31 weeks/Vision

Dear Friends, As we begin the month of November where we celebrate Thanksgiving and give thanks for all our blessings, I want to write about a number of things that should bring joy to all of us as we continue to miss Sue so very much.   This week, an old friend reached out and reminded me of something I have taught so many people over the years.  Death may end a life but it never ends a relationship.  And to all of you who knew Sue, I know that our relationships with Sue will always remain strong because love and kindness matter.  The Psalmist tells us that love conquers death and so our relationships with her will always remind us of hope and optimism in the midst of despair and challenges.  I continue to need you  to remind me about this in the midst of my sadness. Secondly, a cousin of mine found pictures of Sue from when she spent a gap year in Israel working on a Kibbutz.  She sent me two pictures of Sue from her time on the Kibbutz (my cousin knew her before I did).  I was able to see her when she was 17 or 18 and once again was reminded about how lucky I was to have had the courage to joke around with her in class and how blessed I was to have her friendship for over 50 years.   She truly was my beloved and friend as it says on our wedding rings. Thirdly, although those of us reading this share many different political views, Sue was active in supporting the candidates of her choice and would have been happy that Americans expressed their dissatisfaction with our polarized world this past week at the ballot box.  One thing we can all agree on is that there is a need to come together and work together.  She had a vision which we shared of a world where people would talk and listen to each other and could respectfully disagree  We certainly agreed and disagreed about numerous things over our 50 years together, but hopefully never stopped communicating what was in our hearts and listen to each other.(Although after she would say things to me that were important to her, I often responded, "what?" (She knew (hopefully:-)) that I was kidding).:-) We read about the binding of Isaac in this week's Torah reading, I have always been inspired by the vision that Abraham and Isaac had of the mountain in the distance upon which Abraham almost bound his beloved son, Isaac, on the altar.  There is lots to discuss about this but that is for another time.  The point today is that only Abraham and Isaac had the vision of that mountain which is why they left the servants behind and walked up by themselves together.   Sue and I gave the following to each other for our 13th wedding anniversary which is written by my teacher and friend, Danny Siegel.  It has been on our wall and more importantly in our hearts ever since. Danny Siegel's "IN LOCO EISHES CHAYIL"IN LOCO EISHES CHAYILFrom And God Braided Eve's Hair by Danny Siegel (United Synagogue of America, 1976). (Husband embraces and kisses wife, then takes her hand and recites:) I love you What you have done for me this week, comforting me, challenging me, privileging me with your grandeur, I shall never have the skill, the genius to articulate. Dragged down again and again by mundane and commonplace jobs and burdens, I am raised by your arms once more to your visions of myself-with-you. Because of you I will never know despair or the claws and clutch of loneliness. You are a constant revelation, a reminder of all the Noble and the Upright of the Earth, and I shall never know for what reason I have been graced by your love. Companion. Ineffably precious friend. Each moment is a Bracha-blessing because of you, each day a portion of the primal mysteries of Sinai and Creation, each tomorrow a taste of Future Worlds. My metaphors are meek: For you move my soul in ways only the eloquence-of-silence can express. And yet, you see, I must speak. I love you. In addition to our visions of each other and our love for each other, we envisioned a world where perhaps there could be healing.  We each worked in our own ways to try to make the world a better place and we agreed about the importance of open and honest dialogue which could lead to reconciliation. I hope that folks will either be able to attend the special program on Nov. 11 which you will see below or will watch the recording if we are able to record it. https://carter-school.ticketbud.com/building-community-through-hope-a-racial-healing-conversation-series Finally, I am playing a song which appeared in a blog many months ago.  I actually heard it on the satellite radio for the first time this week and it reminded me of how deeply I miss Sue and how much I wish she could be at the program Tuesday to see that her legacy of bringing people together with love and kindness continues to live.  And... another reminder that I wish I had told her more often what she meant to me and not taken her for granted.  Please, please please tell those you love that you love them and treasure your time together. YouTube · Bread - Topic16.1M+ views · 8 years ago 3:07Provided to YouTube by Rhino/Elektra Everything I Own · Bread The Best of Bread ℗ 1972 Elektra Entertainment Group Inc. Engineer: Armin ... Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Bruce Aft

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