First Mother's Day without mother. Her first yarhtzeit (anniversary of passing) is Wednesday.
The truth is, that while Mother's Day is a great way to appreciate our amazing moms, it's simply an opportunity, but certainly not a limitation. Moms are far more important than a single day out of the year. They tirelessly invest in our wellbeing, sleepless nights, lunchboxes packed with love, walking us to the bus stop with a prayer that we have a safe and successful day.
The Ten Commandments are split into two segments the ones related to the divine, and the interpersonal relationships. Honoring our parents is firmly placed in the divine category. Because what our parents offer us; life, stability, and love, is in the realm of the divine, and deserves recognition every.
So while I may not be able to send flowers to my mom on Sunday, I know that she is here. In me. The divine is timeless, and so is her Neshama (soul). Her investment of energy, nurture, care, and love, live on through me. And hopefully, I can do her proud.
So as we appreciate moms across the community with bouquets of flowers, I know that my mom would approve.
To my mom, to Devorah, and to all the moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!
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This photo of the Passover Seder is NOT from last month!!! It was taken last
night in Israel.
Today is "Pesach Sheni"- the "Second Passover." It is the Jewish day of "second chances" because in Judaism - there is always a second chance.
What is the story behind Eli Beer's Passover Seder in May?
Two weeks ago, when Eli Beer woke up from his coma, he asked: When is Pesach?
No one had the heart to tell him that Passover had already come and gone.
Beer, the founder of United Hatzalah, a worldwide volunteer ambulance corp, had been hospitalized in Miami after contracting the Coronavirus there. Sedated, in a coma for over a month, he miraculously woke up to a renewed life.
Back in Israel where he resides with his family, Beer told the Israeli media that it was inconceivable to him that Passover had come and gone, and that he had not celebrated.
"How can a Jew miss Pesach?" Beer reflected.
In a coma for the whole duration of Pesach, he wanted a second chance.
Conventional wisdom maintains: "Opportunity does not knock twice," but Judaism teaches us not to give up even when all seems lost. Passover actually has a follow-up, a "second chances" holiday, called Pesach Sheni, the second Passover. This holiday was created after the Exodus, back in the desert, on the anniversary of the first Passover. A group of Jews who were ritually impure were not able to perform the Passover offering in its proper time. Not wanting to be left out of this important mitzvah, they requested of Moses that they be given a second chance.
There is a tradition to eat Matzah today, and more importantly, contemplate the power the Torah gives us to always have a second chance.
It is never too late to connect more to family members, to our community and to G-d.
This lockdown brings with it many challenges, but also many golden opportunities to repair the broken. Whether it be in our personality traits, in relationships with our loved ones or friends, in our connection to G-d - this time of isolation breeds introspection and the ability for correction.
Just like Eli, we can have a second chance.