This Yom Kippur, I’ll say a prayer for my teachers

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(RNS) — Zvi Levran was not always Zvi Levran. Fifty years ago he was Bob Leveritch and we were synagogue friends together on Long Island. He later moved to Israel, shed the name “Bob” and became “Zvi.” Now he is a tour guide and lay leader in the Reform movement in Israel.

Back in July, over lunch, he asked me an interesting question: “Whatever happened to Mr. Goldberg?”

Mr. Goldberg was our confirmation teacher. I hadn’t thought of him in more than 20 years.

“I’m pretty sure he died about thirty years ago,” I said. “What makes you think of him now?”

He had been the best teacher both us of ever had in our younger years — he was creative, even audacious, in how he tried to make Judaism and ethics come alive. After some reminiscing about him, Zvi said something that has stayed with me: “I wish I had told him how much I learned from him and how much he meant to me.”

We sat with that for a moment. Then, he told me about the “ Forever Letter,” a concept developed by Elana Zaiman . You write someone a letter telling them how much they influenced you.

It has been compared to the ethical…