We are just a week away from a new year, and this sacred season is woven with the first unbearable anniversary of October 7th; while this cruel war continues to sow so much sorrow, grief and rage.
How do we show up with open hearts to mark these moments?
Today, I invite you to join the Lab/Shul Community, our partners and allies at several events, vigils and gatherings (in NYC and online) that mark the one year anniversary of that terrible day, hold the horrors of many more terrible days since, during this ongoing conflict and its horrendous impact on all of us.
Before I do so, I want to share a memory with you – one that some of you may have been part of. Mid-preparation for the 5785 High Holy Days, I remembered a strange moment that happened last year. I want to share it as one of the ways we can be more present with and for each other in the coming days – and years:
Last Yom Kippur afternoon, as the sun was setting on our atonement, just before we chanted the last Mourners’ Kaddish of the High Holy Days, I saw a strange vision – perhaps a premonition? – which prompted me to speak from my heart, inviting all those present to do something strange, together. I asked the community to rise with me and to recite the Mourners’ Kaddish together – for and with each and every one of us, still living, to hold whatever losses and pains we’ve already endured – and whatever hurts may yet come.
“Who knows if all who are here today will be here again in a year’s time?” I asked.
“Who knows what awaits us and our loved ones?”
It was an awkward moment (click below to watch) and several people asked me afterwards, when we broke the fast – “what was THAT about?” I didn’t have a good answer except to say I saw a vision of my grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Chayim Lau of blessed memory, on his last Yom Kippur in 1942, in Poland. He was reciting the last Kaddish with his entire congregation. Most of them perished shortly after. I felt that we had to call upon our ancestors to help us be together and honor them, and honor our futures, as the new year began. I felt something tug at my heart – we must all say Kaddish together.
Ten days later – October 7th. Everything changed.
One year later, there are too many mourners, too many prayers for healing and peace, too many torn realities and heartbreaking losses, too many who will never become ancestors.
How do we show up for this new season of High Holy Days? Can our ancient recipes for reflection and repair be helpful and offer healing as we gather during these difficult days? How can we help? What will help us heal? These are some of the questions on our minds and hearts as we prepare for our sacred season. And while we don’t have all the answers, we do have the sacred space and time to ask them of each other, and to find our path forward, come what may, together.
We respond by showing up — face to face, with and for each other, to hold our multiple truths, complex pains, and shared hopes – together.
Interwoven with our sacred season of the High Holy Days of Awe, the rituals, vigils and programs listed below are but a few of the ways we can come together to honor the past, hold the present, and lift up the much better future we are all so desperate for:
- OCTOBER 6 | 4PM EST | MANHATTAN
HAND IN HAND WE HEAL: A GATHERING FOR 10/7 AND THIS YEAR OF SORROW (WITH FRIENDS OF STANDING TOGETHER, TOMORROW’S WOMEN, WOMEN OF VISION, B’NAI JESHURUN, LAB/SHUL, ROMEMU, & SPSA)
CLICK FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION
- OCTOBER 7 | 12PM EST | ONLINE
VOICES OF DETERMINATION: THE NIF COMMUNITY, ONE YEAR AFTER 10/7
CLICK FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION -
OCTOBER 7 | 6PM EST | MANHATTAN
OCTOBER 7, ONE YEAR LATER: UJA’S COMMUNITY-WIDE COMMEMORATION
CLICK FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION -
OCTOBER 7 | 7PM EST | UNION SQUARE, NYC
ISRAELIS FOR PEACE: ONE YEAR VIGIL
CLICK FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION -
OCTOBER 11 | YOM KIPPUR | KOL NIDRE: 7PM EST, TALK: 9PM EST | TRIBECA + ONLINE
FACE TO FACE: A TALK ABOUT ATONEMENT WITH GUESTS MOAZ ANON AND AZIZ ABU SARAH, PALESTINIAN & ISRAELI PEACEMAKERS | Co-Sponsored by NIF and ALBI
REGISTRATION COMING SOON
And finally, here’s one more invitation that I’d like to share with you. Is there a horizon of hope?
Two weeks ago, my brother Rabbi Benny Lau, in Jerusalem, invited me to join him online for 30 minutes to discuss some hard questions as we prepare for the new year. We spoke about pain and purpose, finding our way mid-fog of war, about our grandfather’s legacy and what we imagine in the future – beyond the horizon of hope. The conversation is in Hebrew, with English subtitles:
Here is to our shared horizon of hope, face to face, forever/now.
Wishing us all tender days of hope and healing, presence and peace, into a much better new year,
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie
Co-Founder, Senior Clergy & Spiritual Leader
