Rarely have I seen positive and negative people attracted to one another. People who view life as a series of opportunities and exciting challenges don't want to hear others talk about how bad things are all the time.
John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
Baruch Ata Adonai Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam a-sher ke-d-sha-nu b- mitz-vo-tav, v-tzi-va-nu al s-fi-rat ha-omer.
We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.
Excerpt from Israel's Declaration of Independence
There is still a white sail on the horizon opposite a heavy black cloud.
May all that we ask for come to pass.
The earth grows still
the lurid sky slowly pales
over smoking borders.
Heartsick, but still living, a people stand by
to greet the uniqueness of a miracle.
Readied, they wait beneath the moon
wrapped in awesome joy, before the light.
A girl and boy step forward,
and slowly walk before the waiting nation:
In work garb and heavy-shod
they climb
When I was a child learning to swim, I had a hard time floating. I was too afraid of drowning, and I knew that by thrashing my arms and legs I could usually manage to keep my head above water. Learning to float is learning to trust the world, and oneself. Paradoxically, though, it is by floating, by not being afraid, that the wave carries us highest. Sometimes when I floated, the wave covered me, just as it did when I thrashed about. But in between waves I was no longer afraid, and when the wave washed over me, I knew I would soon again ride the crest.
This Shabbat falls on that powerful week between Holocaust Memorial Day and Israel Independence Day. Made more powerful by world events, consider this prayer:
O Life and Hope, Holy One. Today we breathe a sigh.
A sigh of relief for the death of a violent and brutal man.
A sigh of resignation that the work and danger have not passed, only changed.
A sigh of hope that we may know peace. Peace.
We pray for peace.
More than the absence of violence, of terror, of danger, of bloodshed.
