Water is the force of life, mayim chaim, but it can also be the force of destruction. It is so fascinating, yet tinged with guilt, to be surrounded by the beautiful waters of the Pacific in Fiji while the water of the Tsunami destroyed so many lives in Japan. It is mysterious, tragic wonder, but gratitude also runs through my mind as I experience all this.
I also missed Shabbat this week. I try not to travel on Shabbat, and when I booked our flights, leaving California on Thursday night, I didn't realize we would miss Shabbat. But it takes two days to fly here, and once we crossed the International Date Line, it was still Friday daytime in California, but late Saturday here. I missed lighting candles and Kiddush, which saddens me, but there are few things more restful than what I'm doing, or rather, not doing here.
At the risk of boring everyone with "my summer vacation," this should give you some idea.
Off to Australia tomorrow. It's a hard knock life.
There is something surrealistic about missing a whole day, Shabbat in particular. You didn't just miss it. You lost it. The same way we all lost an hour from our lives last Sunday when it went from 02:00 to 03:01. Of course, in the Fall, we will regain that hour, or, better yet, if our birthdays were before the clock-change in the fall, we are already ahead and are just now going back to even. What would the impact be if you stayed there and your lives were truly one Shabbat poorer. Conversely, how much richer are the lives of those who travelled East that day and have an extra Shabbat in their lives?
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