On January 8, 2011 we watched in horror as emergency vehicles gathered around the Safeway in Tucson, Arizona after a shooting spree in which Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head. We mourned with those families who lost loved ones in that shooting, we praised the courage of Daniel Hernandez - the 20 year old intern who tried to staunch the bloodflow from Rep. Giffords and rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital, and we waited with hope for reports from Giffords' doctors about her recovery.
Last night, my wife called me to show me on the computer that Rep. Giffords returned to the Capitol to participate in a vote. It was a moment of joy and thankfulness to witness her strength and presence as the other members applauded and recognized her with warm words. Her own sense of thanksgiving was clear as I watched her mouth form the words "Thank You" over and over again. Such (bipartisan) support for her return can only be good medicine as she continues her recovery.
Her return to the Capitol coincides with the 9 days before Tisha Be'Av/The Ninth of Av, the day that commemorates the great tragedies of Jewish history, primarily the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples.
As I watched Rep. Giffords re-enter the House chamber I could see in her a symbol of the way Jerusalem has been rebuilt within the modern State of Israel. The New City radiates out from the Old City in wider and wider concentric circles of neighborhoods, businesses, synagogues, parks, museums, roads and so much more. Even as we remember suffering, exile, death and destruction we marvel at the way that Jerusalem continues to grow as a city.
The Rabbis taught us that among the causes of the destruction of the Temple was sinat chinam/terrible hatred amongst the people of Israel. It is my prayer that the strength of spirit Rep. Giffords has showed in her recovery and return will help pull us all up out of the spiritual low that we have experienced with all the terrible natural disasters and tragedies over the past many months. It is my prayer that now we might feel a reason to have new hope and a reason to spread goodness and kindness into this world. With God's blessings, we will be together next Shabbat to hear the words of Isaiah, "Nachamu, nachamu ami..." "Take comfort, take comfort My people..."
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