In less than 15 hours, hundreds of little rubber ducks will be floating and racing in the pool at the YMCA of Raritan Bay for the 2nd Annual Perth Amboy Rubber Duck Race. As many of you recall, last year’s inaugural race was preceded by much inquiry (what’s a rubber duck race?) and fanfare as we attempted the first stand-a-lone fundraiser for the synagogue in years. It was a special experience with lots of fun pictures and (a video!) captured to immortalize the event in the annals of our synagogue’s history. It was a day I will not soon forget.

 

This year, the feeling is different but just as significant. It’s different because there has been less inquiry and less fanfare during the lead up to tomorrow’s event. It feels less new and perhaps less special. But this year’s event is just as significant, if not more, than what occurred last year, because it shows we can do it again even while we’re embarking on other new projects (like the YJPA, Tot Shabbat, Murder Mystery Night in February, Argentina Trip next November just to name a few). In other words, we have the capacity to affix the Rubber Duck Race as a fixture in our community.

 

The Hebrew word for “to affix” is likboa (לקבוע) which is most famously used in the blessing for affixing a mezuzah to a doorpost (Blessed are You God King of the Universe Who Has Commanded Us to Affix a Mezuzah). The mezuzah is a sign of permanence which we pass by each day, sometimes noticing it and sometimes not but always cognizant that it is there showing that we are there. In a sense, the Rubber Duck Race is our mezuzah attached to the Perth Amboy community — we run it for Perth Amboy, and in Perth Amboy so that we may always remain in Perth Amboy to add our uniqueness to the cultural diversity of this great city. And that, I think, is pretty special indeed.

 

So please join us tomorrow (Sunday) for the Rubber Duck Race at the YMCA!

Meet up at 11ish

Race at 12ish

Reception at shul at 1ish

 

Quackily,

 

Rabbi Ari Saks

 

P.S. If you haven’t bought a duck yet, there’s still time! Go to http://perthamboyduckrace.com/getting-involved/duck-purchases/single-duck/

Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rubber Duck Race
Tag : rabbi rabbi's journal rubber duck race ymca