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"The Broken and the Whole!"

Writer's picture: Elissa FelderElissa Felder

"The Broken and the Whole."


Moses descends Mount Sinai and

sees the Jewish people dancing around the golden calf.

The two tablets of stone which he is carrying, and

which he received from Gd, are thrust to the ground.

A tragedy of epic proportions!

These broken pieces were not reassembled,

not discarded, not buried or ignored.

They were picked up and placed in the holy Ark.

They were treasured and saved.

 

Moses ascends the mountain a second time,

to ask for forgiveness on behalf of the Jewish people, and to

write a second set of tablets.

These replacement tablets were brought down intact, and

also placed inside the holy Ark.

Thus, the holy Ark housed both

the broken and the whole tablets,

side by side.

 

The Ark, like the human heart can simultaneously

hold both brokenness (pain) and wholeness (joy).

When we love courageously and fully,

we open ourselves up to experience both the greatest of pains and also

the corresponding greatest of joys.

 

When someone we love dies (physically or emotionally)

It is hard work to live on without them.

Our grief remains a part of who we now are.

We mourn for what we once had.

We carry our aching losses and our

deep pain in our hearts and minds.

Broken heartedness is an unavoidable part of being human.

 

Thankfully Gd also gives us times

of intense happiness and wholeness.

We are all immeasurably blessed with life,

with the capacity to live in our own unique ways.

Our joys and blessings are many and varied.

Our joys are more cherished and appreciated because of the

depth of the pain we have felt.

 

Our hearts, like the Ark, are able to expand and

hold both the broken and the whole,

the pain and the happiness.


It takes great courage to experience life intensely and fully.

Hopefully we are blessed to have people to help us through and 

to share all aspects of our lives with.

At times we shed tears of sadness, of loss,

of heartache, of loneliness.

At other times we weep tears of happiness,

of gratitude, of joy, of connection.

This is the paradox of life.

Both conditions are housed in the holy ark of our hearts.


Shabbat shalom and much love

Elissa



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