[HANASHIR:3178] Are there no accidents?

[Wendy Goldberg <wendy.goldberg...>]

B'chol l'vavi, u'v'chol nafshi, u'v'chol m'o-di,  I say Todah Rabah.  Hava 
nashira was exquisite.  I thought I was going to learn some songs and pick 
up some technique.  I didn't realize that the whole experience was going to 
change my outlook on prayer, G-d, spirituality, torah, my marriage, and 
much more.   Here is my tale:

I left OSRUI for Madison around noon, headed for a friend's and then on 
home later in the day to Minnesota.  I was worried about falling asleep at 
the wheel, given that I barely slept for a week, and felt energized yet 
drained from the long weekend.  So, I put Shirona's demo tape on and sang 
and cried.  Even stopping for gas was a different experience.  I felt ready 
to take in the whole world in a way I never had before.

Well, before long, I noticed I was driving behind a maniac driver, who was 
swerving back and forth across the highway, nearly slamming into cars, left 
and right.  I quickly dialed 911 and let them no there was a guy in front 
of me who needed to be stopped before he killed someone.  At first it was 
sort of exciting, as I gave our coordinates and noted our location. (Roger! 
Over!) As the miles passed, all I could think of was, "Yeah, sure, in a few 
hours I'll get pulled over for driving three miles over the speed limit, 
and now when people's lives are on the line, there is not a cop to be 
found."

No one arrived to help, and as this was completely out of control, I called 
back, and the 911 dispatcher patched me through to the state police, and I 
stayed on the line almost until they located this guy.  It was quite 
intense, with many precarious moments along the way.  They finally advised 
me to head where I was going, and that they could find him, and I made them 
promise to call me back.  They did, shortly, to tell me that they had found 
this guy, an older gentleman, who was suffering from heatstroke, and they 
had paramedics on the scene.

After all of the intensity of Hava Nashira, not believing there could be 
even more intense moments, I was reminded of what Craig said on Shabbat, 
that there are no accidents.  I was once again, in awe of a higher power, 
and of my being created in G-d's image, with quick reflexes and the desire 
to reach out to others.  Once again, I cried tears of awe, not for my part 
in saving this stranger's life, but that I was merely a vessel, and by 
chance(?) in the right place at the right time.

Thank you all for the breadth of knowledge you shared, and the methods you 
used to share them.  It was incredible, and inspiring.  Already I have 
changed the way I teach prayer, and how I connect with my students (third 
grade day school students).

We arrived in Minnesota at 11:00 p.m., travelling through torrential rains 
and thunderstorms.  At 7:30 am, as I was driving to school listening to 
Debbie's Birkat Ha-Mazon, over and over, planning my takeover of our school 
ritual, again I was moved to tears, and arrived at school crying.  After 
years of thinking how we adults set children up to believe we have it all 
together while they are the ones who "lose it", I decided to go with the 
flow, as I had many times over the weekend.

Our t'filah lasted one hour and fifteen minutes, and we only made it 
halfway through birchot ha-shachar!  I prefaced it by acknowledging how 
hard I have worked to help them all have an excellent year, and how now I 
needed a gift from them, namely , the patience as I reflected on my 
experience.  They were great.  I also had them go "find" percussion 
instruments, you know, staplers, scissors, pencils and other assorted found 
items (thanks, for the inspiration, Billy!).  We used them during 
Halleluya.  Then I taught them the prayer that we say when we leave the 
bathroom.  We did a fabulous text study, with them trying to figure out 
when we would say it.  My niece, a seventh grader, talked about having 
Crohn's disease, when her "n'kavim and halulim" often blow up or don't work 
at all. We followed the text study by singing Andy Curry's "Thanks, G-d," 
aka "The bathroom song," as promised to him, at 9:00 am.  They LOVED it, 
and we have plans to sit outside our bathroom and croon to those who emerge 
having finished their "business!"

Then I told them my story of having helped this man on the highway, and 
asked them to sing the first four verses of birchot ha-shachar.  I let them 
know that I would probably cry, and that it was completely fine.  It was 
exquisite, and we all survived.  I figured that was enough prayer for a 
day, and then we got down to catching up about the "evil" substitute that 
took my place last week.

All in all I was quite pleased with the transition back.  I had made a 
decision early on at hava to go with the flow, and flow I did.  It wasn't 
difficult at all, rather, it was pure bliss to be that exposed, that raw, 
and that moved.  I thank all of you for setting up a fabulous experience, 
for providing warmth and acceptance, intimate moments, for the connections, 
for the inspirations.

Kol Ha-Kavod!

Hazak, hazak, v'nithazek.  I hope to see you next year!


Wendy Goldberg

Oh, and we rocked to Salaam! on our field trip today.

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