The ADL Society of Fellows ?will honor David and Laura Merage this Tuesday. Credit the ADL for doing what everyone else is thinking: No two people could be more deserving of honor than David and Laura Merage.
For what is honor? It is fleeing from honor, and in this the Merages excel. For them to engage in an extensive array of charitable endeavors is carried out with complete normality and simplicity. In their bearing they honor all whom they meet. In their giving they do not make demands for this or that in return. In their embodiment of Persian Jewish culture, they are ample proof of its kindness and insight.
In 2005 the IJN profiled the Merages in our annual Very Important People special section (the 2008 edition is published this week). The Merages fit like a glove. Their graciousness, humor and hard work shone through in the interview. Why not? In their bearing and their being they are consistent.
It is as if a great gift dropped from the sky when the Merages made our community their home. They help so many. The ADL honor, or any honor one could devise, is but a small recompense.
