As I sat down to blog, the news reports starting flying in. Unconfirmed rumors at first, quickly morphing into verified news reports with the worst.
The boys were gone.
Everything else just pales in comparison. What, I should talk about Oprah’s interview with a Seventh Day Adventist? Link an article about how community is the number one compelling factor in Jewish engagement? Include something about which we disagree? Link a cutesy icon with the title of this post?
I don’t think so.
One of the most chilling – in a good way – things about this whole awful event was how united we became. We all prayed – no matter what our affiliation. We all cared – no matter what our beliefs. We all were united in our fear, hope, and ultimately grief.
Can we keep that up? That awareness that nothing supersedes unity? That while it takes the worst events to bring it out, maybe we can try, just a little, in their merits, to keep it up?
Can we sing the sad song together?
While there are no words, Judaism does give us words. Those words are “baruch dayan ha-emet” – blessed is the true judge. It’s one of the hardest mitzvot to fulfill. To affirm, in our pain, that God is a just and compassionate power. Jews all over the world are saying it, are singing that sad song.
May the souls of Gilad, Eyal, and Naftali find peace and honor and may God avenge their murders.
That is all. No more words.
I'm not sure why, out of all the awful things that happen every day, this has struck me particularly. I am a mother to two little boys and while these three boys were missing I saw their mothers speak. They were so graceful. I had such hope that these boys would somehow, eventually, return home safely to their families. How devastating to discover this is not to be.
Me too. I have a 16 year old…every time my mind drifts dangerously close to reenacting the parents' emotions, I draw back. Maybe that's awful but I just can't fully go there in my mind.
Ruchi, I don't think that's awful, that you draw back from letting your mind go there: I think it's natural to stop from going down a mental path that is unimaginably painful, and would not help anyone by you doing it( hope you don't mind me saying that) I was thinking of you when I heard about it….I was in bed, heard it on the radio, and knew there was a particular blessing I wanted to say, and it wouldn't come to mind, and I thought"Ruchi will know it"…..Baruch Dayan ha-emet. That's it. Unimaginably awful. All I could say was, Oh, G-d, no….