Pain …

unexpected
uninvited
unwanted.

Hurtling through the air

bringing darkness
blackness
sorrow
despair.

Hurting

the head
the heart.

Halting

breathing.
walking.

Running to stop it...

Stop it!
STOP IT …now!

What can I do?
What should I do?
How can I stop it?

For me?
For you?

But … wait, stop, breathe, think …

Where is it from?
Who is it from?

Oh, it’s from Him, Hashem …

my Father, my King,
my Helper, my Healer
my Savior.

From Him?

So, how could it be bad?

No!
Not bad!
Good!

Good? Pain …good?

How?

We can learn …

To talk to Him.
To cry to Him.

No to ask why but

To ask for relief
To ask for healing
To bring us close…

all of us…
close to Him.

To hold our hand
To carry us
To make us sensitive to others’ pain
To know in our heart as in our head

that only He is the Healer,

not us.

To know that there is a reason for our pain

even if we do not know

That we do not need to know
That we can trust Him…

That He is Good…
That He loves us…
That He weeps when He gives us pain

even when needed

to rouse us from our lethargy…
to help us grow into complete Jews.

And

when we see someone
buckling under the pain
falling apart

To know that we cannot

We should not
We must not fall into their darkness.

To know that they know

that we feel their pain
no matter how far away we are

We feel
We grieve

as He does.

Even so far away

as one Jew feels for another
as we are all part of each other.

In pain

as in joy…

Indeed, we are

one family…
the family of Jews
His children.

He loves us

and we love Him.