Friday Dispatch: How Do We Bear It?
Responding to the unfathomable
Friday greetings,
On a Tuesday morning last July, I wandered into the beit midrash of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. It was the first day of the Rabbinic Torah Seminar. A couple was standing inside the doorway. I admit they felt a bit larger than life in that they both struck me as completely at ease in the space and established in their roles.
As one of a small number of non-clergy in attendance, I was aware that impostor syndrome held the potential to diminish my presence and rob me of the opportunity to learn and connect deeply over the coming nine days. I was equally cognizant that this was my call, that I could choose to show up as authentically and wholeheartedly as possible, with humility, curiosity, openness, and gratitude for the opportunity.
I took a deep breath and introduced myself. Cantor Ruth Berman Harris and Rabbi Laurence Harris, I learned, were from Pasadena. Their daughter Talia, they told me with a parental glow I immediately related to, was also there as a member of the Hartman team. We chatted for a few minutes, then I picked up the packet for the opening shiur (lecture/class) and found a seat.
Fast forward to Friday night, Kabbalat Shabbat services in the downstairs of Kehilat Kol HaNeshama, where I squeezed into the crowded room filled with people of all ages sitting and standing in concentric rings around Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan and the Nava Tehila musicians in the center.
Rabbi Harris and Cantor Berman Harris were on my right. Any self-consciousness I had felt mere days before melted away. We were fellow Jews, held by the psalms and songs of Shabbat in our holy land.
(This video is a few years old, but if you want to experience this service, I highly recommend it.)
The following Thursday on the last day of the Seminar, Rabbi Harris and I had a meaningful exchange. (Well, it was meaningful to me! I have no idea if he would even remember it.) And as we said goodbye, he extended an invitation to stay at their guest house if I ever found myself in Pasadena.
Yesterday morning, as I continued watching in utter disbelief as fires ravaged Southern California, I urgently Googled their names as I reached out to people I know in the affected areas. This is how I learned that the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center had been completely destroyed by the Eaton Fire.
An article in The Forward describes the two of them rescuing Torahs from the flames, and quotes Cantor Berman Harris: “The Torah is a living dialogue. There’s no more raw reminder of our resilience than carrying our traditions forward and finding a new way to rebuild. It’s the story of our people, and it’s tangible now in a way that it hasn’t been for generations.”
This photo is from the same article:
The devastation we are witnessing, and tens of thousands of people are experiencing firsthand, is unfathomable. Ungraspable. My heart hurts as my mind keeps trying to fathom the scale of loss.
As is my way, I turned to poetry.
How do we call on the One
who created flood and fire
when flood and fire overtake us?
How do we put down
our grievances and pick up
our most precious belongings,
how do we hold each other's hands
while fleeing rushing rivers, consuming infernos?
How do we meet what was never meant to be?
How do you bear it, what we have done
with your magnificence – this land
and its inhabitants, these bodies
and their miraculous highways
of breath and spirit?
How do we bear it,
not knowing if you are there
in the water or there in the flame
or there between us as we weep
amidst so much destruction?
I call out to you now,
and listen for your response.
What if G-d’s response comes through each of us?
We are living in extreme times. More and more of us will experience climate-related trauma, no matter where we live. The sheer magnitude of loss is staggering.
Recalling meeting Rabbi Harris and Cantor Berman Harris last summer reminded me of all the ways we are connected – as Jews, as neighbors, as witnesses and as fellow human beings. All of this is so personal.
To that end, here are two ways to help:
Note that 100% of gifts to the Wildfire Crisis Relief Fund of the Jewish Federation of L.A. will go directly to those who most need it.
May we transform helplessness and bewilderment into care, to the best of our ability.
Shabbat Shalom and love,
Jena
Thirty Days of Writing Community, Inspiration, and Accountability
I’m so pleased to be one of the presenters for the HerStories Project Incubator. We are talking 30 days of planning, organizing, learning, building habits, and collaborating alongside other midlife women.
Full disclosure: When you sign up using THIS LINK, I receive a portion of your registration fee.
Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger, co-founders of HerStories and Midstory Magazine, are the real deal when it comes to creating spaces for connection and creativity. I highly recommend signing up if you could use an infusion of writing mojo this month!
Fierce Encouragement Living Room Workshops
To celebrate the upcoming publication of my new book, Fierce Encouragement: 201 Writing Prompts for Staying Grounded in Fragile Times, I’m hitting the road… with your help!
I’m seeking collaborators to host a cozy & intimate workshop in your home.
Hosts will:
Live within a three-hour radius of Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
Have a space that comfortably accommodates 12+ people.
Be willing to provide nonalcoholic drinks and snacks.
Be excited to get the word out to help fill the workshop (10-person minimum).
Attend the workshop for free and receive an inscribed copy of the book!
Participants will:
Explore the benefits and barriers to starting and maintaining a writing practice.
Experience the power of writing prompts and the magic of freewriting using a timer.
Get creative in a welcoming and non-judgmental space.
Have the opportunity to reconnect with themselves through writing.
The cost for participants ($68) will include a signed copy of Jena’s new book!
I’m interested! Now what?
Hooray!
Just hit REPLY. Tell me where you are and anything else you’d like to share, and I’ll contact you soon to set up a time to discuss the possibilities. Alternatively, you can also use the form on my website.
❤️💔❤️