Just arriving home from Philadelphia, our children reminded us what it feels like to be parents to newborn babies. The past two nights, the kids have been wide awake at 3am, hungry for breakfast, leading their blurry-eyed mother and father from game to game, activity to activity, exclaiming every few moments, “Look how dark it is outside!” And we respond with irritation and fatigue, “We know…don’t you want to go back to bed?”And in trying to find the silver lining of this exhausting experience, I started to distinguish the sounds of early morning from the sounds of day. Sounds of early morning include the opening of doors and windows, cleaning of streets, chirps of birds, engines starting. The early sounds connote beginnings, preparation for the day, boundless opportunities and unbridled potential. Each morning offers a new journey, the blessing to begin again.As Avram is called upon to set forth to a place he had yet to see, we too are called upon to walk on paths unknown. Each day starts in the dark, with only early morning sounds to prepare us for what might be. Some sounds inviting, others unrecognizable, often frightening and ominous. But as the dark beckons light, early morning sounds encourage embarking on unplanned and unpredictable adventures.I don’t wish 3am wake ups on any of you. But every once in a while, I pray that through your slumber, early morning sounds filter through. Your brand new journey is just beginning.Shabbat shalom.
Jet Lag
By Rabbi Nicole Guzik on October 27, 2017
