A New View on Frozen Tag

 Dear Friends,


As we usher in the New Year, we celebrated by going to see the Musical "Frozen."  

I was intrigued and challenged by the lyrics from the following song.  Please note the highlighted sections.  (see below).

When I think about the personal challenges that people face and the societal issues that the world is wrestling with, I believe that there is wisdom in "letting it go."  In Judaism, we call "letting it go" teshuvah or repentance or making changes in our lives.

I wonder how many of us can really make changes and let things go.  As I get older I see how difficult it can be to let certain things go. I also wonder whether we all hold grudges or have perspectives that we just can't relinquish.  As a teenager, my dad gave me a quote that was attributed to Eddie Robinson, a football coach at Grambling State University  who said "the key to success is the ability to adapt."

Perhaps his message and the message of the song from "Frozen" is that we need to let go of some of our long held grudges and/or negative energy.  As we begin 2024, I hope that we can find ways to move on and be open to new perspectives about the issues with which we are dealing.

I also wonder if the lyrics might mean that we should search inside our hearts and souls and find something important to us and let it go wherever it takes us, opening new horizons for us in the new year.

Finally, I was moved by the way in which true love was expressed by one sister reaching out and touching her sister to unfreeze her.  I remembered playing frozen tag recently with our grandchildren and how special it was when one of them would unfreeze me in our games of tag.

May we build a world that will thaw out a bit in 2024 and may we enjoy warmer and more loving and caring relationships.  Perhaps we might even find hidden or previously  frozen parts of our personality that we can let go and enrich our lives and the lives of those with whom we have contact.

B'shalom,

Rabbi Bruce Aft

Lyrics
The snow glows white on the mountain tonightNot a footprint to be seenA kingdom of isolationAnd it looks like I'm the queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm insideCouldn't keep it in, heaven knows I triedDon't let them in, don't let them seeBe the good girl you always have to beConceal, don't feel, don't let them knowWell, now they know
Let it go, let it goCan't hold it back anymoreLet it go, let it goTurn away and slam the doorI don't care what they're going to sayLet the storm rage onThe cold never bothered me anyway
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem smallAnd the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at allIt's time to see what I can doTo test the limits and break throughNo right, no wrong, no rules for meI'm free
Let it go, let it goI am one with the wind and skyLet it go, let it goYou'll never see me cryHere I stand and here I stayLet the storm rage on
My power flurries through the air into the groundMy soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all aroundAnd one thought crystallizes like an icy blastI'm never going back, the past is in the past
Let it go, let it goAnd I'll rise like the break of dawnLet it go, let it goThat perfect girl is goneHere I stand in the light of dayLet the storm rage onThe cold never bothered me anyway
Source: LyricFind.

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