An open letter to my Mispocha
It has been a few weeks of time since that incident of my father's death happened and it is so irreversible, death is such a thing. We do not think of this irreversibility when we zap a spider who was busy building a web, compared to breaking down a house made of bricks, which people can certainly build again, with the same bricks or even newer ones, but we can't bring the spider back to life again, because his work is done on this earth and he has to go. The analogy may sound odd, why am I comparing this incident to a mere spider, well its because, compared to the thousands of people who die by war or earth's anger in places like Afghanistan, Uttarakhand, Japan, asylum seekers on sea and so forth, my father would have been a self-made entity and busy building his web of friends, colleagues, a home for himself and his family, a job to work at and a wanderer for life, over the scope of this beautiful earth.
It is unfortunate but true that in times of death, humanity gets a chance to come together and comfort each other. A mispocha, in jewish terms, a clan, a society of close relatives, friends who will stand strong and protect one another, in times of pain and grief.Being a small part of this world, one in seven billion and counting, it is not my right to comment on whether God has done injustice to us, by bringing this upon us, or whether he has brought us into this situation to test us, but I am sure that by His grace and power that he gives us, we are being able to survive.
It is the great deeds of our forefathers and our previous generations that have lessened our grief. The values of helping, communication, comfort and understanding that our forefathers have instilled in all of us have made us aware of the situation and to act accordingly. Its very difficult to accept this,and I am going through a tough time, but perhaps my design-educational values of "saving the world" have made me optimistic that I will be able to save our own little world.
Just like Saint Dnyaneshwar, for me, my God has always been my parents; and my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, relatives and close friends, teachers. I consider myself spiritually aware to be able to see the Godliness in all you wonderful human beings and I on behalf of my mother and brother, and I am sure my father would like to say the same, would just say that we appreciate you being there and taking care of us. And not just us, but yourselves too.
Love, Mikide
