When Tears of Grief Become Tears of Renewal
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Share(ח) וַתֹּ֤אמֶר נָעֳמִי֙ לִשְׁתֵּ֣י כַלֹּתֶ֔יהָ לֵ֣כְנָה שֹּׁ֔בְנָה אִשָּׁ֖ה לְבֵ֣ית אִמָּ֑הּ יעשה [יַ֣עַשׂ] ה' עִמָּכֶם֙ חֶ֔סֶד כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר עֲשִׂיתֶ֛ם עִם־הַמֵּתִ֖ים וְעִמָּדִֽי׃ (ט) יִתֵּ֤ן ה' לָכֶ֔ם וּמְצֶ֣אןָ מְנוּחָ֔ה אִשָּׁ֖ה בֵּ֣ית אִישָׁ֑הּ וַתִּשַּׁ֣ק לָהֶ֔ן וַתִּשֶּׂ֥אנָה קוֹלָ֖ן וַתִּבְכֶּֽינָה׃ (י) וַתֹּאמַ֖רְנָה־לָּ֑הּ כִּי־אִתָּ֥ךְ נָשׁ֖וּב לְעַמֵּֽךְ׃
(8) But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house. May Adonai deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me! (9) May Adonai grant that each of you find security in the house of a husband!” And she kissed them farewell. They broke into weeping (10) and said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
(יד) וַתִּשֶּׂ֣נָה קוֹלָ֔ן וַתִּבְכֶּ֖ינָה ע֑וֹד וַתִּשַּׁ֤ק עָרְפָּה֙ לַחֲמוֹתָ֔הּ וְר֖וּת דָּ֥בְקָה בָּֽהּ׃
(14) They broke into weeping again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law farewell. But Ruth clung to her.
'Joy, Love, Grief’: How It Looks When Families Reunite
New York Times, April 29, 2021
"They saw each other and wept. They held hands and didn't let go. How to begin to say "I love you" after a year? ... When the time finally came, they were flooded with a year’s worth of emotion in a single instant: joy, relief, love — and grief for all the time that had been lost."
"I was the first to walk into the room. He looked up and saw me and just immediately put his head down and started crying. I went up and gave him a hug. It was very overwhelming, just the joy of seeing him again. He would just take Wayne’s hand and hold it and start crying, and then the same thing with James."
"Seeing my son, it was a surprise. I was crying, and he cried with me. It was such a beautiful feeling. I didn’t want him to leave. It’s hard to let go."
"It was like a year in review — all the things that went through my mind in the past 14 months. Thinking, what if my mom passed away? Thinking about the things we wish we could have done, the things we sacrificed. We have a beach house down at the Jersey Shore. I take her down personally three times a year — Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day. Thinking that she would not have had that chance, and just being hopeful she has the chance to do that this summer. Hearing my mom’s voice in person — it just felt like, it wasn’t a recording. It wasn’t the telephone. It wasn’t a Zoom. It was live. She got through this. I sat in my car, and I cried."
"...just being able to touch her, I was crying. I cried the whole way home. I didn’t know how much I had missed it until I got it back."
New York Times, April 29, 2021
"They saw each other and wept. They held hands and didn't let go. How to begin to say "I love you" after a year? ... When the time finally came, they were flooded with a year’s worth of emotion in a single instant: joy, relief, love — and grief for all the time that had been lost."
"I was the first to walk into the room. He looked up and saw me and just immediately put his head down and started crying. I went up and gave him a hug. It was very overwhelming, just the joy of seeing him again. He would just take Wayne’s hand and hold it and start crying, and then the same thing with James."
"Seeing my son, it was a surprise. I was crying, and he cried with me. It was such a beautiful feeling. I didn’t want him to leave. It’s hard to let go."
"It was like a year in review — all the things that went through my mind in the past 14 months. Thinking, what if my mom passed away? Thinking about the things we wish we could have done, the things we sacrificed. We have a beach house down at the Jersey Shore. I take her down personally three times a year — Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day. Thinking that she would not have had that chance, and just being hopeful she has the chance to do that this summer. Hearing my mom’s voice in person — it just felt like, it wasn’t a recording. It wasn’t the telephone. It wasn’t a Zoom. It was live. She got through this. I sat in my car, and I cried."
"...just being able to touch her, I was crying. I cried the whole way home. I didn’t know how much I had missed it until I got it back."
וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מִיּוֹם שֶׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ נִנְעֲלוּ שַׁעֲרֵי תְּפִלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״גַּם כִּי אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ שָׂתַם תְּפִלָּתִי״. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁשַּׁעֲרֵי תְפִילָּה נִנְעֲלוּ, שַׁעֲרֵי דִמְעָה לֹא נִנְעֲלוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״שִׁמְעָה תְפִלָּתִי ה׳ וְשַׁוְעָתִי הַאֲזִינָה אֶל דִּמְעָתִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ״.
On the subject of prayer, Rabbi Elazar also said: Since the day the Temple was destroyed the gates of prayer were locked and prayer is not accepted as it once was, as it is said in lamentation of the Temple’s destruction: “Though I plead and call out, He shuts out my prayer” (Lamentations 3:8). Yet, despite the fact that the gates of prayer were locked with the destruction of the Temple, the gates of tears were not locked, and one who cries before God may rest assured that his prayers will be answered, as it is stated: “Hear my prayer, Lord, and give ear to my pleading, keep not silence at my tears” (Psalms 39:13). Since this prayer is a request that God should pay heed to the tears of one who is praying, he is certain that at least the gates of tears are not locked.