• New York Jewish Healing Center
• National Center for Jewish Healing
• Rabbi Isaac N. Trainin Bikur Cholim Coordinating Council
• The Shira Ruskay Center: Providing Comfort and Support for the Seriously Ill
• JACS (Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others)
• Community Care and Support Programs
• Support Programs for Single-Parents and the Recently Divorced

• About Jewish Connections
• Publications and Articles
• Spirituality Notes
• Resources for Jewish Organizations and Congregations
• Events Calendar
• Home

May 2005

Amy Arnold, MHL, MA Ed, the Education and Community Outreach Coordinator for The Twin Cities Jewish Healing Program, JFCS

Spirituality Forum: The Before and the After

Living in the mid-west, nothing fascinates me more than twilight on a summer’s eve. Beginning her decent sometimes as late as 10:00 PM, the sun’s colors seduce watchful eyes through a menagerie of dusks and then without warning, into a sea of blackness. It is nearly impossible to discern when twilight has turned to night, when Before has become After.

I have often wondered at the thoughts of the Israelites in their Before: preparing for Exodus, witnessing the dry bed at the Red Sea, entering the Promised Land. Of course, in my job as a healing program professional, I see Jews while they experience their After: following a diagnoses, in the middle of treatment, during shiva. In all of this, I ask myself, at what point does Before become After? At what point does transition give way to transformation?

The Omer period, after Pesach and before Shavu’ot, provides us with a time to look forward, to see the potential in what’s to come. Counting upwards to Shavu’ot provides room for us to gather momentum, to move beyond the Before and After, and to reach toward potential, toward Yet. In embracing the Giving of the Torah, we accept the words of our ancestors as guidance for our progeny; as the link between those generations, we embrace the Before and After as a continuum.

While Passover fades and Shavu’ot comes in sight, may you find strength in the seamless story of the Jewish people, where Before and After emerge as one. Hadesh yameinu qekedem, GOD, Renew our days as they once were, so that we may know Your everlasting strength and understand our place in Your creation.

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.

©2008 Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services
120 West 57th Street · New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 399-2685 · Fax: (212) 399-2475 ·