This blog is entitled "moments" as there are moments in our life when we see where the pieces are all coming together, where we hear the soundtrack of creation while watching a dogwood tree open up and the beauty that is sometimes partially veiled but there always.
It's not called BLIND ME IN THE EYE, it's about finding the silver lining or seeing the glow and beauty of miraculous moments that are happening all around us, every day and every night whether we sleep through it or take a walk in the rain.
This week has been one of those weeks. Thousands of people have died in a cataclysmic event in Japan that stirs even the hardest soul to watch a little bit longer at their TV screen or computer monitor and wonder on the fragility of life. If a 9.0 Earthquake does not wake you up.... what will? "Nature" has a way of getting us to ponder deep things that do not normally arise while getting our children ready for school or cleaning the house for Pesach. And, in today's world what happens on the other side of the world is as important to us economically, financially and emotionally. That is a perfect example of how different our world is from any other time in history....ever.
We know within an instant these days of an earthquake. Some people have an App on their smart phone that shows them a figure faster than an AP writer can write a story. Our world is small, we are all on this ship together and the diversity that once divided us has been erased with the hugeness of humanity visible for all to see on their TV on the station of choice that is all showing the same real drama of tidal waves washing out villages and villagers running from the waves. We feel the woman who lost her daughter, we feel for the old man who lost his family, we cheer for the child who was reunited with his parents.
It is a Messianic world we live in where distance does not exist in the way it did years ago and neither does anonymity.
On another part of the planet, a terrorist... a murderer.. a maniac killed six members of a family brutally in Israel and we are as affected as if it was someone in our own family. People are stunned, saddened and looking for words to put their feelings into some form that helps make sense of it all.
I want to talk here about something that seems to have gotten lost a bit over the last week when while we were focusing in the news on so many stories that are hard to process individually let alone all together at the same time.... ITS ADAR!
Adar is a time for Joy! This is the second Adar of the year, and therefore it is a time for double joy!
Yet, how do we go about our preparations for one of the happiest days of the year when our hearts feel heavy from the tragedy in Israel and the triple tragedy that Japan is suffering from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
I had that feeling on Thanksgiving when the story was coming out of the terrorists in Mumbai and I had a house filled with people and I tried to believe all would be well.
All was not well, but there was a great miracle and a small child was saved and it says in the Torah if you can save one life and you save the world. That's how it is paraphrased, the real story is below from www.askmoses.com
http://www.askmoses.com/en/article/192,2230417/From-where-does-the-saying-Save-a-life-save-a-whole-world-originate.html
If a victory against evil was the saving of Moshe Holzberg's life in Mumbai.... how much more a miracle was it that three of the Fogel children survived the terrorist attack. How miraculous was it that the two little sleeping children were not seen by the terrorists and the daughter did not come home earlier from her Bnei Akiva meeting while the terrorists were still there?
I'm sure you remember the story, we all do. We can see it in our heads and feel it in our hearts. It was a story told around the world, not eclipsed by the a 9.0 Earthquake and the loss of life that will probably total up to 10,000 people.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/05/earlyshow/main4649757.shtml
So, when I think on this current tragedy my mind can only think that somehow, three lives were saved miraculously, a triple miracle.
This is not Av, it's Adar and we expect miracles.
But, where do we focus our energy and what do we look at?
I watched the footage of the Fogel family playing with their kids in happier times and all I could do was smile, despite my heavy heart or first reaction not to watch it because it will upset me. This is one of the most compelling videos I have ever seen for many reasons. Watch it, please.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142918
It shows a family that plays together, enjoys life and laughter. Yes, the people in the video playing together were also killed together. That's true, but where do you put your focus...on their death or their life? This is a family that was taken out of Gush Katif, which was considered to be not a safe place to live (sic) and moved as part of an olive branch for the peace movement. I remember being home that day, staring at the TV, watching the Israeli Army taking apart homes of Jewish Settlers and there was an anger inside me of wanting to scream "Stop!!!" so loud that they would hear me in Israel and yet I knew if I was standing there screaming it would make no difference. And, all I could think of was all the times the Rebbe screamed and screamed about not giving back one inch of land and all the meetings he had with Israeli leaders and how wrong this was, how very, very wrong. It's a moment in time I will never forget.
And, to compound a tragedy of terror by Palestinians against Israeli settlers living in Israel we have what I believe is a partial blame that can be placed on a government that removed this beautiful family from their lives in Gush Katif. Somewhere, deep inside there is still anger and I try to fight it, push it aside and not dwell on it as anger will eat you up alive.
It's Adar and it forces me to look for the good, for some joy, for some reason to find the lesson in this.
Three lives were saved. Two young boys were grow up, learn Torah, do mitzvos and their sister will go on to become a mother and a woman and somehow they will go on. People will daven, they will light shabbos candles, they will learn in their merit and do mitzvos in their memory. It will not bring them back to life and yet this video brings them back to life. It teaches us how a father should play with his children and how a family should laugh and celebrate life and live in the future not be bitter about the past.
We cannot understand everything that happens, we can't. Many things are beyond our realm of understanding and sometimes we just have to accept there is a reason even if we cannot see the reason clearly. Much like we stood at Mt. Sinai and we said we would do and take on the Torah, we must believe and not lose our emunah. I did not say we need to forget, we never should forget and we must learn from history.
There are lessons being shown us today from Japan to Israel and back again.
Lessons to learn, mitzvos to be done and there is time to mourn and a time to cry and a time to dance and feel joy. We need to err on the side of joy. Serve the Lord with Joy! One of the oldest and best quotes anywhere to live your life by.
It's Adar! Purim is almost here. Nissan follows Adar and Pesach follows Purim.
We must not give in to sadness and bitterness, anymore than the Fogel family did when they left Gush Katif, they found a way to live somewhere else, to enjoy life, to bring more children into the world, to keep on going and their three surviving children who miraculously were saved and are alive will go on.
It's all in where we focus our energy and our thoughts.
I see a happy, beautiful family, living, laughing and loving together with Shalom Bayis and Torah being the center of their lives. They had no control over how many hours they were meant to live their life or how they would die.. but they had a choice in how to live and they chose well.
Life is precious, choose well and wisely how to spend your time this Purim. Show the people you love some love, dance, sing, be joyful and be a part of one of the greatest stories in the history of the world let alone Judaism.
Dance like there is no tomorrow! Hug a stranger! Give a gift! Give a smile! Be joyful and thankful for all you have and all the possibilities there are out there waiting for you because where there is life there is hope ...and joy.
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