One of Rosh HaShana’s major themes is birth: We call this holiday yom harat olam, “the birthday of the world.” In the Torah and Haftara we read of the long-awaited births of Isaac and Samuel. This year, as a new parent myself, this theme is a powerful expression of hope.
Pushing my four-month-old’s stroller down the street in Massachusetts this summer, a man in a car pulled over to say, “We need more babies in Stockbridge!” He paused and added, “The average age here is 63.”
Every time I take the baby out, strangers approach me. Their faces soften, their eyes relax, they lean in and ask, “How old is your baby?” or “What is her name?” In Strauss Park, a man in a white tank top on the bench across from us cannot stop smiling. His grandson is three months old. He takes out his phone to show a picture. In the elevator at Fairway, a gray-haired woman whispers, “How does she sleep?” On 110th and Broadway, a woman who is asking for money pauses, sees the expression on my face as I gaze into the stroller and laughingly declares, “You know that’s her first!”
I spend the day immersed in the most mundane and physical of details — formula, diapers, spit up — and at night, I lie in bed looking at photos of the child that just went to sleep, grabbing my lip with her little hand as I rock her.
These moments with her bring a peace, a calm that is profound and beautiful, connecting strangers with an unexpected gentleness. Yes, we need more babies in Stockbridge…and everywhere else.
