There were 80 on a tiny boat heading to a retreat. On the ferry to the island of Iona, one of the interfaith pilgrims described their group’s reason for coming as ‘Our souls are feeling thin.’ What a charming way to articulate a worn-outness of spirit.
I have just returned from an epic family Scottish trip to walk part of the West Highland Way. It was magical. I was so proud of Ruben as he graduated. I then spent a few days on the Isle of Iona with the children. It feels like the end of the earth: an island off an island off an island. I heard Bishop Rowan Williams speak beautifully at the Abbey about paying attention. Nothing focuses the spirit like a long journey or indeed many journeys – it took 7 hours to get here from Glasgow! Obviously, I’m thinking about journeys and about how we internalise where we’ve come from, where we are going and the stops and life choices we make.
This Shabbat we celebrate our Kabbalat Torah group – 7 of our teenagers who, after their B’nei Mitzvah, didn’t want to leave FPS, and chose rather to continue their journey with us. They will read from Parashat Chukkat;
Miriam died there and was buried there. (The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron. The people quarrelled with Moses
We see the Israelites at the lowest ebb of their desert sojourn; they are lost. They feel very lost and are struggling with all their memories. As James Baldwin described in Evidence of Things not Seen; “My memory stammers, but my soul is a witness.” They are angry and resentful -caught between moving forward and looking back.
But not so our KT group.
Even at the age of 15, our young people are learning what it means to look back and to make choices. One of them is to commit with such pride to FPS. I hope you’ll join our Shabbat services and be led by them this weekend – they’ve asked to lead the congregation back to Hutton Grove for kiddush in the rose garden. (Our builders agreed.) That’s how attached they are to our synagogue and to its place in their hearts.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
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