Over ten years ago my daughter was on a camp trip and returned home with a small gift of ceramic salt and pepper shakers that were in the form of an elderly couple. They became prized in my home and were even given their own names. We called them Harvey and Agnes. We used to quiz my elderly mother in law on their names and were thrilled when her memory was clear, and she was able to recall them. Our close friends and neighbors knew their names. It was pretty funny that such a simple gift became a tiny part of our family. As things tend to happen, my kids got into a scuffle and Harvey fell. He shattered all over the kitchen floor. I gathered the broken shards and using crazy glue, I tried valiantly to piece him back together. It was an adequate arts and crafts job. He still looked like Harvey, but a little distorted where one segment could not fit properly back in to place. He had fine cracks that could not be fully mended.
Over the last two weeks, the Jewish people have been shattered into broken shards. It does not matter if you personally live, or even if you have family in Israel. It does not matter if you are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and whether you are observant or not. What matters is that our nation as a whole has unequivocally been shattered. We are still in the midst of working on figuring out how to possibly mend. Hopefully the IDF will continue to do what they must, to protect and avenge those who were brutally massacred, and those that are being savagely held in captivity. We remain shattered, not completely mended. We have cracks. We have huge, gaping holes shaping our erratic emotions. We have moments and days where we are besought with rage, with fear, and with deep sadness. For countless of us, we barely have brief lapses in time when our thoughts and prayers are not with those suffering. We need cases and cases of crazy glue to begin to piece our nation back together.
Numerous of my non-Jewish patients emailed and reached out immediately after the massacres. They checked in about my daughter and her family, as well as my mom who all reside in Israel. They told me we are all in their thoughts and prayers. It meant the world to me. In the office I literally speak about Israel with my patients all day long, regardless of their religion or background. In many ways it is helpful to me and cathartic. In other ways it is beyond exhausting. At the end of the day, I find myself feeling depleted. I have no energy. Like countless of my patients, I am treating daily, I am coasting along. Sometimes foggy headed and overwhelmed at the state of our world overall. It truly boggles my mind how anyone seeing the myriads of pictures and videos, can possibly side with Hamas. After such blatant barbaric attacks on innocent civilians, it should be crystal clear that they are truly a terror organization that cannot be reasoned with. To compare Hamas to animals is to demean animals. One of my patients lost her distant relative. I cannot in good conscience write about the gruesome details and what they learned happened in front of her 4 month and 4 year old sons. I will tell you that it stays with me. It is impossible not to ruminate over that kind of savagery. Miraculously her boys and husband survived with the help of a neighbor, sustaining shrapnel wounds. That is to say they survived physically. How they will move forward emotionally without a mother, and with the horrors they witnessed, is beyond me. They are just a sampling of the hundreds of broken families living a very real nightmare.
We must continue to stand together as a unified nation. We have no choice. We must continue to try and crazy glue our shattered hearts and piece them back together. Taking care of our emotions is absolutely crucial in this very trying time. Incorporating Acupuncture and natural wellness to help us heal must be our goal. It is my true belief that I have helped numerous people this week create space for their emotions. It is certainly not a cure all, but a vital piece on the road to wellness and righting wrongs. I far prefer to treat the typical migraines, back pain, and of course fertility, etc. that I typically see much of on any given day. I long for those days. When I think of the holiday of Succot this year, there was a ‘Part one’ of celebrating and enjoying. The ‘Part two,’ is tragically engraved in our memories never to be forgotten. I am not sure we can go back to the way we felt so innocently before Part one, but I am determined to try and get there. I want to help as many people as possible around me create a space for properly grieving the tragedies, while simultaneously moving forward to continue to celebrate life. I know that is what the victims would have wanted.