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Showing posts from August, 2013

Memory and Forgiveness

Our families are where we do our deepest learning, for better and for worse. Who we are and what we do are shaped by our earliest experiences at home. And even into adulthood, our families influence who we are and what we do. The soul work of spiritual growth must therefore, inevitably, bring us face to face with our family and our family’s “baggage.” The creator(s) of the Torah understood this truth. It is no coincidence that the formative stories of the Jewish people are family stories. Look at the two dramatic stories traditionally recited on Rosh Hashanah – Abraham’s expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, and Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac. Two highly charged tales of near infanticide! (Not familiar with these stories? Check out Genesis ch. 21 and 22.) Since my mother’s death this June, I have been sorting through many memories as they bubble up. There is something about the mourning period that allows for a heightened awareness of the power of memory, and in some cases the p