A Poem and Opportunities to Connect Online - For my friends on the screen

Dearest Friends,

In the midst of a world turned inside-out and upside-down, I'm so very grateful for the many opportunities we are creating to connect. Some feel incredibly intimate, and some feel like shadows of what we need. But, in aggregate, one could make the claim that this is the most creative moment in Jewish history, with leaders and artists of all kinds generating content and contexts for all of us around the world. Given technology's flat-hierarchy, there is no limit to the beauty we might unleash in this troubled moment. The platforms of zoom, facebook, google, becoming universally accessible makes each one of us a leader who can touch the lives of others. Let us be brave and offer our faces to each other, knowing that in our eyes lives the greatest of all mysteries. Screens can be portals to the Divine, and we need that now more than ever. 

I imagine I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed by all that's being offered online, and so I'm sharing a few resources with you that I hope can support you right where you are:

• Virtual Synagogue Services (UJA-NY)   
• Passover Resources (UJA-NY)  
• 24/7 Digital Jewish Culture Festival (JewishLive)   
• Daily Guide to Jewish Online Events (myjewishlearning.com)

In addition to these amazing global Jewish resources, here are some online experiences I'm involved in:

• It's been my honor to provide a daily 9am (Eastern) Meaningful Morning Live broadcast on UJA-Federation's FB page every Monday-Friday at 9am (Eastern). 
• I've been offering spontaneous FacebookLive music and teachings, including this delightful one of Neshama and me singing together "in public" for the first time! Stay tuned!
• Every Wednesday at 4pm (Eastern) I'm leading a short learning and reciting Mourner's Kaddish for MyJewishLearning on their Facebook page. 
• Every Friday at 2pm (Eastern), UJA-NY is convening New York Rabbis from all denominations on their FB Page to offer an Erev Shabbat blessing to our whole community. Everyone is welcome!

We dare not look away from the world around us. We must stay home to save the lives of our neighbors, perhaps the most counter-intuitive Jewish action ever. But friends, we are bound together by invisible strings that defy the distance. I share here a poem that powered out while participating in an online poetry conversation convened by friends from the Bay Area, suddenly "in the same room" with sweet familiar faces I haven't seen in a very long time. 

May we be blessed to truly embrace each other very soon. 

May we not forget the lessons tomorrow we are learning at such costs today. 

May our world soon regain itself.  

Love,

Menachem

A Poem for my Friend on the Screen

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

as I sit here

in my bedroom

which has become my office

and also Sinai

and that coffee shop on Shattuck

distance is an illusion

so is time

these tears are a gift

of coming home.

(I thought I was done, but another one poured out...)

attuned hearts

need not speak

to know

There is no such thing

as alone

____

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Scholar in Residence, UJA-Federation NY

tinyurl.com/MCreditorBooks