Cheated Out of Another Day
"...Mekhadesh b'khol yom ma'ase v'reisheet..."
"...Who renews every day the act of Creation..."
Every new day reminds me of yet another day out of which Avi was cheated.
In the entries below are photos of Avi throughout his short life.
I adjusted the time stamps so that the photos will go from top to bottom from youngest to oldest.
"...Who renews every day the act of Creation..."
Every new day reminds me of yet another day out of which Avi was cheated.
In the entries below are photos of Avi throughout his short life.
I adjusted the time stamps so that the photos will go from top to bottom from youngest to oldest.
posted by Jay Lapidus at 6:09 PM
3 Comments:
Rabbi Jay,
I think you could use more posts about what you would want his legacy to be. The site is now a powerful source of emotion. If you could channel that emotion into constructive channels, so that Avi's memory could continue to improve the world in ways he would have appreciated, what would it be?
-mi
Avi would have vehemently objected to my sentiments expressed in my post, but that's where I'm at.
As always, Micha's comments are always insightful and appreciated.
From Jay's sister:
You have let us into your personal grief. I would also like to learn more about Avi as a person.
I notice sometimes you talk about Avi having been "cheated" out of his life. It begs the question, who cheated him? I think of Bush's soldier's being cheated out of their lives for a lie. Children unfortunate enough to live in the way of bombs are cheated. Raped children are cheated out of their childhoods. But what misguided cause or purpose, what con artist cheated Avi? Did his parents "cheat" him? "Cheating" implies malevolence, consciousness, misquided intent. He had an undetected illness. His parents did the best they could with what they knew. Is that "cheating" or not knowing enough? Or did ilness cheat him, or life or fate or God? You would have to assume that any of those forces have specific intent, that illnesses can cheat, that life has plans. And the God part- well, you know that people believe all kinds of things, but even those who personify God havent accused God of being a cheater, as far as I know. It's not one of the 13 attributes!
Of what was he cheated? The full measure of what we expect of the lifespan? You would have to assume that we are all guaranteed to live a certain span, that sudden illness, accident and death are not an inherent part of the privilege of being here at all.
I imagine that you yourself feel cheated, as we all feel cheated out of our expectations for this boy. I rather think that it is our own expectations that have cheated us. Otherwise, there has been no swindle; we are simply bereft.
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