Judy Elkin

For one year Dick Israel was indirectly my boss. I was Assistant Director of Tufts Hillel and Dick was the Regional Director. At my first Hillel conference Dick approached me and asked: "Can I ask you a personal question? Do you know how I can get some Sephardic sperm?" Now, I am a Sepharadit T'horah (pure bred Sephardic woman) but that distinction doesn't allow me to defy human biology and produce Sephardic sperm. I had never been asked that before. Where I come from (Seattle Washington), Sephardim are a dime a dozen, and I guess Sephardic Sperm is just as plentiful. But here we were in a very Ashkenazic town and this rabbi looked troubled. Or was it all a joke? I didn't know if I should take him seriously or not. So, I said nothing and tried to look like I got the joke. But he pressed on saying he was inquiring on behalf of an Ashkenazic couple who unfortunately both tested positive for Tay Sachs. They wanted a Jewish baby and Sephardic sperm would give them a greater chance of having a healthy child. Sadly, I couldn't help Dick but I didn't give up on the idea either. Though I couldn't provide any real candidates, Rabbi Jeff Summit (the Tufts Hillel Rabbi) and I decided to create our own. We went back to the office and invented a new company: Sephardasperm. Our logo was: "You've Tried the Rest Now Try the Best!" We printed stationery and mailing labels with this logo, included a vial and cork from the Science Department and a letter from Onan Ben Onan (the Biblical character best known for "spilling his seed" on the ground) recommending that if the vial was to arrive uncorked, it was likely that the specimen had already evaporated and that they should let us know so we could get another specimen to him. Though we couldn't in good conscience turn this into a Hillel program, Dick provided us with a great laugh.