Boston: A Message of Hope

I watch the sun sink below the horizon.   A beautiful sunset combining soft hues of blue, purple, pink and…red.

Red blood.  

My mind is flooded by vivid images of blood spattered sidewalks, torn limbs and ghastly wounds around Copley Square in downtown Boston.  

April 15, 2013.

A sad day for Boston and indeed, the world.  

I rewind. 

December 12, 2012. 

Rabbi Mayer Zarchi has installed a 30 foot tall brass Menorah in the center of Copley Square just days earlier.  It's a brisk, starlit night. The Menorah is kindled in the presence of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.    

The Governor Speaks:

"To recognize an ancient truth, that freedom is light….let that light shine, especially in the hearts of all those suffering…"  Prescient?

And tonight, the light flickers. It casts a shadow on the pained faces of Bostonians as they cry for the guiltless who have been lost and maimed.

It flickers, but it will not die.

It will not die, because that ancient truth can never be stilled.  It lives on in the hearts of people the world over who harbor a secret.  One that has prevailed through 2,000 years of exile and oppression:

Darkness is but the absence of light. 

Light a candle.   Shine the ancient light that burns in your soul.  An ancient light of truth and holiness. 

Do a Mitzvah.  Help the victims.  

Do another Mitzvah. Shower your family and neighbors with goodness and love. 

Indiscriminately. 

Repair the world and bring Moshiach.  A time of peace forever more.

May we speedily witness the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy:  "…and the Lord you G-d will wipe away the tears from every face."