It’s a New Week
Shavua Tov! Wishing you a good week.
I know that the last week was stressful and perhaps distressing for many of us. To me, this evening’s moment of Havdalah had added meaning. Havdalah means “separation” and is the moment between Shabbat and the rest of the week, or a holiday and the time afterward or, I propose, a division between any critical time and moving on.
That critical time could be something joyful. I always wonder about wedding couples and B’nai Mitzvah families and the transition from that time of intense joy to regular life. I also wonder about families in mourning and the transition time when they start back to regular life. There is a beautiful, simple ritual in Jewish mourning traditions – when the period of shiva ends, the family leaves their home and walks around the block. Nothing monumental, but a time for saying “We’ve been through something traumatic and now we are moving onward.”
Havdalah does the same thing: it is a built-in pause of reflection and the acknowledgment of the passage of time. The symbols of Havdalah are simple but profound. The Kiddush wine marks the moment as significant and tied to other moments of significance in our lives. The braided candle represents us coming together as a community. The spice box represents sweetness and the senses. As we smell the spices, we breathe in deeply. It is a reminder of the sweetness of life. And it is a reminder to breathe deeply and just be in the moment.
This week, we especially need Havdalah – we need separation. Last week was stressful and traumatic, but it is over now. While the work continues for sure and the impact of the last week will be long-lasting, it is a new week.
The Kiddush Cup: This moment will become a historic marker, a fleeting moment in time, like the other moments of significance that have come and gone before. We will move forward. We have no other choice.
The Braided Candle: We will need to rely on one another even more in the days and weeks and, yes, the years ahead. We will need to be there for each other for support, protection, and collaboration. It would be wonderful if we could pull the dissonant voices in our greater society closer together. I am not sure if that is possible. But, at least, we can watch out for those closest to us, for each other, for the like-minded, and the vulnerable.
The Spices: We need to remember the sweetness of life, all the good things that we have, all the joy that we can experience. We are strong and resilient. And we need to remember to breathe. To take care of ourselves. To stop. To be.
Shavua Tov. May you have a good week.
Rabbi Debbie Cohen
