As posted on September 28, 2012 by Sam Blustin on Soup for the Neshama
A tragedy occurred yesterday. At 4:25 p.m, a disgruntled former employee entered the Accent Signage Systems building and opened fire on the employees inside. Having been fired earlier that day, the employee came back looking for revenge. By the time he was done, five lives had been taken, including his own, with one more dying in the hospital earlier today (to learn more, click here).
When tragedies like this happen in other places, we are stunned certainly, but the shock often turns to ambivalence, “it’s just another one of those stories.” But when a tragedy of this magnitude hits so close to home, it makes you think.
One of people murdered yesterday was the owner and founder of the company, Reuven Rahamim. He was also the father of a kid I grew up with. A few years younger than me, he went to the Minneapolis Jewish Day School and is involved at Beth El Synagogue, same as me. While I didn’t know Reuven too well, I certainly saw him around the community, and I know that his family and our community will be forever changed.
But like I said earlier, things like this make you think. What if that was me in there? My father, mother, grandpa, anyone I care about? How would our lives change? How could I live?
Fresh off the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah, we just spent a full day simulating our deaths: not eating, drinking, or taking care of ourselves in any way (to see a meaningful article about the purpose of fasting on Yom Kippur, see here). We do this so we can regain an appreciation for the things that really matter in life. We spend time with family, celebrate, apologize to everyone and anyone, pour our hearts out to God, remember those who we’ve lost, and overall remember that though the presence of death always hangs over us, we can use that knowledge to live our lives to the fullest.
Who shall live and who shall die? We often think about this abstractly. “Of course people will die.” We think of our lives as merely a midpoint, with so much more to go. But what if death comes tomorrow? Or in a week? Or a year? Who would you spend time with? What would you say? What would you do? How would you act?
Rabbi Eliezer teaches in Pikei Avot 2.15 to “repent one day before your death.” How do we know a day before we die? The answer is we don’t. So repent everyday. But I say not only repent everyday, but LIVE EVERYDAY. Live life to the fullest. Live up to what you are made to be.
While all of this can be a cause for despair, it can also be a cause for life. We can choose to change how we live so we always have an appreciation for life, or we can sink into eternal whys? and other depressing thoughts that send us into the slums. Take the opportunity today to review your life, and see how your life needs changing. Are you really living up to your purpose? And most importantly, are you helping others to live life and see the blessings and miracles around you? This new year, let’s choose to remember, and to live with a fresh perspective on life.
May the memory of all who died be a blessing for us all, and may we grow stronger for having gone through this terrible tragedy together.
Shabbat Shalom.
-SB
We take our mourning, and turn the memory of it into a cause for joy: dancing.
