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"May We Never Feel Alone"

Writer's picture: Elissa FelderElissa Felder

"May We Never Feel Alone"





At the burning bush Moses asks God

"When I come to the children of Israel and say to them

the God of your forefathers has sent me to you,

and they say to me, What is His Name? -"

what shall I say to them?"

God answers

"I Shall Be has sent me to you. For I shall be with you."

I, says God, will always be with you,

in your fiery struggles, in your harshest of oppressions throughout history,

through persecutions, programs and holocausts I shall be with you.

I, God, will be holding your hand, always at your side, crying with you.


The Israelites were being introduced to a

compassionate and loving Gd who is promising to

deliver them from their slavery and bring them to freedom.

God was with them then and

is with us today.


God exists outside of time,

is not constrained by it and so is a constant for eternity.

God never leaves us.

We, however live within the time- framework of

was, is and will be.

We are limited in what we can see and know.

Our ability to perceive reality is very confined.


When we suffer we cannot, in our lifetime, know why.

Yet we can have faith that Gd cries and

suffers along with us.

That there are reasons for and

meaning in our pain,

that there is a much bigger picture, and

that there is so much more to everything.


We yearn to feel God's love and

Presence especially when we are hurting.

When my son died

I didn't want anyone telling my why this happened or

telling me it was all for the best or

that I'll have more children or

that he is in a better place or

that now he won't suffer.


In fact, I didn't want anyone to say anything.

There was nothing to say in those early days of loss.

I wanted people to sit quietly and thereby

acknowledge the pain and the grief.

There are no answers or fixes but there

are people who care,

who listen to our experiences, and

who are able to be present.


Sometimes we just need those who are not scared of the pain and

who can literally sit in silence and quietly weep along with us.

We need empathy not sympathy.

Empathy isn't fixing or pontificating,

it is listening and caring.

Feeling that you have been heard,

cared about, acknowledged and

understood opens you up to being

loved and accepted.


We have a great need to not be alone.

Feeling that we are not alone is a huge source of comfort.

Believing that there is meaning in our lives and in our suffering is comforting.

Knowing there is a bigger picture, and

that we are all part of it, is comforting.


May we all have the ability to use our individual life situations for good and

to have the kind of relationship with God and

with others so that we do not ever feel alone.

Shabbat shalom, with love

Elissa

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