Ordinary Lives

B"H

During the summer, heat and humidity in Tel Aviv are unbearable. Either you go to the beach or you run into the shower several times a day. Usually, people go out in the evenings when the weather cooled down. Today, however, is Erev Shabbat and we are forced to organize everything during the day; hence in the heat.
But you can still go to the beach.

The murder of the two Israeli soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, has recently influenced our lives very much. Until Wednesday, most of us still had some hope that at least one of the soldiers would come back alive. More or less.
As soon as the two coffins appeared on the TV - screen, all our hopes went down the drain. Israel was in shock and the whole country was morning. Within the past two years, those two soldiers and their families have become parts of us. Hardly a day went by when we didn't heard about them. We are all Goldwasser and Regev, as it can happen to all of us. Getting kidnapped or killed by Arab terrorists.

Nevertheless, life goes on and what would we do without forgetting about the deepest pain ? I think it was Rabbi Nachman of Breslov who said that G - d gave humankind a great gift: the ability to forget.

Not to forget totally but after some time, we are able to overcome our grief. And after some time we are able to forget the first greates pain. If we weren't able to do so, we would go crazy by always remembering the original pain all the time.

Israelis are used to pain and used to overcome the worst. Tonight Shabbat is going to start and on Shabbat, we are not allowed to be sad. Then Jews are supposed to enter a different spiritual world beyond our physical existence. The best way for me to do this is going to a chassidic Tish. I am in Tel Aviv this Shabbat. It is boiling hot but nothing is going to stop me from going to Bnei Brak tonight. Kabbalat Shabbat and then looking for one of the Tishes.

I am planning to go to the Biale Synagogue and then decide to which Tish to go. There are Vishnitz, the Shomrei Emunim, Sadigura, Nadvorna and some others. Not to forget Lelov.

As we say in Hebrew: It won't be boring.

Shabbat Shalom to everyone !