After a very crunchy Pesach, we are trying to get everyone back on schedule. Not easy with a busy house! But fortunately all the Pesach dishes are put away for another year and I think we have swept up all of our Matzah crumbs which are almost as sneaky as our chametz! I hope everyone had a meaningful Pesach. We had a house full of company over Sedar and combined with a few activities we were able to at least for the week put aside some of our spiritual chametz along with everything else.
We spent the week of Passover focusing on our Exodus out of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and the triumph we felt at being able to leave a horrible situation. However, last week we were already focusing on yet another tragedy that befell the Jewish people. Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day. A day when not just Israel remembers what was done during that time, but a day when the entire world remembers. Like our Pesach Sedar, it is a day that WE as Jews remember that it happened to US. WE went out of Mitzrayim and it was with G-d's help that we did. It wasn't Jews of long ago; it was our families, our children, our relatives. It is in this same way that I remember the Holocaust. Because regardless of the time that lapses, any tragedy that occurs during the time of the Jewish people remains with us forever. We understand that the lives of those affected before us are still felt long after the physical tragedy occurs. The grandparents who were unable to pass on stories or recipes from their own childhood, the parents who were unable to raise their own children and live to become grandparents and of course the children who never were fully able to bring their own light to this world by continuing their family lineage. As I try to explain the tragedy of the Holocaust to the children in our family, I tried to focus on the tragedy as well as the legacy. Those who survived and lived to tell their own stories as well as the stories of those who had no voice. I wanted to bridge the gap between tragedy and triumph, to bridge the time between a generation that is nearly gone and connect it to one that is new and fresh. It is from the ashes of that time period that we see hope of today and in our future. We know that G-d will redeem us and it is this time that we look forward to, that we pray for daily both during the week and on Shabbat. It is with this in mind that I pray for G-d to bring us quickly out of the diaspora and bring all the Jews together as one in Eretz Yisrael, where we will finally be able to pray to the third and final Temple with eternal peace and harmony. May it come speedily in our day.
As we look toward the coming month, there is tragedy but also hope, we remember the fallen of the Israeli Defense Force, then we remember the elation at seeing Israel celebrate yet another birthday as a State under our own rule, the light of Lag B'Omer as we remember the light that brought us out of another tragedy and the great Rabbis' that brought us there, particularly Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and finally we prepare to received the Torah on Shavuot. We renew our desire to learn the Torah with love and to teach our children as well, so that the light of the Torah will always shine regardless of the challenges that each generation faces. In the coming weeks, I will be reflecting on these days individually and together as I prepare myself and my family for Shavuot.
Shavua Tov (Have a good week) and may you be blessed in all your endeavors.
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