“Mama, stop thinking.” My son told me this at breakfast one morning this week. It was 7 AM and I had my head in my hands. “I need more milk in the yellow cup,” he added. “With a lid that doesn’t taste like a lid.” I obliged. “Why were you sad?” he asked later that day on the way home from the park. Nothing gets by a four-year-old’s mother-attuned weather vane. He feels the tiniest atmospheric disturbance. Here is the conversation we had, annotated with what I did not say.
Thank you for this. My grown son is my only solace during this time, as the people I also "fundamentally agree with" let me know that Jewish lives are cheap, and that while it's easy to say that Hamas doesn't represent all Palestinians, it seems impossible for them to say that Netanyahu doesn't represent all Israelis and all Jews. Your words bring comfort.
every single word of this is my life right now too. i have never seen a photo that caused such deeply haunting pain and actual wails from me as the photos of people carrying the tiny body bags. you are braver than i am - i can't bear to look at social media, or much media at all beyond the headlines. all i can think about is the children whose parents could not save them, and 3 tiny children who were taken from the kibbutz and are being held hostage with their family by hamas. it is the nightmare of nightmares with a madman/mad men at the helm. why can't the powers that be just stop killing children? thank you for writing and sharing.
Annie, I couldn't written this. Today I saw a photo of a mother holding her child (I would guess around 4 years of age- the same age as my son), wrapped in a white bag, and while her face was hidden the anguish emanating from her posture was like a spear directly to my heart. I cannot look at my own children without seeing them as a victim of the attacks on Israel, a child currently in Gaza, a hostage held underground. I feel like as a mother and as Jew this whole ordeal is too much for me to bear. (And thank you, Bess, for always managing to write exactly what I am thinking/feeling/processing and helping us all feel a tiny bit less alone in this hell on earth nightmare).
“You will not get hurt as long as I live because you are blonde and I keep your face and identity a secret. I will never let you wear a yarmulke outside the synagogue. I took the mezuzah off our door. We hang Christmas lights in the window facing the street and light the menorah in the kitchen.”
As an Jewish mother of 3 little girls you have perfectly stated the thoughts swirling in my head and whispered to my husband while the girls are out of earshot. Thank you for making me feel less alone and also, more hopeful 💛
Thank you for finding these words in the midst of your pain. (It is the courage of those like you who can hold and express dissonant truths that will guide us through this maybe darkest moment of our lives.) And I am so sorry, so so so sorry that you and those who you most love are facing this trauma and heartbreak. Sending you and the holder of the yellow cup all the love.
"...because nobody in charge can use their words." And those of us who are heartbroken can't find the words.
Oh Bess 😢so achingly beautiful and painful and sad. May your boy be safe always. 💛
Thank you for this. My grown son is my only solace during this time, as the people I also "fundamentally agree with" let me know that Jewish lives are cheap, and that while it's easy to say that Hamas doesn't represent all Palestinians, it seems impossible for them to say that Netanyahu doesn't represent all Israelis and all Jews. Your words bring comfort.
every single word of this is my life right now too. i have never seen a photo that caused such deeply haunting pain and actual wails from me as the photos of people carrying the tiny body bags. you are braver than i am - i can't bear to look at social media, or much media at all beyond the headlines. all i can think about is the children whose parents could not save them, and 3 tiny children who were taken from the kibbutz and are being held hostage with their family by hamas. it is the nightmare of nightmares with a madman/mad men at the helm. why can't the powers that be just stop killing children? thank you for writing and sharing.
Annie, I couldn't written this. Today I saw a photo of a mother holding her child (I would guess around 4 years of age- the same age as my son), wrapped in a white bag, and while her face was hidden the anguish emanating from her posture was like a spear directly to my heart. I cannot look at my own children without seeing them as a victim of the attacks on Israel, a child currently in Gaza, a hostage held underground. I feel like as a mother and as Jew this whole ordeal is too much for me to bear. (And thank you, Bess, for always managing to write exactly what I am thinking/feeling/processing and helping us all feel a tiny bit less alone in this hell on earth nightmare).
“You will not get hurt as long as I live because you are blonde and I keep your face and identity a secret. I will never let you wear a yarmulke outside the synagogue. I took the mezuzah off our door. We hang Christmas lights in the window facing the street and light the menorah in the kitchen.”
As an Jewish mother of 3 little girls you have perfectly stated the thoughts swirling in my head and whispered to my husband while the girls are out of earshot. Thank you for making me feel less alone and also, more hopeful 💛
Thank you for finding these words in the midst of your pain. (It is the courage of those like you who can hold and express dissonant truths that will guide us through this maybe darkest moment of our lives.) And I am so sorry, so so so sorry that you and those who you most love are facing this trauma and heartbreak. Sending you and the holder of the yellow cup all the love.
thank you for putting into words the pain and dissonances.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyjqhQ1usjX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Every word. Thank you, Bess.
Thank you, Beth. You are helping me navigate this awful time.