You might have heard of the Common Wealth Awards. They were conceived by Ralph Hayes, an influential business executive and philanthropist, “to reward and encourage the best of human performance worldwide in dramatic arts, literature, science, invention, mass communications, public service, government and d sociology.” Since 1979 many famous people have sat on the dais in the Grand Ball Room of the Hotel DuPont and these people include among many, many others Lowell Thomas, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Steven Sondheim, Samuel Beckett, George Schultz, Julie Harris, Jonas Salk…you get the point.
Twice I was asked to offer the invocation. The second time was most inauspicious; the format was such that the recipients were kept away from the hoi polloi. That was the second time, but the first was over-the-top.
Suzy had a Hadassah meeting in Washington, DC so I took our daughter Elana who at the time was 19. She’s always found any reason to connect me with fame which, of course, then connects her to fame. This event was the pinnacle of every other event in the past and into the messianic future!
It started with hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Since Delaware is a small state (as if I have to tell you), we’re pretty familiar with our Federal, State and local politicians. Well, our senators, representative (one only), government, mayor, etc. were there and I introduced them to Elana. That was step 1.
For the dinner and ceremony, they seated me on the dais (not the case the second time). These were the recipients of the Common Wealth Awards….Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson who had tracked Earth’s ancient climate history and global warming; Carlos Fuentes, Mexican author and political commentator; George Mitchell, former senator of Maine and peace mediator for Northern Ireland, Julie Andrews; and Mr. (Fred) Rogers. I sat next to Mr. Fuentes, next to him was Mr. Rogers, then Julie Andrews, the lectern, George Mitchell and the Thompsons.
When I learned who the recipients were, I decided to write my invocation based on their work. When I and the others said “Amen,” Ms. Andrews put her hand on my arm and said, “Rabbi, we would each like a copy of your prayer.” I was flattered and said, “That’s so kind of you,” with which she said, “No, I’m not just saying that,” and called over a staff member to have copies made. They were distributed and, of course, Elana AND I were ecstatic.
But it didn’t end there. A few minutes after they received their copies, Mr. Fuentes, the author, said, “Rabbi, would you autograph this for me?” I recall laughing hysterically. “You’ve GOT to be kidding!!” I exclaimed. But he wasn’t. (Thinking back on it, maybe I should have just walked back and forth on the dais signing the others…but I digress.)
So, the dinner is over, and Elana comes over to me so we could get back home.
Julie Andrews asks, “Who is this lovely young lady?” I thought Elana would pass out…ok, me, too. I introduced them, and Julie (we’re now very friendly) asked Elana if she’d like to pose with her for a photo. O M G! The photo was beautiful…cheek to cheek which we gave to my mother-in-law. Alas, we didn’t know what happened to it, but Lee (you heard all about her a month or so ago) showed all her friends and anybody else she’d bump into.
All in all, everyone on that dais was sincerely sweet. In particular besides Julie Andrews, Mr. Rogers was the most real, wonderful, inquisitive man.
What an experience for both of us!
(Speaking of show biz, it is said that a famous Jewish actress moved to Los Angeles from New York. A friend asked her, “Why did you make such a decision? You had a pretty good thing going here.” The actress said, “Two reasons…the first is nobody lives in New York anymore, and the second is that it’s too crowded!”)