Shalom-Hola Beloved Nahalat Shalom Community and friends!
I miss you all so much and I look forward to communicating with you via zoom (or other virtual platforms), email and phone soon. Even though these days are bringing me much needed peaceful solitude, quietness and times of deep thought, I am, by nature, a "people person" and an outdoor person - and I know many of you are as well. My cousin MJ in Boston, who is an animal lover and dog lover recently said, "Now I really understand why the dogs make a run for the door every time it opens!"
In facing the sorrow and grief of this world crisis, I am still grateful for this personal time of peace - even for the uncertainty in a world where all is often micro-planned and controlled, but more than anything, I am really looking forward to joyfully celebrating our friendships, playing music, dancing, and sharing our love of nature - in person - and soon! B"H!!
Many of us are spending a lot more time "on-line" and on our devices as the only way to keep in touch with each other and with what is going on in the world around us. I am now teaching all of my music students via Zoom, FaceTime, etc... which really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I am also tuning in more to some of the mass media (mostly PBS, BBC, NPR and KUNM) and reading more newspapers, magazine articles and spiritual links (such as The Forward, ALEPH/KolAleph, etc...). I have been learning much about how to cope with these times, as well as drawing much inspiration from stories of how people are reaching out to help others across the globe and in their own communities. I want to share 4 links to articles and interviews that have been especially inspiring to me (if you can't link up - please let me know and I'll copy and paste the text to an email for you).
First, I just sadly learned of our loss of the beloved singer/ song-writer Bill Withers Z"L, he was 81 years old - and did not die from the virus. I have been singing and thinking a lot about his song lately "Lean on Me"- click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de00ajXMUX0
#2- "Community. Ritual. Joy: That's how we survived AIDS, and how we'll survive coronavirus" an empowering article for all - queer, straight, ... in The Forward by Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum who serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah: https://forward.com/opinion/441540/community-ritual-joy-thats-how-we-survived-aids-and-how-well-survive/
#3- An interview on the PBS show Amanpour and Co.: "Grief Expert: "We Are Grieving the World We Have Now Lost" - Michel Martin interviews grief expert David Kessler, author of "The Sixth Stage of Grief," and who worked with Mother Teresa as well as Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, renowned grief expert and author of the "Five Stages of Grief." http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/grief-expert-we-are-grieving-the-world-we-have-now-lost/
#4- An inspiring article by "our own" Rabbi Shefa Gold: "Spiritual Curriculum for this Time of Pandemic: Working With Fear." Expanding on her much-loved and appreciated sermon about fear and our lizard brains that she shared with us during the High Holidays: https://kolaleph.org/2020/04/02/spiritual-curriculum-for-this-time-of-pandemic-working-with-fear/
Last, I have recently been blessed with a new friendship via our Nahalat Shalom outreach (e-news, fabebook...) in response to my message I sent last week, I have been gifted a new friend in Philadelphia, who shared his appreciation of the light from our community and a beautiful poem he wrote:
When I deeply listen to you
From the writings of Rafi Lev
When I deeply listen to you
Your journey becomes mine
We travel to places
I have never touched
Save through your firm grasp
When I deeply listen to you
Our stories become one
And things I've never understood
Are now more familiar through
Your gentle gaze
When I deeply listen to you
No matter where we've gone
What we've seen or
How we've done it
Your home
Becomes mine
When I deeply listen to you
Please join me and your community tonight at 6:30 pm. See zoom information below.
Shabbat Shalom
Cantor Beth
Friday, April 3, 6:30 - 7:30 pm ET, ZOOM
Der Zoomisher Freylekher Shabes
ZOOM Meeting ID: 701 285 562 (Password 860377)
If you haven't used ZOOM before, go to zoom.us and follow instructions.