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Rabbi's Blog

No Coincidences in Fort Mohave

 

It was getting dark.

I'd spent Monday on the road visiting Jews in Laughlin, Bullhead City, Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley. 

Google Maps sent me off to the middle of an intersection and told me I'd arrived. After some time and research, I realized there wasn't supposed to be a "South" in the street name. 15 minutes later, I was outside another home. Fenced off with Beware of the Dogs signs and no bell, I couldn't get to the door. Coming from so far, I didn't just want to leave the matzah on the street ...

 

I didn't have a phone number, but I decided to try the White Pages number. No answer. I sent a text and waited. After a few minutes, a woman answered and came to open up.

 

Sheri was thrilled I'd found her—and the timing was no coincidence, she explained.

 

This week, they were feeling spiritual. Her husband went to his place of worship, but how could she find a Jewish connection and community in Fort Mohave? "Maybe there's something in Havasu," she thought briefly.

 

"Less than 24 hours later, you show up at my door with matzah!"

 

There truly are no coincidences. G-d heard the wish of a Jewish woman looking to connect with Him in Fort Mohave and sent matzah and a Seder invite.

 

Matzah, the Kabbalah says, is the food of faith. Wherever we are in our lives, eating matzah on Passover brings an infusion of faith and re-energizes our soul. Even in Fort Mohave.

Pictured, I almost had to channel my inner Moses and part this river in the Hualapais to visit a Jewish woman up in the mountains and deliver her matzah.

PXL_20230329_020343609.jpg PXL_20230329_015037360.jpg

 

Finding Connections in Laughlin

 Earlier this week, I received a call from a rabbi in Phoenix. "How far are you from Laughlin?" he asked. Through an acquaintance in Los Angeles. he'd heard about an older woman living alone in Laughlin. Ill and homebound, she needed help.

I called Joanne* right away. She told me that she couldn't walk unassisted and she only had several cans of beans in her pantry.

Her father, she told me, was once a rabbi in the area but the community had long faded away and now she was left, childless and utterly alone. Her only relative was a sister in California and a niece on the East Coast.

I had to help her. I didn't really know anyone in Laughlin, but I'd seen a Jewish sounding name from there recently. Fred* didn't know me, but when I told him who needed help he recognized the name. "Her father married us years ago, and she was at the wedding!"

Yet, they each thought they were the only Jews in town.

Fred wasn't able to drive due to a recent surgery, so I sent Joanne a delivery of fresh fruit, bagels, smoked salmon, noodle soups and whatever else she'd be able to eat without much preparation, and a hot/cold pack to ease her pain.

It's a small world out there, and we're only a degree of separation away from someone who needs our help, or more aptly, a degree of connection away ... 

Next week I will go visit Joanne and restock her pantry and bring her matzah for Passover. If you'd like to help her, or send a card, I'd be happy to facilitate! 

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