Author: Rabbi David Levin

Shabbat Shalom

This Shabbat, Takshivu invites us to pay attention.

Shabbat Shalom.

Verse 1: 9 years old and a flickering flame Those are the moments I can’t explain Looking back I can feel the heat The warmth reflecting off my cheek

Verse 2: Settled down now its been so long Since I’ve seen them sing those songs Carries me through the days I feel That there’s nothing else that heals

Pre: Been through those ups and downs They called me lost and found But now I think I found myself In that flickering flame Oh, in that flickering flame

Chorus: Ooh oooh My mind fills with memories from youth Ooh oooh Just me and the flame but now I’m flickering too Looking back at Pictures on my shelf Times I felt my safest Times I felt myself Thinking back when There was no where to run I knew I had a purpose My life had just begun Just like the flame

Intro: Ooooh woah ohhh

Verse 3: Grown up now I’m on my way Driven by those flames Everytime I lose my sight I remember those guiding lights

Pre: Been through those ups and downs They called me lost and found But now I think I found myself In that flickering flame Oh, in that flickering flame

Chorus: Ooh oooh My mind fills with memories from youth Ooh oooh Just me and the flame but now I’m flickering too Looking back at Pictures on my shelf Times I felt my safest Times I felt myself Thinking back when There was no where to run I knew I had a purpose My life had just begun

Bridge: Some things things things you just can’t forget Brings us back back back back to ourselves Back to the good good good old days ‘Cause we’re all we’re all flickering flames

Chorus: Ooh oooh My mind fills with memories from youth Ooh oooh Just me and the flame but now I’m flickering too Looking back at Pictures on my shelf Times I felt my safest Times I felt myself Thinking back when There was no where to run I knew I had a purpose My life had just begun Just like the flame

We are of a particular generation, us boomers.

Our cohort is thinning.  We watch as icons, friends, and family of our generation die. So many of us have already lost our parents, and our grandparents have been consigned to our memories for years.

generations
PHOTOGRAPH BY SAPPINGTON TODD—GETTY IMAGES/BLOOMIMAGE RF

It is a natural process but a sobering one.  Our days may still be many, but the time ahead of us is far shorter than the time we have already lived.

We are of a particular generation, us boomers. We who live on reflect on our mortality and what our lives will mean to those who will continue after we are gone.

A friend of mine used to joke that he read the obituary first thing in the paper, and if he didn’t see his name, he knew it would be a good day.  Gallows humor perhaps, but now is the time to ensure the gift that is the remainder of our lives is lived well.  What do we have yet to accomplish?  Have we been faithful to our ideals, and what amends must we make for the times we did not?

What will we leave behind to those we love?  Will they remember us as unique parts of their lives, filled with experiences of beautiful times together?  Now is the time to reach out to them and make our time together memorable- it is a gift for us both.

 

Some are guilty all are responsible

Tyre Nichols is buried today. So many of us grieve and shake our heads in disbelief, wondering how this could happen.

Several people are identified as directly responsible for the brutality leading to Tyre Nichols’s death, including police and EMTs.  Ironically, those charged with protecting us are accused of the murder of someone when they betrayed their sacred oaths. But we cannot stop here, assuaging our sense of moral outrage by prosecuting bad actors. Something more insidious is going on, and we must do much more.

Some of us remember the political cartoon Pogo by Walt Kelly. One iconic image is Pogo contemplating the situation saying, we have met the enemy, and he is us. Set initially as an environmental statement in 1971, this understanding of the situation applies to us today.

We may not be directly guilty of the barbarism that took Mr. Nichols’s life, but we have allowed it to exist. We have turned a blind eye to a systemic problem, and Mr. Nichols and many others have paid the price.

Law enforcement ostensibly is tasked with protecting the people from those criminals who prey upon us. It is a tough job and often a thankless one. It is hard and often very unpleasant, so many of us prefer to turn away and let them do what they need to do. But we cannot turn a blind eye any longer.

In a free society, some are guilty all are responsible. These words were written in 1972 by Abraham Joshua Heschel. And they remain true today. We are responsible. Only when we engage in the difficult conversations and hard choices involving what policing looks like and what are the responsibilities of those tasked with protecting all of us; do we give them the resources they require, including the best personnel, the best training, and the tools, a social security apparatus that supports those whose needs are best met by other professionals and the active, meaningful oversight by responsible civilians and the courts will we achieve the justice we seek, the justice denied Mr. Nichols.

As we lay Tyre Nichols to rest, let us finally commit ourselves to fix a broken system so that America can be America for all Americans.