These past few days, after the horrific scenes that were projected to all of us from Pittsburgh, made every Jew and every free person, more cognizant of the hate that exists in our society.
I began to realize, more than ever, that grief is a terrible inferno and yet despite the emotional upheaval that it brings in its wake, sorrow can possesses great potential to expand our lives, to enlarge our vision, and to deepen our understanding of the true essence of the value of life. It also awakens in us greater empathy and understanding of the suffering of others. We need to begin to purge ourselves of the pettiness and selfishness that engulfs so many. These are times that awaken, in us, the powers of fortitude and patience in our dealings with one another.
These are times when the following Psalm comes to life;
"עוברי בעמק הבכה מעין ישיתוהו גם ברכות יעטה מורה"
"They pass through a valley of tears and convert it into a life giving fountain".
I read, recently, that, in Israel, there is a rare cactus plant on which grows an exquisitely lovely flower. The flower is called "Queen of the Night", because it has the strange characteristic of blooming only in the darkest part of the night. When the blackness is deepest the Queen of the Night blossoms forth.
We can learn from this. that in our suffering and in our state of mournfulness, we will and we must shine forth in our entire Judaic and human splendor, and never to let hate and bigotry, overpower us, and to remember we are all bedecked in the garment of G-D'S Glory.
Robert Browning said it magnificently:
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And never a word said she,
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me.
How we attend to our catastrophe and our bereavement will depend on our attitude and our perception of sorrow and how it can help us grow in spirit and in our relationship to each other and especially in our greater dedication and commitment to Torah. All this can help assuage, somewhat, the pain that we are experiencing at this horrific moment.
Our Torah reading this Shabbat speaks of the death of Sarah and how Avraham came to mourn and cry for her at the funeral. We, then, read that after the Hesped was delivered,” ויקם אברהם מעל פני מתו, And Avraham arose from before his dead.”
The Rav, commenting on the expression ויקם that Avraham arose, reflected on Avraham’s deep mourning after the burial of his beloved Sarah and how he was able to "lift himself up" out of his state of bereavement. He did so by realizing that though Sarah died, her spirit would live on as the Mother of K’lall Yisrael. She will always be alive in those she left behind and in those that she influenced in her lifetime. Truth be told, we are privileged that Sarah Imenu our Matriarchcontinues to inspire Klal Yisrael even today.
In a similar way, the martyrs who were murdered in Congregation Etz Chaim, will live on in our hearts and minds. They will always be remembered and continue to be The Tree of Life, inspiring us to be proud Jews.
We pray for their Neshamot. We pray that all evil should be eradicated from this world. Let us pray that we will experience the coming of the Mashiach in our time B’mheira B’yameinu.
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