MONDAY MUSINGS: MENDING THE PIECES

MONDAY MUSINGS mark Little Rock's 13th year to participate in Global Jewish Learning with 400 other communities. 

As the invite stated 'this year's theme is Rebuilding and how Jewish tradition helps us reconstruct our lives, communities and families after loss. These are not just lectures but meant to spark discussion.'

Of course,  these sections can just scratch the surface of what could be very in-depth lengthy discussions but are only allotted a little over an hour.  We could choose 2 session preferences. 

This past Sunday morning was divided into 2 time periods with 4 different presentations with 2 moderators each. 

-Picking Up, Dusting Off and Bouncing Back

-Rebuilding After the Loss of a Loved One

-Rebuilding Family Relationships

-Rebuilding the Past, Envisioning the Future

The first two topics spoke to me as I continue down this path of grieving. 

"  While it is true that life can never be exactly the same as it was before the experience of a loss, it can have a transformative power, providing an opportunity to rebuild a 'new' life that is informed by one's life before the loss, as well as by the loss itself."

Scripture shared yesterday included the story of Moses receiving the stone tablets with the 10 commandments. Remember when the golden calves were worshipped and those tablets were smashed. New ones eventually replaced those but the broken pieces of the first set were also placed in the ark. Why would these be lugged around when there is a new set?

Recently I also learned the Japanese story of Kintsugi where broken pottery is mended with melted gold. This image sticks with me as I am hoping to become whole again with perhaps a different, yet better version of myself.

Hope and reconnection may be aided by one's religious traditions such as saying the mourner's prayer ( the Kaddish) /Shiva, the mourning period even in COVID times gave me great solace being surrounded by friends and family during the week on Zoom.

Reparation is not an easy, quick task and discussions like this program regarding loss remind us of the resilience of our People throughout history. We persevered and it's up to us to take the steps to move forward and make our world a better place both individually and within our communities...