A Special Simchah
Tomorrow I will fly to Los Angeles for a rare and wonderful event: A party to celebrate my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary. That’s right—Rabbi Jacob and Marjorie Pressman have been married for 70 years as of June 14th. I looked on the internet for statistics on how many couples achieve 70 years of marriage, and the closest I could find is that 6% of make it to their 50th. So probably fewer than 1% reach 70.
That makes them a statistical outlier. But they are outliers in more ways than that. Their devotion to each other, their lifelong mutual admiration, their constant and open communication, are a wonder to behold. They are both in their 90’s now, but their love continues undiminished.
They met when they were teenagers, on the steps of their synagogue in Philadelphia, on Yom Kippur. That was a portent of their shared devotion to Judaism and the Jewish people. Many of you know that my father had a distinguished career as a Rabbi and community leader, and you enjoy his New Year’s Wishes every year. You may not know that my mother took all that she had learned as a leader in Women’s League and a Torah Fund champion, and became a highly effective fund-raising professional, in particular the Friends of Sheba Medical Center in Israel.
By the way, my father continues to submit a column every week to the Beverly Hills Courier, and my mother still helps out with the Friends of Sheba.
My brother and I will conduct a renewal of vows and my sister will also participate from Israel. I’m sure my parent will also have something to say. I share all this because in a world where so much is wrong, and so many marriages flounder, I thought it would be nice to hear about a marriage that was and is, an inspiration.
Links:
For a glimpse of my father’s style, you can see one of his New Year’s Wishers, which go around the world: http://beth-david.org/category/clergy-posts-category/rabbi-jacob-pressman/
An interview with my mother about her work with the Friends of Sheba Medical Center: http://www.shebamed.org/f/12-questions.php