The Distance Between Life and Death

Newsletter July 1, 2024 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

Melissa’s aunt suddenly died yesterday (rest in peace, Tita Fatima). And, as sometimes we find, a sudden unexpected loss puts us all back in touch with the reality that life is infinitely fragile and precious.  

The rabbis said death is like removing a single hair from a bowl of milk. This conveys how the difference between life and death is a gentle, simple process - the soul can be removed gently at any time. 

And the distance between life and death? The rabbis describe it only as a thin veil. In fact there are some very interesting graveyard visits described in the Talmud where people talk to the dead as though through the thin veil. 

The rabbis also described the distance between life and death in physiological terms. When they instituted the daily blessings they included one thanking God for the complex inner workings of the body. And they specifically note gratitude that our body openings that should be open are open and the openings that should be closed are closed, because if they weren’t we wouldn’t be able to praise God. 

They highlight this truth that at any instance we could be in mortal danger if any part of our anatomy wasn’t working properly. The fact that we are alive is a miracle and something to be grateful for; perhaps this is why the rabbis insisted we lift up this blessing each day- life is not to be taken for granted. 

This week’s Torah portion is Korach, and it describes a terrifying decree that God sent a deadly plague against the people who were rebelling against Moses and Aaron. But Aaron, being the high priest, was called in to administer an incense ritual of atonement to turn back the plague. As he did so, the text tells us he “stood between the dead and the living.”  

We are each standing between the dead and the living every moment. We live life, as some say, on this razor’s edge. And that unique quality of existence is there to remind us of the preciousness of life. 

Let it motivate us to make each day count. To hold each day precious. And to be grateful for each day.

This is how we’re keeping it sacred. 

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred...

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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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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