college professor who had suffered more than his share of grief and trouble. Over and over he would say to us: “The one thing that really matters is to be bigger than the things that can happen to you. Nothing that can happen to you is half as important as the way in which you meet it.”
Nobody can be sure when disaster, disappointment, injustice or humiliation may come to him through no fault of his own. Nor can one be guaranteed against one’s own mistakes and failures. But the way we meet life is ours to choose and when integrity, fortitude, dignity, and compassion are our choice, the things that can happen to us lose their power over us. Friendships and relationships are then based on qualities of mind and character rather than race or station. It then becomes our duty to help create a social order in which persons are more important than things, ideas more precious than gadgets, and in which individuals are judged on the basis of personal worth. We need for people to recognize and realize their highest potentialities.
Perhaps this adds up to a belief that may be called the human use of human beings. We are set off from the rest of the animal world by our capacity to transcend our physical needs and desires. When we worship, pray or feel compassion, when we enjoy a painting, a sunset or a sonata, when we reason and think, pursue ideas, seek truth or read a book; when we protect the weak or the helpless, when we honor the noble and cherish the good, when we cooperate with our fellow to build a better world, we lend stature and splendor to the dignity and status of our being. Such is leadership. Have a happy and joyous Purim.
About our Rabbi:
Rabbi Sidney Zimelman began his rabbinic education at the Mesivta Torah Vodaath in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. He continued his studies at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and completed his training at tbe Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. He holds a B.A. from Yeshiva University and a Master of Hebrew Letters and Doctor of Divinity from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he also received his ordination.
He served as a Chaplain in the United States Air Force at Yokata AFB in Japan before assuming the pulpit at the Flatbush Jewish Center in Brooklyn, New York. Rabbi Zimelman has also held pulpits at Agudat Achim in Schenectady, New York, Adath Israel Congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio, Congregation Ahavath Shalom in Fort Worth, Texas, and Temple Beth El in Odessa, Texas.
Rabbi Zimelman has served as President of the Empire Region Rabbinical Assembly, the Capital District Board of Rabbis, the Schenectady Interfaith Ministerial Association, and the Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis. He is also a member of the National Rabbinic Cabinets of the United Jewish Appeal, Bonds for Israel, Jewish National Fund, and National Women’s ORT.
In addition to serving as Rabbi of Temple Beth El, he serves as Vice President and President-elect of the Tarrant County Interfaith Council, Chairman of the Community Concern and Social Action Committee, Executive Committee and Board Member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Board Member of the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, Jewish Family Services, Jewish Educators Council, Rabbinical Assembly of America, and Thanksgiving Heritage Council. He is also a Board Member of Vitas Hospice, Inc., Communty Advisory Committee of the HIV AIDS Consortium, and Fort Worth Hebrew Day School.
Rabbi Zimelman and his wife, Vivian, reside in both Fort Worth and Odessa, Texas. They are the parents of five daughters. |
