What George Wendt taught me about Torah

The death of George Wendt this week reminded me of some teaching and training I’ve done over the years with teachers, camp counselors, and Israel trip staff. Wendt was one of the stars of Cheers, a sitcom that originally aired on American television. The series was named after a Boston-area bar where its remarkable cast held court for eleven years. Although it was almost cancelled after its first season, Cheers went on to become one of the most iconic television shows of all time. 

For those who grew up in a certain era, the Cheers theme song is one of those melodies that can be conjured up on a moment’s notice and sometimes stays in your head for hours (you’re welcome.). The words of the chorus are profound, and they teach important lessons on compassion and identity. Here’s how it starts: 

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t you like to get away?
Be glad, there’s one place in the world

Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You wanna go where people know (Ah)
People are all the same (Ah)
You wanna go where everybody knows your name…

(Songwriters Gary Portnoy/Judy Hart. Cheers Theme lyrics © Addax Music Co Inc)  

Fans of the show will never forget the spontaneous shouts of “NORM!” from other bar patrons whenever Wendt’s character, Norm Peterson, would walk into the room. And each week, Cheers was not only entertaining, it taught us that caring about others is the cornerstone of humanity. The first place to begin is by learning people’s names. 

The first chapter of the book of Exodus begins by giving us a roster of Jacob’s sons who went to Egypt with their father and their own families to escape the famine at home: Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Yissachar, Zevulun, Binyamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher. Yes, a lot of names are missing, most notably wives, since the story tells us that the total number who arrived in Egypt was seventy. Yet the power of this message isn’t felt until the very next chapter. 

Exodus Chapter One concludes as follows: 

But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them. A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. Let us deal shrewdly with them so that they may not increase…” (Exodus 1:1-10) 

The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him, if it is a girl, let her live. (Exodus 1:15-16) 

You know the rest of the story – the Israelites were forced into slavery, made to perform punishing tasks, build new cities, and more. This leads to a disheartening development in the very next chapter. 

A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw how beautiful he was., she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him…she put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister stationed herself at a distance to learn what would befall him. The daughter of Pharoah came down to bathe in the Nile, while her maidens walked along the Nile. She spied the basket among the reeds and sent her girls to fetch it. When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.” Then his sister said to Pharoah’s daughter, “Shall I go get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle this child for you?” And Pharoah’s daughter answered, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharoah’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me., and I will pay your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed it.  (Exodus 2:1-9) 

What just happened? Take a look at the bolded names in Chapter One – and now look at the bolded monikers in Chapter Two. How badly were the Israelites persecuted? Not only did the Pharoah attempt to break the Israelites with hard labor; he did something far worse. He tried to strip them of their of their identities. People were no longer referred to by their names. Do we think the author of the story didn’t know names – or was the author trying to tell us that the most dreaded humiliation is to strip a person of their individuality? 

One of the most beloved pieces of Hebrew poetry is called Each of us Has a Name by Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky, otherwise known simply as Zelda: 

Each of us has a name
given by God
and given by our parents

Each of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wear

Each of us has a name
given by the mountains
and given by our walls

Each of us has a name
given by the stars
and given by our neighbors

Each of us has a name
given by our sins
and given by our longing

Each of us has a name
given by our enemies
and given by our love

Each of us has a name
given by our celebrations
and given by our work

Each of us has a name
given by the seasons
and given by our blindness

Each of us has a name
given by the sea
and given by
our death. 

 © Translation: 2004, Marcia Lee Falk
From: The Spectacular Difference
Publisher: Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, 2004 

 My message to teachers, counselors, trip staff, and anybody who interacts with people (which I imagine is all of us), is to get to know people’s names (and even try to remember them!). It’s not only the people you see at work. It’s the clerk you see every week at your dry cleaner’s or grocery store. It’s the security guard at your synagogue. You’d be surprised how good it will make them feel, because you know how good it makes you feel when people remember you. 

So thank you, George, and thank you, Cheers. I can only imagine the moment Mr. Wendt entered the World to Come, when everybody stood up and spontaneously shouted, “NORM!”