Tag: gratitude

An Open Letter to My Friends Who Survived – on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)

To my dear friends Howard and Margot, Dow and Fredzia and so many others:

I think about you often, but my heart is with you especially today – on Yom Ha’shoah V’ha’gevurah,  Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day.

Each of you survived the Holocaust and made it through those terrible years. Each of you has your own unique story of war, struggle, anguish and survival. And each of you has not merely “survived” – each has gone on to create lives of meaning and purpose, gratitude and love.

You are the epitome of the definition of ‘resilience’. You exemplify by how you live your lives that ‘good’ will triumph over ‘evil’ and that the human spirit cannot be broken. And you show us how an affirmation of God’s presence during difficult times brings us strength and courage to persevere.

You help us to understand that we must use our voices to speak out against racism and against evil. We must be the ones to ensure that ‘never again’ will the world experience such unspeakable heinous acts committed against our fellow human beings.

The world still has its share of hatred and violence and evil. There are those who exist who do not acknowledge that every human being is made “b’tzelem Elohim”  – in the image of God. And they choose to try to harm, hurt or destroy those they view as “less than human.” But you are the inspiration that we do have the ability to affect change. We have the power to use our voices, our deeds and actions to eradicate the evil in our midst. As Elie Wiesel said: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides.”

Tonight we will light candles in memory of those who perished. We will remember in silence, we will reflect, we will pray.

And then inspired by you – and in memory of those who perished, we will continue to work to change our world.

Zichronam livracha – may their memories be for a blessing.

Candle

Gratitude – A Lesson from Love and Loss

59 years of marriage.

Two children.

Three grandchildren.

A life filled with the blessings of love, friendship, joy, shared passions.

A life filled with meaning and purpose, community, Jewish living and serving others.

A few days ago, as we sat and ate lunch together, I listened to the beautiful story of my congregant and his wife. How he served in the Armed Forces, how they raised a family, worked hard in their professions and how they gave back to their community in so very many ways.

His wife died this past November after almost 59 years of marriage. He told me that at first, he would wake up in the morning and turn to her side of the bed, look for her…and realize that she wasn’t coming back.

She tried to prepare him for this moment when she first became ill. She taught him how to cook, how to cope on his own.

His children and grandchildren call him every day. And he realized that even though his beloved is gone, he is still alive.

His wife is still with him each and every day. She lives in his heart, his mind and his memory. Her presence reminds him that he must live his life to its fullest. So he is trying his best.

His overwhelming feeling now is a sense of GRATITUDE. Gratitude for the years they spent together, for the life they built, for the children they raised, for the works of their hands and the deeds of their hearts.

He puts one foot in front of the other. He finds fulfillment in his many friendships, music and community. His children and grandchildren are great sources of pride and joy, who share some of his passions and sense of adventure. And now that he has time, he is volunteering again. For him, “gratitude” means opening your heart and hands to others.

Despite his sadness and pain at the death of his beloved wife, my beautiful congregant exemplifies our Jewish custom of reciting “modeh ani” – “I thank you” to the Eternal each and every morning. When we recite “modeh ani” each morning, we thank God for allowing us to awake once again to a new day, to live our lives with meaning and purpose, with joy and contentment, and to make a difference in this world.

May he have many more years of living life with gratitude, joy and meaning. May we be inspired to do the same.