Healing After Orlando: Our Cries Can Change Us and Our World

A few weeks ago, I woke up, excited about the day ahead.  It was a sleepy Sunday morning, but more importantly, it was the Jewish holiday of Shavout!  In just a few hours, we’d gather in our sanctuary for Confirmation.  Our 10^th grade students would don their white robes, lead us in prayer, and share stories about their Jewish journeys.  As I jumped out of bed, I grabbed my phone, and that’s when I saw the news that stopped me dead in my tracks: 49 people dead, countless others injured.  It was like a punch in the stomach.  Another shooting, another terrorist attack, another massacre.  In the last few years: Columbine, Boston, Sandy Hook, and now Orlando.  Too many killed, too many maimed, too many hurt, physically and emotionally.  

Long ago, the Israelites felt a similar punch in the stomach.  Miriam, one of the leaders of the community, and Moses’ sister, was struck with a terrible skin condition.  Without warning and very dramatically, Miriam encountered a horrible and debilitating disease.  It was a shock to all and it was devastating to Moses.  Like the attack in Orlando, this moment seemed incomprehensible.  His sister was struck with a terrible illness, unlikely to get better.  The world that he knew was upturned and nothing felt normal.  He felt powerless to do anything at all, so he did what he could do, he prayed to God with these words: El Na Rafah Na Lah, “O God, please heal her!”

This prayer is one of the shortest in Jewish tradition.  It consists of only 11 letters, five words.  Each of the words, except for God’s name, ends with a vowel.  It’s as much a cry as a prayer: El Na Rafah Na Lah, “O God, please heal her!”  Moses felt like we did after the attack: an unease, feelings of mourning, a brute sense of fear and misery.  He asked the same questions we did: “How could this happen?  What can we do to move forward?”

It’s been almost two weeks since the attack at the Pulse night club.  For many of us, we’ve moved passed the feelings of shock and fear.  We’ve moved on to another phase of mourning: of longing for the past; of anger that these attacks continue to happen in our country.  We might even feel a willingness to move forward, to do something.

The Torah teaches that the Israelite people did not travel forth until Miriam was fully healed.  They waited in the camp for over seven days, until she was reunited with the community.  Only after time and healing, could the community move forward.  We’ve lost too many innocent men, women, and children who are no longer able to rejoin us.  They’ve been taken away from us by hatred, by violence, by bombs, by bullets.  How can we move forward without them?  In many ways it’s easy to allow these moments of violence to become the status quo.  After an attack, we rush to social media to update our profile picture or to post on facebook or twitter.  That is helpful, but is it enough?  A few days later, everything fades away, our sadness disappears, our anger dissipates, and then we continue on with life.  These moments of bloodshed become the new normal and that is terrifying!

Moses cried out to God.  His cry was blunt and from the heart.  El Na Rafah Na Lah.  “O God, please heal her!”  His cry rose up to the heavens and God heeded his request.  Our cry must be heard too.  We must not remain silent or indifferent after these terrible tragedies.  We can’t allow ourselves to settle in to the status quo and allow these massacres to continue.  Our cries must reach up to the heavens, but they also must reach towards the halls of our state capitols and Washington DC.  May our cries change us and may our cries change our world.

The Rainbow: A Prayer for Orlando

O Holy One, Creator of all Living Creatures,

Our hearts are broken after the carnage and devastation of Orlando.

Fifty innocent people murdered and countless others injured.

They gathered to dance, to sing, to gather with friends.

This was a place of refuge, where they could be true to themselves.

Yet, hatred darkened our world, storm clouds blocked the joyful sun.

Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender young people,

murdered for who they are and who they love.

A month of pride, so full of celebration, now dampened under clouds.

Long ago, our world was darkened by a flood of water.

Storms brewed and the sun’s soft glow seemed a distant memory.

When all hope seemed lost, You provided a most magnificent gift: an array of vibrant color.

The rainbow symbolizes the fight for LGBT Equality.

The rainbow represents pride in our identities.

The rainbow reminds us of the everlasting covenant between you and all living creatures.

As the storm clouds continue to blow, may sunlight make its entrance.

May the bow in the sky break down barriers of the unknown.

May its vibrant palette remind us that love can conquer all hate.

May its beautiful colors remind us that each of us are created in your image, each of us are holy, sacred, and special.  Amen

Don't Let Summer Pass You By

I love Summer!  It’s a time when life slows down.  The longer days, the warmer weather, the break from school, makes it a less stressful couple of months.  There’s a bit more time to relax, to travel, to read a good book.  It’s truly a time to renew ourselves from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the year.

In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about the ultimate summer… the sabbatical!  The Torah teaches that every seven years, every single person in the community: man, woman, and child, the hired hand, and even the slave, were freed from all work and responsibility.  How unbelievable!  One year in every seven, EVERYONE was able to rest and relax. 

Now, I assume that most of us don’t have the luxury of taking a full year off from school or work or home responsibilities!  Perhaps we can get away for a week or two or maybe a month, but usually not for much more.  Imagine all of the things that you’d be able to achieve during a year away from your normal responsibilities?  What would you attempt to accomplish?  What goals would you hope to achieve?  What new skills would you like to learn?

We might not have the luxury of a year-long sabbatical like our ancestors, but we do have the ability to mark time differently.  Memorial Day Weekend is the Summer kick-off.  I’ve done the homework for you…  There’s 102 days until the arrival of Labor Day!  Think about that, over 100 days, almost 1/3 of a year until the end of summer.  Yet, when Labor Day arrives, we’ll say how quickly time flew by.  What I encourage you to do is to mark time differently.  How can we make each day a meaningful one, a significant one?

It’s so easy to just let time float bye, to let our days and months fill up with responsibilities and obligations.  I encourage you to take a few moments to think about your hopes for the months ahead and make a plan for a meaningful summer!

Don’t get me wrong… it’s not all about Fun!  As I said before, it’s truly about renewal.  Yes, our ancestors had the year free from the back-backing labor in the field.  However, the Torah didn’t stop there!  Not only did human beings rest, but the Torah teaches that even the animals and land rested!  The core theme of the sabbatical year IS RENEWAL!  The land lay fallow to allow the soil to regenerate, so that the bounty of nature can be replenished in the years to come!

Yes, this sabbatical year was a year of renewal: for the people, the animals, the land, but WHY?  The rabbis teach us about the significant work of Tikkun Middot, the healing of our souls.  The sabbatical year was an opportunity to renew our lives, after six years of stress, of being overworked, overwhelmed, with too much on our plate.  Why this year of renewal?  We need to feel whole before we can do the hard work of Tikkun Olam, of healing our world!  We start with ourselves, so that we can begin to fix our world! 

It is seemingly a coincidence that this week’s Torah portion falls on the start of summer, but it serves as the ultimate reminder of what the next few months should become: Marking Our Days and taking time to renew ourselves, so we can renew our world.  May we savor these precious summer days, so that we can be energized for the year ahead!