Together

Sometimes the whole point is to be there. In the crowd. One among many. Sharing the space and experience as one.

Sometimes showing up is what it's about. I went with a friend to 'Hostage Square' last night. I asked him why he goes, and he said if he had a loved one as a hostage, he'd get a lot of strength seeing people show up and show they care too. Especially after months.

People come together to share sadness, to celebrate birthdays and weddings, to help each other recover from addiction, disease and trauma. 

Singing  the a national anthem in a huge group of people (I did so tonight for Yom HaShoa - Holocaust memorial day) was a totally different experience to singing it alone. 

Tonight a holocaust survivor filled in a letter of an in-progress restoration of a Sefer Torah, which had been hidden in WW2 and recently recovered. He was told to choose a letter that was meaningful to him, a suggestion was made to link it to his grandfather or sisters who were killed in the Holocaust. He instead chose the letter 'Kuf' ק, which he said stood for קהילה 'community' and dedicated the letter to myself and the 500+ others who had sat between aisles and filled every space in the three story synagogue to hear him speak.

It seems however that we're hardly ever going to an event or activity to 'be together'. It seems there had to be a meal or a party or concert or a speaker that we're going to see. I think you can figure out what's the core reason you're at something by asking yourself if you would do it alone. I wonder why we can't just say go to 'be together'.