The Hebrew letters often hint at a common object: bet hints at bayit, a house. Gimel hints at gamal, a camel. And shin? Why, shen, of course – tooth.
I like to think that the reason for this is that shin, or rather sin, which is the same letter with the dot moved to the other side, is also the first letter in sameach, happy. And what do we do when we are happy? We smile and show our teeth.
My colleague Rich Gottfried smiled all the time; as people spoke at his funeral, or around the office this week, almost all took note of his smile. He was the Hines Ward of dentists, it would seem – always smiling.
Rich brought happiness to people through their own teeth, too. Poor dentition is a major source of shame for people, afraid to smile or look someone in the eye for fear of having their decayed teeth be the only thing the other person will see. For a person without dental insurance, or without substantial means, dental work or even preventive care can be prohibitively expensive. A Hobson’s choice – shame, or bankruptcy?
Rich listened to that struggle. Even when he was in full time private practice, he blocked off time to do pro bono work for the uninsured and uninsured. And as he and his wife Peg Durachko, who was not only his life partner but his dental partner, wound down their practice as they approached retirement, they brought their services to us, at a community health center that treated many people who had never seen a dentist in their lives. They overcame the fear that one dental cleaning might lead to all the teeth falling out, and got things set right for the first time ever. Cuturally competent dentistry – now those are healers who listen.
Shin stands for something else, too – Shadai, the almighty God. It is the letter on every mezuzah on every Jewish door, reminding us that God has our backs, and that we need to refresh ourselves on what God wants from us every time we enter or leave a room. And for Rich Gottfried, what God wanted from him was to be a blessing to others around him, through his talents in taking care of their shin-ayim.
