I said Yizkor for my dad on Shavuot and realized that the lessons he taught me were by inference and example rather than by clear articulation or careful composition. A WW2 vet, a scientist and a man of few words, I can't really tell you in a simple declarative sentence what he believed, what or who he believed in or what he genuinely took to heart.
I suspect he was an agnostic, doubting the G-d stuff, but fully inured in the life and culture of the Jewish people. Not wild about ritual though unusually reverent to symbols, flags and uniforms, he was quick to volunteer, to join a group and to put his shoulder to the wheel. Maybe because he didn't seek out leadership roles, they invariably came to him. He had a wide circle of friends and an easy laugh.
I'm somewhat more cerebral and somewhat more over-educated. It's important to me to figure out and write down things that seem important, significant and insightful. And so this blog will be a record of this struggle; my geniza for ideas.
