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A wise woman once said: excellent people discuss ideas, mediocore people discuss events, inferior people discuss other people. This blog will be devoted mostly to ideas that I teach and write about. Ocassionally I will throw in some travel, recipes, movie reviews or other quirky indulgences. Since the state of our world and efforts to mend it are never far from my consciousness, you will also find some "current events" features under "tikkun olam." Please feel free to add your comments. Definitions: Midlife--Too late to do anything really new; too late not to. Mussar- A traditional Jewish practice to cultivate ethical insomnia(thanks to Rabbi Stone) If you want to know more about the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where I teach, check out www.rrc.edu

Thursday, December 21, 2006

a story for hospice


I went to a lecture by Rabbi Naomi Levy and she told this wonderful story that she read in Netivot Shalom(a commentary on Torah and holidays by a relatively recent Hasidic scholar).
A man is walking in a dark forest and he has lost his way. He can't find the path. Suddenly an illuminated chariot comes by. The foolish man looks at the chariot and keeps watching it as it disappears from sight. But the wise man uses the light of the chariot to find the path. Then, though the chariot moves on, the effect of its light remains long after it is gone.(well, that is an approximate version of what I heard)
Naomi asked the group how they thought this might relate to death and dying. Some people noted that the people about to lose a loved one might be able to think about the light the loved one has shed and the way it will continue to illumine their journey after the loved one is gone. Naomi pointed out that it is also a possible comfort to one who is about to die, for the dying regret abandoning their loved ones. In this story, they see that they will never fully leave them.

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