Be Like Joe

This week, we mourn the passing of Joe Lieberman. He served four terms as U.S. senator from Connecticut and in 2000 was nominated for vice-president on the Democratic Party ticket, becoming the first Jewish candidate to represent a national party platform. Like many Jews, I will never forget seeing that make headlines.
Much has been written about his policies, and tributes have poured in from allies and rivals, all of whom recognize his uniqueness as a decent and honorable man, dedicated to his faith, family and country, and a staunch advocate for the Jewish people and Israel.
The part of his story I would like to highlight today is that Joe Lieberman was also a very proud and observant Jew. As a man who kept Shabbat, there was a time he famously walked five miles from his home in Georgetown to Capitol Hill for an emergency vote on a Saturday. 
Less known is that he also kept kosher, wrapped tefillin every weekday morning, prayed three times daily, and regularly studied the weekly Torah portion. He was a regular synagogue attendee, and even during the busy campaign seasons, everyone knew that on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, he would not be on the trail, but at services.
He had a deep commitment to Torah observance, and he showed all of us that it’s really possible.
In a public address several years ago, he related a humorous anecdote about how he managed to keep kosher while campaigning for vice president, and even while traveling abroad.
“When I traveled, the Secret Service kept my hotel location classified for security reasons. Yet somehow, in city after city, when I arrived at the secret location, there was a kosher meal waiting for me there from the local Chabad.” Lieberman said he was never sure how Chabad accomplished that; did they have a connection at the CIA, or perhaps his mother told her Chabad rabbi where her son was going? 
His life and dedication can be a good lesson to all of us. We are not being asked to walk five miles to keep Shabbat, nor do we need to perform security gymnastics to keep kosher. Let us honor his memory by doing an additional mitzvah. This week let's be like Joe.