Like a Box of Chocolates

Newsletter June 24, 2024 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

Forrest Gump famously said, “Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.”

Staring into my steel cut oatmeal this morning, I thought of this. I might get a burst of sweetness in a bite of berry in one spoonful and in the next… nuts! Pun intended.

At times in life, we can be puffed up from a great windfall and then deflated in the next moment. So how do we remain spiritually strong and centered through all of these fluctuations?

It’s hard. But first of all, Judaism is a tradition that teaches we should not ignore our pain. We are meant to grieve losses. There’s a whole beautiful process for mourning the death of loved ones, but it also goes beyond that. We are encouraged to feel our feels and process them. We even have a holiday dedicated to the destruction of the second temple which happened nearly 2,000 years ago with an emotional reading of the book of Lamentations. So, we may need to lament, and when we do, we do. And we shouldn't feel shame or embarrassment around that. Some say the measure of grief is according to the measure of love. So, that is accepted in Judaism.

But the key is to not stay in that place forever. And so, we are given the tools to climb our way out of the sadness that life can throw at us. What’s the secret? Gratitude. Now gratitude is not always easy to find, especially in the midst of heartache, but we are encouraged to try to find the sweetness amidst the bitterness.

In fact, the rabbis have challenged us to recite no fewer than 100 expressions of gratitude each day. And, if we have trouble finding the words…. the prayerbook is meant to guide us through. In fact, I was taught by Rabbi Larry Hoffman that there are 33 blessings of gratitude to be recited in each of the three daily prayer services - so the rabbis give us 99 of the 100 required prayers. We just have to find it in our hearts to be grateful for one thing each day. And this is the key to our survival.

So what will you be grateful for today?

That’s how we keep it sacred.

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred...

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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RABBI MILLER CONCLUDES HER WRN BOARD MEMBERSHIP

Rabbi Miller recently received this beautiful plaque in recognition of her 5 years of service as a member of the Board of the Women’s Rabbinic Network where she served as Secretary and then as VP of Membership and Outreach.

She shares, “Serving on the WRN board these past five years has been an incredibly rewarding experience. There has been so much change in our movement, especially with regard to the reckoning of past gender based wrongs committed. The WRN has advocated in forums across our movement for the immensely complex work of teshuvah/repair. We have also advocated for family and medical leave policies that benefit people of all genders trying to care for themselves or loved ones. And we have created safe spaces for gathering and supporting one another’s pursuits. All of these efforts have helped the Reform movement align its actions with its values.

As Secretary, I worked to organize our files and keep diligent records of our conversations about these important matters. And as Membership and Outreach Vice President, I applied our Keeping It Sacred “global yet also hyper local“ approach to the WRN. I worked closely with our assistant executive director Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman to launch opportunities to gather as the global community that we are, and simultaneously encourage local meetings with colleagues around the country.  We also encouraged excitement about the WRN among students at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in partnership with our student liaison, Yael Farber. And, of course, we worked hard to ensure a high percentage of membership renewals, year-over-year.

My efforts that spanned the five years of my board membership included my work, in partnership with others, to update our bylaws, expanding the inclusion of non-binary and gender queer identified rabbis to our membership. It was incredibly meaningful work to serve this global, visionary organization and I am excited for the new leadership that is emerging.

This plaque, paired with a touching note by WRN Executive Director (and visionary extraordinaire) Rabbi Mary Zamore, will be displayed proudly on my bookshelf and I will look at it fondly to remember my years of advancing the cause of gender equity through the WRN, and the amazing people I got to partner with to do so.”

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The above is an excerpt from a Keeping It Sacred newsletter. If you want to read the entire newsletter or any from our archives, please head over to: keepingitsacred.com/news 

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Thanks for your interest, and thanks for #keepingitsacred...