I had the privilege to spend a few moments chatting with Senator Lieberman last week, when we met at a political event for Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish candidate for Congress from New Jersey. Lieberman came to Teaneck to endorse Gottheimer and give him a “seal of approval” from his “No Labels” advocacy group.
Needless to say, I think the first thing we established that we had in common was that we were the oldest people at the ceremony on the grounds of Teaneck’s municipal hall. Both the senator and his wife, Hadassah, felt one of their greatest pri-orities as they got closer to retirement age was to live closer to their children and enjoy the nachas that they derive from their grandchildren. Obviously, this was another common thread that I shared with the senator, having moved to the Teaneck area from Montreal in order to be closer to our children.
The Liebermans first moved from Washington to Stamford, their old homestead, but after seven years decided that it was not close enough as their children were living in Riverdale. Several years ago they became residents of Riverdale and made the move that gives them the opportunity to be hands-on parents and grandparents. One of their married children has now gone to live in Israel for a year—another thread we have in common, as this has taken place in our family as well.
I asked Senator Lieberman if he finds himself able to finally slow down, and he said that there is one big advantage to his new life. “I am gen-erally able to tell Hadassah what time I will be home at night,” he said. While living in Washington, his life was much too hectic to predict an accu-rate homecoming time.
One of the most amusing anecdotes that Senator Lieberman mentioned was what happened in 1998 when he walked several miles to Capitol Hill from his home in Georgetown to attend the impeachment trial for President Bill Clinton. Of course, the day was Shabbat. Upon Lieberman’s entrance to the room he was approached by a fellow senator who asked Lieberman why he was not in the synagogue. Senator Lieberman replied that he had gone to the hashkama minyan earlier, which ena-bled him to make it to the proceedings in time. He then also mentioned to his friend that following the prayer service there had been a small kiddush and he was able to have a shot of scotch to send him on his way. Senator Lieberman’s colleague chor-tled that that was the ideal way to start this particular day, and was so impressed that a synagogue would offer scotch or any inebriating drink on a Saturday at 7 in the morning that he asked his friend Joe if he would be able to take him the next time that he went!
Only in America. I was honored to have had this experience to chat with one of our highest-ranking Jewish politicians.
By Nina Glick
