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In 1992 after Hurricane Andrew pilfered through Miami, Florida, my home, I experienced a challenge from God to find a silver lining. At the time, I was a young adult with a goal: to attend Rabbinical School at Hebrew Union College. A few days before Hurricane Andrew, I was sitting in Los Angeles, where my daughters are now, having my interview with the school to be accepted. But after the hurricane, my plans needed to change. Hurricane Andrew destroyed what life looked like for me: my home was gone, my things were scattered everywhere or lost, and my path was muddled. At the time, all I had were the pajamas on my body and a longing for a better day.
Then in 2020, I was again challenged to find the silver lining when the pandemic struck. As the world was falling into the unknown with fear, I also found myself tumbling down. I feared losing my routine, being stuck at home, and not knowing when the world would be free again.
I was reminded of these times while reading Parashat Bo because, in this portion, the Egyptians experienced the last of the plagues, which were not good; the Israelites received their eventual freedom from Egypt, a good thing; and we are given the holiday of Passover, a silver lining. As we know, the holiday of Passover is considered a Festival. A festival is often described as a time of joy and celebration. However, Passover is not just joyous, even though I appreciate that my family comes together for the holiday, which is a wonderful time. We actually remember, during this holiday, a time of hardship and affliction that eventually turns into that joy.
So as the clouds cleared from the dark situations of Hurricane Andrew and the pandemic, it was time for me to put in the work to find the light. For Hurricane Andrew, my family turned to many people to help rebuild our lives, including
Jason, z'' l, my late husband, and his family. Our families were best friends and Jason and I had known each other since we were 12. We were at each other's Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrations and our families spent every holiday together. Still, at the time to me, Jason was only my parents' best friends' son. As I rebuilt my life, I spent more and more time with Jason, and as his mother would say, "I told you so!" because we fell in love, and the rest is history.
The silver lining I found during the COVID-19 lockdown was with family. Both of my adult daughters came back home to stay with me, so we were locked down together. We watched movies, played games, went on long walks, and spent quality time together. We visited the grandparents on their driveways and spent hours sitting outside and talking. Our neighbors gathered outside together every night; we chatted and laughed and watched the new generation of young children playing outside with the older (now mostly adult) "children." As awful as the lockdown was, it was also magical - a time that I would have never gotten to experience with my daughters otherwise.
Like the misfortune that befell me after Hurricane Andrew and again during the lockdown, those silver linings shone through. I have always believed that while we may not always understand God's plan, there IS always a plan. While so much of it was awful, I will treasure my silver linings forever. I challenge you all to look into Parashat Bo to remind yourselves of the beautiful world that can be built in an instant, even after destruction and heartache. During this Shabbat, and always, I hope that you can find the silver linings even through tough times.
Shabbat Shalom,
Kim
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