Mark (81) recently started attending our morning minyan.

He always sits in the far corner of our Synagogue, even when there are empty seats up front.

Several times I tried inviting him closer, to be seated near the Torah. But each time he would kindly decline the offer.

Today I found out why.

“When I was a young child, my grandfather would bring me along with him to this Synagogue,” Mark told me.

“It was during the times of communism. My grandfather was a very pious Jew and would go to services even when it was risky.

“He was a man of few words. In those times, things were better left unsaid. So instead of speaking to me about being Jewish, he would bring me here, so I could watch and learn.”

Mark then pointed to the seat he was sitting in.
“This was my grandfathers seat,” he told me.

And with a tear in his eye he continued “When I sit here I imagine myself as a little boy next to my grandfather watching him pray. And it’s one of my most treasured memories of my youth.”