JWOW

jewish women of wisdom

Journeys

By Miriam Liebermann

It was a pivotal moment in my life. It was a foreshadowing of major changes in my life – thank G-d, all positive changes.

It was a Sunday, late afternoon. We had spent a beautiful Shabbos with our children in Lawrence. And now we were anticipating the climax of this extraordinary weekend. Within several hours, we would be celebrating the vort of our youngest child. Quite monumental.

Playing the role of a baalat simcha demands quite a bit of emotional and physical energy. I am not feeling 100% and decide to be proactive. I head upstairs to lay down and relax a bit before the fun would begin!

I barely put my head to the pillow when I hear the planes above. One after the other…they’re zooming right over my head. OK. I’m getting used to that. Then, I hear the rumbling of the Long Island RR which is adjacent to our children’s home. As I identify the rumbling, I take note also of the clamor of the cars racing by on the 878, quite audible from our bedroom window.

There must be a message here for me! Right? Of course, right! I’m obviously on a journey of sorts! Aha! Aren’t we all on a journey?

Life is never static. There are turns on the road, there are detours. There may even be bumps along the road. We have to be mindful, be conscious and just keep carefully driving along, eyes up ahead, whilst simultaneously enjoying the scenery as we whiz by!

Marrying off our youngest was a huge milestone. May everyone be so blessed! It was a major episode in my life’s journey…and then our move kallah’s home in Cedarhurst (pre-corona days!). Warmest greetings and many thanks to our fabulous machatanim, Menashe and Mimi Oratz and family! And although we had not yet moved here, and at that point, had no plans of moving in the near future, we celebrated Naftali’s aufruf in Lawrence in the former seminary building. In fact, when I walk down Central Ave, I’m still reminded of the joy I experienced when I, too, accompanied

Naftali to shul that fabulous Shabbos morning, walking down those blocks, with the men – including my dear husband, sons and grandsons – all singing the traditional melody with such gusto. The Shabbos sheva brachos was also celebrated in the Lawrence/Cedarhurst area. What a phenomenal association! What a blessing!

There’s more to add to this discussion. Let’s take this analogy a step further. We ourselves are constantly evolving. Growing. Learning. Improving. Expanding our minds. Thus, expanding our roles. Enhancing our journeys. And this leads to my long overdue disclaimer. I’ve been sharing with you details of my role as a Savta. I have an ideal image in my mind of what the “perfect” Savta looks like, if such an entity really does exist. Sad to say, I’m not quite there yet. But I’m very mindful of this role. I’m still journeying on…it’s a very personal journey. I’m still very much a work in progress in all areas.

We never know where this road will take us. But we certainly hope and pray that we will all soon land up in Yerushalayim Habenuya, our ultimate destination.

May we soon see those eagles soaring up above, may we hear the vibrations as they flap their mighty wings, ready to fly us off to our beloved Eretz Yisrael. Hold tight. Ladies, get your tambourines! We’re almost there!

We ourselves are constantly evolving. Growing. Learning. Improving.

to Lawrence during this corona era… who would have envisioned this just a year earlier? Another super significant turning point for us. A new chapter. A major turn off the main highway!

My association with Lawrence is very much tied in with that significant family simcha. We celebrated the mini l’chaim and vort in our lovely Join the conversation and email list of JWOW! by writing to hello @jewishwomenofwisdom.org.