This too is Yonkers–by Eric W. Schoen
Iter continue! And so my journey to good health continues! I was missing in action last week as I finally had right knee replacement surgery, originally scheduled for May 30 but postponed to September 5.
With hospitalization and rehab the date put me right smack in the middle of Rosh Hashanah. So what do you do? I didn’t want to put it off anymore so I spoke to the Rabbi, got a special dispensation feeling bad that I would not be able to participate in person at services and serve in my unofficial role as greeter at the entrance to the synagogue. Off to knee replacement land I went.
My what a world we live in! In the good old days you would flip around the stations on the television fishing in those upper channels on the second dial and might pick up with your rabbit ears a Jewish Station with a holiday service. For Christmas friends would (no pun intended) fish and end up with a service not quite what they were use to but, hey, that’s all there was.
Now we have 1000 channels on our television sets, and one is sure to find a Rosh Hashanah Christmas or Easter Service to your liking. But friends, we have now gone one step farther.
If you can’t get to the synagogue, via the Internet the synagogue comes to you! My temple, Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanuel-El (SSTTE) lives streams the service in real time so you feel like you are there. In case you miss a service they are archived so whenever you feel like it, you click the button and not only high holiday services but weekly Shabbat services are at you finger tips. The website is SSTTE.org and click on live streaming.
Of course, all you need is a computer, smartphone or tablet.
I was in pain Sunday night, so I missed the Rosh Hashanah Eve service. As I knew I would have a busy day with therapy on Monday and still not feeling all that good, I got up early to listen to a portion of the Rosh Hashanah Eve Serve archived on the SSTTE website. Cantor Chanin Becker’s voice is so beautiful that I was in tears as she opened the services with beautiful hymns.
I was truly upset that I was not present live to hear the music of the High Holiday Choir and Cantor Becker and words of Rabbi Brown. But I just kept in my mind that after my doctors ‘put me back together again’ I will be there to enjoy the holidays with my congregational family for many years to come.
When you are in the hospital or being rehabilitated you see so many people so worse off then you are. Some people will never walk, talk, be out of a wheelchair or be able to live the lives we lead. And we complain? A stay in a skilled facility puts everything into perspective.
And let’s not for a minute forget the hard working people in the hospital or rehabilitation facility. They work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year doing jobs that most people will not do. I’m not talking about the professionals like the doctors, nurses, physician assistants, Hospitalists (the new person who takes care of you in the hospital in place of your doctor) and other licensed professionals. They do a fantastic job in their particular disciplines.
I’m talking about the aides, certified nurses aides who do the dirty work. That includes everything from emptying the bed pan, removing soiled linen, feeding patients who can’t eat, bathing patients who can’t bathe, keeping the floors clean, gathering garbage quickly and much more. They are the backbone of any good hospital or rehab facility.
Many of them are new to this country and speak little English. They work 8 hours shifts, sometimes double shifts because they need to make ends meet. 16 hours dealing with urinals and bedpans? And they must worry about the car service that will pick them up and be ready on time for late night or early morning pickup.
One night a wonderful aide was assisting me while trying to make arrangements for 11 p.m. Transportation to her home. No one was answering at the car service she usually calls. Buses don’t run that late and as she tried to make me as comfortable as possible while in the back of her mind she was hoping that she could get transportation home.
All of a sudden an emergency occurred and she was going to be 5-10 minutes late for her scheduled ride. Who knows if she would earn overtime for that 5 or 10 minutes. But that was not the issue. Doing her job was the issue. And, of course getting home.
The aides do these jobs because of their dedication to helping the Sick and injured. The don’t get paid big salaries like you read in the newspapers that Hospital Executives receive. They do it out of love of those they serve, transferring skills they learned in their native lands to this country where to get their jobs they must go through strict licensing requirements and use the little money they come with to pay for the government licensing that always comes with an exorbitant fee.
So as we enter the Jewish New Year 5779, I wish you and your families a year of good health and happiness in a world of Shalom, Peace, I extend these wishes to Jews and non-Jews alike and the hard working people in our hospitals and rehabilitation facilities who break their backs day in and day out keeping us healthy and happy!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM or download the SIMPLE RADIO app for free from the APP STORE.
