Since March we have lived in the Berkshires. Safe in place, we biked, walked, practiced yoga, and pursued lots of Jewish study. These unprecedented times have opened our hearts and purses. We have supported several people who have suffered financially from the pandemic, taking them under our wings. I reestablished a deep connection with a childhood friend.
My mother passed away in April. Burying her was an unconventional process . Thanks to TBE clergy, a zoom funeral and shiva felt immensely healing. The more challenging part of the past few months was the feeling of isolation. Family and friends mean so much to me. Zooms are helpful but not as fulfilling as being together.
I enrolled in several zoom classes at Hebrew College. I was reminded that I am a “walker,” striving to grow and to ascend from rung to rung. I let the beauty I love be what I do. The past few months have been humbling. Few controls. Lots of uncertainty. Pain and suffering in the world. I was reminded that there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. L’shana Tova
Pri Tzaddik on Vayelech
“All the days of his life, a person is called a ‘walker’. This is the difference between an angel and a human being . . . An angel is called a ‘stander’, because an angel always stands still on just one level. But a human being is not like this . . . A person always has to be walking, always striving to grow and to ascend from rung to rung – until he reaches his eternal resting place. And so, when it says, ‘Vayelech Moshe’, we understand that Moshe was always walking, always ascending; and here in this parasha, is his halicha achrona, his final walk. That is why he says, ‘Lo uchal od latzet v’lavo’ – “I can’t continue to go out and come in anymore.” He was no longer capable of falling, and rising up again – because it is through falling (through our failures) that we continue to ascend. When you can’t fall anymore, you can’t go up; when you can’t go out, you can’t return – and when you reach that point, you’ve reached the last rung. That is why the parasha begins ‘Vayelech’ — because it was Moshe’s final walk. ‘V’chen tzarich kol adam l’hiyot holechtamid.’ And so, every person has to keep walking always.”
Keep Walking
Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings. I
Move within, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
—Rumi
