By Jay D. Homnick on 6.20.07 @ 12:07AM
The pearly gates must have been wide open all day yesterday.
When the Romans burned Rabbi Hanina Ben-Tradion at the stake for
teaching the Bible in public, they assigned him an executioner
named Klastoniri. They wrapped him in a Torah scroll, with wet
sponges around his chest to delay death and maximize pain. As the
fire began, the Talmud reports that his students asked, "Rabbi,
what are you seeing at this moment?" He answered: "I see the
parchment of the Bible consumed, but the letters are flying through
the air."
Then Klastoniri asked, "Rabbi, if I remove the sponges from your
heart, will I go to Heaven?" Hanina said yes. With that, the
executioner pulled off the sponges, then quickly killed himself
before his bosses could torture him. It was reported that a faraway
voice could be heard echoing: "Rabbi Hanina and Klastoniri have
been admitted immediately into Heaven." When Judah the Prince heard
this, he cried: "Some people have to work a lifetime to get into
Heaven, while others can get there with one great moment." (Talmud
A.Z. 18a)
The pearly gates must have been wide open all day yesterday.
Nine firefighters from Charleston, South Carolina, decided to storm
those gates en masse, all perishing while fighting a blaze in a
warehouse. The roof collapsed unexpectedly, taking the highest
one-day toll of firefighters since Sept. 11, 2001. Some of them
were new to the job and rose to the great moment. Others had been
in the department for a lifetime, 32 years in the case of James
"Earl" Drayton, who was 56. They put their lives on the line for
others and sometimes that line leads to a different entrance.
"Just doin' my job," these heroes like to mumble whenever the
accolades come too close for comfort. Well, yes, it is their job,
but the same city employs garbage men, too, and street cleaners,
and park attendants, and guys who cite you if you don't mow your
lawn neatly enough. Often, the pay is identical in all civil
service jobs, so there is no danger bonus to sweeten the deal.
Additionally, a number of those who died yesterday moonlighted as
volunteer firefighters in the smaller suburbs where they made their
homes.
Really, no excuses or proofs of good will are required.
Firefighters are people of talent, strength, energy and
persistence. With those traits, they could be successful in any
number of fields. When a person chooses a vocation to benefit his
fellow man, his virtue is not mitigated by picking up a check at
the end of the week to feed his family. Making that career
disposition reflects upon a predisposition, selecting that
occupation is the product of a preoccupation. These are people who
care about others, their lives, their safety, their health, their
wellbeing, their property.
Firefighting is not the career choice of a narcissist. No one is
there because red is their favorite color. Folks don't sign up just
so they can shinny down the shiny pole. It isn't all about riding
through traffic with the sirens wailing so everyone has to scatter.
Or wrestling that interminable hose contraption into spraying
position. Granted Fireman Friendly was very charming when he
visited the 5th Grade. Not friendly enough to make a guy court an
early coffin. That takes heart.
They say you have to fight fire with fire, and they are
absolutely right. Those men and women bring a fire to their work, a
passion for their fellow man, a passion for doing the right thing.
I once promised to "be a fireman when I grow up"; having reneged, I
am filled with admiration for those who kept faith. The closest I
came to that sort of dedication was in my stint in the Army, but
the only fire I encountered was going from my gun toward the target
at the practice range.
Speaking of faith, I see plenty of that in the letters flying
through the air. Letters from the Bible, letters from the
Constitution, letters from all the compacts and concords and
covenants that bind us as a nation, as human beings. The next time
I run into nine complaisant fellows with South Carolina accents and
an aw-shucks commitment to putting my life before their own, I will
know for sure... that I am in Heaven.
topics:
Constitution, Law, Energy
