With social distancing and people staying home, getting your hair colored at the salon these days is just not an option. But that didn’t stop this beautiful man from doing what he needed to do to help his wife. At 92 years-old, Yael Shapira Avraham’s grandparents are teaching us all what it means to love and care for another. It would be so easy for him to tell her that it doesn’t matter how her hair looks, that they aren’t going anywhere anyway, that she should focus on more important things. But…he understands that this is important to her, that this makes her feel happy and confident, and because of that, he is lovingly doing what she needs. Notice his focus. Notice his patience and care. You can see and feel it through this picture. Judaism teaches that that true giving is focused on what the other needs to receive. And this is a perfect example of that, and illustrates why the root of the word for love, ahavah, is hav, which means “to give.” As their granddaughter reminds us all, this is something we don’t see so often these days, but definitely something we should all strive for in our lives and our relationships!
