Time Doesn't Heal

Yesterday was Israel's Memorial Day for Soldiers and Victims of  Arab Terror.  Whatever scabs or scar tissue had been covering the emotional wounds from the loss of friends and family was ripped away.  My neighbors and I, although comforted by seeing the young grandchildren, nieces and nephews of those good Jews who were killed, agreed that we felt more pain than ever.

Time doesn't heal.

Time just gives us the chance to try to live better, be inspired by those who are no longer with us, who died so young...

We live in the shadows of the loss.

Just like we can't erase a shadow, we can't ignore the memories and longings that follow us even at the most unexpected times. 

Most of those we commemorated at our Shiloh Memorial Ceremony in the local cemetery were just teenagers when they were murdered.  Other were a young mother and an infant.  They all had such potential, such dreams.  And in a matter of seconds, their lives were over, and everything changed irreparably for their parents, spouse, grandparents, siblings, friends and family.

Memorial ceremony at Mt. Herzl
for a friend.

Yes, of course, we all go on.  Nobody stays static in time.  Widows and widowers marry again; more children may be born, but that doesn't make up for the missing person.  Life adapts to a new normal.  Thank G-d for giving us the strength and drive to keep going.  We are supposed to continue and not wallow in pain and misery.

Jewish History is full of destruction, defeat and disasters.  And there is also the rebuilding.

We're supposed to take those memories and the pain and make something better and stronger.  That's why the Jewish People continues to exist, even now, two thousand years after the destruction of our Second Holy Temple.  The ancient civilizations we fought with and even those that defeated us are gone, but we Jews still live and thrive and have established a modern  State of Israel.

For the Jewish People, "not healing" is not the end of the world.  We take our pain and build something better, with G-d's help.  And as we celebrate Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, we bring those memories with us to celebrate together.