It truly is a bitter-sweet shabbat this week. The tragic massacre of the staff at Charlie Hebdo, the policewoman and men and now several Jewish hostages in a Kosher supermarket. Some went to work to do a job they loved never to return home. I listened to the heartbroken widow of one of the cartoonists on the radio this afternoon; her grief was palpable as she tried to remain composed in a language that is not her native tongue. I did my grocery shopping, picking up a few weekend treats for our shabbat meal, we do not need much as most of the weekend will be spent celebrating my cousins bar mitzvah. I strolled around with my list, mentally planning the logistics of clothing, suitable shoes and whether I was going to let the boy wag off school on Monday morning..... In the car in time for the 5.00 pm news where I learned that people, just like me, shopping for food for their shabbat table, a few delicacies to welcome the queen of the week, had been taken hostage and were now dead. Small comfort that the terrorist was dead too..... as my friend Sam said they went out to buy a challah and never came back . The two gunmen, the murderous brothers who mowed down the staff at the magazine with AK47s were also dead. They will become martyrs and, by dying in a hail of bullets, will not have to be tried for their atrocities; mores the pity. The news was so grim I felt like driving my car into an oncoming bus, but I cannot indulge myself like that, the reality is people have died for exercising their right to the freedom of speech and worship in a country where there is supposedly their right to do these very things. Tonight we will light an extra candle for those snuffed out and take a few minutes to remember them and their unfilled places a the table. We will also be thinking of our friends who are holding a vigil masterminded by Stephen Hayward opposite the Cine Lumiere in London. Please go along if you are in town. This is a Sephardi song welcoming in shabbat, the beloved bride queen of the week. https://youtube/watch?v=cLexw9pma_A
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 18:37:01 +0000
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