The Rambling Page

Spiritual Whiplash

This past Sunday was one of the most packed days on my calendar that I can remember in a long time.

Our day started off with a "Death to my 20s" themed 30th birthday party for our oldest daughter Miriam. We all dressed in black, I ordered a death-themed cake, we festooned the house with balloons and set up a taco bar, and welcomed her friends and our relatives while we bid farewell to Miriam’s 20s.

But we had to leave the party a little early to attend the funeral of Marilyn Weiss, the mother of our dear friend and founding board member of JFX, Laura Simon. The funeral was somber and appropriately sad as Marilyn‘s two children got up to describe how special their mother was and to recite the kaddish in her honor. Our community gathered around Laura to support her during this painful and difficult time, and to say goodbye to the woman who birthed her and raised her for decades.

And then, we were off to not one, but two weddings. There’s a Yiddish expression, "Mir kenisht tantzin fun all chasunahs," "you can’t dance at all the weddings," but apparently we could -- even if one was in Landerhaven and the other in Westlake. Miraculously, we managed to catch the first dance at both weddings and to greet all the people who were special and important to us, and to be appropriately joyous for their joyous moments.

In many ways Sunday represented some of the most core aspects of being Jewish.

First of all, in Judaism we show up. The community is asked to rally for each others' joyous and painful times. We demonstrate that the mourners and the celebrants are not alone. We are here for them in their happy times and we are here for them in their painful times. In this way, we make the happy times happier and the painful times more bearable, and we also foster within ourselves the traits of compassion, solidarity and selflessness.

But the story goes deeper than that. Who can forget that October 7, the anniversary of which is quickly coming up, was one of the most joyous days on the Jewish calendar -- Simchat Torah? We all know that the holiday will be somewhat overshadowed by the horrific memories of what happened on that day. 

But this, then, is Judaism: the happy and the sad all tied up together. The celebration and the mourning, all interconnected in a form of emotional whiplash. This is the story of the Jewish people and perhaps this is what has made us so strong and enduring: the ability to dance among the tears, and to cry in the joy, and to hold hands with one another all the while. I am proud to be Jewish. I am proud to be a part of this incredible community and I am proud to be a human who can feel all the feelings without getting jaded or careless. I hope you are too.

Shabbat shalom, 

Ruchi