My Disjointed October 7 Thoughts

What are you feeling today? 

My mind is swirling with memories, pain, pride, love and our constant yearning. 

Forgive me if my thoughts are somewhat disjointed. As I collect myself to write this message, I feel the constant ricochet of the year behind us. The lowest, most terrifying lows, the highest most grateful highs, pain beyond measure, indescribable unity. 

We learned this year that a broken heart can still beat. We learned that our Jewish souls are more connected than we ever knew. 

We learned that we can fall to our knees and cry out in agony for a fellow Jew we have never met before in this lifetime. Our brothers and sisters. 

We learned that we are a nation of heroes. The courage amongst us seems to be immeasurable. 

Still, while we take note of the date, the pain is not over. We are in the midst of this war against evil. There is work yet to be done. 

We still await our hostages. A longing so constant it’s like walking around with a phantom limb. 

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We pray and we pray and we pray for our soldiers to eradicate this nefarious evil and come back quickly to their families, alive and without trauma. 

After thousands of years of galus, painful, horrible exile, it appears our generation is tasked with finally, FINALLY standing up for ourselves. Our grandparents did not have the luxury of self defense as they were slaughtered en masse. It is our tikkun, our job to amend that horrible past, to stand up for our birthright, for morality and for Hashem Himself. 

They scream Death to the Jews. We sing AM YISRAEL CHAI. Somehow the united song of our tiny nation can completely drown out the mountainous hate of so many. 

Together, we take a moment to exhale some of the pain we all carry. There is work yet to be done. 

Do a mitzvah in memory of those we’ve lost. Learn 10 minutes of Torah in the merit of our soldiers and hostages to return home. Dance despite the tears. Bring joy into the world for all those cannot. 

Lots of Jamie