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Q: I have been reading your God Squad column for many years. Before that, I remember listening to you and Father Tom Hartman on the radio for many years. I have enjoyed both venues.

Your columns are frequently very moving and thought provoking. Your birthday message to Father Tom was both! I cannot begin to come up with a non-spooky explanation for the message Father Tom sent to you by telling Mike the name of your dead father, Sol. I am jealous. Many of us long for proof of the afterlife and would welcome and cherish a message such as you received. Perhaps one day it will happen for me. May you have many blessings in the future.

I do have a question – my first wife and I had 43 years together and upon her death, I moved from NYC to Florida. My second wife and I have so far had more than 10 years. What do you think will happen upon our deaths? Will we three be together? I believe that perhaps we will be spirits – able to conjure up any people and animals from our lives, rather than a physical existence.

Thank you for your wonderful columns! – (From D in West Palm Beach Florida)

A: Thanks for the kind words, dear D. I pray that you might soon receive a sign from your first wife. My experience has taught me that those who patiently wait are more likely to be contacted than those who try to force the issue.

As to your question, let me first make clear, as I have in the past, that I am in sales not management. What the actual nature of Heaven (or Hell) turns out to be is way above my pay grade. However, let us just think about the nature of love and death clearly.

If your first wife loved you completely, as I am sure she did, then it just seems obvious that she would want you to find love after her death. Therefore, she would be happy to greet the soul of your new wife, along with your soul, after death unites your souls in heaven.

I also agree with you that the souls of pets will be there too, however, the official beliefs of the Abrahamic faiths are that animals do not have souls. If that is true, I want to go where my dog Miles went.

Q: Having grown up in the South in the ’40s and ’50s, I was accustomed to segregation, so accustomed that I never questioned it until I went to college in 1961. At Baylor University, I was encouraged to think and challenge, and in that environment, I came to terms with the evils of segregation.

Like so many white families in the South at that time, my parents employed a Black woman as our maid. She was unusual in that she had a college degree but could make more money as a maid than she could as a teacher in a segregated system. I learned early from my parents that Ms. Mable was to be respected. She was the boss at home when my parents were at work. She came to be more than an employee to us all, and I loved her as much as I loved my parents. I am grateful that they showed her great respect by giving her a paid vacation, usually around Juneteenth, so that she could participate in the community and church celebrations on that holiday.

I now live in Florida where Juneteenth is still primarily celebrated by white folks. But, in memory of Ms. Mable, I will continue to celebrate – and perhaps lead others, as you have, to make it a holiday for us all. PS: I am going to start with T-shirts that say “Juneteenth – A Holiday For Us All". – (From M in Florida)

A: Thank you, dear M, for your honest confessional. I am proud of you for facing the ways your segregated upbringing planted the seeds of racism deep within you. Your loving treatment of your maid, Ms. Mabel, is perfect evidence that even the worst forms of inequality can sometimes be cloaked in veils of respect and love. The truth, as you have courageously come to see it, is that no matter how much you loved her, your family nonetheless participated in a system in which Ms. Mabel was trapped and oppressed. That she could not earn as much as a teacher as she earned being your maid is disgraceful.

No matter the kindness of your overlords, there is no replacement for true equality of opportunity. All this is a reason why Juneteenth is not just a holiday for African Americans to celebrate a decisive rejection of slavery in our nation. It also is a holiday for all Americans to celebrate the opportunity for spiritual growth provided to us by this under-appreciated holiday.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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