THREE DAYS

     Just finished the holiday of Shavuot celebrating the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Israelites prepared for this event, their true coming together as a nation, the culmination of a cycle begun in the exodus from Egypt on their way to their original Promised Land. They had three days set aside in order to prepare, clearing their hearts and minds, preparing their souls, thinking about life, cleansing their bodies.
     Evidently they did not do it well enough or seriously enough or deeply enough as they fell for the presence and need of a golden calf when Moses did not return in as timely a manner as they wished. This tells us that preparation for anything must be taken seriously, for if not, there can be and most probably will be, an inevitable problem.
     In a book I read this weekend, one character states that the responsibilities of the living include the need to prepare for the inevitable. This is such an important message to all of us, especially during these chaotic and often murderous times. Israel is well acquainted with the sudden appearance of the inevitable with the untimely deaths and the catastrophic changes to a life as a result of terrorism. People around the world are learning that this preparation is of most importance and certainly, we here in the USA have truly begun to learn this, especially from the time of the first Trade Center bombing and then 9/11 and the other attacks that have followed.
     So we spent much of the weekend reading of messages sent by sons to mothers, to friends, telling of their terror and always of their love. Once again people doing nothing other than enjoying life and a good time were deemed unworthy of life and indeed, most deserving of death for they disturbed the ideas that others held.
Two years ago Saturday the three boys who had been kidnapped and brutally killed in Israel as they tried to make their way home for the Sabbath were found. Their families received the inevitable end of this act of terror. Had they prepared for this? Were they ready for this anymore than the parents and loved ones of the Orlando nightclub attendees were ready for it? I doubt it but one thing stood out and that was the unbelievable courage and dignity, of words of wisdom all from the mothers of these boys.
     They did not shoot off guns They did not speak words of hate. Then and now, they continue to make appearances all over the world, were even in the Salute to Israel Day Parade and they are admired by all who meet them. So were they prepared for the inevitable, as the character in the book said? I believe that they were, that they had lived their lives in a state of preparation for this and any other event that froze their lives for a time. This same courage is seen in Sheri Mandel, the mother of Kobi Mandel, a thirteen year old boy off on an adventure, who was beaten to death along with his friend, beaten to death with rocks, so heavily that their parents could not recognize them thru their faces. Mrs. Mandel grieved and lived. She has written two books, countless articles, established a special fund and camp for children who have met with terror. Plainly, she has prepared and is preparing others.
     Today, in the synagogue, a special prayer of remembrance was said for those who have passed on, even a special prayer for those who met their inevitable during the reign and terror of the Nazis and other murderers. One of the prayers states that, "Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow." By knowing this and acknowledging this, we prepare for the inevitable.
     We know that we must live life in the best manner possible. We are to put aside selfishness and greed, hatred and violence. We are to look out for others, love our families and friends, do chesed - good deeds - and just live a moral life and if we fall down on the job, we must pick ourselves up and continue to try again and do better. It makes no never mind whether one believes in G-d of this name or another or even in no G-d or Power or Being, for we are to prepare for the inevitable simply because it is the right thing to do. If we do not, or if we hesitate to speak up for the justice and morality, for the kindness and the righteousness, then the inevitable will come along sooner and we will have what we had this weekend, what we had in San Bernadino, what we had on 9/11 or in Oklahoma and what Israel faces every day, and what other countries are facing more and more as hate and violence grows. The same prayer talks of  acquiring a "heart of wisdom" but I believe that along with that wisdom we need more, a reaching out before there is no more of that possible and the inevitable comes to meet us at a greatly accelerated speed.
     At this point there is much that can be added to the need for planning, for seeing the inevitable needs but that can be for another posting. Right now let us all feel the waste of hatred, the wasting of lives, of their possible contributions, the violence that rends the world. Let us all pray, each in our own way, to prevent these future attacks. Let us demand that the world see the truth for what it is and realize, know in their souls, that PC thoughts and policies will not do what is needed but will instead simply allow this to continue. Courage is what is needed, courage and truth.