Feeling like a monkey's...

... dentist?!

I bet you thought I was going to say 'uncle', right?

Well, it turns out my dentist (who is also a close friend and neighbor), moonlights on the side treating patients over at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo.  Of course, anyone who knows Dr. Ari Greenspan isn't a bit surprised by this news.

Here is Ari working on one of his patients:

Of course, it isn't until you pull back a bit that it becomes clear he is working on a monkey (actually a 19-year-old mandril monkey named Shiroko):

Considering that the appointment book for Dr. Greenspan's Malcha office is usually full for weeks in advance, one could be forgiven for wondering why he would bother doing this sort of thing.   That is, if one didn't really know Ari Greenspan.

I have been friends with Ari and his wife for over 20 years (and our daughters are friends/classmates), and at this point nothing about him surprises me.

In addition to being a highly sought-after dentist with a showplace office that looks like it could be used to host fancy dinner parties (which it has, by the way), Ari is also a fully qualified Mohel (he circumcised our son Yonah) and a highly skilled Shochet (a person who is trained/certified to slaughter animals in a kosher manner).  As if that weren't enough, he and his wife Shari are also incredibly gifted artists who work with a wide array of media (stained glass, metal, paints, etc.) to create breathtaking masterpieces.

Yes, I know... that's an odd assortment of skill-sets for one person to acquire.  But again, if you knew Ari, it would all make perfect sense.  You see, he simply doesn't understand that mental roadblock in most people's daydreams where we say to ourselves "Hey, wouldn't that be neat?" before going back to our regularly scheduled lives.  He's one of those people who actually says "Hey, wouldn't that be neat?"... and then goes and does it!

Here are a couple of his better known, ""Hey, wouldn't that be neat?" musings that have been added to his list of accomplishments:

1.  Several years ago, Ari and a friend (Dr. Ari Zivotofsky), were discussing the fact that due to the migration of the world's Jewish communities to more concentrated urban and suburban settings, most of the more exotic birds that were technically kosher were no longer being shechted (slaughtered) and consumed. 

Think about it... aside from chicken, turkey (a story all its own), duck and the occasional goose, what other fowl do  kosher Jews eat?  Pheasant? No.  Partridge? No.  Guinea Fowl?  Dove?  No.  Sparrow?  No!  The list goes on, but the answer remains the same; no, no and no. 

Here's the problem.  Unlike large animals and fish where the Torah gives specific 'signs' so we'll know what is kosher and what is not... the kosher birds are actually listed by name.   So what happens when a couple of generations go by without any Jews eating a particular bird... or even calling it by its proper Biblical name?  You got it... once the Jewish community loses the 'mesora' (tradition) of recognizing and eating a particular bird, it can no longer be reliably called kosher.

So Ari and his friend went around interviewing old retired 'shochtim' (ritual slaughterers) from various North Africa and Yemenite Jewish communities.  They showed these old men drawings and photographs... and asked them if they recognized the birds.  If they did, the next questions were 'what is it's name?', and 'did you ever slaughter and eat this kind of bird?'

Once they had collected enough reliable testimony, they organized a series of 'Mesorah' dinners in Israel and the US.  They invited prominent Rabbis and community representatives to come and eat these exotic species of fowl (PETA would have a fit if they knew), so that the tradition of these birds being kosher could be extended for at least another generation.  You can read more about these Mesorah dinners by scrolling down to the 'Mesorah and Kashrut' section of his website.

2.  Another passion of Ari's has been the rediscovery and reintroduction of the Biblical blue dye called Tekhelet.  In the third blessing of the 'Shema' prayer, we find the following: 

"Speak to the Children of Israel and bid them that they make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each corner a thread of blue (tekhelet). And it shall be for you as a fringe, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of G-d, and do them..." (Numbers 15:38-39)

But after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and exile of the Jews from the traditional dye centers in what is today the coastal areas of northern Israel and southern Lebanon, the source of this special dye was lost.  So, for more than two thousand years Jews have been wearing white fringes on their garments with no blue string.

Ari and several friends spent years playing detective and reviewing sources and leads from previous people who have searched for the identity of the mysterious 'Hillazon' which was the source of the special dye. 

I can't do the story justice here but you can read about their triumphant discoveries here on the Tekhelet site.  Simply put, they amassed an amazing volume of compelling evidence to suggest that the 'Hillazon' was in fact a marine snail called 'Murex trunculus' which is native to the Mediterranean.  One of the more compelling bits of evidence was turned up in archaeological digs in Northern Israel that revealed mounds of 'murex' snail shells with a hole punched in the shell exactly where one would need to access the dye gland... as well as massive dying vats nearby stained a vibrant blue.

But discovering the truth after all these years wasn't enough for these sleuths.  Once they had identified the source of the dye and established that the Hillazon was the real deal, they realized that they had an opportunity to reestablish the practice of a long-neglected biblical mitzvah (commandment).   So they founded a factory to manufacture the dyed strings (tzitzit) for tying onto ritual prayer shawls (Tallit), and the rest, as they say, is history!

I haven't even scratched the surface of the wacky stuff my friend Ari has gotten involved with over the years... trekking through Spain, Portugal and Morocco in search of historical tidbits about the expelled Iberian Jewish community... searching throughout Europe for information about baking Matzoh (Ari has a matzoh oven in his yard and we bake for our own needs every year a day before Passover)... and on and on. 

I've even drafted him as an assistant beekeper when the kids have been unavailable to help me with my hives, knowing full well that Ari is up for literally anything on a moment's notice!

I keep telling him that he should write a book about his experiences... but the truth is that just the table of contents and index would take up several volumes!

It goes without saying that Ari Greenspan has my full confidence as a dentist (my whole family goes to him), so if you ever find yourself in his chair, forget about the movies or music he has on hand to help his patients to pass the time.  Instead, ask him about his latest adventure.  I guarantee it will be better than any movie or book you've ever read... and it just might make you consider turning your own daydreams into reality.

Here's one more shot of Ari with yet another patient from the animal kingdom...so yes, I suppose you could call him a monkey's uncle:

Like I said... go over to his web site and explore.  I live vicariously through his adventures.

To visit Ari on the web, you can go to his eclectic (to say the least) web site.

To visit him in real life (IRL):

Dr. Ari Greenspan
Gan Technology, Malcha -מלחה , גן טכנלוגי
The Tower floor 5 - קומה 5
Jerusalem - י-ם
02-679-8040
02-679-8059 fax
[email protected]