Rabbi Jaech's Blog

We had an hour before we needed to meet our bus and begin the journey back to Croton.  Ten teens from Temple Israel had just made presentations in the office of Representative Mike Lawler on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.  Our teens spoke about gun violence prevention, reproductive rights, and the mental health crisis among young people.

The presentations culminated an action-packed weekend. Temple Israel’s teens joined with 500 of their peers at the L’Taken Seminar run by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.  In Hebrew, “L’Taken” means “to repair.”  The purpose of the L’Taken Seminar is to teach teens how to take meaningful action to repair a world that is broken in so many ways.

As we left Capitol hill, we walked to the United States Botanic Gardens just down the street. We stepped inside the huge greenhouse, breathed in the scent of damp soil, and gazed at the lush green trees and flowering plants.  Others in the gardens walked quietly on the gravel, speaking in low tones.  One of our teens looked at me and said, “This is so peaceful.  This is just what I need. An oasis.”

This is what we all need. Too often, we are too busy. Too often, our anxieties and concern for the future weigh us down. We need to find the peaceful places, the oases in a troubled world.  How can we go on without these moments?

Where do you find these places of peace?  In the feel of a beloved child’s hand in your own?  In the soothing sound of the rain on the roof?  In warm conversation and laughter with friends?  Seek these moments out, wherever they can be found.  Treasure them as essential to a life well-lived.