By: Renée Rockford
President & CEO

In our unremitting grief after the attacks on Israel, we hear the words, “”zikhrono livrakha“,” or “May their memory be for a blessing.” The notion of “being a blessing” first appears in this week’s parsha, Lech-Lecha and is repeated many times in Book of Genesis. Rabbis tell us that God blesses us, and that a blessing comes not only to us, but through us, meaning that each of us can be a source of light and hope in the darkest of times.

And it is up to each of us to hold memories of loved ones gone. We do this by remembering them, we do this by speaking their names, we do this by carrying on their legacy.

Sharrona Pearl wrote in The Tablet, that “These words offer the possibility that the lives of the dead serve as a blessing, marking the ways those lives have mattered and continue to matter in this world, even if they are no longer in it.

This Shabbat, as so many families mark the day of rest without their loved ones, may the families be consoled and comforted by their memories, and may the memories of all those we have lost provide blessings through, to, and for each of us.

Shabbat Shalom.

Please email Renée Rockford at rrockford@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.