Soccer Dad

And words are all i have ...

Sometimes we say that words can't possibly describe something. It is too amazing or too awful. And sometimes words can be more than up to the task.

Chayyei Sarah does a beautiful job of describing davening praying at the Kotel (Western Wall) with sunrise one morning last week:

At 5:30, the sky is turning a slightly lighter blue, and morning prayers formally begin. Most of the women seem able to follow easily, though the acoustics are poor, leading me to believe that many of them attend the 5:30 services often. There is yet more noise, and the women's section is half-full. But at around 5:50, when the Amidah begins, there is not a sound save for the chirping of the birds in the growing morning light and the weeping of one or two women who are shedding tears into the wall . . .

I prayed that whatever happens next week should be for the best, and that if the disengagement happens, it should happen peacefully and in a way that sanctifies Hashem's name.

I don't remember the last time I davened at sunrise at the Kotel, but I probably had my mind more on the freshly baked pastries I was going to pick up on my way back to Yeshiva (seminary.) The most affecting prayer I remember from the Kotel, was 25 years ago and we were davening with Vishnitz (a chassidic group) minyan. The baal tefilah (prayer leader) had an indescribable look of joy on his face as he sang Lecha Dodi and welcomed the Sabbath.

Elie's Expositions has been a friend of mine for over 25 years. Through college, dating, marriage and children. Many of you who read my blog, read his too, and you know that one of the focuses of his blog, is the death of his eldest son Aaron. And even knowing how the story sadly ended, reading the beginning of it is no less disconcerting as he recounts the signs of Aaron's illness in Headaches and Heartaches:

My world stopped. Somehow, a chair found its way under me as my legs collapsed.

And then, as Pillage Idiot reminds us, sometimes the lack of words is very telling too:

Mr. Eccleston: This interview is being concluded at 10:35 hours. Mr. Smith is unable to continue with this interview.

Posted by SoccerDad at August 15, 2005 1:49 AM