"One Surfer's Opinion"

From "generation to generation," words that we all know oh, so well! To be a Jewish surfer is to know the concept of these words. That familiar phrase took on a new and slightly different meaning as I prepared for another trip to Hawaii. I've surfed in the Islands before, and like most surfers remember my first trip well, but this trip would be different! This would be my sixteen-year-old son Noah's first trip to Hawaii, his first pilgrimage to a surfers "holy" land!

What could be better than getting away from the cold, grey New Jersey Winter, being greeted with leis at the Maui airport by an old and dear surfing friend just as a Northwest swell was bringing the fabeled Hololua Bay to Life, and keeping it at a classic 4-8 feet for a week!

Add to all this the adventure of sharing the experience with my son, passing along the gifts of surfing, friendship, Hawaii, and the "Bay" from generation to generation."

I was moved and felt my place in a long generational cycle when I held my son at his Bris. I was filled with joy and pride as I watched him step to the torah on the day of his Bar Mitzvah. Watching him as took off on a perfect Honolua Bay peeler, make a bottom turn, pull into a tube, and ride that seemingly endless wave past the Cave and through Leftovers was, like the others, an experience I won't soon forget!

From "generation to generation": the feelings, the cycles, the events of our lives that make us Jewish Surfers!


Dr. Bill Rosenblatt, Morristown, New Jersey
eXTReMe Tracker