JBFCS: Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs

Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

April 2004

Susan Rosenthal, LMSW, Co-Director, National Center for Jewish Healing

The below excerpt can be found in the Holiday Resource Sampler produced by the National Center for Jewish Healing in Fall, 2003. For a copy of the sampler, or for other healing materials in relation to the Jewish holidays, please contact us NCJH at (212) 399 — 2320 ext 209.

Passover — A Personal Healing

In our family, Passover was all about themes of social justice — concern for other people who were not free. It was a powerful metaphor for the American civil rights movement of the 60’s, the focal point for political advocacy of many in our Jewish community.

So when my own struggles with illness and infertility challenged me in the 80’s, I did not think about how to apply the themes of Passover to my suffering spirit and body. Fortunately, the treasure chest of Jewish spiritual resources started opening for me in the 90’s, when I was exposed to the work of the Jewish healing movement and the dynamic teaching and prayer that had sprung up.

This is one brief example of how I applied this new learning.

By the fall of 1995, I was completing several years of journeying with two very ill friends when a third became suddenly gravely ill. All three died within a month of each other. As spring and Passover approached, I was still in the grip of a profound depression. While I had been able to feel a connection to "The Source of Life" ever since my serious illness and near death experience a decade earlier, all my sense of connection to something larger than me was now gone. I didn’t have the tools or the answers.

At the same time, I was exposed to Passover teachings and writings that introduced me to the concept of "slavery" as any narrow place one found oneself in — such as grief, depression, physical depletion, family upheaval, etc. The idea of applying this metaphor to my personal life was entirely new and made a lot of sense. And, accompanying this was the biblical Passover image of Calling Out to the Outstretched Arm of G-d, in our prayers and while we cleaned in preparation for Passover, to lift us out into a more wide open space. It seemed worth trying! Even though I felt numb, I just started cleaning for Passover and calling out to the Hand of G-d to life me. I just kept at it, mostly in silence and with a lot of focus. And I was blessed.

That year, we were holding the first Seder at our house when I was finishing the preparations and getting ready to dash off to the evening service when the telephone rang. My step-daughter called to tell us that she was pregnant with our first grandchild. I started sobbing with joy and profound gratitude. For me, this was my answer to my Calling Out. The answer to these losses in my life at that time was new life.

May the hand of G-d respond so clearly to all who call out, and may we have the wisdom to recognize the response.

These "Spirituality Notes" are excerpts from our monthly E-newsletter. Articles are © JBFCS Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs and may be reprinted free of charge as long as this credit line is included.

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