The story of CJC’s Yad, from Maggid Jhos Singer
My mom, Mary Lou Johnson, died October 30, 2000, a mere almost 11 months after I started my tenure at CJC. She was 76. In her effects, I came into the possession of the emerald that forms the main adornment on the Yad. My mom ended up with that stone because a bit before her 75th birthday a dear friend of hers said “Mary Lou, what do you want for your upcoming significant birthday?” She replied without dropping a beat, “An Emerald, my birthstone.” So, he went out and bought her a hefty Emerald, and decided rather than getting it set, he would just give it to her straight up–as she had not asked for “and emerald ring” or “an emerald bracelet”–the woman had asked for an emerald and that is what she would get. And my mom loved that. She loved that he really heard her. So, she kept it as it was, unset, in a small jewel box, on her dining room table, she would open the box and enjoy the simple beauty of the stone while she ate dinner–she told me it reminded her of good friends, the gift of life, the beauty that comes out of the earth, and the ongoing struggle for balancing our desire for beautiful things with taking good care of the earth.
So, when I inherited it I struggled to figure out what to do with it. I could have given it back to her friend, but that didn’t really feel right, it was just too small of a gesture. I thought about donating it to an environmental organization, but the damage was already done, so that didn’t seem quite right. By this time I had met Elizabeth Ross–I had admired her work, and I the thought occurred that maybe that emerald would be a nice way to offer a tribute to my mom’s years and years of community activism and involvement to donate her beloved emerald to CJC–as I know it was the kind of community that she would have loved.
So, I talked to Elizabeth about setting it as a combined contribution to CJC and that is what happened. We decided that it would be right to use the traditional embellishment and symbol of the wedding ring, and so it is that the pointer finger wears a ring. On the base of the handle there is an opal that someone gave me after a rock and roll show I did back in the 80s, I carried it around with me for years and years in my old drum stick bag, not knowing what to do with it, and this project seemed right. In a funny way it was the place that my mom’s life and mine got to mingle in a tool for point the way to the rich, endlessly enigmatic, delicious conundrum, and weird wisdom of Torah. Something she and I each did/do in our own unique ways. Her 19th English yahrzeit is next week, so this is pretty perfect timing!!