From September to September
Honi Gottleib
This year has been deeply painful
My family and I are part of a statistical nightmare
Where lives were ripped away…
Without goodbyes…
Leaving in its wake…
irreparable damage to family and friends…
I am jarred forward at each sunrise…
though my eyes keep looking back…
How?
Why?
How could?
Questions without answers eternally…
September makes 7 months of grieving…
Of silent phone calls…
Of Silence…
Moving forward…
Taking life a day at a time…
Focus on the current.
A step away from sorrow…
Yet not a step away from my loss…
When I tune in to the precarious nature of humanity…
I see a world that lacks caring…
A world that has lost kindness—
Replaced it with labels.
Definitives of who and what and how…
What has happened to the simplicity
Of just being kind to each other…
My hope is that all of us
Practice kindness to others
as well as ourselves…
I also hope that people whose lives
were not intimately affected by this pandemic…
Develop a deeper appreciation for the tapestry
of people who make up their lives without perceived labels…
Kindness…the world needs more kindness…
Honi Gottlieb
6-20-21
Thinking of my sister Of blessed memory
The High Holidays
Terri Ann Heiman
The High Holidays always remind me to take a moment and reflect on my life and my family.
This year my reflections bring forward those of Mother Earth אמא אדמה and how valuable this connection is to me and to spiritual growth.
Last year, due to COVID, we definitely changed it up. We went outside to observe the inside of our Spirit. The trees, the flowers, the roses, the green plants … all brought forth the meaning of life with each step we took, adding a deeper capacity to understand what was going on in the world.
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” —Rachel Carson
My reflection on this year shows me how important spirituality is to all life and all beliefs, adding another level of understanding to a world that seems to have gone mad. No one knowing what to do, not many agreeing. Everyone left to question what was the next best thing to do.
Through the cycles of life, we come to recognize the evolution of history we are all in. It reminds us that nothing stays the same. Like אמא אדמה, we see this growth happening throughout the seasons offering each of us the opportunity to renew and refresh the Spirit within for this wheel of life.
Experiencing lots of challenges, like we have all been in, is a good indication that God is trying to tell us something.
We are in a time that is ready for growth and expansion of the Spirit.
With all growth, something is always left behind… the pod, the shell, the bud, the cocoon. We must allow this release in order to gain the growth. We must let go of the old to open up to the new.
My reflections show me that last year was a year that broke up the patterns. And just as that little seed pushes through with an innate knowledge, we too must find that innate knowledge of Ruach.. the breath.. the Spirit.. that resides within with a joyful expectancy of what is to transcend.
Reflection
Arlene Fisher
I’ve actually had very fulfilling experiences during the pandemic! I decided it was time for me to expand my Jewish learning. I have found these experiences – learning Hebrew, studying Psalms and Pirke Avot, beginning a Bat Mitzvah 3-year experience – of studying online to be particularly rewarding. I am thankful that I have escaped getting Covid-19 and for having the opportunity to get the vaccines.
What Matters to me Now
Susan Marie Shuman
It turned out that the pluses outweighed the minuses where COVID19 is concerned. At first, I was devastated at the thought of being stuck at home with my husband Robert, who has many health issues including advanced COPD. I missed my job, my friends at work; I missed having somewhere to be and a reason to be there.
Yes, I resented the entire situation and fancied myself a victim. Poor, put-upon Susan!
As time went by, though, I realized how fortunate Robert and I are. G-d had given us an opportunity to make up much of the wasted time for which we’d both been responsible. Ours has been a rocky marriage of 30 years with more than a few hiccups and speed bumps.
We got to know one another again and remember why we’d gotten married (twice!) in the first place. As well, we’d learned new things about each other and had some fairly serious discussions as well as fun conversations.
Not that I consider COVID19 a blessing, but without it I doubt seriously that any of the above would have happened. We’d still be in the same rut, being cautiously polite and profoundly superficial.
Obviously, work is important. It pays the bills and puts bagels on the table, but it isn’t everything. Family is what it’s all about. Family is what gives work and all the other mundane things we do, meaning.
In addition, I averaged one new book a week. Sometimes, just for fun, I’d read the Hebrew dictionary which enhanced my understanding of the language.
In closing, COVID19 made me grow up a bit, and taught me what’s important in life: I got to know G-d, my husband, and even myself better over the past year.