One foot in front of the other.
One day at a time.
We all process scary things differently. Whether it’s recovering from major surgery, getting our feet back under us after losing a job, or another attack on the Jewish people right here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
We are a resilient people. Full stop.
Amanda Gorman, the American Poet who delivered “The Hill We Climb” at last year’s inauguration had her OpEd published in the New York Times this morning, reflecting on how she almost did not make it to the stairs of the Capitol. I’ve pulled the words out of the context in which she wrote them, but their intention hit my core deeply this morning. She wrote:
"I’m a firm believer that often terror is trying to tell us of a force far greater than despair. In this way, I look at fear not as cowardice, but as a call forward, a summons to fight for what we hold dear. And now more than ever, we have every right to be affected, afflicted, affronted.”
I believe in the power of prayer to assist us through the process of putting one foot in front of the other. Tradition gives us a template. No matter what we do, no matter what happens, Shabbat begins every Friday night and ends every Saturday night. Let’s use that tradition. Let’s come together. Let’s “hear our call forward to fight for what we hold dear.”*
If you felt any pain, sadness, fear, terror, or anger over the events of last Shabbat, or if you want to come out and support those who did feel this way, then join me in welcoming in Shabbat this Friday night for words of where we go from here.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Rachael
*NYTimes Article HERE
