In a memoir there are two “I’s”: the character “I,” and the narrator “I.” The character is the one in the story, and the narrator is the one controlling how the story is told. A memoir is not something that happened to you. A memoir is what you have learned from your story.
The Torah teaches that entering the Promised Land is not as easy as it looks. Each one of us has dreams, wishes, and goals. Yet we also face the reality and present conditions in our vulnerable world. While the spies entered the land and saw the same pieces of evidence to report back, their interpretations were quite different. They each experienced the event in their own unique ways. Were it not for Joshua and Caleb, the probability tells us we would not have entered the land. Where would we be if they did not write their memoir?
As we continue through tumultuous times, through pandemics and social unrest, will we write our story or will we write our memoir? Will we simply write down the facts, or will we record the lessons we continue to learn each day?
