“Here I am” and the Women’s Dermatology Society

Soon after my father died in 2006, we sat down to describe the kind of man he was so that the rabbi could prepare the service and eulogy. My dad was the kind of father who somehow was always there when needed despite working 6 days and several late evenings eachweek. Dad never seemed too tired to help with homework, hear about your day, and give you a hug. When we were adults with homes of our own, Dad was always available to help around our house or replant the garden and foundation plantings. He seemed ever present when a crisis arose. Of course, it was a different era and my brother and I both independently made the conscious decision to remain geographically proximate to our parents despite several excellent career opportunities that would have relocated us to areas remote fromour childhood home. The rabbi listened patiently to our stories of love and finally summed our dad upwith oneHebrew word: Hineni ( ה נ נ י ), which translates as “here I am”. For the purpose of better context and for those readers who are biblical scholars, in the book of Genesis, G-d calls out to Abraham before ordering him to sacrifice his son Isaac and Abraham responds: “Here I am.” Later in the story when Isaac calls out to his father to ask him why there is no animal present for sacrifice, Abraham responds to his son: “Here I am.” When G-d calls Moses from the burning bush, Moses responds with “Hineni.” Finally, Hineni ( ה נ נ י ) appears in Isaiah 52:6 but in this section, it is G-d who speaks and says to the people: “... behold, here I am.” Recently, I read Jonathan Safran Foer’s newest novel Here I Am about family, intimacy, and identity. While reading this book, the