The horror of what happened yesterday in Uvalde is almost too much to comprehend. They were children. And they were killed by a child. How is that possible? This is not how it’s supposed to be.
When we send our kids to school, we should expect them to learn, to grow, to run around, to make friends, to thrive. We should expect them to come home and tell us all about their day … or, more likely, not tell us all about their day. We should expect them to clear the table, to take too long putting on their pajamas, to forget to brush their teeth. We should expect them to be loud and funny and beautiful and full of energy. And we should expect them, as they always are, to be even more beautiful as they sleep peacefully in their beds.
We shouldn’t expect them to be killed. And yet, we see this happening more and more. I was nearly ten-years-old the first time I heard about a school shooting. Many of the kids in Uvalde were even younger — and they didn’t just hear about it, they experienced it. I’ll say it again: this is not how it’s supposed to be.
If you’re struggling with how to talk with your kids about such unspeakable moments, this Los Angeles Times article may be helpful. And if you’re looking for words of prayer in a moment such as this, Alden Solovy has a beautiful piece on Ritualwell.
Ezekiel 16:6 says: “When I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you: ‘Live in spite of your blood.’ Yea, I said to you: ‘Live in spite of your blood.'” May the blood senselessly spilled in Texas — and in Buffalo, and in far too many other places over these past weeks, months, years — call us to lives of meaning, impact, justice, peace, and love.
This is a reprint from Rabbi Isaac Saposnik’s Camp Havaya email “No Word….” on Wednesday, May 25, 2022
