We are about to light our Yom Tov candles and
enter into the eighth and final day of Pesach.
night of Pesach. We will count up each night until we reach 49 and arrive at
Shavuot, the giving of the Torah.
should be focusing on during this time. This first week is all about chesed or
loving kindness. We make our blessing every
day of the first week, aspiring to focus on kindness.
though Nahal Dishon with Amir on Tuesday and saw an incredible act of kindess. Walking along a part of the Shvil Israel that
is also a popular off road biking route, we saw a cyclist approaching a rocky
stream bed. He was riding a tandem bike and a second biker was seated behind
him. The biker went for it and splashed across the stream, spraying water. I
looked at the cyclist pedaling behind him. She was a woman in bicycle garb with
dark sunglasses.
 |
| Hikers and bikers |
Then the next biker arrived. And another. One
passenger on the back was not wearing sunglasses and I immediately could see he
was blind. This whole group was comprised of seeing riders with blind
passengers. The route was technical, rocky and uphill.
cheering on the cyclists, then saw a stranded cyclist fixing his chain. He
explained that he was a volunteer with group called Ken Velo, which in Hebrew
means ‘yes bicycle’ or ‘yes and no,’ referring to those who some can see and those who cannot.
This cyclist’s blind partner was holding the bike and chatting away,
very excited to be out on the trail.
the strong, confident bikers who could navigate this tricky uphill path and
bring their passengers along safely; or the blind cyclists who clung onto the
handlebars and pedaled without seeing the obstacles or the scenery along the
way.
I was in awe and very touched by everyone in this group. This was chesed,
ultimate giving and receiving.
this year. Instead of sitting comfortably with family and friends to celebrate
the seder, she volunteered to be at a seder with lone soldiers. These are
soldiers who have no family and who have volunteered to be in the IDF.
army, with the help of generous donations, holds a seder for these 650
soldiers, offering to be their warm, extended family.
Pesach, the whole group gathered and invited one Ukrainian solider up on stage.
They asked him who he missed most and when he said his family, his father
tapped him from behind on the shoulder.
group burst into tears. This soldier’s father had never been to Israel and
could not afford the trip. The IDF secretly organized the reunion so they could
be together.
countries. They may have identified Jewishly in different ways but they all had
one belief in common and that was a love of Eretz Israel.
Aviva after the yom tov, she told us she felt as if she had truly been
liberated just as we aspire to do on the Passover seder.
languages and sharing one common love was liberating at a soul level,” she told
us.
traditional seder, but she had the opportunity to inspire and give and to be
inspired.
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