There Was Once A Jewish Girl

There was a Jewish girl. Born with the light of Shabbat candles in her eyes. She went to Sunday school and could tell you the alphabet backwards and forwards. She could read in her people's native tongue. She never knew what she was reading. But that didn't matter. She could pronounce the words and sounds. After awhile, Sunday school became something to dread and her friends were just pulling her for the ride. She forgot how to read and the words no longer formed delicately in her mouth. Fast forward a few years. The girl has her Bat Mitzvah. Everyone is so proud. But why? Did they know what she had read? Did they understand the importance of those ancient words? Or were they simply happy that she made it through to the words "Thank you"? She'd never know. The day after, she swears off Judaism. She's done. There's nothing interesting and her love for it was long gone. Fast forward a few more years and she's in high school and running for board of the youth group out of her old synagogue. She wonders every day how she got there. Why she's there. Senior year and she's president of the group. Everyone is so proud of her. But the questions and comments she gets are not about the Judaism or politics. They are about how it will look to colleges. If it affect school. Flash forward. This time just a month. She's now been to Israel and back. She fell in love with the holy land and seeing the Shabbat candles glow. Her story feels as if it has come full circle. But nobody at home asks about how it affected her religious stance. Or what those candles felt like. They ask about the views and the partying and the wars. Why. Why she wonders. Don't they care about the beauty of the people? Don't they wonder about why religion is so pretty despite the destruction it is causing? Come into the present. The same Jewish girl feels awkward and out of place in her religion. She wants to return to Israel but doesn't know how. It's expensive to find herself. There's something missing from her life. She's beginning to wonder what can be seen in Shabbat candles. Maybe it is time for all of us to look closer in the flames. 

Sometimes we find ourselves multiple times over. 

Stay Strong 

xo Aria