When I signed up to have our family portrait taken to be included in the Temple’s 50th Anniversary Commemorative Pictorial Directory I was just doing it to be supportive. It sounded like a good idea and I wanted to be included.
I also like the idea of being a part of the Temple’s history.
I read the Rabbi’s emails and Temple newsletter article about how taking pictures for this purpose would not be irreverent on a solemn day such as Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It made sense and I agreed, but I didn’t really think too much about it. I had already signed up.
When the article appeared in the Honolulu Star Bulletin on Saturday quoting his thoughts, my husband and I agreed that it made going to take our picture even more meaningful.
The idea of being a “statement of our people’s triumph” filled me with purpose. Our family was going to proudly affirm our lives–our Jewish lives on this day of remembrance.
I figured that if I was going to be a statement, a historical representative of a Jewish person in Hawaii in 2011 that I’d better represent well. I chose everything that I wore with care.
Not only did I want to look good, but what I wore was symbolic. The dress was colorful for our Aloha style in Hawaii. Each piece of jewelry came from somebody that I love. That way I could represent them as well.
You can’t see them in this photo I took before the session, but they are there.
Along with my wedding ring and anniversary necklace from my husband, I wore the earrings he brought back for me from a trip to Texas last year.
I wore the Hawaiian bracelet my mother gave me for my 40th birthday and the pearl ring my father gave her long before I was born.
I wore a bracelet from my mother-in-law and one from Uncle Puppy who passed away just last month.
We enjoyed the photo session. It brought us together, celebrating our family and our place in the community. The young woman from Lifetouch encouraged us to smile for the camera and was patient as we posed.
Thank you to all who organized the photo shoot and the directory. We are a proud family to be included in what, as Rabbi Schaktman said is, “No greater tribute to those who lost their lives, and no greater repudiation of their murderers.”
Being Jewish in Hawaii 