The attitude of service that propels selflessness and courage to help a fellow human suffering  directly or indirectly from the disease of addiction falls in this bucket of awe that relates to moral beauty.   Fellows in the program spend hours working one-on-one with others who seek Teshuva and Recovery through the Steps and our heritage to find their own moral compass and live with integrity.  Fellows take calls 24/7 and help others clean up the wreckage of their past and create a new way of living.  With gratitude and patience, those suffering are helped get to meetings, to emergency rooms, jobs, shelters and the like. The actions are viewed simply as paying forward kindness.   Receiving the love is a source of awe as is observing the acceptance of the other, no matter how low they have fallen.  The commitment to service with no judgment and nothing expected in return is moral beauty in action. -- A.L.

My father, Dr. Leslie Caplan, exemplified moral beauty throughout his life, but most of all was what he did as a POW doctor in Germany during WWII. He was a Flight Surgeon for US bomber crews flying out of Italy. One day he flew out with a crew on a B24 bomber so he could see first hand what the airmen went through on their treacherous bombing missions. That day his plane was shot down and he became a POW. He was sent to serve enlisted airmen at Stalag Luft IV where he was a doctor in the very substandard hospital there. In February 1945, The Nazis forced the POWs to evacuate the camp on foot. They were forced to march for 86 days over 500 miles across Germany in the bitterly cold winter of 1945 on starvation rations, with no sanitation and without safe water to drink. Captain Caplan was the only doctor for over 2500 Allied POWs on this death march. While suffering the same starvation, bone marrow cold, pain, disease and exhaustion – and with little or no medications - he somehow managed to save many, many lives through sheer inspiration, ingenuity and courage. There are lots of stories about him, but one I was told in a letter I got from a former POW exemplifies him better than I can say: “In February ’45 during our march my right knee gave out to the point where I could not keep up with the group. Dr. Caplan looked at my swollen knee and proceeded to roll up his pant leg and remove the ace bandage from his knee and wrapped it around my knee. I am 88 years old and still get teary when I think of his kindness." -- Laura C., Minneapolis, MN

There's a moment at the end of the musical Hamilton that really gets me. We learn that Eliza, widow of Alexander Hamilton, dedicated the rest of her life to orphans and to preserving her late husband's memory. The refrain is "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," and it reminds me that we can all demonstrate moral beauty by drawing on the legacy of our loved ones and ensuring that their best qualities do not die with them. -- Dina I., Des Moines, IA

When my daughter Ellen was 8 years old, she became ill with an autoimmune disease.  When she was 13 years old, I took her to the emergency department with a high fever.  She was admitted for what was supposed to  24 - 48 hour stay.  Ellen was given a medication she had previously taken.  She went into anaphylactic shock and was put into a drug induced coma.  She was in the PICU (pediatric ICU) for 6 weeks and at rehab for 5 weeks. There are too many people to mention individually who helped us during that time (medical staff, friends, family, her school,  Chai Lifeline).  I am in awe of all of these people and organizations.  

Most of all, I am in awe of my daughter and her strength. 

Our first Shabbat at rehab, Ellen asked if we could say the Shehecheyanu.  She knew what it meant that she had made it to rehab.  One of the reasons I love Central Synagogue is that this prayer is sung every week for even the smallest of blessings.  

Her first week in the PICU the Palliative Care Doctor was assigned to her.  I didn't understand what that meant.  After she was home from rehab, Ellen's doctor told me they all thought she would die.  
 
After waking from her coma, Ellen realized that it was the nurses who talked to her and explained what had happened and what was happening.   Before even going to rehab, Ellen decided that she wanted to be a nurse.  

Despite her illness, doctors appointments and repeated hospital stays, Ellen graduated high school and earned a full tuition scholarship to Loyola University Nursing School.  While in school, she worked part time at the Children's Memorial Hospital and Lurie Children's Hospital.  After earning her BSN/RN she went onto work at the hospital where her life was saved.  On a full tuition scholarship, she continued working and in May, 2022 earned her MSN degree.  

I am in awe of Ellen's strength, fortitude and resilience.  I'm not sure that I could have gone through what she has and come out on the other side.  

Last month her picture was put on Lurie Children's recruitment site.  I've even seen her picture on the El Train.  -- Andrea G., Evanston, IL

This video, to me, exemplifies moral beauty. I am always so moved by people who give selflessly. Take the time to watch the whole thing. -- Abe S., New York, NY