Jewish Holiday Reflections

Rebuilding Shattered Dreams

Many of us once owned a set of sacred tablets that at some point in our life were destroyed.

It may have been the death of a mother or father at a young age, bringing to an abrupt end the nurturing and security a child so desperately needs from parents. It may have been any other form of pain, abuse or loss that you experienced during your life which denied you the love, joy and optimism you once called your own. It may be fear, shame, insecurity, guilt, resentment, disappointment, mistrust or other forms of emotional trauma that began to afflict you at some point in your life, shattering your inner sacred and divine “tablets.”

Many of us create for ourselves a second pair of "tablets" in order to substitute for the first ones that were lost. But they are not quite the same. The second set of "tablets" lack the magic and the innocence of the original "tablets" that no longer exist. In the depth of our hearts we crave to reclaim something of the wonder of the old tablets. But it is to no avail: The clock of life never turns back.

Here lay the empowering message of Moses to his beloved people before his own demise: There is a secret world in which your first tablets were never broken. Notwithstanding the abuse and pain you experienced, each of you possesses a tiny corner in your soul which forever remains invincible, pure and sacred, filled with confidence, love, joy and hope.

What is more, when your perception expands, you might discover how your shattered dreams may be part of your individual path to wholesomeness. Wholesomeness does not come in one shape; for some it comes in the form of a broken heart. What is broken in one level of perception may be wholesome in another.

The Power of Elul
Elul is the month of preparation coming before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Herein lies the unique power of this month in the Jewish calendar, the final one of the year, the name of which spells out the words “The Ark containing the whole Tablets and the broken Tablets.”

This is the month that allows you to build in your personal life an “ark” which will contain not only your second complete tablets, but will also embrace the broken pieces of your first tablets. This is the time when you are empowered and can pick up the broken pieces of your life and discover that there is a part of yourself that was never really broken.

What is more, during this month you may go back and, with tender love, lift up every broken piece of your life, learning how each of them constitutes another rosebud in your soul's wholesome orchard.


By Rabbi Yosef Y. Jacobson
http://www.meaningfullife.com/personal/pain/Rising_from_the_Ashes.php

This article is provided to you by the Twin Cities Jewish Healing Program. Through the wisdom and traditions of Judaism, The Twin Cities Jewish Healing Program offers comfort, hope and strength to people experiencing loss, life challenges, illness, dying and grief. For information about our resources and volunteer visitors, please call 952-542-4840.