick; Dr. Cameron, the chief of the surgical department; the progression from medical school student through fellowship and beyond; and what it is like to work at Hopkins. They convey a passionate respect and admiration for the physicians, a love for the institution, the culture of collegiality, and a delicious sense of rivalry with Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

A Talmudic verse says, "It is not proper to stucco or decorate or paint [our houses at the present time]" (Baba Batra 60b). The "present time" was just after the disasterous destruction of the Temple. This verse is respected in the tradition of not completely painting a room or house, leaving a bare spot. There is also a tradition of women not being held to time based obligations because they are naturally spiritual. What am I getting at?

This all fits an exceedingly non-traditionally observant, yet plenty spiritual Faina. Upon our return from Hopkins she went down to the basement and dug out painting supplies. I pulled out the ladder. By the time I got back from school she had masked a foyer and taken a trip to the local paint store. On Wednesday she put down a first coat. On Thursday she applied a second coat (In this week after Yom Kippur, you could say she "Re-painted."). Besides being a clear sign of re-newed energy, revived spirit, and optimism, it fits as a grand step forward, and upward (let's take the ladder as a literal and figurative symbol) after a disasterous past few months. Call it a proper present time to paint.

Sanhedrin 14a says of a great person, "Neither paint, nor rouge, nor (hair) dye yet radiating charm." Faina has never stopped radiating charm. Now she is looking toward the future: today painting, perhaps, but not at all needed, rouge and hair dye tomorrow.

Chag Sameach!