This past year has been full of tremendous joy and unbound sorrow – exquisite light and dreadful darkness. In April I went to Israel and helped to remove floral deformations from several mango orchards in the north. I was in Haifa for Shabbat on April 13. I travelled to Tel Aviv the next morning, trying to arrange a flight out as mine was cancelled due to the missiles from Iran and Pesach was coming.
Today I am trying to write something meaningful about the past 10 months, something to help my friends in our AC community.
It’s August and we are vacationing on a sailboat. Today we did laundry, showered and Hannah is provisioning at a supermarket. We’ve been on the boat for 12 nights, mostly in remote places. We haven’t had a fresh vegetable for a while, except kelp. Is kelp kosher? Turns out it is. Last year we went up the St. John River in New Brunswick. This year we were headed to Nova Scotia when the boat had some issues. So we’ve reset our course, focusing more on the here and now and a bit less on the destination.
My dad who passed in 2006 is with us. Telling me Easy Does It, although that was the last thing he said when I was our children’s age. His refrain was “what are you, mad at the world?” My response, “yes”, didn’t help. That said – he’s here, happy that I’m here with my own family. Very aware that the water we are floating upon is the same water that splashes the shores of Israel… and Gaza. Somehow my father was able to be close to the dark and appreciate the light. And that’s my experience these past 10 months. Today, our collective reality feels dark, and I’ll cleave to the light.
